confirmation hearings are crucial. it s no accident that a co-equal congressional branch has the final say on this crucial appointment. the senate not only decides whether to approve the attorney general, it can require that this attorney general under oath will back up bob mueller. and we know that because it s happened before. this is very important. president nixon appointed former pentagon chief elliot richardson to be his attorney general in 1973. according to james doyle, an insider who worked on the watergate prosecutor s staff, nixon cast richardson as a symbol of integrity to save the administration in a time of crisis. richardson was nominated to run the doj at a crucial time for watergate. the question was whether the doj would really be allowed to probe into that white house. now, today barr s nomination comes at a crucial time for the russia probe. the question is whether the doj will really allow mueller to follow the facts he finds.
all 51 of its f 35 fighter planes after a routine inspection found a cracked engine blade. it is the most expensive war plane ever. the pentagon plans to buy 4500 of them for $10 billion. the f 35 is the subject of our quote of the week from a piece in time magazine. former pentagon chief weapons tester tom kristi saying there s always this sexual drive for a new airplane on the part of each service, persistent, urgent and natural. it was reported this week the pentagon is now investigating the former s.e.a.l. six team member who admitted in an interview with esquire magazine he was the one who killed osama bin laden. the pentagon is looking into whether any classified information was leaked in the now controversial article. joining me now, the man who interviewed the shooter, phil bronstein, executive chairman of the center for investigative reporting. phil, welcome. nice to see you. thanks for having me. let s get your reaction first of all the pentagon