00:00Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen began the arduous confirmation process to become the next
00:04Homeland Security Secretary yesterday. And to say it got heated doesn't quite cover it. It was a
00:10scene. Mullen, a former MMA fighter turned lawmaker, is known for being direct and sometimes
00:15pretty confrontational during Senate hearings when he's the one asking the questions. He's also known
00:20to have beef with Senator Rand Paul, who happens to be the chair of the Homeland Security Committee
00:25and therefore is in charge of his confirmation process. Now, the bad blood stems from a 2017
00:30incident when Senator Paul was attacked by a disgruntled constituent, landing him in the
00:35hospital with six broken ribs. When asked about that incident earlier this year, Senator Mullen
00:40said he understood why the attacker did what he did. Here's some of the interaction, let's call it
00:47with Paul, that went down during the hearing. Haven't heard the word apologize. Haven't heard
00:52the word regret. Haven't heard I misspoke and it was heated and I made a mistake.
00:57I haven't heard any of those words. Sir, actually it wasn't heated and I'm not
01:01apologizing for pointing out your character. Good, good. So you're jolly well fine and you
01:06want the American public and the people up here to vote that may or may not vote for you to
01:10know
01:10that you supported the felonious violent attack on me from behind. I did not say I supported it.
01:16I said I understood it. I think it's safe to say those two aren't going to become besties.
01:20The Post's D.C. Bureau Chief Josh Christensen has all the details on the rest of the hearing.
01:24But in his opening statement, Mullen pushed back and said that he had in fact reached out
01:29to speak with Paul privately after offending him with the comment that he did not in fact support
01:34violence against one's political opponents. And yet he was not apologizing for any of his
01:40statements in the past that had attacked Rand Paul's character. He said simply that he does not
01:46get along with the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is currently vetting
01:50Mullen and may vote as soon as Thursday to advance his confirmation to the Senate floor.
01:56But he said that that disagreement over political issues doesn't keep him from doing his job.
02:02And he has differences with people on both sides of the aisle, despite having strong relationships
02:07with Democrats and Republicans. I'll be protecting everybody, he said, if he is succeeding Noam as head
02:15of that department, including Kentucky, as much as my own backyard in Oklahoma.
02:22Mullen, however, will face an uphill battle toward confirmation. The committee itself is split with
02:28eight Republicans and seven Democrats. And Paul has already come out as a firm no against Mullen's
02:33confirmation, meaning that at least one Democrat will likely have to vote in favor of Mullen to
02:39advance him to the Senate floor, where he then can be confirmed by a simple majority vote as soon
02:44as that's called up. There are some precedents in the past for committee level confirmation votes
02:51that advance nominees to be bypassed through some procedural measures, though it's unlikely that this
02:56will happen. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has already expressed in the hearing that he had a
03:02quote, open mind about Paul's nomination. And Paul himself, in an interview with Fox News later
03:08Wednesday afternoon, said it's likely that Mullen will retain enough Democratic support to get him
03:14to a final Senate vote. An Israeli strike on the world's largest oil fields and energy prices
03:19even higher on Wednesday. The South Apar's oil field is located in Iran and is jointly operated
03:25with Qatar. Iran quickly vowed to retaliate and warned civilians near key energy sites in Saudi Arabia,
03:31the UAE and Qatar to steer clear. Then they made good on their threats, causing what's being reported
03:37as, quote, extensive damage to energy assets in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Oil prices popped above 100 bucks
03:43a barrel and U.S. stocks slid lower largely because of that strike. And as you can imagine, the Gulf
03:49states
03:49are not pleased. A Qatari official said, quote, the Israeli targeting of facilities linked to Iran's
03:55South Apar's field and extension of Qatar's North field is a dangerous and irresponsible step amid the
04:01current military escalation in the region. Like I said, global oil prices were already high due to the
04:07ongoing conflict with Iran. And we're certainly feeling that strain here, too. In an attempt to keep
04:13prices from getting too high, President Trump suspended an arcane law that will ease restrictions on shipping
04:19oil and natural gas to U.S. ports. In another bid to curb price hikes, the Associated Press is reporting
04:24that
04:25has lifted some of the sanctions against Venezuela, allowing U.S. companies to do business with that
04:30country's state-owned oil and gas companies. 20-year-old University of Alabama student James
04:36Paul Gracie has been reported missing after a night out in Spain where he's been vacationing for spring
04:41break. His mother wrote on Facebook that her son was hanging out at Barcelona's world-famous club
04:47Choco on Tuesday while he was there visiting some friends who are studying abroad. And then he just
04:52simply vanished. Therese Gracie says James, who goes by Jimmy, was last seen by a friend in the club at
04:573 a.m. Now that friend left, but Jimmy decided to stay. Police in Spain confirmed to NBC News that
05:03an
05:03investigation has been opened into this mysterious disappearance. Gracie is from Elmhurst, Illinois,
05:09and according to his LinkedIn profile, is a junior at the University of Alabama, an honored student
05:13studying accounting. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, dark pants, and a gold chain with a
05:18rhinestone cross. For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know,
05:24check out the New York Post in print or online. And don't forget, like and subscribe to the New
05:28York Postcast wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. I promise you'll be glad you did.
