From CNN, I'm Afamadiki, with the five things you need to know for Wednesday, February 12th.

The Senate has confirmed former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.

The vote was 52 to 48, mostly along party lines, though Republican Senator Mitch McConnell joined Democrats opposing

her confirmation, saying she has a quote, history of alarming lapses in judgment.

Here's CNN's Alex Mark Hord.

She's served in the military, but not an intelligence, and now she's going to be a top, not

one, but 18 different intelligence agencies overseeing all of them.

I think her job will really be defined by how President Trump uses her.

The Office of Director of National Intelligence is in charge of the intelligence briefing that he gets every single day.

But will Trump be turning to Tulsi Gabbard to actually weigh in on these critical intelligence and national security issues?

Or will she be given the task,

and this is what it appears, of streamlining the agency, of essentially downsizing the office,

and as Susan Collins says, getting it back to its original roots.

I really think it's going to come down to how Trump wants to use her as director.

Tomorrow, the Senate is expected to vote on another one of Trump's controversial

cabinet picks, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services

after voting to break a filibuster on his nomination. President Trump says he spoke to Russian

President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in separate phone calls today.

Trump says negotiations to end the war in Ukraine will start immediately after the phone call

the Kremlin described as, quote, positive and constructive.

CNN's Fred Plikin has more.

The Russians saying that this call took upwards of 90 minutes that had happened in a very friendly

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