the pentagon papers was related to it. it was not really so much the pentagon papers themselves which reports on the democrats. what i think worried nixon about me was what he thought i might know about his secret policy in vietnam and what i could reveal with documents. in other words, my understanding is that he became very concerned about what i might reveal beyond the pentagon papers about his own administration and that i might well have documents to back that up that would very much undermine his ongoing vietnam policy. from that point of view, the actions he took or directed which were in fact illegal criminal actions in many respects, were, i believe in his mind and with some reason, seen as national security matters. when he wanted to achieve was seen as motivation to his national security, i don't think that was a cover story in his mind. i think he really thought of me as threatening national security as he understood it. obviously in going after me with the plumbers and my doctor's office, obviously, that had n

did the pentagon let them down. government investigation. >> and tomorrow - you flick the switch, they take your money. complaints against new electric companies, fighting for your business. >> "america tonight" - an investigation. hot on "america tonight"s website, the self-buy diaries. we sit with six fascinating luminaries from the self by self festival. check it out on aljazeera.com. complaints against new electric complaints against new electric >>> in our fast-forward segment overlooked women have long been viewed as primary victims of sexual assault. what about men? it's a lot more common than you thing. as sheila macvicar learnt it's less common for them to seek help. >> reporter: it's along the serene albuquerque river in mexico that mike scott feels at peace. >> it's a place to reflect, a place to escape my anxious little world for 15 minutes or an hour. >> reporter: debilitating memorize of his time in the military haunt him a decade after an honourable discharge. he never simpled in combat but has been f

it was a year before the pentagon papers. when the pentagon papers came out, they knew who had given it very quickly. what is not clear from the files -- i have gotten -- what is it -- i think 24,000 pages -- let's see no, i've gotten 16,000 pages and files from the fbi. i've never gone through them too much. a lot of it was blacked out. from what i did read, it's not clear whether the fbi ever made clear to the white house that they had known about this a year earlier and had not moved on it. on the other hand, it's possible they did tell henry kissinger and others. there's some indication that kissinger knew about it. this has been somewhat murky. >> my last question is your relationship with henry kissinger -- he was initially madder than anyone else in the oval office? >> the history of that is belied by the case very strongly. i'm surprised to hear you say that. in the book, the first discussion on june 13 between him and nixon -- haven't you seen that? >> i'm sure i have. but wasn't he upset? >> it was a very mild react

did the pentagon let them down. government investigation. >> and tomorrow - you flick the switch, they take your money. complaints against new electric business. >> "america tonight" - an investigation. hot on "america tonight"s website, the self-buy diaries. we sit with six fascinating luminaries, from the self by self festival. >> sunday. you know his music but what about the man? >> i was given a gift. >> up close and personal. behind the scenes of the biggest hits... >> she was a troubled girl. >> brightest stars... >> kids don't want to "own", they just want to "play". >> and the future of music. >> the record business is in trouble. >> every sunday night, >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. sunday, 6:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> monday. >> visibility was 3 to 5 nautical miles. >> weathering the storm. >> we want to show people how to replace property against the w

a pentagon watchdog.t's a hot mess. >> let's look at why it's dangerous to the pilot. >> the doe report sunday make for easy reading. an engineer who once evaluated planes spray was part of the team which designed the f-16 in the early 1970s. he has flown with pilots chief among their returns. >> it says live fire test and evaluation confirms the structure. what does that mean. >> they implemented tests where they took pieces of the air airplane. they found it was bad. >> they catch fire. >> there's too much flammable stuff located in poor locations. thing of the engine was a blow torch surrounded by fuel. that's what it is. >> the plane's propensity to catch fire - perhaps the biggest concern in combat is the beginning. the report lifts many others including the potential for arcing and shorts in the wiring that powers the plane's flight controls. problems protecting the plane from lightening requiring it to stay 25 miles away from bad weather. and trouble with so-called transonic roll off, wing drop for

>> he is telling the pentagon that he would love t to give the pentagon more monein its base budgets,ut the law prohibits him fromoing that as the g who is going to write the pentagonudget, the final product. he's got to cut it to the caps. the disagreement lies within -- the armed services committee they will always want more. the right wing of the former tea party caucus -- they're calling themselves the freedom caucus. whether gop leadership wants to have the fight with the freedom caucus and that brings us into the dhs debate, the freedom caucus is willing to take the hostage. they are now willing to rough up the hostage. boehner seems willing to prohibit them from shooting the hostage, but the freedom caucus is now getting organized. they are studying the house rules, looking for arcane rules that would benefit them next time. they are moving towards shooting the hostage, and that's a change. >> if the budget committee were to pass the resolution, and it passed on the full floor but basically raised defense to the level the president requests or higher, but in the process also re

the question is what is pentagon leadership do? and that is something the discussed by the civilian leadership at the defense department right now. how do we react to what congress is pompously -- possibly going to let us do? it is possible that pentagon leadership says we don't want that action money and that will change everything up. because congress is going to want to hand the department money that they don't want because it is not the kind of money we need. that will change the dynamic and keep the number a lot lower. it will keep a closer to $70 billion total. i do not think we will get anywhere near 90 billion dollars. there just isn't enough to spend on the things needed. david: one of the attractive things in theory about adding money on a budget resolution stages each not have to do a political trade of one for one of busting up discretionary. it is not restricted by the cap. there are some compost ways by which it is. you can sort of put money there and the cap will rise along with it and you act as if you have that mor

the pentagon is larger. i don't think congress is that inclined to challenge fundamentally the kind of strategy and technology the defense department proposes. the most effective channel for reform might be the schoolhouse, or defense intellectual community. congress does clearly say we do not like certain things, but it is too early to cut the a-10. what is an aircraft carrier was sunk with that require a war with china for that to happen? there is certainly a possibility for unexpected events. >> i'm not a defense expert. they don't want to change it. that is a common dynamic. >> other questions, yes sir. >> i have a question about foreign propaganda. i still has videos -- isil has videos where they are executing russian intelligence agents. i believe that is for western media. it is not for those particular countries. my question is given russians stage in syria, they sponsored the regime. once they took over, they became a superpower. they have better terms of going through the turkish straits than we do

and the question is what does pentagon leadership do. and that is something being discussed by the civilian leadership at the defense department right now. how do we react to what congress is possibly going to let us do. it is possible that pentagon leadership says we don't want to want the extra money and that's going to change everything up here because congress is going to want to hand the department money they don't want because it is not the kind of money we need. that will change the dynamic and keep the number a lot lower. it will keep the number closer to $70 billion total in oko. i don't think we'll get near $90 billion, there just isn't enough to spend it on the things needed. >> and to just add a quick note. one of the attractive things in theory about adding oco money especially on a budget resolution stage is you don't have to do a political trade of one for one of plussing up domestic discretionary you have the advantage oko is in effect, not restricted by the caps, there are complex ways in which it is. you can sort of put

and the question is what does pentagon leadership do. and that is something being discussed by the civilian leadership at the defense department right now. how do we react to what congress is possibly going to let us do. it is possible that pentagon leadership says we don't want the extra money and that will change everything up here because they will hand the department money they don't want because it is not the kind of money we need. that will change the dynamic and keep the number a lot lower. closer to $70 billion total in oko. i don't think we'll get near $90 billion, there just isn't enough to spend it on the things needed. >> and to just add a quick note. one of the atrktive things about adding money at a budget resolution stage is you don't have to do a political trade of one plus one. you have the advantage, it is not restricted by the caps, there are complex ways in which it is. you can sort of put money there and the cap will rise along with it and you act as if you have that more money and you don't have the tradeoff. and ev

the pentagon's going to lose a lot of this money. once it starts losing a lot of money it thinks it might be able to get it's going to take us back to the last four years of all of this wield swing in defense planning that there's no fiscal certainty for the department, and that alone is one of the most inefficient things you can do for pentagon program managers. what happens there's a whole source of internal bureaucratic decision-making that again is justifiable but incredibly expensive and wasteful for taxpayers. if they're watching this a debate and don't know what's going to happen, program managers hoard their cash. they understand that there's the likelihood they're going to have to cough up some of it at the end of the year, whether sea questions trition or a bill coming in at caps or continuing resolution that starts the fiscal year. whatever it is however it turns out, it's definitely not going to be the number we're talking about this week for defense. it will be a number lower. that's a fact. that's a guarantee. if you're

soldier with the pentagon's ethos of not leaving anyone behind. but there was this feeling that he may have, in fact broken the military law and put his fellow soldiers at risk, and he should not be with regarded for that. he has been basically flying a desk down at san antonio in houston since his return while the army has been debating what to do with this. many have wondered why it it was taking so long to determine whether charge should be brought. the military has a system where there can be no outside influence on the convening authority, the two-star general who made the decision, any communication with him is seen as influence, it really fell to him. this process will still be reviewed. it is go to the article 32, and then to another convening authority, which will have to decide whether to proceed to the court-martial. very mixed feelings is the way to describe how it was met here at the pentagon. >> so interesting. jamie mcintyre we're joined on the phone by former military prosecutor and professor at south texas college of law. regardin

of not increasing the pentagon's budget.awmakers under the budget control act of 2011 were forced to put in place what has been called sequestration here in washington. now the republicans, some in congress, want to bust those caps and give the pentagon more money, but there are the hawks in congress saying, no way -- no way, we cannot do that. we need to stick to what we have agreed to. david, republican, go ahead. caller: i just want to comment that we have spent 12 years and is worn they could not even train the army. now they train our troops in probably 12 weeks. i just understand. host: all right, david. we will go to joe, maryland independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i think defense should be completely independent of other priorities and i believe spending on defense is necessary. we are in a situation with global issues that are all over the place and we need to make sure that we do not weaken ourselves. we will face a serious problem in the near to distant future. and i'm surprised that the president ap

the question then is what does pentagon leadership do? that's something that's being discussed by the civilian leadership at the defense department right now. how do we react to what congress is possibly going to let us do? it's possible that pentagon leadership says we're not going to want that extra money. and then that's going to change everything up here. because congress is going to want to hand the department money. it's not the kind of money we need. that will change the dynamic, and that will keep the number a lot lower. it'll keep it closer to 70 billion total in oco. i don't think we're going to get anywhere near 90 billion, there just aren't things to spend it on that aren't need 3. >> i guess just one note, you don't have to do a political trade of one for one of plussing up domestic discretionary. you have the advantage oco is in effect, you can sort of put money there, and basically the cap will rise along with it, and you act as if you have that more money, and you don't have to have any sort of trade-off. even though oc is

we get the latest tonight from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: it may be the first assault by isis on america's home front. a group calling itself the islamic state hacking division posted on the internet names, photos and home addresses of 100 u.s. military and urged isis sympathizers to hunt down the americans and kill them on u.s. soil. >> it's a new front. it's a new sense of threat to the home base that we haven't seen before. >> reporter: the pentagon contacted all 100, informed them of the threat but offered no personal protection to them or their families. >> you just don't have enough resources to follow these threats or potential threats 24/7. and you just can't read their minds. >> reporter: instead service members are being advised to delete personal information and tighten up privacy settings on their social media websites. defense secretary ashton carter. >> we take the safety of our people very seriously. >> reporter: but ironically the pentagon itself may have inadvertently provided those identities to the terrorists. pentagon public affairs we

the pentagon reached out to all the u.s. service members on list but are not offering any special security. military officials are urging those on the list to stay off of or limit activity on social media. joining me to talk about this threat is nbc news pentagon correspondent jim miklashevski, and evan kohlmann, nbc news terrorism analyst. mik, what do you make of this, personally having covered the pentagon? and i know you have great respect for men and women in uniform. what does this do? do they shake it off, accept it as part of the world they have to live in? how's it coming down? >> the immediate response, of course, is shaking it off. the military will tell you, look, we can handle any threat. what makes this threat different is it's come here home to the u.s. i mean, these are the home addresses and phone numbers for the families of those service members. many of them who are still deployed. so it not only affects these service members, but their families. so that raises the level a little bit. and while there's no

norcross yes, our base, our number is requested by the pentagon. we try to fund it in a different manner. the president does not adhere to the cap, we are adhering to the cap. it's a different starting point. >> i yield back my time. >> i think everyone is understanding what happens here. in making any adjustments, the budget committee will be vigilant that the oco cap adjustment is not abuse. it's being used to avoid this. >> will the gentleman yield? >> we been very generous. if you are going to ask questions that's fine. if you're going to proceed to debate, it's important to have both sides of the argument. if you're going to as questions we will ask questions. >> mr. lu, mr. pascal, mr. ryan. >> and going to ask a series of questions on dynamic scoring. it's my understanding that your proposed budget assumes be revenues of $147 million in a dynamic scoring. >> that is not correct. the congressional budget office is analyzed deficit reduction in our budget, they have told us that the macroeconomic fiscal impact on the deficit over 10 years is $

don't build anything in the pentagon. we contract out to our excellent industry. so we depend upon our industry and the incentives that we give them that to provide what we need that are included in contracts and other relationship is another place that's critical to think about in the area of acquisition. then there's compensation. how we compensate our troops, our retirees, families, all very important, very sensitive issues. but important part of our spending. and then a third is the one the chairman was mentioning a moment ago which is kind of the overhead. the people overhead. the facilities infrastructure, and i know base closings are not a wonderfully popular thing either. but at some point, when the budget comes down, you need to make sure that you're taking away the tail the same way you took away the tooth. i organize in those three categories which i think are the same ones that the chairman does. but these are difficult chases, and no question about it, we can only do these things when we do them together. i k

the pentagon asks police to protect them. also tonight, that alleged gangra rape at uva, the police announce u the findings of their investigation. cbs news investigates fires in a popular s.u.v. and a king finally gets his wish. >> my kingdom for a horse! >> pelley: but it's pulling his hearse. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: this is our western edition. isis is taking its war of terror to the american homeland, or trying to. an online campaign is targeting 100 specific members of the u.s. military in 11 states, including california, texas and florida. today the pentagon asked local police to help protect these servicemen and women. we have more now from national security correspondent david martin. >> reporter: most of the military personnel on the hit list are from the air force and navy.e the two services which have been conducting the air campaign against isis. some of them served aboard aircraft carriers launching strikes over iraq. others are based at dyess air f

i saw it coming. >> pentagon officials say iran has some advantages over the u.s. when it offers military assistance. the sir strikes are not as constrained by strict rules and has no self-imposed limit on boots on the ground. will the offensive be successful. if it is, will control of the area behis honoured to the sunni minority. some are bristling at the perception of why the u.s. is slowly and methodically trying to get the brigade ready the iranians are moving name bli. -- moving name bli. >> i.s.i.l. fighters have bulldozed one of the world's oldest sites. the ministry of tourism and antiquities says i.s.i.l. destroyed the site south of mosul. last week it destroyed artefacts at the museum. the fighters say the statue promotes idol worship. >> questions in argentina over the death of a prosecutor. alberta nisman was investigating the president when he died. the family says an independent autopsy proves he did not kill him. they are calling his death an assassination. >> reporter: results from an independent forensic team confirmed what everyone suspected. the

meanwhile many in washington from capitol hill to the white house and the pentagon are keeping a close on iran's seemingly growing influence in iraq and we have more on the fears of a united front between the former enemies. >> we seated most of the governance of iraq to iran. >> reporter: he finished his opening statement before the house appropriations committee did the chairman launch into a grilling over a newspaper headline this week talking about the prominent role in the ongoing tikrit offensive. >> trained and equipped and motivated thousands of people and there is a strong likelihood as they move on to tikrit and perhaps on mosul that you could have a total disintegration of the entire country. mr. chairman let me say that i absolutely share your concern about the role of iran in iraq and the wider region. >> reporter: the pentagon has been forced to admit there is not much it can do as iran at the invitation provides air power and weapons and advice to shia malitia taking back the sunni area north of baghdad, the day before it was administration critic john mccain outraged by

are any fiscal conservatives at the pentagon. what do you say? do you have any estimate as to how much we've spent on the f-35 so far? are you concerned about this article that's in the hill today that talks about wasteful spending by the pentagon? >> thank you for the question congressman. first, we're always concerned about any wasteful spending at the pentagon and we have a number of processes in place to address spending in general, including looking at our overhead and functions and looking at our acquisition processes. let me address the f-35. i don't have the total number spent to date. f-35 costs per plane have gone down below our estimations since it was rebaselined in 2010. it's actually producing a pretty good airplane. the f-35 is stuck on old news. >> you're the principal deputy for acquisition, and do you have any rough guess as to how much we spent on the f-35 thus far? a wild rough guess? >> i would be happy to get you that for the record. it goes back to 2004 congressman. >> right. dr. agaral i met last week with

let's bring in jennifer griffin from the pentagon. what else have we heard?ed airstrikes are not around tikrit. reports from the ground there suggest that the iraqi army has been slowed by roadside bombs but managed to take back a town ten miles south of tikrit. they hope to be in the city by sunday. we know that isis fighters set fires to oil fields near tikrit to block the view of the iranian drones flying over for the iraqi troops. thes who spokesman told reporters today they are aware of iranian involvement on the side of the iraqi arm and reiterate ited the u.s. would not coordinate fighting with iran, and edded that unileaders support the operation to retake tick credit. earnest warned against sectarian retribution. >> we got gord the former defense intelligence agency director says the white house may have missed the rise of isis because of a desire so downplay the strength of al qaeda. a political argument we have been hearing for a long time. >> that's right. the lieutenant general explains in detail about his concerns that the white house was so mar

defense secretary ash carter welcomed afghanistan president to the pentagon.e afghan president has visited the u.s. since elected back in september. and it was an appropriate place for the two men to meet since it was back on 9/11 of 2001 that a hijacked plane crashed into the pentagon killing everyone onboard and 125 people inside that building. a month later is when the u.s. invaded afghanistan. now the afghan president is expected to ask president obama to keep more u.s. troops in the region beyond the scheduled drawback date. there are about 7,000 u.s. troop there's now. he want to keep some of those in afghanistan until 2016. the president ghani saying that the isis threat is growing there, that militants are organizing. he did, however begin his remarks by thanking american servicemen and women for the 13 years they have spent fighting and protecting the afghan government. barbara, back to you. >> richard, hundreds of people protested in afghanistan today to demand justice for the woman killed by a mob outside kabul's most famous mosque. the 27-year-old

yet, 14 years later, the pentagon is still not audit-ready. according to a recent gao analysis the pentagon's $1.4 trillion accusation -- acquisition suffers from over $457 billion in cost overruns above original contractor estimates. what i think everybody in this room knows is our military system weapons system after weapon system there are huge cost overruns. furthermore, there has been a lot of fraud associated with the defense contracting industry. virtually, every major defense contractor in this country has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and related settlements in this conduct over the past 20 years. we have the largest agency of the federal government, they dod some $600 billion, huge cost overruns unable to audit this very complicated agency. it is time for an audit. >> there are audits being done. this amendment is in line with the initiatives being laid out by the bipartisan -- letter by the armed services committee. all sides need to be created to greater efficiency. one of the things i did getting ready for the budg

defense secretary. >> we take the safety of our people very seriously. >> reporter: but the pentagon itself may have accidentally provided the identities to the terrorists. their websites first posted the names and photos of at least 66 of the americans deployed in the war against isis with job descriptions like commander. defense officials say there's no intelligence indicating an actual attack is imminent but consider the threat alone an act of terrorism. >> it's not just how many people you kill. it's what you do to the sigh can i of people this mental threat. >> let's turn to business now. u.s. stocks fell slightly monday after closing last week with big gains. jeff what should we be watching for in the markets today? >> good morning. it's the same old story, i think. stanley fisher at the fed came out and said an interest rate hike is on its way this year. also reiterated by others. message from the fed right now that rates are going to go higher. i think that's keeping traders nervous which is why we pulled back a little bit yesterday. i think we might be on a firmer footing st

we'll go to our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski in a moment.ut first white house correspondent kristin welker. good evening. >> good evening to you. in a statement released today, u.n. ambassador samantha power reaffirmed u.s. support for the president of yemen and strongly condemned the attacks by opposition forces. the u.n. security council signaling there will be consequences likely in the form of sanctions if the violence doesn't end. rebels fired tear gas as sectarian fighting intensified in the streets of yemen. this afternoon, the u.n. security council held an emergency meeting and called for an end to the bloodshed. rebels drove out the u.s. backed president months ago. they have claimed large parts of the country and sieged taiz 85 miles from where the president established a base. the u.s. pulled out the last of the special forces key to the terrorism campaign after intensified fighting and a bloody mosque attack claimed by isis killed more than 100 people. >> we have been drawing down our presence as the situation has gone from bad t

friday, the pentagon hosted a ceremonial swearing-in.arter spoke about the global challenges america faces and how budget constraints call for new ways of operating recruiting, and innovating. this event is 30 minutes. >> ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets' red glare. the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o'say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ >> forward march. >> please be seated. ladies and gentlemen the 18th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin e. dempsey. >> good afternoon, everyone. distinguish guest -- distinguished guests everyone. it is my pleasure to welcome secretary carter back to the pentagon. i feel like i just did this actually, about 12 months ago. but we are thrilled to have him back. before i say a few words about our partners, i

>> barbara starr's with me now at the pentagon.bara, to david rohde's point, can you take us back to june summer of 2009 when reportedly he walked away. what were some of the members since this news has broken since he's been swapped and returned home members of his platoon have spoken out. what have they said about him? >> some have made statements and the contentions that some soldiers were killed in action while searching for bergdahl. and that they never would have been killed if they weren't out there looking for bergdahl. i have to tell you, the pentagon says it's never been able to establish a direct link. soldiers went on patrols that were scheduled. they were told bergdahl's missing, keep your eyes open and sadly and tragically they lost their lives in combat. but the pentagon says it could not establish a direct link to bergdahl. i want to go back to what david was just saying. because i think that one of the common themes that we have heard for months and we're certainly hearing today is that bowe bergdahl does need to b

the pentagon also said that iraq face as choice.they can see what iran brought to the table in managing and helping with the offensive and they can see what the coalition would bring to the table and according to the pentagon iraq decided to throw in its fate with the coalition, which is now advising and planning the strategy to retake the city of tikrit. michael? >> has the pentagon any indication how long they believe this offensive will take? >> they're not giving any timeline. there are an estimated several hundred isil fighters dug in. they don't have an exact number, and upwards of 4,000 iraqi troops some of those iraqi security forces, some of those militia, probably perhaps a higher number than that, we don't have an exact count. they have an improved strategy where these airstrikes are not going to level the city but will set the isil fighters back on their heels and give the invading forces more time to maneuver. >> reporting live tonight from the pentagon. well, the march 31st deadline looming, talks with iran are pushing

david. >> jamie macintyre reporting from the pentagon.till to come inadequate training, too quick on the trigger, the damning just disdepartment report on the philadelphia police department. >>> plus a photographer's striking images of suffering and loss on the front lines of the ebola crisis. >> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrapup of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. weeknights, on al jazeera america . >>> texas senator ted cruz formally launched his presidential campaign today, becoming the first official candidate in the 2016 race. the freshman senator is known for clashing with establishment republicans, and generating controversy, and there was controversy again today. libby casey is live in washington. libby? >> reporter: david, like barack obama, ted cruz would like to make the leap from freshman senator all the way to the white house. and his announcemen

troops >>> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. thank you >>> the trial of a u.s. marine charged with murder is under way in the philippines. joseph scott pendleton is charged with gillkilling a transgender changed woman. >>> ted cruz announced his candidacy, no exploratory committee or thinking about it. he jumped in. the freshman republican put his credentials on display. >> it is a time to reclaim the constitution of the united states. >> staged at the nation's biggest christian school. the conservative liberty university, the speech took advantage of the optics of thousands of students at the mandatory event. >> i believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of america. that is why today, i am announcing that i'm running for president of the united states. [ cheering and applause ] >> reporter: the speech spinning a narrative of the son of a cuban immigrant, who got through princeton and harvard law school by taking a job and student loans. he called for religious conservatives and g.o.p. values. in his two year

pentagon officials are watching to see what happens in tikrit.ill the offensive be successful, and if it is will control of the area be returned to iraq's sunni minority. while the u.s. is trying to slowly move forward, the iranians are moving more nimbly and increasing their influence on the iraq of the future. >>> we're joined by an iraq analyst on skype tonight from maryland. great to have you with us. how concerned should the u.s. be over any role iran is playing? >> clearly the u.s. should be concerned. the sunni arabs, some of the gulf states have criticized u.s. policy in iraq since 2003. they believe the united states handed iraq over to what they consider to be proiranian forces, and so there is that concern. this is why, i think this battle for tikrit is very tonight. on the one hand, it's psychologically important to see whether or not the iraqi forces as you mentioned in your report they tried several times to take capture tikrit but it didn't work. so now this is going to be a new test of their capability especially now that they hav

. >> it was just a week ago that the pentagon's top general was predicting that iraqi forces with the help and assistance of iran would soon retake the iraqi city of tikrit but this week general martin dempsey downgraded that prediction saying it now appears that those so-called local mobilization forces are not having the success they initially reported. when the offensive began two weeks ago, those 20,000 troops most of them are shia militia, a few sunni fighters are tikrit -- they are bogged down on the outskirts of tikrit and not being able to go in and finish the job taking over the city center. now, the pentagon today offered a much more sober assessment of the fighting say that essentially that there's some very tough urban combat ahead. iraq says this is a natural pause in the offensive giving them time to resupply and rein reinforce. they're continuing to mount this offensive without the assistance of u.s. and coalition air power and the pentagon today confirmed once again that iraq has not asked for u.s. air strikes in mosul. jamie, thank you. today marks the 12th anniversar

>> we're hearing exactly what you're hearing as far as from the pentagon and the people at eglin aire base. they are still in recovery mode and trying to recover human remains and debris at this point. >> we know it's a very tough job for them. thank you so much. we'll let you get back to work there on the ground. we're going to keep our eyes on that press conference that should begin momentumarily. it's not unusual for training exercises to be conducted in poor conditions. you would expect they need to do that no matter what. >> that's right, thomas. this is the quote you train as you fight is what we live every day in and out. this is my heart goes out to the families of our fallen in this unit. >> can you explain the difference between the type of black hawk helicopter that the army pilot was in as opposed to what a navy pilot might be behind and the different radar they might be using. >> each helicopter had different configurations. the training is very similar whether you're flying in an army helicopter or navy helicopter. the black hawks have been used extensively with marine

that is the pentagon has requested an extra $1 billion this year, specifically for reaper drones. asking to buy double the number of reaper drones that they bought just last year. and according to this fascinating piece by the "washington post" tonight, one of the reason the pentagon is upping the number of drones, is because many of our drones keep crashing. they keep crashing all over the place. in syria, and in yemen, and in afghanistan. and in this global moment we are having of fast-moving transnational chaos of isis and al qaeda and disappearing borders and proxy wars and fighting alongside our enemies, and being invited by foreign countries to please extend our wars inside their borders, and the american public not much knowing where we are fighting, or how, and american politicians never talking about it, weirdly one of the strange specific ways we can find out what our country is doing in this chaotic world right now is by noticing where and when our drones crash. because sometimes that is the only way we find out that we are flying drones there in the first place. when y

craig whiltlock, pentagon national correspondent for the washington post.hanks for reverse engineering this information. it's a fascinating look at it. thanks for being here. >> sure thing. >> we'll be right back. (little girl) no! saw her first day of school. (little girl) bye bye! made a best friend forever. the back seat of my subaru is where she grew up. what? (announcer) the 2015 subaru forester (girl) what? (announcer) built to be there for your family. love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru. i want my foyer to smell more like a foyer. i want his bedroom to smell like he's away at boarding school. surround yourself with up to 6 hours of luxurious, long-lasting scents... ...introducing new unstopables air refresher. the future of the market is never clear. but at t. rowe price we can help guide your retirement savings. our experience is one reason 100% of our retirement funds beat their 10-year lipper averages. so wherever your long-term goals take you we can help you feel confident. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment informati

>> barbara starr at the pentagon thank you so much. let's bring in cnn counter terrorism analyst phil mudd. he used to track terrorists for the cia. phil good to see you. looks like iranian development -- involvement here runs pretty deep. if you were still with the cia, how concerned would you be about the iranians being involved in these operations especially in the leadership role they're playing? >> you've got to be concerned because going back years after the iranian revolution in 1979 when we have seen power vacuums across the middle east lebanon, fast forwarding to iraq remember we talked about the houthis, backed by iran in yemen. bh when there is a power vacuum the iranians will move in. in this case you have a country on their border that is two-thirds shia. we forget that. not surprising the vacuum after the u.s. departure the iranians are there in force. >> what can we expect? the bottom line is -- look i understand the iranians are state sponsor of terror but if isis is this enemy and the other arab countries, saudi arabia

jennifer griffin live from the pentagon. what are you learning? >> a senior u.s.military source confirms that sergeant bowe bergdahl will not only be charged with desertion but also misbehavior before the enemy. when the general speaks in 30 minutes from carolina he's the senior in the army charged with reviewing the investigation and i'm told by well-placed army sources briefed on the investigation sources that bergdahl will face multiple charges and they will not rule out that he will face jail time and a court-martial dril.trial. his lawyer said he will not speak to fox news but told other news organizations that he and his client have not decided how to plead. we were told repeatedly by the pentagon and senior army officials the general was slowly making his way through the 1,200-page investigation when news first leaked six woekz ago bergdahl would be charged with desertion. there was a great deal of pushback at the pentagon regarding any suggestion the army general made a decision. what i can tell you today the press operations herezh at the pentagon were ca

that is probably the most common reaction coming out of the pentagon. but where the case goes, we will see. he will have article 32 hearing the equivalent of grand jury in civilian court. scheduled date, although it could change, is april 22. so we will see after that. gwen: there's a defense to be mounted? he's not just saying yep, i did it. but there has to be other argument. nancy: not only defense but oneut of the best defense attorneys and he started to put out information that said he put out a letter that was given to general miley, who put the case together, and he saidge things like he didn't desert. he was going to try to walk to another base to make a complaint. that he -- gwen: described the circumstances. nancy: that he was tortured held in isolation for weeks in dark room when's he tried to escape by his attorney's count a dozen times and you can't say he was an enemy because he kept trying to get away. so he didn't behave, if you will dishonorably. gwen: and all of that will play out. thank you, nancy. and if we turn once again to our wee