CIA Director nominee John Brennan, flanked by security, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Protesters from CODEPINK, a social justice group opposed to U.S. funded wars, disrupt the start of a Senate Intelligence Committee's confirmation hearing for John Brennan, the top White House adviser on counterterrorism and nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. WASHINGTON (AP) - Nominated to head the CIA, John Brennan told a protest-disrupted Senate confirmation hearing Thursday the United States remains at war with al-Qaida and other terrorists and is under "daily cyberattack" by foreign countries and others. In a statement delivered before he answered questions, Brennan promised to keep members of the congressional intelligence committees "fully and currently informed" and acknowledged that the CIA "is not immune from scrutiny" of its efforts to safeguard the nation. The hearing was interrupted repeatedly - once before it began and then several times before Brennan had completed his brief statement. At one point, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ordered the proceedings halted and the room cleared so those re-entering could be screened to block obvious protesters. The shouted protests centered on CIA drone strikes that have killed three American citizens and an unknown number of foreigners overseas. It was a topic very much on the mind of the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who eventually will vote on Brennan's confirmation. In the hours before the hearing began, President Barack Obama ordered that a classified paper outlining the legal rationale for striking at U.S. citizens be made available for members of the House and Senate intelligence panels to read. It was an attempt to clear the way for Brennan's approval, given hints from some lawmakers that they might hold up confirmation unless they had access to the material. In his opening statement, Brennan said, "The need for accurate intelligence and prescient analysis from CIA has never been greater than it is in 2013 - or that it will be in the coming years." He said historic transformations continue sweeping through the Middle East and North Africa, with "major implications for our interests, Israel's security, our Arab partners and the prospects for peace and stability throughout the region." Additionally, Iran and North Korea "remain bent on pursuing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems," he noted. He said the United States remains at war with al-Qaida and its associated forces, which he said seek to "carry out deadly strikes against our homeland and our citizens as well as against our friends." As for U.S. computer systems, he said they are under daily attack by "nation states, international criminal organizations, subnational groups and individual hackers." Brennan is a veteran of more than three decades in intelligence work, and most recently served as Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser in the White House. Any thought he had of becoming CIA director four years ago vanished amid questions of the role he played at the CIA when the Bush administration approved waterboarding and other forms of "enhanced interrogation" of suspected terrorists. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday the White House is making "extraordinary accommodation" in allowing lawmakers to view classified Justice Department legal advice on drone strikes against Americans. Carney said the White House does not plan to send the Justice memos to lawmakers beyond those on the House and Senate intelligence committees. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a committee member who had pressed the administration to provide the legal opinion, left open the possibility he might still try to block Brennan's nomination. But he said turning over the opinion was a good first step. "I'm committed to making sure that we get all the facts," Wyden said on NBC's "Today" show. Early this morning, I'm going to be going in to read the opinion. We'll go from there. Wyden said "there are still substantial questions" about how the administration justifies and plans drone strikes. The Founding Fathers thought the president should have significant power in the national security arena. But there have to be checks and balances," Wyden said. You can't just skirt those checks and balances if you think it's inconvenient. He also answered some of his critics who charged him with backing the detention and interrogation policy while he served at the CIA. He added that he "had significant concerns and personal objections" to the interrogation techniques and voiced those objections privately to colleagues at the agency. Fewer than 50 strikes took place during the Bush administration, while more than 360 have been launched under Obama, according to the website The Long War Journal, which tracks the operations. Brennan told the Senate committee that he was questioned as a voluntary witness in a leaks investigation the White House launched in response to congressional anger. He also said that in his current role, he is "vigilant about not disclosing classified intelligence matters with unauthorized persons" but added that "in exceptional circumstances ... it may be necessary to acknowledge classified information to a member of the media or to declassify information for the very purpose of limiting damage to national security."