What we're covering
• Three hours of intense questioning: Sen. Markwayne Mullin testified before a Senate committee to be the next Homeland Security secretary. Sen. Rand Paul, who accused the Oklahoma senator of having “anger issues,” said he will not vote to confirm Mullin. Paul threatened to cancel tomorrow’s committee vote on Mullin’s nomination entirely over allegations of stolen valor.
• What Mullin said: Mullin admitted he made a mistake calling Alex Pretti, the Minnesotan killed by immigration officers in January, a “deranged individual.” Mullin also said he would scrap Kristi Noem’s controversial FEMA policy requiring her personal signoff for any spending request over $100,000.
• Global threats hearing: Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s intelligence chiefs testified before a Senate hearing about the Annual Threat Assessment, the first such report not to mention foreign threats to US elections since Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the Iranian regime “appears to be intact, but largely degraded.” You can follow CNN’s live coverage on Iran here.
Here's what was said — and not said — about the Iran war in today's global threats hearing
Nearly 20 days since the war with Iran began, President Donald Trump’s intelligence chiefs testified before a Senate hearing about the Annual Threat Assessment.
Democratic senators avoided asking the intelligence chiefs — which included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel — about the resignation of Joe Kent, a high-ranking Trump appointee who stepped down yesterday citing misgiving about the US war with Iran.
Here’s some of what Gabbard said about the war:
- When asked whether US intelligence determined Iran posed an “imminent nuclear threat,” Gabbard said it’s not her job to determine what an “imminent threat” is, but the president’s.
- The director dodged questions about whether she was asked to brief Trump on the possibility of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz prior to the US launching military action against the country.
- Gabbard said the US intelligence community assesses that the Iranian regime “appears to be intact, but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified to lawmakers Wednesday that the intelligence community believes the Iranian regime is intact, "but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities."
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Jennifer Hansler and Sean Lyngaas contributed to this report.
Intelligence chief and CIA director take different approaches at worldwide threats hearing
The Senate’s Worldwide Threats hearing offered a study in contrast between Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who appears concerned about saving her job by not showing any daylight with the White House, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, whose position appears more secure in the administration.
Gabbard’s testimony omitted a part of the Intelligence Community’s assessment that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” by last year’s US and Israeli bombing campaign — a omission noted by Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the panel.
She dodged and weaved to not contradict President Donald Trump’s claim that the reason for the current war with Iran was because of an imminent threat from Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump and other officials have been frustrated with Gabbard’s performance, CNN has reported, and her survival in the job has been the subject of speculation. That was revived with the public resignation by her closest aide, Joe Kent, who criticized Trump’s decision to go to war against Iran, which he said posed no imminent threat to the US.
Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 partly on an anti-war platform, and she specifically opposed war with Iran.
Ratcliffe didn’t attempt to avoid contradicting the White House on another important aspect of the Iran war. US intelligence agencies have assessed that the Russian government has provided some support to Iran, including drones and targeting from their satellites, to assist in attacks on US military targets.
Asked about that assessment recently, Steve Witkoff, the president’s top negotiator with Iran, said the US had asked the Russians, and Vladimir Putin had denied providing such assistance. Witkoff said he took Putin at his word.
Ratcliffe, asked Wednesday about the claim, said he did not take Putin at his word and offered to provide more detail in the next classified hearing.
Sen. John Fetterman leaning yes on Mullin but won't say for sure
Sen. John Fetterman says he will maintain an open mind on Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security but would not definitively say if he will back his nomination.
Fetterman’s vote is crucial given chairman Rand Paul is a “no” on the nomination.
“I came up with an open mind, and I’m going to maintain that that was always my commitment to do that,” Fetterman said.
Asked if he was leaning one way or another, Fetterman said, “I haven’t been rocked by some kinds of mic dropping, kinds of moments, for sure.”
He also suggested that he wasn’t moved by Paul’s comments on Mullin’s attacks against him.
“What happened to my colleague from Kentucky is terrible. Political violence is awful, and he was in the hospital in pain. No one wants that kind of thing. You know, all I’ve I ever mind is when, when I was in the hospital, you know, I was touch and go and, you know, I know there were unkind things said, but I’ve let all that go. And that’s why Sean O’Brien was here, because they let it go. That’s just part of, like the moment that we’re in right now. We kind of just find a way forward and just kind of let things go. That’s their prerogative not to. But he’s here for that reason, and that’s why I have an open mind as well, too.”
GOP Sen. Rand Paul will vote against Mullin's nomination
Sen. Rand Paul said that he will not vote to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin as Secretary of Homeland Security, after Mullin refused to apologize during his confirmation hearing for saying he “understood” why Paul’s neighbor violently attacked him in 2017.
Paul, the panel’s chairman, accused Mullin of having “anger issues,” and said that his comments about violence set a bad example for a department whose reputation has been marred by accusations of excessive use of force, pointing to ICE.
“I think there are anger issues. I think there’s a lack of contrition, both about the violence that was perpetrated on me, really the violent episode involved in the Senate committee where he’s told the media frankly that he doesn’t regret it,” said Paul, referring to Mullin’s apparent willingness to physically fight a witness during a 2023 hearing.
“The fact that he can’t bring himself to say that, you know, really, we shouldn’t settle political questions with violence, I think that would be a terrible example for ICE and for our border patrol agents,” added Paul. “We’re in the midst, I think, of a crisis where there needs to be more direction from the top, and a guy who brawls, a guy who can’t even say he’s sorry about, you know, wishing violence on me and really applauding the attack that happened on me, can’t come to say that? I don’t know how he could, from my point of view, be a leader of ICE or border patrol.”
Paul added that he believed asking Mullin to apologize for his comments should have been an easy question, recounting how the 2017 attack affected him. “I still remember lying in bed not being able to get up, having to have a rope tied to my bed to try to pull myself up. I had three ribs that were completely snapped in half. So, the ribs rubbed on each other for three months. My lung was damaged such that they had to remove a part of it. I coughed up blood for a year. So no, I don’t think highly of people who think that that’s okay. And really, this is sort of a lowball question.”
Near the end of the hearing, Paul had threatened to cancel the committee’s vote on Mullin’s nomination, scheduled for Thursday, if Mullin did not meet with the top committee members in a classified setting to explain what Mullin has called a “misunderstanding” about allegations of stolen valor. Pressed on this, Paul said they could go ahead with tomorrow’s vote if Mullin is “forthcoming.”
“We have an agreement now to go over to a classified hearing and hear about his classified mission that, you know, hasn’t been fully detailed to anyone. If that goes as planned and is forthcoming, I still plan on having a vote tomorrow.”
Gabbard denies handling ballots during Fulton County warrant execution
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard denied handling ballots when she was present at the FBI’s seizure of 2020 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, and she said that the FBI evidence truck that she was photographed standing in was “empty.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff asked Gabbard a number of pointed questions about her involvement in the search.
He said that the committee is probing her involvement in election-related activities, while revealing that Gabbard’s general counsel and deputy general counsel had provided testimony for the inquiry.
The committee’s chair, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, cut the Geogia Democrat off in the midst of his questioning because his time had run out.
Gabbard said that President Donald Trump made the request that she observe the seizure on the day of the search, but she declined to say how that request was communicated to her.
Takeaways from the worldwide threats hearing
Top Trump administration officials testified publicly Wednesday about the buildup to the Iran war for the first time since the start of the conflict three weeks ago.
The testimony was much-anticipated given the administration’s often-confusing and contradictory conduct of the Iran war and presentation of the underlying intelligence.
The testimony also came a day after the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, became the highest-profile Trump administration official to resign over the war. Kent did so while suggesting the administration had lied about Iran posing an imminent threat.
So what did we learn? Some takeaways were:
1. The intelligence officials repeatedly either contradicted or failed to back up Trump’s claims about the Iran war.
2. There wasn’t much support for Trump’s claim Iran was an “imminent” threat.
3. Democrats avoided focusing on Kent, specifically.
4. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard failed to clear up much of anything about the controversial January search of a Fulton County, Georgia, elections office.
Mullin hearing ends after three hours of intense questioning
Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing on his nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security has ended, after a little over three hours of intense questioning from Democrats and the committee’s Republican chairman.
While Sen. Rand Paul had at one point threatened to cancel the committee vote on Mullin’s nomination, scheduled for tomorrow, as he wrapped the hearing the chairman said the committee’s markup on the nomination is still scheduled for Thursday morning.
Mullin says he will cooperate with DHS inspector general, who alleged obstruction under Noem
Sen. Markwayne Mullin said during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he would cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog, which has complained about the lack of such cooperation during Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure.
Asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal whether Mullin would specifically cooperate with the Inspector General’s inquiry into DHS’s expansive spending on advertising campaigns and the contractors and subcontractors who benefitted from them, Mullin responded that he would “do everything that’s required of me by law” including providing documents and records to the watchdog.
In a letter sent to senators earlier this month, DHS’s inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, said the agency had “systematically obstructed the work” of his office.
Paul threatens to cancel committee vote on Mullin's nomination over stolen valor allegations
Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul threatened to cancel tomorrow’s committee vote on Markwayne Mullin’s nomination unless the Oklahoma Republican provides more information on classified travel he claims relate to a “misunderstanding” over allegations of stolen valor.
Earlier, Mullin, who has no history of serving in the US armed forces, said he had been asked to train with a “very small contingency and go to a certain area” around 2016. Aspects of that training and trip, he said, were classified. But he chalked up accusations that his previous statements about serving overseas amounted to stolen valor to a misundertanding.
Paul and the top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Gary Peters, said they would like Mullin to answer their questions about the issue in a classified setting.
Eventually – after Sen. James Lankford accused Paul and Peters of making “a mountain out of a mole hill” – Mullin said he would be able to speak with them after the hearing.
Sen. Britt defends Mullin’s nomination after contentious exchange with Sen. Paul
Republican senators defended Markwayne Mullin’s handling of his confirmation hearing for the Homeland Security Secretary role, which saw him engage in a contentious back and forth with the panel’s GOP chair.
The chair, Rand Paul, repeatedly implored Mullin to apologize for his past comments that he “understood completely” why Paul’s neighbor attacked him in 2017. Mullin declined to apologize, instead acknowledging he was a “very blunt” person and suggesting the pair set aside their differences.
GOP Sen. Katie Britt leapt to Mullin’s defense while addressing reporters, insisting the hearing should focus on protecting the American homeland.
Asked by CNN whether he should have apologized, Britt replied, “This is about the homeland. This is about protecting our homeland,” before going on to attack the Biden administration’s handling of the border.
“We know right now that people in our country are potentially at stake because of that failed leadership. Today’s hearing should be about securing our border, making sure that we continue to protect our homeland,”Britt said.
She praised him as an “incredible” man. “He has tenacity, he has heart and he has a vision.”
Sen. Rick Scott remarked Mullin and Paul were both “passionate people.”
Pressed on whether Mullin should have apologized, Scott responded, “I think up here, you’ve always got to be careful. We’ve got to argue over policy rather than personalities. And so I think that’s what ever — we ought to be doing up here.”
The Florida senator said he would be “surprised” if Mullin’s nomination failed to advance out of the committee, even with Paul’s distaste for Mullin.
Republicans currently have a one-vote margin on the panel. Even if Mullin loses Paul’s vote, the nomination could still advance if Republicans can earn the vote of a Democrat on the committee. That Democrat might be Sen. John Fetterman.
Fetterman told CNN on Wednesday he’d have an “open mind” about Mullin’s nomination, and noted he’s only said positive things about Mullin.
Ratcliffe: Hatch Act would prohibit CIA director from giving private national security briefings for fundraising
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said promises from a Trump fundraising email of “private national security briefings” for donors would violate the law, were he to participate.
The email, first reported on by CNN’s KFile, which was sent by Trump’s political action committee, says donors will “receive my private national security briefings, unfiltered updates on the threats facing America” as well as “the straight truth on border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.”
When asked about this email, Ratcliffe said he didn’t know what the “document is, but regardless what it says, it didn’t happen.”
“I’m telling you is that the Hatch Act would prevent me from — in a political role — from engaging in that,” Ratcliffe said when asked about the fundraiser email. “I’m not aware that anything like that happened.”
The Hatch Act prohibits members of the executive branch, minus the President and Vice President, from engaging in many forms of political activity.
The fundraising email also used an image of Trump taken during Saturday’s dignified transfer honoring six fallen US soldiers who died in the conflict with Iran, CNN previously reported.
Mullin says accusations of stolen valor are a “misunderstanding”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who has no history of US military service, on Wednesday addressed accusations that his previous, vague statements about serving overseas or smelling war amounted to stolen valor.
Mullin said the controversy around his statements amounted to a “misunderstanding.” The Oklahoma senator told Sen. Gary Peters during his confirmation hearing to serve as Homeland Security secretary that he was asked to train with a “a very small contingency and go to a certain area” around 2016.
As part of that trip, Mullin said, he participated in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training, which he simultaneously described as “kind of fun” and “absolutely awful.” He said aspects of that training and trip were classified.
Peters, the top Democrat on the committee, also confronted Mullin about cryptic comments he made during a Fox News interview earlier this month, during which he said war “smells bad.”
“So where did you smell war?” Peters asked.
Mullin again responded that his answer would be classified.
Later during the hearing, Peters again pressed Mullin on the classified aspects of his travel, and said Mullin should clarify the matter in a secure setting. Rand Paul, the panel’s GOP chairman, also pushed Mullin on the topic.
“You’ve not been forthcoming with me or this committee,” Peters said. “The story always seems to evolve, to kind of change. And as you know, candor, honesty, transparency are absolutely critical, particularly at this time, to try to build trust as the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
Mullin vows to install a permanent head of FEMA
Sen. Markwayne Mullin said that if confirmed to serve as Homeland Security secretary, the administration would put forward a nominee to lead FEMA for Senate confirmation — something it has yet to do thus far.
The administration has instead cycled through three DHS officials who have headed the agency in an acting capacity.
“We’re already looking at some (potential nominees) in the case that we do get confirmed,” Mullin told lawmakers. “We’re making that a priority.
Mullin added that the agency would be adequately staffed to respond to disasters, even as the administration has cut a significant share of FEMA’s workforce.
Mullin's comments on immigration enforcement suggest a closer alignment to Homan
Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s comments today about immigration officers working more closely with local law enforcement agencies suggests a return to traditional operations conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, instead of broad immigration sweeps as seen under outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
White House border czar Tom Homan has similarly focused on targeted immigration enforcement operations – and doubled down on that approach following the deaths of two US citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Mullin’s remarks reflect the type of reset that some Trump administration officials are hoping for between the Department of Homeland Security and Homan, a veteran immigration enforcement officer.
Mullin says he would eliminate one of Noem’s most controversial policies at FEMA
Sen. Mullin told lawmakers that, if confirmed to head DHS, he would scrap one of Secretary Kristi Noem’s most controversial policies: a requirement that any spending request over $100,000 receive her personal signoff.
The strict rule has created significant problems at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where CNN sources have warned for months it is slowing operations and the agency’s ability to respond to disasters.
Mullin told lawmakers he “agrees” the policy has only added more red tape inside FEMA.
When asked directly if he would eliminate it, Mullin responded: “Absolutely. That’s called micromanaging. And I don’t know if [Noem] put that in or someone else did. I’m not a micromanager. We put people in and empower them to make decisions.”
Noem instituted the policy last June. Since then, billions of dollars in FEMA funds – meant to help communities recover from disasters and prepare for future ones – have been tied up awaiting approval.
The policy delayed FEMA’s response to deadly floods in Texas last July, and earlier this month, CNN reported that search-and-rescue teams were “flying blind” after a contract for a critical tornado-tracking tool lapsed while awaiting signoff from Noem’s team.
Gabbard says she did not “participate” in FBI 2020 ballot seizure in Georgia
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard denied that she was participating in a domestic law enforcement action as she was grilled on her presence at the execution of an FBI search warrant at the Fulton County, Georgia, election center.
“I did not participate in a law enforcement activity, nor would I, because that does not exist within my authorities,” Gabbard told Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“I was at Fulton County, sir, at the request of the president and to work with the FBI to observe this action that had long been awaited. I was not aware of what was in the warrant or was not in the warrant.”
Warner pressed Gabbard on why President Donald Trump wanted her there and how he knew a warrant was going to be executed in Fulton County, which covers Atlanta, the target of some of Trump’s most aggressive efforts to reverse his 2020 defeat.
Gabbard said she is not aware that Trump knew of the FBI’s affidavit justifying the search – which did not make any claims of foreign election interference – before it was served.
Mullin says uniformed officers would only go to polling places if there is a “specific threat”
Pressed by Sen. Elissa Slotkin on whether he would place uniformed officers at polling places, Sen. Markwayne Mullin would not rule it out, though he was clear that he would only do so if there was a “specific threat,” and that they would work with local law enforcement.
“The only reason why my officers would be there [is] if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation,” he said.
The idea that ICE or other federal agencies might send officers to the polls in this year’s midterm elections has become a source of concern among Democrats as well as some state and local election officials, who fear such a move might frighten some voters away from casting ballots.
“I can’t sit there and guarantee hypothetically what threat would be or not,” Mullin replied, when asked why he wouldn’t rule out that option, “If there is a threat, a specific threat — say it’s in a Jewish community, and there is a threat that’s specific to that, to that polling area, then we will work with local law enforcement. There’ll be a reason for us to be there, and it’ll be known why we’re there.”
Slotkin also asked Mullin, who voted against certifying the 2020 election in the aftermath of the January 6th attack on the Capitol, whether former President Joe Biden won that election.
“We know that President Joe Biden was sworn into office. He was the president for the last four years, but I do believe my job as Department of Homeland Security Secretary will be to make sure that we assure that the elections are fair and people can trust them,” said Mullin, without directly answering the question.
Mullin also championed the president’s voter ID and proof of citizenship bill that the Senate is debating this week.
Mullin: ICE should not be on the "front line"
Immigration officers should not be on the “front line” in American cities and instead should be used in a “transport” role that coordinates with local law enforcement agencies, Sen. Markwayne Mullin said Wednesday.
Mullin’s comments during his confirmation hearing to become the next Homeland Security secretary indicates he is seeking a different approach than the outgoing secretary. Under Kristi Noem’s leadership, immigration officers deployed to several American cities and carried out highly visible, sweeping and scrutinized immigration operations.
Mullin said he would like to see the agency work more closely with local law enforcement and have officers going to pick up undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes from local jails.
Gabbard doesn't fully explain her presence in Fulton County
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s appearance before lawmakers today did little to help explain why she was on site for an FBI search of a Fulton County, Georgia, elections office earlier this year.
Her presence at the search drew scrutiny as her job generally involves coordinating with US intelligence agencies overseas and not in domestic law enforcement matters and could imperil any cases that come out of the search.
It also didn’t help that the administration has given a series of conflicting explanations for why she was at the scene. Gabbard said today that she was in Fulton County at the request of President Donald Trump.
At the National Prayer Breakfast, however, Trump said Gabbard was there at the request of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“The media asked, ‘Why is she doing it?’ Right, Pam?” Trump said. “Because Pam wanted her to do it, and you know why? Because she’s smart.”
It would also be highly unusual for the president to be aware of any law enforcement activity before it happened and so Trump’s potential involvement in a search related to elections has also raised questions.
Trump has long been fixated on debunked claims about the 2020 election in Fulton County. His involvement in the case and Gabbard’s presence on the scene of a search could compromise any criminal cases that are brought in this matter as defense attorneys could file motions claiming vindictive prosecution.
Mullin grew emotional talking about his son during confirmation hearing
Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin grew emotional this morning as he discussed his son during his appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Saying the homeland security secretary needs to have “integrity,” Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson asked Mullin to share a story about where his loyalty to President Donald Trump originated.
Mullin told the panel that it stemmed from the way Trump changed the trajectory of his son’s life after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2020 that caused him to lose most of his memory and muscle control.
“We almost lost him. For 26 hours he had an extremely low pulse. There was a time that they thought they lost his pulse all together,” Mullin recounted.
Mullin said that after hearing of this, Trump frequently followed up with him and his son, offering to send his “personal plane” to bring his son to a top neurorehabilitation center. Mullin emphasized that this was all happening during a contentious election cycle.
“That one incident jogged his memory, and from then on he started retaining things,” Mullin said of his son, adding of Trump: “We’ve been friends ever since.”
