jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> now we go overseas to italy and the disaster at sea. tonight, five days after the accident aboard the "costa concordia," search and recovery efforts around the shipwreck for the more than 20 still missing are on hold because of safety concerns, and a big european weather system is moving in. that could mean big waves, and another satellite view to show you tonight, the incredible photo of the wreck as seen from space. nbc's michelle kosinski has our report from the scene tonight. >> reporter: all the work today had to be above the waterline, dropping huge hoses onto the ship, preparing to pump out half a million gallons of fuel which can't happen until searchers finish, the plan is to blast four more holes into costa concordia's hull and find more bodies of the missing. yesterday they were able to plunge into the decks of the ship. today, the dangerously shifting vessel would not let them. perched on rocks above a slope that drops 200 feet, the families of the unaccounted for, their photos hung in town, must also wait. >> i'm looking fo

jim miklaszewski has more. >> reporter: president obama came to the pentagon as commander in chief to unveil his new military strategy aimed at cutting the pentagon's budget. the president acknowledged the new military whethill be leaner insisted no less meaner. >> the united states will maintain our military superiority with forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats. >> reporter: a decade of war in iraq and afghanistan zapped the military and sent pentagon spending soaring, up 71% in the past ten years. a bill that defense secretary leon panetta says the nation can no longer afford. >> all of this at a time when america faces a serious deficit and debt problem at home. a problem which is, itself, a national security risk squeezing both the defense and domestic budgets. >> reporter: to cut the military's budget will take a major shift in strategy. u.s. forces will focus on deterring a growing threat from china in the asia pacific region, conduct smaller counter insurgency operations with u.s. special forces elsewhere, and no longer attem

we're joined tonight by our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. ning. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it's highly unlikely that iran would try to close down the straight. even though they had a recent strong show of force. in a dramatic display of high seas military operations, the navy conducted a ten-day exercise in the strait and fired off a short range missile for good measure. according to military officials, they say there are apparently no signs that the iranian military is making preparations to make good on its threat. there are fears that given the jitters on world markets, even a small isolated incident such as harassment of those oil tankers coming out of the gulf could send world tensions and the price of oil through the roof, brian? >> jim miklaszewski watching this atted pentagon, thanks. >>> you know this was welcomed news this morning. they woke up to find out there were no fires in l.a. overnight. a four-day arson spree stopped cold after police arrested the man they say was behind it all. tonight we're learning more about his p

jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> across large parts of this country today the place to be was outside. in january, a huge warm weather system bringing spring fever to what's normally these dark days of winter. look at this map and realize all these red dots represent new all-time warm weather temperature records. the old records fell in 268 places yesterday. they tied records in 68 more. here's something else. it was warmer in rapid city, south dakota, than it was in miami, florida. nbc's kevin tibbles reports from sunny chicago. >> reporter: what's playing in peoria this winter? golf. >> i think people in arizona are jealous of us today. >> reporter: in chicago, more golf. tennis anyone? >> nice to be out in shorts and a t-shirt. >> reporter: a january warm up spans much of the nation including fargo, north dakota, where a year ago it looked like this. today, you get the picture. >> spring has sprung for the day. heading out and about, you'll need a pair of sunglasses and only a lighter jacket. >> reporter: i was going to use a thermometer as a prop to show you how warm i

we're joined tonight by our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. m, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. even with all the threats, pentagon and military officials believe it's highly unlikely that the iranians would even try to shut down the strait of hormuz, dispute a recent show of force. in a dramatic display of high seas saber rattling, the military conducted a ten-day exercise in the strait and fired off short range missiles for good measure. u.s. officials say, however, there are no signs that the iranian military is actually preparing to close the gulf and make good on its threat. there are fears that given the jitters on world markets, even a small isolated incident such as harassing some of those tankers coming out of the persian gulf could send those world markets and prices through the rough. brian? >> jim miklaszewski watching this at the pentagon, thanks. >>> in this country if you've been following the west coast news the last few days, then you know this was welcomed news this morning. they woke up to find out there were n

we start our reporting with jim miklaszewski on duty tonight at the pentagon. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. for the first time since 9/11, the pentagon is being forced to tighten its belt. to do that will take wholesale changes in the way the military does business. president obama came to the pentagon today as commander in chief to unveil his new military strategy aimed at cutting the pentagon's budget. the president acknowledged the new military will be leaner but insisted no less meaner. >> the united states is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats. >> reporter: a decade of war in iraq and afghanistan sapped the military and sent pentagon spending soaring up 71% in the past ten years. a bill that defense secretary leon panetta says the nation can no longer afford. >> all of this comes at a time when america confronts a very serious deficit and debt problem here at home, a problem which is itself a national security risk that is sque

. >> nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me now. what do we know about the details of this rescue? >> well, there was some urgency to this mission, as vice president biden indicated just a moment ago in that sound bite from the interview with matt lauer earlier this morning. that is that fbi negotiators were apparently talking to the kidnappers who were holding not only jessica buchanan but her danish colleague who were both relief workers there in somalia when they were grabbed three months ago. but according to dod officials jessica had some kind of pre-existing medical condition that was worsening and had become life-threatening actually so that the fbi called the military and essentially said, hey, we need to do something and we need to do it fast. so president obama on monday gave the order to carry out this mission, this rescue mission. the military decided to do it yesterday, and they -- or tuesday, and they scheduled it for wednesday for whatever circumstances. and it's unclear whether there were actually any shots fired by

we'll head back to the pentagon and jim miklaszewski. we were talking about that controversial video, mick, that has outraged a lot of people, marines apparently urinating on the corpses of taliban militants. do we know who these marines are? [ no audio ] >> all right. we just can't seem to fix that. but we will so please stay tuned because we do want to hear more from mick about that story. >>> meanwhile we'll regroup and when we come right back a whole lot more on news 4 tonight. a baby discovered alone at the occupy d.c. camp. her father has been arrested and is telling his story of what happened. >>> a couple is charged with using drywall to barricade their daughters inside a room. we'll hear about their fate. >>> plus an announcement today that seven area grocery stores will shut down. stay with us. >>> the prince william county parents who barricaded their children behind some drywall were in court for sentencing today. john robby got three years' probation and a three-year prison sentence but the judge then suspended that jail tim

. >> that tipped off our man jim miklaszewski, now with the details, mick, in all honesty, would we haves story yet this morning had it not been for the overheard com from secretary panetta? >> when i started making phone calls -- as a matter of fact, i didn't hear a single word of the speech. after i heard what president obama said, i was working the phones and working them hard. it took several hours to actually get all the information, because the operation was still ongoing. this morning what we're learning now from d.o.d. officials is that because jessica buchanan, the 32-year-old american who was taken hostage, along with that 60-year-old danish relief worker, her health was failing. fbi negotiators knew that. they asked the military to intervene. the president gave the order on monday to move against that encampment. u.s. military officials and d.o.d. officials say that the kidnappers were not pirates, they were pretty much local thus, criminals, apparently out for a ransom. nevertheless, the order was given on monday, tuesday the decision was made to go on wednesday, and then ear

we'll give you a live report from nbc's jim miklaszewski who tracked down the story after president obama's verbal thumbs up to leon panetta at last night's state of the union. >> we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. >> speaking of the state of the union, a changed president obama throws down the gauntlet with congress and takes the fight to mitt romney ov. hi, everybody, great to have you with me today. i'm thomas roberts. a lot to talk about this morning especially the news that is developing right now. the emotional farewell to arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords as she formally submits her retirement. her dear friend and colleague, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, house minority leader eric cantor, all giving emotional tributes on the house floor just moments ago. take a look. >> i am so proud of my friend, and it will always be one of the great treasures of my life to have met gabby giffords and to have served with her. >> for the past six years, congresswoman gabby gifford

. >> nbc's jim miklaszewski joining me live from the pentagon. at this point, any point on when jessica is going to be reunited with her family. >> reporter: no, she's currently being examined by u.s. military doctors as a u.s. facility in neighboring djibouti. and there was some urgency to this operation as vice president biden indicated just a moment ago. apparently, according to officials we're talking to, the fbi, which had been in contact with the kidnappers, had determined that jessica buchanan was suffering from some severe infection that apparently could have threatened her life. so they, the fbi in this case, had actually asked the military if it was time to intervene, and then on monday, president obama gave the order to undertake the operation. the decision was paid on tuesday to go in on wednesday night or early wednesday morning actually. somalia time. and the rescue was pulled off flawlessly. the s.e.a.l.s killed the nine kidnappers. loaded the two on a helicopter, took them to djibouti. and it's not clear how long it will be before

nbc chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me now. where does the investigation go from here and is it fair to say this is a gift to the taliban? >> well, it could be. there is deep seeded concern here that anytime something like this crops up, that enemy forces could use it to rally their forces, even as a recruiting tool. and the taliban is already said that they intend to step up their attacks against american forces in afghanistan because of this. nobody has seen that yet. and at the same time, the taliban says, well, it should not affect the overall peace negotiations that are sort of in progress right now, but moving very slowly. so that yet has to play itself out. but investigators are going to look re closely at this action. they already talked to two of the marines on that tape. they're trying to track down the other two. they know who they are. but they have now been transferred to other marine corps units. so that's just a matter of time. but, you know what is interesting about this, because we have seen these kinds of thin

. >> jim miklaszewski reporting for us. >>> u.s. tensions with iran appear to be heightening with american officials now turning to secret communications to directly warn iran's supreme leader against any actions that could provoke a conflict. "the new york times" reporting that the rare contact between the two countries centers on iranian threat to shut down the straight of hermuz. that is a red line that will not be tolerated and will be met with military force. one fifth of the world's oil passes through the straight every day. the u.s. also taking a closer look at iran's naval capability days after tehran carried out war games including the test launch of several missiles. iran is not interested in triggering conflict. a single rogue officer within the powerful revolutionary guard has the capability to spark a much deeper crisis. >>> newly revealed transports from a federal reserve immediating in 2006 are providing a surprising behind-the-scenes look at how the nation's top economic minds handled the mortgage market during the e

jim miklaszewski has the latest on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. military investigators are looking into possible criminal charges against the four marines who appear in the offensive video that sent shock waves around the world. the video, first posted on the x intercept, sent the marine corps into a tail spin. four marines in full gear are seen urinating on dead militants. they called it appalling and outrageous. >> that kind of behavior is deplorable. icon democr i condemn it. >> reporter: in kabul president karzai called the marines' action insane and demanded they be severely punished. the pentagon fears like the torture photos from iraq this video could be useded to rally forces. >> events like abu grabe certainly acted as a recruiting tool for al qaeda. certainly we are concerned about any backlash that might occur. >> reporter: how could this happen? military investigators will try to determine if there was a breakdown this the marine command. >> our values are maintained by our rgsergeants at platoon leve. these people are in brutal combat

we want to go to jim miklaszewski at the pentagon for more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. score another one for u.s. special operations forces who rescued these two hostages. remarkably, this mission was, indeed, still unfolding even during the president's state of the union speech. and it was, in fact, the president who dropped a hint that something was going down. president obama himself tipped off the world to the rescue when he openly thanked leon panetta before his speech. >> good job tonight. >> reporter: the president got word that jessica buchanan and paul fisted were rescued in the raid in somalia. two teams of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s in helicopters landed near the compound where the two hostages were held. as the s.e.a.l.s approached they came under intense fires. nine kidnappers were killed. no americans were wounded. the s.e.a.l.s grabbed the hostages, loaded them into choppers and flew them to an undisclosed location outside somalia. buchanan and fisted were working for the danish council providing relief for so mali r

nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon this morning. good morning to you. and i think the first thing i have to ask is has anyone at the pentagon authenticated the video or the images yet? >> the marine corps is pretty confident that these are in fact u.s. marines in this video. and they, like just about everybody else who has seen this video, call it disgusting. the video shows four americans dressed in full marine corps combat gear, in southern afghanistan, circled around the bodies of three dead militants and it's clear that they're urinating on the body. at one point you hear some chuckling. and one of the marines says something about -- golden showers. the reaction from the u.s. military and international force there in afghanistan was pretty swift. they strongly condemned the act. calling it disrespectful, and inexplicable. one marine leader in afghanistan told us this senseless stunt will totally undermine all the progress they've made in southern afghanistan. now, the marines are convinced these four marines are from the third battalion, second mari

nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon. mick, what are they saying about this? >> reporter: those six u.s. marines were killed when their c-stallion helicopter crashed in helmand province in southern afghanistan. u.s. military officials tell us there was no evidence of any enemy activity or hostile fire in the region at the time. it could have been a mechanical problem. an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the crash. but it's just another indication that even the most routine missions there in afghanistan can be dangerous for our troops, matt. >> mick, it was also a deadly day for french forces. more servicemen from the french army killed in a separate incident. how are the french responding to that? >> reporter: not well. president sarkozy immediately suspended all french military operations in afghanistan and is threatening to pull out 4,000 french troops entirely. that's where it gets complicated because those french were on a training mission, training up afghan soldiers to take over the country's own security when one of those afghan sold

nbc news correspondent jim miklaszewski has more. >> this mission was carried out by s.e.a.l. team 6 that took out osama bin laden last may. in this case, the lives of two hostages at stake, there was zero room for error. and in the end, the operation was flawless. the two hostages, seen in this video held at gun-point bier that kidnappers are free after three months in captivity. the navy s.e.a.l.s flew to the area by plane and took to the kidnappers by surprise, parachuted to the ground two miles from their target. in full combat gear they ran toward the encampment and encountered the heavily-armed somali. and in an exchange of gunfire, the s.e.a.l.s killed all nine of the kidnappers. the hostages were rescued and flown off in helicopters to a u.s. military base in nearby gentlemdjibout djibouti. there were signs that jessica buchanan's health had taken a turn for the worse. and that it was even life-threatening. monday night, with no time to lose, the president ordered the u.s. military to launch the rescue operation. >> good job tonight. >> only a day later as president ob

. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon this morning. >>> our four star general barry mccaffrey, what i really want to talk about when it comes to iran and the growing tensions there, i just want to get your understanding of where this breakdown, and i know you talked to mic about there yesterday, this breakdown in command, cell phone video gets taken all the time. i understand this, but where did the discipline breakdown happen in your opinion? >> well, look, chuck, you know, the marines are the most disciplined effective fighting force on the face of the earth. this is not a in accordance with their own values, these are four marines acting like idiots in violation of the ucmj. i'm a little concerned about the national overreaction of our senior leadership. we ought to ask the battalion commander and the command sergeant major to explain how they're going to reinstill discipline to include in what was a squauz sized union. that was a lance corporal and three young marines acting in a primitive manner. so we can't tolerate that. we have had 17,000 killed and wounded in afghanistan. we

nbc news correspondent jim miklaszewski joins us live. what more do we know about these cuts? >> defense secretary panetta tomorrow will not lay out the specific nitty gritty details of those budget cuts. he will talk about a new strategy that is going to have to be put into place. the one that is getting all the attention is a change in the military strategy to be able to fight two consecutive wars at the same time. two major ground wars. but in fact, the reality has been that the u.s. hasn't been fighting two major ground wars at the same time in some time. even though waging wars in iraq and afghanistan. many military officials will tell you that the u.s. was actually fighting aggressively a war in iraq and just marking time in afghanistan. to the point where the taliban, while during the iraq war, was able to resurge and reclaim a lot of the territory they had lost in the initial invasion of afghanistan back in late 2001, early 2002. one of the other issues that is likely to attract a lot of attention is the fact that military benefits are going to be on the line. the u.s.

jim miklaszewski joins us live with details. good morning. >> good morning, willie.scending on an enemy encampment while the president is at the white house preparing for his state of the union speech. even as he left, the situation room was all abuzz as the mission began. there was intense fire fight, but before he walked in to deliver his speech, he got the word that the hostages had been resc rescued. indeed it was the president himself that dropped the first hint that something was going down. >> he tipped off the entire world for the rescues when he openly congratulated leon panetta. >> good job tonight. good job tonight. >> the president got late word that the two kidnapped victims 32 years old jessica buchanan and 60 years old dane paul fistad had been rescued. u.s. officials say two teams of navy s.e.a.l.s in helicopters landed near the compound, as the s.e.a.l.s approached the compound they came under intense fire. nine kidnappeders we are killed. no americans were wounded. the two hostages were flown away to an undisclosed location. they were works for the