is that tim kaine and kirsten gillibrand? anyway, mullen exposed that incredible display of hypocrisy. take a look. >> the senator from virginia starts bringing up the fact that what if you showed up drunk to your job? how many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? and don't tell me you haven't seen it because i know you have. and then how many senators do you know have gotten a divorce before cheating on their wives? did you ask them to step down? no, but it's for show. you guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy because the man's made a mistake, and you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified. give me a joke. i mean, it is so ridiculous that you guys hold yourself as this higher standard and you forget you got a big plank in your eye. >> check and mate. well done. the democratic party, they are filled with liars, hypocrites who will say and do anything for political power and above all else, that's all they car

tim kaine was almost vp. as hillary's vp who waged war against dozens of women who accused her husband. then kaine went after pete's character. >> listen, you had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child that had been born two months before senator hurt? >> the child's name is gwendolyn hope hegseth, and she's a child of god, and she's seven years old. and she was. >> and she's. you cheated on the mother of that child. less than two months after that daughter was born, didn't you? >> those were false charges. >> if infidelity is a crime, then you'd have to put everyone in dc in prison. it wasn't that long ago the democrats were telling the government to get out of our bedrooms. now timmy wants to get inside of pete's. have a little look. see? didn't the democrats say your private life has nothing to do with public office? didn't they say that during lewinsky? congress has a secret slush fund to settl

tim kaine went full maury povich out there. wow. [applause] come on, tim. come on.hy didn't hegseth tell trump about how many times he cheated on his wife? uh, maybe because if he did, trump would high five him so hard, it would break both their hands? that was a pretty wild line of questioning from tim kaine. any republican want to jump to his defense here? >> how many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? and then how many senators do you know have gotten a divorce before cheating on their wives? did you ask them to step down? no, but it's for show. you guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy, because the man's made a mistake, and you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified. give me a joke. >> jordan: [laughs] give me a joke? okay, how about "a priest, a rabbi, and pete hegseth walk into a bar at 10:00 am." are you happy now, markwayne? look, i don't know if this was really the defense that hegseth wanted, though. "look, we're all pieces of shit here. let he without an ashley madison premium account cast the first stone!"

i mean, tim kaine sounded like a sex pervert in his questioning of pete hegseth blumenthal, who lied about his service in vietnam, questioning his qualifications. you had gillibrand, you had warren, you had hirono going on unhinged rants about things. angus king obviously doesn't understand what it's like to fight terrorism on and on and on. hegseth was cool in the face of this unhinged questioning. they made him look good today. it would be difficult for a republican to vote against hegseth after the democrats unseemly mudslinging today. >> karen well, look, it was as performative as these hearings ever get. i mean, republicans do it to democrats. democrats do it to republicans. i mean, so that happens on all sides. look, overall, though, clearly hegseth was well prepared and it was clear democrats recognized that given that there was some clearly concern that he wouldn't be able to handle more than one round of questioning, they were clearly trying to get certain things on the record. personally, i would have the comms person in me would have framed it differently. i would have tal

it includes, the facts are extremely troubling about the character of this individual. >> senator tim kaine, you may not have the answers under oath, but you at least are asking the question. sir. thank you so much for coming on the program tonight. really appreciate it. >> good to be with you, alex. thanks. >> in advance of today's hearing, ben rhodes, former deputy national security advisor for president obama, penned this opinion piece in the new york times. pete hegseth is dangerous, but not for the reasons you think. trump's choice of mr. hegseth is born out of right wing grievances that have been building for a long time over the failures of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. the accusations of sexual assault and excessive drinking, which mr. hegseth has denied, also converged with other maga interests, including being unburdened by woke social mores. what kind of military emerges from this worldview? presumably one that seeks to roll back the social and cultural changes of recent decades within its ranks, disrupting cohesion and devaluing diversity as a source of strength. a maga mili

false charges. >> they're not anonymous. >> joining me now to discuss all of this is senator tim kainef virginia. senator, thank you so much for being here tonight. let me first, just get your reaction to the news. we got just about an hour ago that senator joni ernst, who has long been seen as maybe one of the republican linchpins to pete hegseth nomination, is going to indeed vote for his confirmation. what are your thoughts? >> alex? i'm shocked, but not surprised. >> can you elaborate on that a little bit more? for a while there, it looked like she was not going to be an easy vote. it looked like she, given her background and her priorities, was going to try and hold hegseth to perhaps a higher standard than other republicans. what's your estimate of what happened in the interim between then and now? >> i think you laid it out pretty well in the introduction. i have worked closely with senator ernst on a variety of issues on the committee, including battling a culture that that for too long was too tolerant of sexual harassment of women military members. but when she raised legitim

what tim kaine asked today is, did you cheat on your wife when you made a vow to her? >> who cares why do you think that anything to do with running a mandate in the military? >> he might have had more thought about it or not. did you cheat on your wife? can you conduct a war? what does that have to do? what does that have to do with anything? many people cheat on their wives and husbands. what does that have to do with you? run a military mandate. well, what does that have to do with the job? this candidate is going to pass? >> it would be, look, i think look, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. i think if you are 50% of americans are divorced, you started marriage for a promotion in the military. you better believe that stuff like that matters. >> it does matter and it matters. and here's the thing for marriage your marriage counseling, it does matter when you are in the military and you have to stay married. can't get divorced. no, no it didn't. no, no, no, it's not about that. it's a matter of your character integrity, your wife. >> my goodness. >> let me jus

and so all these issues you all are raising, why didn't tim kaine spend eight minutes on that instead of spending eight minutes dumpster diving with his stupid opposition research dump? >> it was atrocious. and the dems killed any chance they had of making a case against this guy. >> no, it was terrible. the numbers are in your favor. so a hearing is not probably going to be determinative. since they only had one round of questions. they'd even do a second round of questioning what tim kaine asked today is, did you cheat on your wife when you made a vow to her? >> who cares? >> why do you think that has anything to do with running a mandate in the military? >> he might have had thought about it or not. did you cheat on your wife? can you conduct a war? what does it have to? what does it have to do with anything? many people cheat on their wives and husbands. what does that have to do with you? run a military mandate. well, what does that have to do with the job? this candidate is going to pass? >> it would be interesting. >> look, i think look, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter

i mean, tim kaine going after his marital infidelities. tim kaine who ran as hillary clinton's vice presidential candidate. hillary clinton and bill clinton not exactly the standard in terms of setting marital priorities, right? i really was shocked and disgusted and i really think the whole country was, so does that advance the democrat cause? stuart: no. >> i can't imagine. stuart: sets it back as you suggest. liz thank you very much for being here. got to get back to the market. see how the rallies going. it's still going. dow is up 670 but the nasdaq, that's up more than 2%. it's very solid gain there. scott shelledy with us this morning. looking at the stock market, are we off to the races? >> right now we are and a lot of folks put that up to the cpi but i think the cpi came in as expected and i know you hate those expectations, stuart, because the expectations were for i hotter cpi than what we had last month which it was but there are those on wall street that think if we meet expectations, that's a good thing and i think that's to

tim kaine went to talking about his marriage vows.ell tim kaine was best friends with bill clinton. he was hillary clinton's running mate. bill clinton was accused of rape, exposing himself and sexual assault. >> brian: don't forget the trips on epstein's plane. >> steve: i have news for you i have been around washington a long time. there were guy nasa room yesterday morning who already had a drink. honors lawrence yeah and women too. >> steve: mimosa. >> lawrence: both genders have done nasty things on there. so i think pete did great job. >> ainsley: you know, all of that aside, he is going to be head of defense. so i liked his comment when senator scott asked him why do you want to do this? and he said i do it for the war firefighters that are sitting behind me. i do it for the men and women behind me. pause there were a lot of individuals from military that were there yelling u.s.a., u.s.a., u.s.a. as he was walking in. they were there to support him. and he said i do this because i love this country. many of y'all see me as a tv

i think on the democratic side, the moment that stuck out was senator tim kaine pressing him on pastities and just character issues. he is not known as a rabble-rouser, senator kaine. he has voted for past secretary of defense republican presidents. he tends to support those nominees, so it stuck out to me that he was just so riled up about the allegations that hegseth faces, and he held his feet to the fire in a way that some of the other democrat didn't manage to. annita: i guess big pressure on the republican side to get this confirmation through with the inauguration of donald trump happening next week. just a final thought, if you would, liz. how do fbi background checks fit into this process that we've been seeing today? >> all of the cabinet nominees are going through the fbi background check process. initially, trump and his allies were floating the idea that they would skip this. they ended up doing the traditional process. democrats on the committee have raised alarms that they feel this particular background check on mr. hegseth was not thorough enough. the woman who accus

. >> and it was this exchange with democratic senator tim kaine that laid bare the concerns some have with hegseth personal past, not just allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies, but questions about whether he had issues with alcohol and extramarital affairs, and whether that speaks to a larger issue about his character and judgment. >> many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of alcohol or drunk. i know you've denied that, but you would agree with me, right? that if that was the case, that would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense. >> senator, those are all anonymous false claims. and the totality, they're not they're not anonymous letters on the record here. they're not anonymous on the record. we've seen records with names attached to them. >> you've admitted that it was consensual and you were still married and you just had a child by another woman. again, how do you explain your completely false charges against me? >> you know, i investigated, and i was completely clear. >> you have admitted that you had

democrats like senator tim kaine are concerned. we're expecting the same level of >> vigorous attack on the affordable care act by the incoming trump administration. while the trump administration hasn't offered a concrete plan to replace the aca. senator eric schmitt says he does want to see reforms. health care is way more expensive than it was when the aca went into so i'm always open to new ideas. plus the enhanced tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year unless the republican controlled congress renews them. we have the lowest rates of uninsured americans >> that we've seen in the history of the country. i don't think we want to go backwards. and democrats say they'll fight to keep the affordable care act and the expanded tax credits. i'm going to all i can to make sure we maintain and improve enrollment for the aca is still open until january. 15th in washington, i'm hannah brandt. >> still ahead, our coverage of the wildfires in southern california continues. we have we're on the ponies. rescued after. animal she

spoke earlier to one of the democratic members of the senate armed services committee thomas senator tim kainer, did you get answers to the questions you had for pete hegseth. >> i did not. this was an unusual hearing in that he would not meet with me before the hearing. that's traditional. i have always done that with the secretary of defense nominees. i got seven minutes to ask him questions. i can find it -- confined it just to allegations about his character. when i asked him directly, should committing a sexual assault be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, he would not answer. i asked if being publicly drunk at work should be disqualifying and he would not answer. i asked whether anybody who commits violence against a spouse or partner should be disqualifying and he would not answer. there were other issues where we tussled back and forth. , but the character questions i had going in our only larger coming out. >> pete hegseth has said he has made mistakes in the past and has changed. he has reformed. is that something you believe? >> well, when you say i have changed and reformed

tim kaine está entre los demócratas que se oponen a su nominación. eran falsas y que de ser confirmado, fomentaría una cultura guerrera dentro de las fuerzas armadas, como quiere donald trump. hegseth, un veterano y ex presentador de fox news, tiene poca experiencia en las altas esferas de las fuerzas armadas, pero cuenta con amplio apoyo de la mayoría republicana. years in service multiple deployments como el de e este senador que lo considera un candidato ideal. tras su servicio de 20 años, donde dijo, puso su vida en riesgo por el país de ser confirmado, lideraría el departamento de defensa y estaría al mando de todas las ramas de las fuerzas armadas de estados unidos. otras audiencias se llevarán a cabo en el senado. la siguiente será la de marco rubio, quien aspira a ser el próximo secretario de estado y que este miércoles se enfrentará a preguntas de sus propios colegas aquí en el senado, en el capitolio. randy serrano telemundo. gracias, randy. por otro lado, en la investidura de donald trump el próximo 20 de enero no estará presente. michelle

senator tim kaine, and the nominee with pete hegseth.video clip] >> i would like to return to the incident on october 2017, at that time, you are still married to your second wife, correct? >> i believe so. >> and you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct? >> senator, i was falsely charged, fully investigated and cleared. >> so you think you were cleared because -- you had just fathered a child two month before by woman who is not your wife. i'm shocked that you would stand here and say i'm completely cleared and you so casually cheat on a second wife, and she, the mother of a child of importance of as before, and utility were completely cleared, house at how set a complete clear? >> senator, the child's name is gwendolyn hope hegseth, she is a child of god, she is seven years old. >> and you cheated on the mother of the child less than two months after that child was born, didn't you? >> those were false charges, fully investigated and i'm completely clear. and i'm grateful to the marriage

tim kaine looked like tim walsh. it's so hard to concentrate when the nominee is so good looking. ladies relax. they are all trying to impress him. when you watched it, did you feel like you were watching a probaseball player in a batting cage? calm, assured and hitting each pitch seamlessly. but if i, i kept sitting there say i wonder how i would do there? how did he reframe from calling liz warren pocahontas. if you remove the saying, so you're saying or sounds like there would be no questions. every time hegseth would answer, they say, sounds like you pro rape. they care less about what he says than framing their brain parts. pete is the middle finger in camouflage aimed at that managerial class we call politicians. what soldiering and the war fighter looks like. rachel levine, sam brenton, that wasn't the real world but the kind that exploited sound minds. it was so far from reality it was funny. here, he's the public face of the war fighter, not the public face of identity. >> dana: i wanted to add one more thing based on that. a question rick scott asked him. sometimes repub

senator tim kaine pointing out that at the time hegseth was married, and had recently had a baby with another woman. >> you acknowledge that you cheated on your wife and that you cheated on the woman who -- by whom you had just fathered a child? you have admitted that? >> i will allow your words to speak -- >> you're not retracting that today? >> reporter: democrats challenging him on reports of excessive drinking. he has promised he would not drink alcohol if he's confirmed. >> a cba staffer stated that you passed out in the back of a party bus. is that true or false? >> anonymous smears. >> reporter: republicans on the committee making it clear they've got hegseth's back. >> he is a decorated post-9/11 combat veteran. he will inject a new warrior ethos into the pentagon, a spirit that can cascade from the top down. >> reporter: and david, that key republican senator joni ernst announced just moments ago she will be supporting pete hegseth for defense secretary. it now appears he does have the full support of republicans on the armed services committee. we could see the full senate t

con stan lectures and senator tim kaine said pete isn't qualified to run the defense department becausee same guy who was hillary clinton's running mate and then we had mark kelly accused him of being drunk while on the air on this network and base that on garbage reports that relied solely on anonymous sources. he argued the only people who have gone on the record have had nothing but positive things to say about him. i have been on set with him for years that always saw him working hard, friendly, respectful to all coworkers and never behaved in the manner described by those anonymous sources. democrats overplayed their hand here. far too much hyperbole. he will be confirmed. not one republican senator said they will vote against him. what trump wants, he gets. >> thanks for having me on. i agree. i think he is going to be the next secretary of defense and he have someone the rank and file can identify with. they are going to have more confidence he will have their back and that is one of his key messages and missions. with the personal attacks, we are not talking about the primary mi

tim kaine grilled hague seth over cheating.e is one thing he hates it's men who cheat on their wives. hopefully he got the hpv vaccine before he did that. >>> kid a rock is scheduled to perform at trump inauguration because of the occasion he's wearing his formal wife beater. >>> starbucks customers will need to now buy something to use the bathroom especially if they leave a ground. leonardo dicaprio a climate warrior left the plane. he left the house with his prized possessions brittany and amber. in defending his fire response he sent people to dnc site also defended his homelessness policy with the coupon code for tenants. >>> and only fans model claims she was with 1000 men in 24 hours, the previous record of west set by the lincoln tunnel. >>> zuckerberg ordered the removal of tampons from bathrooms at meta-, tim walz said this means war so he ran away. >>> kevin o'leary claimed trump shot a 68 at his florida state the illinois mayors said big deal we kill that many all the time. >>> a wnba star is now on only fans and ma

that mother's letter led to a fiery exchange with democratic senator tim kaine, so republican senatorn jumped in and went after kaine. >> how many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? and then how many senators do you know have got a divorce for cheating on their wives? did you ask them to step down? no. but it's for show. and you want to sit there and say that he is not qualified? give me a joke. >> stephen: i got one! a drunk, a cheating husband, and an accused sexual predator walk into a bar. and the bartender says, "table for one, mr. hegseth?" [cheering] thank you. 2025 is bringing a lot of difficult changes to the country that we all love. for instance, at the end of the month, starbucks will start making customers pay if they want to use the bathroom. what do you mean "start" making them pay? whenever you walk into a starbucks bathroom, you pay a heavy price. no amount of cake pops could ever remove the memory. the rule changes come from new starbucks ceo and man with venti triple-shot jaw, brian niccol. niccol is an experienced fast casual food-trepreneur, because he

one of the chief down and dirty inquisitors was senator tim kaine of virginia who was hillary clinton's running mate in 2016. it was really rough suggesting that egg seth had done all sorts of things wrong. my guess is it didn't score a lot of points. >> thank you so much, appreciated. the question is will he have the votes. jim banks who was in today's hearing, he's coming up. first to the middle east. fox is live in tel aviv with the very latest. >> a cease-fire deal between israel and hamas could be just hours away. an israeli official described this as a critical time period, adding that all sides are close to an agreement. negotiating teams are still meeting in qatar to determine the final details. them spokesmen address the continuing talks saying this. >> what can be confirmed is that the drafts have been delivered to both parties. yes the obstacles to the main contentious issues between the two sides have been overcome and yes discussions are now underway regarding the final details. >> we are gathering more information on what is contained in the draft of this agreement. phase

tim kaine was grilling him on his marriages. he was best friends with bill clinton.ran as hillary clinton's running mate. and bill clinton was accused of rape, exposing himself in sexual plot. he had no problem with his friend but with pete. >> lawrence: pictures of him and doug who likes to be with the nannies as well. that is not a fair thing for him to do. be i like to look at this in two buckets. i look at it as you got to take pete being your friend and you're super proud because he held himself in a way that with those attacks coming his way he could have lashed out. he didn't. he kept his cool. the smirk that i predicted yesterday, the little grin, he did it yesterday. and he really showed his personality. but then you look at him as a nominee and he really separated the room with the elites people part of the military industrial complex the senators and then the war fighters. and it's clear from the crowd that were there. the people waiting outside of the room, he is gonna be the secretary of defense for the people that are on the ground. they never had a voi

that includes this line of questions from virginia senator tim kaine. >> one of your colleagues said you got drunk at an event, at a bar, and chanted "kill all muslims," another said you took coworkers to a strip club, drunk, tried to dance with strippers, had to be held off the stage. and one of your employees in that event filed a sexual harassment charge as a result of it. you claim this was all anonymous. we have seen records with names attached to all of these, including the name of your own mother. >> jimmy: his mother! she was at the strip club? this guy, among his many disqualifying attributes, was reportedly forced out of two different veteran nonprofit groups after allegations of sexual impropriety, personal misconduct, and financial mismanagement. in other words, just the dude you want in charge of an $800 billion budget and the security of the free world. but these republican senators are so scared of donald trump they've been circle jerking the wagons around him, none more so than markwayne mullin of oklahoma, who did not do much to help head off the stereotype about peo

during the hearing, tim kaine grilled hegseth over cheating. because if there's one thing tim hates, it's men who cheat on their wives. i hope he got the hpv vaccine before he did that. i don't even know what that is. kid rock is scheduled to perform at donald trump's inaugural celebration. because of the occasion's historical importance, he'll be wearing his formal wife beater. >> slingshot. >> starbucks customers will now have to buy something in order to use the bathroom, especially if they're leaving a grande. climate warrior. leo dicaprio has fled la on a private jet as the fires continue to rage. he was seen leaving his house with his most prized possessions, britney and amber. in defending his fire. response. governor newsom sent people to a dnc fundraising site. he also defended his homeless policy with a coupon for tents. oh. and onlyfans sex worker claims she was with over 1000 men in 12 hours, breaking the previous record set by the lincoln tunnel. oh. wow. yes. >> i know. >> yeah. mark zuckerberg ordered the removal of tampons from m

are your giraffe nectar about tim kaine above all that fog, which is to spend. so so wrap. >> let's take a look at our 7 day forecast, which is just showing a lot of sunshine after this fog anyways. today should be one of our foggy us mornings that will have other than this is kind of hazy, but it is increasingly warm. take a look at those inland highs tomorrow, getting up into some upper 60's in some cases. so we're taking that mid winters break from the rain. a lot of model showing dry weather and telling the 17th or 18th of the month. i mean, today the 6. so this is a solid, dry stretch ahead of a slight. well, we've got no what stretch, alaska. so it's nice to dry out it. i was wondering if the weather was different. there. >> you and james. right. let's oxygen. and i are in the clouds today, but guys are clouds today, but guys are about later. have a great one. you were shouting at him. -he was shouting at you. -correct. he pushed me to the ground. that resulted in him picking up a weapon. he then grabbed the hedge clippers overhead, and tosses them and hit

senator tim kaine occurred in monterey, california, in october 2017.that time, you were still married to your second wife, correct? i believe so. and you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife. correct? senator, i was falsely charged. i fully investigated and completely cleared. so you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime? that's your definition of cleared. you had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. i am shocked that you would stand here and say you're completely cleared. can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child that had been born two months before? and you tell us you were completely cleared? now, prosecutors in monterey county said they could not come up with enough evidence to charge hegseth. hegseth did pay that woman an undisclosed amount of money. some senators are concerned that hegseth lack of experience is getting lost in the conversation about sex and alcohol. hegseth did serve in the national guard, but

here's more from senator tim kaine's questioning of him. >> the incident in monterey led to a criminal charge, a criminal investigation, a private settlement, and a cash payment to the woman who filed the complaint. and there was also a nondisclosure agreement. correct? >> it was a confidential, confidential settlement agreement off of a nuisance lawsuit. right. >> during an interview, you claim that you settled the matter because you were worried that if it became public, it might hurt your career. do you maintain that you were blackmailed? >> senator, i maintain that false claims were made against me. >> but you didn't reveal any of this to president trump or the transition team, as they were considering you to be nominated for secretary of defense. you didn't. you didn't reveal the action. you didn't reveal the criminal complaint. you didn't reveal the criminal investigation. you didn't reveal the settlement. you didn't reveal the cash payment. why didn't you inform the commander in chief of the transition team of this very relevant event? >> senator, i've appreciated every part of

it didn't feel like anybody could get hegseth on the ropes, with the exception of maybe tim kaine andkirsten gillibrand. but many of them felt like they weren't prepared. they weren't really aggressive, and they didn't ask critical questions like, are you going to put the constitution first? are you going to put donald trump first? i think that's the real core question here, especially if we talk about potential deployment of u.s. troops on u.s. soil, whether or not trump will use them to to tackle the migrant crisis. we're going to face some very real. >> there was a point. i don't want to cut you off, but there was a point. i got to get to this. there was where he was asked whether he'd follow certain controversial laws. and our time is limited. but i want to play for you and the audience. what he had to say about this exchange. listen. >> would you carry out an order from president trump to seize greenland, a territory of our nato ally denmark, by force? or would you comply with an order to take over the panama canal? >> senator, i will emphasize that president trump received 77 mi

and just like senator tim kaine pointed out, but like, it's not we know who the woman is.ow because her name was on the police report when there was a police report filed, and he knows her name because he made out a check to her that he gave to her, and she signed her name on a contract. like, it's not just some source somewhere and a lot of anonymity. >> anonymity is enforced by the nda clause. >> right. >> his the deals that protect him ensure anonymity. and so the fact that these are anonymous sources is not some accident. and as we know you know, there are a lot of reasons why including incredible intimidation and, you know, sort of violence laced pressure and threats against people who would come out and speak on the record about their experiences with him. but it is also true that he himself ensured anonymity when he asked for nondisclosure agreements with perhaps multiple of these people who could be speaking right now. >> one of the things that comes out in your reporting and in some of jane mayer's reporting here, is that, you know, senators genuinely as partizan,

. >> here's another one with democratic senator tim kaine. another colleague, not anonymous. we have this said that you took coworkers to a strip club. you were drunk. you tried to dance with strippers. you had to be held off the stage. >> senator anonymous false charges. >> right. so that last one wasn't anonymous, but i guess my question is just to translate for us when he said anonymous smears. and your colleague senator kelly was saying, just say true or false, and he wouldn't do he wouldn't say true or false. he would say anonymous smears. did anonymous smears mean false? is that what he meant? >> that's what smear means to me. somebody making a false accusation. and so i think, again, he addressed all of those. that's why we have this hearing. the democrats came loaded for bear to try to bloody him up today. nothing changed. he denied any of those allegations that are all anonymous except for, i don't know, the one senator kaine's referring to. but then also the more salacious one about the charges that were never brought by a prosecutor, a female prosecutor who looked

democratic senator tim kaine came back at hegseth on allegations of excessive drinking. >> many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of alcohol or drunk. >> i know you've denied that, but you would agree with me, right? that if that was the case, that would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense. >> senator, those are all anonymous false claims. >> and the totality, they're not they're not anonymous. >> the letters on the record here, they're not anonymous. >> the 44 year old characterized those allegations as a, quote, coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media. hegseth past comments that women should not be allowed to serve in combat roles became a contentious subject at the hearing. >> what a terrible statement. so please do not deny that you made those statements. >> you have hegseth countered that he would be fine with women in combat if they measured up to the same standards as men. >> you're making these gender quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted, and that disparage

seemed to think was able to at least showcase some of the pitfalls to this nomination was senator tim kaineal assault allegation, around the fact that even though there were no charges pressed, that was an instance where hegseth was cheating on his wife. >> so did that work? i mean, are democrats on the hill just kind of grasping at straws? >> they all know where this is going, but i think they were also trying to raise some early red flags. >> yeah, it was a skillful effort to point those things out. i think he did well. but there's this sort of dynamic on the hill, and certainly in this moment where when you were seen as sort of attacking the guy or by proxy attacking donald trump, it turns into a shirts versus skins game, us versus them, and they rally together. and i think that's more of what you saw. and you saw a lot of republican senators rushing to his defense. we are so tribal at this point that that ends up becoming the prevailing dynamic in a way where the, you know, the sort of, i don't know, character flaws question is probably less relevant. if you were supporting donald trump

you saw the exchange between senator tim kaine and hegseth over the sexual assault allegations, uh, thate was involved in. he he was there was some a woman filed a sexual assault, uh, charge against him back in 2017. he reached a settlement with her in 2020. i mean, you would have thought that would be disqualifying. but like you said, you know, joni ernst a victim of sexual assault herself and a former military member came out for, for for hegseth afterward. i don't think there's i feels right now like that nomination is going to be confirmed. hegseth will be confirmed. senate majority leader john thune said he wants to step on the floor as early as next week. they're hoping to get him through next week. i'm sure they'll be able to do that may slide to the following week, but it feels like despite, you know, serious questions about his personal and his professional qualifications, that feels like he's going to be confirmed. >> well, and of course, he got he was defended staunchly by republicans in the hearing, including by markwayne mullin who did it this way. let's watch it. right. >>

virginia senator tim kaine asked him to explain how those allegations reflect on his character. >> you've admitted that it was consensual and you were still married, and you just had a child by another woman. again, how do you explain your judgment? >> false charges against me. you fully investigated, and i was completely clear. you have. >> if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it? >> if it's a false claim, then and a false claim now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be a secretary of defense, wouldn't it? that was a false claim. >> well, perhaps as concerning as seth's refusal to answer whether or not an allegation of sexual assault is disqualifying to lead america's military. senators will ostensibly have to rely on seth's accounting, or lack of accounting. an fbi background check did not interview the woman who accused him of assault in 2017, or either of his ex wives. plural. joining me now is a member of the armed services committee, senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. senator, thank yo

but time and again, and it really was highlighted by tim kaine. me of the most disturbing incidences. and pete hegseth background, and pete hegseth would call them anonymous smears. and then senator kaine would follow up and say, well, actually, they're not. these are whistleblower reports, and we have names attached to these whistleblower reports. yeah. mark kelly said the same thing. he also, mark kelly brought up a really good line and basically said, if you've had this road to damascus, damascus experience, where you've had this great. conversion, that's inconsistent with you saying it never happened before, that it was anonymous smear. so it's trying to have it both ways. but i am curious, why is it that the american people were not able to see those whistleblower reports that would have attached names to these deeply disturbing incidences for a lot of americans? and instead he could just say something that was obviously a lie when he said, they're anonymous smears, because, again, as senator kaine and others said, they weren't anonymous smear

well, senator tim kaine had said without question the names we haven't seen, the names i haven't seen the names. they sure didn't. they sure didn't mention the names. they said they had one person, one name that had said that. pete has been adamant from day one that it is an outright lie. now, if no one is willing to put their name on it, and no one is willing to come forth on it, and believe me, they had plenty of time to come forward. they've all known this. then all it is is a smear campaign. and that's exactly what it was. yeah. >> and on the other part of the hearing that really focused on him being qualified for the job, in addition to the allegations made against him. you know, you have been an aggressive questioner of nominees in the past over whether or not they were qualified for the it was for the undersecretary of the air force. i just want people to listen to to how you've questioned candidates before. >> i'm just looking for qualifications. you didn't give me any qualifications. you gave me your history, your story. but what makes you qualified to be the undersecretary o

chair, former governor tim kaine, now senator. both of us have some things in common.were governor bus before that we were both mayors. mayors only get things done by being collaborative and inclusive. so for arkansas let me run through a 100-day plan that will make every member of the deform n.c. and their county chairs truly respected and heard. of then first tai i'll reassert our commitment to the economic security of every family in america. i'll name a transition share chair. i will announce the standing up of two new sector, the action stat center and the center for digital communications at the d.n.c. i'll announce on day two that i will be holding county chair town halls, this came from former d.n.c. chair david wilhelm, in every single region of the state. and we will listen to each other. we will hear and we will learn from each other. i will appoint an after-action commission with the dispassionate deep dive on what we failed to co-in the last election and be open and transparent about it. i will appoint a task force on by day 10 on open and transparent gove

there was a lot of aggressive questioning from these democratic senators, in particular, senator tim kaine himself really was drilling down on those allegations against pete hegseth and his acknowledgment that he did have a sexual relationship with the woman who later accused him of sexual assault, that it was at the center of that agreement. he has denied that it was sexual assault. but really, the outcome of that hearing that you just watched there play out for a few hours, rises and falls with the republicans on that committee. so i was paying very close attention to their questioning. and senator joni ernst, who maybe was the most watched republican senator on this committee, started her seven minutes by entering into the record a letter that had a very positive recommendation of pete hegseth. now, she did ask him about sexual assault in the military and a promise to appoint someone to essentially have a senior role in the pentagon to oversee that issue, that she herself has personally worked on. but then it was when senator elizabeth warren was asking her questions, and she was asking

senator john also told cnn he would vote to advance to of the bill in and a spokesperson for senator tim kaineaid the senator was still reviewing the legislation, so that is what is happening in the house and senate. the first bill passed in the 19 congress looks like it is headed for passage in the senate, as well. the house took action yesterday to punch the court over its case against gaza and benjamin netanyahu, the bill instructs the president to freeze property assets and deny visas to any foreigners who are materially or financially contributed to the courts efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person. protected persons is defined as current and former military and government officials of the united states, and allies who have not consented to the court's jurisdiction, such as israel. this is the international criminal court. so that action taking place in the house yesterday. let's hear from armando, hawaii, republican, on the hush money case. the sentencing hearing in new york, 9:30 a.m. eastern time today. good morning. caller: good morning antigua to give