keep in mind the figures i cited are for the pentagon. the pentagon is not the only government agency that is outsourcing. the state department and usaid make extensive use of contractors for construction in iraq and afghanistan as well. so both in iraq and afghanistan today contractors on the ground out number american men and women in uniform and this is an unprecedented situation. yet in washington we think of contacting as a tactical issue. in reality it's become a strategic one. consider this if i haven't convinced you already. if we take the department of defense and state department's budget in 2008, we can add up contracts and see what percentage of the budget that amounts to to read and what we do is we find that 82% of the pentagon budget went out the door and contracts and grants out the door and 2008. 83% of the state department's requested budget in 2008 did the same. sufis numbers really mean that the core business of both the state department and the pentagon have changed. so that's the landscape. there are both positive an

. >>> a security expert says that the pentagon ignored a report that could have helped prevent the ftod shootings. shannon rossmiller says she worked on the 2008 study to help the military spot people like major nidal hasan. >> the report was written from the military perspective. it was entitled radicalization of members of the dod. and what it was for was for them to have tools to look within their ranks to spot different criteria that showed signs and red flags of radicalization and how to spot those, identify them, and then are from there be able to head the problem off so we could have avoid anything from materializing. >> she said she contacted the military after the ft. hood shootings to see why no one had mentioned the report. she was told that it is now classified. pentagon officials have declined comment. >>> yesterday defense secretary robert gates announced an extensive review of military policies in response to the ft. hood shootings. he said that the 45-day review will look into military screening programs and security at u.s. bases. the army and senate committee have al

pentagon officials declined to comment.esterday defense secretary robert gates announced an extensive review of policies. he said the 45-day review will look at the military screening programs and security at u.s. bases. >>> senators are cutting their thanksgiving vacation short to vote on your health care reform. in a rare move, the senate meets tomorrow to decide whether to open the debate on the democrats' plan which could extend coverage to at least 30 million people. the estimated cost $848 billion over ten years. now republicans are against the bill's provision to provide a government-run insurance option. >>> new this morning a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle killed at least 13 people and wounded nearly 30 more in a town square. police in afghanistan tried shouting at him to stop. they say that several children were hurt in the blast. it happened nerp the country's border with iran. violence has been soaring there as the taliban expands its turf. >>> soon you could skip the customs line when flying home from overs

the military and the pentagon know that we will pro side everything. and we constantly do to prod us. what can we do with the lack of, the deal with time, the time periods between de ployments. how can we reduce the stress in our family. that is a constant question. and we do everything we can to support our military and our veterans. >> i don't see how that's possible. i think that's one of the many mrks questions which the president is struggling with. >> the don't ask don't tell policy, president obama has said that he would like to repeople the ban. and i was wondering that 2 the 2011 defensive association will be enough. >> i was opposed to the don't ask don't tell. if it's a repeople, it can only happen after a very careful, had a very clear review of the policy by the people affected by the policy, obviously, but in the midtary we've got -- i believe show the military that we are going to take their views and their suggestions as to how we can change policy. and have that -- this work in a way that doesn't produce conflict between or within the

this time is not being lost in terms of the pentagon going through that internal process, talking to people at all levels, officers, enlisted personnel, young, older men and women, retirees, they are going through an important process here with the command and everybody leading up to the command. >> that's it for our time. thanks for being with us. senator carl levin, chairman of the armed services committee. let me turn to you to put senator levin's comments in larger contexts. let's begin with afghanistan. you have been covering this town . it seems as though senator levin is waiting for news from the white house as to which direction the president is going. >> he is not saying how involved he is in because they have been listening to him closely. but it's also true that president obama is being very slow and deliberate as he does this. and i don't know what troops think. when obama goes to military bases and speaks to troops, one of the lines that gets the most applause is when he tells them i'm not going to put you at unnecessary risk and i want to be careful. and so he is doing

we've got some information from the pentagon. they are reporting nine deaths, five of those civilian, up to 30 people wounded. rescue crews obviously have been sent to ft. hood to try to handle this situation. this all happened at 1:30 central time inside the soldier readiness processing center. this is where soldiers prepare to deploy. senator kay bailey hutchison of texas has been passing along some information. she's been saying personnel from the post told her the shooters, we believe at least two shooters, were wearing uniforms. but that does not necessarily mean these shooters are military personnel. not necessarily. again, at least two shooters. a spokesperson from ft. hood said that one is captured. we believe according to the information most recently from kay bailey hutchison that a second shooter has actually been shot. that is the information we're work ongoing that senator hutchison passed onto to our sister network. we know the president, barack obama has been told about what is going on. white house staff is gather

last night the pentagon said it had no idea until after the ft. hood shootings the communications were with tuturn to a jointer terrorism task force last year, but the investigator who looked into them determined they were for a research paper that hasan was writing. apparently, robin, never sent the information any further up the chain. >> richard, thank you. that's the latest on the investigation. we certainly are following it this morning. >>> do you remember the walmart employee trampled to death by a huge crowd last year when the store opened on black friday, the day after thanksgiving? well, they're trying to make sure this does can not happen again this year. let's talk about the changes. our money expert jennifer westhoven is all over this one. >> good morning. walmart wants to make sure that when you think about black friday you think about getting your crazy deals on and that safety is not an issue at all. that it's all handled. the "new york times" reports that walmart hired crowd experts who have done events like the olympics and the s

they have worked at the highest levels of government on the national security council in the pentagon and the state department and in and this is a broad, and they are people, and we can learn something about the experience of making strategy in a complex conditions the country has faced in the past 20 years. let me briefly introduced the panel, especially as it relates to the aftermath of 9/11 and strategy under uncertainty. eric edelman has served in government closely as a career foreign service officer. related to the fall of the berlin wall, he worked in the u.s. embassy in moscow and then return to work in the state department, and then as assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for soviet and east european affairs from 1989 to 1993. after 9/11, he was a principal deputy assistant to the vice- president, that is richard cheney, for national security affairs from 2001 to 2003 and ambassador to turkey from 2003 to 2005, and he was u.s. undersecretary of defense policy from 2005 to 2009. he is currently a distinguished fellow at the center for strategic and budgetary assessments

pentagon officials have declined comment. >>> the u.s. military may scale back the number of jets to protect against an air attack. after september 11th, the government designated dozens of planes for that but senior officers say the chance of air attacks decreased and the military could free up those crews for other missions. >>> one of our i-reporters really captured the mood with those protests on ucla campus this week. look at this. julie says students are frustrated and angry and worried about the 32% tuition hike approved yesterday. by next fall students at all ten uc campuses will have to pay $2,500 more a year for their tuition. that brings the cost to about $10,000 a year. ellerton talked to people who can't afford that including one man who turned his life around by getting an education. >> after a life of crime going through the criminal system, i decided it was time for a change and got into the uc system. this is my second year. graduate this year. i'm here because i know that this is going to separate from those that have an

lisa dohan here she lost her husband navy captain robert dolan at the pentagon september 11th. deborah burlingame, i believe is here and she lost her brother, a pilot. also we are honored tim brown from the new york fire department is here. tim worked night after night on the rescue and recovery efforts of the world trade center. so, it's a privilege to have each of you with us today. on september 11th, 2001, o@@@@@k bin laden stated they were at war with the united states and intent was to kill innocent americans and bring ruin to the united states. the death and destruction they caused in new york, washington and pennsylvania was an act of war. at the time, that was crystal clear to us. if there is now among some folks in washington any confusion on that point is because time has dulled their memory or because other matters have clouded their judgment. but the american people remember that day well and they know that the facts have not changed. president bush responded to the 9/11 terrorist acts swiftly and forcefully and we have been blessed that the dedicated work of millio

less than a decade ago, we went down to the pentagon to do a story on something called information warfaresome people called it. it involved using computers and the internet as weapons. much of it was still theory, but we were told that before too long it might be possible for a hacker with a computer to disable critical infrastructure in a major city and disrupt essential services: to steal millions of dollars from banks all over the world; infiltrate defense systems; extort millions from public companies; and even sabotage our weapons systems. today it's not only possible, all of that has actually happened, plus a lot more we don't even know about. it's why president obama has made cyber war defense a top national priority and why some people are already saying that the next big war is less likely to begin with a bang than a blackout. >> mike mcconnell: can you imagine your life without electric power? >> kroft: until february of this year, retired admiral mike mcconnell was the nation's top spy. as chief of national intelligence he oversaw the central intelligence agency, the defense in

we'll have details in a moment. >>> the pentagon will investigate ways to spot problems with membersf the military before they erupt in violence. this probe is in response to the ft. hood shootings. the defense department spokesman says the investigation will go beyond that case. one official tells the "associated press" they will quickly assess where the armed services are missing any red flag behaviors among their troops. >>> the number of army soldiers who kill themselves will likely set another record this year. there have been 140 suicides among active duty soldiers this year matching the total number from all of last year. this would be the sixth consecutive year that soldier suicides have set a new record. >> this is horrible. and i do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way. we talk about these incidents of suicide using figures and percentages. however, the grim reality is each case represents an individual. a person. with family and friends and a future ahead of him or her. every single loss is devastating. >> he goes on to point out suicides seem

the pentagon is the 800 lb intelligence gorilla.hey have all the money -- 80% spent on intelligence goes through the pentagon. host: you been out of the entire host: you been out of the entire intelligence budget, 80% host: you mean of the whole intelligence budget, 80 percent, goes to the pentagon and 20% goes to the cia? guest: no, you have other ranges -- agencies, too. the department of energy has got one. the cia budget has substantially increased, but it is probably 15%, maybe. but you needed in the old days, and you still do, you needed that the director of central intelligence now and again and now the director of national intelligence have to get along with the secretary of defense. we are in a lucky position for intelligence right now because bob gates as a secretary of defense was at one point the director of central intelligence, so there is a meeting of the mines. host: has adding the level of property in the intelligence committee, has improved u.s. oversight of intelligence? guest: oversight really relies primarily on

that's from a senior pentagon official we're hearing. we're also learning more about nidal hasan's background. it looks as though his residency may have been troubled at walter reed medical center. national public radio returned a memo reportedly written by his supervisor. it said the faculty had had serious concerns about his professionalism and work ethic. we could not reach that supervisor, though, for comment. we want to point out. >>> two weeks later, the big question is still could the shoot been prevented. people are weighing in very strongly here. a cnn opinion research corporation poll finds 64% of people polled thought law enforcement or the u.s. military could have prevented the attacks, but people are split over whether the attacks constituted an act of terrorism. 45% of the people polled, questioned say that it was terrorism. 47% disagree. >>> the washington, d.c. city council is planning to vote on a measure to legalize same-sex marriage next month, but it's not letting the public have a say. so do you think voters should b

that, you have to again, i wouldn't come up withness a beauracratic politic as analysis but the pentagonw emission and it has emission of defending really without ever winning that ball !attle. just a static battle. osama bin laden said all i have to do is send three people to a distant country and they wave the flag and pentagon will come running and that seems to be an interesting explanation or i'd like to hear your explanation of that. when you say the cold war was a farce. the cue bin missile crisis takes it to the level of strategy. we know you have a situation where the machinery set in motion by containment and by the cold war a clashes over something that was really very minor. namely the island of regime in cuba we've never like and never been able to do anything really. and we almost had world war three. ignorant army's clashing in the night. a farce becoming a tragedy. i'm wondering what you think of that. when you look at roads bjjz on theh bomb he said we could have nuclear winter of either of those men getting they're way. >> first a clarification. i didn't try to explain

now trying to-to-stop this, i say the pentagon and defense secretary robert gates say showing photos would endanger u.s. troops abroad. that's the argument on the government side. they don't think this is a safe thing to doxt aclu says no, the public has a right to see these pictures the pentagon and defense secretary filed an appeal not really an appeal but papers with the supreme court to stop the release of the pictures. people are thinking of the abu ghraib pictures but thigese are not the pictures. >> gitmo? we don't know. >> is it important the public see these alleged abuse pictures or do you agree with secretary gates that the publication of these photo is a danger to u.s. troops abroad? e-mail us at cnn.come/hln or text us at hlntv or you can jump in the conversation, my facebook page. richelle carey hln. this is important stuff. >> you're going to get a lot of good views starting in an hour and 15 minutes. thanks. >>> is the united states turning soci socialist? some people think so. u.s. troops are springing up like weeds in the springtime but are they parlts or extremists

-- rather between the pentagon and aclu. the issue is photos that appear to show americans abusing foreign detainees. so should they be released? "your views" next. >>> michael jackson's personal doctor, conrad murray, was in a court in las vegas this afternoon accused of owing more than $14,000 to a woman and her son. murray reached a deal. this deal will keep him out of jail. his lawyer actually paid half the money on his behalf today. the child's mother agreed to not force him to pay the $14,000 in back payments. murray will now pay the woman $1,000 a month. hurry says he couldn't pay earlier because he had to close his medical practice after michael jackson's death. >>> the contents of farrah fawcetts will have been leaked. the actress left almost everything to her 24-year-old son redmond and nothing to long-time love ryan o'neal. according to to a copy obtained by radaronline.com the ak dress left $4.5 million to redmond. other beneficiaries include her nephew, father and a former boyfriend. the will was dated august of

the pentagon is the 800 lb intelligence gorilla. they have all the money -- 80% spent on intelligence goes through the pentagon. host: you been out of the entire intelligence budget, 80% goes to the pentagon intelligence, 20% to the cia? guest: no, not even 20%. you have other agencies. the state department has one, the treasury has one, the department of energy has one. the cia budget is substantially increase, probably 15%, maybe. but you needed in the old days and still do -- that the director of central intelligence now and again now the director of national intelligence has to get along with the secretary of defense. we are in a very lucky position for intelligence right now because of the gates is secretary of defense who was at one time the director of central intelligence, so there is a meeting of the mines. host: adding this extra layer of bureaucracy, has it improved intelligence-gathering? has it improved oversight? guest: oversight really depends on the agencies themselves primarily, and on congress. what it is and what

host: from "usa today," this item about the pentagon completing its for a good review on january 15. "the pentagon says its review of personnel, health and other policies in light of the fort massacre will be completed by january 15. defense secretary robert gates announced through the last week and named former pentagon officials to head it." welcome to the program. caller: i don't think they are taxing up the rich, per se. anybody who is obviously making money because of the war going on because of the stock purchases -- that is the only reason they want the board to go on, because of the stock purchases. it is sickening, because they don't want us to pay for anything of our infrastructure, because if you don't keep your infrastructure going, you end up with high inflation and that all the money in the world is not worth nothing could you have to keep money in people's pockets, or else you end up with chaos. other than that, i don't see any reason to worry about it. let's not worry about poopor people, health care, any of that. host: let us go to this twitter, and. a couple of head

by the way, i will try not to use to many acronyms, but cfe is not a pentagon acronym.r conventional forces in europe, which was initiated in 1988. in fact, i know that when cheney became secretary, he was very much focused on the importance of reducing soviet conventional forces in europe, that that really was the problem. we were saddled with something else, which had a more political profile of time. that was a proposal inherited to modernize one of the short-range missiles in europe, which really -- that was one of the ideas that may have seemed necessary back in the battle days of 1985, but you know how long it takes pentagon programs to the ball and finally the obsolete and finally to be recognized as obsolete. at any rate, here this thing was floating out in the middle of all of this call full situation in germany, and germans were asking what on earth the americans and -- i will not sit all germans, but most of them were pretty upset about the idea. we did not need them, but what we really did need was a reduction of the soviet conventional threat, and there was

he said he lived a very hectic life and there was always pressure and this meant every night, he pentagon one hour with his wife -- he spent one hour with his wife that was intellectual and something they could do together. did i answer your question? >> does your book mention any instances of times when mr. rehnquist had very difficult situations that he was handling on the court, and needed a friend, not to tell specifics about cases to, but that you knew that you were somehow helping him through a difficult time? >> i'm not quite sure i understand the question. >> as a supportive friend. >> well, that came up all the time. i mean, we -- we saw a lot of each other, and things that bothered him, we talked about. and rarely about cases, because we almost -- almost never about cases. a, he didn't need my advice about them and i don't think they were ever had a great emotional content. they were cases. and -- but there are all sorts of -- i'm not sure the ones i've discussed, i've discussed and it's hard to answer what kind of things you would talk about. we had children the same age. we oc

to realize the pentagon less new missions. it is just a static bag. osama bin laden said that all he had to do was send a few mujahedin to a distant country to wave a flag and the pentagon would come running. that seems to be an interesting explanation. i would like to hear your explanation of that threat exaggeration. when you say that the cold war was a farce, the cuban missile crisis takes it to the level of tragedy. now that we know about castro wanting to use nuclear weapons, if you have a situation where the machinery set in motion by containment in the cold war clashes over something that was really very minor. namely, the islanders' team on key but the wind never liked or been able to do anything about. -- name, the island team on cuba that we never liked or have been able to do anything about. when you look at richard roth's bomb where he discusses the cuban missile crisis, he says that we could have had nuclear winter with either of them getting their way. >> ambassador wolfowitz? >> first, a clarification. i did not

senior administration officials suggest pentagon sources leaked the misinfo. he will meet with the national security team tomorrow. >>> the man accused of trying to blackmail david letterman is expected to ask the judge to drop the case today. a lawyer for robert halderman plans to challenge the evidence. the case made letterman admit on his own show that he had sex with women who worked for him. >>> north and south korean warships clashed near their disputed sea border this morning exchanging fire. south korea claims that a north korean ship was damaged after it deliberately crossed the border. an official says this may have been just an accident that got out of control. that's a quick check of what we're talking about, definitely not all. let's check in on you this morning, sleepy head. i'm robin meade. welcome. during wartime u.s. troops know the risk that they're facing but today in ft. hood a memorial for 13 soldiers killed in the kind of attack no one expected. a shooting rampage on the base and a fellow soldier as the suspect. the president will attend

that's from a senior pentagon official. meanwhile, it looks like the accused shooter's residency may have been troubled at walter reed medical center. national public radio obtaining a copy of a memo written by major nidal hasan's supervisor. in it says the faculty had concern about his work ethic. we could not reach the supervisor for a comment yet. >>> so about a million folks across the united states will see their benefits expire in january unless congress moves quickly. money expert jennifer westhoven is here. that's a staggering number. >>> this may be taking a lot of lawmakers by surprise a. new report says -- you remember just two weeks ago, we've been talking about this, the new law passed giving 14 to 20 weeks more. very helpful for a lot of families to get through the holidays. but according to this report, maybe some lawmakers didn't read the fine print. they were doing all these extensions, drafting them on to a bill that expires december 31st. and the new report says that expiration date still holds true so un

administration officials say one version that calls for about 34,000 more troops has been a favorite at the pentagone plan has been described as a half and half approach about half of the troops would be fighting, the other half would be holding ground so the afghans can regroup but, again, this is only one of the four options. administration officials say the other three options, robin, are different mixes of those components. >> so this debate has been going on -- you're talking months now. what is holding up the president's decision, do we know? >> months. and this was their eighth meeting we're hearing details from, robin. a senior administration official says the president wants to clarify exactly how and when u.s. troops will hand over responsibility to the afghans, basically an exit strategy. analysts say even with the time line the u.s. commitment in afghanistan could last years. >> and even if you send troops tomorrow, you are still not getting all the troops in until the end of the following year. so, you know, decisions made today actually play out over a very long time. if you delay this

>> the pentagon is close to acquiring a deep penetration conventional weapon. why this news has made it to television, i don't know. but i suspect. stranger things have happened in history. i do not rule out the possibility that the administration would take that action. action. in@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ g >> lets talk about taxes. [laughter] with health care and energy, we will be flirting with a 60% federal marginal rate on top of which our state and local taxes and in most day to run the country is the prospect of an increase in those taxes. what will be the impact of this kind of change in our tax policy relative to economic growth? this administration or any would be how you create jobs. can this strategy work? what would you recommend? >> those are a lot of great questions. for the dismal science to become the more entertaining part is a rare thing. i would begin by saying that marginal taxes are high -- [unintelligible] what the american people for get and what our leaders often forget -- the really fundamental finance decisions are about spending. taxes and

to this and we here at the pentagon are doing all we can to provide a little taste of home to our u.s. service members deployed abroad. the defense logistics agency has made plans to ship thanksgiving meal for proximally 180,000 troops in iraq and afghanistan. without waiting to far into the delicious details, our forces in the two theaters will be sitting down to thanksgiving feasts that includes 63000 pounds of potatoes, 8700 cans of cranberry sauce, 61000 pounds of stuffing, and more than 465,000 pounds of turkey. for dessert, there will be 67000 pies and cakes. to meet the needs of service members working different shifts, news will be served around-the-clock on thanksgiving day at many of the larger dining facilities in iraq and afghanistan. with this we sent to our troops a small reminder of our immeasurable gratitude for all they do to serve our country. also of course convey our hopes for their safe eternal. and with that i will take your questions. i was going to call unjust and first to be fair. he is there. he is in barbara starr see. >> thanks, jeff. i really appreciate th

there were explosives that pulverize the skyscrapers in 10 seconds, no plane debris was found at the pentagon and many other contradictions and inconsistencies and lies on the part of the government and also where real on the morning of 9/11? three meeting with the chief of pakistan a of a isi id that is the cia? who had recently given 100 grand to the fall guy atta. even the current administration news that lie to accelerate afghanistan and we will frame up cull the sheik muhammed and a trial in new york in the near future. >> >> let me talk about my culinary issues. august 2001 was several other members of the intelligence committee we had gone to pakistan and our host while we were there was the head of the pakistani intelligence service that is called the i s i and when we told him if he came to the united states we would like to reciprocate and it turned out he came to the united states and on september 11 was having breakfast in the office of the chairman of the house intelligence committee to which are was invited to. it was there that we learned what was going on in new york. the stat

no plane debris found at the pentagon and many other contradictions and inconsistencies on the part of a government and where review the morning of 9/11? meeting with the chief of the cia whose head had given recently 100 grand to the fall guy? can you explain the big lies of 9/11? because deepen the current administration use that big lie to escalate in afghanistan and we will also be framing the lead sheik muhammed in a trial in new york. thank you. >> let me first talk from my culinary issues. august 2001 with several other members of the intelligence committee we had gone to pakistan and our host was the head of the pakistani intelligence service called the isi and we said if he would come to the united states we would sit reciprocate. it turned out he came and on september 11th was having breakfast of the chairman of the house intelligence committee to which i was invited. it was there that we learned what was going on and that the york for growth this man had been funneling funds to atta i have heard the have not seen any substantiation it is a rumor that has not that sustain che

say that senior white house and state department officials have harshly criticizeed the draft pentagonolicy statement and one administration official was quoted as that in no way or shape represents u.s. policy. and lost in the swirl of all this was the very sinch fact that pete williams, the spokesman, pointed out or even very widely in the government, a lot of people are making comments about a document they never actually read. >> and bart gelman tried do a better job of seting the document in some context. but by and large first impressions are very hard to chape. hard to shape. and i think looking to what is striking about the press coverage is it was a very tipalical washington story, which reflected a lot of the sort of not invented here syndrome that goes on bureaucratically and where critics did not put forward any sort of strategy at all but just chose to comment harshly about a dew point that most of them hadn't read and was still in the preparatory stages so to go back to the document at this time origins of the dpd go back to some of the elements paul wolfowitz talks about

. >> larry: cnn is reporting the pentagon planners are expecting deployment of about 34,000 more troopsafter this. >> larry: erica hill will sit in again for anderson cooper tonight to host "ac 360" at the top of the hour. what's up tonight, erica? >>> tonight new details about the president's plan for afghanistan. we know he's going to make an announcement one week from tonight. already there are reports they'll be sending as many as 34,000 additional troops into the war zone. what exactly will that translate to? we're going to dig deeper. plus, it's being referred to as the botax. a cute name for a possible plan to tax cosmetic surgery and in turn help finance health care reform. who is really paying the tax and would it even work? we're keeping them honest. >>> plus, much more from inside the obamas' first state dinner which i know you've been talking a lot about tonight, larry. that's all coming up at the top of the hour. >> larry: especially the desserts. >> especially the desserts. they should have been indian. >> larry: yes. that's what he said. erica hill at 10:00 eastern, 7:00

. >> a version that calls for 34,000 troops is a favorite right now at the pentagon.plan has been described as a half and half approach, half of the troops would be fighting and the other half would be holding grounds so the afghans can regroup. that's only one of the four options. administration officials say the other three options, robin, are different mixes of the components you and i have been talking about. >> sounds like we have a while to go yet. thank you, richard. >>> and every year 11 u.s. american pilots try to show under the influence of alcohol. that has been happening since 1997. and officials are reviewing the case of a pilot arrested on monday suspected to be drunk on the job. >>> and now the woman that was attacked by a chimpanzee had an interview with oprah. during most of the interview she kept her face hidden under the veil. >> was this your job to take care of him, because this was your boss? >> no, it was her pet that she wanted, and she has had to rush out a few times or could not come home that night. there was only a few times that i fed him.

. >> larry: cnn is reporting the pentagon planners are expecting deployment of about 34,000 more troopsher guests about that after this. (announcer) here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ho-ho-ho! (announcer) get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. but hurry - the offer ends soon. >> larry: erica hill will sit in again for anderson cooper tonight to host "ac 360" at the top of the hour. what's up tonight, erica? >>> tonight new details about the president's plan for afghanistan. we know he's going to make an announcement one week from tonight. already there are reports they'll be sending as many as 34,000 additional troops into the war zone. what exactly will that translate to? we're going to dig deeper. tonight with cnn's fareed zakaria and michael ware. >>> plus, it's being referred to as the botax. a cute name for a possible plan to tax cosmetic surgery and in turn help finance health care reform. who is really paying the tax and would it even work? we're keeping them honest. >>> plus, much

i went inside the electricity grid and into the pentagon. i went into high-priced plastic surgery operating rooms, and into the innovating, you know, laboratories of the future. and the stories of the target is the really sort of this journey. and i hope to give you a little glitz of that, but let's start with my, you know, striking realization, which was very exciting. this one morning in my office i took an intimate tour of my own personal environment. since nearly all plastics, polymers, inks, paints, fertilizer and pesticides are made from agrochemicals and all parties are delivered to market by trucks, trains, ships in their place, there was virtually nothing in my office. my body included it wasn't there because of transfigured there i sat on a desk made of plastic when sweatshirt made of fleece, a polymer, over yoga pants made from lycra, ditto, sipping coffee shipped from a symbolic eating eggs and appletalk from washington surrounded by walls covered with oil derived paints jotting notes in petroleum derived inc., typing words on a

pentagon officials denied comment. >>> new this friday morning, casey anthony's attorneys say a formerer reader is another possible suspect in the death of anthony's daughter, kayly. roy kronk discovered the baed last year, remember? 24-year-old casey anthony is the only person charged in the death of her daughter. >>> talking turkey day now because senators cutting their vacation, with thanksgiving vacation a bit short here to vote on health care reform. in this rare move, the senate meets tomorrow to decide whether or not they should open debate on the democrats' plan which could possibly extend coverage to at least 30 million americans. but we heard about the price tag this week of this proposed health care bill, $848 billion over ten years. republicans are against the bill to provide a government run insurance option. >>> and it's funny to start thinking about thanksgiving, but i'm already hungry thinking about it. >> i told my wife, we had other last child 2 1/2 years ago, i told her to keep the maternity pants. it's fantastic. >> good morning. >> i'll show you what's going on. if

that's from a senior pentagon official. we're also learning more about nidal hasan's background. it looks like the accused shooter's residency may have been troubled at walter reed medical center. national public radio obtained a copy of a memo reportedly written by major hasan's supervisor. it said that faculty had serious concerns about his professionalism and his work ethic. we couldn't reach that supervisor for a comment. >>> the senate is gearing up for a final showdown over a health care reform bill proposed by democrats, a crucial vote on whether or not to even begin debate on the bill is expected to take place on saturday. majority leader harry reid says the bill will reduce the deficit while expanding health coverage to millions of americans. >> 98% of the american people will have -- medicare will be included in that number -- will have health insurance, and we'll make sure that 30 million more americans who don't have health insurance today will soon have it. i want to repeat, we not only protect medicare, we're making it stronger. >> like the house bill, the senate bi

senior administration officials suggest that pentagon sources leaked misinfo. the president meets with his national security team tomorrow. >>> tropical storm ida is moving over mobile bay, alabama, right now. it's a piece of tape that we just got in recently about 30 minutes ago the national hurricane center says that ida did make landfall at dolphin island, alabama. ida has gotten weaker, though, but there is still the major concern is about the rains and thereof the flooding. >>> north and south korean warships clashed near their disputed seaboarder this morning exchanging fire. south korea claims a north korean ship was damaged after it deliberately crossed the border. a senior white house official says this may have been an accident that got out of control. >>> 31 minutes past the hour. hello. come into the room and sit down for a while if you got the time. i'm robin meade. good morning, sunshine. >>> during war time, obviously, u.s. troops know that the risks that they're facing, but today at ft. hood there is a memorial for 13 soldiers killed and the kin

. >> i am emphatic in my beliefs and in my constant statements to people within the pentagon, my clients, that the essential function of the military is to capture, kill, engage the enemy. and that nothing david kris or i do know legislative reform of commissions should affect how we behave at the point of capture. the role of the military is to capture and engage the enemy. it is not evidence collection. it is not law enforcement. and there was over the summer this rumor that somehow got started that gain a lot of traction in congress actually, that members of the military overseas and deployed areas were reading miranda rights to detainees. and i had to write letter after letter to committee chairman after committee chairman say no, members of the military are not reading miranda rights to detainees. that is not the role of the military. and so i think it is important to bring alleged terrorist to justice. i think it is important that certain detainees be brought to justice, but that should not change the role of the military at the outset of the process. >> first of all, back in world

>> the pentagon is close to acquiring a deep penetration conventional weapon. why this news has made it to television, i don't know. but i suspect. stranger things have happened in history. i do not rule out the possibility that the administration would take that action. in >> let's talk about taxes. [laughter] the administration plans to raise income-tax is as taxes on related items from health care to energy. with these projected increases, we will be flirting with a 60% federal marginal rate, on top of which there are state and local taxes. what will be the impact of these kinds of changes in our tax policy relative to economic growth? in a given that the driving force in this administration or any would be how you create jobs. can this strategy work? what would you recommend? >> those are a lot of great questions. for the dismal science to become the more entertaining part is a rare thing. i would begin by saying that marginal taxes are high -- [unintelligible] what the american people for get and what our leaders often forget -- the really fundamental fina

scope of what the president is dealing with with these meetings, dealing with the people in the pentagon and the administration, at the end of the day, could the president say, "i choose not to have additional troops in afghanistan"? >> there are a plethora of decisions that could alter a sleepy the outcome of this -- that could ultimately be the outcome of this. i do not want to prejudge what it might be. >> is that a viable -- >> i think there are a lot of different options on the table. >> going back to the gao report last week, it talked about only 70% -- 78% has not been spent out of the stimulus money this year. first of all, what was it rushed through -- >> what was what rushed through? the gao report? >> the stimulus report rushed through -- >> i appreciate the characterization. i cannot agree with the fact that -- i don't know how much time be spent discussing it here, but i don't consider that time we stood. -- i don't consider that time wasted. i assume that the measure you looking at is final money that has gone out the door and does not include obligated money which allows,

engineer officer and was stationed throughout the united states as well as japan, including time in the pentagonworked directly for the secretary and navy at one point. i was a combat engineer officer as i said and with that came the dehoiment to iraq. as well as a deployment as a u.s. department of defense civilian who was with a state department team that was imbedded with -- with a u.s. army division and to quit iraq. >> you resigned from the position in the state department on september 10th. was that significant? >> no. that was actually just, the way the timing worked out. and if there's one thing that pushed me over the edge, it was the resignation, it was the afghan elections, so after a week and a half, and that was august 20th, after a week and a half and two weeks of watching those events unfold, i spoke to my boss, beginning of september and said, i am really thinking of resigning, and i am at a point where i can't par take in this any longer. so it just turned out by the time i got to see my boss, and by the time i wrote the letter it was september 10th, so that the timing in septem

we are going to have to have pentagon spending reform.f we will reform those areas of our government, we will have all the money that we need for health care, for our infrastructure, we will have what we need to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, close to the naked and heal the sick. -- clothe the naked and heal the sick. this is a moral issue. god is aware of what is going not in -- of what is going on and he will hold accountable. host: thank you. as we show you these floor proceedings, these comments from twitter -- finally, six american style. this is how government is supposed to work. eight years is a long time, bring on the debate. coming up -- together again, tucker carlson and margaret carlson. one more issue we want to share with you from the associated press, 12 afghan security border guards were killed along the pakistani border, the attack coming amidst reports that over one dozen militants with expected ties to the taliban were in the operation on sunday, underlying the struggles in the country's southern border. we wil

i f agents from sharing it back with the pentagon without permission. where the information came from -- >> that is pretty easy to get. >> they can get it. what this suggests to me is the assessment, they didn't view it as a close call. there was no derogatory information. they saw no reason. over time as more information comes out the committee will be in better position to judge whether a that was the right judgment but mechanisms certainly did exist if there was a desire on the part of the defense criminal investigative service to shares that. >> we heard about the silo's 39/11. some of the statements that he allegedly has made, talking about the one where colonel terry lee heard him say that maybe people should strapped bombs on themselves and go to times square in new york, the contacts with the e mom, are those on lows in place when you hear this over here or over here or something else going. it isn't being shared. to those silos still exist? >> i think tremendous progress has been made in terms of information sharing. when we see that there was

. >> by the way, we talk about the uniform code of military justice and the pentagon and the military and grossed. in fact, the military justice system is quite decentralized. the different branches have their own systems. three these are serviced by service arrangements. -- these are serviced by service arrangements. one difference between their military system and the civilian system is the terms of office for judges. we're all familiar with the fact that federal district judges enjoy life tenure and their salaries reduced. those do not apply to military judges. the supreme court says the due process clause does not require a military judge to have any term of office. the bad news is that the terms they created are only three years long, which is very, very short. that is the difference. speaking personally i think that is unfortunate, and i think the military and congress should do better in terms of protecting the independence of military judges. a three-year term is something we could never tolerate in the civilian community. we will see if those concerns about judicial independe

. >> there is the issue of intercepted e-mailed being shared with the pentagon earlier. given your background in the intelligence world, is that relationship between civilian intelligence agencies and the government what it should be? >> without reference to this case, i will tell you that the sharing of information between the intelligence community and the department of defense and i would say law enforcement is so far superior to what was when i left government in 1993. it is dramatically different and dramatically better. one of the things that everybody is looking out and the purpose of they president's requirement terms of looking at who had what intelligence when and shared it with home is to answer your question and we will not know the officer to that killed it is over. >> short of someone in the u.s. military and making a beef, what is allowed and not allowed for someone who might be described as becoming self-radicalized. ? what is allowed in the u.s. military? >> we all have private lives. in any command, you typically are not overly involved in the private l

. >>> the pentagon investigating ways to spot problems with members of the military before they eruptviolence. a response to the ft. hood shootings. a department, a defense department spokesman says the investigation will go beyond that case. one military official tells the associated press the probe will try to quickly assess whether the armed services are missing any red flag behaviors among their troops. >>> things may get safer for you on long distance bus rides. the ntsb twaunts to require seat belts and tougher roofs on buses. this is after an accident such as the one in georgia where 13 college band member was lurt. the plan also bans drive frers texting and tries to prevent driver fatigue. the american bus association says it welcomes the idea but objects to some of those proposals. >>> startling new news how distracted teenagers may be while driving. listen to this. a new survey by pew research center says one-third of kids between 16 and 17 say they text while driving. about a half say they talk on their cell phone. the poll results appeared in "usa today." many teenagers sa

. >> now, the pentagon has asked the media not to speculate on motive, but we're here to talk and we can certainly hypotheticalize about possible motives for a major in the army, a medical doctor to open fire on his colleagues, perhaps even some of his patients. who knows? case i jordan, criminologist, have you been listening to all this. and senator hutchison went on to say we're going to have to see if there's any group trying to infiltrate our military. it's something they'll have to explore. >> they'll explore it, absolutely. but this is very unprecedented as we look at case studies of other mass murder. i will be very surprised to -- if the other two suspects in custody are actually linked to the gunman. it would be very rare although cases of what we call master dee dee sizeple murder do happen. just because he's a health care professional does not make him immune from all the other stresses, especially predeployment stresses of war. in fact, if his job is listening to all the other soldiers' stories and helping to deprogram them after they come back and resetal into normal lif

the pentagon has order master's degree than 6,000 what are called mrap vehicles from the companies.e are already in use in afghanistan. these types of trucks are easier to drive and offer better protection than smaller humvees. if you look closely, they have a v-haul underneath which helps, again, to protect the lives when these trucks go over ieds. >>> china may have overdone its efforts to tinker with the weather. heavy snowfall has canceled and delayed scores of flights out of beijing. thousands of cars and trucks are stranded on highways. chinese media says the government induced the snowfall by feeding clouds with silver iodide. the result is beijing's heaviest snowfall in 54 years. a little bit too much salt, perhaps. not enough eggs. >> i don't know if you can pin it on exactly the silver iodine. even though that helps. >> during the olympics they were trying to affect the weather, too. trying. >> can't break up smog, apparently. >> it's going to be tough for the next couple of days. let me show you what's going on now. low pressure center. here's your coastal storm. old ida