when president obama chose leon panetta to be his new secretary of defense, not just the cia director, did the president make that choice of mr. panetta in part because he saw changes coming at the pentagon? could we actually be changing course on the single biggest thing in american politics that never really gets debated? the single largest chunk of money in american politics and government, the single biggest thing in american government that affects all of our lives and every single thing about the way america is seen around the world but is usually off limits for political debate at home? could we be changing course on how much america spends on our military? when ronald reagan took office the national debt about $1 trillion. when he left it was more than $2.5 trillion. he doubled it. it is not easy to spend that much money. he did it by instituting the

is not going to be making the decisions of the deficit commission likely leon panetta is not the end all when it comes to what we're going to spend it where we're going to spend it and he's in service of the american people as i see it and the more people who express their opinions then the more power that will have in trying to cut this defense budget down to where it should be but the deficit commission as we think afghanistan robert greenwald recently wrote is getting funding and lobbying contributions from defense contractors so talk a little bit about the cycle between the contractors and our policy is eisenhower's nightmare is actually coming true in terms of the military industrial complex. i think it has come true i think if you if you just look at the last decade what's happened and the decade previous to that the trend that we have within the military and you're right about the lobbyist over a million dollars has been given to the the senators and congress people who serve on the deficit commission and that's not chump change and it is it is a cycle where the people who hav

we are also waiting to hear from leon panetta. he's expected to address the fallout from that tragedy in afghanistan at any moment. 30 american service members most of them elite navy s.e.a.l.s were on a rescue mission. they were killed when their chopper went down on saturday. it's the single deadliest day for u.s. forces in the decade long war. 22 navy s.e.a.l.s, five army air crew and three u.s. special forces airmen died along with eight afghans. today grieving families share memories of their loved ones. >> i'm proud that i will get to carry on his legacy through our children. >> he honestly believed and saw black and white that what we're involved in, he told me this is a a war for the survival of our republic. >> if there is a a comfort in the situation, i'm so proud of my son. so very proud of him. >> they make huge sacrifices for us above and beyond. our kids need to know that. >> we will continue to relentlessly pursuit the enemy. >> i'm joined now from kabul. what are you learning about what happened? >> reporter: nato'

heard it was your typical warhawk lawmakers organizations like the heritage foundation and then leon panetta the new secretary of defense got in the mix saying that three hundred fifty billion would be hard enough and even called the trigger a doomsday mechanism after which this democratic president barack obama are firmly and he agreed with panetta now don't forget and that also said he thinks that before congress takes another swipe at defense they should cut from social security and medicare and raise taxes but if you want to read weave through some of this hysteria try to figure out what could actually happen what could actually get cuts well you have to look at much farther than the statements that you're officials make these are the facts and they don't not publicized according to pro publica in this debt deal that was signed they managed to slip in that would of it would apply not only to defense but also security spending which encompasses programs such as homeland security border enforcement foreign aid and even veterans' benefits as their ten children are get around washington i've

government aid for food getting food to them is probably a first priority but defense secretary leon panetta is looking further afield for his priorities we are nation at war. we face a broad and growing range of security threats and challenges. but our military must be prepared to confront from terrorist networks to rogue nations that are making efforts to change a nuclear capability to deal with the rising powers but always look at us to determine whether or not we will in fact maintain a strong defense here and throughout the world eyes on the world while citizens face mounting struggles at home that's what the owners count on the fact that americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red white and blue chant up there every day because the owners of this country know the truth it's called the american dream because you have to be asleep to believe or enough portnoy artsy new york. they control and joining us now here in the studio is retired u.s. army colonel douglas macgregor to help us figure out the reality of defense spending cutting what's at stake as someone who know

president obama was there with defense secretary leon panetta and admiral mike mull in.d to the media. some of the victims are seen here in the pictures. those who died were highly trained professionals. the missions shrouded in secrecy. it marked the single deadliest day in the war. their helicopter crashed in central afghanistan. the troops were traveling in a chinook helicopter like the one seen here in these pictures. also killed in the crash were seven afghan soldiers and a civilian interpreter. joining us now for much more on this story, pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, what can you tell us about this ceremony that's taking place at dover today? >> reporter: randi, it will sadly go on we're told for several hours because they have a number of transfer cases. that's what they call them. essentially caskets for the removal of the remains from the two c-17 aircraft that landed earlier today. 38 sets of remains will be taken off the planes in a somber ceremony in front of the president of the united states and the family members that have traveled to dove

month, actually the first time we've seen him as part of a news confrerngs secretary of defense leon panetta also sitting alongside joint chiefs chairman mike mullen, and they have been talking about cuts and specifically what's handed to em because of the debt ceiling deal reached earlier this week. initially they know they have to cut 350 million which more or less they are okay with and won't necessarily sacrifice our national security, but where the big question mark comes is if that committee can not decide on how they will make those additional cuts to equal around or about $1.2 trillion, they will have to cut hundreds of billions, 500 billion, 600 billion, 700 billion just to defense, and to quote, i want to get this precise for you, the defense secretary said those cuts will be completely unacceptable. we're all over this story with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr and let's begin this hour staying with the money theme, i suppose. we're watching this very closely. has not been a day for investors with weak stomachs. stock markets all over the world have been racking up some h

at a meeting of the national defense university in washington on tuesday with defense secretary leon panetta clinton voiced concerns over the growing demand for big cuts in military spending. she said the united states is a pacific power and needs to maintain its presence in the region. >> we can't be abruptly pulling back or pulling out when we know we face some long-term challenges about how we're going to cope with what the rise of china means. >> panetta also warned against defense spending cuts saying they would result in a hollowing out of u.s. forces and weaken the country's ability to respond to threats in the world. earlier this month the u.s. congress enacted a law that allows the government to raise the debt limit in order to avoid default. in line with the law the u.s. defense department may have to cut its budget by up to $1 trillion over the next decade. >>> at the same meeting panetta talked about libya saying the government under moammar al gadhafi was living on borrowed time. >> i think the sense is that gadhafi's days are numbered. >> panetta said anti-government forces are

we heard from leon panetta that the u.s. would stay the course. they are on track to withdraw 30,000 surge troops by tend of the next year. the key for the united states now is to try to stabilize the situation, negotiate an agreement with the afghan government on how security will be maintained after we leave. but given the pressures, given the resistance to the american people who prolonging the conflict which has gone on for ten years already, i wouldn't expect it to change much. >> we'll analyze it through the morning. i want to talk economy with you. we know the markets in the middle east are taking a hit. we have been looking ahead to the asian markets which will open up tonight. but with regard to the middle east markets this is the first time they have been open since the s&p downgraded the u.s. credit rating. indications on what the u.s. plans to do next? >> i think what the white house is hoping is that the back and forth between treasury and s&p, the fact that other rating agencies have stuck with the aaa rating will, in effect, downgra

. >>> defense secretary leon panetta commented on the situation. this was during a visit to military stations in his native monterey county. kcbs radio's matt bigler has more on his remarks. good morning. >> reporter: the defense secretary leon panetta, formerly cia chief, he had stern words for budget cutting poll testing in washington. first to the libya situation. he said they are continuing to monitor fluid events on the ground there where fight something still going on in tripoli. he said he is proud of the u.s. role in the nato bombing campaign. >> we'll continue to provide whatever support is necessary as we hopefully bring this chapter of 40 years of qaddafi to an end. >> reporter: in his speech to the naval postgraduate school he said any attempts to make across-the-board cuts at the pentagon to the tune of $600 billion would, quote, destroy the defense budget and jeopardize national security. he was asked by a faculty member about winding down the wars in iraq and afghanistan and to that he said, those wars will end when the individual wh

a warning from secretary of defense leon panetta and secretary of state hillary clinton. is about money and debt ceiling bill president obama signed. joining us john bolton. good evening. today's stunning news, the two cabinet officers are not happy that there is going to be a cut in military. >> it is like people have finally woken up to many so of the specifics in the legislation raising the federal debt ceiling. these cuts in defense in particular whether from the trigger mechanism or the first wave of cuts or even the cuts we're looking at in the coming fiscal year which starts october 1, are very, very significant. much more profound for the national security budget than on the domestic side. it is a real irony in an era of focused budget cutting in the near term and long term the budget that looks most vulnerable is our defense budget. >> greta: today clinton and panetta joined together and obviously are disturbed at the thought the military spending is going to be cut. clinton is upset she says we can't do our diplomacy if the budget is being cut. their boss just s

. >> el secretario de prensa leon panetta dijo que hay cientos de miembros de la guardia nacional listos especiales durante todo el dÍa. vamos a llevarles el avance de este poderoso huracÁn. por ahora regresamos estudios. >> por supuesto, intensa cobertura durante todo

he is headed for a new civilian post as the director of the cia replacing leon panetta who is defense secretary. general petraeus has served as the top commander in iraq and afghanistan although he could have stayed in uniform at the cia, petraeus, who is 58, chose to leave the army. he starts his new job on tuesday. >>> conflicting reports are come out university libya about whether -- are cull out of -- are coming out of libya about whether moammar gadhafi's sons is trying to find out if he will be safe if he were to give up? cnn said the son e-mailed a reporter and said he had no plans to surrender. meanwhile, colonel gadhafi, remains in hiding and most of his family has escaped to eight jeer -- to ail tear -- algeria. >>> it was designed to put traceable guns into the hands of criminals but instead it simply supplied thousands of weapons to mexican cartels. u.s. attorney for arizona dennis burk resigned, a third person assistant u.s. attorney, emery hurley, was reassigned to a lesser job. >>> fema officials are promising federal aid for hurricane victims hurt by massive flood you

>> let me tell you, leon panetta is a prince.he greatest guys i've ever worked with and a very dear friend. he's saying the correct thing because you don't just come along with a hammer after he's trying to get $300 billion or $400 billion out of it. you can't do that. and that's what he's saying. me's not saying he's rejecting defense cuts. he's just rejecting the sense of when it comes to the hammer, and they haven't done it, then bam. half of it goes to defense and half of it somewhere else. that is -- give him a chance go in and pick around. give him a chance to mess with tricare, which is an unbelievable health care system which takes care of 2.2 million military retirees who pay $4707 a year premium. no co-pay and it costs $53 billion a year. let him toy with that stuff, and he will, and he'll do some good things. . >> sounds like you have some concerns about the general notion of saying that because we don't have the political will to wrestle with specific cuts, let's put in a trigger that drops the guillotine on a lot of

we also heard from secretary of defense leon panetta saying they expected these cuts as a result of theving ahead, he has great concern believing there is fiscal discipline that can be had but also a balance with our national security. much more reaction to this. >>> and we have developing news out of virginia tech. the campus has now lift that had alert. they will continue to be a large police presence on the campus today after two teenagers attending a summer camp on that campus reported they saw a man possibly holding a gun. right now, the campus has lift this had alert. they've issued this information on their website. we'll keep you posted. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. you can catch "news nation" each day. er class. morning starts with arthritis pain... that's two pills before the first bell. [ bell rings ] it's time for recess... and more pills. afternoon art starts and so does her knee pain, that's two more pills. almost done, but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve because it can relieve pain all day with just two pills. this is lisa... wh

and earlier this week, defense secretary leon panetta said, i think the sense is that gadhafi's days are numbered. but to be clear, brian, there's no guarantee that the unpredictable gadhafi would actually make good on any plans and actually leave libya, but u.s. officials are the most optimistic yet that the five-month military standoff between nato forces and moammar gadhafi may soon be coming to an end. >> jim miklaszewski from the pentagon tonight. and from there we now go to libya, our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has just arrived there for us. richard, you heard jim use the critical word, unpredictable, gadhafi is famous for that. what will you look for and will there, could there be any signs on the ground that this kind of movement is coming? >> reporter: well, brian, after months of deadlock, we are definitely seeing signs that things are developing very quickly. rebel forces have managed to surround and cut off the city of tripoli, there is intermittent power in the city, people are starting to leave tripoli, on our way in from tunisia, there were many cars goi

. >> host: the way you described its striking you describe in the book how both mike hayden, leon panetta's predecessor who the new secretary defense was at the cia at the time these are men literally was power of life and death who have to make the ultimate decision on the given strike. >> guest: that's new. people don't i think appreciate that throughout the cia history it's done all kinds of intelligence gathering and all kinds of means often breaking the rules of the other countries with this is the first time the cia basically is running a shooting war and being in charge of everyday deciding we are going to attack this target in this country using missiles over enemy territory in a way that's never really been done before and they got is that began the program right after 9/11 thought it was going to be hugely controversial, the idea of the united states using a covert operation sending these unmanned aircraft to the air space of a friendly sovereign country telling people was going to be extraordinarily controversial. it turns out it was highly effective and everybody eventually sold

and leon panetta said later that someone was going to die th day.it probably should have been two or three, not seven or nine as ultimately happened. >> rose: who were killed beside? >> the bomber himself, and the jordanian and an afghan driver who had gone across to pakistan to bick him. >> rose: the book is called "the who infiltrated t cia." captioning spoored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

. >> reporter: today, at the special operations command in tampa, defense secretary leon panetta said the nation owes them all the deepest gratitude. >> we will never cease fighting for the cause for which they gave their lives. cause of a secure and safer america. >> reporter: to aaron vaughn's mother karen, it is ironic that while serving in secret as a navy s.e.a.l., it took this tragedy to bring his life to light. >> only in his death can we celebrate who he was in his life. >> reporter: jim miklaszewski, nbc news, san diego. >>> now we turn our coverage to london tonight, where this is a violent time in one neighborhood of that city, another dangerous night of riots and open fires. and nbc's michelle kosinski is there for us tonight. michelle, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. the extent of damage at this point is staggering, considering it has been the work of small groups of young men, but in pockets now across the city. and london burns again tonight. look at that. that's a furniture store in the south. but this started on saturday in north london after a peaceful vigil fo

sent an hour with 250 family members of the fallen, along with defense secretary, leon panetta, and joint chiefs chairman, admiral mike mullen. >>> in wisconsin last night, republicans fend off a stated senate recall election, that was largely described as a referendum on the policies of scott walker. walker drew the ire of many unions in march, when he used a majority to strip public employees of their right to bargain collectively. it sparked widespread protests across the state. democrats were able to capture two of the six seats up for grabs last night. dashing their hopes of gaining a majority. in a statement last night, governor walker took a more conciliatory tone saying, in the days ahead, i look forward to working with legislators for all parties to grow jobs for wisconsin and to move our state forward. it was a local election. but it drew big national money. special interests poured as much as $31 million into those recall races. >>> and the controversy continues to grow over "newsweek's" latest cover, over michele bachmann. the feature is calling what some are calling an unflat

the decisions made every day by these guys it's difficult for them personally especially with leon panetta, very religious man whose wrestled with this idea he's basically putting out death warrants on a regular basis for people that live half a world away. >> host: that struck to me and i was also struck by your description of the precision of the weapons. we are talking about robotic plants operating from operators in the u.s. or afghanistan with the ability to hit a person street on. you describe the killing of one of the misuse of the main taliban fighters on the pakistani side of the board they spotted him on the rooftop of a missile hit him straight in his body. >> guest: this is a revelation to me come to mckeithen dewitt covered the community and i've written about drone strikes people perhaps of realize this is something the cia doesn't acknowledge exists. they can't say we are doing this, so details about how it works and how the decisions are made are rare but i was able to get greater access and it's remarkably controlled and a remarkably precise these machines have the ability

in his second warning in as many days, leon panetta cited the continuing threat of terrorism as reasons not to exceed roughly $400 billion in cuts. below that, "the washington post," panetta warns against additional cuts in pentagon budget. a panel should look elsewhere, defense chief says. and in the "new york times", senate pleads for no more cuts, a suggestion to raise taxes or reduce entitlement programs. well, let's start with the first part, what we know, which is approximately $400 billion in cuts in the pentagon budget. what's really behind that number? guest: in april, president obama denounced his own budget that was pending on capitol hill that came over in february for 2012. he outlined a goal of $400 billion in defense cuts over 10 years. that's rough where will this debt ceiling legislation shakes out. the different baseline, the estimates, but they're comparable in terms of their long-term impact on the defense budget and military spending priorities. the president chose $400 billion in his initial speech, because that is essentially what the previous secretary of defense

after that, a conversation with hillary clinton and leon panetta. following that, a critical look at the effect of politics on foreign policy. 2, aay on c-span t discussion and early education and the head start program. from the director of headstart, hosted by the brookings institution, the discussion gets under way to live at 9:00 a.m. eastern. >> for politics and public affairs, nonfiction books and american history, it is the c- span network available to you on television, radio, online, and on social media sites. and we are on the road with our c-span digital bus and local content vehicles, bringing our resources to local communities and showing events from around the community. it is washington your way. c-span, created by cable, provided as a public service. >> arne duncan is the u.s. secretary of education and he returns to "newsmakers" this week as millions of americans return to the classroom. thank you for being with us. allyson klein is the "education week" staff writer. greg campeau is the national k- 12 education writer for usa today.

i think bob gates was front and center on that, and i suspect you will see leon panetta when he getsinto it picking up the drumbeat because a lot of these programs, the principal supporters are actually the u.s. military. because they are men and women overseas that have seen the value of the programs but again it is no reason we have to have an informed debate on the subject because there is a risk. another question. yes, ma'am, the fifth row. yes. >> i'm from "the wall street journal" and my question if anybody on the panel would like to weigh in last week as president about the announced the unemployed veterans especially those who are returning from iraq and afghanistan unemployed in greater numbers than other groups of veterans i'm wondering if there's any discussions that any of you have participated in and is there any chance that the cuts to the defense budget could have an adverse impact on those returning veterans given that the department of defense has played a role in helping them with the transition process. >> i think people will be pretty sensitive to that. if you loo

still i can tell you one person who hates the idea of cutting defense the new secretary of defense leon panetta he spoke today about the broad and growing range of challenges our military must be prepared for he also spoke about the dangers if congress fails to enact other measures to reduce the deficit if it did happen it would result in a further round very dangerous cuts across the board. the stance cuts that i believe would do real damage to our security our troops and their families and our military's ability to protect the nation and this is a really important topic and joining me now to talk more about this is lawrence korb senior fellow at the center for american progress consequent thanks for being here you served as assistant secretary of defense under president reagan you know a great deal about this i want to get your take on what we heard today from secretary of defense panetta well the secretary of defense panetta is trying to basically keep the spirits up of the organization he took over but his former director of o.m.b. he knows that the defense budget now even if you control fo

scarce but they'll be no dipping into what is the world's biggest military budget defense secretary leon panetta gave lawmakers a firm has softened said cuts should come from medicare and social services instead former pentagon official lawrence korb says america's defense van mouth is in a drastic need better management. well a secretary to transport that is trying to basically keep the spirits up of the organisation he took over but as former director of o.m.b. he knows that the defense budget now even if you control for a ship is higher than at any time since the end of world war two but i think the key thing to keep in mind is that when they talked about costs up until now they've talked about reducing their projected level of increases not cutting when you and i talk about cutting means we're going to get less power that we got last week knowing the defense will probably have means we won't get as much as we thought it was still going to get more you know what when richard nixon left office called him soft on defense we were spending in today's dollars three hundred fifty billion two hundre

defense secretary as leon panetta is trying to swim against the currents of major cuts in government spending he came as any more reduction to those already imposed who threaten national security but also he's been if you contributions as the main threats the u.s. is facing called be solved by minute she means in laying. but what was really regrettable was panetta persistent state of denial that this is only the first stage of the pentagon budget cuts to be followed inevitably read the second round. and his comments i'm not even beginning to consider what would happen and claiming that such cuts would be disastrous and completely unacceptable those kind of statements could be construed and perceived the white house as a slightly veiled in subordination if not the outright sabotage of the bipartisan effort to make the pentagon lean and mean make no mistake the only reason he was appointed to realize that in the new twenty first century not the imagery but they're real challenges to the united states have nothing to do with the threats that could be or should be tackled by conventional

. >> reporter: for the first time today, defense secretary leon panetta spoke publicly about the tragic loss of so many american warriors. >> they were far from home, doing what they wanted to do, alongside men who may be closer to them than their own brothers. >> reporter: what these brothers, mostly navy s.e.a.l.s, were doing in that helicopter was coming to the aid of army rangers who had found themselves in a ferocious firefight with taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades. normally, a helicopter can evade the inaccurate rpg but not this time. >> the taliban were able to set up an ambush and to fire on the helicopter as it came into the landing zone, in the time when the helicopter is most vulnerable, it's slow, it's predictable, and it greatly increased the chances of the taliban knocking the helicopter down. >> reporter: in the wreckage, texan matt mills, commissioned a s.e.a.l. on 9/11. high school buddies robert reeves and jonas keisall -- they served together and died together. and there was aaron vaughn, father of two. his wife, a former nfl cheerleader who met a

i think you heard from leon panetta the effort to stop some of the drain in terms of the public support war but the drain is wide open. people are buying off of the war increasingly. the argument about what is possible, how long it has taken and how much money is spent is weighing on the effort. nonetheless, military wants to not just leave abruptly and they don't want this to be the occasion that people use it's not going well, time to get out. do it in orderly fashion. that's what the drawdown has been about. they want to leave a structure that ensures they don't go back because you won't have resurgence of al-qaeda. it's becoming a difficult political argument. >> bret: bill, the president said today we will press on and succeed. you have heard various statements about this attack. speaker saying this is a dark conflict. what about political support for afghanistan? >> i think there is enough support. honestly, as long as the president keeps the nervous. too much triumphalism. if you were against the war you said let's get out now. then people say there is a terrible loss, helicopter

analyze and presenting the latest to no cameras disaster to the secretary of defense and to persuade leon panetta gets his view regarding the. drone warfare in pakistan and the much touted counterinsurgency never going to stand undermine the whole of government approach to these both countries the best way to minimize unnecessary casualties would be to officially admit obvious fact that neither counting insurgency in afghanistan nor drone warfare work in fact they both repr do use the anti-american feelings well beyond their region and are perceived and exploited as the main recruiting tool for the terrorist and other transfer national organisations against the united states and its strategic interests and against its allies france will be on their back region. it was a nineteen hour recap of our breaking news story this afternoon morning fighting has reportedly broken out new york colonel gadhafi is residence in tripoli with some sources saying he could be holed up inside even rattles claimed they have almost total control of the capital earlier today of khadafi sons were arrested including so i

government aid for food getting food to them it's probably a first priority but defense secretary leon panetta is looking further afield for his priorities we are a nation at war. we face a broad and growing range of security threats and challenges. there are military must be prepared to confront from church networks to rogue nations that are making efforts to change a nuclear capability to dealing with a rising power it's. always look at us to determine whether or not we will in fact mean a strong defense here and throughout the world eyes on the world all citizens face mounting struggles at home rescuers count the fact that americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the red white and blue. because the owners of this country know the truth it's called the american dream because you have to be asleep to believe that arena court party new york. well it's his business to ask is keeping a close watch on the world markets is monday to me three is standing by how our russian starts responding to the volatility well there was called they responding with a sharp drop actually on the r.t.s.