tonight a conversation with the chairman joinls chiefs of stf admiral mike mullen. >> my biest concern about our future is can we as we transition out ofhese wars can we take care of ourselves and those young officers and nco's can learn anything more than we can imagine. with all of the chaenges we have, if we keep them in and take care of their families in ways that recognize their sacrifice, if we pay attention to those veterans and their families who sacrifice so much, that no matter what happens in the future, we'll b just fine. and so the essence for me has been our people, from the first day i joined until the last day i'm privileged to wear the uniform. >> charlie: obama's top military advisers for the hour. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> charlie: admiral michael mel mullen is here, he's the principal military advisers. he's the key voice as president obama announces the number of troops he withdraws from afghanistan next month. he's pressure for significant with drawlg. secretary defense robert gates repr

in april, admiral mike mullen on a visit to iraq explained how withdrawing the troops comes down to physicslong it takes to move soldiers and equipment. why the pentagon needs a quick decision from the iraqis. >> i think that the timeline is in the next few weeks. >> the white house says there are currently no negotiations with iraqis about u.s. forces staying. >> there are 52 weeks in a year. we are moving along, according to the existing agreements we have. >> two weeks ago, basha supports took to the street demanding all supporters leigh now. >> the great fear in the administration is iraq will fall apart after we leave. the country could unravel in 2012, which, of course, is election year. >> two iraqis that fired the rockets that killed five americans today were killed instantly when one of the rockets backfireed and exploded prematurely. prime minister malia is weighing whether to ask u.s. troops to stay. bret? >> jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. thank you. >>> today is the 67th anniversary of the d-day invasion. senator john kerry joined other veterans in commemorating the land

our joint chief of staff chair is admiral mike mullen, and he said that our national debt is our biggest national security threat. wouldn't you think when the chairman of the joint chief of staffs said that our greatest national security threat is debt. that maybe the commander in chief might listen. you would think in a normal white house that's what would happen. but instead in washington, we are debating raising the debt e ceiling. and that's the right to give congress the authority to borrow more money they don't have and keep spending money. what your opinion on raising the debt ceiling? i knew i would like you before i walked in here. you know in the last 10 years, congress has raised the debt ceiling 10 times. i have been in washington three terms and in that time we have been asked to raise the debt ceiling half a dozen times. and every time i voted no on raising the debt ceiling. and right now i will be voting no again. because there are no serious cuts, there is only smoke and mirrors. and washington, d.c., that game is over. it's over. because do you know, if you got a dollar

mike mullens said he was not surprised by the egyptian choice to follow osama bin laden. >> the new leader is already a familiar figure. he worked hand in glove with osama bin laden for many years. he has given how qaeda much of its strategic direction. >> security is just last week saying the war with the west will go on. disappointment -- osama bin laden and ayman al-zawahiri collaborate closely. both have been few tips for years. the natural successor to osama bin laden it is now named the fbi's most wanted terrorist. the leader of al qaeda. >> he has moved into that position. he and his organization are still a threat. as we did both capture and kill osama bin laden, we certainly do -- we will do the same thing with ayman al-zawahiri. >> what do we know about him? he is a lifelong egyptian extremist. he was the one who radicalize osama bin laden back in the 1990's and got him to think globally. he was the operational brains behind the 911 attacks. he had was radicalized long ago imprisoned by the egyptian state. the extreme violence perpetrated by al qaeda is often attributed to his st

>> the better argument is the one you get from watching peteae -- petraeus and mike mullen, who said between the lines that this was done over their recommendation, the president has chosen increases the risk to our troops -- the current strategy the president has chosen increases the risk to our troops. if president obama is insincere, why did he order an escalation of the 30,000 troops, some of whom have not returned, a casualty rate higher than at any time during the afghan war, if he was not going to complete his own strategy and pick a withdrawal date was only logic is to help him in reelection? it makes no sense militarily. >> mark? >> general petraeus added to what he said there that military leaders make recommendations, but the commander in chief as the wider responsibility than just the military, specific military advice he gets. that is true of all presidents, and i, and at general petraeus for emphasizing that -- i commend general petraeus for emphasizing that. the speech and position lacks clarity toomey. i do not know -- to me. do not know right now why we are continuin

the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen, said he was not surprised by the choice of the egyptian militant to succeed bin laden, who shot by american forces in pakistan last month. our security correspondent reports. >> he is already a familiar figure. he worked with osama bin laden for many years and has given al qaeda much of its strategic direction and has long been the group's most visible spokesman. here he is just last week, saying the war with the west will go on. his appointment has been largely welcomed on jihadist web sites. bin laden and zawahiri collaborated closely. both have been fugitives and for years, hiding out in afghanistan and pakistan. zawahiri it is now named the fbi's most wanted terrorist. the leader of al qaeda. >> it is not a surprise he has moved into that position. he and his organization still threaten us. as we did both seek to capture and kill and succeeded in killing bin laden, we certainly will do the same thing with zawahiri. >> what do we know about zawahiri? he is a lifelong egyptian extremist who will be succeeded this sunday.

the chairman of the joint chiefs admiral mike mullen -who retires later this year said as much todaythe house armed services committee. >> what i can tell you is the president's decisions are more aggressive and incur more risk than i was originally prepared to accept. more force for more time is without doubt the safer course, but that does not necessarily make it the best course. only the president in the end can really determine the acceptable level of risk we must take. >> reporter: mullen also said supports the decision. so did nato ally france. in paris, the defense ministry announced the country will begin pulling out its 4,000 troops on a similar timetable. and the british foreign minister said 9,500 british troops will begin leaving afghanistan soon with the entire force expected to be out by 2015. all of that seemed to suit afghan president hamid karzai. he said in kabul his nation's youth will stand up and defend their country. >> ( translated ): the transition of the security and the withdrawal of the foreign troops from afghanistan means the afghan forces must be strengt

reporter: both general david petraeus, the commander in afghanistan, and joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen, the president's principal military advisor, said today they initially balked at president obama's drawdown plan as too risky. >> the president's decisions are more aggressive and incur more risk than i was originally prepared to accept. >> the ultimate decision was a more aggressive formulation, if you will, in terms of the timeline, than what we had recommended. >> reporter: they wanted to pull out fewer than 5,000 troops this year, but they were up against an option presented by president obama's civilian advisors to pull out the entire 33,000 surge force by the end of this year. the president decided to pull out 10,000 this year, all 33,000 by september, 2012. >> is it going to be hard? you bet it's going to be hard. >> reporter: but mullen said it would be even harder on the taliban. >> the taliban had a really bad year last year. they're having a really bad year this year. they're going to have another really bad year next year. >> reporter: and both men seemed to acknowledge th

the senate, dempsey will oversea all pentagon and military operations, he will replace admiral mike mullen whose term expires october 1st. the nomination is the latest in the administration's overhaul of the national security team. astronauts aboard space shuttle "endeavour" wrapping up a successful 16-day mission to the international space station. this brings an end to "endeavour's" 19-year flying career, and marks the second of nasa's three shuttles to be retired. "atlantis" will make one last supply run to the space station this summer, to close out the 30-year shuttle program. for "teen kids news," fox news channel, in the classroom. >>> astronaut sandra magnus spent four and a half months orbiting earth on the international space station. logging 50,304,000 miles in zero gravity. when everything is floating, there are some special challenges. >> think about your bedroom at home, what you have laying on your dresser and on your bed, and if that was your bedroom in space all of that stuff would be flying all over the place. [ laughter ] and so you need to have velcro or tape or bungee

for now no one not even admiral mike mullen would deny the fact that u.s. debt is a major threat to national security but where to cut and c.n.n.'s john king may have forgotten to ask republican candidates whether the military budget is a good starting point so we here at r.t. decide to step up to the plate and i can think of no better experts on defense spending than our two next guests lawrence korb is a senior fellow at the center for american progress and a senior advisor for the center of defense information and dr james carafano is a senior defense analyst with the heritage foundation gentlemen thank you so much for even trying to speak for me through with you dr karp on i'd like to start with you you know the cold war is over world war two is over the world's military situation has changed we have one of the most powerful military in the world and we spend quite a bit to ensure that it stays that way what's wrong with cutting the military budget in this time. well you said there's there wars going on the united states is the world's largest economy i

joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen says he initially had doubts. >> i do not intend to discuss the specifics of the private advice i rendered with these decisions. as i said, i support them. what i can tell you is the president's decisions are more aggressive and incur more risk than i was originally prepared to accept. >> here is a rundown of some of the stories we're covering in the next two hours. after 16 years on the runs, one of the fbi's most wanted fugitives is caught. mob boss james "whitey bulger has been caught. >>> plus, the president formally announces his troop drawndown plan from afghanistan. >>> finally, watching the river rise, about one-third of the people in minot, north dakota, have evacuated. >> the thing is, tlg there's nothing we can do about it. once you get over the shock of the situation, you just pick up your feet and you move on. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin c

admiral mike mullen told lawmakers that president obama's decision on troop withdrawal are more risky than he initially would accept. >>> casey anthony's mom may take the stand today and we'll take you live to orlando right after this short break. ck fast with t. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. and today, we're re-inventing aspirin for pain relief. with new extra-strength bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of your tough pain. ♪ in fact, it's clinically proven to relieve pain twice as fast. new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief, twice as fast. has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value. pass on the news and make sure you and everyone you know is getting the calcium they need. ♪ >>>

president obama and admiral mike mullen will attend a formal farewell tribute to gates this morning outside the pentagon. he gets bipartisan praise for restoring morale at the pentagon and repairing relations with congress. >>> time to talk about money this morning. let's cross over to hong kong. good morning, anna. >> very good morning to you, ali. a sigh of relief you'd have to say from the markets after the greek parliament passed tough austerity measures. european markets are all in positive territory. similar story here in the asia pacific with all markets up before the close. in your part of the world, wall street was up overnight. since january, all global markets have been trending downwards with investors preferring to stay on the sidelines. >> you were a big part of our team in japan after the tsunami and earthquake. recently i was speaking to a ceo of a nuclear energy company that said for all of the concerns about how that part was handled, japan is likely to fix things up and get its economy back and running faster than any other country could. we're sort of seeing that now. >>

mike mullen. >> ladies and gentleman, the vice president of the united states, with becky gates and mr. bradley gates. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the official party and remain standing as honors are rendered. ladies and gentlemen, the reviewing official, robert m. gates. secretary of defense, accompanied by michael mullen, and the host for today's tribute, barack obama. >> please be seated. ♪ ladies and gentlemen, sec. gates was awarded the honor for civilian service. and the united states air force decoration for exceptional service. becky gates has the distinguished public service award, given by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. [applause] >> sound off. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the national anthem. ♪ >> please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, admiral mullen. >> mr. president, sec. gates, becky, distinguished guests, good morning. on behalf of our men and women in unufirm, -- uniform, let me thank you for being here as we honor robert yates. he

we'll hear from the joint chiefs of staff chairman admiral mike mullen, who says he supports the plan, even though it was more aggressive than he was prepared to support. he is joined by the defense undersecretary michele flournoy. this is two hours, five minutes. every witness before this committee has testified that this strategy is beginning to bear fruit by seizing the momentum from the taliban. many members have been to afghanistan and seen as progress for themselves. districts that were once taliban stronghold are now being contested. once contentious regions are being handed over to afghan security forces. the afghan national army and police are growing in numbers and beginning develop -- to develop the ability to defend their country. we should guard these gains jealously. i'm deeply concerned about the aggressive troop withdrawals proposed by president obama. the president's decision could jeopardize the hard-won gains are troops and allies have made over the past 18 months. they could jeopardize the safety of remaining forces. this announcement also puts at risk a negotiated

he secured a commitment from admiral mike mullen and general david petraeus. he asked them pointedly, can we get this job done this 18 months in terms of training the afghan forces. he also said let's not clear areas we can't transition to our afghan partners. those the questions to come back to and at a minimum this is a period of transition that the president far signaled before and at bare minimum we need 30,000 troops. i would go beyond that because i think there's a dangerous slippery slope if we stay there very long with an open-ended commitment that we create this dysfunctional dependency, this culture of dependency on u.s. forces and we need to motivate afghan forces to take control of their own country. >> let's expand on your earlier point because not only the question of a number of troops but which troops and what they're doing, right. >> absolutely. >> your argument is what, the troops there, what should they be doing. >> they need to help build the afghan security forces. people forget in iraq, the surge that mattered the most was the doubling of

president obama and the outgoing joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen joined hundreds of others on the parade ground outside the pentagon, to mark the occasion. the president awarded gates the medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. and the secretary joked it had been a secret to rival the raid on osama bin laden. >> i'm deeply honored and moved by your presentation of this award. it is a big surprise, but we should have known a couple of months ago, you're getting pretty good at this covert ops stuff. ( laughter ) >> sreenivasan: gates served four and a half years as defense secretary, starting under president bush. he will be replaced by leon panetta, who moves over from his post as c.i.a. director. panetta's successor at the c.i.a. general david petraeus won senate confirmation today. in lebanon, a u.n.-backed tribunal issued indictments today in the assassination of former prime minister rafik hariri. he was one of 23 people killed in a massive truck bombing in beirut, six years ago. he was a prominent sunni leader, and supporters demanded justice. lebanese of

. >> reporter: gates leaves office june 30, and today joined by departing joint chiefs chairman mike mullen gates held his final pentagon news conference. during a low-key and business- like appearance, the secretary was asked the same question about afghanistan that he answered with a blunt "no" about iraq four-and-a-half years ago: is the u.s. winning? >> i have learned a few things in four and a half years, and one of them is to try and stay away from loaded words li "winning" and "losing." what i will say is that i believe we are being successful in implementing the president's strategy, and i believe that our military operations are being successful in denying the taliban control of populated areas, degrading their capabilities and improving the capabilities of the afghan national security forces. >> reporter: with pakistani- american diplomatic and military relations at a low ebb, gates was asked what could stop a seeming downward spiral. >> we need each other, and we need each other more than just in the context of afghanistan. pakistan is an important player in terms of regional sta

president's decisiony the secretary of state hillary clinton and the chairman of the joint chiefs mike mullen. >> it woul be totally understandable that a military commander would want as many troops for as long as he could get them. but any military commander with the level of expertise and experience that general petraeus s also knows that what he wants is just part of the overall decision matrix. and that there are oer factors at worknd so at the end of the day, i think the president made the right decision. >> rose: the president's decisions are more aggressive and iur more risk than i was originally prepared to accept. moreorce for more time is, without doubt, the safer course. but that does not necessarily make it the bestourse. only the president in the end can really determin the acceptableevel of risk we must take. i believe he has done so. >> rose: joining me now general jack keane, the former vice chief of staff of the u.s. army and from washington, vali nasr, a professor of tufts university and was on the staff of amssador richard holbrooke. i am pleased to have both of them on th

i would like to welcome brigades and admiral mike mullen -- robert gates and admiral mike mullen. it is my privilege to welcome you back to the last testimony before this committee and to thank you for your many years of admirable and dedicated service to our nation. you entered your positions during the tumultuous period when we were losing ground in iraq and afghanistan, and you agreed to take on two of the most of the cult jobs in the country and your leadership not only -- difficult jobs in the country and leadership maintain the capacity, capability, and public appreciation for the u.s. military. you have served tirelessly and you have served admirably. this committee and this country are thankful to both of you. i understand secretary gates has to leave by 2:30 p.m. today. we will have time for testimony and questions. i will submit my statement for the record and i will now turn to the vice chairman for opening remarks. >> mr. chairman, it is our pleasure to join you in welcoming these distinguished witnesses to our committee. they have demonstrated through their service, t

then of course my battle buddy of nearly four years, admirable mike mullen. ective leadership of the uniformed military and our close partnership, the record of the last several years i think would have been very different. mike was never show about disagreeing with me, but unfailingly steadfast of loyal to me and to the presidents he served once a decision was made. he is the epitome of a mill lear leader and officer, a man of extreme integrity, a great partner and a good friend. a practice and spirit of cooperation is equally important in releaseships with other elements of the government, especially with those dealing with development and diplomacy. the blows struck against al qaeda culminating in the bin laden raid represent the remarkable fusion of intelligence and on the ground fight. with respect to the state department, my views have, as they say in this town, evolved over the years. i started out my interagency experience in washington, d.c., as a staff eveer on president nixon's national security council. as you might expect, the nixon white house wa

officials all the way up to the admiral mike mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff have repeatedlyrepresents the most direct threat to the u.s. homeland right now. >> given what's happening with the president, a lot of fears al qaeda in the ariebian peninsula would fill the vacuum. specifically, why drones? why is the cia running this covert program? >> there's been a small team of special u.s. operation forces training yemen's counterterrorism forces. maybe about 100 off and on, rotating in and out of the country, but that training has been suspended because of the situation there in yemen right now. there's a feeling some of those targets may have been flushed out in the open because of the unrest there, and also the unrest, the instability in the government there is giving them a possible opportunity to sort of strengthen their position in the country and launch their attacks. it's an opportunity that u.s. officials do not want to miss. >> chris lawrence, thanks so much. president obama visiting a place where no sitting u.s. president has been in 50 years. plus, it's being calle

the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen will be before a house committee.n general david petraeus, the president's top commander in afghanistan, he'll be speaking before another senate committee. he is actually coming to the hill to handle a confirmation hearing for his potential new post as the director of the cia. but with word that military leaders, kyra, were pushing for a more modest, a slower drawdown than what the president had decided on. you can be sure that senators are keying on hearing general david petraeus' thoughts on this. the reaction has been mixed. i would say the democrats in general, if i had to generalize they agree that the drawdown should begin but some, including liberal democrats, think it's not fast enough and want to see a more aggressive time line and more troops pulled out at a quicker pace but others including influential republicans, they are calling this plan maybe too aggressive. they are looking forward to their -- they are concerned this could risk the substantial gains made in afghanistan. one of those people includes se

. >> the chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen admitted criticism of pz is warranted but to drop them as an ally. >> if we walk away from it it will be a much more dangerous place and we'll be back. >> mullen noted what makes pz more dangerous is terrorists and they do have nuclear weapons. >>> the cia is investigating a cyberattack on its public website that said it breached the senate's public computer system says it's responsible. the cia website did not contain any classified information. >>> a blast ripped through a police parking lot in nigeria's capital this morning and officials believe it was a suicide bomber. it is not known right now how many people were killed but dozens of vehicles were set on fire and islamist terrorist group is believed to have set off a series of explosions in northeastern nigeria. >>> the town of hamburg, iowa, hopes a temporary levee doesn't break today. that makeshift levee was completed yesterday and floodwaters are flowing from a breach in the primary levee near the missouri/iowa border and flooding could last there until mid-august,

chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral mike mullen and president obama are among the speakers. director leon panetta will be his replacement. live coverage under way at 9:45 eastern on c-span3. later in the day on c-span, actor gary semise will talk about a foundation to help soldiers and their families. that is live from the national press club at 1:00 p.m. eastern. president obama's counter-terrorism and homeland security advisor john brennan and they'll be administration's new counter-terrorism strategy wednesday. he spoke at the johns hopkins school of international studies. it is an hour and 15 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> i have never heard it so quiet in any room aside -- i think that is a sense of anticipation and excitement about our program today. welcome. many honored guests, students and faculty and others. we are pleased and honored to host john brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism. to introduce our speaker and moderate the program today we have the perfect person and that is right here in our community. professor

our joint chief of staffs chair is admiral mike mullen. and mike mullen said our national debt is our biggest national security threat. now, wouldn't you think when the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff says our greatest national security threat is debt, that maybe the commander in chief might listen? you would think in a normal white house, that's what would happen. but instead what are we doing now in washington? we're debating raising the debt ceiling! and what's the debt ceiling? that's the right to give congress the authority to borrow more money it doesn't have and keep spending money. what's your opinion on raising the debt ceiling? >> no! >> i knew i was going to like you. i knew it before i walked in here. did you know in the last ten years, congress has raised the debt ceiling ten times. i have been in washington three terms and in that time, we have been asked to raise the debt ceiling about a half dozen times. every time i voted no on raising the debt ceiling,, and right now i will be voting no again because there are no se

admiral mike mullen was asked a question. what is the gravest threat to national security, and his answer was, our exploding $14 trillion debt. think about that. spawning out of that debt is a new, secret entitlement program that the obama administration does not want to talk about. this entitlement program does not help those on medicare or medicaid, it is not part of the social security program. this program has one function, paying interest to foreign governments that bankroll our debt. according to obama's own budget, which got zero boat in the democratically controlled senate, interest payments for the national debt will cripple -- quadruple from $187 billion in 2009 to $768 billion in 20/20. that is $2,500 for every man, woman, and child in the u.s. that is to pay the interest in one year on the national debt. it is like those americans who are deep in credit-card debt and every month, they are able to pay off the interest. we know how the story's end. -- how those stories and. you cannot run a family like that long. we