now the marine corps followed the rules again. since bennett was dead, the corps officially closed the rape and molestation cases against him. after reviewing staff sergeant bennett's service record, his commander ruled that his "term of service" had been honorable and that he was entitled to all the benefits that would result from an honorable discharge. the body was cremated and staff sergeant bennett didn't get just any funeral. he was laid to rest with full military honors. it was all done by the book. >> i was absolutely livid. the fact that we would do that, having evidence of what he had done. i was extremely angry. >> in fact, davis says he was more than just angry. he was suspicious because he didn't believe that arthur bennett committed suicide. in fact, he didn't believe arthur bennett was dead at all. >> could it have been him? sure, it could have. but there was no proof that it was. >> a crazy idea, obviously, since both civil and military officials had declared him dead and buried his body. still -- >> i didn't take

had in 2009 the marine corps played a key role in the surge of u.s.ops into afghanistan and since then has helped to regain control of the war-torn country from the taliban, particularly in the district where insurgents had taken charge in the wake of the successful 2001 allied invasion. now marines are going down in afghanistan, cutting their force at home and committing to station some 2100 leathernecks at the australian military base in darwin. here to tell us about the shift and efforts to shrink the core is dan le moth of marine corps times. >>> tell us about the plan to withdraw marines from afghanistan. what is the schedule? who, what, when, where, how? >> sure the draw down has already begun t started this fall. they are expecting to be down to 18500 marines this year from from a total of? >> we were up over 20,000 at one point. next year 4000 to 6000 has been widely forecasted and there is plenty of talk now of up to 10,000 marines being withdrawn next year. which would leave the marine corps somewhere under 10,000 in afghanistan. >>> and wha

we've got the united states marine corps as well as d.c. fire officials sailors and other civilians and employees. they are simulating what would happen if there was chemical warfare gear at nationals park. they would be able to get here on scene after the marines were called in by the d.c. fire department and set up their tents and things they need to get their job done and they would start to go in and bring the victims out and get them through the showers and decontaminate them and get the medical attention. they say these doomsday exercises are important to take what they learn in sight in the classroom and put it in a real time situation. we talked to some marine officials today. >> you need to know what it means to be in this uniform and the under the weight and walk up three flights of stairs to get into the confined space and getting into a baseball stadium with the small states and moving a person out. >> the faster we can get in to save lives and mitigate the risk, we are doing our job. >> you can see that they are still out here

the parking corp., the japan center parking corp., the uptown parking corp., for a read of $1 per least with options to extend for each lease. item 15 authorizes the commission of a bond oversight committee to oversee the proceeds for projects funded by the as 78 -- for the sfmta. you have one matter to be addressed by one member of the public. chairman nolan: we have had this last time around at length. did you want to say something? >> we need to have a presentation. it will only take 10 minutes. i would like to have a presentation on the record. the disclosure of counsel. to make the presentation. n -- chairman nolan: ok, do it now. >> i am with a law firm. your disclosure council in conjunction with the issue. our role as disclosure council is to assist the sfmta and preparing what is offered to investors. my talk here is just to introduce you to an official statement and to just give you a little background about what it is for and what is in your disclosure document. the official statement for a bond issue is like the prospectus for registered securities offering. the purpose is t

the president of the uptown parking corp. just got out of a hospital over the weekend. he wanted to be your to express his intent but could not be here because of his health. secretary boomer: [reading names] chairman nolan: good afternoon. >> chairman, board of directors. my name is -- i am the manager of the uptown corp., with the oversight and management of the parking garages and plaza. i have actually been working in the parking industry for about 25 years, spending the last 20 years managing non-profit corporations for two of the non- profit corporations, including the uptown corporation. i am interested, warts, or come before this board, the parking authority, department of traffic, working closely with the comptroller's office, in the various oversight of these properties. i feel i a also been very fortunate to work under the guidance of the nonprofit board of directors, who in my mind really has the best interest of the community for which these barrages served and for the best interest of the city. i learned early on in the parking industry that parking is not

the vice-president for the harris corp.. the region chief of staff for federal health and the medical center. former wisconsin gov., president and ceo of a global technology nonprofit. and rebecca, the manager of employee engagement in disaster relief for hewlett-packard. the panel brings a great deal of expertise across many fields to our discussion today. we certainly want you to be involved in our discussion, so as questions come to your mind, who write them down. after the presentations, we would love to have discourse between new and our panel. you will see his extensive biography in your program, it is written more eloquently than mine. he is the senior vice president for a pharmaceutical company where he spent the last 39 years of his career. >> is a real pleasure for me to be here, particularly talking about this topic because i am a california native. i have family here and i certainly have lived through a number of the issues we have had for natural disasters in this area. i work for a corporation headquartered rig

, he was discharged a few months shy of his full enlistment. >> i got out of the marine corps because i just really didn't want to be in anymore doing what i was doing. so i kind of whined and cried until i either got my way or they kicked me out. and, well, they kicked me out. >> his father was a marine, so the family moved around a lot. >> it was kind of a rough childhood. a lot of it was my fault. and when i went into the military, our relationship got better, but since i got out, honestly, we haven't talked at all. i don't think i could face him yet. i want to be able to say all right, i'm doing okay before i actually talk to him. otherwise, i'd feel totally ashamed of myself. >> anthony has been on the streets for ten months, two of those in jacksonville. >> this is the front lobby to the salvation army. welcome to a homeless feeding line. >> i came down here with a friend of mine. >> i've been homeless. >> okay. >> he's really from houston. he says he has an older sister, but they have lost contact. >> it gets to me sometimes where i don't want to be on the street because i know

i want to thank our wonderful spiritual drum corps here. thank you for being here. i wanted thank our wonderful and beautiful ceremonial dancers. thank you for making this such a wonderful, beautiful tradition. thank you very much. in our city, we always cherish our diversity, but we also cherish our origins. i know the native american heritage month, native american heritage month as part of our origin in this country, and we recognize that, and we celebrate it, and we want that heritage to continue each year to remind us of the tremendous diversity that we celebrate in our city. thank you all for coming. i want to give special recognition to the host committee of agencies that have been working with us so graciously and gratefully. the native american aid projects, thank you. friendship house association. never heard office of -- neighborhood office. east bay native american health center. the indian health center of santa clara valley are here. as i mentioned, kqed. as we celebrate tonight, we have, as i have been honored to have the authority to issue an officia

eisenhower, eisenhower hall is one of the largest theater ins america, designed to hold the entire corpsts. so let's get right to it. here is the west point band in the hudson holiday concert, performing holiday presents. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> jon: we have much more of the hudson valley holiday concert as the special continues as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the united states military academy. but as we take a quick break, here is the west point cadet glee club singing "mansions of the lord." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. all day pain relief by the hand-selected wood trim... the 38 1/2 inches of legroom... and the reclinable, heated napa leather seats inside the jeep grand cherokee, just wait until we tell you about the heated and ventilated front seats. ♪ ♪ >> jon: glad you're with us. i'm jon scott on the grounds of west point to bring you the sound of the west point band. the academy sits on plateau, overlooking the hudso

corps, australian piece corps, and we outnumbered everybody totaled by two. >> we can afford to have peace corps and go. if you're in a country where you think the government should take care of people, if you don't have enough discretionary income, you won't be inclined to give it way. it's a different system. i think our system is better. >> hay, do we have time for to roll through the tape of nike shoes? air jordan sneakers went on sale across the country. >> $180. >> apparently he was a baseball player from the '60s, michael jordan. people are beating the heck out of each other. i think you understand the hysteria, kimberly. >> yes. >> you love shoes. >> yes. that happened most recently at saks. in fact, it's so large and fabulous, it has its own zip code. >> it's sad that i know that. >> did you know that air jordan are popular this year? i mean, you have a 13-year-old son. >> this came out of the blue to me. >> it wasn't proceeding the whole holiday season, it was friday. >> i guess the styles come back around. >> i'm buying a dvd "friends" exclusive collection. >> has anyone c

eisenhower, eisenhower hall is one of the largest theater ins america, designed to hold the entire corpsts. so let's get right to it. here is the west point band in the hudson holiday concert, performing holiday presents. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> jon: we have much more of the hudson valley holiday concert as the special continues as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the united states military academy. but as we take a quick break, here is the west point cadet glee club singing "mansions of the lord." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i couldn't concei this as a heart attack. the doctor leaned over and said to me, "you just beat the widow-maker." i was put on an aspirin, and it's part of my regimen now. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now. >> jon: glad you're with us. i'm jon scott on the grounds of west point to bring you the sound of the west point band. the academy sits on plateau, overlooking the hudson river. location chosen in 1778 is no accident. george washington builds his first colonial camp on the w

eisenhower, eisenhower hall is one of the largest theater ins america, designed to hold the entire corpsso let's get right to it. here is the west point band in the hudson holiday concert, performing holiday presents. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> jon: we have much more of the hudson valley holiday concert as the special continues as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the united states military academy. but as we take a quick break, here is the west point cadet glee club singing "mansions of the lord." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. united mileageplus explorer card. this was the gulf's b

captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> then the lighting ceremony for the u.s. capitol christmas tree. there will be remarks from u.s. house republican leader john boehner. congressional staff are working throughout the weekend, writing legislative language for a year- and spending package to keep the government funded through next -- next september. also on the house schedule, lawmakers need to work out an agreement to extend payroll tax cuts of long-term unemployment benefits. a couple of state department nominations including the nominations. tomorrow on newsmakers, mark of illinois joins us to talk about congress's remaining work. there was a bill that he offered that put sanctions on financial institutions. the senate unanimously approved the proposal. a similar measure is awaiting approval in the house. newsmakers airs at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. eastern. >> there is much more to the newly designed c-span.org. more video with 11 video choices. it makes it much easier to watch the day's event. you can quickl

there was no other choice when you start in the marine corps.you have to as a marine. >> being a father it showed me the great young man he was when he made that statement and he said those words: >> less than pl three months after being wounded his patrol was hit by an ied. >> it was the deepest magnitude of pain you could feel in your life. >> in recognition of the selfless sacrifice the marine corps named the staff noncommission officer in honor of the brave marine. >> you said some very powerful words that day. >> i should have been on the podium what i said that. today i stand here in my son's boots. a lot of times ta son is saying that about his father, i was saying that about my son. i am so proud of that man and the m >>> oo they have had a long journey they need someone to comfort them. >> i just plan my days around making sure these troops are feeling well comed and supported when they come home. >> it is the best feeling ever. >> a real sense of pride when it is all said and done. >> it has made me a better person. >> soldiers sailors

she is from the cell corp. and the liaison to alas and head of our sponsorship corp. and has earned the nickname of the energizer bunny. in there you go. [applause] finally, in our boston office, as you know we have the collaboration where our financials is done by the cell corp., which is headquartered in boston, but we also have another staff person. her name is hondya salim. she is also an energizer bunny. watch her come up here. [applause] they are pour into sleep with their bunny's tonight. -- they are going to sleep with their bunny's tonight. it is time to turn it over to carlos, and he will finish the program we have for you today. and this is probably the first time you're going to hear this. we have a raffle on friday afternoon that you have to be present to win. it will get all kinds of tickets. the prizes are listed in your program, and they are not out. you might want to start thinking about that and see what you can do to get those tickets for the final raffled, because you have to be there to be able to win it, and remember that marriott cheese will be

. >>> plus, president obama vacationing in hawaii stops by a marine corps base and gets a mouthful of adorable baby hand. that and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. >>> benazir bhutto assassinated. the shocking news from pakistan and the first woman leader of the muslim world shot and killed at close range. these images were taken moments before the attack that killed the 54-year-old former prime minister. she was gunned down minutes after appearing at a political rally in rawalpindi. confidence, with depend in color. now available in gray. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. >>> welcome back to "morning joe." 5:45 in new york city. that place in about four days will be packed with millions of freezing, drunk people. can't be drunk anymore. don't let you bring stuff in. check on the weather from bill karins. good to see you. >> welcome back. >> do you see the chaos t

they are the men and women of the united states navy and marine corps. many of the officers who command these forces started their careers here -- at the u.s. naval academy in annapolis, maryland. >> it's a very special type of person that chooses the naval academy. it's an unbelievable education, it is free, you do get a job when you leave, but there is that element of commitment to the country and also an element of self-discipline. >> i love the atmosphere. i love being around all the history. the naval academy's been around since 1845, and the tradition is astounding. it's great being a part of that. >> i think the naval academy offers a very unique opportunity to discover yourself, to grow as a leader, and to basically live and learn with the best and brightest, i think, in our nation. >> we're trying to find the horizontal distance as a function of the number of pumps to the squirt gun. today, we're doing a reverse-engineering experiment. as you can see, they've got these squirt guns. so, they're gonna pump it a few times, put some water in it, and

marine corps toys for tots campaign.she was sorting through the toys, the first lady got asked out, a young marine invited her to next year's marine corps ball. she said she'd love to go, but has to ask her husband. the toys for tots program founded by the marine corps has been making a lot of dreams come true for boys and girls in need for over six decades. tonight around the country, marines and hoards of volunteers are scrambling to fill a spike in requests for toys, and to make a difference. our report tonight from nbc's ron mott in boston. >> reporter: last christmas, marine sergeant matt laroche was surrounded by taliban threats in afghanistan. this christmas he's bomb boarded by stuffed animal, board games, footballs and dolls. >> it's awesome to be able to do this. >> reporter: as coordinator for boston's toys for tots drive. >> this year's christmas and last year's christmas were very different. i was deployed to southern afghanistan, didn't really know it was christmas, to be honest, except for the care package

. >>> you can see the marine corp out here, they are ready to go and buy some toys. now the marine corp and radio station has gotten together and as you can see i have sarah and vin are we me from the morning show. you guys have a bunch of money. >> yes, this is a big deal for us, we do it every year and it is very important, it is like our holiday season kickoff. we raise a ton of money and we did it last week, it is through our generous listeners, we have nothing to do with it, we just sit there and say thank you and here is the payoff. marines will fill the baskets and we will fill a huge truck in the parking lot. >> and sarah, you can still collecting toys and money. we open up early here, 0 come on in, you will not believe how many toys 32,000 dollars will buy but come and add to it. >> it will take a long time. >> a lot longer than you think, it is a lot of fun though. and the actual visual does make christmas because you know you are helping kids in the local bay area. >> it is the san jose on blossom road and they especially need toys for zero to three. repor

the national park service and coast guard are the lead agencies with the army corps of engineers and the presidio trust as cooperating agencies for that effort. the goal of that effort -- and it is a goal -- is that nepa would conclude with an environmental assessment. rather than an environmental impact statement. in order for that approach to hold, the analysis would have to avoid a finding of significant adverse impact. the federal agencies would have to [inaudible] assessment to be published. that would occur in mid-2012. the agreement requires a number of plans to be developed. mainly by the city. a few by the event authority. this has been a very successful way for the public to engage in certain aspects of the project. i will highlight a few that have drawn the most attention -- the people plan was the first big plan that was developed by the office of economic and workforce development in conjunction with sfmta. peter albert was here earlier tonight and led the effort on the plan. very comprehensive look at how to expand transit service to hit the demand for some of these pea

the commandant and marine corps estimated that the e.f.v. would consume over 90% of the marine corps' total ground combat vehicle budget. against that backdrop, former secretary gates and the commandant called for this program to be terminated. unfortunately, the taxpayers had invested about $3 billion in and the marine corps had waited 15 years for an improved amphibious vehicle that simply became too costly to buy. another example of a legacy acquisition program in trouble is the v-22 osprey. inspired by the failure to rescue hostages from iran in 1980, the v-22 was originally designed to be a revolution in vertical takeoff aircraft. it was intended to improve beyond anything currently in the arsenal the marine corps and our special force's capability to get in, get out and resupply from long ranges at high speeds in hostile landing zones. what we ended up with has been great expectations and enormous costs. since it was first deployed, the marine corps version of the v-22 has had a mission-capable rate in the middle to high 60's range as

>> i have a position in ever corps. >> tom: you can e-mail us throughout the new year. our guest is hillary kramer with gax*im changer stocks.com. here's what we're watching for tomorrow: we'll see if weekly jobless claims continue below the 400,000 level, as they have since the middle of november. we'll also see whether the nation's realtors are signing more deals for homes, with november's pending home sales index. also tomorrow? holiday sales have been strong for cars and trucks. we look at how the holidays drive auto sales. >> 1600 positions from the payrolls by the first quarter of next year. now we're hearing 600 of those layoffs come at the new york city headquarters. insider expect them to come from morgan stanley's bond fund. >> tom: more than 30 million retirees will get a pay raise in the new year. that's just one of the changes for retirement plans in 2012. in the "money file" tonight, karen gibbs of "the gibbs perspective" on what to expect in the year ahead for retirement money. >> good news for retirees and those saving for retirement. as of the first of

but some of the president's behavior is not sit too long well with the press corp. >> clayton: for more on that, we go to peter doocy live in dc with more. >> good morning. according to yesterday's white house travel reporter, the travel pool was deliberately denied arrival and departure coverage of the president and first lady's dinner party last night and he says that that is unacceptable. their dinner ran late until the night until four hours ago, at a