. >> reporter: elijah ely cummings is the ranking democrat on the -- elijah cummings is the ranking democrat on the house services committee. even some tourists wonder if the sixth ring of fence around the white house is enough. bruce leshan, wusa9. >> secret service director julia pierson released a statement praising the restraint the officers showed when they didn't shoot the intruder, but she promises a full report on why they famed to release the guard dogs -- failed to release the guard dogs and failed to release the front door. >>> the d.c. police department unveiled a pilot project that will see up to 165 officers wearing body video cameras. chief cathy lanier says in police departments using the cameras complaints against temperatures have dropped by 80%. dropped-- against officers have dropped 80s%. >> people's stories often vary between citizens and officers in the process of making an arrest. so this gives us that independent unbiased witness. >> there were roughly 400 civilian complaints against d.c. police officers last year and manufacture those cases are dismissed -- many of

elijah cummings. thanks for joining us. >> president-elect and abdullah abdullah signed an agreement that u.s. officials hope will be the next step towards more stability in the war worn nation. they give the second place finisher the job of chief executive while running day to day operations. nbc news obtained unverified results showing he actually won with 55% of the vote, but the u.s. state department said there was so much fraught they did force them to accept a unity government rather than risk civil war. she's still the one for you. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upse

elijah cummings said these are the kinds of questions they want to get to the bottom of. one more point that he said, one of the things that disturbs him so much about this, rev, is that part of what keeps the president safe is the reputation of the secret service, people have come to believe if you try something, they'll stop you. and he's concerned about the message that this sends. >> and they're saying he appeared to be unarmed. chris jansing at the white house, i thank you for your time this evening. >> welcome. >> let me bring in jack rice, a former cia agent who spent time as as a special agent in the office of security and jim cavanaugh, msnbc analyst and retired atf analyst. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, reverend. >> jack, this man with a knife was deep inside the white house. what's your reaction? >> well, this is horrifying. if you contemplate what the potential could have been here. yes, everything turned out already in a sense. i guess the positive is that you realize the procedures, the protocols that were in place, that should have been in place

the thing is he apparently thought he was calling the committee's top democrat elijah cummings to leak some documents and to try and spin the story. hope you're ready for some real talk. chris, syndicated radio talk show host, a democratic think tank, and a former clinton presidential campaign advisor. all right, chris. go at it. >> well, you know, people are laughing about this today about brian telling him is he the biggest fool in washington today. there's no gout about that. in reality there's something insidious going on here in that eric holder is the attorney general was tasked with investigating what might be official corruption on the part of the obama administration unleashing the irs on the american people, on their political enemies, dee party and so on. what we have discovered as a result of this is that barack obama's justice department, eric holder's justice department, is using brian fallon, a former chuck schumer hill staffer, by the way, a political actor, to undermine the official investigation by congress. this is a corruption at the justice department, and it shoul

darrell issa reading his opening statement which will probably last about three minutes, then elijah cummings, the ranking member will also read an opening statement and when julia pierson begins her testimony we'll bring that to you live. i want to bring in our panel of experts. ronald kessler is a long time investigative reporter and author of nearly two dozen books including "inn the president's secret service." daniel boghino has also written "life inside the bubble and" joey jackson is a criminal defense attorney. thank you for being with me. i want to start with daniel. you were with the secret service. why the conflicting stories about what went down at the white house, the you think? >> carol, sadly this is consistent with some of my experience there is as well, that a very small, insulated group of upper level secret service managers who are subjected to outside pressures and, frankly, are too weak to stand up to them, gave a different story. now the rank-and-file officers and agents are two different sets of people, june formed division officers and secret service agents are the one

congressman elijah cummings demands to know why the alarm wamuted. >> something needs to be done drasticallyit's also clear they need to have a come-to-jesus moment. because clearly the secret service has not measured up to its reputation. guards are instructed to look the white house doors when an intruder gets on the grounds. >> it's shocking that someone could get in that close to the east room. it's unbelievable. >> the fact that he was in the house, all the way to the east room, that was very shocking. >> the secret service is investigating, reviewing what went wrong. tomorrow we will learn more about security changes at a congressional hearing. shomari stone, news 4. >>> new at 11 tonight, a plane headed to blom made an emergency landing in texas after circling the airport for more than two hours. it was an american airlines jet that took off this evening from the dallas, f. worth area, but the pilot declared an emergency after equipment malfunctioned. the plane had to circle the airport to burn off fuel in order to land safely. the passengers are now on another plane. >>> a bombshell

but perhaps the most disturbing piece of information came from elijah cummings that said when we wasrrested previously he had a, quote, small arsenal of weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun, and a map with a line drawn to the white house. how concerned are those who work at the secret service right now about their agency? what must be going through their minds? >> well, let me just say one thing about that incident you talk about. director pierson tried to say we talked to him, we interviewed him. he said he was going to do site seeing in the area. as you say they saw him again in august with a hatchet near the white house. they interviewed him and checked out his car, and he said he was camping. so he was clearly on their radar screen, but she said he had given them no reason to arrest him. they were just watching him. he had done nothing illegal. there has been a lot of praise for the individuals. they know they have a tough job, but the concern is that moral is down; that they don't feel they can speak out if something has gone wrong, and clearly congress thinks something needs

. >> reporter: elijah cummings is the ranking democrat on the house oversight committee. >> when i see something like this happen, it makes me wonder about what i don't see. >> reporter: the secret service has now added a new fence, a sixth ring of security around the white house, but even some tourists wonder if that's enough. at the white house bruce leshan, wusa9. >>> we've got new information on the prime suspect in the disappearance of uva student hannah graham. we are awaiting that press conference in charlottesville. >> peggy fox is live with the latest there on this developing story. >> reporter: that's right. sources are saying that jesse matthew is in custody. we believe he might be out of state. we are still waiting for charlottesville police chief timothy longon to arrive and give us this -- longo to arrive and give us this news officially. we are waiting for the fbi special agent in charge coming from richmond. so once again jesse matthew in custody on the run since friday being named a person of interest and yesterday being charged with abduction with intent to defile. >>

. >> ranking committee member elijah cummings said he'd concerned if the leadership can be trusted. > ms. pearson has been completely transparent with us. we find out information through the newspapers. i went in with an open mind, but the more i listened, the more concerned i have become. >> congressman matt cartwright, do you believe the loordship is trustworthy? >> today i think there's good news and bad news. the good news is that this was an exceptional oversight in government reform hearing we had today. it wasn't the typical bomb-throwing event we've seen over and over and over.

people who were in opposition, michele bachmann, also, elijah cumming, voted no. so very strange bedfellows going on in the house yesterday. probably in the senate as well. >> we'll see what happens and we'll talk about it tomorrow. for more from mark and the rest of the nbc news political team, check out first read on nbcnews.com. >>> how is gatorade made? wow. the author of top secret recipes is going to show us how you can make it yourself. plus the ingredient in diet soda that can lead to diabetes. >>> lots of you are already showing your toud attitude as t nationals get ready for the postseason. the shelves had to be restocked several times yesterday. as far as tickets go, more than 10,000 were sold in just ten minutes yesterday. >>> using artificial sweeteners. those artificial sweet beers are found in many diet drinks. these sweeteners apparently changed how the animal's bodies handled sugar. critics say other studies show sweeteners are safe and useful for losing weight. >> a math teacher had the winning formula as a contestant on "wheel of fortune." >> ca

top democrat elijah cummings says the jury is still out on whether pierson can fix the secret service. >> here is a sample. >> i know you have a lot of wonderful people over there. but this is not their best work. and we have a serious, serious issue here about protecting the president and his family. this is disgraceful. >> utah republican says the more he learns, the more it scares him. >> mike, thanks a lot. let's continue this with ronned aronald kessler. he broke the story of when agents were partying with hookers in columbia. ronald kessler has also written 20 books about the secret service, fbi, c chlt a, inclu including the first family detail. and he said and i quote, secret service agents say it is a miracle there has not been an assassination. mr. kessler joins us now. >> good to be with you. >> of all the research that i did it for today's program, that was the most as toupding thing that i read, that you say agents say it's a miracle there has not been an assassination. what is the context and the reason for that. >> the context is that there a cultural problem within man

. >> and now chairman darrell issa and elijah cummings degree and they a agree and they're calling formission. their point is a president should not have to worry about his security. >> they're right about that. thank you very much. we already know washington was too quick to dismiss it as workplace violence, but a be heading oig? why can't washington just call it what it is? helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tong

. >> congressman elijah cummings, the ranking member of that committee, is getting ready to join us as well. we'll get his thoughts on what he heard. also coming up, isis chat rooms luring westerners, young ones, the recruiters out there are answering questions about how much isis pays its fighters. we have details coming up. also isis moving closer and closer to a critical border town in syria. this is a development that could seriously complete their conquest along the turkish border. turkey is a nato ally. we've got a live look coming up. ♪ who's going to do it? who's going to make it happen? discover a new energy source. turn ocean waves into power. design cars that capture their emissions. build bridges that fix themselves. get more clean water to everyone. who's going to take the leap? who's going to write the code? who's going to do it? engineers. that's who. that's what i want to do. be an engineer. ♪ [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring america's future engineers. energy lives here. you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain

house oversight committee chairman darrell issa and elijah cummings are calling for a special committee to examine transparency and culture issues within the secret service. house committee chairman michael mccaul proposing a topdown agency review. and breaking news, we have learned that the secret service allowed a centers for disease control private security guard armed with a pistol to ride on an elevator with the president while he was visiting the cdc just two weeks ago. it turns out that private security guard had three felony assault and battery convictions. joining us tonight former arkansas governor, host of huckabee on the fox news channel. mike huckabee. i don't even frankly know where to begin, governor. let's start with the idea that the cdc would permit such a person to be on their grounds as a security guard to begin with, and the secret service again permitting a man with his background with a pistol on an elevator with the president of the united states! >> it's beyond belief. i mean the fact that somebody who has felony convictions is even getting a gun is amazing to m

as we just saw, there is bipartisan outrage and what elijah cummings told nbc yesterday is the key is what did she know, and when did she know it? we have gotten conflicting reports, as you pointed out. the first thing we heard is the gruder got through the front door. now he ran practically to this the back end of the white house, practically the length of the white house, 50, 60 feet at least is the length of the east room. there are going to be very tough questions for this woman brought in by the president to repair the tarnished image of this agency. but the key question here is can they protect the president? and right now there are a lot of questions about that. part of this hearing may go on blind closed doors because of the sensitive nature. but this is a public hearing of julia pearson. there are dogs here. i've seen them in action when somebody scales the fence. they're extraordinarily well trained. extraordinarily intimidating. why weren't they released? the first story we heard is they were afraid because there were so many people on the lawn, so many agents, that the dog

pointing out ranking member elijah cummings had great pays first topic of the first hearing. this was proposed by a democratic member of your committee? >> yes, ma'am. adam schiff from california. former federal prosecutor. i really -- i don't mean to appear naive, greta, i really do think when you are talking about the murder of four of our fellow americans that we sent into harm's way to represent us, surely to goodness we can turn down the politics for just a little while and find out what happened and why and make sure it never happens again. so, sure, if a democrat gives me a good idea, absolutely. we are going to have a hearing on it. >> dana milbank of the "the washington post" said you played it straight. today was looking at a little bit backwards. will there be hearings in the future that will look at exactly what happened that night as well as how the obama administration cover, you know, how they handled sort of the dissemination of information or transparency or whatever you want to call the investigation post 9/11? , 12? >> yes, ma'am, to all of the above. we ar

. >> ranking committee member elijah cummings said he'd concerned if the leadership can be trusted. >> i'm unt sure ms. pearson has been completely transparent with us. we find out information through the newspapers. i went in with an open mind, but the more i listened, the more concerned i have become. >> congressman matt cartwright, do you believe the loordship is trustworthy? >> today i think there's good news and bad news. the good news is that this was an exceptional oversight in government reform hearing we had today. it wasn't the typical bomb-throwing event we've seen over and over and over. but that's where the good news stops. the bad news is we have come together is that we have a shared and collected sense of outrage and disgust about what has happened. when the white house can be breached by somebody in this fashion, it raises the hackles of everybody on that committee, republicans and democrats, and i think ranking member cummings really set the tone when he went after director pearson about the problems with the culture at the secret service. the deep-rooted and deep-se

. >> today congressman elijah cummings, the ranking member of the benghazi select committee. about the new hearings that start tomorrow. listen. >> we don't want to be going over things that have been asked and answered in this time of austerity. we don't want to be wasting taxpayers' dollars. we've had, again, all of these investigations. we'll let you draw your own conclusions with regard to political motivation. >> is there any other conclusions to draw? any? other than that this is political? >> absolutely not. where most of us saw tragedy, the republicans saw political opportunity. they think this issue works for them. to try to tarnish secretary clinton because they're afraid they may face her in 2016. so the reality is, this entire thing is political. there were nine congressional investigations, this is the tenth and not one of the republican conspiracy theories has been substantiated at all. the issue has been settled. >> but, joe, this could last all the way to the iowa caucuses in 2016, if we're talking about hillary? >> that's what they're hoping will be the case.

. >> listen to elijah cummings, i think the ranking democrat on your committee, certainly a member ofe, he said this, on cnn, i'm going to play a little clip. >> too often over the pasts two years, the congressional investigation into what happened in benghazi has evolved into unseemly partisanship. we're better than that. >> i want you to respond to him, congressman. >> we are better than that. which is why i said something similar, although not as eloquent as mr. cummings yesterday. these four were neither republican or democrat. i just know they were fellow americans. we ought to have a process worthy of their memory. you saw the hearing yesterday, there were no political shenanigans. there were very good questions asked on both sides of the aisle on a very important topic which is what are we doing to provide safety and security for the existing diplomats we send into harm's way. there are things that can transcend politics. i don't mean to sound naive but there are things. if the death of our four fellow americans can't transcend politics then i'm in the wrong line of work. >> th

i mean, i actually had some very pleasant conversations today even with jim jordan and elijah cummings. i really want to challenge john kerry, secretary of state john kerry to follow some of the fwidlines that were established by the a.r.b. on benghazi as far as, like, establishing standards and practice, personnel to really, you know, keep our consulates and diplomatic outposts safe. senator kerry, the most dangerous thing in the world is terrorism. not climate change. do your job, protect your personnel. >> we have heard that. the other thing that you mentioned in this article, the obama administration has failed to keep its word. in what way? >> well, you know, they promised -- for example, pat smith was promised by panetta, obama, hillary clinton that they were going to get back here, that they were going to keep a consistent word as far as, like, keeping her abreast of the investigation into the murders, and they have never returned one phone call. they've never called her. hillary clinton, barack obama, leon panetta, you're all liars. >> wow. the uncle of sean smith, michael ingm

michele bachmann, conservative republican congresswoman, liberals like elijah cummings and charlie rangelopposition, too. national security issues, war issues sometimes bring out more ideological diversity and surprises than you normally get on capitol hill. >> absolutely. we're getting this information in, mark, associated press is reporting that french president agrees to iraqi request for air support against islamic state group there. we are seeing i believe australia earlier in the week as well pledging air support. >> for the obama administration, more countries that go in, more that have stakes in this, that's what the obama administration wants to be able to see. they don't want to have to do this alone. certainly the ground troop component can't go alone. the united states, president obama yesterday ruling out any type of u.s. ground soldiers, so the question becomes who will be providing ground troops. we know the administration wants to arm the syrian rebels on one hand. also want a more active iraqi army. want the kurdish to play a role. what other arab countries will step up,

. >> woodruff: maryland democrat elijah cummings cited one of several agents who decided against contradicting their bosses' view that the shots were not directed at the white house... >> she did not challenge her supervisor for fear of being criticized. she later told investigators. now, director pierson, as a former agent and now director pierson, as a former field agent, and as the head of the agency -- that has to concern you tremendously, is that right? >> yes, sir. it does. it's unacceptable. but another massachusetts democrat -- stephen lynch -- charged pierson's overall responses were simply evasive. >> i wish to god you protected the white house like you're protecting your reputation here >> let me be clear, the united states secret service does not take this lightly. with all due respect that's my point. as a casual observer to what has happened here, i don't think the secret service is taking their duty to protect the american president and his family at the white house. i don't think you're taking it seriously. >> woodruff: still, the white house said again today the president is c

issa thinks it was for elijah cummings' office. oh, my.hat's our justice department. there for law, justice and order. >> all right. thank you very much. >>> fox news alert. early this morning, secretary of state john kerry arrived in baghdad to meet with leaders in an attempt to gain support in the battle against isis. this as the president prepares to address the nation just about 14 hours from now. doug luzader is live in washington, d.c what can we expect? >> reporter: good morning. first of all, this is a prime time address and this is one of those things that can cut both ways for a white house. the political theater behind it generates a lot of attention. on the other hand that attention can really raise expectations with what the president is going to say. here is what the white house will say about this address. >> the president will lay out what he clearly sees as american interests in this situation. he'll talk about the risks that the united states faces. and he'll talk about the strategy that he has put together to confront th

this is so incredibly corrupt, the idea is that that doj called who he thought was elijah cummings, ranking democrat on the committee to try to coordinate the press coverage, what documents they were going to release, trying to micromanage and not just the original situation but the cover-up of the cover-up. dave: do you think these are people who are concerned about the long-term credibility, if the irs uses its credibility entirely, it is close to that, we break the social contract, makes it difficult for people to turn in their contributions to the irs if there is no trust. >> they are not contributions. dave: are they trying to maintain the security and integrity of the irs if possible or is the this order is coming from the white house? >> there not interested in integrity of the irs because then they never would have gone down this road of targeting conservatives and tea party groups to begin with. the irs is the most fearsome arm of the u.s. government because the power to tax is the power to destroy. it is always tried at least to be non-partisan and out of the political fray. the w

congressman elijah cummings of maryland, thanks for coming in. >> good morning, kate. you. >> i want to ask you all along, when we, you and i have talked about this a while back. you've been critical of the process, you had said it was important that you were on this committee. but you've been critical of the fact that the committee was even really put together. but i look back at our most recent polling, though, congressman on the benghazi attacks. americans still have a lot of questions about what happened in 2012. 61% of those polled back in june, they said that they didn't think the administration had been honest about benghazi. with that in mind, do you think this committee will come up with the, be able to provide the definitive account of what happened in, at the consulate? >> i think we will, but i think we are coming to largely, a lot of us have an answer, the republicans heard about a lot of investigations, as a matter of fact the nine exhaustive investigations with regard to benghazi. but a lot of the public don't know what these reports say. and so, that's

and finally, i think, elijah cumm iring cummings what said. if it no longer becomes a deterrent does it invite more problems. multiple levels that julia piereson has to deal with. and making the blanket promise saying it will never happen again. she has her work cut out her. >> you talk about the culture. agents say they're hesitant to raise security concerns with their supervisors. this is a culture where you're not able to really express yourself freely. when you talk about the president of the united states and his family and their security. it seems like there's a real problem with that culture. >> and we know there was an agent who wanted to raise concerns about the 2011 incident where seven shots were fired into the white house and wanting to say to her supervisor who suggested it was some sort of gang incident that was not what happened. she was afraid. we know from direct testimony not just hearsay that's a problem within the agency. >> yeah. i'm wondering people take full responsibility what it means in the long-term. and how you're a