Feinstein Backs Panetta After Initial Hesitation

"All systems are go" for Leon Panetta to head the CIA, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday after initially questioning the decision of President-elect Barack Obama to tap former President Bill Clinton's chief of staff for the top spot at the nation's spy agency.

Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she talked to Panetta, a longtime friend, for hours on Tuesday night and is decidedly behind the nomination now.

If Obama feels he will get unvarnished opinions from Panetta as he has stated then "that's good enough for me," she said.

Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden both apologized Tuesday for what Biden described as a "mistake" of not consulting the Senate's chief intelligence overseer.

"This is all behind us," Feinstein said of Obama's failing to consult her on the choice of the next CIA director.

Feinstein had originally recommended Steven Kappes, the current deputy director at CIA, to become the director.

She said "it would follow" that she would like to see Kappes in the number two position at the agency.

Feinstein said she would speak with Panetta again next week.

FOX News' Trish Turner contributed to this report.