i want to go to my colleague barbara starr, our pentagon correspondent who is live on the phone. clearly this has to set off the alarm bells within the pentagon staff. >> reporter: oh, i think there is no way around it. this is huge news. that one little sentence you just read, initial indications are the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit, the north koreans had been trying for years to put a satellite in to space by all indications what they have achieved now with this orbit is doing something very close to that, if not that itself. an object that appeared to achieve orbit. the u.s. military and the intelligence community has determined that tonight, by going back through the satellite and intelligence data that they quickly collected about this north korean launch in determining they did manage to put something in to orbit. by all accounts the first time north kraen korea has been able to do this and it is what you were just talking about. did they really do it on their own or did they get some crucial technology help from some other country? >> does this

defense official told barbara starr the u.s. navy has fully accounted for all unmanned vehicles operating in the middle east region. we have the latest developments now from cairo. a u.s. source says that if the iranians do have something, it is not an actively operating u.s. navy drone. what would that mean? could this actually be a fake? >> it could be. it's not clear right now, but iranian officials have a different story. we don't know when or how this u.s. drone was allegedly captured, but you can be sure iran is going to count this as a big intelligence victory over the u.s. you can also be sure they'll use this to portray the u.s. as the aggressor in the region. that's what iran has done for more than three decades. briefly, let's tell you about the reports from state media in iran. reports say iran captured a drone flying over the northern persian gulf waters after it allegedly flew into iranian airspace. this is a region close to iran's only nuclear power plant. a statement by iran's revolutionary guard said this happen

here's barbara starr. >> push forward it opens, right?and that's how i maneuver. >> reporter: wounded troops in rehab at the holiday time. all christmas miracles. meet travis mills, one of the troops i visited with asking them to send holiday wishes to their buddies. >> hi, everybody. i'm staff sergeant travis mills of the 82nd airborne division. i want to wish everybody a merry christmas and happy new year, to all military forces overseas and home, and especially a shoutout to my guys in first platoon force squad, the gun show, miss you guys, love you, have a merry christmas. >> reporter: eight months ago he stepped on an ied. >> we thought it was clear, but it wasn't. it took all four limbs but didn't take my life. i'm thankful for that. >> reporter: it can be a struggle just to walk again. >> bud richenback with the u.s. navy. want to give a shoutout to my friends and family, have a good holiday and stay safe. >> reporter: army specialist tyler jeffries also lost his legs. >> i want to give a shoutout to my friends and brothers back in

>> barbara starr, thank you very much in washington. >>> and now, to the fiscal cliff. and we are just about to go over the edge. congress has left for the holidays. if they don't get a deal done soon, tax increases and budget cuts will hit after the first of the year. earlier, republican congressman, steve la tourette said the president has been too focused on tax cuts for the rich. but he did leave the door open a little. >> i'm okay, you president, you can tax the rich people. but come up with some spending cuts, we're borrowing $1 trillion a year and he has not. >> indiana senator joe lieberman said he's more pessimistic than he's ever been that a deal will get done. >> in the aftermath of the house republicans rejecting speaker boehner's so-called plan b, the first time that i feel that it's more likely that we will go over the cliff than not. and that, if we allow that to happen, it will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time. maybe ever in american history. >> leaders from both sides are expected back in washington

here is our pentagon correspondent barbara starr with what few details we know at this hour. rbara? >> reporter: don, very sad news this holiday weekend for u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s. the navy is now investigating the death in afghanistan of one of its most senior deployed s.e.a.l. officers as an apparent suicide. a u.s. military officials tells cnn. navy commander job w. price, 42 years old, died december 22nd while serving as the commanding officer of s.e.a.l. team 4, a group of more than two dozen commandos conducting combat operations in the southern region of the country. now, while the death remains under formal investigation, that u.s. military official of who's directly familiar with the event, said the family has been notified of the death and has also been notified it is being investigated as an apparent suicide. there is no indication at this time that commander price was involved in any military-related investigations or any controversies, the official said. all indications are when he did not appear at an expected time, other military personnel weptnto look for him and

all of this now the subject of a complete army investigation. >> barbara starr, we're glad you're lookingara's entire report tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. barbara, thank you. >>> former president george h.w. bush may be battling a fever, but he's certainly showing grit and some humor. in a message to supporters, mr. bush's chief of staff says the 41st president's condition is not dire. she says mr. bush has every intention of staying put and that we can put the harps back in the closet. that's my favorite part. the family says they are confident he will be out of the hospital soon. certainly hope so. at 88 years old he's the oldest living former president. >>> let me just start by saying -- >> general norman schwarzkopf has died. he was the face of the persian gulf war, operation desert storm. leading a lightning fast ground assault that lasted just 100 hours. imagine that. his televised briefings became a staple of the war and made him a household name. he was already a decorated commander in vietnam. he retired with four stars after taking over the u.s. central command. defense secretar

barbara starr has this exclusive "outfront" investigation. >> reporter: this little boy was supposed to be safe at an army day care center. >> this happened to military families a stone's throw away from the pentagon. if it could happen here, it could happen any high where. >> reporter: this military wife and other of two doesn't want her face shown. cnn has also agreed not to show her children's faces or identify them by age. >> obviously, barbara, i am concerned about the privacy of my children. and then there's always the possibility of retaliation against my husband. >> reporter: it's every parent's nightmare. finding out her toddler was physically assaulted by child care workers at the ft. myer army day care center. the scandal grew to the point if the obama made an unprecedented phone call to army secretary john mac cue to express his concern. according to this fbi affidavit, this little boy and others were punched and slapped. one child was dragged across the floor. >> we thought, of all the different options, putting them in a child care facility during the day that was on a

the latest in the series of green on blue insider attacks and our pentagon correspondent barbara starris is a story we've report sod often during the year, haven't we? the details on this attack are different in one respect. as far as we know this is a case where a woman, an afghan woman in a police uniform conducted this shooting and killing. a contractor in cab uhl police headquarters. the nato alliance has already announced the incident but not said the nationality officially of the contractor involved. this typically does not happen where the perpetrator is a woman. they are going to have to determine, of course, if she really was an afghan police officer or perhaps the uniform was stolen or she somehow came into possession of it. a continuing issue in afghanistan the past several months. they are trying to work on it. keep an eye on things more closely. be aware when people who want to conduct these acts have basically infiltrated into a safe area, but again, it's happened again. >> barbara starr, thank you. >>> here in washington, hope is fading for a deal before the country reac

>> all right, barbara starr, thank you. n this morning. >>> well, a global banking giant will pay nearly $2 billion as part of a record payment to the u.s. government. the payment is part of a settlement that resolves hsbc of accusations of money laundering for mexican drug cartels and terror-linked groups in saudi arabia. >>> and you might want to tuprn to google for the next time you're looking for tips for legally saving money on your taxes. according to bloomberg news, the world's second largest search engine saved $2 billion in taxes worldwide by shifting billions of dollars into tax shelters in bermuda. maribel is live at the nasdaq market site. maribel, this is most of google's pre-tax earrings that they were able to shelter. >> hi, ted, you're right there. it's about 80% of google's pre-tax profits last year. we've heard some of this before. and here's the thing, ted. it is legal. but bloomberg is now attaching some specific dollar figures to this. first off, why bermuda? that country doesn't have corporate income ta

let's get straight to cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. a, what have you learned tonight? >> well, you know, as tragic and serious as this is for the people of syria, this now has regional implications throughout the middle east. intelligence services from israel, turkey, jordan, lebanon, all the countries surrounding syria are now talking with the united states around the clock about this very scenario. because if there were to be, god forbid, a chemical attack, the concern is some of that could drift across boreder ed. worse, even as tragic as that would be, what if the regime collapses, terrorists move in, insurgent groups move in and grab some chemical material. they could take it across the borders into the neighbors countries and you would have a full-fledged crisis in the region. >> there has been talk that assad may try and seek asylum. what are you being told about that and the possibilities? >> you know, there's a lot of rumors out there. the betting money is that the three countries that you hear about the most are russia, venezu

"outfront" tonight, barbara starr.now the real new front, drones themselves, have changed the entire way this country will fight war forevermore. let's start with the bioswimmer. what can it do? >> well, this is a very interesting project that was actually funded by the department of homeland security to basically -- it takes the shape of a tuna because tuna can maneuver in the water. they can get into small places. and the idea is if you could put sensors on this, cameras, acoustics, you could put this kind of device into u.s. harbors. maybe to go through shipwrecks, underground debris. the whole idea with all of these programs is that nature really is, you know, the best way. there's a good lesson to be learned here. these are devices that can move in nature as they do like a tuna. >> simple things. 90% of the world's goods go by ship. you need to be able to see what's going on under water. how many other animal-inspired drones are there and are they as sophisticated and as natural as the tuna looked? >> most of them

. >> barbara starr joins us live. there have been hard-core outrage. what are opponents saying? >> what they are doing, miguel is making the point none of this is really new. school districts across the country have grappled for years with the question of security on school grounds. there have been -- this debate has been going on for some time. but these advocates of more gun laws, the opposite of the nra, also offer this point. they remind everyone, there was an armed security officer at columbine high school the day of that 1999 massacre and that person could not stop that event. what they say is controlling gun violence now requires a package of solutions, mental health solutions for those who are mentally ill, gun laws and potentially more for schools a package of solutions beyond the schoolhouse door. miguel? >> a tough question in washington but what can only be described by a rant on friday by wayne lapierre what is your sense of it? the tone of it the fact he blamed anybody but didn't see any role for the nra to really play in this, how did that play, you think, in wash

the defense department tells barbara starr that two ships are being moved to an unspecified positionllies. the sources say it's possible two more ships could be sent to the region in the next few days and the taliban has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that wounded afghanistan's intelligence chief. an official says the attacker targeted the chief as he was leaving a meeting. hamid karzai told reporters he's cnn's barbara starr that two ships are being moved to an unspecified position to provide reassurance to allies. it's possible two more ships could be sent to the region in the next few days. the taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that wounded afghanistan's intelligence chief today. a senior police official says they targeted the chief as he was leaving a meeting. afghan president karzai told reports he's confident he will cover. a programming note, i will report live from afghanistan next week on the future of the country. >>> it has been 490 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back? good news tonight. initia

soldier. >> barbara starr, thank you.s there. >>> suspicion, intrigue and dirty dealings. we all enjoy hearing about them. there's just something about the juicy details of a great scandal. r ] introducing the new dell xps 12. part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation. ♪ time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. you'll also care about our new offer. you get access to nurses who can help with your questions. and your loved one can get exelon patch free for 30 days. if the doctor feels it's right for them. it cannot change how the disease progresses. hospitalization and rarely death have

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cnn's barbara starr tells us what he said and how people in high places of power are reacting to it. >> newtown. >> newtown. >> newtown. >> newtown. >> how many more? >> reporter: performers and artists now joining with 800 mayors calling for a plan to end gun violence. but wayne lapierre, the chief executive officer and public face of the national rifle association, made clear on nbc's "meet the press" that his organization will oppose legislation adding new restrictions to the sale of weapons or high-capacity ammunition magazines. >> look, i know there's a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happensism know there's an anti-second amendment industry in this town. i know there's political leads that for 20 years always try to say it is because americans own guns. i'm telling you what i think will make people safe. and what every mom and dad will make them better, they drop their kid off at school in january is if we have a police officer in that school, a good guy. >> reporter: as the last of the newtown massacre victims are laid to rest earthq

barbara starr as well. we'll continue to follow it, as well. >>> up next, while lawmakers have been battling over the fiscal cliff crisis, they managed to find time to vote on a treaty that would have protected disabled around the world. it's modeled on the americans with disabilities act. 38 republican senators blocked it with their votes. you might ask, why would they do that? we'll tell you, ahead. >>> an arrest of a death of a new york man pushed on the tracks and killed by a subway, tonight on "360" i'll talk to another man who jumped on the tracks once and saved a man's life three years ago. he says all the criticism for those who didn't help this time is misguided. you're going to hear why, coming up. get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get strai

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> the death of a navy s.e.a.l.ontinuing violence in afghanistan has a lot of people asking the question as to whether afghanistan is going to survive when the u.s. leaves or devolve into civil war and whether the security forces in afghanistan are actually going to take over when the united states pulls out its troops next year. i'm going to bring in duck mckeon, chairman of the armed services committee. we talk about this navy s.e.a.l., a member of s.e.a.l. team six, how everyone knows that s.e.a.l. team, very brave men. there have been more than 300 americans killed in afghanistan this year. the taliban is in charge of some parts of the country. al qaeda is still present in some parts of the country is the afghan security force ready? >> i'm not sure they're totally ready yet. there are parts of the country that have been turned over to them, but it's a large country. and remember when we asked when the commander general asked for troops for the surge to finish the mission in the south and then move to the northe

barbara starr is reporting that the u.s. doesn't think that korea has any control out of this, short of saying it's tumbling out of control, they're not in full control. does that matter? is this splitting hairs or semantics, or is this really still quite a leg that they have now up in this battle? >> i think it's significant that they were able to establish the capability of launching a three-stage rocket. i think we will determine whether they were able to put a tip or at least some form of a satellite into an orbit and then what's it doing up there, at this point, is not significant. we shouldn't worry that that was an armed or a nuclearized or a weaponized tip. i think they just wanted, primarily, to establish the ability to launch it into an extra atmospheric type of orbit, and they were able to do that with a three-stage rocket. the real concern that we would have is how do they weaponize that. but this clearly is a provocation against all u.n. resolutions. >> it's a big difference, weaponizing with wmds or nukes. and

but as barbara starr reports now, a u.s.ilitary strike on syria is not without risk. >> reporter: with the u.s. now believing the syrian government has chemical-filled bombs, cnn has learned the pentagon is secretly updating military strike options for president obama in the event he orders action. a senior u.s. official tells cnn a strike could be carried out with the ships and aircraft already stationed in the region. the planning is being driven by the latest intelligence which u.s. officials say shows sarin gas has been loaded into aerial bombs in at least two locations near airfields. syria seems to have crossed the line drawn by the president last august. >> a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. >> reporter: this week that line seems to have shifted with warnings from the president, secretary of defense panetta, and others focusing on what happens if assad uses the weapons. >> see, these lines become sort of pink lines. you know, they're not drawn with,

on the phone is pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what are you hearing out of the pentagon?> reporter: anderson, at this hour, u.s. officials are looking at all the incoming intelligence trying to figure out exactly what north korea has launched. the news agencies across asia, say it was a three-stage long-range rocket. that's the kind of rocket that has the u.s. most worried because it can have intercontinental range. but the question is exactly what did they launch, how far did it fly, what kind of capability it had because you know they had that failed test back in april. if they were actually able to do more successful tests this time, so quickly after the failed one, how did they get better, who helped them? that's the question tonight. >> let's check in with paula hancocks who is joining us from seoul, south korea. do we know if this launch was successful? >> reporter: that's what everyone is trying to figure out at this point. the military is tracking the orbit to try to figure out whether or not this was a success. we don't have word yet whether or not this was a suc

"outfront" on the story, cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> you don't think she's a little hard stuff? >> washington says she's a killer. >> it's a hollywood spy thriller with as much oscar buzz as it has controversy. "zero dark 30" the story of the hunt for osama bin laden from the oscar winning powerhouse team of katherine bigelow and mark bowe recreates how it all happened, from the female cia analyst who finally figured out where he was hiding to the navy s.e.a.l.s who killed him. >> there are two narratives about the location of osama bin laden. >> reporter: the controversy? the obama administration has faced accusations it gave undeserved access to the film makers. in real life, everyone involved in the hunt for bin laden remains sworn to secrecy. but the film makers say they got firsthand accounts. they just won't say exactly how that happened. >> i think as a reporter you would understand we take protecting our sources and sort of the exact methodology of our sourcing pretty seriously, just in the same way if i asked you how exactly did you source that story. >> rep

he was responding to a question from our own pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> reporter: barbarawithout commenting on the specific intelligence that we have with regards to these chemical weapons, i think there is no question that we remain very concerned, very concerned that as the opposition advances, in particular, on damascus, that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons. the whole world is watching. the whole world is watching very closely and the president of the united states has made very clear that there will be consequences. there will be consequences if the assad regime makes a terrible mistake using these weapons on their own people. >> panetta said that intelligence now in the hands of the u.s. government quote/unquote raises serious concerns bashar al assad is considering using the chemical weapons. we have detail from barbara starr, our pentagon correspondent. >> reporter: syrian civilians already terrified and on the run. but it may be about to get worse. with intelligence showing bashar al assad's regime is mixing chemical weapons material

barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> "outfront" next, the latest in the trayvon martin case.was in court today. did he gain or lose any ground in his case? >>> also, will william and kate have a boy or girl? how that information could be worth thousands of dollars, believe it or not. >>> also we take you back to oregon where there's an active shooter in a mall outside of portland. the details on that in just a moment. plus presents the cold truth. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook. aunt sally's singing again. it's a tradition, honey. [ singing christ

barbara starr is talking about this. first of all, why it did did he this?anne. in a week when the country is so focused on the safety of small children, the army is getting a failing grade big-time. the president having to pick up the phone and call the secretary of the army on tuesday night to express his personal concern right from the white house about a number of arrests and a growing scandal at an army child care facility here in washington, d.c. here's what happened. back in september two workers arrested, charged with some assault against small children at the facility, pinching them, slapping them, dragging them across the floor. this sparked a look at the background checks on all the workers there. it wound up last friday 30 child care workers of 130 that worked at the facility, 30 workers over all dismissed. they have things in their background checks like assault, drug use, abuse of minors, things like this. many more had some minor charges, but generally things that certainly would have disqualified them for working in this facility. >> when was

barbara starr at the pentagon this week. . >>> the north koreans are holding off launching a long range rocket for now but extending a launch window -- they say this is over technical problems, that according to north korea state news. earlier this month, the north korean government announced a 13-day window for a possible launch. that window opened today. it is now a 20-day window that closes december 29th. north korea claims it's a peaceful bid to advance their space program, but as you can imagine, the u.s. views it as something more sinister and is threatening sanctions if this launch takes place. >>> at least one top democrat isn't sweating ambassador susan rice's chances if she's nominated to be the next secretary of state. here's what senate majority whip dick durbin said on sunday's "meet the press." >> i think in the end some of the criticisms against her have been unwarranted, many have gone too far. there's a basic feeling of fairness. she's an extraordinary person. she's certainly well educated and has really serv

pentagon correspondent barbara starr is working her sources, and she joins us from washington. we have seen a lot of these attacks. correct me if i'm wrong, this is the first time it's happened with a woman. >> reporter: i think that is absolutely correct, dana. u.s. officials, nato officials looking into all of this, trying to figure out what exactly did happen. a woman in an afghan police uniform opened up fire, shooting and killing a u.s. contractor inside kabul police headquarters. key question perhaps, was she really an afghan police official, or was the uniform perhaps stolen? was this an infill tator of the taliban? what exactly was going on here? these are the questions in all of these incidents that get asked. they have a very active program in each case to investigate and try to determine what went wrong, what they might have known, what they might have been able to spot. very sad news for an american family on this holiday, a u.s. contractor shot and killed by a woman in an afghan police uniform. da dana? >> it certainly is. it's always tragic news, but it's especial

barbara starr live with more. barb rar? >> president obama remembers general is schwarzkopf as an american original. he accomplished something on the battlefield few others can claim. booting the iraqi military. the invasion force from saddam hussein out of kuwait after august of 11990. commanding 700,000 coalition forces and got the job done in a ground war that lasted some 100 hours after six weeks of an air campaign. a real rout of those iraqi forces. and even general colin powell. one of his closest friends remembering him today. powell, chair of the joint chiefs at the time. powell saying "his leadership not only inspired his troops, but also inspired the nation. he was a good friend of mine, a close buddy. i had miss him. that from one of his colleagues in the army. schwarzkopf and powell didn't always see eye to eye. part of the reason he got the name stormin norman. powell would have to tame schwarzkopf's fiery temper. he set the tone for new generals. the televised press conference bringing the war into homes aroun

president obama picking up the phone, calling the pentagon and saying, what on earth is going on. >> barbara starr, thank you very much. >>> you can watch barbara's entire report tonight on erin burnett out front 7:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. >>> eyes of the world right now focusing on the white house. within the next hour, congressional leaders will arrive for what is likely to be a very tense meeting with the president of the united states. this is perhaps the final effort to avert the new year's tax increase that is expected to cost the average family several thousand dollars a year. four days remain to reach an agreement, get it passed by the house and senate, and signed into law by the president. as we said, we're talking a long shot here. as we await the arrival at the white house of the top four members of congress, they're schedule scheduled to meet with the president at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. and as we talk about the fiscal cliff, we talk mostly about the tax increase, but it is more than just that. tom foreman explains now. >> as these negotiations go on, everybody says here comes the

barbara starr, thank you. we'll have much more with hala gorani momentarily. brooke more breaking news here from capitol hill, 29 days until the fiscal cliff hit and we're now hearing it sounds like from republicans dana bash, our senior congressional correspondent, live for me, right now on capitol hill. what have you learned? >> reporter: that's right, brooke. we have breaking news. the house republicans have sent at this time a letter to the president with what they're calling a bold counterproposal. we'll leave it to others to decide whether or not that is the case. but the speaker himself came in to talk to a group of reporters who were gathered to get some details on this, and the speaker said that he thinks that this is, in his words, a credible offer, one that he hopes the white house takes seriously. and one that the white house responds to quickly. now, what is the offer? we have some specifics so we can give our viewers and i'm sure there are people out there watching this very, very closely, because the fiscal cliff is so close. first of all, they