and general keith alexander, the head of cyber command at the national security agency, came here to discuss how the public can get into the debate about cyber. another tough issue. as the towers were falling and the pentagon fire was burning on 9/11, i was a senior member of the house intelligence committee and headed to the capitol dome. that is where the intelligence committee rooms were then located. it was the intended target of the for their plan that went down in pennsylvania, is believed.

cyber command general keith alexander says the u.s. is now busy setting up forty new teams of cyber agents that will both protect america's critical infrastructure from hackers as well as launch attacks against the country's adversaries and so that there is no confusion as to their capabilities general keith alexander says quote i would like to be clear that this team is an offensive team the offensive nature of u.s. cyber defense program is emerging new reports which say a large chunk of the country's current cyber endeavors does not rely on defensive strategy as one might imagine but instead involves offensive operations launched with the intent of causing harm on the computers of adversaries a recent reuters article cites defense contractors and government officials most of whom speaking on condition of anonymity and the article says that the us government has become the biggest buyer in a burgeoning gray market where hackers and security firms sell tools for breaking into computers the u.s. has demonstrated its ability to carry out

that was general keith alexander, a democratic congressman being questioned by congressman johnson. use theof it is how you term intercept, whether or not -- what they are saying is we are not looking at it, but we have, whether or not they are collecting and storing it. >> so the mistake was not asking are you collecting? >> he also said we do not collect against u.s. citizens without a war. in the same interview he said we to serveve the samability jail in the country. >> is he lying? >> i would not say that. it is kind of avoiding the issue. >> jacob out of town, what does this mean to you? telling bill, he is probably the most powerful person in the world -- >> more than president obama? >> if he controlled information going to his desk, and makes decisions based on that information, what decisions can he make other than the decisions presented to him by the people he trusts? when the people he trusts is the military, the military makes the decisions. you are nodding your head. >> their responsibility is to interpret what they had and report on it. that is the responsibility of

they're only giving it lip service and i know there's been a lot of money but not effectively keith alexander the current commander cyber command is probably the worst possible guy to be the commander because he doesn't understand the issue and trust me i says the clinic is a. critical issue so we do have that is an issue that is far more likely to emerge and so this is going to suffer a cyber a vent of some sort attacked or hurt by an al qaeda attack were completely spending money in the wrong areas and a four star general completely back up that i talked to former commander of central command would completely back up what kelly said he said in a meeting we had on capitol hill that the problem with our defense department is we have no grand strategy so if you don't have a grand strategy you fund everything and accomplish very little and that's where we're at right now ok kelly kelly what are you the last word in the program forty seconds where is this all going when we could be saying a year from now well i think a year from now we're going to be saying why didn't we have the smarts to get a

he believers president obama has test test test national security agency, general keith alexander.he declined request to sit down with us for an interview we sat down with the a washington think tank where he was speaking at a cyber security event. >> will the utah data center hold the data of american citizens? >> no. we don't hold data on u.s. citizens,he people there at nsa. they take protecting your civil liberties and privacy as the most important thing that they do in securing this nation. and so when people just throw out, oh, they are going to have all of this stuff at utah data center that's bologna. that's ludicrous. i am not going to come out and say here's what we are doing at utah. that would be ridiculous, too, because it would give our adversaries a tremendous advantage. we are not going to do that. >> benny says alexander stations missed the point. this is not about the character of his former nsa colleagues it's about the possibility that the government's stunning new capacity to collect, store and analyze data will test less than normal leaders if not now, than in

. >> one man we hoped would answer it, general keith alexander.lined requests to sit down with us for an interview, we stopped by the offices of a washington think tank where alexander was speaking. >> will the utah data center hold the data of american citizens? >> no. we don't hold data on u.s. citizens. the people there at nsa. they take protecting your civil liberties and privacy as the most important thing that they do in securing this nation. and so when people just show out, they're going to have all this stuff at utah data center, that's baloney. that's just ludicrous. now i'm not going to come out and say here's what we're doing at utah. that would be ridiculous too. it would give our adversaries a tremendous advantage. we're not going to do that. >> binny says it misses the point. this is not about the character of his former nsa colleagues. it's about the stunning new capacity to collect, score and analyze data will tempt less than noble leaders if not now, then in the future. >> it's really a turnkey situation where it can be turned qu

now there's one guy, keith alexander, lieutenant general who is in charge of cybercommand. and that is what the military always strifes for which is the so-called unity of command. >> leon panetta said in testimony before congress, i think maybe at his confirmation as secretary of-- defense secretary that he thought the next parallel may very well be a cyberattack. >> you know, here's my problem with that. not that that might not be true. but there is so much secrecy around cyberwarfare that he doesn't tell you anything else but that, the next attack could be a cyberpearl harbor, cyber9/11. and i personally don't think people are going to believe it until they see it. and you know, much like we didn't believe in our hearts outside the intelligence community that bin laden was a mortgageal threat to the united states. -- mortal threat to the united statesment i don't think we're going to believe it until we see a devastating atack of some sort on the united states. >> david, thank you so much for joining us. last word, phil, where do we go from here. >> sure. >> one of the q

and general keith alexander, the head of cyber command at the national security agency, came here toow the public can get into the debate about cyber. another tough issue. as the towers were falling and the pentagon fire was burning on 9/11, i was a senior member of the house intelligence committee and headed to the capitol dome. that is where the intelligence committee rooms were then located. it was the intended target of the for their plan that went down in pennsylvania, is believed. looking back at my own role, i give myself mixed remarks but am proud of the intelligence reform law in 2004. in my travels to all of the garden spots, i saw the courage and selflessness of our military and intelligence personnel. i saw, a close, the extraordinary things that special ops teams are capable of, and i believe they are heroes. but as seductive and effective as the tactics are, there is a question of whether we have a strategy, a narrative that explains our action properly and convince me to the rest of the world. recentlyrystal was interviewed in "form of air bags in." the question became

keith from cincinnati, ohio, 100 years old today. party animal. i mean, wild. has to keep her door shut or she's up and down the halls going crazy. bless your heart. reverend carl alexanderack to new york city where they need some preaching. >> thank you, willard. >>> when we come back the two moms behind the soul cycle fitness craze. first-degree first-degree. crash dating! three dates in one week! i had to get a designer dress! shop like a fashionista. and i did fall in love... save like a maxxinista. with my new dress. designer brands at t.j. prices. t.j.maxx. >>> back now at 8:37. if you have not heard of the fitness craze soul cycle yet, get ready. it could be coming to your city soon. it was all started by two women who were simply looking for the perfect work out. nbc's mara schiavocampo has the story. i know you like the workout very much. >> it's an obsession. it seemed like a pretty unlikely start to a successful business. two women who just met throwing together a fitness company on the fly. over seven years they have learned sometimes you have to think big but start small. for super spinner julie rice this isn't just a work out, it's work. seven years ago ric