. >> fran townsend, thank you very much.sident obama will discuss other issues during the news conference as well as kabul. that is scheduled to begin at the bottom of the hour at 11:30 eastern. cnn will bring that to you live. >>> there is more drama in the casey anthony trial. her father gets angry with defense questions. >> trying to take this joy of my life away from me, sir. you can't do it anymore. i'm going to answer it. >> i'll go deeper into today's testimony after the break. [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. but afraid you can't afford it? well, look h

cnn national security contributor fran townsend is a member of the external advisory boards for both the cia and department of homeland security. she also advised president bush on homeland security. and fran, how dangerous is this revelation at a time when syria's in political turmoil and it could be leaderless at any moment? >> well, look, you know, it's interesting, because as you mentioned, joe, the relationship between syria and iran is not new, and in fact, the transfer of weapons from iran to syria's not new. we've had intelligence, we've had public reports of those weapons going there in the past. and so, iran would rally to bashar al assad's assistance in this moment of his crisis is not a surprise to me. look, this is a client state of the iranian regime. and so, you're bound to see technical assistance and weapons flowing into syria, but syria's not the only place. during the bush administration, we saw iran providing critical parts for electronically performed projectiles, parts of the ieds blowing up our soldiers in iraq. we've seen very aggressive iranian activity using

. >> well, joining us now, cnn national security contributor fran townsend, former homeland security adviser to president george bush, and is currently member of the cia and department of homeland security external advisory committee. also joining us, john burns from tripoli who got the ball rolling this week. and by phone, wesley clark, senior fellow at ucla. fran, basically nato sees it as well within the scope of its mandate to target gadhafi. can you tell us as much as you can about how you got the information? >> it was a sort of interesting cat and mouse conversation. i was speaking to the senior nato military official and said from the looks of things, just as you laid out, looks pretty much like you're targeting him personally. and he wouldn't really answer the question and said let me say it this way. if our mission, under the u.n. resolution, is to protect civilians and gadhafi is the commander in chief, we take all sorts of measures to knock out their infrastructure, their military capabilities so they can't attack civilians. the commander in chief of the military that's d

spoke earlier with mark mazetti who broke the story for the "new york times" and reza saya and fran townsendrity advisedor and current lay member of the department of homeland security external advisory committee. >> fran as we said before cnn has confirmed these were low-level operatives providing information on bin laden. and it seems like the u.s. can't do much about this. is this how this sort of thing normally plays out? >> reporter: anderson, now that this has become public as we've seen from the "new york times" and the report -- an american presumably these are pakistani citizens who are now in pakistani custody. and the u.s. will have precious little influence over how the pakistani government deals with their own citizens. >> mark, you broke the story late last night. pakistan's intelligence service since then has called the report "false and totally baseless" and denied that an army major had been arrested. your response. >> it was very carefully-worded statement. we're very confident in our report. we're going to have sort of further details in tomorrow's paper that this major wa

with us, cnn national security analyst peter bergen and national security contributor fran townsend, e cia's external advisory board and has traveled in libya at the invitation of the gadhafi government in the past. fran, by extending the nato mission, is the alliance, is the administration doubling down on the libyan strategy and is the mission any clearer now to justify that? >> well, jessica, look, i think the president was very clear about u.s. support to the nato mission. the u.s. has got some unique capability they can provide and then the mission all comes under the supreme allied commander of nato who is in u.s. navy admiral, jim stavrat. all of the nations that are operating, all the forces, are under his command. so the u.s. is in pretty seriously. now, the question becomes, you know, what's going on on the ground and how effective can it be? there are reports it is oil minister defected to italy. we heard earlier that more than 100 soldiers defected to italy. it looks like the inner circle around him is crumbling while nato continues to pound his installations. so the quest

peter bergen, fran townsend, thank you. a key decision, how fast to start drawing down those troops. next, a man who is help the president with that decision. david axelrod, the top political adviser to the president, left to run the re-election campaign. he'll talk about challenge number one for the president, trying to be re-elected in a tough economy. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. >>> our new cnn poll out tonight shows stunning proof of economic anxiety. 81% of americans say econo

. >> fran townsend, appreciate you talking tonight. from the new york tiemgs and reza as well. >>> just now coming to light, the "new york times" in tomorrow's paper reporting that pakistan's top general is fighting to save his job. the paper reporting is facing seething anger from other top commanders as well as junior officers since the raid. central to the complaints according to the times the general's perceived cozy relationship with the united states. still ahead, after more than three weeks of testimony, prosecution rests its case in the casey anthony trial. tomorrow the defense begins their turn. their defense is that she was lying for so long and hiding kaylee's death because of sexual abuse she alleges her father and brother did to her. what it will take for them to win the capital murder case? former prosecutor nancy grace joins me ahead. >>> and one of the women congressman anthony weiner exchanged e-mails with speaking out in a press conference. she says he asked her to lie to protect him. down the hill? man: all right. we

we're joined now by cnn's national security contributor fran townsend. e than 100 members of congress, some other former senior u.s. national security officials, has publicly advocated the united states take the iranian opposition group, the mek, off the state department's list of terror groups around the world. just as the european union has already done. fran, let's talk about what is going on. in recent days, the leaders of three nominal u.s. allies, iraq, afghanistan, and pakistan, they all went to tehran to meet with ahmadinejad, amidst growing concern, he must say, at least i'm hearing from some u.s. officials that when all is said and done, the dust settles in that part of the world, despite all the heavy u.s. investment, iran could emerge as the big strategic winner. what is your thought on that? >> reporter: this has been a concern quite frankly, wolf, throughout the gulf region. saudi arabia, bahrain, had been increasingly concerned about the growing influence of iran through -- across this region, especially it started in iraq. iran was clearly

let's bring in peter bergen and fran townsend, who is a member of the cia and department of homeland security external advisory committee. fran, what's at stake here in terms of these attacks? >> it makes good sense. we use these kind of drone attacks inside the tribal region of pakistan because we go after the operations, you know, cells in the tribal areas. in yemen, with this chaos, we've always had an intelligence and military presence there. mostly the military presence was for training. but you can see how in the chaos, they would use cia, covert action authority, and permit the cia director to use all of his capability. and that would include drones for strikes if he gets the intelligence. >> peter, how does seleh's position change? >> i don't think he's coming back to the country, he's gone. the post seleh era has begun in yemen. we've got a situation where not only drones but american jets are being used. that's quite a departure. there has been a relatively small u.s. special forces presence in yemen, and obviously a cia presence. these assets are being used to put as much p

let's check in with national security contributor fran townsend joining us by phone actually from dublind traveler she is. fran, no matter where you are you've got your sources. tell me, what do you know about this? and is this a concern among our security folks right now? >> well, you know, i think what they want to do is get to the bottom of exactly why this guy didn't respond to their questions, tried to evade them. and what you see, the closing of the roads around the pentagon, restricting access is a standard protocol, even if this turned out to be nothing, you always treat it as a serious event until you candice miss it. i think in a post-9/11 world we shouldn't be surprised. the fact that he didn't have explosives on him is a good sign. the fact that he was in the custody of park police is also a good sign, that the fbi didn't really believe this was going to be a terrorist incident. >> the do we know anything about him? >> you know, not yet. they haven't released very much information. he's a young man, we know he's in his early 20s. but other than that, they've been very -- ther

let's go to fran townsend, these a member of the cia and department of homeland security advisory committeejoins us from new york v via skype. fran great to see you. you've reported the obama administration will soon unveil new counter terrorism strategy. they've announced to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan. what do we anticipate the strategy will be? >> the most interesting part we're two and a half years into the administration, president obama made it very clear that he's going to take a different approach. but the only insight to what the counter terrorist strategy has been, speeches by the president, speeches by john brennan, his homeland security adviser and actions they take. we've seen increased use of drones not only in the tribal area. but also in yemen, we've saw it on the bin laden camp. this is an opportunity for president obama to articulate what his vision and effort is going to be, going forward. frankly it's gone through an interagency process but will be very mindful of what the accomplishments have been and what the goals are going forward. >> and, fran, we've seen

back with us, once again, fran townsend and wesley clark.er nato supreme ally commander. you agree with gates. >> his statement is well warranted. for years, for decades we've had this share about burden sharing. who provides the majority of the forces? the europeans have never to our satisfaction provided their fair share. they've justified it because the battle was going to be on their ground, they have other things they can do to contribute. i think the libyan operation is a good test for the future of nato. the other thing, though, we have to be careful in this. this kind of rhetoric goes back and forth for a long way. ultimately the united states knows just like the europeans know that nato is in everyone's vital interest. nato will struggle through this. hopefully the allies will listen to what the secretary said. they'll pull themselves up by the boots and we'll finish gadhafi. >> i suspect these nato allies, a lot of them are weak kneed right now, fran. they want the benefits of being part of nato, they don't want the burdens. don't

professor bernard haykel, and our fran townsend, thank you both for coming in tonight.very bloody day in syria. with a new and potentially dangerous twist. the regime admits more than 100 of its own soldiers are dead. is syria closer to civil war? but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! bridgestone is using natural rubber, researching ways to enhance its quality and performance, and making their factories more environmentally friendly. producing products that save on fuel and emissions, and some that can be reused again. ♪ and promoting eco-friendly and safety driving campaigns. ♪ one team. one planet. bridgestone. >>> another bloody day in syria. state television says 120 members of the regime security forces w

i'm joined by former president's security adviser fran townsend. politicians from his own party now calling for his resignation. then there's the report piers talked about earlier that his wife huma is pregnant with their first child. all on a day that began with an explicit photo of his anatomy online. computer experts telling the jury there were 84 internet searches for colhloroform on th family computer. other search words, neck breaking and head injuries. those stories. and part two of our sissy boy experiments and the fight for misrata and libya's gadhafi troops circled the city. back to you. >> i think it was a photograph ironically of his wiener is the word you were looking for. >> i believe so, yes. >> more of my interview with jack welch in just a moment. >>> i was never the smartest guy in the room. from the first person i hired, i was never the smartest guy in the room. and that's a big deal. and if you're going to be a leader, if you're a leader and you're the smartest guy in the world, in the room, you've got real problems. >> that's o

we're going to speak with fran townsend who through her sources is breaking the story. as well as john burns on the ground in tripoli and wesley clark. >>> an emotional day in the casey anthony murder trial. graphic photos of her daughter, caylee shown in court showing her skull, including a closeup of duct tape on her nose and mouth area. gary tuchman was in court. we'll talk to him and dr. drew pinsky about how casey anthony's stories don't add up. we'll learn new lies she told to her brother. >>> also 5-year-old kirk murphy was enrolled in a government study aimed at making efem net boys more masculine. kids like kirk are being sent to something called reparative therapy. that's part three of our 360 investigation. uncovering the truth. those stories and more at the top of the hour. more piers morgan in a moment. >>> so one of the little known things i think about you is this extraordinary story on 9/11. you had an office in cantor fitzgerald's office block. a friend of yours allowed you some office space, and you were 20 minutes late for work. you were going to go i

let's gling national security analyst peter bergen and national security expert fran townsend, who is a member of the cia and department of homeland security external advisory committee. fran, in terms of these attacks, what's at stake here? >> anderson, it makes perfectly good sense. we use these kind of drone attacks inside the tribal region of pakistan because we get intelligence that feeds them and go after the operations, you know, cells in the tribal areas. in yemen, with this chaos, we've always had an intelligence and military presence there. mostly the military presence was for training. but you can see how in the chaos, they would use cia, covert action authority, and permit the cia director to use all of his capability. and that would include drones for strikes if he gets the intelligence. >> peter, how does saleh's condition change the equation here, for better or for worse? >> well, saleh is clearly -- i mean, i don't think he's coming back to the country. i mean, he's gone and clearly the post-saleh era has begun in yemen. as fran said, we've got a situation where not on

joining us now, fran townsend who is a top white house adviser to president george w. bush, now member of the external advisory boards for the cia and department of homeland security. also one of our correspondents, ha haala gorani. number one, the regime trying to minimize it as the state tv anchors were saying, just small groups of rogue people, or you could read it as the regime realizing it can no longer simply ignore these and have credibility with people who see these demonstrations all over its country. >> it seems it's an attempt to discredit the protesters, calling them small groups of people, and it fits into the narrative of the regime from the beginning, these are, quote, terrorist-armed gangs, intent on creating chaos and that the military is going into these towns and cities at the request of residents. but what's interesting is what might just be happening in that northwestern town, and that is potentially, according to some, and again we're not allowed to report from inside syria, that there is some sort of split between security forces after reports a

fran townsend will join us and we'll assess what is go on. the u.s.g iraq, liberating afghanistan. but when all the dust settles in the years to come, will iran emerge as the strategic winner in what is go on in that part of the world? we'll take a closer look at that. i know you're really interested in this subject. a lot of our viewers are as well. we have all the day's other important news and important supreme court decisions. we have got reporters in syria, in yemen, unlike any other news organization here in the united states. so we'll update our viewers with all the important news, blagojevich obviously, michele bachmann in iowa, it is going to be a jam-packed two hours of news. >> wolf, look forward to it. we'll see you in five minutes. thank you, sir. >>> before i let you go, we're going to talk about michele bachmann and how she was asked if she considers herself a flake. joe johns tells us why coming up in political pop. back in a moment. the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [