are once again in a fluid situation covering what is day four of the former Fox News weekend Morning Show Anchor's attempt to win over skeptical Senate Republicans at least six of them according to NBC news's reporting are quote not comfortable supporting his bid to lead the Pentagon putting heges candidacy quote in Peril Senate Senator Joanie Ernst who is viewed as Central to all of this today confirm that she is as of today not a yes on his confirmation will you support his nomination well I did have a very long lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday and
I do appreciate his service to the nation I also am a combat veteran so we talked about a number of those issues and we will continue with the vetting process I think that that is incredibly important so again and all I'm saying is we had a very Frank and productive discussion and I know that we will continue to have conversation in the upcoming months okay it doesn't sound on your answer that you've gotten to a yes if I'm wrong about that correct me um and if that is the case it sounds to me as if
the hearing will be critical um for his nomination am I right about that I think I think you are right in fact the nomination is so much imp Peril that we are monitoring this closely we will be for the next two hours for any sign that heg say status as Trump's First Choice to run the Pentagon could change or as has been widely reported that Donald Trump has changed his mind and tapped one of his alternates someone like Florida Governor Ronda santis who according to four sources Trump is already quote in advance talks with about
taking the job so far hexa attempt to win over key Senate Republicans is not going very well case in point as we showed you Joanie Ernst who is the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate and a vocal advocate for survivors of military sexual trauma here's more of what she had to say after meeting with heg Seth yesterday suiz it was a very will you support Mr nomination it was aank and conversation did he ask me for your vot speically thank you when you met with Gates you said he brought up some of the
allegations against him did said bring up any of these things it was a very thorough conversation also conern concern Frank and thorough conversation and as Politico reports and know from Senator Joanie erns may be enough to end heg say's bid altogether so we'll keep watching her this is that reporting though quote when it comes to Pete heges bid to be the next Pentagon Chief each Senator gets a vote but one vote matters more than the others Heth can afford to lose only three Republican votes in the Senate before his nomination would fall apart assuming Democrats
remain unanimously opposed it is unclear how many others would take her cue but her status as the Senate's first female combat veteran and track record on the issue of military sexual assault gives her added influence and credibility but you do have to hand it to heg he says he's still going for it full steam ahead do you feel like you're making progress in these meetings uh great meetings uh I appreciate the process Senators uh give great advice and this is how the process works it's not going to be tried out here M it's going to
be discussed uh inside the offices how we rebuild our military put the war Fighters first that's what Donald Trump president Trump has asked me to do and that's what we'll continue to do are there any circumstances where you would withdraw from this process I'm here with the support of President Donald Trump uh as long as he supports me which he told me this morning I'll be here and we know Donald Trump supports people like Pete heg in these situations 100% of the time right up until he does not at all shortly before we came on
the air Pete hegseth emerged from his meetings with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill here's more of what he had to say I'm a different man than I was years ago and that's a Redemption story that I think a lot of Americans appreciate I will answer all of these Senators questions if this will not be a process tried in the media I don't answer to anyone in this group none of you not to that camera at all I answer to president Trump who received 76 million votes on behalf and a mandate for change Pete heg Seth
in his own words on a Redemption tour it's where we start today with some of our most favorite reporters and friends with me at the table NBC News correspondent Von Hillyard joins us and Democratic strategist and professor at Columbia University MSNBC political analyst basil Michels here also joining as former Republican Congressman MSNBC political analyst David jol's here um Von Hillyard um there are a lot of things about Pete hegseth that Trump likes the the TV Persona being one of them I'm guessing the toxic male aura another one of them um but there is many things
now that he doesn't like um the accounts as recently as one month ago from our colleagues at um from our NBC News colleagues reporting from 10 sources current and former employees of Fox News about him being um drunk and smelling of alcohol until moments before he went on the air that's something that Donald Trump doesn't like and I think that this is a conversation that should be around Donald Trump's judgment let's be very clear this isn't about Pete Heth to a great degree this is about Donald Trump making decisions from his gut in haste without
consultation without FBI background checks Donald Trump feels like he won this election and the American people told him that he should move forward and proceed with the Band of Brothers who he believes he can best run this Administration through and that's exactly what Donald Trump did in those first two weeks filling out this cabinet with people like Pete heg SE though with very little outside counsel and frankly it was in that 48 Hours leading up to the decision to nominate Pete Heth that I was having conversations with sources colleagues of ours here at NBC News
were as well and Pete hex's name was nowhere to be seen and it was a surprise announcement when he turned to him because nobody had anticipated that and now Donald Trump is the one bearing the consequences of his judgment and his haste in which he made that decision what's interesting is that Donald Trump described his to the degree he had a guiding philosophy in 2016 for picking a cabinet as choosing quote all the best people um that's not anything he said about any these people and he does seem to be for this as in your
words Band of Brothers until he's not I mean we haven't heard Matt Gates I mean his only job today is is as a cameo offering um he's for people until he isn't and and I wonder what you sense and and as a as sort of um someone who knows Trump and knows what what sort of the push and pull is um if you have any sense of what trajectory this nomination on this is also to kind of answer your question Nicole is oftentimes I've been having conversations about around who comes next and who comes in
year three and year four of the Trump administration because as you said this is not 2017 Donald Trump the pool of people that he has to choose from is very very very small because he is looking for people that are loyal that he has Full Faith and confidence will do whatever he says that he wants them to do in the case of Pete Heth what he wants to see the military do and then you also are looking for people that he respects that's also a small pool of people and people that sort of you could
justify to a certain extent being qualified he's not looking for experts by and large look I mean nothing against Matt Whitaker but he has no experience to be the ambassador to NATO uh and Brook Rollins to be the secretary of agriculture Linda McMahon to be the Secretary of Education so that's even low on the list so for him people that are loyal and who he respects it's actually a very small pool of people and frankly when you look at the backup alternatives to Pete Heth those are people Ronda santis Joanie Ernst uh Bill Hagerty those
are folks that don't necessarily exactly fit that mold so that's my question if he doesn't get Pete hegseth then who does he turn to and then who does he turn to and year three and year four because we've seen a history of secretaries through his first Administration leave within a year or two
