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自民党最终获315席 单独超三分之二为战后首次

发布/2026年2月9日 10:45 / 联合早报

2月8日，日本东京自民党总部正在统计大选结果。 （路透社）

日本第51届众院选举全部465个议席星期一（2月9日）清晨均已确定。自民党获得315席，单独超过三分之二（310席），取得压倒性胜利。

共同社报道，“中道改革联合”大败，从167席减少至49席。与自民党联合执政的日本维新会由34席增至36席，国民民主党从27席增至28席。

参政党从2席增加至15席。首次参加众院选举的“团队未来”一举获得11席。此前均为8席的共产党和令和新选组分别减少至4席和1席。

自民党成为战后首个获得众院三分之二以上议席的单一政党。尽管执政党在参院议席数未过半，但即使法案在参院遭否决，也可凭借众院三分之二以上赞成再次表决通过并使之成立。首相高市早苗将尽全力落实自民党选举承诺以及与维新会的联合执政协议。

中道的联合党首野田佳彦星期天（8日）在电台节目中暗示将引咎辞职。联合选举对策委员长马渊澄夫等该党干部以及枝野幸男落选。

“减税日本·优国联合”从5席减少至1席，日本保守党未能守住议席。社民党首次在国政选举中未能取得议席。无党派人士获得5席。

女性候选人有68人当选，较2024年大选减少5人。

共同社的统计显示，推定投票率为56.26%，可能比上次选举高出约2个百分点。

在2月举行众院选举是1990年以来时隔36年首次，共有来自11个政党等的1284名候选人参选。

For the first time in decades, the world’s two largest nuclear superpowers are no longer bound by any treaty limiting their arsenals.

The last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, known as New START, expired Thursday.

[WORLD ENTERS UNCHARTED ERA AS US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR TREATY EXPIRES, OPENING DOOR TO FASTEST ARMS RACE IN DECADES]

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An unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III sits inside a missile silo at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, July 9, 2025.(Staff Sgt. Michael A. Richmond/U.S. Air Force)

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The lapse removed limits on how many nuclear weapons Washington and Moscow could deploy on missiles, bombers and submarines, and ended the requirement that both sides notify one another whenever nuclear weapons were moved.

The scale of what’s now unconstrained is vast.

Globally, there are more than 12,200 nuclear weapons spread across nine nuclear-armed nations, according to a recent analysis. The United States and Russia alone account for roughly 10,636 of those weapons.

[NO LIMITS, NO INSPECTIONS: US AND RUSSIA FACE POST–NEW START ERA AS TRUMP PUSHES NEW NUCLEAR DEAL]

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While the exact size of each country’s arsenal is closely guarded, below is a breakdown of estimated nuclear stockpiles, based on data from the Federation of American Scientists.

[CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP]

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Russia and the United States account for the lion’s share of world’s nuclear weapons.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Ahead of the New START agreement’s expiration, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (a badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future.”

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He has previously argued that China should be included in any new agreement with Russia, pointing to Beijing’s growing nuclear arsenal, the world’s third largest after the U.S. and Russia.

Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.

Lawmakers locked in standoff over ICE reforms as DHS funding deadline approaches

February 8, 2026 / 5:13 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — Republicans and Democrats in Congress are locked in a standoff over reforming the nation’s immigration enforcement operation as a deadline to reach a resolution and fund the Department of Homeland Security approaches.

Last week, Congress passed a package of funding measures to reopen the government and fund the bulk of agencies through September after a four-day partial shutdown. The stalemate came amid a dispute over funds for DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Lawmakers ultimately approved a stopgap measure to keep the department funded — but only through Feb. 13.

The short-term funding patch was designed to give lawmakers more time to negotiate how to rein in the administration’s immigration’s enforcement operation, which came under scrutiny after two deadly shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis last month. But so far, the two sides appear far from an agreement.

Senate Democrats submitted draft legislation of the DHS funding measure to Republicans, multiple sources confirmed CBS News. The legislative language reflects Democrats’ proposals to reform ICE as outlined in a letter last week from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries .

Schumer and Jeffries released a list of demands last week to impose “guardrails” on DHS, including by restricting immigration agents from wearing masks and requiring them to display an ID and use body cameras. They also demanded agents be banned from entering private property without judicial warrants, along with requiring agents to verify that someone is not a U.S. citizen before holding them in immigration detention, among other things. Republicans were quick to criticize the demands as “unrealistic and unserious.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer hold a news conference on Jan. 8, 2026. Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Asked Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether there are negotiations going on about the proposed reforms, Jeffries said Democrats haven’t heard back from the White House or Republican leaders in Congress about the demands.

“In our view, the ball is in the court right now of the Republicans,” Jeffries said. “Either they’re going to agree to dramatically reform the way in which ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies are conducting themselves so that they’re behaving like every other law enforcement agency in the country, or they’re making the explicit decision to shut down the Coast Guard, shut down FEMA and shut down TSA, and that would be very unfortunate.”

If lawmakers are unable to come to an agreement on how to fund DHS or approve another short-term measure to keep the department funded, funding would lapse for the agencies it oversees on Feb. 14, and shutdown procedures would be expected to begin. But immigration operations would continue, since ICE and CBP received an influx of funds in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Still, Jeffries said “we need to press forward aggressively and ensure that there are legislative changes enacted as part of any DHS spending bill, because that’s the way that you change behavior.”

The New York Democrat argued that “these are common sense changes,” citing the demand for body cameras, judicial warrant requirements and a no-mask policy for agents, among other things.

Republicans have appeared open to some of the proposed policies, including the mandatory body cameras and bringing an end to roving patrols. But some of the demands are red lines for the GOP.

Rep. Tony Gonzales on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 8, 2026. CBS News

Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican who appeared on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday, said “there are some things that make sense, there’s a lot of things that don’t.”

“Just a few days ago, this was a bipartisan vote, and all of a sudden, now the Democrats are trying to hold the country hostage,” Gonzales added.

Gonzales said any deal on DHS funding will not include “amnesty for illegal aliens” or “stripping away protections for law enforcement officers that are trying to protect themselves.” He said “if rioters get to wear masks, then law enforcement gets to wear masks as well.”

The Texas Republican also expressed opposition to requiring judicial warrants, which is a key point of contention between Republicans and Democrats so far. Under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, a search on a U.S. citizen is prohibited unless there is a warrant issued by a judge. The administration has relied on administrative warrants, which are signed by immigration officials, not judges.

“Administrative warrants work,” Gonzales said. “I want to give law enforcement every tool they need to go out and apprehend these convicted criminals that are loose in our community. To me, that makes a lot of sense. Why you would want to shackle your own law enforcement from keeping our community safe makes no sense to me.”

Among the things that could see support from Republicans, Gonzales cited the mandate for body cameras, pointing to the recent move by the administration to require cameras be worn in Minneapolis. He said another area for improvement is communication.

“I think it’d be very, very key if there were communication liaisons in all the communities that ICE has,” he said. “Not changing policy, just sharing communication from the community — let’s say the city manager or let’s say city council, community leaders — up to the administration and back down.”

Epstein’s lawyer asked CIA for records that could show affiliation with agency

February 8, 2026 at 5:03 p.m. EST 46 minutes ago / The Washington Post

Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyers filed records requests to the National Security Agency and the CIA, according to documents released by the Justice Department.

A CIA seal at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

By Maegan Vazquez

Attorneys for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein filed requests for records retained by American intelligence agencies that could reflect an affiliation with the CIA or whether the National Security Agency retained information about him, according to documents released by the Justice Department.

The latest documents, released to comply with a law requiring the disclosure of files from federal investigations into the deceased financier, have unveiled a trove of correspondence outlining how Epstein sought to nurture relationships with world leaders, diplomats, scientists, financiers, lawyers and entrepreneurs — long after serving time for state prostitution charges and registering as a sex offender.

The documents, which also revealed the extent of Epstein’s Russian connections, have added to suspicions that Epstein worked with or was targeted by intelligence agencies because of his personal ties to international elites.

One piece of correspondence from the CIA, sent to Epstein’s attorney Martin Weinberg, said “we searched for CIA-originated responsive records that might reflect an open or otherwise acknowledged Agency affiliation” for a period between 1999 — when Epstein appears to have previously sought such information — and 2011.

“We were unable to locate any information or records,” states the letter dated July 29, 2011, from the CIA’s information and privacy coordinator, whose name is redacted. “With respect to responsive records that would reveal a classified connection to the CIA … the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request.”

A separate letter in 2014 from the National Security Agency denied an appeal from another Epstein lawyer under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for information relating to his client.

The agency concluded that it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of any intelligence material” related to the request, adding that “to do so otherwise when challenged under the FOIA would result in the exposure of intelligence information, sources, and methods, which could harm our national security and severely undermine [National Security Agency/Central Security Service] activities in general.”

The July 30, 2014, denial letter indicates that Epstein’s lawyer Darren K. Indyke had been seeking “records, documents, files, communications, memoranda, orders, agreements, and/or instructions relating to or referring to Mr. Epstein” for about a 14-year span until early 2014.

The CIA and the NSA did not respond to requests for comment on the records requests, which were earlier reported by Bloomberg News.

The latest set of documents released by the Justice Department also includes records requests from Weinberg to the CIA and the FBI, sent between 2010 and 2012. The requests note that Epstein is seeking any information related to him — including any that could “document monitoring, surveillance, observation, questioning, interrogation, investigation, and/or collection of information relating to Epstein.”

Representatives for Weinberg and Indyke could not immediately be reached for comment over the weekend.

The Post has previously reported that the latest release from the Justice Department includes emails that show Epstein got help from and networked with Russian expatriate tech investors who have drawn scrutiny from U.S. intelligence agencies over their past ties with the Kremlin. Epstein also maintained connections with senior Russian government officials. The new documents prompted the Polish government to reopen an inquiry into possible links between Epstein and Russian intelligence services, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday. A Russian government spokesperson dismissed the move.

The latest trove of documents also revealed that Epstein took part in meetings with and texted with William J. Burns, a longtime diplomat who served as CIA director under Joe Biden. A spokesperson for Burns told the Guardian that Burns did not know anything about Epstein and that he “deeply regrets ever meeting with him.” Burns has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Joseph Menn contributed to this report.

Rep. Tony Gonzales defends conditions at Texas detention center with measles outbreak

February 8, 2026 / 4:57 PM EST / CBS News

Rep. Tony Gonzales said Sunday that the Texas immigration detention center in which 5-year-old Liam Ramos was detained is “nicer than some elementary schools” amid reports of a measles outbreak and criticism of the conditions from immigration activists.

“The facility in Dilley, I’ve visited there many times,” Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “I’ve visited dozens of facilities. It is a nice facility. It’s a detention facility for people that are in the country illegally that are about to be deported but it is a nice facility. Nicer than some elementary schools.”

Gonzales did not elaborate on the conditions of the detention center, which is located in Dilley, Texas, but called it “nice.” The Dilley facility is the only immigration detention center in the country that holds children and families, and immigration activists have described the conditions as unsafe, according to the Texas Tribune. CBS News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on this.

In February, DHS announced that it had halted “all movement” at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center after two inmates had had “active measles infections.”

Gonzales argued that Ramos, who along with his parents entered the United States using the now-defunct CBP One app, would not “qualify for asylum.”

“It breaks my heart,” Gonzales said of the detention of Ramos. “I have a five-year-old at home. I also think, what about that five-year-old U.S. citizen?”

In January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Ramos and his father during the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge,” which has targeted undocumented immigrants in the Minneapolis area, the latest of its immigration crackdowns across the country. Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were released from custody and returned to Minneapolis. The operation has resulted in the deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Gregory Bovino, the commander-at-large of the Border Patrol who led the operation, has since left Minneapolis.

The Texas Republican said feeling “compassionate” is not a barrier to enforcing immigration laws in a “humane way.”

“And I think that’s the secret sauce that the administration and Congress must do,” Gonzales said. “Let’s enforce our laws, but let’s do it in a humane way.”

President Trump’s immigration policy, which promised mass deportations, is facing backlash with Democratic candidates making sweeping gains in elections, including in Texas. Texas Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Louisiana Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez defeated their Republican opponents in special state elections in the most recent races, and both in districts that President Trump won by double digits.

“Very early on, I mentioned, ‘Hey, if we go down this route as a party, we’re not going to be successful,’” Gonzales said. “And we’re seeing some of that with some of these special elections that are happening.”

The administration’s approach to immigration has faced criticism. A recent CBS News poll shows that while 50% of the public support Mr. Trump’s immigration goals, only 37% approve the methods he is using to conduct deportation operations.

“If you go into a jail and you go cell by cell, that makes a lot more sense to American people than going house by house, going, ‘are you American, a citizen or not?,’” Gonzales said as he urged the administration to “shift” how it is communicating with the public.

As funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire on Friday, Democrats in Congress are demanding several revisions to the agency and how ICE and CBP administer immigration operations. Among them are judicial warrant requirements to enter homes, mandatory body cameras, and displaying IDs.

Gonzales said Congress needs to “work it through.” He said that he thinks body cameras “make a lot of sense,” but requiring a judicial warrant by judges who “all over the country go beyond their level of authority” to “roadblock” immigration enforcement operations and not keep communities safe.

“Administrative warrants work,” Gonzales said. “I want to give law enforcement every tool they need to go out and apprehend these convicted criminals that are loose in our community. To me, that makes a lot of sense. Why you would want to shackle your own law enforcement from keeping our community safe makes no sense to me.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/rep-tony-gonzales-says-administrative-warrants-work-amid-calls-for-reform-for-ice-procedure/

Trump plans to keep Democratic governors out of traditionally bipartisan White House meeting – The Washington Post

February 8, 2026 at 3:58 p.m. EST Today at 3:58 p.m. EST / The Washington Post

The White House did not explain why Democrats were not invited to the meeting. In addition, at least two Democrats were uninvited to a dinner, according to their offices.

President Donald Trump on Jan. 30. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Mariana Alfaro

President Donald Trump plans to keep Democrats out of a traditionally bipartisan White House gathering of governors typically held as part of the National Governors Association’s annual Washington summit, the organization said.

Don Henley reflects on the Eagles’ “miraculous run,” Glenn Frey, and their last chapter

February 8, 2026 / 10:20 AM EST / CBS News

The nighttime lights of Las Vegas can hide the stars, but sometimes you can still find them under one dazzling roof.

One of the greatest bands on Earth — the Eagles — are in residence at the state-of-the-art Las Vegas Sphere, led by the band’s co-founder Don Henley, along with longtime guitarist Joe Walsh and country star Vince Gill.

And whenever the Eagles perform here, they sell the place out.

The Eagles’ “miraculous run”

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“I guess we’re kind of a staple,” Henley said. “Our first record came out in ’72. Fifty-three years of playing for people. So it’s… you know, it’s been a miraculous run.”

And it got even more miraculous last month, when one of those Eagles albums from the 1970s — “Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)” — was certified quadruple diamond, the first to sell more than 40 million copies, cementing its place as the best-selling album of all time.

“‘Greatest Hits’ is kind of a misnomer. It should just be called their best songs because every song on that album was not a great hit. You know? There are a couple of songs on that album that didn’t break the top 30. But they’re good songs. Desperado, for example, was never released as a single. Not by us, nor by Linda Ronstadt,” Henley said.

Henley adds that the album wasn’t really their idea; it was basically pushed on them by the record company. But the band “didn’t have any way to stop them,” Henley joked.

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“We complained. Oh, yeah. It’s documented,” he laughed.

Legacy of late bandmate Glenn Frey

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Henley said writing Desperado with his late bandmate Glenn Frey was the first time the pair collaborated as songwriting partners. He added that they clicked instantly, and Frey quickly earned the nickname “the lone arranger.”

“Because he was so good at arranging songs,” Henley explained.

Frey died 10 years ago at age 67, but his legacy is larger than life.

Before the show, fans can take a literal walk down memory lane at a place called the Eagles’ Third Encore— an almost life-sized model of the key places in the band’s history, including a mock-up of L.A.’s Troubadour nightclub, which includes a real working bar.

But Henley’s pre-show routine isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Instead of taking a shot of tequila, he’s doing crunches as a warm-up.

“I don’t do voice exercises because they don’t help. I sing from my core, so keeping my abdomen in shape makes me sing better,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I don’t have a six-pack or anything, but there’s one under there somewhere.”

Deacon Frey fills in for his late father

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One of the emotional highlights of the show is the moment where Frey’s son, Deacon, takes the stage in his father’s spot, often with his father’s guitar, and sings his father’s songs.

“I burst with pride. I almost got tears in my eyes the other night when he was filling in for Joe,” Henley said.

Henley said he wasn’t sure performing without Frey was feasible, but the band agreed to continue only if Deacon could join them.

A father of three himself, Henley has always had a rich life outside the band, and he recently co-produced a PBS documentary with filmmaker Ken Burns about Henry David Thoreau.

“There are so many parallels to what he was seeing during his time and what we’re seeing now. As Mark Twain said, ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’ And I think that’s what’s happening now,” Henley said.

What’s next?

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The Eagles are keeping the music alive with a few more live shows this summer and an extended run in Las Vegas into April, featuring cutting-edge technology that didn’t exist when they first started making music.

“The sound system is like nothing on the planet. There are about 167,000 speakers in that dome,” Henley said of the Sphere.

The Eagles’ tour is called “The Long Goodbye,” but Henley says this time he means it.

“You know, I think this year will probably be it. I’ve said things like that before, but I feel like we’re getting toward the end. And that will be fine, too,” Henley said.

After more than 50 years of playing, Henley says he has to psych himself up to perform the Eagles’ classics each night.

“After a while, you learn to make friends with the songs,” he says. “It’s not about us. It’s about what they mean to the people we’re playing them for. You have to play every night with your heart in it.” Henley adds, “Music is medicine. And people need some medicine right now.”

U.K.’s prime minister’s top aide resigns over Peter Mandelson’s appointment to ambassador to U.S.despite Epstein ties

February 8, 2026 / 11:03 AM EST / CBS/AP

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff resigned Sunday over the furor surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to Britain’s most important diplomatic post in 2024.

“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement. “When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, with Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, in February 2025 in Washington. Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP

Starmer is facing a political storm and questions about his judgment after newly published documents, part of a huge trove of Epstein files made public in the United States, suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the U.K. government’s business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.

The prime minister apologized last week for “having believed Mandelson’s lies.” He said “none of us knew the depth of the darkness” of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein when the former was vetted for the diplomat job.

“Mandelson betrayed our country, our Parliament and my party … he lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him,” Starmer told lawmakers last week.

Starmer’s government has promised to release its own emails and other documentation related to Mandelson’s appointment, which it says will show that Mandelson misled officials.

A number of lawmakers have called for Starmer to resign.

“Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions,” said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party.

Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, has not been arrested or charged.

The Metropolitan Police is now investigating and officers searched Mandelson’s London home and another property linked to him on Friday. Police said the investigation is complex and will require “a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis.”

Starmer had fired Mandelson in September from his ambassadorial job over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. But critics say the emails recently published by the U.S. Justice Department have brought serious concerns about Starmer’s judgment to the fore. They argue that he should have known better than to appoint Mandelson in the first place.

The new revelations include documents suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive government information with Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis. They also include records of payments totaling $75,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.

Aside from his association with Epstein, Mandelson previously had to resign twice from senior government posts because of scandals over money or ethics.

© 2026 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Transcript: David Becker on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 8, 2026

2026-02-08T13:02:27-0500 / CBS News

February 8, 2026 / 1:02 PM EST / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research and a CBS News election law contributor, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Feb. 8, 2026.

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MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by David Becker. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research and a CBS News election law contributor. Always good to have you here, David.

DAVID BECKER: Great to be back with you, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to pick up on a few things that have come up in the program. Senator Warner voiced what some Democrats are concerned about, arguing that President Trump is laying the groundwork to undermine the upcoming election or interfere in it in some way. And, in fact, during the program the President is tweeting about American elections being rig– rigged, stolen and a laughing stock all around the world. What do you think of these statements here? Are both parties undermining confidence in our election? What do election officials that you speak to feel and think right now?

DAVID BECKER: Yeah, it’s very hard to predict where this is going. —

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —

DAVID BECKER: — But we can look at what’s happened already. The President has signed an unprecedented executive order regarding elections trying to dictate policy to the states. That’s now been enjoined, blocked by three different federal courts. His Department of Justice is seeking highly sensitive data on hundreds of millions of American voters, is suing 24 states and D.C. Two federal courts just in the past few weeks have blocked that. The remainder are still to be heard. The cyber security apparatus that Senator Warner talked about, that had been built up under the first Trump administration to assist election officials, has been dismantled. So when I talk to election officials, they’re very concerned about this. I think it’s safe to say this is unprecedented. We have never seen a president try to exert executive authority over elections in the states like we have. And of course this is contrary to the Constitution, which specifically grants states the authority to run elections under Article 1, Section 4, the elections clause. Congress can also act, and if Congress does, of course, those laws will be followed. But both parties have tried to pass sweeping bills in the last five or six years and have failed.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the Constitution, as you just point out, states it is the states —

DAVID BECKER: — Right. —

MARGARET BRENNAN: — who are going to run these elections. But the President — I want to play what he said so the public hears it — he has at least three times in the past week said he wants the Republican Party to nationalize voting and take over voting procedures in 15 states. Take a listen.

(Begin VT)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at Detroit, take a look at Pennsylvania, take a look at Philadelphia, you go take a look at Atlanta, look at some of the places that — horrible corruption on elections. And the federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved. These are agents of the federal government to count the votes. If they can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.

REPORTER: But the Constitution —

(End VT)

MARGARET BRENNAN: So what would prevent the president from doing something you just told us is unconstitutional?

DAVID BECKER: Well, the President might try to act and that’s why it’s so hard to predict exactly what’s going to happen, but the courts have been very firm on holding the limits of executive power under the Constitution. There was just a court decision a couple of days ago from the state of Oregon, a district court there, that denied DOJ access to this highly sensitive voter data that they were seeking from Oregon. And specifically said, again, that the Constitution is clear. The founders carved out elections specially to say the federal government can only act if Congress acts. The states have the authority and they expressly excluded the executive from that at all. They were very concerned about the excesses of an executive, a president, who would seek to consolidate more power than the Constitution granted by seizing the mechanisms of elections.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So two other things I want to run through with you. The White House took down that video that we were just discussing with Congressman Gonzalez. The focus has been on the racist portion of it, which was widely condemned. The video leading up to it that Congressman Gonzalez defended was about election software and security. In that, when you listen to it, you hear descriptions of problems with technology and things that the speaker says were anomalies, like in 2025 key states stopped counting at a certain time. Can you fact check some of this for us?

DAVID BECKER: Yeah, this is a very common methodology for those that are spreading lies about the elections, defying, just throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. And the rest of that video, in addition to the ending, was also troubling because it was a lot of disinformation, just blatantly false. We have paper ballots in the United States. 98% of all Americans vote on paper ballots. The only exclusion is the state of Louisiana, which is moving to paper ballots. That means those paper ballots can be checked against whatever the machines tally, and they are checked. Famously, in Georgia, those paper ballots in 2020 were counted three times, three different ways, once entirely by hand. Over five million ballots counted by hand in five days with observation from both campaign and observers. There’s no way to get around the fact that this is the, 2020 was the most scrutinized election in American history. And every time when courts reviewed it, when people who lied about the election were taken to court, the work of election officials withstood that scrutiny. It’s really remarkable. We’re — not only are our elections not rigged, they’re as transparent and verifiable and as secure as they’ve ever been, no matter whether you like the outcome or not. And we’re seeing disinformation being spread, in this case, by the President of the United States, targeted at his own supporters, at others who might not like the outcome of elections. And, unfortunately, some are believing it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it’s unusual because the president won the election and Republicans won the last election. So when he is saying now that suddenly the system is broken, it seemed to work when it elected him, but it didn’t work when he lost in 2020. That, that is what is contradictory in sort of just the common sense version.

DAVID BECKER: That’s exactly right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But on the facts of it, you’re saying this has actually been verified time and time again. But those ballots you just talked about from Fulton County, we have body camera footage of these FBI agents going and taking the ballots. Why would the FBI now be taking the ballots? Why was the Director of National Intelligence there and what would they do with these ballots?

DAVID BECKER: This is a great question, and it still has not been answered. First of all, there was no crime committed in 2020. Those ballots have been counted and reviewed so many times. We know exactly what happened in Georgia in 2020. Joe Biden won that state by a relatively narrow margin of 11,779 votes. In 2024, Donald Trump won that state. Democrats didn’t somehow have the magical ability, while out of the White House, to steal an election in 2020 and then forget to use that power in 2024 when they had the White House. So we know exactly what happened. If there was a true, honest review of those ballots, it will confirm exactly what the result was, just as when the cyber ninjas reviewed the Maricopa County ballots in Arizona. They found the same exact outcome. As for the Director of National Intelligence being in Fulton County, there is no viable reason to have a high level political appointee during the execution of a search warrant. That search warrant is — has many defects, as the body cam footage showed. There was a defect in the address when they first showed up. They had to go back and get a corrected search warrant. And there’s also this, this issue of the statute of limitations. There’s a five year statute of limitations under federal law for any of the crimes that they mentioned in the warrant. There were two specific statutes. That five year statute has expired by any measure, and so I’m not sure why a magistrate signed off on it. We’re not sure why the DNI was in Fulton County inside a local election warehouse. We’ve heard shifting explanations. First, the Deputy Attorney General said she happened to be in Atlanta. I don’t know that that’s particularly credible. —

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —

DAVID BECKER: — And then the President —

MARGARET BRENNAN: — Right. —

DAVID BECKER: — Then we heard the President directed her and then Attorney General Bondi directed her. We have no idea what actually happened.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we checked and at least nine top Trump administration officials, by CBS criteria, raised doubt about the validity or integrity of the 2020 election. That count does not include the President of the United States himself. David Becker, thank you. —

DAVID BECKER: — Thank you Margaret. —

MARGARET BRENNAN: — We’ll be back in a moment.

DNI whistleblower complaint includes details about intercept of call between foreign nationals discussing person close to Trump, sources say

February 8, 2026 / 1:10 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — A whistleblower complaint containing allegations related to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard includes highly-classified details about a National Security Agency intercept of a call between two foreign nationals who discussed a person close to President Trump, a senior U.S. intelligence official and an attorney for the whistleblower confirmed to CBS News.

Last week, intelligence community Inspector General Christopher Fox shared the highly classified whistleblower complaint, which was filed in May, with top congressional leaders. The move came shortly after a report in The Wall Street Journal about the complaint’s existence, following months of delay that has prompted questions about whether political considerations held up action and sidestepped oversight of a complaint involving the nation’s top intelligence official. Fox said the delay was due to a number of factors, including classification complexities, the 43-day government shutdown beginning in October and Senate confirmations at ODNI.

In the complaint, which contains information so sensitive it has been held in a safe, an intelligence community employee alleged that a highly classified intelligence report was restricted for political purposes, according to a letter sent by Fox to congressional leadership, and that an intelligence agency’s legal office failed to report a potential crime to the Justice Department for political purposes.

Analysts could not determine whether the conversation in the call between two foreign nationals was gossip or deliberate misinformation, according to the intelligence official. Information about the intercept was shared by Gabbard with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Andrew Bakaj, the whistleblower’s attorney, said his client alleges Gabbard bypassed normal National Security Agency distribution by delivering a paper copy to Wiles and directing the agency to route classified details only to herself rather than in a more widely disseminated report.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the time the complaint was submitted, acting intelligence community watchdog Tamara Johnson, a career official who served in the role during the Biden administration, concluded one allegation contained in the complaint was not credible and said she could not assess the second. Fox, the current intelligence community inspector general and a former Gabbard aide who was confirmed to the role last fall, said the complaint was

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/sen-mark-warner-says-he-does-not-think-tulsi-gabbard-is-competent-for-her-position/