who deployed blackwater? who hired blackwater?unfortunately, president obama continues to pay blackwater millions of dollars on the federal payroll. >> the mind reels. jeremy skahill of "the nation" and the author of the definitive work on this company. thanks for coming in. >>> on one hand she is a positive menace in the house. on the other news her last opponent won't try to unseat her next year means we might get to still have michelle bachman to laugh at. boss limbaugh asks if bill clinton hit on two reporters he helped free from a north korean prison. worst persons coming up when rachel joins you at the top of the hour governor mark sanford's press secretary just resigned today. but first because they may be gone but their deeds obviously outlive them the breaking headlines still lingering from the previous administration's 50 running scandals still bushed. number three, attorneysgate. remember the name rachel peloze the 33-year-old former office assistant to alberto gonzalez best friend of monica goodling? somehow she wound

he was outsourced to blackwater. and senator ensign says his infidelity was not as big as bill clinton's. there's a lot of jokes to choose from there. these stories ahead. three best persons in the world. team warning, best oopsies. best tv oopsy, sean hannity of fox and stuart varney of the fox we're not doing any business channel, hannity said two bits of news came out. max baucus said social security could face default within two years. varney promptly agreed. spencer baucus said it. spencer bachus, not democratic senator max baucus of montana. oh, and congressman bachus later admitted he made a mistake and meant to say deficit. social security could face a deficit within two years. first chance at default would be 2037 so fox got the name wrong and branch of government wrong and political party wrong and the quote and fact wrong. there's been no correction. >>> dateline washington, number two best ex-politician oopsie. tom delay now affiliated with "dancing with the stars" on with chris, never mind for a moment h

blackwater, now known as xe services, spelled x-e, maintains mr.and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing and performed their duties on behalf of their employer, the state department. joining me now as promised, the contributor to "the nation" magazine and blackwater the rise of the mercenary black army, jeremy scahill. >> thanks for having me, keith. >> flush this out for us. >> obviously to hear the term murder and blackwater in the same sentence is no great surprise. particularly to people who have been following the history of this company. it's been at the center of some of the worst violence of in iraq. killing civilians repeatedly. five of its men will be tried on manslaughter charges for the massacre in baghdad in september '07. another one pled guilty. the congress is investigating. the irs is investigating. this is a scandal-plagued company. what is explosive and you just went through some of the most explosive of these details is you have two former blackwater officials. i have learned from sources that john doe number two was actua

blackwater failed to report the incidents. outside baghdad, blackwater misled the state department into believing it was a justified use of force. fob war horse, failed to report the incident and blackwater taped all of it, destroying every single tape afterward. he says. how far would prison go? it appears prince murdered or had murdered one or more persons who were planning to provide information to the federal authorities. both were in fear of their own lives, reporting z manager personally threatened pea with death. mr. prince rate operated a web of companies to obscure wrongdoing, fraud and other crimes. shredded and destroyed many indremenating documents, e-mails, transferred funds to avoid d.c. texas of his money laundering and tax evasions. smuggled weapons on mr. prince's private planes and revenue from illegal weapons trade. and resigned roy metinger, not willing to go to jail for prince. and schooled in deception, a top counter terror, some carried out on blackwater jets testified to congress the fbi had certain 9/1

that launched blackwater, keith as a mercenary operation.time that prince and krongard were crafting this relationship between the cia and blackwater, you had cofer black running the cia counterterrorism center saying the gloves had come off. before 9/11 and after 9/11 saying there were no limits on what operatives would be authorized to do in hunting down terrorists, so you have this history of blackwater from 2002 to the present where they worked overtly and co-vertly for the government and prince hires cofer black, buzzi krongard, robert richard former director of the cia, eric prado to run his own private cia called total intelligence solutions which worked simultaneousously for the u.s. government and foreign governments. >> we already have blackwater employees who pleaded guilty to weapons smuggling including those armer piercing ammo devices that detonate in human flesh as you pointed out. there are affidavits from two of the vets of plaquewater claiming erik prince principally went into this because he wanted to kill muslim people. n

blackwater. tonight, blackwater operating under its new corporate name did not respond to requests for comment. the company and its former ceo are still under federal grand jury investigation in north carolina for potential crimes in iraq. but today former cia director, michael hayden defended the outsourcing. >> we do not use contractors to carve out something we do, we want to deflect responsibility for. that is simply wrong. >> reporter: still critics say the cia was trying to protect its reputation by hiring contractors to do its dirty work. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> today was election day in afghanistan and all eyes were on voter turnout after repeated threats from the taliban that would stop at nothing to disrupt the election. our ief foreign correspondent richard engel is in afghanistan and reports from kabul on what happened. richard. >>eporter: good evening, ann. there were 135 attacks across afghanistan today. 26 people were killed. and all of the violence and threats f

blackwater was ordered out of iraq last january. the company changed its name to xe, but man of its guards were rehired by a security firm and are guarding u.s. officials in iraq and afghanistan while the renamed blackwater is still being paid millions for air operations in afghanistan, and government use of its training camp in north carolina. why would the cia outsource a top secret operation to what many call a rogue company? >> we really should be focusing on why can't the u.s. government put together a program to find these terrorist kingpins and take them out in a legal way and that's really the issue. >> reporter: officials say blackwater helped train agents to track al qaeda in london and paris outside of war zones. but quickly ran into diplomatic roadblocks. >> the idea that we would give contractors the authority to use lethal force abroad in friendly countries where there could be enormous blowback as the cia blik likes to say strikes me as cr y crazy. >> reporter: this man was in charge of counterterrorism for the cia an

jack rice is a former cia special agent and, jack, before we get into this about blackwater, your reaction to the news that tom ridge was pressured to essentially use the terror security warnings for political purposes? >> this is amazing when you watch this in the first place. one of the first things i see is the use of terror as a political weapon. we've seen it from those who used it had if the first place, but if we're seeing this in our own country where whoever did it on whichever side actually wraps themselves in the flag and justifies what it is they're doing, this is outrageous. i don't care if you're left or right, it make nos difference. there are going to be a lot of people talking about what it means in the future. >> in tom ridge's book he says he pushes back against the pressure he was under but yet there was a time three days after the democratic convention in 2004 when the terror warning alert was raised. so a lot of questions about that. but -- >> absolutely. >> again, now also the cia, and this sort of secret program to use blackwater contractors. i think that would be a

in recent years, the military has hired blackwater to help in afghanistan and iraq. yet another case of when and if congress was never told about it. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with more. is this a case of contracting out what really should have been done by the cia? >> the cia has used contractors for years. the former cia director explained how they have used contractors and how it is not a sinister practice pre listen to what he said. >> please do not take anything i have said to suggest what the agency routinely does. we have a really hard problem. >> the cia had contracts with blackwater back in 2004 for training facilities and use its training facilities here in the united states. they had a contract to provide security for the cia. the answer to logistics' abilities out there shortly after 9/11 that the cia was taking advantage of. gregg: there is a bit of black in blackwater. >> there are two names that can make democratic heads spin in this town. one is eric prince. when they think of blackwater, they think of no bid contracts, mercenaries with

just how big of a role did just how big of a role did blackwater play?%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%d >>> new information coming to light about just who the government turned to for a crucial mission, getting to and possibly killing leaders of al qaeda. >> remember the assassination program? well, here's why it was a big deal. turns out the agency secretly hired some help. blackwater, the controversial contractor. >> -- already investigating whether the cia broke the law by failing to inform congress it was developing this secret program to track down the terrorists. >> why is the obama administration still using blackwater as a contractor? why do you continue to hire this group? >> i'd have to look and see what the extent of that use is and i would point you to the cia -- i'd feel more comfortable talking about this when i had a little information on their contracts. >> our big question, why was the government outsourcing some of its most important missions? with me now to talk about this from atlanta, suzanne simmonds, author of "master of war" a book

more and worst yet from the blackwater affidavits.ebsite that helped promulgate the phony obama kenyan birth certificate says it's a phony and worse it's billo versus me and rivera? you're watching "countdown" on msnbc. (announcer) create a gourmet meal on a weeknight? introducing anytime gourmet culinary kits for two. it has everything you need. just prep, cook and share your way into a gourmet meal. wild salmon dijon in puff pastry with whole-wheat orzo and vegetables. new stouffer's anytime gourmet. make it amazing. >>> in february the final score came in on eight years of the bush administration handling of the economy. the stock market at 7100 and the monthly average of the newly unemployed at 645,000 and rising. today the brakes started to take hold. the stock market crossed 9300 and unemployment not only finally stopped growing in july but actually shrank a little bit. our fourth story on the "countdown" republicans say this has nothing to do with the obama stimulus plan nor even the efforts late in the bush administration to d

more and worst yet from the blackwater affidavits. now the website that helped promulgate the phony obama kenyan birth certificate says it's a phony and worse it's billo versus me and rivera? you're watching "countdown" on msnbc. 's the pizza guy. sure. me again. okay, now this is the last te alright? thanks, you know we don't deliver anything like this. this crispy flatbread. mmmm. mmmmm! so delicious! are you like havin' a party or somethin'? ( slam ) hello? introducing the taste that's never been delivered. digiorno crispy flatbread pizza. for deliciously italian-inspired toppings on crispy flatbread crust, it's not delivery, it's digiorno. hello, i don't think we have met. >>> in february the final score came in on eight years of the bush administration handling of the economy. the stock market at 7100 and the monthly average of the newly unemployed at 645,000 and rising. today the brakes started to take hold. the stock market crossed 9300 and unemployment not only finally stopped growing in july but actually shrank a little bit.

"the new york times" first reported blackwater was hired as part of a proposed c.i.a. plan to assassinate al qaeda leaders, a program that never got off the ground. intelligence sources confirmed to fox that the c.i.a. did ask for help from blackwater's founder eric prince back in 2004 to train at his u.s. bases and provide is your sailance and logistics in afghanistan where blackwater had a security contract. c.i.a. director lee onpanetta cancelled the program earlier this year when c.i.a. agents asked him if he this could cross the border into pakistan. at that point, blackwater was no longer involved and hadn't been for several years. former c.i.a. director michael hayden says the agency has long had to rely on contractors and still does because it lacks certain skills. >> what people generally accuse of us of doing, however, and i saw it reflected in the times' story yesterday is, that we go to contractors when we do not want to take responsibility for some activities. let p me just yell out loud and kick the podium and say that is absolutely not true. >> democrats

, it's the firm that caused so much controversy in iraq, is blackwater now helping the cia track down al qaeda? >>> and the racially charged murder that helped launch the philadelphia rights murder in the united states. >>> and a young journalist who interviewed president obama turns the tables on me. >> go ahead and interview me. >> why do they call you wolf? we're shopping for car insurance, and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >>> is a private company playing a key role in the effort to hunt down and kill al qaeda leaders? a stunning report in the u.s. times says they're working in afghanistan loading bombs on drone aircraft. let's talk about this with suzanne simon, she's the author of a brand new book entitled

hygiensources say the cia reacht to this man, prince, formerly the head of blackwater.e details are murky, we know it involves using their resources in iraq and afghanistan to hunt al qaeda, and we do know that the cia never acted on it, but this summer, leon panetta first of all congressçç about the plant that was first discussed back in 2004, and it is a born in controversy. jennifer, what has turned into such a politically charged story? >> basically because it involves two big names, former vice president dick cheney, the sources said he told people not to brief congress. the leon panetta said that it was not true. director lerch leon panetta did not sell them that the agency had misled people and broken the law, and the founder of blackwater, prince, they were referring to them as trigger happy mercenaries. there were 17 iraqis killed, and they had to change their name. the cia also used contractors. >> please, do not take anything i have said to suggest what the agency routinely does when they have a really hard problem. they go to the yellow pages and look unde

government to do to go to blackwater to do this? why didn't they have their own programs to identify, find, track down bin laden, grab him, and figure, of course, he would be killed in the process. so i think this is actually much more interesting of a story than the hyperbole over blackwater and the term assassination. >> well, mike, why would they go to another contractor? the argument would be that they wanted some deniability to have a private person or private contractor to do these black deeds rather than having government employees, no? >> well, again, if they're using the term "assassination," that is against u.s. law. but it's never against u.s. law to go out and try to capture somebody. and if he resists and is killed in the process, that's noncontroversial. or, as we've been doing for years, finding people through our intelligence means and blowing them up with missiles. that's also killing somebody. but we don't call it assassination. i find it just the whole argument somewhat ridiculous. and we really should be focusing

it was supposed to be outsourced to blackwater. worse, glen beck suspended for calling the president a racist? >>> and worse atsp

is this an appropriate role for blackwater, now known as "z"?ell, i think if you're talking about the training portion, andrea, where you're saying, is it appropriate for a contractor to perhaps be involved in some very specific training for individuals who may move into a lethal program, i don't see that as being an inappropriate role to at least consider contractors for. you may have a very different opinion if you're saying, if there's an authority for a lethal program, we're going to hire and we're going to outsource lethal authority to a contractor, that may be something very, very different, depending on the specifics of the program. the bottom line is, you know, we keep -- they keep throwing out blackwater and those types of things. you know, it's also time to seriously take a look at what's going on in the community today and to continue looking back at what happened, in some cases, five or six years ago. >> i know we only have about a minute before the president is now expected out, but i wanted to ask you about your opposition to guant

senior official tells nbc news blackwater was hired, but never became fully operational.iticism for an alleged role in a 2007 shooting that left 17 civilians dead. hamid karzai is calling the election a success, yet there were 73 new jersey attacks at polling locations, including rockets, suicide and bomb attacks. polling results expected out saturday. >>> the majority of americans, 51 say the war in afghanistan is not worth fighting. that's up six points in just a month. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from kabul, afghanistan. set the scene for how elections went today. >> reporter: contessa, a positive development just in the last hour or so. you're seeing both of the major candidates, president hamid karzai and his main rival, abdullah abdullah accepting the process. today was marred by violence, in the east and kabul. low voter turnout. both karzai and abdullah said it went well enough to be expected, accepted. many people in this country had feared at least one of them would reject the process and that it could cast this country further into

the agency contracted with blackwater in 2004, but no operations were carried out. the ex-cia official says using foreigners was appealing because, quote, you wouldn't want to have american fingerprintses on it. >>> former vice president dick cheney is blasting the justice department investigation of cia interrogators. cheney says the harsh methods used after 9/11 were good policy and calls the investigation a political move. bill plante has the story. >> reporter: in a stating broad side, chain in calls the decision partisan, politicized and dangerous. >> outrageous political act that will do great damage long term to our capacity to be able to have people take on difficult jobs, make difficult decisions. >> reporter: the special prosecutor is to determine whether cia interrogators broke the law when they used tactics such as mock execution, death threats and waterboarding. actions the bush administration hooked at and declined to prosecute. the attorney general's decision came even though president obama has said repeatedly he's not interested this looking back. >

they have hired previous cia cop officials to work for blackwater.ity. by all accounts, mr. panetta canceled the program in no small part because it had been going on for several years, moving through various phases, but congress had never been notified about the program as would have been required under law. so panetta went ahead and canceled it. it never went into full operational play. john? >> if the cia, barbara, was going to get in the business of assassinating top terrorist leaders, why not use the military to do it? why hire an outside contractor? >> reporter: yeah, why outsource the job when you have a united states military that is trained and equipped to do just that? well, the source familiar with the program told us the aim here was to put some distance between the official entities of the u.s. government, that means the u.s. military and the cia, make this an unofficial program with no public face on it, no ties to the u.s. government. this would have been as covert and secret as it gets. if these operatives, if these contractors had be

that name keeps coming back blackwater. . the private security contractor firm that became so controversial for its work in iraq and it has a lot of intelligence work around the world. here's what we know. a source very familiar with the program confirms to cnn that blackwater was hired by the cia back in 2004 for this program that involved training, surveillance and, yes, indeed, the ultimate goal of targeted killing of top al qaeda leaders. now, what we also know is that at some point blackwater was no longer involved in the program, but the program went on. it ebbed and flowed through varusious phases and earlier this year it was moving towards what is described as the next phase. essentially becoming operational. it was at that point that cia director leon panetta, under president obama, canceled the program for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is it hadn't been notified to congress. now, the previous cia director, general mike hayden didn't acknowledge the program today, but he spoke a good deal earlier today

blackwater has earned millions, providing security in iraq and afghanistan.ng had a reputation for high profile aggressive tactics, and the deadliest incident, 17 civilians died after blackwater opened fire in 2007. afterward the iraqi government demanded that they leave the country. they changed its name but still has some staff in iraq. the house intelligence committee is already investigating whether the cia broke the law by failing continue to form congress that it was dropping this secret program to track down the terrorists. but blackwater's involvement in this controversial project is likely to spark even know controversy. gretchen? gretchen: thanks for explaining a very complicated situation. the government will announce today that the federal deficit this year will be $262 billion less than it predicted in may. most of the reduction is on paper only though. 250 billion is a contingency fund for bank bailouts that is no longer needed. washington will still spend over $1.5 trillion this year than it will take in. cancer-stricken ted kennedy has written

when blackwater employees were accused of murder in iraq the same questions arose. were those guys subject to u.s. law? were they subject to iraqis law? they certainly weren't subject to the code of military justice like normal soldiers were. and that's why the new reporting from "the new york times" on these secret al qaeda hit squads makes so much sense. it turns out that the cia program that was never disclosed to congress, it was a targeted killing program aimed at al qaeda, but one the cia contracted out to a private company called blackwater. i mean, if you are going to be operating in a lawless netherworld anyway why not hire a lawless netherworld operator to do the job? congratulations to mark mazzetti at "the new york times" for this scoop. >>> as you might have heard sarah palin is no longer the governor of alaska but does still have a very popular facebook page where she has just posted a screen against a fairly obscure agency called the u.s. import/export bank. i think it's the export/import bank, excuse me, prompted by an editorial in "wall street journ

the new york times reports that the private military contractor blackwater usa was hired to help, plan and conduct surveillance for the program. blackwater usa changed the name after it came under heavy criticism for the role in a shooting in baghdad that left 17 iraqi civilians dead. >>> we have a story developing in massachusetts today. senator kennedy has written a letter to state leaders to ask a change in the law to allow a speedy replacement for his position in the senate. the law was changed in 2004 to require a special election for vacancies. the letter was sent on tuesday but kennedy aides insist his condition has not changed, but questions came up last week when the senator missed the funeral for his sister eunice kennedy shriver. >>> the state of virginia is making the biggest budget cuts in modden history. governor kaine originally called a special session to address a u.s. supreme court ruling which could affect prosecutions and convictions. once lawmakers approved a temporary plan to address that topic they changed their focus to the revenue short fall which is estimated

. >>> there are reports this morning that in 2004, the cia hired private contractors from blackwater usa as part of the then secret program to train hit squads to kill top members of al qaeda. that program was exposed to congress just last june after cia corrector leon panetta learned outside contractors has been tapped. they have been criticized for its very heavy handed tactics in iraq. although the program was cammed, before missions were carried out the contractor was awarded millions of dollars for weapons and training. >>> powerful storms tore through four mid-western states yesterday toppling trees and downing power lines. there were reports of at least half a dozen suspected tornados as the weather system moved through minnesota, wisconsin, iowa and illinois. the storms shattered windows and in some regions even leveled houses. six people were treated at hospitals in illinois but those injuries do not appear to be life threatening. >>> well, the man arguably most responsible for the invention of television news died yesterday. although veteran producer donahue wit of cbs news

according to government officials, the private security firm formerly known as blackwater plays a direct role to the predator program, loading bombs and missiles onto drones to hit targets in afghanistan and pakistan. this attracted criticism and allegations of brutality in iraq. >>> this summer's average global ocean temperature 62.6 degrees is the warmest temperature since recordkeeping began. that might be good news for swimmers, but the warmer water could add to the melting of sea ice and mobile strengthen hurricanes. >>> and midland county, texas deputy was fired yesterday and three suspended after a waitress was allowed to hold a rifle and pose she deductively on the hood of a patrol car. they admitted to three to five beers each when that incident took place last week. >>> now here's an early look how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens 9,350 after adding 70 points on thursday. s&p inched up 10. nasdaq rose as well 19 points. >>> taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 145 points while in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 129 points. >

and erik prince realized the name blackwater had almost become radioactive. he's got different people working there. his former executives have almost all lef, but he still had a great number of contracts with the government today. >> and the new name of the company is xe. what does that mean, if anything? >> it's like some sort of an inert gas that is undetectable, which i kind of laugh at his -- i think that's exactly what he'd like his company to be, undetectab undetectable. i don't think that'll ever happen. >> the author, suzanne simons. thanks for coming in. >> my pleasure always, wolf. >>> the airport is closing, the surf is pounding. bermuda right now bracing for hurricane bill. we're planning to go there live for you. >>> plus, advice for president obama on health care reform from a former adversary, mitt romney. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. it works fast, with just one drop, to relieve my itchy eyes from allergies for up to 12 hours. no other allerg

. >> but a continued nightmare for america from blackwater. veterans of the childrenian dictator of pinocet. he provided blackwater operatives with prostitutes in iraq, some of them young girls. dr. warren hearn tells "esquire," tiller was killed by 35 years of "hate

. >> the cia hired private contractor firm, blackwater us amount as part of the secret program to kill top members of al qaeda. the program was canceled before missions were carried out the contract was awarded millions of dollars in weapons in training. as congress battles over health care reform, a pair of firms, one founded by top adviser david axelrod has been hired by interest groups in a $24 million media campaign. >> that's real money. >> the president continues to push his plan talking yesterday on a conference call with faith leaders. >> the one thing that you all share is a moral conviction. you know that this debate over health care goes to the heart of who we are as a people. i know there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate. there are some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness. these are all fabrications that have been put out there in order to discourage people from meeting what i consider to be a core ethical and moral obligation. that is that we look out for one another, that i am my brother's keeper and sister 'keeper. in the wealthiest nation

"the new york times" reports that five years ago the cia hired operators from blackwater usa, the private security contractor, for the still classified program. one source says it was unsuccessful and that the contracts were cancelled. >>> scotland will announce today its decision on releasing the only man ever convicted in the bombing of pan am flight 103. the jet blew up over lockerbie scotland in 1988, killing 214 people former libyan intelligence officer abdelbaset al megrahi is dying of prostate cancer and is expected to be released on compassionate grounds 37 >>> now back to iraq. in baghdad today a blast killed two people that follows six major bombings yesterday, pushing the total to more than 100 dead and 500 wounded in just 24 hours. it's the worst violence since forces withdrew from iraqi cities. >>> and turning to something much closer to home, especially those of us at cbs news, we're remembering don hewitt, a man with a vision of what tv news could be and a producer who made it happen. he died of pancreatic cancer yesterday at his home on long island east of new york city. d

. >> but a continued nightmare for america from blackwater.mployee, founder eric prince hired mercenaries, veterans of the chilean intercept and from the balkans and provided blackwater prottives with prostitutes in iraq, some of them "young girls." >>> revenge of the physician in

. >>> blackwater and iraq, far worse than ever, ever imagined.employees allege in documents in federal court that company founder eric prince may have been involved in the murder of the individuals who were cooperating with federal investigations of his company, and that mr. prince believed himself, quote, a christian crusader tasked with eliminating muslims and the islamic faith from the globe." our guest, jeremy scayhill of "the nation." >>> and the fake kenyan birth certificate, it was made out of a real australian birth certificate. >> come and say g'day. i'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you. >> happy birthday, mr. president. you're now an aussie! >>> and the leak from the

. >>> blackwater and iraq, far worse than ever, ever imagined.eports two former blackwater employees allege in documents in federal court that company founder eric prince may have been involved in the murder of the individuals who were cooperating with federal investigations of his company, and that mr. prince believed himself, quote, a christian crusader tasked with eliminating muslims and the islamic faith from the globe." our guest, jeremy scahill of "the nation." >>> and the fake kenyan birth certificate, it was made out of a real australian birth certificate. >> come any

the private military contractor blackwater usa was reportedly hired to help plan, train and conduct surveillance for the program. the government officials say the program failed to result in the capture or killing of any terrorist suspects. current cia director leon pan net that eliminated that program last june. >>> the polls are now closed in afghanistan's presidential election. and workers have started to count millions of ballots. officials say 26 afghan civilians and security forces were killed in election day attacks. joel brown reports. >> reporter: across afghanistan, security forces checked voters for weapons before they could cast their ballot. polls were kept open an extra hour for the country's second ever presidential election but it appears many stayed home, fearful of the taliban. for days, militants have intimidated voters and today launched scattered rocket and bomb attacks. in one province, 14 polling sites were targeted and several police officers were killed. u.s. troops spent the day hunting taliban militants and helped to deliver presidential ballots, but afghan forces are

the contracts with blackwater usa were unsuccessful and cancelled several years ago. u.s. intelligence officials say the program never resulted in the capture or killing of any terrorists. blackwater came under heavy criticism after a 2007 shooting in baghdad that left 17 iraqi civilians dead. >>> all right. here's one of the questions of the day. male or female? that's what's being asked of a south african track champion. the same day this south african teenager won a gold medal at the world athletic championships it was revealed she was undergoing a gender test. she's 18-year-old caster semenya and dominated the 800 meters, wasn't even close. the associated press reports her spectacular times, muscular build and deep voice triggered suspicions about her gender. now the tests take several weeks apparently and involve a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine and gender specialist, so as soon as we get world we'll let you know. >>> time to face the facts about facebook. great way obviously to keep up with friends and family, but it also opens you up

. >>> coming up on "countdown" -- new questions about blackwater, including whether the contractor made. grill: holy moly!!! what just hap...whoa! grill: i mean...wow! hey! that looks great. grill: and there's no need to discuss it further. in fact, you can buff most of that out. just give it a once-over with a wet paper towel...hee, hee grill: ok, good talking to you... anncr: accidents are bad. anncr: but geico's good. ding! with 24-hour claims service. has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. home run! (announcer) he's sweet. even with one third less sugar than soda. kool-aid. delivering more smiles per gallon. >>> we've got a very special "just enough" coming up on tomorrow's store. kent jones is on assignment right now doing some inv

. >> let me ask you about the cia hiring and traing blackwater contractors to g outnd assassate al qaeda-types be it must've be a hell of a aining job. >>it is thultimate in the contractinproblem. >> congress never ard about th. you have to have govement responsie for itself. in theoming weeks, we will have much more of this ki of stuff. the inspector general's report onhe cia and tortureis comg out. eric holder we probably a sign a prosecutor to look into whether anybody exceeded t rules put down by the bush administraon. we ll probably have e inspectogeneral's report out of justice about whether the lawyers the acted improrly in setti down the torture rule. >>oesn't all this publ airing of dirty laundryefeat the rpose of intelligen gathering? >> but in the se of the investigations tha yo expect the justice departnt to laun, the high justice department official taed about thisame issue and said that people died as result of tse interrogions'. u have to do something in th case. yo cannot just step back and say that that is wt it is. >> we are never ing to bend the cost curb on assassations if

. >> let ask you about the ci hiring and tining blackwater contractors too out and assainate al qaeda-types be it must've en a hell of a training job. >> it is e ultimate in t contractg problem. >> congress neveheard about is. >> y have to have gornment responble for itself. in the coming weeks, w will have much more of this nd of stuff. the inspector gener's report the cia and torture is cing out. eric holderere probably a sign a prosecutor to look into whether anybody exceededhe rul p down by the bu administtion. wwill probably havethe inspecr general's report o justice about whether the lawyers tre acted impperly in setng down the torture rule. >> doesn't all this puic airing of dirty laundry defeat thpurpose of intelligce gathering? >> but in thecase of the investigations tt u expect the justice depament to lach, the high justice department official lked about th same issue and said that people died a result ofhose interrations'. you have to do something in at case. u cannot just step back and say that that ishat it is. >> we are nevegoing to bend the cost cus on assainations if wkeep d