CNN WIRE -- Contentious Hegseth confirmation hearing: VIDEO

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% : "CNN has reported that Hegseth privately encouraged Trump during his first presidency to pardon some servicemen who were convicted of war crimes.
36% : But Trump has stood by his pick, and skeptical GOP senators have largely backed down amid a concerted campaign among Trump-allied activists to target Republicans who oppose his nominees.
34% : Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, asked Hegseth whether he would support the use of waterboarding, pointing to a past quote in which he said that people like Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, would be willing to use waterboarding to keep the US safe.
31% : ""What became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us," Hegseth said, adding that the allegations were an attempt to through him to smear Trump, "who's had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time.
27% : Hegseth dismisses allegations as 'coordinated smear campaign'Hegseth, an Army combat veteran and former host of "Fox and Friends Weekend," told senators that Trump chose him to be defense secretary specifically because he's not like the defense secretaries of the past several decades.
19% : Trump later pardoned two service members - Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn and 1st Lt. Clint Lorance - and restored the rank of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who had been demoted.

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