if i haven't gotten through to you now, watch your step. you and your posse don't want to anger me and for sure don't want to anger will ford brimly. enyour your first of nine lives on ridiculist. >> anderson will be back tomorrow with number eight on the ridiculist countdown. that does it for this edition of "360." thanks for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts now. the department of homeland security is the third largest agency in america. it didn't exist ten years ago. should it now? our exclusive tour and interview with dha secretary janet napolitano. >> iran is playing a dangerous game that could draw america into war. the house rejects the senate's plan. dysfunction. dysfunction, dysfunction. let's go "outfront."

i'm erin burnett and "outfront" tonight, rejection and dysfunction. the house today rejecting the senate's plan to extend the payroll tax cut. now, that means that your taxes are going to go up somewhere between $700 and $2,300 next year unless, oh, the big unless an all new congressional committee and it is an all new committee comes to the agreement by the year's end. president obama's approval ratings are up as congress falls on this, and he seized the moment today. >> but now, even though republicans and democrats in the senate were willing to compromise for the good of the country, a faction of republicans in the house are refusing to even vote on the senate bill. a bill that cuts taxes for 160 million americans. and because of their refusal to cooperate, all of those americans could face a tax hike in just 11 days. and millions of americans who are out there looking for work could find their unemployment

insurance expired. >> and just for good measure the white house website prominently tonight displaying a countdown clock to place the blame squarely on congress, and if congress does not act, quote, it says that middle-class taxes increase. the president is pointing the finger at people including republican from texas michael burgess and a member of the tea party caucus who voted today proudly and openly so to reject the senate's two-month payroll extension. i asked him just a little bit ago whether his vote was all about politics. >> i was satisfied that we got the message across that what the senate did was not satisfactory. people do need more than two months of stability. >> look, everyone agrees that a two-month extension is not acceptable and it spoke to a lot of the problems in washington, but this is a big but, representative boehner had come to a deal with the senate republicans and said he could get it through the house, the to-month extension, so they

passed it and went home and who raises their hand and said yes? >> well, you have to ask the speaker and he is perfectly capable of speaking for himself on this, and you have, erin, identified the problem, that it is difficult the get a resolution on these things. answer me this, is it any easier in 60 days' time? >> why couldn't congress have this conversation earlier? i mean, did you, for example, know when the senate passed this that you would vote, i mean, that the two month that you would have voted no, no matter what? >> well, if they had asked me, i sure would. >> nobody asked you? >> harry reid said, look, this is the best we can do two months i would have said no sale, get back to work, because that is the correct answer. i cannot believe that a majority leader reid thought this was an acceptable solution to a problem. they were playing a game of beat the clock and playing a game of run out the clock this unacceptable. so here we are, and saying it is the week before christmas and we are willing to work. american people are working

christmas week, and we should be working. >> you are a member of the tea part caucus. scott brown, republican of massachusetts said, quote, it angers me that house republicans would rather continue playing politics than finding solutions and their actions are going to hurt the american families and the fragile economy, and the americans are first and now is not the time to draw the line in the sand. >> with all due respect to a number member of the greatest deliberative body in the world, in two months' time, erin we will be having the argument again. the big obstacles are the pay-fors, i get that, but surely these are things that can be overcome. >> let's jump in on that. you say they can be overcome and the reason that there is a two-month extension which stinks is because the democrats and the republicans wanted to get one year on it and there are ways to pay for it the people agreed on it, and the reason that we are only getting two months is because you could not agree how the pay for it. >> well, the way to pay for it in the senate currently is a new

tax on mortgages and refinances and the problem here is that you get two months of relief and the tax goes on for ten years. we could find the correct cuts somewhere to offset the expenditures in this bill, and that is what should have happened. any time you enact a new tax, we all know this, you get the short period of benefits, but the tax never goes away. >> the tax cut is very hard to take away, whether it is a mortgage deduction or a charitable deduction or anything else, and in particular, we are talking about a payroll tax and that is what funds the social security and people are getting used to it. now they're saying taking away that is a tax increase. so do you believe we are in a position to have that tax so that we will never have a payroll tax again? >> it's beginning to look that way. i voted against it because of the reasons you just stated. once you provide relief on the payroll tax, you have reset the baseline and people's expectation has been reset. >> well, thank you very much, representative burgess, for

taking the time. >> thank you, erin. the bottom line wherever you stand politically one thing is true, congress is kicking the can down the road again by a two-month extension. we reached out to the the strike team, 24 ceos and entrepreneurs and investors. coming out is the ceo of john mitchell systems, member of the strike team. good to see you again. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me on. >> this is -- this is embarrassing, isn't it? >> well, it is extremely embarrassing to the the nation. give the people a one-year cut, and no big deal, but what is holding it up? it is called lobbyists. our last party got us into this mess, the party running the nation now with the democrats and republicans, are continuing this mess we are in. when the president ran he said, i will knock out the lobbyists and it never happened. three years ago he said we will stop the lobbying and why is this hold up happening? it is the lobbyists. they are saying we want other bills passed, hold off on this

thing so we get other bills passed, let's embarrass the president. it is not good for america. politicians take care of we the people. i think they should continue this thing for at least one year and decide the other things later on. we have politics going on and one group saying that they should not listen to the environmentalists in san francisco and only to please a few people and bring the pipeline in. listen to the people, and maybe it will affect your grandchildren and one doesn't know, but there is a solution to this. get the lobbyists out of there. pass it for one year, and all of the other things that you have, settle it in the next few months, but don't hurt middle america. don't hurt them at all, been hurt enough. >> and let me ask you, john paul, because the issue of paying for it and what frustrated me is that this is what they all liked the democrats and the republicans and everybody liked it and everybody wanted it and no fight. >> made sense. >> and made sense and then there was a pipeline issue and could not agree to pay for it and burgess was saying, okay, well, now you will start to see the people paying more on the

mortgages and we would pay it by increasing mortgage fees and we can't do that. it seems when you talk about paying for it, it is a third rail. >> what happens, erin, they missed the clock. when you had the super committee who knew nothing about business and some of them about taking care of lobbyists and not one of them ran a business. how do you get $1.2 trillion and they should have been going after $5 trillion, get business people in there, get cameras, and at the same time ask others to say, hey, how about you throwing in $1 trillion for the next ten years and it will further reduce the budget? and here, let's get a balanced budget and get rid of the deficit and we need business people in politics and not people who don't know anything about businesses. america is one of the biggest businesses in the world, and the people who run it can't balance their budget. we need business people in there and lobbyists out of there. mr. president, you made that promise and you did not keep it. mr. president, and the

administration before, no pork barm spending. what are you adding on to this bill to help the middle class right now? and more things to either pass this or we won't do it. it is not right for america, guys. america works and come together for a little bit, throw politics out and do the right thing. no one is going to hold it against you if you do the right thing right now, and do it even if it at the last minute. america needs you. >> and to make the final point here as a businessperson, do you think that the people who have had numbers of the payroll tax and if we don't extend it, it will hit growth and not enough to throw us back into recession, is it necessary? what is your take on it? is this tax one that is crucial? >> no, it is not crucial. but that extra $85 a month for people that are kind of struggling right now, it is a big difference and it won't hurt one bit to last one year. we are enough in debt now, and this should force them to say, wow, we went further in debt now, and robbing a little bit more from social security as all administrations have done for years now, and what can we do to run this like a business and

balance it? we, the people, we will help you out and do it for free. if you have to pay us, give us a dollar, hey, we are here. >> all right. said from a man who went from living in his car to the very top. he will do it for a dollar. john paul, good to see you. a member of the strike team and you can go to the website to find out more about john paul dejoria and the other strike team members. barack obama surge and chris christie's way into the election. and he has one to slide into be the crack. and the highest ranking officer of the u.s. military says that iran's latest actions could draw america into war. and the dhs and we go out front with an exclusive tour with secretary janet napolitano, syou earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money.

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like a college or a mall than an office. it has a hell of a lot of money. cafes, on-site doctors, are you kidding me? free dry-cle cleaninging like "seinfeld" anyone watch that the other night, 25% discount? well, i had a exclusive look of the google offices in new york city and they were cool, too, but no free dry cleaning and makes us think that there is ones upmanship behind all of this. which brings us tonight's number, 150, the number of acres that apple has set aside in cupertino, california. cafeterias seat 3,000 and auditorium, fitness center and they have a space for and increase apple's current campus from 2.6 to 3.1 million square feet. the new apple looks more like a spaceship than a building that is set to launch in 2015, but is there free dry cleaning?

two weeks exactly until the iowa caucuses. still not thrilled with the candidates, how about this guy? >> barack obama who is probably the weakest president i have seen in my lifetime has no idea how to use the executive power and to stand up to utter his name in the same breath as teddy roosevelt, are you kidding? >> that is chris christie and the new jersey governor says what he thinks. this morning with joe and mika. we know he is not running, but there is a chance that he would be on the ballot, because the group americans elect is on a mission to get a third candidate on the ballot in all 50 states. a candidate chosen by people, online, not by establishes parties. joining us now is the coo of americans elect elliott ackerman. good to see you. that guy we saw there, chris christie, he could theoretically end up on a ballot, right? >> yes, he absolutely could, and i think what we're doing in

america is opening up political process but i get on the ballot in all 50 states and i'm talking to you from california we are with are certified and over 1.6 million people in the state of california have signed petitions to get a third choice on the ballot in november 2012. >> you mentioned california and that was a big one, and you also got on the ballot in rhode island, i believe, today. so how many states are you in? >> that is right. >> and do you think it is reasonable that you would be in the ballot in all 50? >> we are going to be on the ballot in all 50, and we have been at this for over a year now, and by new year's, we will have 2.5 million of the 2.9 million signatures that we need to get on the ballot in all 50 states so we are removing that barrier to entry and now the question becomes who are the american people going to choose? who are we going to see as an alternative to what the republican and democratic parties are putting up this election cycle and the continued and predictable failure of our governor erns out of washington, d.c., to do anything. >> and chris christie is a guy that a lot of people are in love with and a lot of people say

that his hand was forced too early and he could be drafted, he told joe and mica that he does not regret getting out of the race. but theoretically, he could be on the ballot, but what happens in that case if he's on it but done want to run? >> what we're doing in america's elect is an innovation, he can be drafted through america's elect, and this is an opportunity for everyday americans like chris christie or another candidate the speak out saying they are not satisfied with the choices that they're seeing and they can participate in drafting for the candidates and show the individuals they have real support out there, and that is going to be starting here in january, candidates will be able to announce, as well as draft movements and play out into june of 2012 where every registered voter can sign up at americanselect.org and participate in a nonpartisan nominating convention to put a third choice on the ballot in 2012. >> and if chris christie does not want to get in, he can put a person in his stead, but the person can't be a republican, something like that? >> right. what this is about is putting a

nonpartisan unity ticket on the ballot in all 50 states. listening to the guest before, we are seeing the hyperpartisan paralyzing the country. and we need one who does not owe their line to the parties. what we've got right now is the situation where the party bases have become the party bosses and all of us, the independents, 44% of the electorate, are left out in the cold and politically homeless and none of us have a home. >> i like that politically homeless. thank you very much. a good an al. for those who like that idea or well, not completely fed up with politics as usual and you have hope, this is something that got our attention today. >> campaign finance law has made a mockery of our political campaign season. we really have to let the campaigns raise the money they need and just get rid of the super pacs. >> all right. that really upset john avalon who is sitting over there and you should have seen him in the meeting today. and also with us is democratic strategies and national editor

of govote.com, and the coauthor grand new party, how conservatives can win the working class and save the american dream. john avlon, take it away. >> this is hypocrisy watch 101. mitt romney, he's on the charm offensive. he is on letterman and everywhere and we can all agree that politics ain't beanbag, but for a guy to talk about how distasteful super pacs are, they are dropping millions of dollars in negative ads against his primary rival in iowa, come on. this is what drives people crazy about politics. >> this ad. >> yes. and newt gingrich is unilaterally disarmed here. the idea that the candidates are powerless over the pac, and yes, there is to be no contact with the pac, and they set the tone, for this guy to be above the fray but while they are

dropping millions of dollars a day to drop bombs on newt gingrich, come on. >> the whole idea, on both sides of the isle, it works leak this, that the president didn't have authority over and spent years working for the president and now they run it is what frustrates people about politics in general, this rhetorical separation. >> it is frustrating, but you know what else? mitt romney, not only does he have this pac working for him, but in july and august, he was doing events with the super pac, because there is a loophole to go to the event as long as he did not ask for money, and they were able to have him at an event. so, you know, all of the candidates are in it. everybody's hands have a little bit of dirt on them, and the problem is that the supreme court passed the rule a while ago and we are all stuck in the mess. we are basically back to where we were before watergate and in fact, may be even less regulated, because it is not in the campaign or the democratic or the republican parties and in

the third party groups don't have to report, it's a mess. >> ryan? >> i have to say that i completely disagree with john and jamal. the problem is that we tried to regulate the system post watergate and every time we try to regulate the system, the money is moving in a different system. what mitt romney said in my view, is very sound. when the money is raised by the campaign, then the candidate has to take responsibility for it and you cannot dodge it. you have a ton of super pacs backed by labor, backed by folks in hollywood like jeff cattensburg who dough naturdona. and that is free game, because it is free speech, but if the candidates were raising that money, another great thing happens, the democrats and the republican party can easily raise that money from the interested folks and channel the money to candidates who are not self-funders who are not rich, who are military veterans or veteran bureaucrat whose cannot raise tons of money from wealthy friends but have the support

from their party and that is what romney backed and that is what i was impressed by. >> this is the debate in the meeting with john avalon and i were talking and i hear the frustration, but mitt romney hate the super pac, but he can't say that he can't play with them, and barack obama hate the super pac, has one, too. and you may hate them, but you have to play. >> yes, it is part of the "godfather ii," and don't hate the gamer, but the game. nug made a decision in part because he didn't have the cash to unilaterally disarm. that deserves, that attempt at running a clean, honest campaign deserves people's support and you to call it out when they denounce it on the one hand but are benefiting on one hand and >> america's elect was talking about a candidate coming on that was neither elected by either party so could be a d or r or i or anybody. do you think there's a real chance, you've been following this closely, john? >> yes, this is going to happen and a major player in the 2012 election.

you will have a centrist, bipartisan ticket on all 50 states, and it will change the equation and attempt not to be a third party but a third process. it is exciting an interesting and keep an eye on it. >> i have to say that -- >> well, sorry. >> we will see how exciting and interesting, but i don't think it is definitive. the american system is just not built to have a third party president get elected. what is probably going to happen and a little pie in the sky and those guys are friends of mine i know some of the folks involve in that but it's a little pie in the sky, because i wish i could have cookie dough ice cream everyday and not gain weight, but you can't have the democrat and the republican on the same ticket and expect people to choose between them and not choose the party that they identify with. i mean the democrats and the republicans are not going to do that. >> jamal, 40% of the americans are independent, and they have rejected the parties because of the hyperpartisanship, and the parties have forgotten thatly are not the purpose of the democracy. >> most of them are leaning one way or another, and there are a few people who genuine swingers,

but they are very rare. >> and you can speak to genuine swingers, but i -- >> that is whole other show. >> that is a whole other show, but look, this is -- >> this is maybe more interesting. >> and you are not supposed to say that, erin. >> i mean. >> and beltway swinging is not a good image. >> we are off of the rails. >> we are off of the rails and let me get back on the rails with you, jamal. the president's approval rating and 49% of the americans approve and by the way, big jump for him five points from last week. why do you think that is his he playing the payroll right to blame it on congress whose approval rating is higher than i thought at 11%. >> the one place i am consistently critical of the president is the fact that they have not had a consistent message out of the white house for the first couple of years, but over the last few months they have been dead spot-on talking about jobs and the economy, he's been barnstorming the country, and i think the american people now understand that this president is focused like a laser beam on their economic problems.

and, meanwhile, you're got a circus taking place in iowa and republican primaries with donald trump and herman cain and whoever else is thinking of running for office or being accused of shenanigans and on one side you have the democrats focused on the circus, and the republicans focused on something else. >> accused of swinging. >> maybe the trapeze at the circus. >> okay. good to have you all back. thank you, all. still out front, the "outfront" five. >> missing. >> he's out here somewhere. where? >> homeland security. >> this is the department of homeland security and not the department of guarantees. there are no guarantees here. >> all of this "outfront" in our second half. vegas baby! maybe we should head back to the dealership first? vegas! no, this is a test drive. vegas! [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature.

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we start the second half of the show with stories that we care about where we focus on our own reporting and do the work and find the "outfront" five. up first federal failure. today the house rejected the senate's two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, calling for more cushions to extend it a full year. the senators have left town, and if agreement is not reached by december 31st, taxes will go up for most working americans. michael burgess, a tea party republican, came out front and we asked him if a deal could be reached in time. >> i cannot believe that a majority leader reid thought

this would be an acceptable solution to a problem. they were playing a game of beat the clock. they were playing a game of run out the clock, and this is unacceptable. here we are, and we are saying that even though it is the week before christmas, we are willing to work. i am a doctor and i can't tell you how many christmases i worked. and babies come on christmas and i was nearly a christmas baby and that sufficient happens all the time. american people are working on christmas week and we should be working. and number two, the american officials have been in touch with the government since the death of kim jong-il. they describe the discussions as technical. the former director of asian affairs at the white house, told us that china will likely try to use the situation to gain more power in the region, but he told us that quote, one of the risks of the united states is that you will have a viable north korean regime that is hell-bent on getting more nuclear weapons. number three, "outfront" speaking with the father of a man who confesses on iranian tv they was a cia spy. his family said they were

shocks with the broadcast aired on iranian tv with a false information and forced confession. they said that he has never had any affiliation with the cia. they say that the former marine was visiting family and taken into custody a couple weeks later. number four, a promising housing report helped to send the market up 337 points. and a lot of people are on vacation, but you will take a jump like this when you can get it. new home construction up 9%, better than expected and housing permits a gauge of what you're going to see in the future, also were up. one of the analysts told us that the numbers show a good sign overall, but housing is still volatile and remains ground zero of our economic slowdown. well, it has been 137 days since the u.s. lost the top credit rating, in part due to the housing crash. what are we doing to get it back? today, france said it would be a miracle if france was able to

keep the aaa rating. tonight the highest ranking officer in the united states military says he is worried about iran starting an all-out nuclear war in the middle east. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff says iran is playing a dangerous game to draw the region and the united states into a massive and deadly conflict. this is what general martin dempsey told our own barbara starr conducted in riyadh, saudi arabia. >> my biggest worry they'll miscalculate our resolve. any miscalculation could mean we are drawn into conflict, and that would be a tragedy for the region and the world. >> it would be. and what would the conflict look like? what would it cost? we went "outfront" tonight and looked at the numbers with the help for the center of strategic and budget assessments, and this is what we learned from todd harrison. if the united states engaged in an air strike only of air assault of iran that lasted days or weeks, it could cost between $1 and $10 billion which is the low end sort of like libya, but the bigger end would be the cost

of a conflict involving american forces in iran supporting a change in regime. in that case, possible costs rise to more than $1 trillion. how real is iran's nuclear threat and what are the chances that american troops will be drawn into another battle? joining us now is former u.s. secretary of defense william cohen. mr. secretary, what is your reaction to what the general had to say in terms of, in pretty direct commentary that we are seeing a real ratcheting up, and we have obviously been seeing an arms race in that region. >> well, several things occur to me. number one, i suspect that he is concerned that the iranians may think that our attention has been diverted because of what is going on in north korea, and secondly, this is the last day that we have pulled out of iraq that perhaps they are going to send a signal they are the ones who are going to dominate the region and maybe they will miscalculate and do something provocative and draw us into a conflict. and the third thing is that there seems to be something going on inside of iran in which

they have been miscalculating by allegedly, at least, planning to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states. if that had taken place, that would have led a u.s.-response that would have meant a regime change for sure in iran. so there are a number of contingencies that could take place to draw us into a conflict with iran. >> i am curious about the very instance, because a lot of the americans say, well, all right, the u.s. government has come out with a lawsuit accusing people in the iranian government of planning an attack that would have resulted in the death of american civilians and a terrorist attack in washington. we allege they are doing it, and we take it to court which is not enough to cause a conflict. if that is the case, then america does not want a war. >> of course we don't want a war. and listening to your introduction about the costs of war, i wish we had the calculations in the beginning of the war in iraq, supposed to be a cake walk, over in a matter of months it wasn't going to cost that much, we'd have iraqi oil

paying for the war and here we are $1 trillion later. you have to be careful taking about how costly or inexpensive a war is. it is always more expensive and not only in terms of treasure, but in blood, and in this case how many have been lost and wounded and not the mentioned how many innocent iraqis we have killed in the process. >> what would conflict with iran look like? isn't it most certainly that a full conflict would involve on the ground troops and long-term commitment, too? >> well, i'm sure that the pentagon has dusted off whatever consent of operations would take place. we have concept operations for many contingencies that are constantly updated. i would assume that the most important thing is to keep the persian gulf open during any conflict, should that ever occur because the world economy would depend upon it, and how to do that is actively under consideration at all times. it would involve potentially air strikes, those from the sea and elsewhere. we would try to

minimize any boots on the ground as such. they might become necessary, but we would avoid going to war if at all possible. if it is necessary or provoked and drawn into it then i think we'd have have the full panos pli of options available to the president of the united states. >> thank you, sir. maine's missing toddler. "outfront" with an update. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. nice, huh? yeah. you know what else is nice is all the savings you can get on cruze and traverse over there.

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weech night we reach out to the sources in the outer circle around the world and tonight we begin in the philippines where the country's president declared a state of calamity after this weekend's tropical storm. maria ressa is on the phone from manila. why such a lack of preparation for the floods? >> reporter: erin, this part of the philippines is rarely hit by storms, and so although there were warnings, many officials and residents didn't take it seriously. also, a lot of the rain fell nearly four times what is normal for the entire month of december. erin? >> pretty amazing and the pictures are unbelievable. now to iraq where the sunni vice president spoke out in the charges in his arrest warrant. he is accused of organizing a death squad to target government officials. arwa damon is in baghdad. what did he say? >> reporter: the vice president is saying that he is innocent and these charges are politically motivated, part of

an ongoing campaign led by prime minister nuri al maliki, a shia, to systematically take out his sunni opponents. many of the iraqis are warning about the ramifications that this could potentially reopen the sectarian fissures in this country with some iraqi politicians going so far as to say this could be the beginning of the end, warning that more bloodshed could lie ahead. erin? >> thank you, arwa. police and and the fbi are going door-to-door in their search to find the 20-month-old reynolds. the last person seeing her alive was her father. police say they remain on mystic that the little girl will be found. >> the fbi is conducting the canvassing of the neighborhood, door-to-door, all in an attempt to do energy we can, leave no stone unturned to make sure we get all of the possible information.

>> at the time she disappeared she was wearing a cast on the left arm from a recent fall. police are canvassing the area. jessica reynolds is ayla's aunt and she's out front. thank you for coming "outfront." jessica, thank you for coming outfront, and let me start by asking you how your sister, ayla's mother is doing. [ no audio ] go ahead. >> sorry. we had a little bit of an audio problem. >> can i say something? >> can you hear me now? >> i can, yeah. >> okay. i'm sorry about that. i want to ask you again, because we had an audio problem, how your sister, ayla's mother, is doing. >> she is holding up well, for the circumstance. she's really just -- oh, she just wants her daughter to come

home, i mean, just like any other mother in this crisis, i can imagine, would want the same thing. >> they certainly would, and ayla's father was the last person to see her. what can you tell us? anything that is important to know about the relationship between your sister and him? >> i can't say that there was much of a relationship. other than they share a child together. he wasn't too involved the first 18 months of ayla's life, being a dad was fairly new to him. i can tell you that they are not friendly if that is -- they are not going to sit down and have a coffee or hang out, you know. >> do you feel he is a good father? >> any time they talked was when -- i can't say yes or no to that question. i have never seen him interact with my niece. i personally have only met justin twice.

one time i was handing ayla over to justin for his visit and the next time i saw him, he was removing ayla from my home in october. >> what do you think happened at this point to ayla? >> i am praying to god that they have put her with a relative or a friend or -- i'm hoping that this is a sick game that someone is playing and it is sad that ayla has to be the pawn. i'm just, i wish they would say something and bring her home so that my sister can sleep easy. >> all right. well, i thank you very much for coming on. i know it was hard for you, but we appreciate your talking to us tonight, jessica. >> no, thank you for helping trying to find my niece. >> all right. well, still "outfront," we are going to go inside of the department of homeland security

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the department of homeland security is the third largest agency in the u.s. government with a budget of $57 billion. it is incredibly big. it includes the u.s. coast guard and fema and the tsa and the secret service. we spent the day with homeland security secretary janet napolitano. >> reporter: fortunately this was only a training exercise, but it's a scenario the u.s. secret service must be prepared for every day. this sprawling 493 acre campus, about 30 minutes outside of washington, d.c., is where u.s. secret service agents train. there is everything from a mock town to a replica of air force one. it was all part of the tour we took with the secretary of homeland security. >> excellent.

>> reporter: third biggest department in the united states didn't even exist ten years ago. does it need to exist? >> yes. i can say that as someone who worked as a u.s. attorney in the '90s so i saw the pre-911 iterations of a lot of these agencies and departments. to leverage resources so that we're not duplicating things all through the federal government makes a lot of sense. >> reporter: do you think it's become bloated just because you're so young and it's grown so quickly? >> we are always looking at what we are doing and reassessing. we have actually stopped some major projects on the theory that we shouldn't throw good money after bad. things really have to be value-added where safety and security are concerned. >> reporter: the secret service has 3,200 agents doing a lot more than just looking for counterfitters and protecting the president. >> reporter: if someone is willing to kill themselves, they're going to find a way to do it, right? there's no way you can become

foolproof. >> this is the department of homeland security, not the department of guarantees. there are no guarantees here. what we are about is making sure that we spread across the country kind of a safety net of capacity where security is concerned. >> reporter: the safety net includes the transportation security administration, that's the tsa. 52,000 officers screen about 1.8 million passengers every day. the tsa is a lightning rod. >> yes. >> reporter: yes, it is. just some numbers i have. $57 billion in ten years. 8.2 billion what you wanted this year. second biggest cost for you at the department of homeland security. is it worth it? >> i think so. i think so for a number of reasons. i begin with the threat. aviation remains a goal. it worked before ten years ago, but it worked before there have been continual attempts.

christmas day of 2009 passenger plane, october of 2010 a cargo plane. that cargo could have gone on a passenger plane. >> could the underwear bomber happen again? >> no, for a whole host of reasons. one of which of course are the new types of screening machines, but also because we have really repaired the intelligence holes that he was able to exploit before he even got on to that plane in amsterdam. >> reporter: the new advanced imaging technology is controversial and costly. secretary napolitano says the screening machines are here to stay. >> this checkpoint is actually one of only many layers that we use to protect airline passengers. it begins even before you get to the airport when you purchase your ticket. there is explosive trace detention, there are canines in the airport environment. so by the time you get to this checkpoint and the men and women here, they're our last line of defense. >> reporter: in the last year the tsa has discovered more than 125,000 prohibited items.

it's not just drugs and guns. >> reporter: they screen every checked bag. >> yes. >> every single one? >> yeah. >> reporter: how big of a concern to you is rogue dirty bombs, parts for those bombs, coming into the u.s.? >> it's a key concern. we are constantly making sure that we can detect and find dirty bombs, and we do it in multiple layers. our system of protecting the country begins with good intelligence and analysis. every step along the way we're looking at what we need to do to make sure that we maximize our ability to minimize risk that something like that could get into the united states. >> all right. still out front we're going to introduce you to a man named naz. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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so yesterday while we were in washington we met a man named nasir abasi. he goes by naz. he's a muslim who came to america from pakistan 21 years ago. while we were chatting about

this and that, i asked him what his plans were for the rest of the week. his answer surprised me. he's celebrating hanukkah with his kids. about ten years ago one ofrp his friends introduced him to this woman. she moved to this country from the ukraine. she is half christian and half jewish. they fell in love and got married. rather than settling on one fate they decided to embrace the beliefs and practices of all three. this year, like every year since they met, naz, his wife, and their children, you see them there, will be celebrating hanukkah and christmas and eat. it's really good for the kids. all kinds of presents. when i asked about it, what it was like to celebrate so many different holidays, so many religions that don't get along, he said, god bless america where everybody regardless of their background can sit, eat, live, share their ideas without any fear. it's something that struck me at a time when america is fighting itself, can't get things done in washington, so much hate us versus them.