Importantly, we will hear from the new fbi director Christopher Wray who has been in the middle of several washington fire storms, plural, fire storms with an s. This is his first real public appearance since the release of the memo alleging fbi abuses in the russia investigation over his objections. What will he say about that and about the holdup in releasing the democratic response . Will he reveal new information about why he pushed out former Deputy Director andy mccabe. Then the brand new controversy, the claim from the white house that his people, the fbi people, are the reason that dozens of west wing staffers still dont have security clearances. That came up as a result of the deepening mess of response from the white house of former staffer rob porter accused of Domestic Abuse. Theyve clarified little and confused a great deal. Cnns abby phillip has the latest on that. Reporter good morning, john. Were one week into the contingency over rob porter and the Domestic Abuse allegations. Theres still a lot of confusion about the timeline as more information and the more that the white houses allegations dont hold up. After the daily mail published those photographs, huddling with reporters and rob porter to give his side of the story. That contradicts what we heard from Sarah Huckabee sanders at the podium yesterday when she insisted that the white house acted quickly. Meanwhile, theres still more that we are hearing from porters exwives, specifically his exwife Colbie Holderness wrote an op ed in the Washington Post in response to what we heard from kellyanne conway, counselor to the president , over the weekend. Kellyanne made comments about hope hicks, the White House Communications director suggesting she was strong and capable of handling herself in a romantic relationship with rob porter. Holderness says, while i cannot say im surprised, i expected a woman to do better. She continues to say being strong with excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts does not inoculate a person against abuse. It doesnt prevent her from entering into a relationship with an abuser. Its worth noting, kellyanne on social media late last night responded to holderness. She suggested that she had actually agreed with that sentiment, that she believes strong women can be in relationships where there is abuse present, but clearly this white house is having a lot of trouble dealing with this controversy after seven days. Theres still a lot of questions unanswered about who knew what, including white house counselor don mcgahn who we know according to sources was told about these allegations months ago. Again, john, these questions are going to continue well into the day today. The timeline continues to be in flux. The timeline is a mess, abby phillip at the white house, especially with the new reporting thats out. Joining me, dana bash, cnns chief political correspondent. Patrick healey cnn political analyst and Mary Katherine ham, cnn political columnist. We just got it confirmed, and i think its significant, that after the photo of one of rob porters exwives was released the photo was public, Sarah Sanders, the press secretary, sets up an offtherecord meeting with rob porter accused of Domestic Abuse so porter could tell his version of the story to several reporters there. Despite what she was saying at the podium about trying to push him out within 40 minutes of this stuff going public, the white house now we learned is trying to spin their way out of this, even after the photo was released. Dana, this is a problem. For now, Sarah Sanders. There are so many problems. As you said, the timeline and the reality of what theyre saying now about the swift action that they took versus the reality of what was going on and the fact that kaitlan collins, our White House Correspondent just confirmed that Sarah Sanders brought in four print reporters to speak off the record to rob porter to get his side of the story on wednesday. Wednesday being the day that these photos came out. The photos came out online wednesday morning. Of course, it flies in the face of the notion that john kelly is running around arguing that he took swift action. It just does. It just does. They were in defiance mode, in defense mode, they were in were going to fight this mode until the obvious expected overwhelming outrage that this guy was still there took hold and was made clear inside the white house. Mary katherine, not only is there a timeline problem here, but theres also an appropriateness problem here which is that the response from the white house, Sarah Sanders now, was to help rob porter essentially explain this evidence of abuse. It wasnt to question rob porters story, it wasnt to push rob porter out. It was to amplify his version. Right. This is sort of a bizarre move to bring these folks in and have this off the record. But it illustrates, as often with this team, this bunker mentality where her priority was to hear from porter. Their priority was trumps priority is to talk about porter and how this has been hard for him after this came to light. Look, you can vet allegations and you can decide if someone has gotten an amount of due process. In this case we have plenty of evidence. We have photographic evidence contemporaneous reports, several of them talking to fbi representatives for security clearances. Its not like theyre just gabbing with friends here. This is a level of seriousness that was not taken seriously. Its because that was their priority, was him. And its them picking a side. Showing them picking a side even after the photo was released. I guess its surprising to me, this new little piece of evidence really shows where their mind was even after, as far as i can tell, they knew just about everything there was to know. Patrick healey, your take on this. Willingness by the white house to spin Domestic Violence allegations, thats what were now talking about. Basically the white house was so determined to put forward a version of events that they werent even willing to deal with the allegations, to deal with the photos as they were, but instead putting rob porter in front of reporters to sort of create an alternate timeline. The white house knew exactly what it was doing. Don mcgahn and john kelly had known for months that at least there were allegations that were holding up a permanent security clearance for rob porter. They knew that these allegations at least were sufficient concern to the fbi to be, at the very least, sort of slow walking a security clearance process. Yet, even when the photo comes out, even when you see the black eye on a woman, maybe they didnt know that woman. Maybe they knew rob porter very well and didnt know this exwife, but they were still creating essentially a situation where john, dana, we certainly know were put into rooms for offtherecord briefings basically to get a spin of a version of events. We know were being spon. Its audacious. Dana, youve been on the phone with people surrounding this white house overnight. This morning, do they think at this point that theyre getting out ahead of this store i have ri . Do they they theyre handling it well . How do they they theyre doing here . Poorly, poorly. Theyre remarkably selfaware on that note. But what struck me, i was talking to one trump adviser outside the white house who was talking at this point in terms of the political ramifications, less about the Domestic Violence which, lets be honest, is potentially huge, but also about something that were maybe talking less about which is the security clearance issue, and more importantly, a nepotism issue. Here is what i mean by that in patricks paper this morning there was a story about jared kushner, this was brought to the fore, a reminder hess doesnt have his permanent security clearance. In that story it notes that perhaps part of the reason people didnt kind of shake the trees and raise questions about rob porter who was handling sensitive papers all day long not having his permanent clearance is because, by doing that, it raises the obvious question about jared kushner. Hes the president s soninlaw and that puts everybody in an uncomfortable position. This trump adviser noted that this idea of nepotism, at least in internal polling, is off the charts. People do not like it. Mary katherine, we did hear from Colbie Holderness, the first wife of rob porter, the one in the photo with the black eye. Let me read you the first statement. Monday White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders declined to say whether he believes willoughby and me. While i cannot say that im surprised, i expected a woman to be better. Im sorry she had to write that. Shes been thrust into the National Spotlight by the white house failure to deal with this through the proper channels. Theyre suggesting maybe they dont believe her. The praising of her exhusband was off the charts in the early going even though they had all this evidence saying were better for having known him. Here is the deal. Someone like this, as with his wives and many other coworkers can trick a lot of people for a long time and look great in the workplace and be different behind closed doors. It can be a dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde situation. Once you know mr. Hyde exists, stop praising dr. Jekyll. The white house totally unable to do that. At this point now that we have this increasing timeline were developing from our reporting here and we know what we know here to quote hamilton and what the white house is doing about it is just increasingly surprising. Dana bash, patrick healey, katherine ham, thanks for for being with us. Well hear from fbi director Christopher Wray on the latest on the russia investigation and the criticism of the fbi itself. Christopher wrays first public statements in a long time. This will be fascinating. Lets get right to manu raju on capitol hill. Reporter thats right, the first time Christopher Wray will have weighed in publicly about the nunes memo drafted by the house intelligence chairman devin nunes alleging fbi misconduct in the russia investigation. Christopher wrays agency put out that statement eviscerating that memo, saying it was misleading and had grave concerns about it. Well hear from Christopher Wray about the concerns he still may have about releasing that memo. In addition, what does he think about the democratic rebuttal adam being reviewed right now by the House Intelligence Committee after the white house rejected its declassification, what does Christopher Wray think about that. Beyond that, a much broader hearing focusing on worldwide threats. One of the major threats that members of this committee will undoubtedly ask about is russia. It will be once again these Intelligence Committee chiefs pushed to ask about their views, concerns about russia and whether or not theyre concerned that russia may try to interfere in the 2018 midterms, and whether or not the country is taking adequate protections to ensure what happened in 2016 does not happen in 2018. Watch for this dividing line of sorts to play out between the president s intelligence chiefs and the president himself about that line hes taking against russia and whether or not the president is taking a firm enough line. Well see in a matter of minutes. Manu raju, stalking senators as they head into this important hearing. Thanks so much on that. The hearing begins in moments. We will bring it to you live. First, the white house insists that the president supports abuse victims, but we have not heard him say it. Hes had multiple opportunities. He also has this thing called twitter. Were going to hear from republican senator joni ernst of what she makes of the administrations response next. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Intrtechnology withnema. Incredible color, sound and streaming. Just as the creators intended. Up to 40 off at dell. Com the im grapgs debate set to begin in the senate shortly. The president weighing in. He said this is the last chance to fix daca before the march 5th deadline. That deadline actually doesnt exist until a court weighs in. Joining me, senator joni ernst, republican from iowa. You were one of the sponsors of a bill which largely mirrors the white house framework, his socalled pillars on immigration. You support it because you say this will help the dreamers like one who in your home state of iowa who wanted to join the National Guard. Absolutely. I met a young lady at the clay county fair in iowa. She approached me and said she was a daca recipient. We were standing by a National Guard recruiting booth. She said i had spoken to a recruiter a number of months ago and i was not able to sign up. She said i love this country, i want to serve my country, this is the only country i have ever know known. Id like to see her find her pathway to citizenship. If she can do that through the military, we want to help her with that. Some democrats say the problem with your proposal is the limits it puts on legal immigrati immigration, family reunification. You have to get to 60 votes. Anything is going to have to get to 60 votes in the senate right now. Would you be able to make some concessions to democrats on this in order to get to 60 votes. I do think were at a very good starting point right now. We know this will be an open debate process. Leader mcconnell has promised that. Were at a good starting point. It mirrors what the white house has already proposed. Im okay with starting there. Maybe there will be concessions along the way. I think what we have right now is a very good plan. Id like to see that plan move forward. Senator, when you were in college, you volunteered at a Womens Crisis Center in aims, iowa. Ive seen you quoted saying oftentimes i felt angry, frustrated and helpless, wishing there was more i could do to stop this from ever happening to them, to women again. Given your own personal experience with this issue with battered women, how would you assess how the white house has handled the Domestic Abuse allegations against former key staffer rob porter . Im not sure of the internal workings of the white house and when they found out what they found out. Im extremely disappointed in this situation. Abuse is never okay. It is never okay. And so i feel very bad for those women. I am glad that they have come forward and again, not understanding the internal dynamics of when was this discovered. We know that rob porter is now out of the picture. But i just want to reemphasize to everybody that abuse is never okay. We need to send a very clear signal that it wont be tolerated and it wont be tolerated with our employees. Is the president sending that signal . I think he needs to send a stronger message, a stronger message. We need to allow women and men that have been abused to come out, make sure their stories are heard and believed. He hasnt said enough yet, in other words. Id like him to come out a little bit stronger on that. We just learned moments ago even after the photo of Colbie Holderness, rob porters first wife was released with a black eye, after that the White House Press secretary set up a briefing where rob porter could tell his version of the story, apparently justify that photo and other things to reporters. Your reaction to that . I think you cant justify it. You cant justify that. And you believe the women . I do believe the women, yes, i do. Senator, i want to move on to another subject because youre very clear on this. Just to be Crystal Clear here, you want to see more from the white house. Do you support a congressional investigation into what happened . Its possible that could be looked into. But how much time are we focusing on those employees, or should we be focusing on other things on a federal scale . We can raise this issue and talk about this issue and encourage awareness, but we also have National Security issues going on that we really need to focus on. We have north korea, iran, china, russia, things that im also very passionate about that we need to focus on. We have a lot of spending issues. But obviously we do want to raise that awareness. But congress does need to be focusing on the federal priorities as laid out by the constitution. There may be a National Security issue here as well given that rob porter could not get a full security clearance, was working on a temporary one. You brought up federal spending. This is a good time to talk about the president s budget. I was looking at your senate website. You said were already more than 20 trillion in debt. Our children and grandchildren deserve better than more debt from washington piled onto their future. Given your stance on the debt and deficit, i assume you oppose the budget that the president released yesterday because it projects deficits going forward. Yes. We continue to look through that, sift through that information as the budget has been put out. We do want to see that budget balanced at some point. Were not seeing that clearly. Again, well continue sifting through the president s priorities, but again, its up to congress to make those determinations on how we move forward. The president is required to put out a budget, but it is up to congress to set that budget and move forward. Senator joni ernst from iowa, thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you for your candor on several different subjects. Thanks. Minutes from now the fbi director will be on capitol hill as his agency faces scrutiny from both republicans and the president. We have not heard him speak publicly about this in some time. This will be fascinating. Plus were moments away from the opening bell on wall street. It could be another wild day for the markets. Look at this. After yesterday where there are gains, today we see red down arrows. The market could be in for another down day. Stick around. Letsfist word that comes to mind when you think of lowcost futures trading. Was it happy . What about a dedicated service team with futures licensed specialists . And what about being able to react to the 24hour futures market with integrated trading across web and mobile . Still happy . Good. Then its time for power etrade. The platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. Etrade. The original place to invest online. 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Now thats beautiful with 150 hours of usa events in stunning 4k. 50 olympic channels dedicated to all the mustsee moments, and the ability to find anything with the sound of your voice. [ upbeat music playing ] show me bobsled. Catch all the action. Every moment, every medal, every screen. X1 is the ultimate olympic winter games experience. Youre looking at live pictures from capitol hill. This is the senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Youll hear from three chief whose have already testified, answered questions from the special counsels team. Let us talk about what were going to see. Dana bash is back with me now. Manu raju, karoun demirjian, and former fbi director josh, i want to start with you. The issue of Christopher Wray who has been in the middle of it the last several weeks in washington on several issues. Lets start with the controversy surrounding the memo. Theres the republican memo alleging fbi investigations in the russia investigation, the democratic memo that hasnt been released and the fbi under attack frankly. What does the director need to say in your mind about that as he sits here today . These hearings typically start out focusing on worldwide threats in general and then quickly hone in on whatever the issue of the day is. Today we have many issues of the day. First and foremost, the memos, the security clearance issues weve talked about. What i hope people dont lose sight of is the fact that a foreign adversary meddled in our election. I hope they spend a lot of time on that as well. I suspect the director will go into detail on those issues. He doesnt strike me as the kind of person who is going to get in a tit for tat or some kind of food fight with partisans. I think we can expect for him at least to tell what the bureaus side is in all of this. Again, a lot of this is not just for the public, but also for the rank and file. Dana bash, i was going through some of your greatest reporting hits there are too many to list here. It was last june where you and others reported that two of the people testifying here today, that would be dan coats, director of National Intelligence and mike rogers, the nsa director, in closed door meetings with some of the senators who will be questioning them now, that they said the president asked them to admit publicly or state publicly that he was not the focus of the russia investigation, and they felt uncomfortable. They thought it was strange that he was asking that, but they didnt feel pressured in any way. That was last june. So much has happened since then including them talking to the special counsel we should say. How do you see this going today . They have been asked about that reporting in public and both of them have, in various way, punted the answers to that. It seems like last june was a thousand years ago because of the volume of really unbelievable news. I think that that could be a question. But i think the other issues we cant lose sight of is just yesterday the White House Press secretary put the blame on rob porters security clearance issues, on Jared Kushners security clearance issues, on others, according to cnn reporting, 30 people working with interim clearance, put the blame on the fbi and on the Intelligence Community. We know because we have immediately done reporting and explained publicly that thats not how it works, its the white house that makes the decision on clearance after getting information from the fbi. So now you have the fbi director and heads of the Intelligence Community in a public hearing. It would be hard to imagine they dont correct the record and basically beat back that story line coming from the white house. Karoun, this is a chance for democrats to make a political statement here, to make an argument, if you will, about where they see things going, not just in russia, but also to danas point there, the security clearance issue thats sproutd up at the white house. Where do you see democrats going . Youve seen on multiple fronts, whether the security clearances at the white house, the questions on the memos, democrats and republicans are engaged in a war of accusations over whether the gop is trying to basically poke knowles and undermine the faith people have in the fbi and the department of justice to do their jobs. Chris wray is going to be in the hot seat for right now. Hes also going to be there and be a figure that democrats can foipt and try to defend the fbi. So you may see a lot more of this debate happening across either side of the dais than necessarily with the people, the Agency Directors there to testify because, again, the parties are in open conflict right now over whether they think the fbi is doing a good job and whether they think the problems that people are highlighting with the fbi go all the way to the top or not. These intelligence officials have just walked into the room right now. This hearing will get under way shortly. The way this will work, well hear from the chairman, the ranking member. Well also hear from the director of National Intelligence who will walk us around the world to talk about worldwide threats to the United States. And then the questions start. Once the questions start, whatever this hearing was supposed to be about, i think largely goes by the wayside. Phil mudd has parachuted in to this discussion, joins us right now mid talk. Phil, dana was bringing up the idea of now, despite russia, despite Everything Else going on with the fbi, the issue of security clearances because of rob porter might be something focused on. If youre sitting in the chair as the fbi director, you cant take the bait. Youre supposed to be talking about issues like north korea, like russia, like china. I expect thats what the Opening Statement will focus on. One of the interesting things to me, john, will be the contrast just a few years ago when a lot of the focus would have been on counterterrorism. I think well see something of a pivot. Watch Christopher Wray, i predict his answers on things like the memo will be short and factbased. I dont think hes going to take the bait. That will be a mistake and i dont think hell take that bait. Richard burr, the chairman of the committee. Lets listen in. Id like to welcome director of National Intelligence dan coats, director of the Central Intelligence agency mike pompeo, director of the defense Intelligence Agency general robert ashley, director of the federal bureau of investigation chris wray, director of the National Security agency, Admiral Mike Rogers and director of the geospatial Intelligence Agency robert cardillo. We have a long day in front of us. I thank you all for being here. I know how forward you look to this one occasion on an annual basis. Since 1995, this committees met in open forum to discuss the security threats facing the United States of america. This has never been nor will it ever be a comfortable conversation to have. The threats this country face are complex, evolving and without easy answers. They exist in multiple domains. Theyre asymmetrical and conventional. They can be launched from across the ocean or be planned in the heart of our homeland. Nonetheless, this conversation serves a vital purpose. And its essential it takes place in the Public Square with as much detail and candor as is possible. In my view, that is the true value and Public Service of this hearing. It provides the American People with insight that they just dont normally get. Those insights are about the spectrum of threats were up against as a nation, but importantly those insights are also about the work the Intelligence Community does to push back on those threats. This is work that both time and labor intensive. It can be frustrating, heartbreaking and dangerous. Its often thankless, but because of the tireless dedication and patriotism of men and women who make up our Intelligence Community, it gets done on behalf of the American People every single day. To this point i encourage all the witnesses this morning to not only address the threats to our nation, but to talk about what their organizations are doing to help secure this country, and to the degree they can, in an unclassified setting. Director coats, your testimony for the record ties together the expertise, capabilities and wisdom of the entire Intelligence Community. I encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with its content. Its lengthy and its detailed and is a testament to the broad range of talents our ic brings to the table. Its also a compelling reminder of why this country invests so substantially in its intelligence apparatus. Director pompeo, when we held this hearing last year, i invited you to share your assessments of things on the korean peninsula. Im going to ask you again for your insights on the state of north Koreas Nuclear and missile program, and importantly, whats going on politically with north koreas leadership. Perhaps you can help us differentiate between a genuine effort to reconcile with south korea and an opportunistic attempt to drive a wedge between washington and seoul. General ashley, the work just never seems to end form our defense department. I would value your latest assessments of the battlefield situations in afghanistan. Last year we came under fire in eastern syria. This prompted a retaliatory strike that killed dozens of pro regime forces. In afghanistan, a series of attacks in kabul left 150 dead last month, suggesting to me after 16 years of war the insurgency is nowhere near folding and the government remains hard pressed to provide the security needed for its own people. I particularly value your unvarnished appraisal of where progress is being made in afghanistan and where its not. Admiral rogers, cyber is clearly the most challenging threat vector this country faces, also one of the most concerning given how many aspects of our daily lives in the United States can be disrupted by a wellplanned, wellexecuted cyber attack. Id appreciate your assessment of how well were doing when it comes to protecting the nations most critical computer networks, from the systems that guide our military to the networks that ensure the Nations Energy supply. They are all essential to a functionality of a modern america. I fear theyre increasingly vulnerable to state and nonstate actors. Director wray, im keenly interested in hearing your assessment of the threat posed by the spread of Foreign Technology in the United States. This committee has worked diligently to sound the alarm bells when it comes to the counterintelligence and security risks that come pre packaged with the goods and servicesvend. The focus for me today is chinese tell. Com widely underis stood to have extraordinary ties to the Chinese Government. I hope youll share your thoughts on this, and i also ask you to provide your insights into how foreign commercial investment and acquisitions are jeopardizing the nations most sensitive technologies. Lastly id like to spend a moment on the counterintelligence threat to our National Academic research and laboratory construct. Whats the scale of the problem and whats the fbi doing to fight it . Finally, director cardilla, weve come to associate nga with the modernization of the Intelligence Community. The adversaries of this country are investing in innovation faster and with fewer constraints than we are. The threats we face are multidimensional, decentralized and global. Ngas play an essential role in pushing the envelope with new ways of tackling problems like having more data than you can feasibly analyze. As the ic edges closer to automation, Machine Learning and eventually artificial intelligence, the computer learning and Computer Vision work at nga will be a bridge to help us get there. I look forward to your thoughts on whats next at nga and how the Intelligence Community as a whole can make better use of innovations and technologies to advance intelligence disciplines that have not changed much in the past 60 years. Our adversaries arent going to wait for us to catch up. Ill close there because we have a lot to get to. I want to thank you, and more importantly i want to thank those who are not here with you, those who carry out the lions share of the work on behalf of the American People, the Intelligence Community, the folks you represent are important to this committee. We cant do the oversight without the work they per form. Before turning to the distinguish advise chairman, id like to highlight for my colleagues, we will reconvene at 2 30 this afternoon in a closed session to hear from the same witnesses in a classified setting. I would ask members to reserve anything that remotely gets into a classified question for the afternoon session. With that, vice chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Let me, also, welcome all of you here and echo the chairmans comments. Thank you all for your service. We hope you will convey back to all the brave men and women who work for you that this committee will always have your back. I think this open hearing comes at an extraordinarily important time. Our nations intelligence agencies stand at the forefront of our defense against continuing threats from terrorist groups, extremist ideology, rogue regimes, Nuclear Proliferation and regional instability. We all know, and weve discussed this at length, in recent years weve also seen the rise of nations who view themselves at least as competitors, if not as adversaries of the United States. They began to utilize new asymmetric weapons to undercut our democratic institutions, to steal our most sensitive intellectual property. Let me start with russia. Obviously certain questions remain with respect to the tru x extent of the russian interference of the 2016 elections. Well continue to work through these in a bipartisan way on this committee. However, i think youll find a broad bipartisan consensus on this committee on a number of critical issues. First, that russia engaged in a coordinated attack to undermine our democracy. Second, that effort included targeting of state and local elections. Electoral activities in 21 states. Third, the russian effort in the new area, utilized our social media platforms to push and spread misinformation at an unprecedented scale. Weve had more than a year to get our act together and address the threat posed by russia and implement a strategy to deter further attacks. I believe, unfortunately, we still dont have a comprehensive plan. Two weeks ago director pompeo publicly stated he has every expectation that russia will try to influence our upcoming elections. Secretary of state tillerson just last week said were already seeing russian efforts to medal in the 2018 elections. But i believe in many ways were no better prepared than we were in 2016. Make no mistake, this threat did not begin in 2016, and it certainly didnt end with the election. What we are seeing is a continuous assault by russia to target and undermine our democratic institutions, and theyre going to keep coming at us. Despite all this, the president inconveniently continues to deny the threat posed by russia. He didnt increase sanctions on russia when he had a chance to do so. He hasnt even tweeted a single concern. This threat, i believe, demands a whole of government response, and that response needs to start with leadership at the top. At the same time other threats to our institutions come from right here at home. There have been some aided and abetted by Russian Internet bots and tlols who have attacked the basic integrity of the fbi and justice department. This is a dangerous trend. This campaign of innuendo and misinformation should alarm all of us regardless of our partisan affiliation. In addition to this on going threat from russia, im concerned that china has developed in all of society, not just all of government, but all of Society Approach to gain access to our sensitive technologies and intellectual property. Im paying a great deal of attention to the rise of chinas tech sector. In particular, im worried about the close relationship between the Chinese Government and Chinese Technology firms, particularly in the area of commercialization of our Surveillance Technology and efforts to shape telecommunication equipment markets. I want to ensure the ic is tracking the direction that chinas tech giants are heading, and especially the extent which they are beholding the the Chinese Government. In recent years weve seen major technologies firms whose rise is attributed in part to the elicit access of u. S. Technology and ip. These companies now represent some of the leading Market Players globally. Most americans have not heard of all of these companies, but as they enter western economic markets, we want to ensure they play by the rules. We need to make sure that this is not a new way for china to gain access to sensitive technology. There are a number of other concerns i hope to raise both in the hearing this morning and in the closed hearing this afternoon. Let me just briefly mention two. First, how is the ic poised to track foreign influence that relies on social media and misinformation . Just last week the chairman and i had a good meeting with our uk parliamentary colleagues investigating this issue. Russian trolls and bots continue to push divisive content both in the United States and against all our allies in europe. Not only the uk, but as weve talked before, france, germany, the netherlands. Weve also heard recent indications of russian activities in mexico. The ic needs to stay on top of this issue. Im worried we dont have a clear line of assignment. Let me also raise another issue. I believe we need to do more to reform the broken security clearance system which gao recently placed on its list of highrisk Government Programs in need of reform. Weve seen close to 700,000 folks now waiting in line, folks that need to serve our country, whether in government or in the private sector who have just been waiting way too long to get their security clearances. Its obviously hampering your recruitment and retention, and its costing us millions of dollars in inefficiency. Again, thank you to all of you for your service. Please convey our best wishes to the men and women who work with you. I look forward to our hearing. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, vice chairman. Im going to recognize director coats. He is the only one who will give official testimony. All members of the panel are open for questions. I will recognize our members by order seniority for up to five minutes. With that, director coats, the floor is yours. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I want to start by apologizing for my raspy voice. Ive been fighting through some of the crud thats going around that several of us have endured. I may have to clear my throat i may have to clear my throat a few times, which i apologize for. It strikes me as listening to your opening remarks and the vice chairmans opening remarks excuse me that we have continued to have a very interactive presence with this committee. The issues that you and the vice chairman have raised and that others will raise are issues we talk about continuously with you and we want to continue to work with you carefully, both sides of the aisle here, as we go forward looking at what the Intelligence Community can provide for this committee and the issues that we find in common. Vice chairman warner, members of the committee, we thank you for the opportunity to be with you here today. There have been some changes on the panel since we were here last year. This will be admiral rogers last visit before this committee and the threat assessment issue. He deeply regrets not having to come before you in the future years as hes enjoyed this process very much. Considering the emeritus status so he could be annually invited back. We have two new members, director wray and general ashley, who have been look forward to this day, im sure, with great anticipation. And so i say all that because what you are looking at here is a team. A team that works together, in terms of how we provide the American People and our congress and policymakers with the intelligence that they need. So it is an honor for us to be here and i think this team reflects the hard work the Intelligence Community in their testimonies and their answers to questions today. Before i begin the sobering portion of my remarks, let me take a moment to acknowledge a positive development for Intelligence Community and express our thanks to members of this committee for their support in the renewing of the authorities, the recent 702 authorization. This is, as we have told you, our more important legislative issue because it is our most important collection issue against Foreign Terrorists and threats to america and we appreciate the work that the committee has done and others have done and particularly this team has done in reaching in reaching that goal. As you will hear during the remarks, we face a complex volatile and challenging threat environment. The risk of interstate conflict is higher than anytime since the end of the cold war, all the more alarming because of the growing development in use of weapons of mass destruction by state and nonstate actors. Our adversaries as well as the other maligned actors are using cyber and other instruments of power to shape societies and markets, International Rules and institutions, and International Hot spots to their advantage. We have entered a period that can best be described as a race for technological superiority. Against our adversaries who seek to sew division in the United States and weaken u. S. Leadership. And nonstate actors, including terrorists and criminal groups, are exploiting weak state capacity in africa, the middle east, asia, and latin america, causing instability and violence both within states and among states. In the interest of saving time for your questions i will not cover every topic in my opening remarks. I think that will be of relief to the committee. We are submitting a written statement, however, for the record with additional details. Let me turn to global threats. And id like to start with cyber the cyberthreat, which is one of my greatest concerns and top priorities. Frankly the United States is under attack. Under attack by entities that are using cyber to penetrate virtually every major action that takes place in the United States, from u. S. Businesses to the federal government to state and local governments, the United States is threatened by cyberattacks every day. While russia, china, iran and north korea pose the greatest cyberthreats, other nation states, terrorist organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and ever more technically capable groups and individuals use cyberoperations to achieve strategic and malign objectives. Some of these actors including russia are likely to pursue even more aggressive cyberattacks with the intent of degrading our Democratic Values and weakening our alliances. Persistent and disruptive cyberoperations will continue against the United States and our european allies, using elections as opportunities to undermine democracy, sew discord and undermine our values. Chinese Cyber Espionage and cyberattack capabilities will continue to support chinas National Security and economic priorities. Iran will try to penetrate u. S. And allied networks for espionage and lay the ground work for future cyberattacks. And north korea will continue to use cyberoperations to raise funds, launch attacks and gather intelligence against the United States. Terrorists will use the internet to raise funds and promote their maligned messages. Criminals will create cybertools to finance their operations. My next topic for you is weapons of mass destruction. The wmd. Overall, state efforts to modernize, develop or acquire wmd, their Delivery Systems or the underlying Technologies Institute a major threat to the United States and to our allies. North korea will be the most volatile and confrontational wmd threat in the coming year. In addition to its Ballistic Missile tests and growing number of Nuclear Warheads for these missiles, north korea will continue its longstanding chemical and biological warfare programs also. Russia will remain the most capable wmd power and is expanding its Nuclear Weapon capabilities. China will continue to expand its weapons of mass destruction options and diversify its nuclear arsenal. Irans implementation of the joint comprehensive plan of action has extended the time it would take to develop a Nuclear Weapon from several months to about a year provided iran continues to adhere to the deals major provisions. Pakistan is developing new types of Nuclear Weapons including short range, tactical weapons. And state and nonstate actors including the Syrian Regime and isis, the remnants of isis in syria, continue to possess and in some cases have used chemical weapons in syria and iraq and we continue to be concerned about some of these actors pursuit of biological weapons. Turning now to terrorism, the terrorism threat is pronounced and spans the sectarian spectrum from isis and al qaeda to Lebanese Hezbollah and other affiliated terrorist organizations as well as the state sponsored activities of iran. U. S. Based home grown violent extremists have including inspired and selfradical individuals, represent the primary and most difficult to detect sunni terrorism threat in the United States. Isis claimed of having a functioning caliphate that governs populations is all but thwarted. However, isis remains a threat and will likely focus on regrouping in iraq and syria, particularly in ungoverned portions of those countries, and enhancing the global presence, championing its cause, Planning International attacks, and encouraging members and sympathizers to attack their home countries. Meanwhile, al qaeda almost certainly will remain a major actor in global terrorism as it continues to prioritize a longterm approach and the organization remains intent on attacking the United States and u. S. Interests abroad. Now, moving on, as if we dont have enough threats here on earth, we need to look to the heavens, threats in space. A Global Expansion of the space industry will extend space enabled capabilities and Situational Awareness to a nation state and commercial space actors in the coming years. Russia and china will continue to expand their spacebased reconnaissance, communications and navigation systems, in terms of numbers of satellites, breadth of capability and applications for use. And both russia and chinese counterspace weapons will mature over the next few years as each country pursues antisatellite weapons as a means to reduce u. S. And allied military effectiveness and perceptions of u. S. Military advantage in space. Final topical functional topic is transnational organized crime, which poses a growing threat to u. S. And allied interests. These criminal groups will supply the dominant share of illicit drugs fueling record mortality rates among our population. They will continue to traffic in human life. They will deplete National Resources and siphon money from governments and the global economy. Id like now to briefly go around the world on reasonable topics starting with east asia. If you went out and hired a private plane, and launched it from los angeles, and went around the world and stopped at every hot spot in this world, you would make multiple dozens of stops. Thats the kind of threat that we face. But let me start with east asia. North korea