you would think people who are making the contracts for some of these grant programs at the defense departmenty or agricultural department or many of the other departments would use a little bit of common sense on what is appropriate and what's not. but we haven't found that. each year we've put out the waste book and we continue to find things that are just unbelievable, whether it's in the scientific arena or in the defense department or in just general government where we do things. i mean, it took last week before they finally said, we're not going to continue to add employees in the federal government. we had to send a letter to say, well, here is what you're advertising for, you know, an advisor in the department of agriculture making $168,000 a year, do you think we really need to continue to do that if we're actually hurting? are there ways to make the pain less? and the answer is yes. >> greta: awen i have had had these conversations and wrote a book about it. and everyone says it's terrible the amount of waste and duplicate programs, but nothing gets done. we have the same conversati

you can't begin to even trace the monies that go into the defense department it's accepted that it's not on a dimple and so it's like flushing money down a hole yeah i mean my next question he was going to be how does this happen is there recklessness is it lack of oversight but you're saying that they're not able to be audited so it looks like lack of oversight is a huge problem there all of the above all of the above and. when you when you see this these. alligator tears about all would disagree question is going to cut the defense budget the defense budget has been outta hand since the korean war and there's just no limit to it and so what happens with the conservative community that they never question the appropriations whatever the defense community wants they pay for and then of course you have to go to war to expend these munitions and then you see what happened in iraq and now what they talking about trying to gin up a war with iran i mean this is a sick sick situation where half the budget of the defense department is is is is probably not proper not proper and since you ca

think that over the last year in particular, there has been ager mattock change between the department of defense and department of energy over visibility into the budget and influence in shaping a budget. it is not perfect. i think we are learning a lot about how we can get better at this. i think there is more to do and i have seen a tremendous change, and i think it is a tremendous positive change. >> that is great. i would note that my understanding is that the department of defense has not yet certified the budget unless we have some concerns about it. but it is at the omb level and going forward. i do think it is healthy but the defense department has real input into the production of the budget for nuclear weapons. >> thank you, senator sessions. >> thank you, general kehler. the men and women who are assigned to this missile range facility are some of the best around. the capability to provide our exceptional. it is used to test the systems that will protect our country and allies from this. currently under construction, there is a facility that i am sure you are familiar with, which will

it is said that you've penetrated into the us department of defense is that true here we have recruited a high ranking officer from the united states department of defense however not all of this information was genuine a part of it was supposed to mislead us this officer even unveiled the general scenario of the war with iraq the us military strength in turkey information about troops and counter intelligence in countries neighboring iraq such as saudi arabia and the gulf arab states he was the one who confirmed there would be no attacking from turkey guided by this information we relocated the adnan division from the mosul region closer to baghdad thus fortifying positions of the troops around the city the u.s. counter intelligence suspected we had a source in the department of defense and was deliberately exposing tons of all sorts of information but we knew which of the information was true we had information that the americans would invade as soon as they amassed seventy five thousand troops in the gulf about a month ahead of the invasion we sent a report to the command staff infor

here i think the best lesson of all is to realize that the defense department is not audit a poll that means you can't begin to even trace the monies that go into the defense department it's accepted that it's not on a dimple and so it's like flushing money down a hole yeah i mean my next question. he was going to be how did this happen is there recklessness is it lack of oversight but you're saying that they're not able to be audited so it looks like lack of oversight it is a huge problem there all of the above all of the above and when you when you see this these. alligator two years about all would disagree western is going to cut the defense budget the defense budget has been on a hand says the korean war. and there's just no limit to it and so what happens with the conservative community that they never question the appropriations whatever the defense community wants they pay for and then of course you have to go to war to expend these munitions and then you see what happened in iraq and now what they talking about trying to gin up a war with iran i mean this is a sick sick situat

one of the provisions allows the department of defense to give grants to organizations. that sounds like a very easy thing to explain, and it is. the three organizations that receive the grants from the department of defense are well known to most americans. certainly two are. the u.s.o. the u.s.o. for decades has been an organization which has troeud troeud -- to provide help to our veterans usually stationed overseas to give them anything as basic to entertainment to counsel as they go to airports to make sure they have a place to stop by and have a coffee and doughnut. that's the u.s.o. i've kwrupbt stated their mission but we're familiar with it. the other organization is one known to every american, i'm sure: the red cross. and the third is an organization new but important called fisher house. fisher house. let me tell you about fisher house. it was two years ago when i was invited to the grand opening of a fisher house facility near the heinz v.a. hospital in chicago. fisher house is to military and veterans hospitals what ronald mcdonald houses are to children's h

we will hurt the defense department because the cuts on the defense department were too great, but the defense department will still be there if we don't fix it the way these cuts are imposed. it will still be there. and who knows? it could be stronger. but i'm worried about it. in fact, the way the sequester was crafted at the request of the president, one half of all the cuts in the entire 2.1 -- $1.2 trillion in cuts fell on the defense department, which makes up 1/6 of the federal government. so these cuts fell on the defense department disproportionately. whole proportions of the government. the medicaid program that was increasing at 8% a year, no cuts. food stamps that had gone up from $20 billion to $80 billion in 11 years fourfold got no cuts. and of course social security had no cuts. it was a 2% maximum reduction trim on medicare providers, that's doctors and hospitals. they had a minor cut. so a huge portion of the budget had none but the defense department took a huge, huge cut. so that was not smart the way we did it, but the amount of cuts it properly allocated across th

defense department is refusing to do that. the department says the terror label may prevent the suspect from getting a fair trial by potentially influencing court-martial panel members and witnesses. hassan is accused of going on rampage on the base. 13 people killed, dozens more injured. department of defense is handling the incident as a case of workplace violence. >> heather: veterans groups meantime, are protesting against proposed plans to change disability payments for veterans. the benefits over time like social security is tied to inflation, but the obamacare administration is proposing changing the way benefits are calculated so they would increase at a slower rate. the decision on this plan will likely come as part of a larger budget deal. >> gregg: republicans are pressing president obama to aprove the keystone pipeline calling it a no-brainer in the weekly address. lee terry said the pipeline would give the ailing united states economy a shot in the arm and make energy more affordable. despite that the obama admini

we're standing here today with the president having broken his promise and the department of defense scrambling to get the message out to the american public. there is not yet understand because the department of defense has not been able to hand in their homework of what will happen. we have been working on this since it was first proposed by the president and have a better understanding of the consequences. we agree with the president that it is wrong. >> you have been talking about this since august of 2011. >> there is no question that the amount of articles that could have been written about the specifics of what this means to educate the american public would have been helpful. we were speaking in committee rooms and press conferences. there is a gap between what everyone knows and what will happen. we believe the president has broken his promise and needs to allow the department of defense to tell people what will occur. >> can you explain how the appropriations bill would mitigate the effect of sequestration? >> we have two serious problems. the planning of the chiefs and how

i heard from people that work in the defense department or the military. what do you think both parties should do to try to reassure them they were going to get things back in order? what can be done in the next 30 days before a possible government shutdown when the budget runs out? >> the? >> the simple thing to do is work with the president to allocated resources into areas where there is need. part of that has to be a restructuring of the absolute amount of money that is coming out of the defense department. we are already exacting pain out of that department. we are in downward trend. to squeeze more of that in a is not going to be a good thing for the defense department for our security. i would lessen the amount in defense and move it over, maybe do entitlement reform. maybe look at obamacare. one of the things that is being talked about across the country is potentially delaying obamacare. they are not ready to implement. there are things, plenty of money around washington, d.c. to do the things that are absolute sewing things and lots of ways to ge

i'm pleased to see the department is having passed the defense only nine to. we need to get beyond that we can understand his offenses and all that has to be first to. under the sequestered, and the department will be subject to the highest levels of scrutiny. the threats we face are going to her fiscal woes and emboldened by dysfunction. every dollar we spend has to be maximized in this going towards nuclear deterrence, missile defense and cybershould be placed at premium. that's a nuclear deterrent missile defense in favor. that is the most significant part for the hearing we are having today. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator inhofe. general kehler. >> with your permission i make my full statement of part of the record. good morning, sir. senator inhofe could distinguish members come my honor to join you today. it's a privilege to begin my third year with the united states strategic command. i'm pleased to be here with general keith alexander has responsibility as the commander of the cyber command and director of the national security agency co

somebody within the department of defense decided they would tell the truth about something normally you don't see these reports they're hidden covered over by the generals and of course that's what the whole bradley manning the it was about he saw things that the american people should learn and certainly a very eye opening report of mr gravel sorry that we do have to cut it off there but that was the former alaskan senator mike gravel all turning out to the crisis in the united nations twenty one u.n. peacekeepers have been kidnapped and are being held in syria artie's polyfill here has more on the demands being made by the rebel captors. twenty one you in personnel on armed they're all from the philippines and we've heard from the philippine foreign office who has demanded their immediate would be the philippine government says that they are being treated well that negotiations are underway to try and secure the release of the militants are admitting that they took these u.n. personnel to try and prevent an attack by assad loyalists in other words what was seen as actually the reb

according to a defense department document obtained by fox news, new legislation needed to present the honor requires labeling the attack a terrorist attack, but the department of defense believes that doing so would prevent major nadal hassan from getting a fair trial because it may directly and indirectly influence potential court panel members and witnesses. hassan accused of going on a shooting rampage in 2009. 13 people were killed and dozens were injured. >>> we are learning new information about the man suspected of killing colorado's prison chief. authorities now saying parolee evan spencer ebel was released from prison more than three months early. mostly due to his participation and program designed to encourage better behavior for prisonerss in solitary confinement. the tragic irony here is the man he is suspected of killing , tom clements, was a big supporter of the programs. he was killed earlier this mornings shot in the chest, as he answered the door of his home in colorado. ebel died a few days later in a shootout with the police in texas after leading them on a high sp

so how can congress continue to fund defense projects even when the department of defense itself is saying that they do not want these projects i think that's right i mean they need is exactly why the pentagon's budget has just exploded over the last decade as you point out this is a program that the military says it doesn't want that congress has overwhelmingly said they don't are interested in funding it anymore but here it is twenty thirteen we're going to be spending a couple hundred million dollars on it what it really gets down to is how parochial interests and how the dysfunction that exists between congress and the pentagon can really keep these programs going for long after everyone agrees they should anyway i guess it's just so strange because this is a program that has got all these all this money these these missiles would go towards a partner defense and they're saying we don't need it but congress is still saying you need it and we're going to spend money on it that's right in this is this is not the first time that congress has said we're going to spend money on weapons that

defense contracting spending? guest: sequester impacted very much. basically, for the departmentdefense, it's about 7.9% or 7.8% on the discretionary side of spending that is cut. across-the-board, so it will affect the contracts. the department of defense as it does not want to break contracts, which it can do, but it pays penalties. so it doesn't want to. host: carter big penalties? guest: they can in some cases. if the pentagon terminate the contract for convenience of the government, there is a negotiation between the contractor to say these are costs including profits and here's the money we have are spent and we are entitled to it prepares a negotiation process within the government and the contractors to decide what legitimate expenses are permitted there's a disagreement, they have a special court that deals with it and they can appeal. in a lot of cases the government may happen ability to scale back the amount of money they will spend on a particular contract and we will buy one or two less fighter jets this year so they don't have direct contact but it will scale back

for example, between fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2011, the department of defense spending on petroleum rose from $4.5 billion to $17.3 billion. that is a 381% increase. and while that number is shocking, another shocking fact is that during this time the department of defense was actually using 4% less petroleum. in other words, we're paying nearly four times more money for less fuel. in addition, global price spikes make budgeting for our current energy costs extremely challenging. according to the navy, every time oil prices rise by $1, their fuel budget inflates by $30 million. in fiscal year 2012, the u.s. pacific command which is based in hawaii faced a $200 million shortfall in operation and maintenance funds. this is directly related to spiking fuel costs. these unforeseen circumstances reduce our military's capabilities and readiness. it is also unsustainable in today's budget environment. so while the senator from pennsylvania argues that biofuels are too expensive now, new technologies are always more expensive at first. that's exactly why we need to invest in scaling up inst

agents, , border patrol agents,civilians that work for the defense department will see their how cut and they're paychecks reduced. businesses will suffer because customers will have less money to spend. the longer these cuts remain in place the greater the damage. economists estimate it could cost us more than $750,000. and slow the economy by over one half ofhere's the thing, none of this is necessary. 1%. it is happening because republicans in congress chose this outcome over closing a single wasteful tax loophole that helps to reduce the deficit. they decided that tax break for the wealth off and well-connected is more important than protecting our middle-class families and military families from these cuts. i think we can combine smart spending cuts and changes to the tax code that makes it more fair without raising anyone's taxes. that's how we can reduce our deficit without laying off workers. i don't think that is too much to ask. it is the kind of approach i proposed for two years now. a majority of the american people agree with me, including a majority of republicans. we j

some cuts might have been necessary to keep the defense department efficient.ut what will we actuallyee and when? joining me is the former vice chief of staff from the army, jack keane. general, good morning. >> good morning, jamie, my big concern is dual concern -- one, the jobs that defense contractors are giving, but more, the care of our returning troops. do you agree that some cuts might have been necessary to make the army more efficient? >> well, i think what the viewers have to understand is the defense department is absorbing a $487 billion cut that was put in place last year and that came on the heels of a number of efficiency cuts that secretary gates made before he left. i think the cuts last year had too much risk in it for ground forces. can you find waste in a department as large as the pentagon? of course, you can. but these cuts we're talking about here in time would be very serious and would fundamentally change the military we have. >> jamie: i got an interesting email yesterday, general, from the wife of a lieutenant general, active service

wore taking $45 billion a year out of defensive department over the next decade. at the end of the decade, we're going to have the smallest navy in the-- since 19 fearnings 232 ships. no aimed of flexibility will avoid that. we're going to have want smallest air force in history. the smallest army since 1940. our defense spending will be below 3% of g.d.p. we will have a hollow force. personnel costs are exempted from sequestration. we're not taking military pay and sequestering it. you take all the systems except military pay and over a decade, you destroy the defense department. there's no amount of flexibility in the world will fix this. leon on panetta is right-- we're shooting ourselves in the headline as a nation and this is the dumbest idea he's seen in his years in government. >> and we'll be glad to sit down republicans democrats. wean that what this requires is just as you pointed out a way of avoiding what is-- again independent world of our chairman of the joint chiefs of staff-- a catastrophic effect on our nation's defense. and tell me a higher prior

the defense department can't say, we overpaid this defense contractor, maybe that's a waste? >> there are always ways to find waste that don't entail prioritization. but it's hard to force government to prioritizing. >> do you need a budget to figure out that you shouldn't pay for something twice? >> in theory, no. but if you force people to economize in how they go about thing,i they are going to find waste i. i think you need to start thinkingue need to empower government employees to give them a prize. if you find where it's paid twice, we will give you a percentage. have you to create things for government employees to stop wasting their money. >> things like that have worked since the colorful war. one congress enacted the false claims act t. works well. perhaps we can expand it. >> indeed. >> thank you. >> governments are scrambling to deal with the sequester fallout in their states. when asked who is to blame, the oklahoma governor answers -- everybody. nice to see you, governor. >> good to see you, greta. >> who are the everybodys? i got my list. who's yours? >> there

the department of defense and the v.a. have given some flexibility to deal with the devastating sequestration cuts, but no other agency is given that tool. this is clearly, in my opinion, a tacit statement by the majority that they are going to keep this harmful sequester. one of the stupidest things ever to come out of congress. and that, mr. speaker, is a disappointing part of this entire process. the majority has had plenty of opportunity to address the sequester. time after time after time after time democrats through the efforts of the ranking democrat on the budget committee, mr. van hollen, have offered a sequester alternative and time after time after time after time the republican majority has blocked this amendment from being debated and voted on the house floor. if the republicans in congress have yet to put forth a sequester alternative. they'll say they passed two different proposals, but that was last congress. as many of my friends on the other side of the aisle know so well, legislation dies at the end of e

800,000 people working in the defense department?it wasn't serious. >> eric: what are you talking about? 800,000 is a maliceive room to cut spending. >> kimberly: saying surplus. >> andrea: i'm sure you are right there is waste in the t.o.d. but obama administration think nonessentials at the department of defense or the military. i think the government didn't shut down yesterday. they let a nonessential go. they think every job is essential. if you have a guy picking his nose, they think that is good because they think spending money on anything is good for them. >> bob: the i.r.s. essential or nonessential? talk about public relations. freddie how can you hate the i.r.s. if you want higher taxes? >> bob: what happened is the department of agriculture announces throw-day trip to california for wine tasting. look at small farms. i am not sure that made sense. >> eric: push back a little on that? they say they are not going to pay for it. you to pay your own way. >> kimberly: this comes down to who is essential, and nonessential. greg

of the civilian part of the federal government, and that includes the civilian part of the defense department which is long overdue jimmy pethokoukis. nobody wants to lose anything in the federal government which numbers have expanded so much -- >> that's not true. >> it's time we take a look at this because every business, small or large in this country has had to adjust to a little bit of austerity. >> for the first time -- >> i'm asking jimmy. >> efficiencies. >> jimmy. >> not just spending more money, but efficiencies. let's see if they can do it. >> jimmy, i have a question for you, we now have 4.1 years of an obama administration, we had eight years of george bush. during the eight years of george bush, can you name a single spending bill that george bush vetoed? >> you know what? i can't -- >> okay. during the four years -- >> that any president vetoed. >> well, i can. >> except for reagan. >> reagan vetoed a lot of bills also grew the size of government. >> shrunk the size of government -- >> let's talk about -- >> i just want to be clear -- >> that's not the issue right now. >> no --

code sure also that in terms of the defense department. same sex soldiers you know that we don't ask don't tell is gone now but the defense department came out saying these are all over the rights now that we can give you and if doma is overturned here's all the other rights this is what was one of the last things that panetta wrote as he left it very very upset yes change thanks a lot for being with thank you so much for having me and for showing up this morning as your network. we'll talk more about today's supreme court here in its potential outcomes inside the big picture politics panel coming up after the break . what do you know if you live. when you don't have a family. when you have new ones too. you can always count on. this man is respected by criminals and also as he is a like fields out x. convicts anonymous people like he used to be. pretty free. free. free free. free. free. free book your video for your. free media. dot com. bag now it's time to turn things over to our big picture politics panel joining me tonight horace coop

the defense department is expected to feel the cuts first.> now to the latest on washington's failure to avoid billions of dollars in spending cuts. the effects of those cuts isn't being seen yet by the average american. but washington says the full impact is coming. likely in april. the defense department is expected to feel the cuts first. other programs also impacted include *government agencies. the f- a-a; the fbi *kids head start programs *unemployment benefits *airport security checkpoints and while a last minute deal failed to stop the forced spending cuts, yet another crisis is in sight---a by the end of the month. house speaker john boehner spoke saturday in his home state of ohio about the >> president obama signed the order to allow the 85 >> still ahead on kron four news weekend. bay area soliers back from afghanistan welcomes home this weekend. we'll have that story for you. and the space-x dragon capsule delivers supplies to the international space moments earlier in the flight when the thrusters malfunctioned. also keeping an

we're at a time when we're cutting spending right and level, even this the department of defense. but i do want to put on the record the following: this bill, which we're considering, as it relates to the department of defense in its entirety is the bill that was passed by the house republican majority. this is not a bill which was written on this side of the rotunda. we have received it. that doesn't mean that we shouldn't ask questions about what the house did, but i don't want to be assigned blame or asked to take responsibility for provisions which i really did not author. we took the house version and brought it to the floor in an effort to bet this moving in an dosh get this moving in an expedited manner. i know some of the questions that the senator from arizona arhas raised are not new. there was a long-standing debate in the senate about whether to expand the notion of native contracting to include native alaskans and native hawaiians. senator inouye who chaired it and unfortunately passed away a few weeks ago believed that the minority status for contracting should includ

defense contracts spending. how do you define that? >> that is the money the department of defense spends on goods and services. it is somewhere around $315 billion a year. >> how to gather this data? we and just as contact data reported to the federal government. we suggest it and manipulate it and we have tools for extracting the data in various ways. one of the ways is by congressional district. host: we do not have a good number on how many federal contractors there are in the government. do we have a good handle on the money being spent on defense contracting? guest: we do not have a good handle on the number of people working on defense contractors. even secretary gates said he did not have a good number. we know how much money is spent because all these contracts are reported to a system. there are some classified contract that deal with intelligence work which are not reported. but the rest of it is basically reported and we have a good handle on it. host: what was the headline coming out of this report? guest: that the democratic districts representing democrati

it is very important, especially in the context of the department of defense. he last 10 years, spending on service contracts in the department of defense have more than doubled, from $72 billion a year to over $200 billion a year. during that same period of time, and house personnel costs have been flat. he estimates a government-wide, 70-90% of spending cuts could very easily come from service contracts. not exercising options, termination for convenience, negotiating with the contractors not to continue with every option in their contract. it is not true wants money has been obligated to a contract that it is required to be spent. it is only when the work has already been done. host: i assume that is the argument you're making towards the a administration, to renegotiate contracts before you furlough workers. guest: absolutely. there is no rationale to have furloughs' be the first response to sequestration. it should be a last resort or not have them at all. as mr. rose was saying, there are a number of agencies that have made tentative announcements that the

it gives the defense department more flexibility to deal with billions of dollars of across-the-board cuts that began on march first. at a news conference this afternoon, however, joint chiefs of staff chairman general martin dempsey said that the pentagon is still being forced to make difficult choices. >> on monday, we'll be halfway through the fiscal year and we'll be 80% spent in our operating funds. we don't yet have a satisfactory solution to that shortfall and we're doing everything we can to stretch our readiness out. to do this we will have to trade at some level and to some degree our future readiness for current operations. it'll cost us more eventually in both money and time to recover in the years to come. we'll be trying to recover lost readiness at the same time that we're trying to reshape the force. we can do it, but that's the uncomfortable truth. >> suarez: despite the defense department's efforts to mitigate the impact of sequestration on the nation's military readiness, the across the board budget cuts are already starting to take a toll in communities where feder

it's very important especially in the context of the department of defense. in the last 10 years, spending on service contracts in the department of defense have more than doubled. from 72 billion per year to over to a hundred billion per year, just in the last 10 years. during that same time, in-house personnel costs have been effectively flat. he estimates that government- wide, 70%, to 90% of all sequestration spending cuts could easily come from service contracts. not exercising options, terminating for convenience, negotiating with the contractors not to continue with every option in their contracts. so it's not true that once a contract -- once money has been obligated to a contract that it is required to be spent. it's only when the work has already been done. host: i assume that the argument you are making to the administration. he would like to see them renegotiate contracts before the furlough of federal workers. guest: absolute appear there's no rationale for having furloughs of federal employees as a first response to sequestration. it should be an

code sure also that in terms of the defense department. same sex soldiers you know who don't ask don't tell is gone now but the defense department come out saying these are all over the rights now that we can give you and if doma is overturned here's all the other rights which is what was one of the last things that panetta wrote as he has been very very upset yes cheney thanks a lot for being with thank you so much for having me and for showing up this morning as your network. we'll talk more about today's supreme court here in its potential outcomes inside the big picture politics panel coming up after the break . let me let me i want or don't let me ask you a question. here on this board is what we're having a debate we have i know you see. the truth is this right it's a bad thing to get your. the great thing will be and i don't want to talk about surveillance me. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and reali

sequestration is having an operational impact, with the defense department postponement of the appointment of uss harry truman aircraft carrier to the persian gulf. i hope these people will address risks with sequestration and expiration of a continued resolution. our transition strategy in afghanistan is entering a clinical phase in the coming months. excuse me. afghan forces will move into the lead throughout afghanistan beginning this spring. this transition has been underway for some time. afghan forces are already in charge of security for more than 85% of the afghan people. this shift to an afghan security lead is exemplified by the statistic that in 2012, afghan forces for the first time suffered more casualties in coalition forces. these forces are stepping up. coalition forces are shifting to a support role. deploying security forces teams to advise and assist units throughout the end of 2014. the mission ends. casualties are down. during the one-month stretch from mid-january to mid february of this year, forces suffered no fatalities. it seems the bad news out of afghanistan is

defend their clients so frustrating there is nothing that we can do we have sent e-mails to the department of defense to the commander. asking them to meet with us to talk to us about the detainees conditions we have heard no response we have been told by the department of justice that they will not talk to us they refer us back to the department of defense no one has talked to us in the meantime in washington the officials tried to downplay the hunger strike but they seem to have a good idea of why these men resorted to such a desperate move and yet they have no solution to offer they had great optimism that guantanamo would be closed they were devastated when the president did you know backed off at least their perception of closing the facility that has. frustrated and they want to get this i think turn the heat up get it back in the media but it was not on the status of the detainees that general john kelly who's command oversees guantanamo came to discuss in congress he was there asking for money to renovate the prison the upgrade of the camp is estimated to cost taxpayers almost two hundred mil

it is a perfect storm of fiscal problems for us. >> last year the defense department transition, the defense human service to the defense clandestine service, how do you anticipate this is going to affect the operations? >> we have been working with the defense intelligence agency to help support the movement forward of the clandestine service. i prefer to talk in closed session on some of the details. in total, we think it is a very good plan. we like the initiative the plan does. it puts us in the position to have more collectors supporting the defense intelligence agency. i am very much behind it. >> in the past, you and the cia have gotten along so well. there is some concern about the two stepping on each other as you are moving forward with dcs. >> we are working very closely with this. we understand our lane is in the road. the dcs is about military intelligence. i am comfortable. i think senior leadership would tell you they are very comfortable with the clandestine service. >> thank you very much. >> i want to thank both of our witnesses for their distinguished service to our

the defense department is handling the attack as a case of workplace violence. >> feds are holding a former u.s. soldier in sir yampt eric was arrested after his plane landed in dulles international airport in virginia. he is charged with plotting to use a rocket propel would grenade. his father said the charges make no sense. >> allegations that he was working along side a group affiliated with al qaeda. >> no, i don't believe that. that is not true at all. that is not. he would never do that. >> eric posted videos on line claiming he would fight against syrian president assad who slaughtering his own people for two years. >> and turning to that hot spot in the world. the nation of syria where anti-assad rebel forces captured a key town near jordan. this after heavy fighting killed 38 people. the ongoing conflict continues to raise the death tollwith the un said 79 people died since the violent crack down. the question that mean are asking, should the obama administration intervene. joining us is monica crow loo. great to have you here. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. well

in late march furlough notices for department of defense employees go out.t might not be as initially dire as predicted that's because the full effect won't be felt for another month and we are weeks away from the next budget deadline which could potentially lead to a government shut down. >> there's no sign there is going to be progress here in washington to reach a deal on restoring those budget cuts. abc news, the white house. >> this morning queen elizabeth ii has been hospitalized after suffering what appears to be a stomach infection. the 6-year-old british monarch experienced those symptoms and her upcoming trip to romo is cancelled. in fact in a statement released to the palace says all official engagements for the coming week will be postponed or cancelled as a precaution. >>> >>> this is the first sunday without a pope for the world's 1 billion catholics. the event picking the pope will begin tomorrow in vatican city with the cardinals conclave. the pope resigned, becoming the first pontiff in 600 years to step down. changes are already being seen

called sequestration where you would have to take $0 billion of t $1.2 trillion out of the defense department, that would make the supeommittee more likely to achieve a result, and if you took $600 billion out of non-defense that would put pressure to get the supercommittee to get the right result. well, we're going to spend $45 trillion over the next decade. the question for the country is, can we save $1.2 trillion without destroying the defense department and raising taxes? yes, we could if we tried. so put me in the camp that this is aheavable. it is not something that is unachievable. but what senator mccain said is very important. two-thirds of the budget almost is exempt from sequestration. when you hear republicans say, surely we can find $85 bilon t of $3.5 trillion in spending spending, to my republican colleagues, stop saying that. that's not accurate. we're not cutting $85 billion out of $3.5 triion. we're cutting $85 billion out of about $1.3 trillion, $1.25 trillion. becausehe budget control act took off the table two-thirds of the government from being curt. now, i'll get to th

manchin: i rise to bring ateption to a recent decision by the department of defense to authorize a newmilitary deck acres the distinguished warfare medal, as a way to recognize the contribution of silent warriors such as drone pilots and cyber warriors. i have absolutely no objection to the creation of the medal. every day our silent warriors use modern warfare technology in ways that have had an impact on today'today's battle field. saving the lives of countless men and women and enhances the national security of our country. however, mr. president, i adamantly oppose the decision by the defense department to elevate the distinguished warfare medal above the bronze star and the purple heart, which are awarded for acts of heroism on the battlefield and above the soldier's medal which is given for acts of gallon antory beyond the -- gallantry beyond the battlefield. i believe that medals should maintain their presence above noncombat awards. placing the distinguished warfare medal above the bronze star and purple heart diminishes the significance of such awards earned by risking one's l

the defense department saw the cut and the deletion of certain weapons that they want to fund. that's really government waste. they are insistent in doing it in the name of defense. it's probably going to be something that the republicans will finally pass the bill in the congress and the house with republican votes not democrat votes whether it be getting off the fiscal cliff funding the victims of hurricane sandy and the communities of hurricane sandy or democrat votes predominantly or minority of republican votes. boehner has had to do that to get them off a tenable position. he's in a tenable situation he'll get what he wants, but i don't think the senate will play ball with him and who knows after that. >> michael: congressman, i want to ask you is there anything to the point that john boehner is winning now. the sequester happened. he was able to hold his coalition which people thought he was not going to be able to do in the house. has this been a good run for him inin a strange way. >> the republicans can't get together in an unified group. will rogers, i'm not a member

it has no place in a department of defense bill. it should be funded by the national institute of health, not the department of defense. madam president, i ask unanimous consent for a long list of unspecified and unauthorized and unnecessary and wasteful pork be included in the record at this time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: it's -- it's disgraceful, and i see my colleague from texas is waiting to talk. but this is absolutely unbelievable. and all of this long list, of billions of dollars of spending, can only be considered as how obscene it is by listening to what the impacts of sequester has already been on the men and women in the military. sequester so far -- so far -- canceled four brigade exercises, four brigade exercises of training of the army has been canceled. it reduces the base operations, the normal day-to-day operations of the base by 30%. cancels half the year of helicopter and ground vehicle maintenance. stops postwar repair pair of 1,300 vehicles and 17,000 webs weapons. it reduces the read

those selected for the designation leave trial and defense departments and provide proven experience in the courtroom personally conducting, overseeing, or adjudicating complex cases to include sexual assault. the program leverages trial counsel, defense counsel, and judicial experience to exchance the effectiveness of the court-martial practice. in 2010, we established the trial counsel and defense counsel assistance programs, t cap and d. cap respectively. lead by experts in military justice. they delivered advocacy training and assessments worldwide. they conducted outreach training to improve effort between the prosecutors, investigators, and other military justice stakeholders, they serve as trial counsel or assistant trial counsel and several complex cases to include sexual assault cases. the t. cap deputy director is a former state prosecute we are a sexual assault prosecution experience. she previously served as directer of national center for prosecution of violence against women. she's a noted author in the field. d. cap established to support and enhance the defense bar, pr

caller: i wanted to mention my husband and myself both work for department of defense, both looking atossibly being furloughed. how do they expect people to make their bills and payments? i think congress and the president should take a cut in pay along with the department of defense workers and that comes up for, which i know they make a lot more money and will not suffer as much as we are. and i am tired of people saying, you work for the government, you make this and that and you have this benefit and that benefit, but it was not just a free ride to get and a government job. we went to school, went to college, we have student loans, and we worked hard to get where we are. and this is what we get. if my husband is furloughed, 20% cut, i am farlow, 20%, there is no way we will be able to meet the bills. and we do not live lavishly. host: what areas of the government you work in broadly? caller: just defense department. host: both of you? caller: yes. it is going to be tough. what do you do? it is not like we can cut out going to the movies because we don't go to the movies. we cannot