>> the fight over defense spending, could bucket cuts cripple the military. the pentagon's main spokesperson joins us. >> major changes in saudi arabia days after a new king took over, will they lead to progress on human rights? the key stone pipeline passes the senate, but the president's threatened veto puts it on a road to nowhere. those stories and more, straight ahead. >> president obama taking on republicans over forced spending cuts. >> obama's expected to propose a $534 billion defense budget. >> we have a defendant strategy

that requires the military to be out and about, to be engaged around the world. >> it's a republican controlled senate. >> asked to approve the key stone pipeline. >> it's time for the white house to really draw the line in the sand. >> president obama held his first formal meeting with the new so you had deking. >> it is important for us to recognize that we have strategic interests in common with caused rain. >> the new book, murder at camp delta. >> joseph hickman was serving as a prison guard at guantanamo. >> they did not die in their cells. >> hundreds gathered to protest. >> they want to live their life like the middle east, they can go back to the middle east. >> with begin with questions on the legal fate of sergeant bowe bergdahl and the expect biggest budget ever.

it is denied that bergdahl exchanged for five prisoners last may will likely be charged with desertion. when president obama sense his budget to congress monday, it's said to include a request of $534 billion for america's military, including $35 billion more than the sequestered budget caps allow, plus another $51 billion to fight the wars in afghanistan, syria and iraq. the service chiefs told the senate armed services committee that the money was essential. without it, the army chief of staff feared being forced to send troops who weren't properly trained and ready to manage some new contingency. it is warned to america's technological edge was eroding as possible antagonists are catching up. u.s. and coalition war planes are credited with a major role in what appears to be the defeat

of size as i will forces by the kurdish fighters for the town of kobane. for more, i'm joined by rear admiral jon kirby. always good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> i want to address the military budget in a moment. you've been in the middle of a media firestorm this week over sergeant bowe bergdahl. reports that he was going to she charged with desertion, those reports you specifically denied. the swap for him happened last may. why is it taking eight months and counting for a decision on whether he'll be charged or not? >> let's back up. first of all, once he came back to the united states web needed some time to reintegrate. this was a long, lengthy and appropriate pros of helping him reincident gate back into the army and american society. nobody wanted to interview him until was ready to be interviewed. those interviews were conducted, the investigation now complete.

that investigation is lengthy, about 2,000 pages long and very thorough. it was not delivered to the four star who will now decide how the case will be disposed until late index. he's only had it a month. general millie has made it clear he wants the appropriate time to go through it himself. he doesn't have history with this case and needs to him to go through it and make sound decisions about how this case will be disposed of going forward. as i said the other day, no charges have been filed, and everything from no action to a court martial is in the range of possible actions that the general could decide upon. >> is the white house as reported pressuring the pentagon to keep bergdahl from being charged with desertion? >> there is no pressure from the white house, certainly no pressure from the pentagon, no pressure from the general's chain of command to speed up the review of this discretion or his

decisions nor to come to any conclusions. everybody is well aware that this is now in a judicial process of the military justice system and it needs to be kept sacred and apart from everything else. the general hat latitude to review on his own time line and come up with his own decisions. >> military spending, ours is greater than any possible combination of our foes. the latest budget is going to be the largest in u.s. history at a time when we're supposed to have ended one war and winding down another. why do we need the biggest military budget ever now? >> well, you'll excuse me for not talking about specifics about a budget that we haven't submitted to congress yet. i can't talk about any details in there including the top line figure. what i can tell you is that and the chiefs made it clear yesterday about the dangers of sequestration. the world says a dangerous place

and we have a defense strategy requiring the military to be engaged around the world. there are many, many things still presenting threats and challenges to our national security. look at what's going on in europe, look at our support to upon democratic concerns in line about her i can't with ebola and of course iraq and isil and the military operations there, not to men the fact that we still have troops in afghanistan. >> the general warned the armed services committee that he's concerned we might have to handle troops to handle some unknown contingency who haven't be properly trained. marine com can't joseph doneford feared returning to

the 1970 said. >> nobody was talking about ebola when we submitted that budget last year, so it's difficult to predict the future, and so we want to make sure that there's enough cartilage in the military system to deal with unknown contingencies. >> to be fair the percentage of the g.d.p. that the pentagon's budget represents now has gone down significantly over the years, but if the pentagon does not get the money it needs where are you going to cut? >> we'll have to make some tough decisions obviously, if that's the case, you're right. g.d.p. spending on the military is hovering around 3%, low for our country historically. what we're concerned about in terms of cuts is the cuts that

would come as a result of sequestration returning to be the law of the land. that would significantly put at risk our ability to defend the country in the manager we have been ordered to do that by the defense strategy the commander-in-chief handed down in 2012. what we said is that would have to be scrapped and be rewritten should sequestration return. >> your boss, chuck hagel made his formal farewell on wednesday. before that, he told national public radio that the stress and strain of 13 years of non-stop war is making it hard to hold on to some of the military's best and brightest. what are you doing to address that? is there anything you can do to address that? >> all the chiefs, all the service secretaries are laser focused on this, as they should be, especially at the junior officer and enlisted ranks. these are our future leaders generals and admirals and our future senior enlisted leaders and they're critical.

we do have to pay attention to this. 13 years of war has taken a toll. they are very resilient, talented, they have options. as the economy starts to get better, life outside the military starts to look a little more attractive. as the up tempo for the military continues a pace and it's very much robust as an up tempo that we face now could mean getting out of the military be an attractive option. we are focused on this rear, very hard, looking at incentive way to say make it easier to make a decision to stay in the military. we have to be mindful and watch this closely. >> coalition war planes played a big role in iraq with the kurds successful defense of the syrian-turkey border town of kobane. the kurds say that the fight against isil is still going on in villages that in area. what did the coalition's focus for taking on

isil now? >> our focus is as it has been on getting them where they present themselves, in iraq and syria. when we have available targets we want to go after them and we continue to do that, even around kobane. number -- >> how about bigger targets, like the kurds talking about trying to get back mosul, iraq's second largest city. is that going to happen in the near future? >> we've all said that mosul is key terrain and we know isil still maintains control over mosul. there's going to have to be a campaign to retake mosul. we all recognize that and our iraqi counterparts recognize that. we're working with them as they build their capacity and readiness for that kind of a campaign. i won't get into speculating about how soon that might occur. what i have said is that we're not going to go faster or rush

this any faster than the iraqis themselves can prepare. part of our commitment is to help train and advice and as them as they prepare not just for mosul, but to liberate isil from the country. >> in russia bear bombers got too close to the british coast. the english channel. the russians have also had some flights that have been awfully close to the united states. they seem to be more aggressive than in the recent past. what are we doing on that front? >> well, these flights, while certainly getting attention, and rightfully getting the attention they deserve, they're not aggressive in terms of, you know, presenting an actual tactical threat and the. >>er septembers have been professional thus far by and large. there's been some that haven't

but most of them have been. what's concerning here is the overall strategic intent. there's no reason for these sorts of flights, other than to flex their muscles in moscow and all this does is just make everybody more concerned about stability, particularly on the european continent. this is a time for moscow to take reasoned, measured and deliberate action to say destabilize -- to. >> deescalate? >> stabilize, thank you and to stabilize the tension, particularly there in ukraine and on the continent. rather than do that, as a powerful nation should do, they're taking the opposite effect. all they're doing in the end is further isolating themselves. >> always very good to have you with us, thank you. >> thank you. >> turning to saudi arabia, and a massive reshuffling of the government on thursday follows a

week where world leaders paid respect to the laid sawed king abdullah. the trip underscored the long and completely complicated relationship with the two allies. sitting with the new king, president obama smiled, praising the palace. the big question is whether the new saudi leadership will bring about any real change. behind the scenes, the president and the king talked about the campaign against isil and nuclear negotiations with iran that having ored the saudis. there was no cushion of human rights abuses in the kingdom including beheadings and the flogging of a saudi blogger for insulting islam. the president explained why before his trip. >> sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to them about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms of countering terrorism

or dealing with regional stability. >> joining us now from los angeles is plusser prize winning journalist karen elliot house, the author of the book: currently chair of the and corporation, publisher of the wall street journal and continues to contribute to the paper. here in our studio, we're joined by david keys, executive director of advancing human rights. he is contributor to the daily beast. it's very good to have you both with us, karen, on thursday, the king, the new king announced cabinet changes, including the removal of the former saudi ambassador to washington somebody very familiar to americans. he had an important post in saudi arabia. he also removed two the former kings sons from top positions,

eliminated a whole bunch of state government bodies. how significant are these huge moves just days after becoming king? >> i think salman is clearly trying to indicate as our late secretary of state al hague said, i'm in charge here. if you recall his comment when president reagan was shot. the king is trying to establish i think that he's in charge. i -- from what i can see of the new moves, i wouldn't expect human rights to take any higher position in the saudi hierarchy, because he has removed the justice minister who was seen as something of a liberal in the saudi context, and apparently also removed the more liberal head of the religious police, so he seems to be by removing all

these extraneous entities, getting hopefully decisions will get made quicker and the decisions that get made, i suspect will be pretty tough. >> i want to get to human rights in a second. you've met king salman. do you think anything will change when it comes to foreign domestic policies, that they will be a more solid ally of the united states because certainly the alliance is afraid of it. >> i think the u.s. officials doubtlessly will hope that things get better because we know deputy crown prince has been mr. anti-terror and worked closely with the u.s., but i think the factual is that our president and the saudis just have a different outlook on the middle east. the saudi said number one enemy is iran, and our president seems determined to find a way to do a

deal with iran that the saudis don't want done and is not going to be particularly active in trying to overthrow assad, their other big interest. >> you wrote that they don't see the u.s. as much as a reliable -- of a reliable protector as the saudis had in the past. david, you were pretty harsh on the saudis, saying that this was a perfect opportunity having a new king to reassess the relationship with the saudis and you called the saudi arabian king a tyand the and that we should not appease them. the fact that this is a crucial ally. >> i think a lot of people see saudi arabia as a bulwark against iran.

i see that point of view. human rights such a low priority when it comes to the middle east, we've really kind of given up on what i think is the only long-term guarantor of peace and stability in the middle east and that is freedom and human rights. you can't keep a dictator brutally free pressing his own people for decades and expect what comes out of that is stability and peace. >> the oppression is extreme in ways that doesn't get much publicity in the united states. >> it's beyond barbaric, the lashing of liberals publicly. this is the beheading of people deemed witches, the banning of anonymous limbs from stepping foot inside an entire city. americans should be outraged absolutely outraged at this extreme oppression of the most basic human rights. women are banned from traveling without a man's permission. the guardianship system keeps

women effectively locked up without the permission of a son or husband or anything else. what i'm calling for is americans to get engaged for the support of human rights in saudi arabia. we launch add crowd sourcing movements.org that gives individuals the ability to connect with political prisoners, families who are being lashed, whipped and jailed for nothing more than speaking their minds. >> you've got a couple of beheadings every week, blasphemy, atheism, home my sexuality all criminalized there. should web more aggressive on the human rights front? >> i think the u.s. should because it's supposed to be in our d.n.a. to support individual liberty and freedom. i do not think that our doing so is going to

radically change saudi arabia, because the ruling family wish to say stay in power and their view is the best way to do so, is to suppress dissent and provide incentives and money to those who quietly obey. one of the things that king salman did today was declare a two month bonus to saudi employees. the government has money and spends to it buy public support. it's in our interest to stand for something. >> right, and are you optimistic at all? because there was optimism for the deputy crown prince, technically now second in line to the throne, was someone, he's younger, could bring more human rights to the kingdom, but there are indications that might not be the case. >> i'm not optimistic. the

king a pointed the religious affairs minister, aggressive in terms of outlook. i'm not optimistic about america's role in saudi arabia. what we just saw was the united states shipping $60 billion worth of arm to this zeno foe being tyrannical extremely repressive dictatorship, no conditionality on those arms. we've seen the president go to saudi arabia and not name the names of prisoners, liberals whipped in the streets for voicing their thoughts about the government and kings. >> karen, do you think the saudis will be more effect i have partners in the fight against terrorism? >> no, i don't think they and

we, i've already said, have the same agenda. i would just remind david that the iranians and i know you're not endorsing them, either, but they are hardly a less repressive regime, so the president is an equal opportunity employer when it comes to cooperating with or seeking to with repressive regimes sadly. >> iran desperately need to be confronted. i don't think that relying on one dictatorship not to fight another is a particularly good strategy. >> very good of both of to you join us. now for more stories from around the world. we begin in egypt where a series of attacks in the north of the sinai peninsula killed 29 people

and left dozens wounded. an isil affiliate in the region claimed responsibility for the attacks on army and police targets, including a car bomb and mortar rounds. the northern sinai has been in a state of emergency and under curfew since october when an attack on a check post killed dozens of soldiers. the egyptian army has tried to quell the violence but failed so far. >> a gas refueling truck exploded, destroying large parts of a hospital. one dead was a 25-year-old woman, the other an infant. the explosion occurred as more than 10 people were being evacuated from the hospital in mexico. rescuers were able to pull several crying babies from the rubble. there's concern that more babies and adults might still be trapped in the debris.

>> in brussels, e.u. foreign ministers agreed to extend targeted companies in russia and eastern ukraine in december. a rocket attacked killed 30 people in mariupol. fighting continued in eastern ukraine, where the military conceded thursday that its forces had been overrun by separatists near a strait i didn't think railway junction between two rebel held cities. russia has denied any direct involvement in the fighting. >> that's some of what's happening around the world. coming up, the key stone pipeline survivors the senate, but it is all for naught as the white house promise to say veto it. >> we'll look closer at the mysterious deaths of three detainees almost a decade ago.

>> a small vocal group which protestors steal the stage in texas. join the conversation on twitter at a.j. consider this and on our facebook page.

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>> 13 years ago this month, the first detainees from the global war on terror arrived in guantanamo bay, cuba.

as the debate over whether to close it rages on, secrets about what has taken place there spill out. one of the bigger mysteries is what happened the night of june 9, 2006 when three prisoners died in custody. the pentagon maintains they committed suicide. there have long been questions about what really happened. joining us is former u.s. army star sergeant stationed at gitmo from march 2006 to marsh 2007. very good to have you with us. when it was announced that these three men, two from saudi arabia, one from yemen had died officials said it was suicide. now what actually happened has been questioned ever since.

you were working there when it happened, been investigating this for years. why are you so certain it was not suicide? >> well, that night on june 9 2006, i was what was called sergeant of the guard, which means i was in charge of several posts throughout camp delta where they were housed. i was also in charge of the outer perimeter of camp america, where all the detainee facilities are located. that night, i saw three detainees transferred from camp delta, camp one inside camp delta to a facility that's known as camp no, outside of -- just outside of camp america's perimeter, and later on, it was revealed that that was a c.i.a. black site. >> that has been confirmed by senate reports and all sorts of other report that is that was a c.i.a. site there, but then there were certain aspects of

what happened to them that also raised questions. >> well, yes, the government's version of what happened that evening was three detainees committed suicide, they say that they hung themselves and the detainee's would have had to tie their own hands and feet together, shoved rags down their throat to the point of gagging put masks over their face, of a news on the top of the very well block, jump in that news and hung there for over two hours without anyone noticing when the guards are required to check every three minutes, because it was a maximum security camp. >> then again, the official line has been that they left suicide notes and they were known as active participants in hunger strikes. the commander at guantanamo at

the time, rear admiral harris described what they did as not an act of desperation, but "an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us." what is your reaction to what he had to say? >> the night after the deaths that morning getting off duty, we had a meeting with colonel baumgartner in charge of the detention group in guantanamo. he toed that you say morning that we are not to speak about what happened, three detainees died, they shoved rags down their throats is what he told us in the meeting, and that we are not to talk about what happened and not to say anything to family members, reporters, it was a direct order not to speak because we would be hearing something different in the news. i knew from that night without a doubt that they did not die i have not their cells and it was not the way the government released the story.

>> this whole thing about the rags being in their throats, you raised the question that that is part of -- that oftentimes rags were used on people's throats for water boarding. >> a professor at u.c. davis originally raised those questions. i added that in my book. it does make a lot of sense of what could have happened that night when they were taken to camp no. >> when harper's magazine, i first reported this story they had an award winning report largely based on your testimony. ncis said you were nowhere near the leaks where the men died and 100 during views they did with guards who worked on the cell block and detainees, nobody said anything about an alleged homicide. one of the biggest questions is with all these people involved

if these people have been killed, and hadn't committed suicide, wouldn't the story have gotten out otherwise? >> well, if you look at the ncis report and dissect the report as seton hall law school did as well as myself, you'll see that they had actually, the people they say witnessed the detainees hanging in their cells was at most 12 people. five of those people were accused of writing false statements and read their miranda rights. we never saw their original statements, five were accused of lying about what happened that night, and i went to the justice department over this with seven guards total state that go we saw something different that night. >> what do you want to come out of this book? >> i want the truth to come out. if you notice in my book, i

dedicate the book to the father of one of the detainee that is died that night. he's always questioned the official story of what happened. he was a chief of police in riyadh, saudi arabia. he knew when he got his son's body that something wasn't right about the government's story. i want the truth to come out and i also would like a real investigation opened again to see exactly what happened that night. >> should guantanamo be closed in your opinion? >> yes. i think guantanamo should be closed. i think if we have detainees who are a true threat, they should be tried in the united states in federal court. >> murder at camp dealt tase available on line and at book stores. it raises a lot of questions. good to have you with us, thank you. >> recycling in space, space x. looks at a new renewable rocket.

>> the benefits of a more flexible work schedule on employees and sleep. we will see how it can pay for

>> today's data dive, get some rest. one in three americans gets six hours of sleep a night or less. a new study says your boss could help you get more and that would make you healthier. the journal sleep health just published the results of a year long study on 500 workers at an i.t. firm. they word the same amount of hours, but half got more flexible work schedules. those with the more flexible schedule and ability to occasionally work from home slept an average of eight minutes more a night, doesn't sound like much, but they were more alert attentive and productive. that hour could help reduce health problems including heart disease.

the bosses who says workers had more flexion i'll saw lower turnover and they didn't feel compelled to go to work when sick. the finallings come shortly after researchers found people who get more sleep when year young and middle age will see health benefits for the next three decades. it's add to go a great body of science proving the great importance of getting a good night's rest. >> the space industry's latest mission which furthers the exploration of our planet. >> sunday night. >> 140 world leaders will take the podium. >> get the full story. >> there is real disunity in the security council. >> about issues that impact your world. >> infectious diseases are a major threat to health. >> "the week ahead". sunday 8:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> though it may not be ready for lift off yet, we have a sneak peek at a powerful new rocket that may be the future of american manned space exploration. the company released animation showing the falcon heavy reusable rocket launching into space releasing cargo and returning to earth. test flights are expect to begin later this year. joining us is chief astronomer

of the franklin ins statutes science museum, an al jazeera contributor. the animation that space x. released is really something incredible. how exactly would this work? >> it is spectacular, but the key word is reusable. these are steerable, soft landing reusable boosters, that means that will cut the cost dramatically of what it takes to actually get heavy pay loads up into low earth orbit. that's the big key, reusable steerable, landable. >> how big a game-changer would it be? >> major, because it gives space x. the ability to launch very heavy pay let's. this will launch satellites from the united states. that's an important point. it will carry off their upcoming space capsule and any other future components that are

needed for deep solar system exploration. this heavy lift vehicle will be the one that can carry those roads. a different rocket, and it tried to land on a platform in the ocean, but it exploded on impact, apparently because of of all things, a lack of gas. do you think this is going to work? >> i think it is going to work. it was a lack of hydraulic fluid that they needed to lower the leg so it could stand on the platform. they had a wonderful outing. this is only the second time they've attempted it. the first time they attempted it on the mobile platform itself and musk things they'll hit it on target next time and if not then, probably the time after that. they are way ahead of everybody else in the industry conquering this particular piece of an extended task. >> it is hold that the new rocket design is going to be

very important fought future of manned flight? >> absolutely. space x believe that is this this is the key to opening the door to deep solar system exploration, including not only going to mars, but going to the moon and carrying spacecraft out into the deeper reaches of the solar system. space x., elon musk really wants to get to mars himself, even. he wants to build that capability for people to get into space and open that door at a much reduced price. >> let's talk about other technology launching, called s map, soil moisture active passive. the satellite is going to measure soil moisture levers all over the world. what makes it more incredible, it's going to do this every couple days, mapping the whole world. what use will this information ever? >> what they're going to do is use two things together, the

rotation of the earth, the orbital position of the spacecraft and rotating antenna. as the earth rotates, a rotating antenna will continuously map the surface of the planet. they'll accomplish a full mapping down to two-inches deep in the soil every three days. this is an incredible accomplishment, consider that go we don't have a full data set yet about the moisture in the soil across the planet. this will be a great piece of information to have. >> i want to end with nasa having its annual day of remembrance this week. wednesday was the anniversary of the explosion that killed seven astronauts in 1976, tuesday the afford of the pad lauren. the columbia disintegrated and killed seven people 12 years ago. how does nasa honor the legacies

going forward? >> the real way is by keeping the space program going alive and accomplishing really big tasks. nasa does not want the lives of these great explorers, daring explorers to be given up in vain. nasa is pushing hard to live up to the legacy of those who took the big risk so others would be able to explore the solar system, that we as humanity would be able to explore the solar system. >> that's all for now, but the conversation continues on our website. we're also often facebook and twitter. you can tweet me. thanks for joining us. >> between 1990 and 2003 nasa launched four satellites to photograph our galaxy across the spectrum of both visible and invisible light.

they made up the agency's "great observatory program" and each orbiting telescope saw things a little differently, and now the youngest of the four satellites has just finished its mission. the spitzer space telescope is an infrared camera, it detects objects that our eyes can't see and it has taken 2.5 million photographs over the course of almost 10 years in operation. >> 2.5 million photographs stitched together into one big view, which allows you to zoom in incredibly far to see all the way out past the dust and so forth that blocks our normal vision and look through infrared through all of that dust out at stars that are all the way out at the edge of our known galaxy. >> and being able to see all of it in infrared means we're seeing distant stars, stars at least 100 times larger than our own sun. the ability to navigate among these stars is invaluable to astronomers, but even to a casual observer it's pretty mind-blowing.

talks between pro-russian rebels and kiev are called off amid more violence in eastern ukraine. i'm jane dutton lye from al jazeera's headquarters in doha. at least 49 people are killed in an explosion in a mosque in pakistan. strong worlds from the leader of hezbollah. feeling trapped. al jazeera gets a real look at what life is like for residents living in