before we get to the pentagon. in all, at least 263 organizations have been created or reorganized -- this is intelligence organizations -- as a response to 9/11. some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations. that's 10,000 locations across the united states. in washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top secret intelligence work are under construction, now under construction or have been built since september 2001. together they occupy the equivalent of almost three pentagons or 22 u.s. capitol buildings, about 17 million square feet of space. and that's the end of that quote. but let me just mention that more than two-thirds of the i.c.'s intelligence programs are controlled by the pentagon. which means control as well over a major chunk of the combined intelligence budget which has been announced at $75 billion in which arkin and priest point out that's two and a hal

at 8:45, passengers were allowed back into the pentagon system. but for many, it had already been a terrible start to a freezing cold workday. >> a cold morning to be out. >> it is inconvenient. i'm walk fromthat station to the pentagon now and i think you just do what you've got to do. >> reporter: the pentagon spokesmen stay proper procedure was followed here and they are very happy with their response to this situation. in pentagon city, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. >>> some people who live in gaithersburg have been forced out of their apartments into the cold. fire crews were called into this building. let's look it a on muddy branch road for an electrical problem. when they arrived, they realized the problem was caused by a water leak in the basement. the firefighters condemned the building after determining it was unsafe. ride-on buses were brought in to keep the people warm until they could find a place to stax there's no word when the residents ll be allowed back in. >>> the northwest washington nightclub at the center of a death investigati

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and with foreign wars losing popularity at home the pentagon seeks to drum up public support for its complaint in afghanistan using the news media as a weapon. and a very warm welcome from all of us here in moscow this is all to see with me thanks for joining us in britain huge student demonstrations are expected on the day parliament votes on government plans to raise tuition fees and deep education cuts with critics describing the news as a funeral for education protest leaders have expressed fury at a government targeting universities while bailing out banks and failed european economies like ireland nor emmet gauge the mood ahead of the. another wave of protests is set to grip the ukase capitol on thursday this is crunch time for the student protesters as it's their final chance to make their voices heard ahead of the evening vote in parliament on increases and she wished in fees for university students they say it will mean a university education will become elitist a privilege for the few rather than a right for the many and the protesters are unlikely to let this chance go by

that's obtained through a contract that the pentagon issues with, i guess, choicepoint?ifferent private company but they are basically trying to compile records on students so they can reach out to them and recruit them into the military. >> what do you think of the pentagon having dossiers on every young person in america, mr. chairman? >> i haven't heard that honestly. it's obviously a huge task and i don't think it's being done in the light that you are talking about. i think they are probably trying to identify those individuals that would be a high risk in terms of potential terror to this country, and i think that's what they are concentrating on. i don't think they are going to the average student and developing a dossier. i their doing a scan mechanism to find out is this particular student a u.s. citizen? is he a student from a country which is hos aisle or wants to indicate or has a past history of trying to hurt the united states? those the students they probably should watch carefully. >> is it engaged in domestic spying with undercover intelligence agencies,

we begin tonight with our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. for the most part this pentagon report out supports the repeal of "don't ask don't tell" but it won't come easy. airport lieutenant, a decorated combat pilot was outed more than two years ago but his case is still pending and he's still on active duty, proof he says, gays can openly serve in the u.s. military. >> i've gotten so many messages that have literally said -- dude, this doesn't matter. i'll go to war with you and i'll fly in combat with you. >> reporter: at the pentagon, defense secretary robert gates said the time has come to repeal "don't ask don't tell." >> this can and should be done without posing a serious risk to military readiness. >> reporter: and a pentagon study released "today" shows a majority of u.s. forces, 70%, thought that serving with gays or lesbians would have a positive or at least, no negative effect on the force. but that opinion changes dramatically when it comes to those forces fighting the wars in iraq o

pentagon subsidiaries with the members of family it later the same report stated that. these subsidiaries namely the mino corps and red star back in two thousand and nine attempted to reach out to the former presidents a son not seen but key of who has subsequently followed his father in exile and is now in hiding in the u.k. to try to. engage in bed or negotiations with the pentagon regarding the future of the big east following kyrgyzstan's announcement that it would shut down the base so what we saw in the casey was once again another proof of the fact that the president's family and his son was calling all the shots in the in the country and were pretty much running the place. and. what what eventually happened was the direct result of this this relationship we saw in april in two thousand and ten when president bush was ousted was the direct result of the popular anger that was stirred by the complete lack of accountability lack of transparency in the deals that pentagon was cutting with. their government so who is currently supplying the matter as basic with jet f

when we had a home guard here. >> the pentagon encourages dishonesty. but that's not the fault of the law. we should be looking at a lesbian, gays, bis, transgender law. that's what you're indicating. it forced people out of the military. >> i want to raise what admiral mullen said. the idea of lying and compromising your integrity is what's really motivating him as well as -- >> it's a case of national security. >> let me raise what he said. >> because i think it belies us as an institution. we value integrity as an institution. >> you mean, forcing them to lie about what they are? >> and then, asking individuals to come in and lie about who they are every day goes counter to who we are as an institute. >> he knows better than that. >> what? >> because the law does not say that people can be in the military if they are less than honest. he knows that. >> let me ask -- private first class, former sergeant stacy vasquez. stacy, you had to lie in order to serve. and you were thrown out, when you were outed. >> yes, i was. i actually joined the army right

the pentagon study began ten months ago. the question: what happens if congress repeals the policy that forced more than 13,000 personnel to leave the military in the last 17 years. some 115,000 troops responded to a mailed questionnaire. 70% said allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would have positive, mixed or no effect. on the other hand, 30% predicted negative effects. among combat troops 40% were opposed to the idea. that figure climbed to 46% among u.s. marines who answered the survey. defense secretary gates and the chairman of the joint chiefs admiral mike mullen favor lifting the ban as does president obama. at a briefing today, gates addressed the combat unit concerns. >> part of this is a question of unfamiliar yard, part of it is stereotypes. and part of it is just sort of inherent resistance to change when you don't know what's on the other side. so i think that the contrast between the significant levels of concern for those who had... who said they had never served with someone who was gay as opposed to

they see the pentagon's findings as vindication. but congress remains divided. the coming days may show if the tide of opinion on capitol hill is changing. paul adams, bbc news, washington. >> what is the weather like where you are? what is it like to live in the coldest are the hottest place in the world? we are starting a series called "extreme world," looking at the deep divisions that still exist. ust-nera is in eastern siberia. we are joined live from there. what is the temperature? >> the last recorded temperature a couple of hours ago was -47 degrees centigrade. that is very chile indeed. in the last couple of days, it has gone down to about -53. it is very cold. i have been outside waiting to talk to you for a couple of minutes, and already i can feel the cold beginning to attack the exposed parts of my face. my nostrils are freezing up as a breed in. it is seriously cold. you do not want to spend much time out in the open. >> the severe low temperatures there must make it very difficult to get about with normal working lives. >> it does make -- it does

the pentagon is a very big target for budget cutters. the current budget is $715 billion, the money going for everything from personnel to 80 different weapon systems, including the newest in the line of stealth fighters, the f-35. a quarter of the $100 billion the commission wants to cut from defense would come from the f- 35. david martin tells us that presents some tough choice for the man who runs the pentagon. >> reporter: the challenge is to build 2,500 radar-evading stealth fighters at $382 billion the single-most expensive weapons program without breaking the pentagon bank. >> we, obviously, have a huge investment in this aircraft. it is the heart of the future of tactical combat, aviation for our services. >> reporter: the air force, navy, and marines are all counting on the, if-35, yet, it is already four years behind schedule and more than 50% over budget, prompting defense secretary gates to fire the program director. >> the progress and performance of the f-35 over the past two years has not been what it should. >> he banks

and everything is returning to normal here at the pentagon. now to the other metro-related story. this one involves a plot or alleged terrorist plot of a virginia man who was saying he would have a terrorist strike against metro station and georgetown. this is all revealed via facebook. the fbi got a tip from a friend on facebook and he posted that he planned to put a bomb under the sewer system in georgetown or make a pipeline bomb for the metro. police moved into his home on december 5th after a message that threatened the informant who by then realized were talking to authorities. we spoke with a terrorism expert who told us why this threat needed to be taken seriously. >> there guy looked like he was a big talker, boasting that someone he met on -- boasting to someone on facebook about what he was going to do but it's people like that that get the urge to do something like that. and if it wasn't a bomb in the metro, maybe he would buy a gun and start shooting people. >> reporter: he is charged only with making threats across state lines. n

congress has slammed the pentagon over shady jet fuel deals for an american military air base in the central asian republic of kyrgyzstan fuel worth around two billion dollars was purchased for civilian use allegedly to avoid higher tariffs but it was actually for the airbase a key supply a hub for the u.s. campaign in afghanistan peter of the eurasia democracy initiative says the deal helped spark unrest that ousted the kirghiz president in april. what the congressional subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs. dealt with in the report was allegations of corrupt dealings between the subsidiaries of the pentagon which were supplying fuel for you stand to prosecute the war effort in afghanistan and members of the family of the deposed former president of kyrgyzstan key if the same report stated that these subsidiaries namely the mena corps and red star back in two thousand and nine to reach out to the former president's son maksim but has subsequently followed his father in exile and is now in hiding in the u.k. to try to engage in baghdad or negotiations with the pentago

jon karl has more on its findings. >> reporter: the clear message from the pentagon leadership, don't ask, don't tell, should be repealed. >> this can be done and should be done, without posing a serious risk to military readiness. >> reporter: the pentagon surveyed 115,000 service members. and found 69% believe they have already served with somebody that is gay or lesbian. and 92% of them said the impact on their unit was very good, good or didn't have much of an effect at all. the findings don't surprise army medic seargent anthony bustos, who was featured in a story about openly-gay service members, and who came out in an interview with bob woodruff, in may. >> i know none of my guys could have traded me for another medic, whether that medic be straight, gay, lesbian or whatever. >> reporter: but the survey predicted, quote, some limited and isolated disruption to unit cohesion, if the ban on gays and lesbians is lifted. and found some real pockets of opposition in the military. 48% of those in army combat units and 58% in marine combat units said repealing don't ask, don't tell, w

we heard about the pentagon station shut down. bus service has been requests for those traveling pentagon city, l'enfant plaza. and two left lanes tied up northbound on 95, a 10 minute drive northbound toward the occuquan. and slowdowns to deal with if you are traveling inbound along new york avenue. slowdowns as you work out of cheverly into northeast washington and again the lanes here are open. no incidents to report coming southbound on the bw parkway but again about a 14-15 minute drive working out toward the times building and bladensberg road. delays traveling elsewhere. 395 here at king street in both the main line and the h.o.v. headed northbound. checking for a stalled car reported in the main line north of king street. southbound 270 out of rockville, not so bad. lanes open down toward the lane divide. going to find lanes open on the outer loop of the beltway but the pace is congested 95 to georgia avenue. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. >>> new this morning, dozens of tenants at one maryland apartment bu

is looking to cut spending but not in the direction of the military in fact the pentagon is receiving more money now than at any point in american history and while congressmen are working hard to trim social spending we investigate what escaping the military has done to save the one hundred. if there is one issue that both sides of the aisle agree on and we need to cut the spending yes we need to cut spending it's cutting spending to reduce the country's budget deficit even top pentagon officials acknowledge it as the country's most potent problem the biggest threat we have to our national security as are the federal government's debt now stands at thirteen point eight trillion dollars and is projected to hit twenty trillion by the end of the coming decade we're not going to cut the defense budget half. the country's military budget now seven hundred twenty five billion dollars a price tag of epic and historic proportions the largest since world war two. it includes one hundred fifty nine billion dollars for america's wars in iraq and afghanistan the reality is this is what america d

>> couric: all right, david martin reporting from the pentagon tonight. now to the fallout from the leak of those secret diplomatic cables. the state department is tightening access to its computer files and today the wikileaks web site which posted the documents was attacked by unknown hackers. its founder, julian assange told "time" magazine that secretary of state hillary clinton should resign if it's proved she ordered american diplomats to spy on u.n. officials. as for assange, he is in hiding as elizabeth palmer reports. he's made plenty of enemies. >> reporter: love him or loathe him, julian assange provokes passionate debate. he was born in townsville, australia, in 1971. raised by his mother, he was home schooled and said to be fiercely intelligent and a skilled computer hacker while still in his teens. by 2007, he'd founded wikileaks to expose bureaucratic secrets globally, but it was this year that he and the site rocketed to fame with a video posted online showing an attack on iraqi insurgents that killed both journalists and civilians. assang

dealt with in the report was allegations of corrupt dealings between the subsidiaries of the pentagon which was supplying few will stand to prosecute the war effort in afghanistan and members of the family of the deposed former president of kyrgyzstan but key if the same report stated that these subsidiaries namely the mino corps and red star back in two thousand and nine tempted to reach out to the former president's saw on the scene but has subsequently followed his father in exile and is now in hiding in the u.k. to try to engage in bed or negotiations with the pentagon regarding the future of the base following kyrgyzstan's announcement that it would shut down the base so what we saw in that case was another proof of the fact that the president's family and so on was calling all the shots in the country for the most one of the places what would eventually happened was the direct result of this relationship what we saw what april two thousand and ten when president bush was ousted was the direct result of the popular anger that was stirred by the complete lack of accountability lac

yes we need to cut spending it's cutting spending to reduce the country's budget deficit even top pentagon officials acknowledge it as the country's most potent problem the biggest threat we have to our national security is our the federal government's debt now stands at thirteen point eight trillion dollars and is projected to hit twenty trillion by the end of the coming decade we're not going to cut the defense budget half. the country's military budget now seven hundred twenty five billion dollars a price tag of epic and historic proportions the largest since world war two. it includes one hundred fifty nine billion dollars for america's wars in iraq and afghanistan the reality is this is what america does neil cons like robert kagan who urged war with iraq long before nine eleven helps keep this reality alive by equating military might to global leadership and world domination we intervene in grenada nine hundred eighty three panama ninety nine iraq nine hundred ninety one somalia nine hundred ninety two haiti nine hundred ninety four bosnian one thousand nine hundred five cost of zero

in national news, the pentagon said it's preparing guidance for troops. in case congress does vote to overturn the ban on openly gay troops. today a pentagon spokesperson said the information will remind service members that the policy known as don't ask, don't tell would remain in affect for a least another 60 days. after the president signs the repeal into law, the appeal bill has passed the house and being considered this weekend by the senate. the house has passed legislation that authorizes the pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the war in iraq and afghanistan. without major restrictions on the conduct of operations. approval of the defense authorization bill, came after house and senate democrats agreed to strip several provisions from that. the bill covers the 2011 budget year that began october 1st. your looking at colgate, where traffic is moving fine despite the rainy weather, but flowing. stay with us. so, we book a flight to hawaii using our points from chase sapphire. last minute... on christmas. and sitting next to us, chevy chase. and

. >>> the pentagon metro station is open after a bomb scare occurred there. the station was shut down after a suspicious package was found in the middle of this morning's rush hour. kristin fisher reports, it turns out the suspicious package was simply showing some holiday spirit. >> reporter: a small flashing light inside a trash can on the platform of the pentagon metro station. this isn't the exact trash can in question but it's pretty close. so i imagine seeing a blinking light buried deep inside a trash can right by the pentagon. in this day and age it's not too tough to see how someone could think that it might be a bomb. but in this case it was nothing more than a battery operated blinking christmas light. >> oh, okay. >> inconvenience for us. >> we get really paranoid about a lot of little things. if it was a joke, it was a really bad joke. >> reporter: the whole thing only lasted an hour but it was enough to make a mess for morning commuters. police shut down the station. riders had to reroute. some commuters were clearly frustrated. most people seem

i wrote a study once for the pentagon out of what was available information. it was before we had any way of keeping track what we have done except for carbon copies. that tells you something, doesn't it, julie? i did it, and then i lost my copy of it. i try to get a copy from the pentagon. they said it was classified. i said that i wrote it. i wrote it from open sources, primarily at the washington post and the new york times. please, could i look at it or get a copy? "no, you don't have clearance." we are classified in way too much. in fact, it should not by principle. he reduced the amount of classified stuff so that people would respect it. we did not want people to go out there and build nuclear weapons. unfortunately, since then, to cover part of your anatomy with classification. >> you always bring everything back to the anatomy. >> it is quite important, you know? the rest of us need bodies, and we have to keep them moving. >> this underscores another issue -- network security in general. it is in a lot of different corporations. apparently, wikileaks

. >> you're talking about him alluding to the pentagon papers. i want to hinge on that and ask you, is it responsibility of the leaker or the institution? that really was what it was about. we're talking about the pentagon papers here. >> well, the u.s. supreme court made it clear in the two cases, "new york times" versus united states that the obligation is the government to keep the secrets. it's not the press' obligation or third parties to try to prevent those who would disclose what the government is doing. that's a fairly fundamental first amendment principle that's enshrined for decades. that could make a prosecution very problematic if it goes against mr. assange. aside from the fact that p pentagon papers case, you had the general of the united states at the the time, griswald, who said the classified information didn't deserve to be classified. the government overclassified. then secretary of defense said he would not give an affidavit saying the b pentagon papers would harm national security. the same attitude that secretary of defense

about this the pentagon just lied about faithfully about it so of course now we have we can leaks showing the video and now they can try and push for some thought of justice so on a number of levels i think they're doing a very important job karn what do you think i mean is it gone too far i mean does it limit the ability of governments to conduct diplomacy now because a lot of these leaks and we look at them and some of them are just really embarrassing ok and in the ones that i looked at the deal with the post soviet space for example shows a lack of really i think professional bill if you look at events on the ground to the point where we have a leak where the state department under hillary clinton has ordered employees to spy the united nations spy on other diplomats so there is a real range here how much is this impacted i don't want to qualify a positive negative about how do to do diplomacy in the world today. well i think you're right not to qualify it as positive or negative because it's probably going to be both i don't think wiki leaks can know with any certainty that it won't

that is the pentagon station. they now have this shuttle bus service.e shuttle bus service which affects the blue line and yellow line customers. not much happening on the highway as far as traffic. this is the normal backup in maryland on the outer loop from 95/georgia avenue and not that getting to the pentagon on the road. northbound 95 is in decent shape and up to the 14th street bridge. >>> there is a lot of sunshine outside but it is another and blustery and cold and dead. it does not feel so pleasant. it is a few degrees warmer than yesterday but you might not notice much of a change. 21 at dulles airport. the wind chill dips down into the single digits periodically to debra the highs and the low 30's, cooler tonight, and light -- a chance of a light snow showers in midday tomorrow. maybe an inch and that happen tomorrow. a chance for another snowstorm sunday. >>> here are the school closings and in delays. we will have another news update at 8:56 ^ ♪ >>> whoa. >> whoa. >> that is the cast of wintuk. oh, cirque du soleil's tribute to winter. sam

we're live at the pentagon. the founder of wikileaks is apparently a free man because of a paperwork problem and the suspected problem of his next leak is reportedly preparing for damage control. the red bank, it appeared, is lawyering up. across america and in 110 homes, 110 countries around the globe, better be more than 110 homes, here on the fox report. hi. you know, if we had let fedex office pri our presentation, they could have shipped it too. saved ourselves the hassle. i'm not too sure about this. look at this. [ security agent ] right. you never kick off with sales figures. kicking off with sales figures! i'm yawning. i'm yawning some more. aaaaaaaand... [ snores ] i see your pnt. yeah. snores ] [ malannouncer ] we understand.® you need a partner who delivers convenience. next time use fedex office. just don't feel like they used to. are you one of them? remember when you had more energy for 18 holes with your buddies? [ glass shatters ] more passion for the one you love? more fun with your family and

joint chiefs chairman mullen and defense secretary gates along with authors of the pentagon study on gays in the military going before the senate armed services committee. mullen and gates arguing the time for ending don't ask don't tell is now. senator john mccain is obviously the ranking republican on the committee and you'll recall he once said if the military leadership came to him with such a recommendation he said he would consider it. then when they did he said he was waiting for the results of the stoitd. then when the study leaked out he questioned the validity of the study and would be more inclined to take the opinions of the chief because the chairman doesn't command troops. today admiral mullen spoke directly to that criticism and to the senator in particular. >> one final word and with all due respect mr. chairman and senator mccain, if is true that as chairman i am not in charge of troops. but i've commanded three ships, a carrier battle group and two fleets and i was most recently a service chief myself. for more than 40 years i've made decisions that affected and eve

overall what the pentagon says is we are going to ignore the intelligence estimates.student in the class saying we are doing better at the end of the class. we are going to be able to deliver. president obama gave those 30,000 troops in return for committed deliverables by the pentagon. we are going to hear the president thinks the strategy is sound and reaffirm the process in 2011. they are not going to be able to say the pentagon has delivered on what they promised. that is beneath the veneer of the positive story they are going to try to sell tomorrow. >> steve, these intelligence reports are two separate reports which were done by the 16 intelligence agencies. if you don't trust the 16 intelligence agencies you have to rethink your strategy. >> national intelligence estimates are serious enterprises. they are not trivial. you are absolutely right. for the pentagon to play spoiler and say this is off, undermines the fact that you have hundreds of people and thousands of man hours involved in complex asesmentes of where things are. the grade is probably a d. that is

david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. >>> coming up later on "the early show" an exclusive interview with rebecca duke, the widow of the gunman who opened fire on a florida school board. also creative ideas for last-minute holiday gifts you can order online and still have arrive for christmas. i'll be watching. and a conversation with country music legend merle haggard, recently honored by the kennedy center, all of that and more coming up this morning on "the early show." that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. i'm terrell brown. take care, everybody. i'm terrell brown. take care, everybody. have a great day! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

. >>> critics of repealing "don't ask, don't tell" say wait for the pentagon report. now we have it. and now will the defense department's green light produce any action in congress? >> we are heading towards an overhaul of america's food safety system y some say what we really need is food that's a little dirtier. >>> 49ers are undergoing a little overhaul of their own. i'm dennis o'donnell. they lost two football players for the rest of the season the and the giants have a new shortstop. name might ring a bell coming up. >>> it may be soon be saferrer to tell your kids to eat their spinach whether they like it on the. >> reporter: this has been a long timed in the works. the fda may finally get some more muscle to regulate farms and food processors but not everyone is happy. the fda is poised to crack down on unsafe food. the u.s. senate has passed a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food safety laws. >> the fda has been pushing for quite a while to have greater control over the food products that humans are consuming. >> reporter: dr. john swartzberg at cal says th

when we continues here tonight the clear message from the top pentagon leadership. don't ask don't tell should be repealed. >> this can be done and should be done without posing a serious risk to military readiness. >> also tonight. simple screening method that could help detect lung cancer much earlier than before. >> and the great migration. stores are hiring. what thousands of americans are now doing to get those jobs. another half hour of news begins here in just a mom [ mom ] my son only nted one toy this year. i want a robosan 4000. [ mom ] the one no one could get. toy stores are reporting long les and empty shelves. a robosan 4000. [ mom ] and mean no one. so i did most of my holiday shoppi on citi specials. th the money i saved, i bid online -and got exactly what he wanted. -a robos 4000! [ television ] introducing the new robon 5000. [ mom ] at least for now. [ male announcer ] make yo happy holiday stories come true with citi specls. what's your stor citi can help you write it. >> good evening once again. the pentagon has released the hail anticipated sur