and i think the world of stan mcchrystal, still do. but whenever you, you know, our rule is pretty simple. civilian --. >> did he challenge that? >> well, i think from a disloyalty standpoint. the fact that his team, the people are very close to him, made those disparaging comments about the president and about the people back in washington, showed a disloyalty that was hard for president to tolerate, particularly in view of the fact that he had been blindsided earlier by stan asking for the additional troops over in europe rather than coming back through, at that time, dave petraeus and back into the secretary and the presidency. and i need more troops but rather kind of rolled it out for the world and said i need them and i need them right now. there's a right way to do it, there's a wrong way to do it and i think those two things put together said he probably, the president no long her confidence in him and neither did the secretary of defense. >> although i'm told that secretary of defense was hoping that he would be retained and d

midway through the year there is a new man in charge of the war in afghanistan general stanley mcchrystal was sent packing after some unflattering comments were made by he and his staff about the obama white house in a rolling stone article so president obama called on general david petraeus to take over and at that point we asked if that would change the war strategy here's my interview with matthew hoh a former u.s. state department official. all right it's official general david petraeus will now be taking over the war in afghanistan with a ninety nine to zero vote the senate confirmed it but will what obama said hold true but a change in command does not mean a change in strategy if we look back to yesterday's confirmation hearings i'm not so sure but he said the hill take a good hard look at the directives that general stanley mcchrystal put into place to cut down on civilian casualties things like the rules of engagement so if these rules do get changed do we move away from counterinsurgency and back towards counterterrorism and by that i mean is petraeus choosing between the lives

. >> today, i accepted general stanley mcchrystal's resignation. >> those disparaging remarks mcchrystalmade about the president and key members of his national security team in "rolling stone" magaz e magazine. >> president obama is declaring the official end of operation iraqi freedom. >> do you feel like the war is over? >> we're still here. we've still got a job to do. >> a group online called wikileaks, along with three major newspapers, has published 92,000 classified intelligence documents. >> i'm a combative person, so, i like crushing bastards. >> 500 million users on facebook this week. >> there's this incredible movement on the internet towards people being empowered to share what they want. >> a chorus of voices grew so loud on facebook, they got betty white to host "saturday night live." >> i didn't know what facebook was. and now that i do know what it is, it sounds like a huge waste of time. >> we think we got the goods. >> it's part laptop, part movie theater, game room, bookstore and photo album. >> a mine disaster in west virginia. we are live tonight because just down

. >> and this was not helped by rolling stone interview with the stanley mcchrystal that peeling the obama administration. >> when i first read it-- belittling the ovu >> and as difficult as it was to live leave him. and it is the best interest of our national security. >> to withdraw troops on schedule. the goal of all or combat troops out of a rock by the end of august. >> and deprecate left i rack--and with the 2000 how fokamp to promote regional th >> with inconclusive another is n and a workabl that would invol shiites. >> there will be difficult days ahead. and i am absolutely confident it will prevail. >> the u.s. troops are leaving 2011. samantha hayes. >> looking at the james lick and the traffic on the the were deck of the bay bridge is beginning to back up. otherwise, it is looking pretty well. the bay bridge toll plaza, into the city is also slowing down. stay with us. we will be back. after this break. >> skype would like to take free video chat. >> this could be yours with an update with itunes. let us take a look itunes. you can see this application and with users are

. >> reporter: general stanley mcchrystal. >> you're fired. >> reporter: how about nearly the entiree of representatives? >> you're fired. >> reporter: but when it comes to reality, there is no reality like palin reality. bristol on "dancing with the stars," sarah on "sarah palin's alaska." let's hear from the judges. bruno? >> five. >> reporter: jon stewart and stephen colbert. carrie ann? >> six. >> reporter: apple introduces the ipad. len? >> ten! >> reporter: can we finally move onto next year? >> yes we can, but -- >> reporter: but not before one more joke. what comes after 2010? >> these go to 11. >> reporter: let's go to 11. happy new year. >> a very brief history from john berman. thanks, john. we'll be right back with tonight's closing argument but first, here's jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next on "jimmy kimmel live". >> jimmy: tonight, darius rucker and next year's armless lessless oscar wsllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

>> the firing of general stanley mcchrystal, a soldier- soldier over some silly interview with comments in rolling stone. >> right on. >> eleanor? >> the islamic cultural center in new york is a terrorist threat. bum rap. >> monica? >> bummest rap, the g.o.p. is the party of no. actually they were the party of stop, stop spending, stop government intervention, stom obama care, stop tax increases which is exactly what the american people wanted. >> thank you for clarifying that. >> clarence? >> the ground zero mosque which is not at ground zero. it is not a mosque. and that whole brand just got stuck on it. and it became the political issue. >> bummest rap. the rap against tarp. troubled asset relief program. tarp has saved the world from global economic collapse. yet president obama, gates, get no credit, it is a bum rap not to give them credit. okay. fairest rap. >> charley rangle was censured. our old friends. a good guy. he should have known better. think it is a fair rap. >> my olive branch to the other side, their rap, president obama has not lived up to expectations. >> put that d

that cost mcchrystal his job as commander of nato forces in afghanistan.olbrooke was 69. chuck sigh vert sen, abc news. >> holbrooke is survived by his wife, his two sons and his two stepchildren. >>> moving now to political news this morning, embattled republican party chairman michael steele says he wants to keep his job. steele announced that he's seeking a second term as gop chief. that's despite allegations of not only financial mismanagement, but also some very high-profile verbal gaffes in recent years. steele though is the first african-american ever elected as republican chairman. he though will face at least six others in next month's leadership vote. >> we'd heard maybe he wouldn't be but now apparently he will be. >>> on capitol hill the tax cut deal hammered out by president obama and republicans is one step closer to becoming law. >> senators could give it their final stamp of approval later today. but its future in the house is a lot more uncertain. >> john hendren is in washington with the details. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morn

troops and the entire coalition civilian casualties soar general stanley mcchrystal was fired halfway through the year and replaced by general david petraeus wiki leaks dumped seventy seven thousand reports covering six years of the war and just last week the obama administration released a much anticipated strategy review and yet a new study by the pew research center has found that the mainstream media devoted only four percent of their coverage over the last year to this war four percent is that all but hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives gets these days we are discussing with me is christopher chambers georgetown university professor and author of the blog not hers or venture chris thanks so much for being here if you have thank you to her and i really don't like to my own horn but i'm feeling pretty good right now about what we know we really do extensive coverage of the war in afghanistan this is something life feels so important but four percent that number really shocked me when it came to the world it doesn't shock me because i look at this image in the pew

the administration's afghanistan strategy with andrew exum, former advisor to the general stanley mcchrystal. and at a 30 a.m. eastern, senator john isaacson of georgia and senator tom udall of new mexico. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. a very interesting day yesterday. the house and senate voting to extend the tax cuts -- the bush tax cuts until 2012. we will talk about the tax cut passes, the spending bill fails. here are the phone lines on the screen. the stick a look at the headlines this morning. all across the country -- let's take a look at the headlines this morning. and all across the country you can see how the theme. "the denver post" house passes a tax package. " orange county register" "obama wins on tax deal." as we get ready for your phone calls we have russell berman online, congressional reporter from the hill. 1/2 mr. berman, thanks for being with us. guest: thanks for having me. host: you write that in the end only one democratic leadership, steny hoyer, supported the bill. talk about how the members of the house approached this and what it was like for

andrew axim was in afghanistan and pakistan and worked with general mcchrystal as a civilian adviser. peter, andrew, welcome. >> thank you. >> good to be with you. >> peter, so the question is, why are we in afghanistan? we know that al qaeda and affiliates are growing stronger in other places, yemen and northern africa and certainly in pakistan. so, why do we have a quarter of our military in afghanistan? >> well, obviously, if our goal is to combat al qaeda, it makes no sense to have 100,000 troops, to be spending $117 billion as is projected to fight what the cia director is says between 50 and 100 fighters. so our reasons for being there are, in fact, something different. they are to defeat the taliban insurgency insurgency. we are engaged in a strategy. the difficulty with the strategy is that it requires a credible afghan partner. and the government of afghanistan is from top to bottom corrupt, ineffective and now as a result of fraudulent elections ill legitimate. >> andrew, it was fascinating in the public part of the document that the white house released today, the name karz

in the case of night raids by special operations forces, general mcchrystal in his report said this is the worst thing, the most serious problem in terms of aggravating the feelings of afghans against a foreign troop presence. he said it publicly as well in the early part of this year. then of course we find out that he increase the number of night raids, doubling or tripling, and in the present year we see another doubling or tripling. >> civilian casualties. >> i am talking about night raids. and petreaus made it very clear before kandahar that the issue is governance. we need to put a high priority on that. it turns out that is not the highest priority at all. you find out that walid karzai's people are the ones that we've used to seize cities. there was a big ship that took place between -- contradictions between public and private. he changed his mind for reasons we do not understand. there are a lot of questions here about whether the military leadership really has the understanding that would be required to ask the american people to make this kind of commitment. >> that is a ve

. >> reporter: general stanley mcchrystal, whose staff ridiculed the white house in "rolling stone"?>> reporter: how about nearly the entire democratic house of representatives? >> you're fired. >> reporter: but when it comes to reality, there is no reality like palin reality. bristol on "dancing with the stars." sarah on "sarah palin's alaska." but will she be an america's idol? >> that was terrible. >> reporter: let's hear from the judges. glenn beck and palin rally to restore honor. bruno tonioli? >> 5. >> reporter: jon stewart and stephen colbert, rally to restore sanity. carrie ann? >> 6. >> reporter: apple introduces the ipad. len goodman? >> 10. >> reporter: can we finally move on to next year? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but not before one more joke. what comes after 2010? >> this goes to 11. >> reporter: let's go to 11. happy new year. for "good morning america," john berman, abc news. >> throwing in a "spinal tap" joke is a hit with me. >> leave it to john berman. that was fantastic. we're always worried if he can do it or not. and every year -- >> he never fails us

you see president obama's strategy originally implemented by then nato commander general stanley mcchrystalerinsurgency strategy, the strategy to go with the people of afghanistan to try to win their support, there have been bits of improvement, and this year in particular, 2010, the focus has been on kandahar province. this time last year i went inside the city of kandahar. it was a pretty scary experience. had you to be on guard everywhere you went have security with you. from what i'm hearing on the ground in kandahar city, at least, the security situation has improved. the surrounding areas, bit by bit, day by day, there are still attacks going on in the province. there are still ieds laid out by the insurgency killing american soldiers, but at the same time it's better than it was earlier this summer. but that being said, and i think we're going to hear from president obama in his assessment that that is still reversible. that this might not be able to be sustained if the americans, if the nato forces, don't continue the mission. kmuk and savannah? >> seems, the question of progress mi

our next nominee for best presidential moment, the president's sacking of general stanley mcchrystal appointment of david petraeus, in all one fell swoop. it stopped an unraveling of the afghanistan strategy. the president's top general had derided the commander in chief and his leadership team to a rock magazine, "rolling stone." a bad situation for the president, but he turned into it a positive. after a ten 40 hours at the white house, the president moved decisively, silenced his critics, got petraeus in there, preserved the chain of command, and kept that counterinsurgency strategy in tact. it may have been a lemon -- >> truly a lemonade case. and finally, his hard sell on tax cuts, proving he's not afraid to take on liberals in his own party. a defiant president obama fired back at critics on the left and right, defending his tax cut compromise and daring democrats to argue he'd been outmaneuvered in the debate. this just happened. >> take a tally. look at what i promised during the campaign. there's not a single thing that i've said that i would do that i have not either done o

mcchrystal said we need another decade. petraeus knows he needs another decade.ically they can't get it. you talk about mission creep. when mission creep is defined in future generations, they're going to be teaching a story on afghanistan, how we went from an anti terror campaign to an anti insurgency campaign and how it kept us locked down in this graveyard of empires for 20 years. >> it becomes part of the domestic political dialogue where the government feels their credibility is at stake and they don't want to walk from whatever their original commit s are, so they double up. but the military intelligence reports that just came out were really quite devastating about the progress that we've made and the effectiveness of our presence in afghanistan. i don't see how they get around that particular assessment of it. i think there were 14 different agencies in their collective wisdom, the intelligence service says we're not succeeding there by a good margin. >> i had a chance a few days ago to interview with the former joint chiefs, hugh shelton, has a great boo

in the case of night raids by special operations forces, general mcchrystal in his report said this is the worst thing, the most serious problem in terms of aggravating the feelings of afghans against a foreign troop presence. he said it publicly as well in the early part of this year. then of course we find out that he increase the number of night raids, doubling or tripling, and in the present year we see another doubling or tripling. >> civilian casualties. >> i am talking about night raids. and petreaus made it very clear before kandahar that the issue is governance. we need to put a high priority on that. it turns out that is not the highest priority at all. you find out that walid karzai's people are the ones that we've used to seize cities. there was a big ship that took place between -- contradictions between public and private. he changed his mind for reasons we do not understand. there are a lot of questions here about whether the military leadership really has the understanding that would be required to ask the american people to make this kind of commitment. >> that is a ve

. >> an angry obama meets one-on-one in the office with stanley mcchrystal. >> i welcome debate among from president obama? >> i think i do. >> ash clouds from iceland forced airports to shut down. >> it shows no sign of abating at this point. >> a suspect arrested overnight in the attempted attack on time square. >> terrorism in europe is not history. >> they were trying to blow up planes. the bombs were fully operational and nearly impossible to detect in cargo screening. >>> the controversial new guidelines could make the wait at airports even longer. >> has this us m put us at risk? >> do you plan to accelerate your plans to release further documents? >> elizabeth edwards passed away peacefully in her home. >> i don't know what the ultimate plan is but i do think when bad things happen you have the strength to face them. >> i want to be the last to say, mom, i really really love you more. >>> let the games begin. >> this is for the gold. can he do it? he's got another gold medal! >> lindsey vonn reveals to us she has an injury. >> are you 50% right now? are you less? what would yo

. ♪ ♪ so long to you, 2010 ♪ my ratings they plunged through the floor ♪ ♪ i got rangel, mcchrystal and♪ ♪ 2010 we can't wait for you to be like that guy from jet blue ♪ ♪ real good in the mid-term ♪ we are so when ron said good-bye ♪ ♪ immigration california just wants to get high ♪ ♪ wars and mountains of debt ♪ ♪ politicians and nuclear threat ♪ ♪ that seems to be what you get ♪ ♪ that's why i want one, only want one, just give me a damned cigarette ♪ ♪ so long to you, 2010 >> that's definitely going to need stitches. >> osgood: next? >> i have the best shot at a normal life here. >> osgood: harry smith with matt damon. and later, are these pictures worth a thousand words? hey, guys. printer's out of ink. just shake it. [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] need ink? staples has a low price guarantee on all the ink you need. find a lower price at another store, and we'll match it. that was easy. >> do you like apples? >> yeah. >> well, i've got a number. how do you like them apples? >> it's sunday morning on cbs and here again is charles osgood. >> osgood: good will hunting is just one of

>> what we all support, and this is the entire chain of command from general mcchrystal through me, admiral mullen, the secretary and so forth, is that it would be possible to begin the transition at a pace that is determined by -- >> what does that mean exactly? we've heard that phrase so many times, conditions on the ground. what would be the conditions that would allow for a significant withdrawal in july 2011? >> well, what allows transition to begin is the ability of afghan forces to take on tasks that until then we had performed. the truth is, we have already seen transition in some places in the country, george. again, kabul is the best example of that. i've stated on a number of occasions that as you think about winning in afghanistan, it's a bit different than, say, winning a world war ii or some conventional fight. this is not a case where you see the hill that you have to take. you take it, you plant the flag and you go home to a victory parade. this is a much more complex endeavor than that, and it requires a very comprehensive approach. >> what does it look like, that victory?

. >> general petraeus and general mcchrystal really put a lot on the line by convincing president obamain additional troops and give this strategy support and bring on board the local population in density populated areas like kandahar and helmand, give that a chance to work. we've been able to see it work. but it only works to a degree, and this is part of the review. if the government here doesn't have the capacity to consolidate those security gains, then there are going to be problems. that's what we're seeing now. you cannot free up the troops to go take on the taliban in other areas. plus, the surge is a limited number. nobody is talking about bringing more troops in. there are taliban getting stronger in other parts of the country. those are -- those are some of the sort of inconsistencies if you will. >> all right. we will momentarily get a -- another report from the pentagon. this is their response to this whole matter. we'll keep an eye on that. jill, nic and chris, thank you for your input on this. >>> we all knew there would be drama over the tax cut vote that was coming out

he is a former army ranger himself and served as a civilian adviser to retired general stanley mcchrystal. he served on the assessment team and was on active duty in the u.s. army from 2000-2004, leading a platoon of army rangers in 2002 in iraq -- and was in iraq in 2004. what did you hear, what do you think this recent report was intended to signal? a guest: i think it was intended to signal that we need more time before we can determine whether or not we are having success, especially regarding afghanistan and pakistan. against al qaeda, it seems that the administration is pretty confident that they are having an affect on al qaeda, leadership. with afghanistan and pakistan, it is difficult to brave the administration's hallmark because so many of the important metrics -- to grade the administration's homework because so many of the import metrics are subjective. certainly, it is too soon to tell whether or not the administration has been able to make some headway. while we have seen some quite dramatic tactical successes on the ground in different provinces, will not know the full eff

the mcchrystal's war plan. or ""twilight"" movie details?aled himself in 2005. question, two are you ready injulian assange, is the public face of wikileaks. what use did he use when he started computer hacking at the tender age of 16. freedom fighter, b, mendax, moros or nemesis? >> ali. >> take a guess, given his general take on the world i would say d, nemesis. >> you would be wrong. richard quest. >> i would say mendax. >> correct! . >> what is a mendax. >> contrary to popular belief mendax is not a personal high again product for males. it's taken from the latin of nobly untruthful. fess up. you had no idea? >> absolutely none whatsoever. >> all right. next. final question, gentlemen. it's one of the closest guarded corporate secrets of all time. what is the code name of coca-cola classic's secret formula? is it a, merchandise 7x, coke plan x, redgold or formula number 3. richard quest for the win. >> i'm going formula number 3. >> wrong. >> we can't let quest win on that. i'll call it b, coke plan x. >> also wrong. quest. >> merchandis

what he called a shellacking in the polls and on the international front he fired general stanley mcchrystalthe president's year? >> well, legislatively, he got a lot done this year, and put that together with 2009, but politically, he took an awful lot of lumps this year. of course, you can point to the state of the economy, unemployment near 10%, what's interesting, though, is that the president has closed this year on a very strong note, despite that shellacking in the election. you get the tax cut deal with republicans. each side gave something. but each side also showed to the country that they were prepared to govern and not just fight and bicker, which is one of the things that americans said in the results of the 2000 election they wanted. >> all right, let's turn to republicans and democrats in congress who, of course, will play musical chairs at the first of the year. how would you sum up their highs and lows of 2010? >> well, republicans kept say very disciplined opposition to this president, and it paid off for them politically. it started from the very beginning of barack obama'

we knew general petraeus and general mcchrystal, the ins and outs of what's wheags going on in a warone, talking to the soldiers about the stresses they face. and i know for me i learned a great deal from them but also learned a great deal from my friend, congressman skelton, about the ins and outs of what takes place in military, through his chairmanship and ranking membership, of what he's learned from the house armed services committee. but it's also things you learn about a person under times of stress. ike and i have the dubious distinction of being the only two members of congress ever injured in iraq. and it happened on a dark night, we were traveling after having met, i believe, with general casey, on a road back to the baghdad airport, when this mini bus we were traveling in, referred to affectionately as an ice cream truck, hit something, we heard a boom, up in the air, bounce, rolled over. both of us slid inside the interior. i was injured a bit, that doesn't matter. ike had his own symptoms. and a lot of chaos occurred at that moment and we learned what happens on a milit

>> colonel, my name is dave mcchrystal, congratulations. >> happy hanukkah. >> one thing that was not mentioned which is startling to me is the recent threat emanating from venezuela, under the auspices of hugo job as. -- under the auspices of hugo chavez. what is your perspective approach once you are in washington, d.c., to handle that threat? >> we will find out by committee assignments within the next week or so. my number one choice is armed services committee. my second choice was armed services committee. your right, one of the things we found out not too long ago was the direct frights -- the direct flights, there are no passengers on those flights. there is a new 21 -- 21st century access forming. when you understand what is happening and venezuela and the terrorist training camps in south america, the fact the ortega brothers are back in charge in central america, which is a pipeline. i was doing reading on the web where we have al qaeda and has blood in cahoots with the mexican drug lords, funneling individuals across our southern border. i think it was about four months ag

now that he took over for mcchrystal and is now in charge of this, it's called disrupt, dismantle andeat al-qaida in afghanistan and pakistan. >> they're not going to say anything definitive, i don't think, today because they're going to say something like there have been advances in this war but challenges remain and we'll have to see how this all pans out. there's no way that they can say definitively where this war is right now i don't think. >> yeah, not enough progress has been made yet but you hope the groundwork has been laid. >> ok, let's do a couple of headlines for you, a fox news alert. al-qaida, speaking about the war on terror, planning terror attacks in the u.s. and europe this christmas season according to top iraqi officials who say they obtained concessions from captured insurgents much the failed bombing in stockholm was reportedly one of those plots. they are on high alert during the holidays after the botched christmas day bombing over detroit last christmas. speaking of the christmas day bomber, he's headed to federal court today. umar farouk abdulmutallab also kn

and coalition troops in afghanistan, joined by the former adviser to general stanley mcchrystal. that will be at 1:30 p.m. eastern. >> this sunday on c-span, in her first televised interview the newest supreme court justice elena kagan on the confirmation process, her adjustment to the court, and her relationship with chief justice john roberts. unprecedented on the record conversation sunday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on c-span. the united states v. richard nixon, on c-span radio's landmark supreme court cases. >> it is somewhat simple but very important issue, in the administration of criminal justice, whether the president can withhold evidence from the court merely on his assertion that the evidence involves conference site -- confidential communications. >> listen in washington on 90.1 fm, nationwide on xm channel 132 and online at c-span radio.org. >> the obama administration continues to ask the international community to join the u.s. and sanctions against iran did to the nuclear program. gary samore, white house -- he discussed this issue at a conference here in washingt

. >> reporter: general stanley mcchrystal, whose staff ridiculed the white house in "rolling stone." palin reality. bristol on "dancing with the stars." sarah on "sarah palin's alaska." will she be america's idol? >> it's a prayerful consideration. >> reporter: let's hear from the judges. glenn beck and palin restore honor. >> 5. >> reporter: apple introduces the ipad. len goodman? >> 10. >> reporter: can we finally move on to next year? >> yes, we can. but -- >> reporter: but not before one more joke. what comes after 2010? >> these go to 11. >> reporter: let's go to 11. happy new year. >>> our ski house. our cup runneth over. look at that. our bin is so full of coats. again, our audience helped us out. >>> tomorrow on "good morning america," grammy winner steven curtis chapman and his beautiful family tell us about the healing power of faith. >>> how about this? how to have a great new year's eve bash on a budget. very nice. ngng >> man: getting across town to a job interview is stressful enough without being late. i want guidance that takes me where i need to be without any proble

to your 2010 i passed reform based on justice yet my ratings fell to the floor i got karzai and mcchrystalnd no credit ofr -- for ending a war [unintelligible] 2010, we can't wait for you just like htat -- that guy from jetblue we were so sad when rahm said goodbye [unintelligible] just wants to get high wars and mountains of debt a nuclear threat that's why i want just give me a chance so long to your 2010 ♪ need stitches. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: bob wise is the co-chair of the digital learning council, here to talk about how we can add digital learning to our current education. want to go through some of your points about the status quo, which you call "dismal." one-third of third and fourth graders are nearly illiterate. last year, 1.3 million students failed to graduate from high school. an estimated $1 billion is spent each year on college remediation. among the top 30 industrialized countries, u.s. tie schools rank 21st in science and 25th in math. how could digital learning to improve the situation? guest: this is why jeb bush and i came together to form the digit

>> colonel, my name is dave mcchrystal, congratulations. >> happy hanukkah. >> one thing that was nottioned which is startling to me is the recent threat emanating from venezuela, under the auspices of hugo job as. -- under the auspices of hugo chavez. what is your perspective approach once you are in washington, d.c., to handle that threat? >> we will find out by committee assignments within the next week or so. my number one choice is armed services committee. my second choice was armed services committee. your right, one of the things we found out not too long ago was the direct frights -- the direct flights, there are no passengers on those flights. there is a new 21 -- 21st century access forming. when you understand what is happening and venezuela and the terrorist training camps in south america, the fact the ortega brothers are back in charge in central america, which is a pipeline. i was doing reading on the web where we have al qda and has blood in cahoots with the mexican drug lords, funneling individuals across our southern border. i think it was about four months ago, the

me -- a meeting with you and speaking with you about this and secretary gates and petraeus and mcchrystal in the whole list of probably a thousand people now in congress but outside congress as well. and it seems to me one of the things in following up with senator inhofe ase i've been in the military 31 years, so we understand this issue i think maybe more than some folks or some leaders here in the house and senate that haven't had any military experience. dalia understand it, i observed it, as a jag, i read the rules concerning this issue. i am a little -- senator inhofe asked a question, and i've done many surveys in the army and don't remember them being voluntary. i always remember them saying here's a survey, get them, as a company commander, get them done. i'm a little confused, still, as to why we didn't just say here's a survey. we are spending a ton of money. it's a critical piece of what we are dealing with in society and the armed forces. get it done, company commanders. so, any thoughts on that, general casey, as to like why we didn't just say here's a survey, get it done. w

. >> an angry president obama meeting one-on-one in the oval office with general stanley mcchrystal.o resign. >> do you think you deserve a phone call from president obama? >> i think i do. >> a volcano in iceland forced airports in northern europe to shut down. >> it shows no signs of abating at this point. >> a man has been arrested overnight in an attempted attack on times square. >> the bombs were fully operational and nearly impossible to detect in cargo screening. >> good morning, feeling their way. >> and the pat downs could make the wait at airports even longer. >> and classified government documents by wikileaks. >> do you plan to accelerate your plans to release further documents? >> destruction and despair, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake has struck haiti. >> haiti needs help and it can't come soon enough. >> the people of haiti, you will not be foresaken, you will not be forgotten. >> there's not enough doctors to take care of all the injured. so there are importaparents tha taking care of their own children. with an estimated 1.2 million people living in tent camps across the

we knew general petraeus and general mcchrystal, the ins and outs of what's wheags going on in a war zone, talking to the soldiers about the stresses they face. and i know for me i learned a great deal from them but also learned a great deal from my friend, congressman skelton, about the ins and outs of what takes place in military, through his chairmanship and ranking membership, of what he's learned from the house armed services committee. but it's also things you learn about a person under times of stress. ike and i have the dubious distinction of being the only two members of congress ever injured in iraq. and it happened on a dark night, we were traveling after having met, i believe, with general casey, on a road back to the baghdad airport, when this mini bus we were traveling in, referred to affectionately as an ice cream truck, hit something, we heard a boom, up in the air, bounce, rolled over. both of us slid inside the interior. i was injured a bit, that doesn't matter. ike had his own symptoms. and a lot of chaos occurred at that moment and we learned what happens on a mil

me -- a meeting with you and speaking with you about this and secretary gates and petraeus and mcchrystal in the whole list of probably a thousand people now in congress but outside congress as well. and it seems to me one of the things in following up with senator inhofe ase i've been in the military 31 years, so we understand this issue i think maybe more than some folks or some leaders here in the house and senate that haven't had any military experience. dalia understand it, i observed it, as a jag, i read the rules concerning this issue. i am a little -- senator inhofe asked a question, and i've done many surveys in the army and don't remember them being voluntary. i always remember them saying here's a survey, get them, as a company commander, get them done. i'm a little confused, still, as to why we didn't just say here's a survey. we are spending a ton of money. it's a critical piece of what we are dealing with in society and the armed forces. get it done, company commanders. so, any thoughts on that, general casey, as to like why we didn't just say here's a survey, get it done. w

the the general mcchrystal had asked for more. -- general mcchrystal had asked for more. i was supportive of the president and i continued to be supportive. i would just have to wait and see what he says about the report before i have any comment to make on it. >> congressman, there is another program you did not get to in your review. the f-35 overall, the senate would cut seven of the aircraft that the administration requested. where do you come down on that? more generally, are there any programs you think are vulnerable to cuts that should be considered for cuts? >> i am not supportive of the senate's effort to cut the f-35. i think all programs on the front end and have some setbacks. someone was let go. changes were made. the improvements were made. i think getting it at this point is shortsighted. we need to make improvements, but i do not think right now is when we should be making cuts of the f-35. we will go to the hearing process is. we will get started shortly. we will look at what the subcommittee chairmen find help in their hearings. i know we will be puttin