and to margaret warner. >> warner: after the 9/11 attacks the u.s. operations. today "the washington post" began a three part look at the infrastructure that resulted, calling it "top secret america" it's overall conclusion: the system is so large, so unwieldy and so secretive, that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs or how many programs exist within it. the post spent two years trying to find out. it uncovered an intelligence, national security enterprise of 1271 government agencies and 1,931 private companies spending more than $75 billion a year with a workforce in which an estimated 854,000 people hold top secret security clearances. yet this apparatus was unable to anticipate or head off the ft. hood murders or the attempted christmas day airline bombing. in response to the post series the acting director of the national intelligence office issued a statement today saying his office is working constantly to reduce in-- inefficiencies and redundancies. for more we turn to the series co-author "washington post" nation

margaret warner has that story. >> warner: for years the international community has been trying to beef up the afghan national army and police. with mixed, often disappointing, results. other u.s.-backed afghan security programs have received less attention, but that's what kabul-based correspondent jean mckenzie focused in recent reports on the international website globalpost. her reporting took her to several provinces beyond the capital. jean is in the u.s. now and joins us from boston. jean, welcome. you looked at a couple of these sorts of programs set up in particular since the obama surge began. these exist outside the formal afghan police and army structure. what was the thinking behind it? why do this? >> well, the thinking behind it was to increase the numbers of security forces as quickly as possible. and to try to get some handle on a situation that is deteriorating quite rapidly. they wanted to use the disaffection of that many communities feel towards the taliban, focus that and direct it in a form that has a chance of counteracting the insurgency. >> warner: let's look a

. >> lehrer: and margaret warner talks to dr. anthony fauci about promising new ways to prevent aids. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> lehrer: the president of afghanistan appealed for greater global support at today's kabul conference on security and development. as he spoke, the country's problems were underscored by events outside the afghan capital. zelikow president karzai addressed representatives from dozens of nations and organizations. and he called again for afghans to take charge of their own security nationwide by 2014. >> the national institutions dedicated to fulfilling the constitutional duty has ensured the security of our country. >> lehrer: karzai's date of 2014 is more than three years after american troops are supposed to start a drawdown. under president obama's timetable but at the conference secretary of state clinton insisted the u.s. has no intention of abandoning afghanistan. >> the july 2011 date captures both our sense of urgency and th

margaret warner has that story. >> warner: flanked by their families, seven former cuban political prisoners arrived in madrid today as free men. smiling and flashing victory signs, the dissidents are the first of 52 such prisoners that cuba has promised to free. it will be the biggest such release in a dozen years. >> ( translated ): we are the first of a group of prisoners of conscience who have just landed on spanish soil after more than seven years being unfairly jailed and in captivity. >> warner: the package was brokered in talks earlier this month among the cuban government, the catholic church, and spain's foreign minister. >> ( translated ): change is inevitable. while i'm replying to you, i don't want to end it without thanking the spanish government for its role in this dialogue. >> warner: estimates of how many political prisoners remain there vary widely, but the cuban commission on human rights in havana says there are 160, the fewest in half a century. the releases have created the biggest international splash of raul castro's four-year presidency. he took over when his brothe

margaret warner has our story. >> warner: nearly every state in the union began a new fiscal year this month and the picture isn't pretty. with unemployment still hovering just below 10%, most states are being hit with a higher demand for services and lower than expected tax revenues. that's lead to predictions of a combined state's budget shortfall of as much as 140 billion dollars this fiscal year, and state spending cuts that could cost up to 900,000 public and private sector jobs. to make matters worse, congress has stalled action on bills worth about $40 billion to help states pay for medicaid programs and to retain teachers. and the state aid from last year's 787 billion stimulus package is due to run out at the end of this fiscal year. all that adds up to a very busy agenda at the national governor's meeting this weekend. we're joined now by the group's current president vermont governor jim douglas a republican and his immediate predecessor, pennsylvania governor ed rendell a democrat. welcome to you both. governor douglas, beginning with you, how bleak a picture is it out ther

margaret warner has the story. >> we want help! >> warner: in the immediate aftermath of hurricane katrina, parts of the city of new orleans spiraled out of control and police struggled to keep law and order. but since then, questions and charges have arisen over how some new orleans police officers conducted themselves in the days after the storm. yesterday, the federal government indicted four officers in the shooting deaths of two unarmed civilians on september 4th, 2005. they are charged with federal civil rights violations, and using weapons in the commission of a crime. convictions could carry the death penalty. three of those officers pled not guilty today. two other officers were charged with obstructing justice by trying to cover up the crime and make it appear that the shootings were justified. u.s. attorney general eric holder spoke in new orleans yesterday just after the 27- count indictment was unsealed. >> put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who are sworn to protect the public. this will not stand. an

. >> woodruff: margaret warner reports on brazil's booming ultra deepwater oil exploration. >> as the u.s. fights to pacify the b.p. gusher in the gulf, the p51-- owned by brazils national p51-- owned by brazil's national oil company, petrobras-- is pumping 24/7 from similar depths below the sea. its the newest platform in >> brown: paul solman talks to greek prime minister george papandreou about the violence in the streets and the turmoil on the financial markets, as greece falls further into debt. >> woodruff: and, we close with a profile of the next poet laureate of the u.s., w.s. merwin. >> as soon as i could move a stub of pencil and put words on paper, i wanted to be a moat. i mean, i was fascinated by the poems my mother had read to me and by the hymns that we sang in church. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: more than five million americans suffer from the debilitating effects of alzheimer's disease. currently, doctors diagnose the degenerative brain disease by tracking the progression of dementia or memory loss as revealed by the patient's behavior and the results of cognitive tests. but this week, for the first time in 25 years, medical experts proposed revamping the diagnostic tools and categories to detect alzheimer's at its earliest stages, when there are few, if any, symptoms. the new diagnostic tools, which were presented at the alzheimer's association meeting in honolulu this week, would include: so-called "biomarker" tests, including brain imaging methods like m.r.i.s and pet scans, as well as spinal fluid tests to detect changes in the brain. using the information from the new tests, researchers are also proposing new criteria that would diagnose alzheimer's in three stages: a new category called preclinical, before any symptoms appear; the second stage of mild cognitive impairment; and lastly, the most advanced form of the disease, alzhei

. >> lehrer: margaret warner examines the pentagon's new rules for dealing with the news media. >> woodruff: and jeffrey brown has a conversation with jean- michel cousteau about his famous father-- ocean explorer jacques cousteau. >> when people ask what do you expect to find? he would always say if i knew, i wouldn't go. so it was the sense of discovery which is, obviously, related it to adventure. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this is the engine that connects abundant grain from the american heartland to haran's best selling whole wheat, while keeping 60 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

. >> woodruff: margaret warner talked with ray right after he sent that report. >> warner: hey, ray, it's good to see you. that was quite a bleak picture you painted there. what's the major roadblock to get reconstruction going faster. >> suarez: first they had to have a plan. then they had to have institutions that could handle a gush of billions of dollars that is pledged over two years. there are hold-ups all along the chain from the national capitals that have pledged the money to the intermediaries like the world bank to the government here. so right now it seems that money has been damning up behind some of these blocks but now that there is an institutional setting, a commission set up by bill clinton and the prime minister and now there are actual plans and people ready to get to work. money will start to flow more easily, more readily, and people will really start to see the work on the ground moving ahead more quickly . >> warner: you were there six months ago. any bright spots you see when you compare the two pictures? >> suarez: absolutely. people who are in need of medic

. >> lehrer: and margaret warner updates the charges against six new orleans police officers in the killing and cover-up of unarmed citizens after hurricane katrina. >> what appears to me is that the officers based upon the admitted statements immediately decided to not tell the truth. that's just disgusting. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: this is the engine that connects zero emission technologies to breathing a little easier, while taking 4.6 million truckloads off the road every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: u.s. forces in afghanistan added eight more names to the killed in action list today. it was the latest sign of the escalating war, as am