jennifer griffin reports the strain is also created tensions between the u-s and is. israel.x news national security correspondent / washinnton, d.c. -------------------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------------------- &p------ washington and the u.k. are urging israel not to attack iran.... in a possible pre-emptive strike over its nuclear program.... which wwstern nations believe tehran intends to use to make a nuclear weapon. national security pdvisor tom donilon concluding a three day visit to israel today.... the white delegation addressed, quote: the full range of security issues of mutual concern, ahead of a white house meeting between president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. israelis are losing patience - with washington.singh says: "how long are we going to give them to devvlop all these pieces? what is the consequence for them going to be if they have those pieces but not put together? and how much trust does israel really administration is prepared to use that military option the p

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jennifer griffin has that story. >> reporter: washington and the uk are urging israel not to attack iran in a possible pre- emptive strike over its nuclear program western nations believe teheran intends to use to make a nuclear weapon. national security advice sore, concluding a 3 davie sit to israel today the white house says he and his delegation addressed quote the full range of security issues, of mutual concern ahead of a white house meeting scheduled for march 5th, between president obama and israeli prime minister, netanyahu. one expert believes israelis are losing patience with washington. >> how long are we going to give them to develop all these pieces, what is the consequence for them going to be if they have those pieces sitting there latent but not put together and how much trust does israel have the obama administration is prepared to use that military option the president talked about to prevent them from actually getting to that point. >> this comes as nuclear inspectors from united nations arrive in iran for a two davie sit and talks on the islam -- two day, visit and t

at the pentagon jennifer griffin, fox news. >>> the gop presidential contest once again a two-man race with the arizona and michigan primaries next week and a debate time, the stakes are high for mitt romney. a poll shows romney's homestate tilting rick santorum's way and a gallup poll showing santorum holding the lead by 10%. president obama's team is targeting both saying both presidential hopefuls have proposed irresponsible and reckless tax plans that would drive the deficit up by trillions of dollars. the obama's team's focus on both candidates suggests momentum has shifted towards santorum nationwide. >>> a developing story? the district, with a rash of new robberies -- story in the district with a rash of new robberies, six just tonight. >> those six robberies came in the span of two hours tonight. police say men armed with guns are targeting people carrying smartphones and other personal electronics. they're happening from northwest to southeast and in some cases the systems are violent. >>> stop the profanity, it's official, the d.c. council passing an amendment to the code of

jennifer griffin has the latest from the pentagon. >> just days after entering the mediterranean, twoestroyers returned, leaving as suddenly as they arrived. despite the warships docked in syria, pentagon officials say they didn't make it that far. still a top iranian general is signaling iran would be willing to carry out a preemptive strike, a clear message to israel. quote, our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger iran's national interest and decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions. the white house continued to press israel not to strike first. >> there's time and space for diplomacy to work for the effective sanctions to result in a change in behavior. >> china, india and japan agreed to cut down on the amount of oil they import by 10 to 20% but skeptics don't think it would stop zin the obama administration, james clapper, testified to the senate two weeks ago all existing sanctions had no affect on iran's behavior or policies in the nuclear field. >> pentagon officials warn of the limits of the military strike. collin call was the

bret. >> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. jennifer, thank you. ♪ >> in america's election headquarters, republicans are preparing for a primary and a pair of caucuses tuesday. while digesting the final results from saturday's meetings in nevadnevada. one of the caucus states is colorado. alicia acuna reports. >> this election, however, is about more than just he replacing president obama. it's about the very soul of america. >> mitt romney is in colorado, fresh off a resounding victory in nevada with more than double the number of votes garnered by newt gingrich who came in second and ron paul and rick santorum trailing afterwards. after the delegates were divided up. the total 101 for romney. 32 for gingrich, 17 for santorum and 9 for paul. there are another 76 at stake tomorrow, but keep in mind the total of 1144 are needed to win the nomination. so there's still a very long way to go. >> the number one difference between me and the other candidates is the scale of change. >> in gingrich's first campaign visit to a state ro

museum >> jennifer griffin and greg. myre have been cover international fair since they met in 1989 at aner overflowing noccer stadium in south africa i southfrelson mandela's prison colleagues received a thunderous greeting upon their release from decades in jail. on in 1993, they move to pakistani1 and often traveled to war-torn afghanistan where they were among the first toed interviewog members of an obscure new groupo called the taliban.up they landed in jerusalem in 1999 raising two daughters why they lan covering the first fighting ever between the israelis and the past and to report on every major events from peace talks tt the palestine uprising, theytin witnessed frequent palestinian suicide bombings and israeli military incursions. ian suicided the israeli military incursion. the israeli-palestinian conflict is the basis of their new book "this burning land". miss griffin and mr. myre have been sponsored to the 2012 savannah book festival. [applause] >> thank you for their wonderful introduction and thank you

national security correspondent jennifer griffin tells us the pentagon is speeding up work on a weapont could factor in to such conflict. >> the massive ordinary massive- the massive ordnance penetrator to attack concrete bunker and tum facilities requires an you are jent upgrade according to pentagon officials who requested $81 million in reallocated funds from congress to ensure that the 20 bombs are battle-ready. defensive appropriators on capitol hill agreed to the request this week a month after iran announced it would begin uranium enrichment. the tunnel facility is believed to be just beyond the range of the bunker-buster in question. the largest nonnuclear weapon in the u.s. arsenal. the pentagon spokesman said the funding was needed to make the system more survivable. the massive ordinance penetrator or mop is delivered by a b-2, or b-52 bomber plane. publicly, the air force denied it's being rushed for use of the middle east. >> not able to tie this upgrade to iran? >> i don't think i am. to put it bluntly. >> former house armed forces chairman ike skelton to dedicate ship in

jennifer griffin is with us live in washington. is there anybody who thinks the iranians may be serious about the nuclear talks? >> they have may have allowed weapons inspectors in but they left empty-handed two weeks ago. the facility they want to visit where they reportedly have built a container that could be for a nuclear test will be off-limits. the iranians look more like they're gearing up for war, starting four days of military exercises in the south using antiaircraft batteries and drills designed to protect the sensitive facility while sending two iranian destroyers through the suez canal and pulled into port in syria. at the same time, submarines have been seen in the red sea. >> often you can get a sense by the rhetoric and america's top military is calling their leadership in iran rationale. >> that's certainly what general dempsey, the top u.s. military commander said in an interview on sunday, saying this is not the right time to strike iran militarily. >> we're of the opinion that the iranian regime is a rationale a

let's turn to jennifer griffin, national security correspondent. have these violent protests, they have escalated today, is that right? >> no they have not escalated they are still tense and lockdown mode. they were have not returned to the government ministries where they were serving the afghan community. to put in perspective. on saturday there were 24 violent protests as a result of the quran protests. yesterday there where is were nine, today there were two. worst incident was the suicide car bombing at a nato base, an airport in jalalabad. nine were killed. pentagon spokesmen are trying to reassure both afghans and americans. >> anyone who believes they can weaken our resolve through these attacks are s severely mistaken. let me repeat. that anyone who believes they can weaken our resolve through cowardly attacks is severely mistaken. >> reporter: among the four that were killed, we have these photos of a lieutenant of kentucky he was shot in the back of the head desk. shot by one of the afghan intelligence officers working at the ministry. h

. >> jennifer griffin has the latest from the pentagon. >> reporter: defense secretary leann panetta the joint chiefs of staff chairman martin dempsey defending the pentagon's slimmer military plan. they are telling lawmakers at the senate armed services committee the reductions have been carefully planned and there is little room for changes. >> this will be a test for all of us of whether reducing the deficit is about talk or about action. >> reporter: the defense budget is $32 billion less than last year. shrinking the military force by more than 125,000 troops and personnel. with plans to cut more than $487 billion over the next decade. some lawmakers are concerned the cuts could undermine national security. >> in this budget, the u.s. military and our national security are being asked to pay the price for the fiscal responsibility of our government. >> i do not fully endorse this budget request. indeed, i am seriously concerned about how we arrived at this point. >> reporter: chairman dempsey says the cuts do not lead to a weaker military but help the u.s. forces maintain their

jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with details. good evening. >> good evening, brett. it was an announcement that was supposed to be made in may at a nato meeting in chicago. defense secretary leon panetta may have gotten ahead of the administration on this, according to one senior u.s. official. >> enroute to a nato summit in brussels, secretary panetta announced u.s. forces will end combat operations in afghanistan next year. quote, hopefully by mid to the latter part of 2013 we'll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise and assist role. he told reporters traveling with him. it's not going to be a kind of formal combat role that we are now. it was the first time a senior obama administration official has said that the u.s. would end its combat role next year. a senior u.s. defense official tried to clarify, saying it was consistent with the process which calls for u.s. and nato forces to leave afghanistan at the end of 2014, and similar to the way u.s. forces positioned out of iraq. >> it seems to me that our government is at odds with i

all of them afghans, national security correspondent jennifer griffin reports on americans murdered since the koran incident came to light. >> the four u.s. service members killed in retaliation for the mistaken burning of korans have begun their return home. lt. colonel john loftis shot in the back of the head sitting at his denvering inside the afghanistan security ministry. one of the most security buildings in kabul. killed by a security officer. the officer from maryland killed the same way. tj conrad shown here with seven month old son bentley and joshua bourne, arrived for the first tour, and both killed when the gunman turned a gun on them last thursday. and. >> and if i can't say that things aren't tense here in kabul, they certainly are, but i will tell you it's getting calmer mere. >> 24 protests on saturday. nine on sunday and two today, plus, a car bombing alt the gates of an airport used by the u.s. military killed nine afghans. >> anyone who believes they can weaken our resolve through these cowardly attacks is severely mistaken. >> afghan president hamid karzai urged calm

the treatment of the inspector shows it has not changed its behavior. >> jennifer griffin, thank you.christian pastor in iran has reportedly been sentenced to death for converting from islam. supporters fear he could be executed at any time. members of congress, secretary of state hillary clinton and leaders in several western nations called for his relief. the wife of former british prime minister denn tony blair s suing rupert murdock's corporation over phone hacking. sherry blair is one of the highest profile people to take action over the scandal. apparently you don't have to be a good neighbor to be a member of congress. we'll explain in the grapevine. be sure to get in on tonight's infinity sponsored text to vote question. that is: should the us arm syrian rebels? text sr1 to 36288 for yes and 36288 fo >> bret: now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. dilapidated house in detroit owned by the family of michigan democratic congressman john conyers is causing problems for a neighbor. he is claims her homeowners insurance premium jumped 300% to $7,000 because the aband

jennifer griffin has the story. >> reporter: not a justification, but an explanation. a senior u.s. official confirms to fox that the muslim holy books burned in a pile of garbage at bagram military base, were removed from the library at the adjoining detention center because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions. the official explaining, quote, materials of extremist nature were housed in this library and used for clandestine communications between detainees. the official said that the books were going to be burned until afghan stepped in and explaind this is not the proper way to dispose of them. some book his been damaged in the process. along with relations with the afghan people. the news sparking outrage and anger among local afghans who protested outside of the base. the u.s. general john allen, the top commander of american and nato forces in afghanistan, apologizing to the afghan people. >> and i offer my sincere apologies for any offense this may have caused. >> reporter: defense secretary leon pinetta echoing the apology in a statement released later. the stat

>> shepard: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. jennifer, thanks so much.he republic presidential candidates now getting set for a couple of big primaries. we will see where the candidates stand and why one of the candidates is crawling out a rival's conservative credentials. that's coming up. bottom of the hour. top of the news on fox report. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, to liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every rchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing un

jennifer griffin on iran's role in all of this. begin with fox business network gerri willis who is live in our new york city newsroom. is this all iran or more to it to that, gerri. >> a lot of iran. threatening to close the strait of hormuz. stopped sending oil to clients u.k. there are companies. production problems in our very own country. there is a lot of work here. it's not demand that is the problem. it's supply. >> shepard: when gas prices go up, the cost of everything that has to move around goes up. the question tonight is how big of a political issue is this going to be? >> it's a very big political issue. g.o.p. candidates, of course, hitting the administration strong every day on this topic. i want to show you a chart of presidential approval ratings, gas prices. they march in lock step pretty much. if gas prices go high, approval rating goes down, shep. >> shepard: gerri willis from fox business. gerri, thanks. iran isn't helping matters at all. they are stopping oil ex40s great britain and france and they are consid

fox's jennifer griffin has the story.r: israel's defense minister says military action against iran will have to be considered. he says world leaders are increasingly realizing if sanctions don't stop tehran's nuclear program, airstrikes will be needed. translator: there is a wide understanding in the world that it is violates to prevent iran from turning nuclear and that no option should be taken off the tape. reporter: israel also claiming iran is developing a long range missile capable of reaching the united states. meanwhile defense secretary leon panetta says u.s. bunker buster bombs are not powerful enough to attack all of iran's defenses, but israel's deputy prime minister says the suspected nuclear sites remain vulnerable to strikes. translator: there was a debate in the united states about whether bombs can or cannot penetrate an iranian underground installation. from my own military experience any facility that is guarded by a human being can be targeted. reporter: the u.s. and eu imposed tighter sanctions on ir

jennifer griffin is in the pentagon. explain to us if you could what just happened. >> we just heard from the lawyer for christopher tapin the british born man who was accused of trying to sell missile parts to two under cover u.s. agents who were posing as iranian buyers. he is set to be extradited to the united states friday at 9:30 a.m. he's expected to land in texas at 4:30 p.m. local time. that is where he will be tried for selling batteries to hawk missiles to agents he thought were from iran. >> iran is getting ready for important domestic elections. >> that's right. 3400 candidates began their campaigns today for the parliamentary vote next friday in iran. the march 2nd election is the first test of president mahmoud ahmadinejad. he was re-elected in questionable elections back in 2009. these elections are largely seen as a contest between ahmadinejad supporters and those of the supreme leader. >> jennifer griffin at the pentagon tonight. >>> a stunning development in the honeymoon murder trial. a husband accused

national security correspondent jennifer griffin is following developments from the pentagon. >> after the u.s. defense secretary signaled during a trip to nato headquarters in brussels that israel is likely to strike iran this spring, the supreme leader of iran described israel as a cancer that needs to be cut out. iran's president, meanwhile, watched the launch of a small iranian satellite into space, amid israeli reports that iran is working on a missile designed to reach the united states. all of this a day after israel's defense minister barak, said in a major policy speech that now is the time to strike iran's nuclear program. he switched to english to make his point to an international audience. >> later is too late. >> later is too late. fox's judith miller was at the speech in israel. >> i feel based on everything i heard that a decision has not been made and that had a decision been made, no one would be speaking as freely as they have been to me this past week. what's going on now is an effort to telegraph to the other side and also to the iranians how seriously each side ta

jennifer griffin, does it look like the un nuke inspectors will get what they want? >> not likely.hey came away empty-handed two weeks ago. they want to talk to iran's nuclear scientists and visit the base to see a container the iranians built to carry out high ex close employees sieve test is started several days of military exercises dubbed gaza revenge. after sending two destroyers through the suez canal yesterday. >> how is the pentagon reacting to that? >> these been a lot of planning at u.s. central command but the general who used to be in charge of planning for the middle east, now the nation's top u.s. commander, had this to say about iran. >> we are of the opinion that the iranian regime is a rationale actor. >> general martin dempsey sending a message to israel saying now is not the time to strike. they're bragging about their advances. prime minister benjamin netanyahu will meet president obama at the white house on march 5th for discussions. >> stewart: jennifer griffin, thank you. >>> with gas prices surging, where is the media reporting? look at the all the front pag

deploying the iron dome missile defense shield around tel aviv. >> bret: jennifer griffin reporting fromtagon tonight. it appears energy may pay increasingly large role in the upcoming presidential campaig campaign. tonight, william la jeunesse looks at where president obama stands then and now on the subject of energy and oil. >> not a real solution. >> in 2008, candidate obama ridiculed offshore oil drilling in the u.s. >> it won't drop prices in this administration or the next administration. but with gas prices doubling he now sounds more like president bush. >> american oil production is the highest in eight years. >> critics say the president is taking credit he doesn't deserve since new oil well takes five to 15 years to come online. most u.s. production gain come off the private not the federal land. >> that is really why you are seeing increase in production that doesn't have anything to do with the government. >> democrat dan bjorn says the political rhetoric is not reflected in policy. >> in the last three years we have opened millions of acres. >> the president closed million

jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon tonight. four americans killed in all of this, and jennifer it's my understanding that some of those bodies have now come home. >> that's right. lt. colonel john loftus and major robert -- arrived at dover air force base at 5:00 p.m. eastern just two hours ago. their families were there to meet them. colonel was shot in the back of the head saturday sitting at his desk inside the afghan interior ministry. one of the most secure buildings in kabul killed by of a dan intelligencetimore, mad was killed the same way, execution style we're told. corporal t.j. conrad of roanoke, virginia shown here with 7 month old son bentley and sergeant joshua born arrived here for first tour in january both killed when an afghan soldier turned gun on them last thursday. >> anyone who believes they can weaken our resolve through these cowardly attacks is severely mistaken. >> the violent protests entered their sixth day today, shepard. >> shepard: jennifer, it's my yuptiond standing that there are concerns that so

let's get to jennifer griffin at the pentagon, why don't we. jennifer, specifically, what are you hearing tonight? >> well, this announcement, we're told, was supposed to be made in may at a nato ministerial meeting in chicago. so it seems that defense secretary leon panetta may, in fact, have gotten ahead of the administration on this, according to one senior u.s. official. it raised some eyebrows among his aides as well as pentagon officials and will likely be a surprise to some nato ministers and the commanders on the ground. >> it seems to me that our government is at odds with itself in the sense that the on scene commanders in afghanistan and also general clear pressure 2013 is a fighting season for them with full combat operations and not a training support mission only. >> general jack keane just returned from afghanistan and he said the accelerated schedule may come as a surprise to some commander on the ground, shep. >> shepard: that may have been a surprise but the other thing in there cannot be a surprise and that is that the taliban