sam, you want to go first? mr. nunn: we learned a lot over the course of the cold war about red lines and where the red line should be drawn, and exercising forces and discussing nuclear equations in terms of threatening nuclear. that is extremely dangerous because the people on the warning systems, the people in the silos, they look at the atmosphere when they are trying to judge whether something is an accident, a mistake, or really an attack. another thing we have learned but have not cured is the danger of hairtrigger alerts and having so many weapons on alert that can be fired very rapidly. but the most that i have taken away and the thing most applicable to today, to what we are facing in terms of disagreements with russians over the syrian, the middle east, as well as the ukraine, is that we are not having anywhere near the kind of military discussions we had back during even the cold war. we have got to renew military to military discussions. people say, how can you do that when you are disagreeing over ukraine?

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

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

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

willall cowen is seated next to general mattis and sam nunn. former secretaries of defense.ining me now is jack keen. good morning to you. your thoughts as we watch this process begin for general mattis. >> i'm absolutely thrilled. i feel good for my friend here and what he will do. mostly i feel very good for the american people because jim is such an outstanding individual. we've got somebody that as advertised is smart and tough. but he is also very thoughtful, very staoudous and very compassionate and a complete leader in every sense of the world as secretary of defense. it's a great day for him and his family, to be sure. an even greater day for the american people. >> martha: that's a strong vote of confidence from someone who we respect a great deal. we'll be watching with that in mind this morning. on the subject of russia, there will be senators on this panel who try to put some daylight between where donald trump is on this issue and where general james mattis is. thoughts on that. >> russia is an issue. they are a threat and possess nuclear weapons and have been m

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

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

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

some introductions this morning among them by former senator from georgia sam nunn who said of tillerson he would take off his corporate hat devote 100% of his experience to being secretary of state. as we await that and the president-elect's news conference at 11:00 a.m. eastern time in new york city, let's bring in john harwood who's live at trump tower this morning. busy day, john. >> carl, it's crazy. and on any other day rex tillerson would be the dominant story, major corporate ceo from exxonmobil about to become secretary of state in part because he's getting bipartisan praise from people like sam nunn and other foreign policy professionals are praising him. but this is the first press conference by the president-elect since july. and it comes on the wake of this report that follows the intelligence report last week in which u.s. agencies assess that russia took steps to interfere with the election, to harm hillary clinton, to help donald trump, and then we have now learned that intelligence officials presented in briefing materials to the president-elect that they had gathered ra

i continued my career of public service working for a brand new senator from georgia, senator sam nunn, hoping to better the lives of our war fighters. i had the great honor or to work with other senators on a bipartisan basis, barry goldwater, john glenn, some of the legendary figures of the united states senate, many of our great military leaders, general jim jones,jim mattis who the president-elect announced today he's going to nominate to be our next secretary of defense. with a lot of other luminaries in the national security field. these individuals, with individuals like myself, worked together to solve some of the most challenging problems of the '70s, '80s and '90s. we moved away from the draft which was so unpopular and went to the volunteer force in 1973. but it had its struggle in the decade of the '70s and had to be saved, and senator nun and senator warner provided a benefits package to keep the volunteer force going. the panama canal treaty, had to deal with the devastating bombing of the marine barracks in beirut in 1983, worked on the legendary changes to the military

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

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

he had big support, roberts gates speaking on his half, former senator sam nunn, speaking on his behalf. there's been a lot of comings and goings. we also had protesters, not quite as colorful and loud on the first day of confirmation hearings with jeff sessions. green peace was here saying, reject rex. trying tone courage senators not to support this nomination. the numbers are so strong in favor of republican nominee like this, but it's important to watch how the questioning is going. any daylight on russia is something to note. we also heard questions about climate change, where he said -- tillerson said he doesn't want to not have a seat at the table for international conferences like the big paris agreement but he wouldn't go so far as to give an opinion on that. in some areas still needs more time to make some decisions. but he has been on the hot seat. seems fairly comfortable in that role. but the questioning is very rigorous and it's on big matters that are in the national conversation today. kate? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you so much. can i ask you one before i let you go. so

let me also recognize and thank sam nunn and senator and secretary bill cohen for their distinguished service and eloquent words this morning. general mattis began his long and distinguished career and -- >> the 10 a.m. hour has arrived here in the east and i'm use a respectful gulf whisper. we're going to just dip out of the mattis confirmation hearing as senator reed from rhode island speaks before we hear from general mattis. to set the scene and show you what else is happening on the hill. we do have these two other important confirmation hearings. on the left, the future hoped for cia director congressman pompeiiio, his hearing in front of senate intelligence and on the right, dr. ben carson,

distinguished senator cornyn from texas, distinguished senator cruz from texas, the distinguished sam nunn from georgia who we miss but thank him for his service, and the distinguished secretary gates who has served eight presidents. i'm actually surprised he's not serving a ninth. but we thank you for being here. each of you, if you would, please give your comments and then we will move to opening statements. thank you for being here. >> chairman corker and ranking member cardin. members of the committee, i'm proud to be here today with my colleague, senator cruz, to introduce a fellow texan, rex tillerson as the nominee for the secretary of state. without a doubt, rex tillerson is an inspired choice by president-elect trump for this critical position. the depth and breadth of his experience as an accomplished and successful business leader and skilled negotiator give him a solid understanding of our current geopolitical and economic challenges, making him uniquely qualified to serve in this important office. after graduating from the university of texas with a degree in engineering, mr.

arnold work for future senator sam nunn of georgia as his director of national security affairs, then as his staff director of the senate armed services committee. later as an executive vice president at saic the was responsible for corporate business development and was deputy president of the federal business segment. arnold has chaired or serve on numerous commissions on national security, the guard, and reserve, and department of defense reforms. recently he completed a two-year stint as the chair over the national defense industrial association. he chairs the reserve forced policy board, and serves on the defense business board, which focuses on bringing world class business practices to the pentagon. when he is not writing a book, arnold is the ceo of the punaro begun, specializing in federal market and budget analysis, about strands, communications and crisis management. tonight we're here to learn from arnold punaro who presenteds stories from his personal and public life from soaker accounts of his days in combat in the vietnam war to colorful anecdotes withjohn mccain, pushe

argument came from one of his introducers who was former democratic senator armed services chairman sam nunn, an icon in the defense establisent, national security establishment. he said that tillerson's knowledge of putin and russia is as an asset and his business experience is an asset, an advantage, because we need to engage russia if we're going to safeguard our nuclear weapons. >> that's right. my concern out of trump's press conference is that he sort of waved his hands after recognizing russia, most likely was responsible for attacking our democracy and said, we'll have to work something out. mr. tillerson's been asked pointedly about sanctions, and i hope we'll still come to a point of embracing the bipartisan sanctions bill that's being introduced in congress this week and that he will have a clear view of putin and the threat that he poses to america's democracy that apparently our president-elect does. >> senator coombs, thank you very much. brian, remains to be seen where this confirmation hearing is going but russia has certainly complicated the prospects for rex tillerson. >> i

if you look at sam nunn, endorsing candidates and nominees two separate times for donald trump.ine, be a democrat when it mattered but more importantly be for the country when it was important and strong on defense. we just don't see that anymore. my hope is that trump is blurring the lines to such a degree he will bring people together and leave democrats no choice but to go to his side. stuart: look what happened to the union leaders who fronted up to the white house yesterday, met with mr. trump, walked out around never been shown this respect for a long, long time. we've never been in the white house under president obama. there is a switch. that is politics turned on its head. >> tell you one thing, most underreported story looking back at this election, working class america in michigan, wisconsin, to a degree in north carolina and of course ohio was never out of donald trump's column even though the governor, the republican governor wasn't with them. why? because he felt as though the billionaire felt as though he understood the worker much like they say on the job sites

there are two democrats, you're hearing from one now, that's sam nunn, the other is bob gates.hat's former defense secretary. >> yes, he is. >> former director-- >> for sessions yesterday. >> and i presume all four people are speaking for. >> i believe, and also former director of the cia. stuart: when mr. nun is finished, then it goes to bob gates, robert gates. he will have two, two and a half, three minutes to make his points about mr. tlerson, speaking, as you say, liz, in support of mr. tillerson. >> right. >> then it goes to mr. tillerson himself who makes >> yeah. stuart: i think he swears the oath first. liz: i think is had big theme will be the absence of leadership under the obama administration, ditherring over the red line head to green lights. and led to china demilitarizing the china sea. he will be a tough, tough diplomate in this office. stuart: that's interesting. because the questioning will probably zero in on russia and climate change, but this is going to be the future secretary of state who deals with a much broader issue of international events. cuba poli

let me also recognize and thank senator sam nunn and secretary of defense bill cohen for their distinguished service and very thoughtful words this morning. general mattis began his long and distinguished career in the marine corp. he has served the highest echelons of the marine corp and capped the service as the central command. general mattis, fur confirmed to the secretary of defense when united states faces many complex and multi-faceted challenges. that do not offer quick or easy solutions. some of these challenges about traditional nation state tensions while others cross international boundaries. also you will help oversee national security policy for a president who locks foreign policy and defense experience and who's temperament is far different than prior presidents. we're rightly concerned about how he might be respond when he is tested by russia, iran, north korea and other threats such as cyber. considering some of these hot spots in the world, i would like to start with iran which remains a top concern for this committee. their behavior with respect across the region has not

in addition let me also recognize and thank senator sam nunn and senator and secretary of defense billcowan for the distinguished service and they're very thoughtful, eloquent words this morning. i could jump in. general mattis began his career and he notices marine corps as a second lieutenant commission to the rotc program at central washington university. he has served the highest echelons of the marine corps and capped it serves as a of the central command. general mattis if you're confirmed as secretary of defense you will lead the department during a time when the united states has as many complex and multifaceted challenges. that do not offer quick or easy solutions. some of these challenges are about traditional nation-state tensions while others cross international boundaries. also you helped oversee national security policy for a president to lax foreign-policy and defense experience, and his temperament is far different from prior presidents. many americans and many on this part of both sides of you are rightly concerned about how he may respond when he is tested by russia,

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

i was joined by my colleague, senator cruz from texas, former senator sam nunn and former secretary of defense mr. gates. all of us said that mr. tillerson is an inspired and outstanding appointment by president-elect trump. i have come to learn that mr. tillerson is a person that i both respect and admire the longer i've gotten to know him. he's proven over the deck -- over decades' long career in the top echelons of a large global company that he has what it takes to represent the united states on the world stage. true to this point, his client or his responsibility has been toward shareholders of the company he's represented. but i have every confidence he can transfer that same sort of dill jebs, that same sort of -- diligence, that same sort of acumen and those relationships from which a large multinational corporation has benefited now to the american people and the united states of america can resume its place on the world stage with him as our top diplomat. i said before one of my biggest frustrations with the current administration is it regularly ignores our allies while inte

we talked about sam nunn and his work on nuclear nonproliferation.hat agreement has been violated by russia. question is whether we are going to agree to that as well. in her written statement, you talk about the taking of crimea. do you regard the russian annexation of crimea as an illegal occupation? mr. tillerson: yes, i do. if you served as secretary of state, similar to the way the united states never recognized the occupation of the baltic states question mark mr. tillerson: neeley that could happen is if there was a broader agreement that was satisfactory to the ukrainian people. >> i think that's fair. if the president-elect were to ask you your device as to whether we should maintain sanctions against russia for its actions in ukraine until russia seized its aggression and the filled its obligation under the minsk agreement, what would you tell them? esther tillerson: i would recommend maintaining the status engageil we are able to with russia and understand what their intentions are. that mean keeping sanctions in place? mr. tillerson: yes,

senate, former democratic senator, sam nunn, and his name still carries a lot of clout on capitol hill in the hearing room. we will be hearing a lot more about him as the morning goes on

i wish to thank former senator cohen for introducing me this morning and i'm thankful to senator sam nunn for his strong support. it is humbling to be considered for this position and i thank the president elect for placing trust and confidence in me. when this unanticipated request came, i was enjoying a full life west of the rockies. i was not involved in the presidential campaign and i was certainly not seeking or envisioning a position in any new administration. that said, it would be the highest honor if i am confirmed to lead those who volunteer to support and defend the constitution and to defend our people. all my remarks today recognize that it is only with the advice and consent of the senate that i can be confirmed. i know the senators of this committee are well aware of the many global security challenges we face. we see each day a world awash in change. our country is still at war in afghanistan and our troops are fighting against isis and other terrorist groups in the middle east and elsewhere. russia is raising grave concerns on several fronts and china is shredding trust.

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

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

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

senator nunn visited with senator talmadge about that and senator none t said i talked to senator talmadge and she said, sam, you have to answer all of the nut mail. it you don't you won't win in at the state of georgia. and we talked -- got a lot of telephone calls. a guy from georgia that throughout there was communist behind every tree, and would call me once a week, i he called it would by a long time so i put the phone down and every five mints i said, how is it going people sigh you have been in washington 20 years and you still have a season southern absent. >> what is -- >> senator nunn wanted to do something different so he kind of -- started what is call the nuclear threat initiative, a effort to basically reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear fissile material and has been running that over 20 years, and it's been extremely successful etch was they chairman of the center for international study. served on a lot of corporate boards. ge, the lead director ococa-cola. a very, very smart businessman. and so he stayed -- 78 areas old now. he looks like he is 35. stays in good shape, w