round of applause for the movie stars! very nice. if you can, go to the after the show show. it starts now. bill: good morning. getting the facts on benghazi. a house select committee holding its first hearing within the hour. it may put hillary clinton back on the hot seat. martha: i'm martha maccallum. the bipartisan committee says today's agenda has two questions they want to gram with. could the administration have done more and did top officials working for hillary clinton scrub documents related to those attacks. bill: what can we expect today?

>> reporter: those are serious allegations and we expect the committee to fully investigate them. we'll hear how they will prevent future benghazi attacks. >> i think our fellow citizens have a good sense of who is trying to be fair and who is not, and i think they have a sense of the gravity of what we have been asked to do, which is what happened to these four great americans. anyone who tries to polite sizeo politicize the investigation runs a risk with their fellow citizens. >> reporter: .

that sets the stage for today's first public hearing. martha: everybody wondering the answer to this question. what's going happen when this hearing gets underway. we'll speak with one of the members of this select committee. then at 10:00 a.m. the hearing gets underway. we'll speak with chris stirewalt and tucker carlson. an american accused of trying to aid the enemy ... this new york man is facing charges of recruiting for isis here in the united states. it seems to have come to fruition in this case as we are get dealing tails on how isis is trying to hit soft targets in the use the. on the list, one that has been

on the list before, new york's times square. rick leventhal is with us. what do we know about this particular plot. >> reporter: the feds have been watching one man for three months now. he approached three men and tried to convince them to fight with isis. he also allegedly told the informant he wanted a gun and ammo and bullet-proof vest so he could go around shooting members of the u.s. military who just returned from iraq. he was busted by the terrorism task force and they fond he was trying to recruit men to go to syria and wage jihad. that's when the terrorism charges were added. martha: are there concerns times square -- we have seen these

groups wanting to go back to a target where they have been before. >> reporter: they are say that isis is mastering social media. and they want to target areas like times square and las vegas to inflict terror. a chat room affiliated with isis has detailed instructions how to make bombs at home using christmas lights. but this new post comes with suggested locations and chatter for possible wannabes, how to cough your tracks and how to do the most damage. the concern is people who are not directly connected to the isis but inspired by them might go out and build some of these

bombs and might try to pull off an attack in times square. the commissioner calls this a very real threat. martha: the isis terror threat taking center stage. many isis recruiters have western passports that will allow them potentially to travel back and forth to the united states without additional scrutiny. who will we going hear from on this today? >> reporter: the jeh johnson and james colby and matthew olson. their testimony getting underway at 10:00. it comes hours after isis released a high-production video with the graphics fighting has

just begun. fighting soon. all that's missing is "to a theater near you." it mocks the president's sound bite' no boots on the ground. we know many isis fighters would enter from mexico. director olson says he knows of no specific threat at least as of yet. the fbi director is expected to testify the u.s. is working to identify isis passport holders and intercept them before they return home. it will include investigators,

linguists and others from law enforcement agencies. martha: thank you very much. bill: president obama traveling to u.s. central command in florida. he will be briefed on isis and taking a tour of that facility and making comments on how he will help defeat the terror group. we watched the hearing yesterday. here is lindsey graham. '. >> there is supposed to be a force on the front to destroy isil without any u.s. help. i don't think that's possible. bill: byron, good morning.

here is that border between syria and iraq largey unguard. we want -- three different shading on this map. the first one is what we believe isis controls from aleppo down to the outskirts of baghdad. the green what the kurds control. senators put this map up that shows the intent of isis. this is the area they believe they want to control down into lebanon and saady arabia. think about what lindsey graham said. that depend on whether arab fighters and iraqi fighters will join our fight. will they? >> that's the question and the fundamental flaw in the president's plan. start the start out with most experts believe it will take

ground forces to defeat isil. it can't be done with an air war alone. since the president ruled out american combat forces, that means the united states is 100% dependent on surrogate forces. on the iraqi army that melte --t melted away in the face of isis. these are extremely unreliable allies and the president's entire plan depend on them fighting alongside cities * fighters. bill: the white house might not have wanted general dempsey to go there but of did go there. what else that plan talked about? >> fred kay began wa fred kaganf

the surge called for 25,000 u.s. troops on the ground. but he said success will depend on whether arab forces would fight along side u.s. forces. that is highly doubtful and kagan said there is a high risk of failure in his plan. what he heard from general dempsey yesterday within the pentagon has not taken boots on the ground to the table. but the president has told dempsey come back to me on a case-by-case basis if you feel troops are needed. bill: tough job. 10 minutes past. martha: bengazi is front and center today as questions get underway and they will come from

congressman trey gowdy who has been launching an investigation into this story. here is the room. it will fill up shortly and we'll take you there live. could the deaths of these four americans have been prevented? and was in a coverup in this story? we'll can committee member mike pompea. martha: a hurricane moves in and the water levels starting to rise. >> the last thing we need is more rain. >> when i heard there was more rain coming in i panicked. horrible. over 12,000 financial advisors.

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martha: tony stewart's fate in the hands of a prosecutor. the prosecutor decided there is enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury. kevin ward was killed after he walked out on to the track to confront stuart. the question of whether there was any criminal intent, nascar says it's closely following this case.

bill: it has been two years since our consulate in benghazi came under attack leaving four americans including our ambassador dead. a hearing will begin 44 minutes from now. congressman pompeii is my guest. i want to know your first question. but for our viewers first, what will we learn today? >> today's first public hearing. today we'll talk with various witnesses about the accountability review board. we hope to learn what they have done to implement the recommendations of the board and understand where that board fell short and didn't ask the right questions and where it didn't talk to the right witnesses and get the right documents to make

sure we understand the gaps as this committee moves forward so we can get all the facts. bill: the acronym is known as arb. did the arb interview and talk to hillary clinton? >> it did not. bill: what's your first question? >> my first question is to the head of security to ask him about the intelligence they had difficult accept night and why it was the red the intelligence they deseninated. >> bill: will you ask why they did not talk to secretary of state clinton? >> we'll ask who they spoke to and why they made the decisions they made. i have not heard an adequate explanation in my mind.

bill: the democrats say this benghazi matter is a right wing obsession and part of your objective is to take down hillary clinton who will likely run for president in 2016. what do you say to that? >> i'll speak goal i have been given by chairman gowdy. and our goal is to get every document and every witness and put together the mosaic, the puzzle for the american people. we had inned a quawpt security. our response that evening is not the kind of response america is best known for. and how is it that we knew there were terrorists who conducted this attack and the american people didn't get that story accurately. it's not about politics. it's about getting the story to the american people. bill: when some people accuse

you of having an obsession, what would you call it. >> an important american mission. the threat from radical terrorism is deeply connected to what we see happen npg iraq today. we have to understand when we have a threat and a security failure so we can keep their cans safe. bill: do you know the name raymond maxwell? >> i do. bill: are you eager to hear his story? this week we found out that he apparently he alleges now that there were members of the state department that were in some sort of coverup trying to you hide anything that would defame or come back to injure hillary clinton or other leading in the members of the department of state. is that a story you are familiar with? and will we hear that from your committee, that story? >> you bring up exactly the

reason this committee exists. we continue to have people come talk to the committee about things that have not been fully investigated. issues like are all the document available for dong review. are all the witnesses with factual information presented themselves. mr. maxwell's allegations will be part of what we are doing. we have dozens of folks who have come forward to talk to us about these kinds of things to make sure we have it fully scoped. mr. maxwell is part of that mosaic. we'll look forward to talking to him and every single person we can get our hands on that has relevant facts about the night four americans were killed in benghazi. bill: you go upon break friday and you go home to campaign. mr. maxwell testify after the mid-terms? >> i'm confident mr. max well will come before the committee.

bill: to our viewers at home stay with us. we'll see what happens, 10:00 a.m. eastern time. martha: adrian peterson taken off the field after being put back on it hours earlier. what's going on here as he faces allegations of not one, but two incidents of child abuse. the big money nfl sponsors are starting to weigh in. martha: armed and dangerous. a new suspect in the ambush of two state troopers. >> green is not in custody. he's at large, armed and considered extremely dangerous.

bill: police stepping up the

manhunt in the case after man who shot two state troopers in pennsylvania. friends and family describe the suspect as a sharp shooting survivalist. >> the investigation involves federal agencies, local law enforcement and game commit commissioners and everybody else. martha: the minnesota vikings pulling an about-face in the case of adrian peterson. this comes a day after the team says they were standing by him and reinstated him and that drew

heavy criticism from fans but also from some very big sponsor names. jonathan hunt joins us. what are the vikings saying about this change of heart? >> reporter: they are not giving their reasons. it appears to be a response to public and commercial pressure. he was deactivated off the weekend. reactivated monday, then in the early hours this morning deactivated again after an allegation he had hit one of his other children while meteing out punishment. he focused on his current situation.

this resolution accomplishes these objectives. we'll support adrian during this process but we firmly believe and realize this is the right decision. the business rationale emphasized by radisson hotels severing its relationship with the team yesterday. the minnesota governor also calling peterson's actions an embarrassment to the organization. martha: you have got ray rice appealing his indefinite suspension. >> reporter: that appeal on behalf of ray rice was filed by the players association hours before the deadline. the p.a. saying he has a right to due process. they also request that roger goodell not be allowed to sit as

judge and jury. we ask that a neutral and jointly selected arbitrator as the commissioner and his staff will be witnesses in proceeding and cannot serve as impartial arbitrators. further trouble for rajer goodell. agoodell. anheuser-busch said we are not yet satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors that so clearly go against our own company culture and moral code. we shared our concerns and expectations with the league. anheuser-busch sponsors the nf throrks the tune of $200 million a year. a very big deal. other big sponsors such as pepico and mcdonald's have

spoken out. the on thing that will change the league is the commercial considerations. martha: money talks. bill: the west coast is getting socked with heavy rain as a tropical storm make its way inland. martha: nasa getting set to give russia the boot. the new american company set to build the next generation's space taxis to get our own ride to the international space station.

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bill: the remnants of tropical

storm odile affecting the american southwest. in arizona they are protecting homes with sandbags. meteorologist maria molina is with us. >> reporter: the center of circulation is over very warm water and that's helping keep it as a tropical storm. naks mum sustained winds at 45 -- maximum sustained winds at 45 miles an hour. 9 storm will be slow moving which means civil days of thunderstorms. through:00 p.m. friday still look at moisture in arizona and new mexico. flash flooding will be a huge concern. we have watches in effect from southern california to parts of

new mexico. in southern california, most of that moisture will say off to the east. but the system will cool off the temperatures that are still hot today and bring in a little moisture. and we need that today. martha: the obama administration scrambling to clarify comments made by the joint chiefs of -- the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff opening the door to ground troops during a senate hearing. >> this coalition is the proper way forward. i believe that temperature true. but if it fails to be true and there are threats to the use the i would bow back to the president and make a recommendation that would include ground forces. martha: both the white house and the pentagon saying his comments were purely hypothetical.

the white house says the president does not believe it would be in the best interests of our national security to deploy ground troops in hah combat role. the pentagon says he supports the strategy that we are executing right now and he says he doesn't believe we are at that stage right now. very interesting word that are being used here. home republican center jim inhoff is a ranging member. .this discrepancy disturb you? general dempsey answered truthfully. this obsession the president has eve this boots on the ground. we already have boots on the ground. he made that clear during yesterday's session. there will be more boots on the

ground. i said we are doing airstrikes. what happens if one of our planes go down. will we have some with one to defend and protect the pilot to goes down? his response, absolutely. this is a war. i know the president is trying to characterize this as a bunch of rag tag terrorists. that's not the case. they have 30,000 to 40,000 troops getting better trained every day. they tripled in ies in the last month. we are going to have to recognize this is a threat to mainland united states. fortunately, the polling has shown 70% of the people in america understand that. martha: it's clear americans are in that mind-set, according to all the polls we have seen. i think the word disturbing

refers to the question of whether the pentagon and their understanding of what needs to happen to win and the white house are on different pages. do you think that's the case? >> keep in mind the white house has a lot of influence off what stuff is sent out to the pentagon. i think our secretary hagel did a good job, too. he's not playing count fact that this is something that's very dangerous. the white house, they are concerned about statements they made in the past. boots on the ground is an obsession with the president. our homeland is at risk and we have to win the war. i have the brother of the king of jordan in my office yesterday and he agreed with us, america is going to have to be in there as a part of this coalition, a leading in the part of the coalition. a big problem no one wants to talk about, what this president

has done to our military the past six years, this is coming home to haunt us now. we don't have the resource we historically have had. martha: you are describing a scenario where you agree with the brother of the king of jordan. general dempsey outlined a different per second tough. he said i would have left troops in iraq. up would have supported the free syrian army earlier and i would go to the president and recommend we put in ground troops. so everybody can agree with you but the president of the united states sounds like does not and has not throughout the course of these statements that was made by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. >> i remember being on your show when this all started and saying the president can't pull everything out. he has to leave the intelligence surveillance and recon.

than the president didn't do it. now it's come home to haunt him and this is a very serious war. martha: the president has a different view which he has made very clear. we know from the past the ps has not had the kind of relationship of daily discussions with generals in the past and leadership in the past. petraeus and mccrystal saying they didn't have the daily check-in with the president that bush had when he was involved with the iraq war and he was overseeing. you may say we were right about these things and the president does not agree and amany the commander in chief. so where does that leave us? >> this president responds to one thing. public opinion. when the public demand we defend america he will do it. it's all poll driven.

the polls as i mentioned, 70% of the people knowing our homeland is in danger. i think he will have to respond. for no other reason that this is a popular thing that will help this legacy. martha: if america is going to lead and bring in a coalition there has to be a clear goal. we'll see where this goes. senator inhofe, thank you very much. bill: looking for a ride? nasa strikes a multi-billion dollar deal with boeing and spacex for an american-made space taxi. it includes 6 missions expected to run for the next six years. no more reliance on russia. and it will pave the way for sending tourists into space as well. i'm not sure every day tourists. i mean really rich tourists will spend upwards of $50 million for

a ride. martha: we are waiting for answers more than two years after the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. the benghazi select committee. this has been a long wait for this moment. it gets underway in 20 minutes. we'll take you there live. bill: the white house scrambling to explain the president's poll numbers. the white house saying it's got nothing to do with the president's policies. >> if the situation improves his rating will improve. but that's not that joke triat the moment.

bill: poll numbers show the president's handling of foreign policy at an all-time low.

senior political analyst brit hume -- >> i think that's dubious proposition. these developments in the middle east and elsewhere in the world are the kinds of things obama said he would not bring about. as you recall and point out. he said his very election would so change the atmosphere in the world when people in the middle east saw him reaching are out to muslims and the muslim world that that would change things right then and there. none much that is panning out and the idea people don't trace this back to him i think is fanciful. bill: joining me now is brad blakeman and alan colmes. fanciful. go, brad. >> it's true. this president governs the way he wishes the world to be, not the way the world is.

the buck stops with the president. the american people hold the president accountable because foreign policy is the president's prime responsibility. he makes treaties. he has ambassadors at his beck and call. the president is missing the mark when he believes that his policies alone, his rhetoric can change world opinion. when things go bad it's never his responsibility and that's where the fault lies. >> you can't blame the president for everything that goes on in the world. you can argue whether his policies and reactions to hem are appropriate but he can't control what goes on in the world. you can't just trace it back to obama. we should not have been in the middle east to begin with. lest you think i'm defending barack obama. i don't think we should be in there now bombing isis. but that's what led to is very

rising in iraq. we got involved in something that was none of our business to begin with. bill: others would argue any decision the united states makes is our fault. and marco rubio made that point last night on hannity *. >> this president ran by bragging he was going to get us out of every conflict on the planet and disengage us from the middle east. this is not uncommon for people like him who believe it's america's fault that we have these enemies. >> it's true. and barack obama started his presidency by apologizing around the world for america's intervention. we don't intervene unless it's in our interest to do so and our allies' interest to do so. we protect america and our allies. we don't intervene for the sense of intervening. that's where the president has

missed the mark. we heard it from general dempsey. the precipitous withdrawal from iraq created an environment where isis was able to gain control and expand their terror in that area. we are seeing it in the entire middle east. we are seeing egypt, we are seeing somalia, we are seeing iraq. we are seeing afghanistan. the entire region has fallen apart. why? because of america's famed leadership. barack obama reacts to crisis but doesn't prevent it. bill: america's withdrawal from iraq is going to be debated for a long time. alan, do you think it' america's fault? >> getting into the middle east, invading iraq in the first place. and again the issue and brad and i debated this before. we could not get a security

agreement under george w. bush to stay in iraq. when were not wanted there. we got out of iraq on bush's time line and as us of forces agreement could not be obtained. bill: others would argue we did not fight for it under the current administration. >> we did and we couldn't get it. >> the president did not engage like he should have and he had no relationship at all with maliki. he could have forced maliki to do that. bill: this is part of the debate we are going to have for a very long time pause we have a new enemy and it lives there between that border. prad, thank you. alan. martha: the united kingdom is on the bridge of a breakup according to the polls. scotland gets ready for a very historic vote. will they break away? and what does it mean for the rest of the world? and a rogue butterfly, look at

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>> our people will take to the polls to decide once and for all if scotland should declare its independence.

the most recent polling shows we are split 50-50 on the matter and i'm hesitant to throw my support to either side be it the right one or the obviously wrong one. martha: groundskeeper willy making his case for scottish independence while we wait to see if they are sever their ties to the united kingdom. highlanders are my ancestors. >> i think it's a very, very bad idea. they voted for independence it would key eight an enormous amount of instability in britain and europe. it would give a shot narmt for the other separatist movements in spain and belgium. it would be big trouble for nato because scotland is home base

for britain's nuclear warheads. it's trouble for currency. what currency is scotland going to have? their own, the pound or the euro? they haven't decided yet. i think it's very bad news for the pro expect tough leader of scotland. he says if they goer to independence they will creep eight a neosocialist society, more welfare. martha: i'm torn on this idea. anyone who has seen "brave heart" understands scotland has long wanted its freedom. the brits like you are just trying to tell them they can't do it on theirer on and they won't be okay. they said the same thing to the united states of america and things were going all right. >> reporter: that was then, this is now.

why do they want to be independent. they have their own legal system and education system and their own flag. martha: and they have mayor own oil. reporter: but who gets the revenue from it. what share of britain's national debt will scotland snake you wand willscotland take? you want to tell me? the latest polls show a 4-6 advantage to the no vote. no independence. bill: we are wearing kilts tomorrow. we are moments away from the benghazi select committee. trying to get to the bottom of what happened on the night of september 11, 2012. we'll take you live inside the hearing at the top of the hour.

martha: it has been more than two years in the make and now we are moment away from the start of the first hearing on the select committee on benghazi, the deadly attack on our consulate. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. the committee convening in the wake of bombshell claims from an official who says hillary clinton aides helped scrub related documents at the state department before handing them over to benghazi investigators. martha: chris stirewalt standing by with his analysis. bret, good morning to you. what do we expect here this morning? >> reporter: expect this to start fairly slow. trey gowdy is going to from all things we have heard, the chairman of the committee is going start with a look at what

recommendations out of the accountability review board, the interest so-called administration report that they point back to all the time whether the recommendations from that have been implemented around the world. and expect, you know, that to be this first hearing. as far as these allegations about this former state department official, maxwell and his allegations that's before the arb came out, that hillary clinton aides, including the chief of staff cheryl mills and the deputy chief of staff mr. sullivan, jake sullivan, separated the documents that made either the state department look bad or not. and determined which papers went to which -- to the arb. that's the allegation, that it happened on a weekend and those documents were separated as he watched in this room. that has not been substantiated but expect this committee to

eventually get there, just not right away. martha: tray gowdy hasn't said a lot while he has been working on this investigation. but he said he thought that charge was incredibly serious. when you are asked to turn over document it's expected you will turn over everything. you are not allowed to call out what might be incriminating and what isn't. at what point do we expect? we know they are going on a break. when do we expect this to come to fruition. >> reporter: that's a great question. i think this will be a slow roll. there will be a lot of setup about this committee. there will be a lot of look at what is happening right now for protection of embassies around the world. but as far as getting into the meat of thosal gaitions, especially -- of those allegations, it will take some time.

gowdy forecast it may takes months for this committee to complete its work to investigate what has not been investigated or they feel has not been fully investigated despite all the of these committee hearings. >> martha: bret, thank you very much. bill: while we are watching the benghazi hearing is also a house homeland security hearing underway to talk about the threats to america on behalf of is very. we are watching that hearing as well. but as we watch these dueling hearings, a protester in the room for the homeland security hearing. let's bounce back to benghazi. trey gowdy himself a former prosecutor. >> they have animus toward us because we are us. to the family and friends and the loved ones of those killed we can never adequately express

our con dole evenings and gratitude. to the families. you have helped us understand these four were not just pictures on the television screen. they were sons and husbands and fathers and brothers and friends. and fellow americans. i remain hopeful there are some things left in our country that can rise above politics. i remain convinced our fellow citizens are entitled to all of the facts about what happened before, during and after the attacks in benghazi. and they deserve investigative process that is worthy of the memory of the four who were killed and worthy of the respect of our fellow americans. some questions for this committee and i respect their right to dissent. but the mark of a professional. the mark of character is to do a good job with the task even if

you don't think the task should have been assigned in the first place. and given the gravity of the issues at hand, i would rather run the risk of answering a question twice than run the risk of not answering it once. i am willing to reconsider previously held beliefs in light of new facts and evidence and i would encourage my colleagues and others to do the same pause we know that all the documents have not yet been produced and we know there are still witnesses to be examined and we know there are witness hospital have been examined in the past. but for whom additional questions may be warranted. so i would ask each of my colleagues given their vast and very yifd and exceptional backgrounds, to put those talents to good use on behalf of our fellow citizens. the house of representatives constituted this committee, and they did so for to us find all

of the facts and i intend to do that and i even tend to do it in a manner worthy of the respect of our fellow citizens. our fellow citizens have legitimate expectations. they expect to us protect and defend those we send to represent us. they expect us to move heaven and earth when those who are representing us come under attack. they expect government to tell us the truth in the aftermapt of a tragedy always. and they expect at we'll not continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again. which brings us to this hearing. benghazi was not the first time one of our facility or our people have been attacked. beruit, kenya, tanzania are three that come to mind among others. after these attacks, groups come together and they make recommendations on how to

prevent future attacks. that seems to be the process that is followed. a tragedy or aattack comes. we commission a panel, a board, a blue ribbon commission to study the attack and make sure we make recommendations to insure it never happens again. but yet it does happen again. so to those who believe it is time to move on, to those who believe that there is nothing left to discover, that all the questions have been asked and answered and we learned all the lessons there are to be learned, we have heard all of that before. it was wrong then, it is stunning to see the similarities between the recommendations made decade ago and the recommendations made by the benghazi arb. if you doubt that, i want to you compare the recommendations of those made 25, a quarter century ago. 25 years tea go, with the recommendations made by the

benghazi arb. we do not suave from a lack of recommendations. we do suffer from a lack of implementing and enacting those recommendations. that has to end. so it's appropriate to review the recommendations of the most recent arb and i commend our colleague from california for suggesting we do so. it's also fair to ask why we have not done a better job of implementing recommendations made in some instances decades ago. hard in, why does it take an attack on our people or facilities for to us make a recommendation. why to the evaluate the threat before the attack. why not anticipate rather than react. in conclusion the people we work for yearn to see the right thing done for the right reasons, man the right way. and they want to know that something can rise above the din

of partisan politics. they want top trups the institutions of government. so to fulfill the duties owed to those who serve and in honor of those who were killed, maybe just maybe we can be what those four brave men were, neither republican nor democrat. just americans. and pursue the facts. and justice, no matter where that journey takes us. with that i would recognize the ranking member from maryland. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i thank you for holding this hearing today. i know every member of this panel is dedicated to insuring our work honors the memories of the four americans who were killed in benghazi. their names must be etched in our memory banks. ambassador chris stevens.

sean smith. tyrone woods. and glenn dougherty. i want to thank our colleague for proposing the topic for today's hearing and mr. chairman i want to thank you for accepting that topic and so we can see what has become of the arb recommendations. too often over the past two years the congressional investigation into what happened in benghazi has evolved into unseemly partisanship. we are better than that. today we have an opportunity to focus on reform. how can we learn from the past to make thing better in the future. mr. chairman, i agree with you that over the years

recommendation after recommendations have been made. the question is, as you said, what became of them? i do believe that in life there are transformational moments. that is, something happens, it cause to you stop and pause. and try to figure out how to remedy the situation and make it better. the problem is when those moments come and they come to all of us, the question is, is whether we pause, make things better, because usually if we don't, we repeat the errors and usually things get worse. this is one such transformational moment. the kind of oversight that can be productive, it can be

critical, it can sometimes even be tedious, but it can also save lives. that what we are talking about. that's why i want to thank of member of this panel for agreeing to do this. for we are about the business of trying to save lives. that's a very serious mission. i sincerely hope the select committee will stay on course of constructive reform and keep this goal as our north star. it would be disservice to everyone involved to be lured off this path bipartisan politics. today we'll review the recommendations of the accountability review board which was shared by ambassador thomas pickering and admiral michael mallory.

during our previous investigations the house oversight committee, the chairman gowdy and i, heard directly from both men about how seriously they took their roles. ambassador pickering called it i quota debt of honor. their report was independent. it was adopted unanimously i all board members. and it was a blistering examination of what went wrong at the state department. they made 29 recommendations and secretary clinton accepted all of them. after they issued their report, the state department inspector general issued its own report finding and i quote, the department wasted no time addressing the recommendations end of quote. the department has been working on implementing those recommendations for the past year and a half. and congress should insure that

it finishes the job. today i would like our witnesses to provide an update on the status of several of the board's recommendations. first the board found the department's response to the deteriorating security situation in benghazi was, i quote, inadequate, and it was inadequate at the point in benghazi, at the embassy in tripoli and here in washington. ambassador pickering explained the post did not take action despite crossing several trip wires that should have caused officials to review security more closely and develop a stronger response. the board recommended the department change its procedures to make sure the security breaches are reviewed immediately. today the department reports that it has created a new process that requires both the

report trip wires as soon as they are crossed so secure officials can review them immediately and take action if necessary. i want to know if this process is now fully operational. and if so, how it has been working so far. the report also found we should not have relied so heavily on local militia groups like the february 17 militia to protect our posts. they called this alliance "miss placed." they found the security foarlss were quote poorly skilled end of quote. the board recommended the department strengthen security beyond the traditional reliance on post government security. support in high-risk,

high-threat posts. end of quote. today the department reports it has 17 new marine detachment and another new marine unit to enhance security in threat environments. the state department is now using new funding from congress to hire 151 new personnel in the bureau of diplomatic security or d.s. i want to hear from our witnesses about whether these actions are sufficient or whether we need to do more. the report also found pause with a deputy assistant secretary with d.s. who denied repeated requests for additional security in benghazi. at the time this official oversaw the security of all 275 diplomatic posts around the world. to address this problem the department created a new position to focus exclusively on the security needs of roughly 30

folks experiencing highest threats. the board praised this action stating that it could be and i quota positive first step integrated into a sound strategy for d.s. reorganization. today i want to hear from the state department. specifically. about how this new position is working. and whether they believe we should make additional changes. everyone understands that the diplomacy by its nature sometimes requires to be in very dangerous places. our diplomats work in high-threatans. know we cannot eliminate every risk we must do everything that we can to keep americans as safe as possible with their serving overseas. for that it want to conclude by recognizing the tremendous sacrifices made every single day

around the world by diplomatic corps. the intelligence committee and our military service members on behalf of the american people and i remind my colleagues this our watch. i said to the chairman before we started, this is bigger than us, the things that we do today and over the next few months will have lasting effects even when we are gone on to heaven. and that's how we have to look at this. so we prepare not on for the present, but we prepare for the future and generations unborn. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, gentleman from maryland. the first witness will be the honorable greg star from the department of state. the second with itness todd kyle, a member of the interest panel of best practices and mark sullivan the chair of the independent panel on best

practices, welcome to each of you. we'll recognize each of you for your five minute opening statement. ' i will need to administer the oath to the witnesses before taking their testimony. so if the witnesses would please rise and lift their right hands. do you solemnly swear the testimony you give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. let the record reflect all wilt necessaries answered in the affirmative. secretary star you are recognized for five minutes for your opening statement. >> chairman gowdy, ranging member cummings and distinguished committee members good morning and i thank you for your invitation to appear a to discuss the department much state's implementation of the recommendations made by the arb.

>> along with my colleagues at the state department look forward to working with you as you exam minute issues relating to the 2012 terrorist attack in benghazi. the attacks in benghazi were tragic. today we honor those we lost by internalizing the lessons from that night to protect our people in the field as they carry out our country's foreign policy work every single day. over the past two years with secretary kerry's leadership that commitment is being honored. like you, we want to keep our people safe. the heart of the accountability review board's recommendations was to enhance the department's approach to risk management insuring when our national interests require to us operate

in dangerous places, that we identify the risks and take the proper steps to mitigate them. the department made important strides in that regard. i would like to highlight just a few examples of how we are implementing the arb's recommendations clowg we are getting high-threat posts the attention and resources they need. even with this progress it is essential for us to acknowledge that while we can do everything we can to reduce the risk, we can never eliminate it fully. high threat, high-risk posts require special attention. and to provide the right resources to operate there. we have instituted a new process called the vital presence validation process. vp2 to do just that. our recent return to the central

african republic. the department suspended operations there in december 2012. this year using the vp2 process and the support cell process that plans for how we go into these operations. the department engaged in an analysis that determined that we should and can go back. we worked with our colleagues at the department of defense to assess the security situation on the ground and develop a comprehensive plan for our return. we deployed d.o.d. and department personnel just last week and the embassy is now open. our return to bengai pro she diewrs are working. and how we improved frank. chief of mission personnel including both security

professionals and all foreign service personnel are now better prepared for operating in high-threat environments. we increased training for high-threat training specifically and we and our high-threat course for colleagues going to high-threat posts. we are making this training universal for foreign service personnel and employees for all of our posts overseas. further to combat fire as a weapon we partnered with the city of new york fire department and the army's warfare group to enhance our counter measures. with regard to fire and smoke as a terrorist weapon. and we added to our security

resources. guard program which we have done as well. while these are just a few examples the department's efforts, post-benghazi, i believe they highlight some of the key progress that we have made. i will not outline all of this, all we've done in the interest of time, i am pleased to report we have made what i considered to be tremendous progress on the 29 arb benghazi recommendations. today we have closed 22 recommendations and excuse me, seven are in progress or nearing completion. today we're better prepared, better protected and informed to manage the risk. we look forward to working with congress and you on insuring that foreign affairs community has safe platforms for carrying out our national interests. i want to thank congress for the additional resources that you have provided over the past two years, to improve and sustain

this diplomatic platform. i will be glad to answer any questions that you have. >> thank you mr. starr. mr. kyl. >> thank you, chairman gowdy, ranking member cummings and select committee members to allow me to testify about the independent panel report of best practice. in the aftermath of the tragic attack in the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya, and provide our insight regarding the information and related issues relevant to our report. our panel was committed to identifying best practices from throughout the use government, private sector, non-governmental organizations and international partners which can finely establish a effective risk management process in the department of state, improve the security of u.s. diplomatic facilities abroad and enhance the safety of department of state and foreign affairs agency personnel not only in high-risk areas but globally.

we identified 40 crucial recommendations to achieve this goal. we continue to stand behind our report in the strongest possible terms. and believe that the 40 recommendations and the supporting narratives, which were derived from well-known and established best practices provide a clear road map for an absolutely necessary organizational paradigm change throughout the department of state to support the current direction much expeditionary diplomacy and the application of proven enterprise risk management enhance mans. mr. chairman and distinguished members, i spent career of 23 years aspects agent with the diplomatic security in the department of state. as a result of my years of service i'm uniquely familiar with the history and most importantly the operating culture both within the bureau of diplomatic security and the department of state. as our panel interviewed hundreds of people in the u.s. and abroad and gained valuable

ground truth from travel to 10 countries during our work including numerous high threat locations i couldn't have been more personally and professionally proud and heartened along with my fellow panel members by hearing and witnessing the dedicated and admirable work of the men and women of the diplomatic security service. each day around the world the dst faces extreme challenges and unpredictable risks to provide a safe and secure environment for the conduct of u.s. foreign policy and they do so with distinction. the men and women of the bureau of diplomatic security are truly dedicated public servants and are owed the gratitude of the american people for their service to this great nation. as we stated repeatedly throughout our report, best practices will not save lives unless they are resourced, implemented, and followed. almost 14, now actually almost 15 years ago as was mentioned in

the chairman's opening statement, a number of very similar recommendations were made after the east african embassy bombings and little has been accomplished by the department of state since then to improve its approach to risk management. while we're pleased our report has been finally officially released by the state department along with the implementation fact sheet we're disappointed with the decision not to implement recommendations number one, the most important one, and recommendation number 13. in a meeting earlier this year with deputy secretary hiking again bottom and hiking hiking n bottom to thetom and secretary starr we were encouraged by the support for the report and adhere to the recommendations in the report. in light of such history in the report and recommendation to the department of state and continuing sense of responsibility we voiced our concerns in a recent letter to deputy secretary higgenbottom those not implement and relying

on pre-benghazi implementation and procedures to achieve implementation. now is the time. clear the smoke. remove the mirrors. now is the time for the department of state to finally institutionalize some real, meaningful and progressive change. and as the ranking member said, this is transformational moment. they can't lose this moment. words and cursory actions by the department of state ring hollow absent transparency and verifiable and sustainable actions to fully put into practice a letter and intent of our recommendations which will facilitate diplomacy and safeguard selfless americans who carry out our national security priorities around the world. the department of state owes it to those poo who have given their lives to service in our country and employees continue to serve our country in very dangerous locations around the world to continue to identify and implement risk management best practices. additionally we urge the

department to institutionalize the process of outside and independent counsel on risk management best practices sooner than 2016. the accountability review board recommended this be an annual process and we concur this remains a critical need for the department and should begin as soon as possible. in our view this is decisively important step the department must take to demonstrate transparency and insure a continuing dialogue on security best practices with input from outside independent experts regarding operations and high threat and challenging international locations. finally mr. chairman, i would like a take a quick moment of member of our panel sitting in the audience. ray's multiple careers include 25 years as fbi agent, five years as director of security at cia. ray exemplifies the definition after great american. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. keele. welcome to your guest. mr. sullivan you're recognized for five minutes.

>> good morning chairman gowdy, ranking member cummings and distinguished members of the committee. thank you for asking todd keil and i to appear before you today. mr. chairman, i consider it honor to serve with the best practice panel with dedicated individuals. the team of todd keil, raymond, timothy murphy and staff, erica licklighter and stephanie murdoch have combined experience of 175 years of security in law enforcement expertise. during our careers, each panel member has gained an appreciation and understanding of the importance of having clear lines of leadership, and an organizational structure concerning security matters much we as a panel also understand things don't always go as planned. when they don't, it is vital timely meant lessons learned in an effort to prevent them from

happening again. the panel report reflects the independent views of the panel based upon our best professional judgment, experience, and analysis of the best practices informed by interviews, travel, and extensive research. it was a pleasure to serve with this dedicated group and i appreciate their professionalism and hard work. i would also like to acknowledge and thank all of those interviewed in the course of drafting this report from the u.s. government, private sector, international organizations, and foreign governments. the best practice panel was the result of the accountability review board for benghazi which recommended that the department of state establish a panel of outside independent experts with experience in high-risk, high-threat areas to support the

bureau of diplomatic security, identify best practice, and recommendations from other agencies and countries and evaluate the united states security platforms and high-risk, high-threat posts. our report provided 40 recommendations in 12 different areas. those 12 areas are, organization and management, accountability, risk management, program criticality and acceptable risk, planning and logistics, lessons learned, training in human resources, intelligence, threat analysis and security assessment, program resource and technology, host nations and guard force capability enhancement, regular evaluation and change management, leadership, and communication and training. it was the opinion of the panel,

all 40 recommendations would further strengthen the department's ability to protect its personnel and work more safely on a global platform to achieve american foreign policy goals and objectives. the panel's view was that its recommendations were realistic, achievable, and measurable. on august 29th, 2013, the panel delivered its final report to the department of state. of the 40 recommendations we offered, the department accepted 38. of the 38 accepted recommendations, the department of state has reported that 30 have been implemented and in addition, the implementation process for the remaining eight is on going. the two recommendations not accepted are, the department should as a matter of urgency establish an undersecretary for diplomatic security and number 13, waivers to establish

security standards should only be provided subsequent to the implementation of mitigating measures as agreed by regional bureau or other program managers. advised by the department of state and as informed by the department risk management model. the best practice panel looked across a wide spectrum of private and non-governmental organizations to identify effective measures to enhance the department's ability to assure a safe and secure environment for employees and programs. not surprisingly the panel found that many institutions including governments, referred to the department of state bureau of diplomatic security as the gold standard for security and seek to model their service after the bureau of diplomatic security. nevertheless any organization must continuously evolve and improve to adjust with the fluid and dynamic environment. the panel continues to advocate that the way forward should be characterized by cooperative

efforts that will provide a framework which will enhance the department's ability to protect americans. in order to be effective, we must be innovative so we inch sure institutions adapt and evolve to ever changing security environment need. in any environment where uncertainty fer me eights, one certainty we share is the necessary collaborative effort that is needed in our country to ensure the safety and security of all american lives. it is also a necessary certainty that we honor and protect the memories of those citizens who have been lost as a result of violent attacks with dignity and respect. i would like to take this opportunity to thank the department of state, the overseas posts that hosted our panel's visit, and the bureau of diplomatic security for the outstanding support they provided to you are our panel during our endeavor. i would also like to thank chairman gowdy, ranking member cummings and members of the select committee for inviewing

us here today in your continued efforts to make america safe. i look forward to any questions you may have. thank you. >> thank you, mr. sullivan. chair will recognize the gentlewoman from indiana. miss brooks for her questioning. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i'd like to start out by thanking each of the panel members for being here. you dedicated your careers, whether protecting the president or foreign service officers in homeland security and would like to thank for that work. in preparation for today i looked at the department of state's website and learned that there are reports that show, and i certainly, am certain that you're aware, since the 1970s there have been over 500 attacks on our diplomatic facilities abroad in over 92 different countries. from 1998, through december of 2013, there were actually 3336

attacks against u.s. personnel and facilities -- 336. these include things like rocket attacks, firebombing, attempted murder, sars son. -- arson, takeovers, vandalism. it wasn't until 19987 that the state department start what are called accountability review board and there have been 19 ar. abouts since that time. they have reviewed only, as i understand the mission of the arbs to review most significant attacks against diplomatic personnel and review specifically security and intelligence and whether or not government employees preachessed their duties. as the chairman and the ranking member have brought up, in the 1998 east african bombings, 300 lives were lost. 12 americans. the rest were africans and an arb was convened then and as we

already heard they made several findings and recommendations then. this follows what was called the inman panel which was 14 years before the east african arb and again many of those findings and recommendations were found in east africa in their arb. at the time, the then being secretary of state accepted all of the recommendations in east africa arb and now here we are, 14 years later and some of the same recommendations have been repeated by the benghazi arb. and so we seem to have a state department that has a long history of repeat recommendations but i think there is a significant difference between recommendations and implementation. bill: this hearing has been underway for past 40 minutes and trey gowdy kicked off with a opening statement, whether you agree or disagree what the hearing is doing he is after the fact and he believes what the

american people need to know as well. we'll watch more closely for more headlines and question and answer will follow in matter of moments. we'll bring it to you as well. we also have -- martha: we also want you to know there is another hearing in the homeland security committee with chairman mike mccaul. we'll take you there as well. he is discussing the wordwide threat and domestic threat posed by isis. when we come back. >> that is kind of profile --

bill: fox news alert. talking about these two hearings, screen right, screen left. screen right is homeland security hearing on threat of isis to america. screen left is what we're watching for about 35 minutes or so. that is the benghazi select committee first public hearing as they look into what happened on september 11th, 2012. chris stirewalt, fox news digital politics editor from washington. >> good morning. bill: just big picture benghazi hearing as it stand today for

us? >> well you can tell how politically fraught this issue is with the topic that chairman gowdy has chosen for day one which is, the least controversial part of all of this which is, accountability at the state department for implementing the changes that secretary clinton initiated in and her successor john kerry have carried forward. this is the part the democrats and republicans alike are cool with. things will get a lot less cool as the weeks and months go on from here because you get to the very contentious question, about lapses and democrats and clintonites and core obama folks have acknowledged some lapses but as you get to the lapses led to the devastating nature of the attack, number one. and number two, most politically consequential, what was covered up? how did the cover-up occur? we know there was cover-up after a fashion we got emails

indicated how the talking points got scrubbed up before they went out. remember it was right before an election in 2012 so we know that part but how broad was the cover-up? that is hugely consequential to the democrats 2016 frontrunner, while generally popular always had struggles with voters about truth, accuracy and forthcomingness. bill: congress goes on break friday, right? >> right. bill: they go home to work before the midterm elections to work their home constituents. >> yes. bill: so based on the calendar, is this only hearing we will have on this topic until those midterms are concluded? >> given chairman gowdy's cautiousness, that he is demonstrating today, and the desire to be even-handed, one would think that he is not going to be rushing or jamming anything. and certainly you would think that republicans, who stand very strong chance of taking control of the united states senate, are not looking for substantial distractions, especially, given

the fact that the president, as we see new polling from "the new york times" and cbs today, are in a disasterous position when talking about foreign policy. so i would think that the better part of valor here for republicans is probably to get this started, get it on the record and probably walk away. bill: then you're looking at 2016. then you get to see the real big picture and what is at stake for hillary clinton? >> well, gowdy has promised, in a bid to get folks on board, he has suggested that he expects this to be done as the 2016 campaign cycle is revving up, but still within 2015. that he can get this done by the middle of next year. hillary clinton's campaign will continue to escalate. she will continue to be out there. her campaign apparatus is definitely engaged already on these issues. but you will see more from the clinton campaign. you will see more from her people as they aggressively push

back on this but gowdy is trying to avoid being in the middle of a firefight between hillary clinton and her opponents democrat and republican. bill: you can see the right is ramped up for this. they have various websites and points of interest and the left has as well. can republicans screw this up? >> oh, my gosh, yes. oh, my goodness, yes, in a big way. they can screw it up if they look like they were unhinged or lost the thread what is at issue here. what is at issue here as gowdy was definitely highlighting in his opening remarks, what is issue here interesting to all americans is, were you lied to? or how much were you lied to? or how were you lied to? in what way you were deceived? and what, this is probably the most important part, motivation for deception that occurred. why did people deceive you? that is all material. if they keep it there, that is fine. if they get into strange conspiracies and things like that, that will blow right back on them. bill: chris stirewalt. get back to listening there.

we'll talk to you real soon. >> you bet. martha: dueling hearings going on capitol hill this morning. the other one is house homeland security committee and they're meeting on worldwide threats and threats to the homeland presented by isis very interesting testimony going on here especially in light of the indictment of a man in rochester with links to isis. we're going to talk to captain chuck nash on the other side of this break. we'll take you there live when we come back. >> law enforcement and several in the law --

martha: house homeland security hearings underway. we have been watching questioning back and forth with the congressman that are there, also the director of the fbi, james comey, has been speaking about the threat to the homeland. here is the chairman of this committee, congressman mike

mccaul. >> we've known about this one for a while. inspire magazine which came out with a recent edition, page after page how to make ied explosives, how to make bombs. and then this one from isis, a very glossy, in english, it is what i call, my "wall street journal" op-ed, what they call jihad cool. this recruiting effort that they have ongoing to train, to recruit and radicalize americans in the united states. not only to bring them to syria, but also, god forbid, to pull off an act of terrorism in the united states. after all they're already here. martha: word this morning it is already working at least on some people. captain chuck nash, fox news military analyst. captain nash, good morning. good to have you with us today. >> thank you, martha. martha: in hearing unfortunately very timely, as we learn that a

rochester man, 30 years old, was brought into custody on three counts of attempting to provide material support and resources, by group designated as a terrorist organization isis, by federal prosecutors. it begins. your thoughts. >> it has been ongoing and the fact that about 100 americans are estimated to be over in iraq and syria fighting with isis as we speak, those are the ones who are motivated enough to leave the united states and go over there. think about the many more who are probably not quite that motivated but willing to participate and do it here locally. so that is of concern. the other thing that is of concern is of course the ongoing disaster that is the open border that we have with mexico. they have found currency in the deserts out there from middle eastern countries.

they found korans and found prayer rugs. this is a real problem and i don't know if isis, if they had the exact command-and-control to drive someone out to plan an ied, to do something like that, i don't know that they would intentionally do that at this point because it would be jumping the shark. right now they can see we're all wrapped up, we're somewhat indecisive. we're having a hard time putting together a coalition. we're broadcasting all things they are not willing to do. if there were attacks directly traced to them, that would swing public opinion i think overnight and then they would have some real can of whoop coming. martha: that is very interesting. in a way, not in a way, certainly the beheadings that we saw have whipped up fervor against this group. >> yeah. martha: doesn't seem to bother them. in fact they have another person, god forbid, they say they have next in line but in my mind there is kind of two issues here. there is the sort of strategic

isis issue which you refer to, whether or not they think the time something right to pull off an attack here. then you have these individual here. when i think back to the boston bombers, think back to nidal hasan and recruiting shooting back in little rock in 2009, all individual who were clearly inspired by jihad. in the case of brendan tevlin maybe we're adding to the list in new jersey killed by a man who professed to be jihadist as well. what is being done about those people might be a more immediate question? >> that is the real issue because when i brought forth that, that last bit about, if they had the command-and-control, i don't believe they do. this is a cultural issue. it is a idealogical issue and these people are self-starters. they're self-motivated. they read the stuff on these websites and in these magazines that chairman mccaul put up. then they act out on that themselves. so there is no real

command-and-control network that you can get into that we're used to dealing with from a military perspective. this is all bottom-up, self-motivated, put this stuff out there and then show people how to actually make the explosives an encourage them to act on their own. martha: well, we have to be on top of it as you well know and i think perhaps it is a good sign this man in rochester was arrested. apparently they had been watching him for some type. maybe some of the surveillance, things we've been able to employ helped in some regard to track down at least one. chuck nash, good to talk to you, sir. >> thank you, martha. bill: watching these two hearings, benghazi on one side. you have got the house homeland security committee on the other. looks like peter king from new york, getting questions screen right. we're back in a moment watching both for headlines in moment here on "america's newsroom." when salesman alan ames books his room at laquinta.com, he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. so he knows exactly when he can check in and power up before his big meeting.

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the day. the president will speak in a little while. >> in tampa. see you on the radio. we'll give brian a hard time. >> bye, everybody, have a great afternoon. >> getting to the bottom of what happened in benghazi and what we have done since, to bolster security at american embassieses. good morning to you. i'm jon scott. this is "happening now." heather: i'm heather nauert in for jenna lee. we're watching a bunch of hearings on capitol hill. the first hearing before the house select committee on benghazi. it is underway on capitol hill. it started one hour ago today. congress probing the attack on 9/11/2012. militants assaulted the u.s. diplomatic compound, killing four americans including the u.s. ambassador to libya chris stevens. among committees,