Things to know......

Key things to know about the Senate hearing where top intel officials were grilled on group chat fallout

From CNN's Michael Williams, Hannah Rabinowitz, Ted Barrett, Alison Main Lauren Fox, Morgan Rimmer and Antoinette Radford

The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing just wrapped up and there was one key focus in the questions directed at Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and CIA Director John Ratcliffe: how did a journalist get added to a group chat about highly sensitive Yemen strike plans?

Today’s hearing came a day after The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg said that he was accidentally included in a Signal group chat where discussions about military strikes in Yemen took place.

Here are key things to know know from the hearing:

• Gabbard and Ratcliffe deny classified info was in chat: The director of national intelligence declined to say whether she was involved in the leaked group chat, citing ongoing reviews into it, and repeatedly said no classified info was discussed there. When asked whether military information should’ve been in the chat, she deferred to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Ratcliffe, meanwhile, admitted he was involved in the chat, but said that his part of the conversation was “entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.” Ratcliffe also said the inclusion of a journalist in a sensitive Signal group chat among Trump administration officials discussing war plans was “of course not” appropriate.

• Investigation unclear: Patel declined to say whether the bureau will launch an investigation into whether national security information was improperly leaked by Cabinet members in the chat.

• Thune says there were errors in judgement: Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there were “errors in judgment” that led to top Trump administration national security officials sending war plans in the group chat. Asked by CNN if the incident reflected a lack of qualifications and judgment that was raised by critics before confirming the Cabinet members to their roles, the GOP senator from South Dakota did not directly answer. House Speaker Mike Johnson backed the Trump administration’s handling of the incident, with the Republican from Louisiana saying he didn’t think anyone should be fired over it.

• Democrats call for accountability: Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, called the Signal group chat “the dumbest thing I’ve seen in the handling of classified information,” and called for an investigation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also reiterated today his call for a bipartisan investigation into Trump administration officials’ use of the group chat.

• Cartel threat: Meanwhile, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton highlighted cartels as a primary threat facing the country, as the new Annual Threat Assessment lists foreign illicit drug actors as threats in America. Notably, Canada, who has faced tariffs from the Trump administration over allegedly failing to stop the illegal supply of fentanyl into the country, was exempt from the threat list, which Gabbard defended.