In part, Senator Cotton said:

“Today is a very important occasion. The Intelligence Committee typically has only one open hearing a year, for the intelligence chiefs to speak to the American people. What we are going to hear today is that even though the world is still dangerous place, it’s safer for America than a year ago, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the good work of the men and women in the intelligence agencies, our military and our Congress. And second, that these agencies have gone through a lot of reforms here to get back to their core mission of collecting intelligence that helps us protect our nation. And those two things are related, there is a reason why we have been successful in the intelligence space over the last year is because the agencies are going back to those core missions. I think it’s a very important hearing for the American people to hear once a year from the chiefs of our intelligence agencies.”

Senator Cotton’s full interview may be found here and below.

Brian Kilmeade: Senator, do you echo Joe Kent’s beliefs?

Senator Tom Cotton: No Brian, of course not. Today is a very important occasion. The Intelligence Committee typically has only one open hearing a year, for the intelligence chiefs to speak to the American people. What we are going to hear today is that even though the world is still dangerous place, it’s safer for America than a year ago, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the good work of the men and women in the intelligence agencies, our military and our congress. And second, that these agencies have gone through a lot of reforms here to get back to their core mission of collecting intelligence that helps us protect our nation. And those two things are related, there is a reason why we have been successful in the intelligence space over the last year is because the agencies are going back to those core missions. I think it’s a very important hearing for the American people to hear once a year from the chiefs of our intelligence agencies. At a critical time when you have those attacks last week, and you have sleeper cells who are supposed to be enacted and awoken, I guess there is pressure on the FBI there. 

Kilmeade: Do you feel as though that Tulsi Gabbard going to be questioned heavily because Joe Kent was her aide?

Senator Cotton: Well I expect she will be Brian, she’s the director of national intelligence which is the nominal head of the intelligence community, but of course we have many other witnesses there as well like John Ratcliffe and Kash Patel and I think what we are going to hear is the great work that our intelligence agencies did to help enable our military success in the Maduro raid or in Operation Epic Fury.

I also think we are going to hear some rebuttal of the spin from democrats and the media about the eminence of the threat from Iran.

Iran has been an eminent threat to Americans for 47 years. Was it eminent in the days before they took over our Embassy in 1979 and held more than 50 Americans hostage for more than a year. Or did the 200 marines think it was eminent when they woke up in their barracks in Beirut 1983, right before Iranian operatives blew it up. What about the thousands of soldiers who were maimed or murdered by Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran is a revolutionary regime that has been killing Americans for 47 years, and President Trump is absolutely right that we cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons nor can we allow them to have a vast missile arsenal behind which they can reconstitute their nuclear weapons program. 

Kilmeade: When you look at where we are at right now, 2 weeks into this, we just took out another high ranking official Larijani yesterday, along with the Basij command, your thoughts on where we are at in this battle? 

Senator Cotton: So far it has been a smashing success of a military operation, there is a lot of work left to be done. But we are systemically, methodically, deliberately dismantling Iran's military, we have sank its navy. Steadily degrading its missile forces, drones, as well as its manufacturing ability to reconstitute those forces. Now it is a big country with a large military. But the end state is Iran is defanged and neutered and can no longer threaten Americans. For Democrats to criticize the action as a quagmire, and we have a already failed, is akin to criticize Eisenhower to not being in Berlin two weeks after D-Day. 

Kilmeade: How much more difficult does it make when you have the media not reporting but seeming against the mission?  

Senator Cotton: Well, it is disheartening to see American reporters and American news publications, in effect rooting against our troops and the success of their mission. We have succeeded in uniting the civilized world against Iran. Even some the Arab neighbors who have traditionally tried to broker peace with Iran are now with the United States in this coalition. The only people taking the side of Iran here are American liberals.  

Kilmeade: Chairman Cotton we look forward to your hearing today.