
Becerra expected to face heat over lack of experience but stress his personal and professional history at confirmation hearing
CNN
President Joe Biden's nominee for the nation's top health position Xavier Becerra will stress his upbringing as a son of a Mexican immigrant, his father's recent passing and his history expanding health care access during his time as a longtime congressman and California's attorney general, in a pitch to senators at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, according to his prepared opening statement first obtained by CNN.
"I am here because my parents Manuel and Maria Teresa -- who had only their health and hope when they settled in Sacramento -- were tireless believers in earning the American Dream," Becerra plans to say in his opening statement. He would be the first Latino HHS secretary and served as the first Latino California attorney general. "We lost my dad last year on New Year's Day. When the end came, my Dad knew we were there with him -- at his side, in our home. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of Americans haven't had that closure this past year. That, senators, is why I'm here today," he is expected to say.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









