scott graham: as soon as he met melissa, he was something i'd never seen. just, you know-- just for no reason he'd call her and say i love you. he was a changed man. he was happy absolutely, he was happy. melissa really made the difference. keith morrison: and if anybody would know, his best friends would, cindy and scott graham. ben was family. i mean, he was family. keith morrison: and then there was ben's other love, brightest thing in his life, the one good thing that came from his first marriage-- alyssa. everybody said that he loved me more than anything, and i think it's true. keith morrison: quite true, of course. so there was a little jocking at first, two women, one man-- even if one of the women was just three. our first date, alyssa was there. we were eating, and i was just trying to talk to ben and kind of get to know him. and she's like-- alyssa's like, don't talk to my dad. i remember meeting her. i didn't really like her. um, she was talking to my dad. keith morrison: more than talking to him, as it soon turned out, ben and melissa moved in

that is why for example, congressman scott perry and senator lindsey graham fought back against the andure of his phone, during these january 6th investigations because they claim they were just carrying out their duties as members of congress and in both cases, while federal investigators were able to proceed with perry on one hand and lindsey graham and the georgia investigation on others, there were able they were not able to explore and things they had to return because courts decided in both instances that there was a portion of their role that related to the work they were doing in congress. here, folks like liz cheney were carrying out the congressional function of investigations. it'll be very difficult, i think, for the future department of justice to articulate why that protection is not available to folks like liz cheney or senator schiff. >> liz cheney in fact has come out with a statement essentially saying that she is not backing down, and there is no legal basis for him to go after. sarah, more than 1500 defendants now have been charged related to january 6th, more than 1

hanukkah blessings and watched as the first candle on the 22 foot tall bill graham menorah was lit with help from senator scottr and omer fine of the foreign trade administration. father and son, rabbis yosef and moshe langer of the san francisco chabad led the festivities, keeping up a 49 year san francisco tradition. being here with so many other people, all happy, all celebrating, i think it's just a good feeling. lee's lifelong friends came to the menorah lighting together. it's my first time i've been here before and enjoyed sufganiyot jelly donuts, a favorite hanukkah treat. just steps away, families snapped photos under the union square christmas tree. it's really nice to have both holidays, like there's some community and connection about that. that seems very appropriate for the time of year that we're in. nearby, san francisco's city hall lit up blue and white in honor of hanukkah. in coal valley, volunteers wrote hanukkah cards and packed more than 100 gift bags meant for jewish seniors living in retirement homes and nursing facilities around san francisco. and in the back, there's a menorah. there'

today two key republican senators, joni ernst and lindsey graham, signaled they are open to confirming pete hegseth as secretary of defense. cbs's scottane reports this was a busy day for several of the president-elect's choices for top positions. >> reporter: kash patel arrived to see if he could win a job that's already filled. president-elect donald trump wants patel to lead the 35,000 person fbi and wants to push out current director chris wray who trump nominated in 2017 and who was supposed to hold the job until 2027. trump soured on wray for the 2022 raid of mar-a-lago and for the fbi's handling of january 6 cases. >> any talk about whether to continue the january 6 investigation? patel is a trump loyalist who pushed trump's claims of 2020 election fraud. he received a boost from iowa republican chuck grassley who will chair the senate judiciary committee and encouraged wray to move on. patel's visit comes a day after trump revealed he wants to pardon january 6 defendants immediately upon taking office. >> we're gonna look at individual cases, but i'm gonna be acting very quickly. >> reporter: and he said the u.s. house members

tonight was the 49 time the bill graham menorah lighting well lit up san francisco's union but of sf along with state senator scott wiener lighting the first candle of the 22 foot menorah. the menorah is one of more than 15,000 large public menorah, lightings throughout the world. >> it's a real joy. and that's why we're here to take the on a lot homes and into the street everyone can have access to a seeing that line it's part of them and part of the world to share with one another. >> chabad as seth will have hanukkah events and celebrations throughout the 8 days of the holiday, including a public menorah lighting every night in union square. the salvation army also giving back this christmas, hundreds of volunteers helping to deliver food to those in need across san francisco as kron four's michael thomas reports for some. this delivery is much needed as it's the only contact they will have on christmas day. >> this annual salvation army meal delivery on christmas involves hundreds of volunteers and, of course, hundreds of recipients. and you can see behind me they're preparing to take out these meals and for s

hanukkah blessings and watched as the first candle on the 22 foot tall bill graham menorah was lit with help from senator scott foreign trade administration. father and son rabbis yosef and moshe langer of the san francisco chabad led the festivities, keeping up a 49 year san francisco tradition. being here with so many other people, all happy, all celebrating, i think it's just a good feeling. lee's lifelong friends came to the menorah lighting together. it's my first time i've been here before and enjoyed sufganiyot jelly donuts, a favorite hanukkah treat. just steps away. families snapped photos under the union square christmas tree. it's really nice to have both holidays, l like thers some community and connection about that. that seems very appropriate for the time of year that we're in. nearby, san francisco's city hall lit up blue and white in honor of hanukkah. in cole valley, volunteers wrote hanukkah cards and packed more than 100 gift bags meant for jewish seniors living in retirement homes and nursing facilities around san francisco. and in the back, there's a menorah. there's candles that they can

night of hanukkah and the 40th time the bill graham menorah lighting will light up san francisco's union square chabad of sf along with state senator scott wiener will light the first candle of the 22 foot menorah. the minaur is one of more than 15,000 large public menorahs throughout the world. >> it's a real joy. and that's why we're here to take the on a lot homes and into the street everyone can have access to a seeing that line it's part of them and part of the world to share with one another. >> chabad as seth will have hanukkah events and celebrations throughout the 8 days of the holiday. that includes a public menorah lighting every night in the and square. taking a live look now from sacramento tonight. you can see any minute now a menorah lighting will take place for the first night of hanukkah. it's a beautiful start of the 8 nights representing resilience of the jewish people and miracles. it looks like they have some speakers there and a below them. and a lot of people ready to see the lighting. we'll bring it to you live when it happens. in less than 2 weeks. members of the legislature will return to the state capitol for t

scott. thanks. well tonight is the first night of hanukkah. the bill graham will be celebrating its 49th year with its annual lighting ceremony in union square. this is video from last year. the festivities and live music begin at 330, followed by the menorah lighting at five. well, it's that time of year when large charitable organizations help thousands in need. but it's also that time that individuals step up to help. or in this case, one san francisco mother and daughter, when they actually cycled up to help. here's nbc bay area's garvin thomas with this morning's bay area proud. the history behind family holiday traditions is often lost to the past. there are somee things we simply do because we've always done them. no one remembering when they started. we're going to try for the people, but not darnell tasker and daughter zoe gomez. yeah, of course you can. they know exactly when their tradition of biking around san francisco, handing out socks to those living on the street started. it started 2020. so it was the pandemic. and we were just thinking abou

tell you i'm rejoicing in the senate, senator tim scott of south killen will be chairman of the banking committee,. [laughing] okay? senator lindsey grahamill be chairman of the budget committee, and so speed is so we would be wrong if it wasn't a south carolinian in charge of major committee when you're in the house, right? it would be -- >> what in telling you is the economy is in good hands, okay? and fiscal responsibility. so the chairmanships i can tell you right there right away, and so that's quite a change. and then in the house, the number of the chairmanships on the republican side we have term limits. so that's six years. the other party does not. many of their chair people, members have been there for a long time. but on our side it ships pics of this year there will be shifts on several committees and that the current chairman and charwomen have reached the section limit. >> so but what exactly are the responsibilities of the committee chairs? >> the actually control the calendar. that's what's so important in which bills can come up. and substantial almost universally within the dictate and control of a committee chairman.

scott. well tonight will be the first night of hanukkah. and the bill grahaming its 49th year with the annual lighting ceremony in union square. this is video from last year. the festivities and live music begin at 330 this afternoon. the menorah lighting is at 5 p.m. beautiful. in addition to christmas, a group of first responders in san francisco have something extra to celebrate this year. fire station 18, in the sunset district. we're talking about you. yes. the group won this year's annual holiday station competition. that contest pits fire stations against each other to see who can come up with the best holiday display. the competition has been going on for the past five years. they originally started back in 1948 and only took place until 1950. yeah, recently revived after an article in the chronicle called for its return. i always love the christmas decorations on the firehouse under the bay bridge on the embarcadero. they always do a really cute job too, but that one in the sunset district was like full out. i have a neighbor like that. he's the clark

senator tim scott of south carolina is going to be the chairman of the banking committee. wow. ok. and then senator lindsey graham is going to be chairman of the budget committee. >> and so it would be wrong if there wasn't a south carolinian in charge of major committee in the house, right? there would be an imbalance. >> no, no. what i'm telling you is the economy is in good hands and fiscal responsibility. but, and so the chairmanship, so i can tell you right there, right away. and so that's quite a change. and then in the house, the number of chairmanships are uh on the republican side, we have term limits and so that's six years. the other party does not. and so many of their chair, people, members have been there for a long time. but on our side, um it shifts and so this year there'll be shifts on several committees and that the current chair, chairman and chair women have reached the six year limit. >> so, but what, what exactly is the, is there are the responsibilities of the committee chair? >> they actually control the calendar. and so that's what's so important which bills can come up and are substanti

and scott, i will start with you because of your time on the hill, are we looking at a shift for hegseth? >> well, he senator graham's right. you know, this time last week, a lot of folks were wondering whether he was going to survive the week. and now he's more than survived it. he's got a little bit of momentum. you know, there's still a group of republican senators who are basically outside the matrix, right? they're unthreatening. they're not running. again. they benefit from public feuds with trump or so on and so forth, or foreign policy, national defense, national security is their key issue. and they're just they're not prone to being influenced by the normal public relations cycle. there's probably more than four of them. i don't know that he's over the line yet, but this is the purpose of a hearing. and obviously he did himself some good over the last week and some of his meetings on the hill to generate these kinds of more positive comments. so good for him. not out of the woods, but better shape. absolutely. >> and i know pete, major pete, i call him pretty well being on fox and friends weekend for those

cornyn, cotton, cramer, daines, fischer, graham, grassley, hawley, hyde-smith, kennedy, lankford, lummis, marshall, mcconnell, moran, mullin, ricketts, rounds, scott of florida, scott of south carolina, sullivan, thune, tillis, tuberville, and young. met in president? >> a senator from michigan. >> first about i would say wouldn't you know i get laryngitis. [laughter] for somebody who is an elected office we know that's not a good thing. please bear with me. i want to thank chuck so much for his comments this morning and for being a dear friend. today is bittersweet for me standing here on the floor of the united states senate. making my last speech my last majork: speech. so many of my staff from michigan have traveled to be here as well as staff members who have worked for me in d.c. over the years. i am truly overwhelmed that over 100 michigan and d.c. staff are here in the gallery and on the floor. family and friends who are not able to fly into they are watching on c-span. as we come back from thanksgiving i am filled with so much gratitude and respect as i think back over my years of public service. i am thinking about the incredible number

graham be supportive of that as well. makes common sense. >> thanks, everyone. [inaudible conversations] the clerk: mr. vance, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: mr. scottof florida, aye. the clerk: mr. hawley, aye. vote: to your broader question about any personal this time we don't have personnel and domestics at the moment and were continuing the situation and when be appropriate to go into syria beyond our concentrated presence in the northeast. >> there's been reports today of fighting in the north near syria with the syrian kurdish fighters are no not mention the extension of the one truth how do you think in turkey. >> that's exactly right. i will echo what matt said yesterday the fire has been extended in its holding number close to monitoring the situation around combining in the situation is fluent were not seen large-scale encouraging and inadequate to get a private diplomatic discussions but were working hard to avoid escalation especially in northern syria most important to us is continuing to work with the local partners to carry out the shared d isis vision is a priority for them initiation making a pretty clear and has been the case befo