Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FBI, was the latest of the commander-in-chief's administrative picks to face lawmakers in a confirmation hearing Thursday, clashing with several Democrats, including Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

One former lawmaker weighed in on the exchange, labeling Schiff an "embarrassment" while stating that the California senator had an "ax to grind" with Patel. 

"The American people lost him in the United States House of Representatives. That was a gain for the House of Representatives. But I think the Democratic senators are now realizing that the circus has come to them," former Congressman Devin Nunes said on "The Will Cain Show" Thursday. 

KASH PATEL TURNS TABLES ON DEM SENATOR WITH VIRAL RESPONSE: ‘YOU’VE GOT TWO MINUTES'

"I thought Adam Schiff was an embarrassment like he normally is. He clearly has an ax to grind with Kash Patel, because it was Kash on our team that made a mockery of this guy year after year after year for lying to the American people."

Schiff sparred with Patel during his confirmation hearing on Thursday, particularly over a recording of a song released by Jan. 6 Capitol riot inmates.

"So you're being considered for director of the FBI. And here you did no diligence to find out whether people you were associating with now, the President of the United States in song, were convicted of attacking police officers. Is that who we want running the FBI? I want you to turn around. There are Capitol police officers behind you. They're guarding us. Take a look at them right now. Turn around," Schiff said during the hearing.

"I'm looking at you. You're talking to me," Patel responded.

"Look at them. I want you to look at them if you can. If you have the courage to look them in the eye, Mr. Patel, and tell them you're proud of what you did. Tell them you're proud that you raised money off of people that assaulted their colleagues, that pepper sprayed them, that beat them with polls. Tell them you're proud of what you did, Mr. Patel. They're right there. They're guarding you today. Tell them how proud you are," Schiff followed up.

KASH PATEL FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM SENATOR AFTER BEING GRILLED ON J6 PARDONS: ‘BRUTAL REALITY CHECK’

"That's an abject lie and you know it. I've never, never, ever accepted violence against law enforcement," Patel responded.

Nunes called out Schiff's "audacity" in trying to "tarnish" Patel's reputation.

The Schiff-Patel exchange was one of a number of fiery exchanges during the hearing. Democrats quizzed Patel about his record, including statements he had made in his book, "Government Gangsters."

Patel slammed what he described as "grotesque" attacks against him.

Devin Nunes believes Democrats' attacks on Patel, specifically those led by Schiff, will backfire.

"It won't take long before the United States Senate, the Democrat senators included, you could see it there today, that they're going to get sick of Adam Schiff, and they're going to be sad that he entered the U.S. Senate," he concluded.

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Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States will "humanely move" criminal migrants out of the country and work with other agencies to secure the southern border in his first interview since he was confirmed last week by the U.S. Senate.

Hegseth, a former "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host, addressed President Donald Trump’s memorandum to the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Defense (DOD), calling on them to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. Naval base in Cuba.

He told Fox News host Will Cain Wednesday that Guantanamo Bay is a "perfect place" to hold criminal migrants "safely in the interim" as the process to repatriate them to their homelands plays out.

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Guantanamo Bay is most known for being a detention camp that holds terrorism suspects.

Trump said the facility will "detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people." 

"Some of them are so bad we don't even trust the countries to hold them because we don't want them coming back, so we're going to send them out to Guantanamo," he told reporters at the White House. 

Hegseth clarified that criminal migrants aren’t being put in camps with "ISIS and other criminals." 

"This is a temporary transit, which is already the mission of naval station Guantanamo Bay, where we can plus up thousands and tens of thousands if necessary, to humanely move illegals out of our country where they do not belong, back to the countries where they came from in proper process," Hegseth said on "The Will Cain Show."

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"This is a plan in movement, but not in movement because we're behind, but because we're ramping up for the possibility to expand mass deportations because President Trump is dead serious about getting illegal criminals out of our country," he continued. "And the DOD is not only willing to, it's proud to partner with DHS to defend the sovereignty of our southern border and advance that mission."

The 29th U.S. defense secretary also vowed to make the DOD "color-blind" and "merit-based" so it can return to "the business of fighting and winning wars."

Hegseth added that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is "gone" from the military and they’ll continue to rip it out "root and branch."

"We want the best people, regardless of backgrounds, competing for those positions, ready to fight, accountable to their senior leaders. DEI does not do that," he explained. "Not only does it not do it, it undermines it. So, everyone's going to be treated equally based on merit."

Renowned comedian and former television host Jay Leno shares how he helped serve hot meals to California firefighters, praising them as "the best fire department in the world."

Since the outbreak of the Los Angeles County wildfires, a wave of critics have come forth condemning California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other elected officials for their lack of preparedness regarding the response.

"Let me tell you something: These guys can eat. They all look like the guy in a Brawny paper towel ad. These big, beefy guys," Leno said on "The Will Cain Show," recalling how they handed out 700 lbs of ribs and 400 lbs of chicken.

FAST-MOVING HUGHES FIRE ERUPTS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY AS CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS ORDER EVACUATIONS

Leno detailed how he had a "great five days" helping out Los Angeles first responders, describing how they were able to eat and continue running a fire response like a "military operation."

"I was at Bagram Air Force Base. It reminded me of that — airplanes coordinated with guys on the ground, guys on the ground that got big maps laid out of where they think the fire is going to go," he said.

"You know, you hand them a rib, they eat the rib, they point to it [the map] and they're talking to the helicopter. I mean, it's really a military operation," Leno added.

Leno expressed how he was impressed with all the first responders and their ability to avoid the "blame game" regarding who was at fault for the fires. He applauded them for focusing on putting out the fires and keeping people safe.

"You know the great thing about it? No blame game. These are firemen and women," Leno said, explaining how they were focused on questions like, "How can we put this out?" and, "What do we need to do?"

Leno said that even off the record, none of the firefighters were blaming "this person or that person." 

"It was all about, ‘How do we fight this fire?’ And the morale was good," Leno said.

FAST-MOVING HUGHES FIRE ERUPTS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY AS CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS ORDER EVACUATIONS

When Leno handed out hot meals to first responders, he brought a Burbank California Christie fire truck from 1914 just to "cheer them up a little bit."

"You know, like, I thought maybe having that fire engine might look like I'm showing off a little bit. But one of the chiefs said this was such a great morale booster to see this almost 100-year-old fire engine roll in, it's all bright and shiny in the midst of all this dirt and all this gray," Leno said.

"So it turned out to be a win-win all the way around," he said. "It was just a wonderful experience for me. I just enjoyed it so much." 

The premiere of Fox News' "The Will Cain Show" marks the biggest daytime debut in the channel's history. 

Tuesday's launch of the program airing in the 4 p.m. ET timeslot averaged a strong 3.5 million total viewers with 451,000 in the advertiser-coveted demographic of viewers ages 25-54. 

That audience accounted for 68% of all cable news viewers and 73% of cable news viewers in the key demo. The debut already marks more than double Fox News' average in the 4 p.m. ET timeslot in 2024. 

FOX NEWS HOST WILL CAIN SAYS NEW DAYTIME SHOW OFFERS HIM ‘EXCITING CHALLENGES’

Will Cain has generated an impressive following in recent years between his previous role as co-host of "FOX & Friends Weekend" as well as the host of "The Will Cain Show" podcast, which he continues to helm. 

"The Will Cain Show" is now the lead-in program of "The Five," which reached nearly 6 million total viewers on Tuesday with 762,000 in the key demo. 

"I'm an incredibly curious person, and one of the exciting challenges of this new job is the balancing act of transition from news into opinion. I will be handling both at that time of the day," Cain told Fox News Digital.

"I'll be offering the audience my honest opinion, my unvarnished opinion on the news. But I will also be presenting reports and giving the audience the information they need at that time of the day to help make up their own mind," Cain continued. "I will be very professional, but I'll also be having fun."

FOX NEWS HOST WILL CAIN TO TAKE OVER 4 PM ET WEEKDAY TIMESLOT WITH 'THE WILL CAIN SHOW'

Cain said that his new program will be both "casual" and "immediate," but he isn’t afraid to try new things in order to keep the audience engaged.    

"I will do deep dive analysis, and it's going to be an evolution," Cain said.  

"It will be an evolution over time, like every single television show has ever been. And I ask and look forward to the audience going with me along that ride," Cain said. "You know, where we start may not be where we end up, but I think we all understand the spirit of the show that we want to launch."

Cain said he has heard words of encouragement from a variety of Fox News stars, and the most frequent advice he’s heard is to "simply be yourself." 

"You have to lean into whatever it is that’s unique or a strength for you," he said, adding that he’s not looking to emulate a specific program.

OVER 10 MILLION VIEWERS WATCHED FOX NEWS' INAUGURATION COVERAGE, CRUSHING ALL OTHER NETWORKS

Cain has interviewed a broad range of guests each weekend since joining Fox News in 2020, including President Trump, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, among numerous other political and cultural newsmakers. He is expected to have conversations with figures from all walks of life on the new program. 

Trump took to social media over the weekend to declare Cain "will do a great job on his news show" because he’s "got what it takes for success." 

Cain said it was "incredibly flattering" to hear from the president only 48 hours before Inauguration Day. 

"It makes me feel grateful," Cain said. 

"One of the privileges of hosting ‘FOX & Friends Weekend’ over the last five years has been knowing the President of the United States, or the former President of the United States, watches what you have to say on Saturdays and Sundays," Cain added. "My suspicion is the president was watching on Saturday and saw me say goodbye to Rachel Campos-Duffy and my family at ‘Fox and Friends Weekend.’"

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.

"FOX & Friends Weekend" co-host Will Cain will take over the 4 p.m. ET weekday timeslot on Fox News Channel with "The Will Cain Show" as part of a series of programming changes across FNC and FOX Business Network, CEO Suzanne Scott announced Monday. 

"As the media landscape continues to evolve, we are always looking to innovate our programming lineup to meet the needs of our viewers, and we are confident the new lineup will best position FOX News Media for the future. Will Cain brings years of experience to the 4 p.m. hour as an accomplished broadcaster and a lawyer and we look forward to adding his insights to what will no doubt be another historic news cycle ahead this year," Scott said in a statement. 

"The Will Cain Show" will debut on January 21 featuring conversations with newsmakers from across politics, business, culture and sports. 

FOX NEWS DOMINATES 2024 VIEWERSHIP, TOPPING CNN AND MSNBC COMBINED DURING UNPRECEDENTED YEAR OF NEWS

"It has been an honor to wake up with America these past four years and I am thrilled to apply my background in news, law, entertainment and business to help our viewers better understand the headlines through thought-provoking content and analysis every weekday afternoon," Cain said. 

Cain has interviewed a broad range of guests each weekend since joining Fox News in 2020, including President Trump, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, among numerous other political and cultural newsmakers.

Cain is also the host of "The Will Cain Show" podcast, which will continue to post new episodes as well as simulcast on FOX News Digital.

Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt will replace Cain as co-host of "FOX & Friends Weekend" beginning January 18, joining Rachel Campos-Duffy on the curvy couch each weekend.

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In addition to his role as a Fox News contributor, Hurt currently serves as the opinion editor of The Washington Times. He will relinquish that position upon the start of his new role.

"The Fox Report" and "The Big Weekend Show" will both expand to two hours on Saturdays and Sundays, also starting on January 18. 

FBN’s Dagen McDowell will join "The Big Money Show" which will expand from 12-2 p.m. ET on weekdays beginning on January 27 while she also continues to co-host "The Bottom Line" at 6 p.m. ET.