terry's computing project would store and process of bast amounts of classified data allowing the pentagon to speed up its war planning in fighting capabilities and the defense department had hoped to award the winner take all 10000000000 dollar contract for jet i had to either amazon or microsoft as soon as august but now now things are looking a little tricky it appears there is a bit of a legal challenge by tech company oracle originally was in the running for the contract you see oracle is claiming that the pentagon showed favoritism towards amazon during the bidding process which apparently is a big no no in washington but is it really though i'm looking at you mr cheney and halliburton remember that our good friends at amazon already built and control the high security cloud hovering over cia headquarters in langley virginia and it appears this may have led the pentagon to fashion the contract for july specifically to amazon's capabilities leaving others without the ability do legitimately compete for the contract so with amazon already in control of our online consumerism the news i

we will make no distinction this essentially detail was inspired by a key figure in the pentagon richard powell. on the afternoon of 911 places a call to the president's speech writer. i was on the telephone with david frum and i said to david. on the afternoon of $911.00 whatever else the president says he should say that we will hold responsible the states that support terrorists safeguard it is a strategic break from the more modest policies of bush's pre-disaster. i believe it represented a recognition that we would never succeed against the terrorists if we went after them one at a time and as long as governments were facilitating the organization training equipping and financing of terrorist organizations we were never going to get it under control. and ambitious program for all out war a goal in line with neo conservative policy and thinking an approach supported by richard powell. dick cheney donald rumsfeld congolese or rice paul wolfowitz douglas feith these are the advisors who have bush's. joe wilson a career diplomat witnessed the rice. they came into office with the republi

on behalf of of the department of defense, welcome to the pentagon.is not only the headquarters of our armed forces but a prominent symbol of america's military power. and of our willingness to defend our people and our interests around the world. to generations of americans this place, this building embodies our national security. however, a building is nothing without the people within it and the spirit and dedication they bring to it each and every day. as such, i want to thank the great patriots, military and civilian alike, who come to work here and focus on one thing, supporting the more than 2 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who sacrifice and serve in defense of our great nation. they all represent america's best and i am proud to serve with them and alongside them. [applause] mr. president, thank you for your confidence in me and this incredible opportunity, it is an honor of a lifetime to be appointed secretary of defense and lead the greatest military in history and i'm especially humbled that you would be here today to celebr

yesterday he claimed in a tweet that the pentagon and our great military leaders are thrilled to be participating in a military parade. also sources tell us the president's political ally received some of the 500 vip seats. those tickets will grant entry to the areas closest to the lincoln memorial where the president will speak. remember the event is being held on the national mall, not a private space like the white house. that's not sitting well with former defense secretary leon panetta. >> if the president does -- the president does a great deal of harm by politicizing this event, i think the military, frankly, we have always taken the position, those of us that have been involved with the military, that we don't have to display our power to anybody. we're the strongest military power on the face of the earth. we don't have to roll tanks down the street. we don't have to roll troops down the street because we know that we are strong, and we can take on any enemy. >> 900 members of the d.c. national guard have been called up to help with traffic control and security. that's nearly triple the

president trump and vice president pence participated in the welcome ceremony at the pentagon for defense secretary mark esper, he was sworn in early this week after being approved by the senate with a 90-8 vote. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ [playing "hail to the chief."] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen please remain standing for the singing of the national anthem by the united states navy band. >> o say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched streamingllantly and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night thereur flag was still o say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free brave ♪ ome of the >> it is a great day for a prayer, a great formation and we thank the lord to be here in this great weather in washington, d.c. lord, we come to you in this moment and seek your blessings upon this ceremony. defense secretary esper and the united states of america. tha

it doesn't just give the pentagon money. yes, we eliminate senseless discrimination by stopping the ban on transgender troops. i will say you guys are wrong. you have voted against the defense bill before. you voted against it in 2010 because we repealed don't-ask, don't-tell. you were wrong then, and you are wrong now. discrimination in the military doesn't make us safer. mindless bigotry doesn't make us safer. i believe strongly in this bill. the good news is -- the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. smith: we are going to pass >> the house went on to pass that $7 3 billion defense authorization bill which sets programs and policies. the final vote was 220 to 197. the senate passed its own version of the measure and they await a conference committee to work out differences. follow the house live on c-span and the senate live on c-span 2. >> host: matthew daly. the house is set to take up a resolution on tuesday finding attorney william barr and wilbur ross in contempt. >> the democrats are concerned about how the

another senior job open at the pentagon.nning to raise questions about what all of this means for national security. >> what we talked about -- >> reporter: the four-star admiral already confirmed to lead the navy suddenly deciding not to accept the job as chief of naval operations. >> even before the -- >> reporter: admiral william moran late sunday night announced he is retiring based on an open investigation into the nature of some of "my personal e-mail correspondence" with a tomorrower staff officer now retired. that person had been investigated and reprimanded over allegations of inappropriate behavior toward junior female officers. >> the actability part -- >> reporter: the current chief of naval operations admiral john richardson sent a message to senior navy officials saying moran had maintained an off the record collaboration on high-level official navy business. three defense officials with direct knowledge said navy business was discussed with former staffer chris cervelo, a long-time naval public affairs officer

and remarkable week with pentagon leadership. there has to be all of these moving pieces in order to get mark esper into play. he has to go back to army secretary. you have his confirmation hearing. a vote to confirm him later in the week. deputy secretary of defense reverts back to the comptroller. et cetera, et cetera. the dominoes keep falling. president trump, in the eyes of some of his advisers, has been slow to get across the finish line. do you think that's fair criticism? >> absolutely. this is ridiculous. a lot of these offices have gone months without any proposal, any nomination. the next secretary of the army undoubtedly will be mr. mccarthy. he still has not been formally nominated to take that position. so, again, the pentagon is big business. you know, this is a trillion dollar business. we have work to do with congress. there are strategic threats to the united states, with iran, north korea, et cetera. we have to have some permanence to govern until the next election. >> i appreciate your perspective on a very bu

overnight, the pentagon began delivering a pair of tanks to the national mall for a small stationary display of american military might. >>> the u.s. women's national team is, yes, headed back to the world cup final. the defending champs beating england 2-1 in a hard-fought semifinal. cnn's amanda davis is live in lyon, france, with more. i am sorry about your home team, i'm sorry about the tea drinking at the end. but the americans were incredible. even without megan rapinoe playing. >> reporter: they were. i'd love to say that every time i speak to you this just gets better and better. but it doesn't. sometimes in life you've got to put your hands up and say you were wasn't by the better team. that is absolutely what i've got to do this morning. the usa deservedly celebrating a place in a record fifth women's world cup final at the expense of england. it was a game that had a bit of everything. there was the shock and intrigue when megan rapinoe was left out of the starting lineup only for it to be revealed later she's suffering from a slight hamstring injury. but no rapinoe, no pr

everything begins less than 6 hours after the attack at the pentagon which was also strong secretary of defense donald rumsfeld scans the rubble and he issues his instructions stephen campbell and one of his advisors takes notes rumsfeld's intentions are unequivocal. the evening of that tragedy president bush addresses america and the world. today our fellow citizens our way of life are very freedom came under attack. we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. we will make no distinction this essential detail was inspired by a key figure in the pentagon richard powell. on the afternoon of 911 places a call to the president's speech writer. i was on the telephone with david frum and i said to david. on the afternoon of 911 whatever else the president says he should say that we will hold. responsible the states that support terrorists say it is a strategic break from the more modest policy so bush is pretty sessoms. i believe it represented a recognition. that we would never succeed against the terrorists if we went after them

and ultimately the pentagon has delivered those tanks you now see on the mall. in addition to that, i'm told some of the service khaoeps were reluctant to participate in a very public way. some of them now from the list of attendance for tomorrow's events are sending in alternates. some of them had previous commitments on that day. but the bigger picture here is the concern within the pentagon that a lot of the trappings after this event make it more political than the military is comfortable with. >> jim shuuto, that you can for that reporting. appreciate it. the president is spending his time on twitter defending the event that he so meticulously has planned for tomorrow's celebration. he said, quote, the cost of a tkpwraout salute to america tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. we own the planes, we have the pilots, the airport is right next door, andrews, all we need is the fuel. we own the tanks and all. fireworks are donated by two of the greats. nice! here to share their information on that reporting kaitlan collins, john kirby, mich

company oracle originally was in the running for the contract you see oracle is claiming that the pentagon showed favoritism towards amazon during the bidding process which apparently is a big no no in washington but is it really though i'm looking at you mr cheney and halliburton remember that our good friends at amazon already built and control the high security cloud hovering over cia headquarters in langley virginia and it appears this may have led the pentagon to fashion the contractor john i specifically to amazon's capabilities leaving others without the.

i think we will wait to hear probably from the pentagon. a close ally, nato ally, business partner when you look at the f-35, this is the kind of thing that you would expect the white house, pentagon, state department, even perhaps treasury department all to be weighing in on. i think we will start getting reaction pretty shortly. marty: thanks, bill fairies. -- faries. turning to the pharmaceutical industry, shares of johnson and johnson are taking a hit, this as the justice department pursues a criminal investigation to whether the company lot about cancer risks in talcum powder. bloomberg opinion columnist max neeson joins us now. is the j&j hit in the market justified by this probe? certain extent it is. definitely not good news. we had already known that the government had subpoenaed johnson and johnson or more documents related to what it's been saying about talc and cancer risk. hand, criminal charges are difficult to prove. the fines they assess are not always as large as those in civil lawsuits. the bigger risk remains the hundreds

pentagon to he give it back to us is a big waste of their time and money. for that reason and there are other reasons -- i'll see if there are any further arguments, but this is unnecessary and wasteful and i urge a no vote and i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from colorado reserves. ms. omar: how much time do i have left? the chair: the gentlelady from minnesota has 2.5 minutes. ms. omar: two minutes -- minute and a half to the distinguished chair, the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: i strongly support this amendment. the documents that the gentleman pointed to don't begin to scratch the surface that the gentlelady is raising. these are prod documents and i'm sure -- they might mention in there how much money they serve in oversees' bases. i'm surprised they outline what their purpose is. and that's what this amendment calls for. not the broad strategy. but how much money are we spending and what do they contribute to that national security policy? and i have read through those documents. they do not have that type of detail. they point out, here'

army secretary mark esper will lead at the pentagon and he is set to be sworn in tonight.pentagon has had without a permanent leader in american history. jennifer griffin reporting period >> this afternoon, the pentagon has the first permanent defense secretary in seven months. the vote was 90-8 and the nos included nearly all the democrats running for president in 2020. kamala harris, amy klobuchar, ron wyden, cory booker, kirsten gillibrand and elizabeth warren who had unsuccessfully pressed esper to recuse himself of all decisions including his former employer, the defense giant raytheon or whom he was chief lobbyist for seven years before being appointed army secretary by president trump. >> so is it safe to say that you are more closely aligned to secretary mattis than president trump? >> i don't know where to pick between the two but clearly i share secretary mattis' abuse. >> esper was a west point graduate and graduated in 1986 and served as an infantry officer during the first gulf war. he faces a host of immediate challenges including what to do about rising tens

by now it happens to have one or two advocates and the pentagon, and i hope like the gentleman from colorado does that all technology works, but some are more likely to work than others. i apologize because the amendment is awkwardly worded in talking about the development of space-based ballistic is really about natural particle and this request for $34 million would be a wild goose chase. it's not even a program of record. folks i've talked to in the community and i've asked virtually everybody about this in the hearings that we've had this year a kind of roll their eyes when they talk about the neutral particle because it seems to be the project of one or two people in the pentagon, not a real thing scientists think have an opportunity to work so i'm not against the project to send one oprojects ad might work but it just seemed like this is not as important a priority for the missile defense agency as many other things. i shouldn't have to remind the committee that should be the number one priority they are making us suffer because of a series of mistake that they made in designing the ab

the pentagon spent over $36,000 at the trump national golf club in palm beach. over $35,000 at the trump hotel las vegas. over $16,000 at the trump hotel ocean club panama among many other lodging and restaurant expenses at trump properties. i know you're not a lawyer, but you no doubt understand that the emoluments clause forbids the president receiving money from these type of expenditures by government personnel that enrich him as the owner of those properties. i would like a commitment from you that you will provide all of the additional information about official expenditures at these properties from 2017 to the present, and that you will commit to providing also additional information about the official purpose of these government travel expenses if any. and, in fact, that you will go further and declare these properties to be off limit establishments as the pentagon does for military personnel when they are spending taxpayer money. this money is taxpayer money. the expenditures were put on the government travel charge card. and i think the american people

of certainty the cia which had been so suspicious of the collaboration between the exiles and the pentagon will be forced to take the blame notably for the most blatant lies that little sentence 16 words in all spoken by bush about the african yellowcake and the documents that inspired it no one knew at the time in articles maybe someone knew down in the bow for the agency but no one in our circles knew. that there were doubts and suspicions that this might be a forgery this insistence on defending the official lie finally gets the better of joe wilson's discretion. it was at that time that i fully understood that the government was not going to do it yet that it lied to the american people and therefore i had to write the story myself. in the new york times he publishes the truth about his mission tunisia and the fact of the white house was well aware of his conclusions. given the structure of the consortium that operated the mine it would be exceedingly difficult for niger to transfer uranium to iraq. the cia must once again shoulder responsibility and george tenet releases a statement.

when planes hit the pentagon and the twin towers. an incredible group of heroes brought on a plane headed straight to washington, d.c.. september 11, 2001 is a day that defined a generation, and forever changed our nation. we will remember the images of the tens of thousands of firefighters, peace officers, local and law enforcement officers, medical workers, construction workers, and other heroes who responded without hesitation when they heard the news. they put aside all thoughts of self, and rushed to ground zero, the pentagon, and the crashed flight. and they began to dig through the smoking ruins looking for survivors. and then four months afterwards, searching for the lost, and helping us recover. it has now been almost 18 years since that attack on our country. and the death toll from that day continues to climb. 9/11 first responders and survivors are now dealing with the long-term health consequences of working, living, and going to school around those toxic crash sites, day in and day out. many have died. more are seriousl

miller is the deputy chief information officer at the pentagon.ring the best minds awayrom silicon valley. >> if it is about money, obviously wepe can't c. but if it is about mission, focused o what we do for the nation and also aenchant to serve, we win every time. >> reporter: that pitch hit home for florida senior claire syler. >> the problems that we fe in cybersecurity have real-world consequences, so the difference between not solving a problem cybersecurity and solving it is thifference between millions of people have their data leaked out or having their data be protected. >> reporter: there are roughly half a milli cybersecurity bs currently open in the u.s. 5,000 of those here at thede nse department where miller says a diverse set of perspectives wl help thwart a wider varty of threats. for "nightly business report", i'm kayla tausche t at pentagon. >>> and before we go, one final look at the day onwi wall stree word that the u.s. and china would resume trade talks next week in beijing. that sent stocks higher and earnings from the like

the pentagon not saying which if any are going.dding to the frustration of those who claim the traditionally non-partisan event is being hijacked by team trump, the white house and the republican national committee are reportedly giving vip access to favored friends and colleagues. democrats say on this scorching week they are largely being frozen out. the white house response? >> this is a public event. it's open to the public. >> reporter: one group they may not be so happy to see. protesters who fly the trump baby balloon have received a permit, and that will also be up in the air on the fourth of july. tom foreman, cnn, washington. >>> let's get more on all of this with colonel cedric layton in washington. he is a cnn military analyst. welcome. always great to have you on the show. >> thanks, rosemary. it's great to be with you. >> well, as a military man yourself, how concerned are you that president trump is hijacking 4th of july celebrations turning them into a campaign event essentially as some critics have suggested? >> we

the pentagon opposed this. fortunately this committee rolled the pentagon's bad advice. can you commit to me to work with this committee to taking a strong look, a personal look at america's strategic and military interests in the arctic and how to protect those? >> yes, senator, i do. >> let me talk a little bit about alaska, mr. secretary. you had the opportunity to visit alaska as secretary of the army. i like to say alaska constitutes three pillars of america's military might where the cornerstone of missile defense, where a platform for expeditionary forces like the 425 and 1st striker brigade which is getting ready to go to iraq and the hub air combat power for the arctic and asia pacific. as a matter of fact, by the end of thx year we'll have over 100 fifth generation combat coded fighters based in alaska. because of our strategic location, because of the fact as billy mitchell did say, i don't want to disappoint senator king. alaska was the most strategic place in the world given its strategic location. the air force is evaluating its oconis locations and deploym

we have amazon employees on this chart that trump has seen alongside former pentagon officials. picture of a conspiracy that we cannot say is for sure something that is legitimate or not. but that is what president trump is seeing. they're appealing to trump in the way that he likes to take in information. it is a visual presentation, not a thick binder of information. >> fascinating stuff. michael and kylie, thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> coming up, all sides agree the u.s. immigration is messy but can democrats fix it. the ideas on that subject for the 2020 election coming up next. you're turning onto the street when you barely clip a passing car. minor accident -no big deal, right? wrong. your insurance company is gonna raise your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different insurance company. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

accountable -- want to hold the pentagon accountable. we think the congress has a role in defense policy and we shouldn't simply turn it over to the pentagon. for us to know what's going on with this will inform our decisions as we attempt to exercise the legislate and effective oversight of pentagon -- legitimate and effective oversight of pentagon operations. i urge adoption of the amendment and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? or rise? >> mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. stefanik: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. ms. stefanik: i rise in opposition to this amendment. first, i know the majority feels that this is just a technical fix to an administrative error but it raises a very important issue again for us to discuss now on the house floor and we should

runs out of money because the pentagon is only funded through the end of september and we're in the summer time now congress is going to be off from the 1st week of august to the labor day so there's not going to be you know much time so if president trump does veto it then of course he'll be faced with another government shutdown and when we had one last january he says he took most of the blame for it thank you so much for speaking to us lawrence korb a senior fellow at the center for american progress joining us now from washington thank you for your insights. police in gibraltar have released all 4 crew members of any raney an oil tanker seized last week the ship was detained by british forces on suspicion of taking more oil to syria in breach of e.u. sanctions all 4 were released on bail without charge turkey says its defense minister has spoken to his u.s. counterpart on the phone to discuss the nation's controversial purchase of the russian s 400 missile defense system lucianne car reportedly told mark esper that the deal does not mean turkey is changing its strategic directi

runs out of money because busy the pentagon is only funded through the end of september and we're inthe summertime now congress is going to be off when the 1st week of august through the labor day so there's not going to be you know much time so if president trump does veto it then of course he'll be faced with another government shutdown and when we had one last january he would he says he took most of the blame for now as part of that same bell the house also have a center a quiet president on trying to get congressional permission before he launches any attack on iran the senate rejected as some a measure last month but will now have to negotiate with the house i haven't seen tears in the larger defense bill the 251275 it was unusually bipartisan with 27 republicans joining all but a handful of democrats in support and it support as one of the house as my sniffled democrats and one of its most conservative republicans and the amendment has also backed by an unusual combination of the left and right wing lobbying groups. now staying in washington and testimony from u.s. special cou

it was redacted i can you tell us how and why yes so the pentagon has an office of security review and they claim on their website that they can turn a manuscript around in 2 months and that is to review it for sensitive material and then get it back to the authors with their recommendations on what material should be removed or changed they kept dark company for a year in the content that they redacted 95 percent of it according to the experts that we hire to review the manuscript outside of the pentagon was actually on federally sponsored websites that's us going to government federally sponsored by sites. a crowdfunding campaign has been launched for conservative journalist after he was assaulted at a far left rally in portland oregon it quickly raised more than $160000.00 in donations more than 3 times the target the anti firearm it was staged to counter a far right march in the same city organized by the group proud boys who were known for promoting violence the opposing groups did eventually meets resulting in multiple clashes and arrests not easy cost on of looks at how the glov

also in the programme: the pentagon says us forces have shot down an iranian drone as it approached anrican ship in the gulf. it's 50 years since the moon landings, but how did the pictures get back to earth? live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. good morning. it's 8 am in singapore, 1 am in london and 8pm in washington where president trump has sought to distance himself from racist chanting aimed at a democratic congresswoman, who was born in somalia, during his election rally on wednesday. the president said he was not happy with what happened. but he made no attempt to stop the chanting. our north america correspondent nick bryant has this report. this is a rally that will be talked about for decades to come. after the racism of donald trump's original attacks on the four congresswomen of colour came the kind of racial demagoguery we've not heard or seen from a modern day american president. first, he singled them out by name. representative ilhan omar. crowd boos. representative alexandra ocasio—cortez. crowd boos. "go back to where

that killed 290 civilians including 66 children and the incident was considered an accident the pentagon never apologized. i believe that given the operating environment captain rogers acted reasonably and did what his nation expected of him. and if past presidents. shouldn't hold your breath i'll never apologize for the united states of america ever i don't care what the facts are ready to reconcile iran helped organize the release of u.s. hostages in lebanon but this goodwill gesture wasn't reciprocated. 995 even harsher u.s. sanctions were. formally announcing my intention to all trade and investment with iran the 2nd round of came shortly after 911 i was. ready and. as a. as a muslim and. before you again express my deep. we. all great. candlelight vigils were held to mourn the victims but the diplomatic progress didn't last long for months. came president bush's axis of evil speech which included iran this is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world. states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil. finally in 2050 iran signed a deal with t

even you will call to further relax pentagon rules against enemy combatants highly irresponsible i think the idea the ideal behind why we're overseas in iraq and afghanistan is what needs to be questioned i think a lot of times we get fixated on individual instances of civilian casualties and persecuting military service members for the collateral that's created however the type of fight that we've been forced to engage in there is a large possibility or risk for inevitable collateral to include civilian casualties so you can't place an undue burden on the service members on the ground when that collateral is created and if you do then the people that you need to bring alongside them when you do prosecute them needs to be the politicians in the senior military that sent them over there to begin with is that how you'll book you don't company it was redacted i can you tell us how and why yes so the pentagon has an office a security review. and they claim on their website that they can turn a manuscript around in 2 months and that is to review it for sensitive material and then get back to

welcome to the pentagon. this historic building is not only the headquarters of our armed forces, it is a prominent symbol of america's military and our willingness to defend our people and interests around the world. ,o generations of americans this place, this building embodies our national security. however, a building is nothing without the people within it and the spirit and dedication they bring to it. as such, i want to thank the great patriots, military and civilian alike have come. to work to focus on one thing. supporting the. thing,on -- focus on one supporting the 2 million who sacrifice absurd defense of our great nation. they represent america's best and i am proud to support with them and alongside. -- alongside them. mr. president, thank you for your confidence. honor of a lifetime to the point of the secretary of defense and leave the greatest military in history. i'm especially humbled would be here today to celebrate this occasion. i also thank you for your unwavering commitment to the arme

yes so the pentagon has an office a security review. and they claim on their website that they can turn a manuscript around in 2 months and that is to review it for sensitive material and then get back to the authors with their recommendations on what material should be removed or changed they kept dark company for a year and the content that they redacted 95 percent of it according to experts that we hired. 3rd party experts that we hired to review the manuscript outside of the pentagon stated that 95 percent of content that was asked to be redacted or removed was actually on federally sponsored websites that's us going to government federally sponsored websites. ok captain logic hello thought of the book dog company thank you for joining us on r.t. international. the man expected to become britain's next prime minister has taken issue with remarks made by vladimir putin boris johnson has vowed to show that the president was wrong to know that liberalism is now obsolete the favorite in the u.k.'s conservative party leadership contest i

the exiles and the pentagon collaborate and transforming mere allegations into official policy. the collective effort by all those groups involved became a fabrication that became the policy of the united states and it was used to justify a war. further information was provided by friendly nations. in rome a dossier from the italian military secret service sees me arrives at the american embassy. it eludes to a secret sale of uranium to iraq by major. the german secret service offers its support as well. it provides the americans with revelations made by an iraqi defector code name curveball he claims baghdad is making biological weapons in its mobile laboratories. ship date as. the war to liberate iraq weapons for bush a crucial barrier remains to be overcome before he can go to war congress the american president must ask congress for the green light before launching the country into a war. in august and september the drum beats of war in iraq started get louder and louder and there were some indications that the president would soon be calling on congress for an authorization

a confirmed secretary of defense will be more effective in the pentagon, washington, and around the world. dr. esper, have been nominated to lead the department of defense and america's military to the historic transition. in the last decade, america's main focus was counterterrorism. we believed our military has the best of everything. the last administration that we can even cut our defense budget by hundreds of billions of dollars while fighting 2 wars and everything would turn out fine. we found out that was not the case. while the cut in our defense budget was taking place between the two years of 2010 and 2015, the cuts were 25%. according to the economists, this is a document that senator wicker first caught our attention to, we found it to be accurate. while we were cutting hours 25%, the chinese were increasing their military spending in that same timeframe, 83%. today, we find ourselves in a new and different moment for america's security. the american people can no longer take america's military superiority for granted. china and russia have caught up in key areas and are catch

the drill also means metro's blue line trains will not be stopping at the pentagon.ck the nbc washington app for more on today's drills. >>> and heads up, you won't be able to walk on part of the c&o canal. the national parks service closed part of the canal on montgomery county near the pennyfield working area. it will remain closedr ntil furthetice. > talks are under way to bring e 5th anniversary celebration of wood stock to maryland. the event would be held at the merriweather post pavilion n columbia. since this s announced some artists have dropped out from the lineup. the first day of the city open at rock creek park tennis center. some of the best will face offc for a ance to wi, like teenensation coco gauff. if you'd like to get a ticket, we he a linkn our nbc washington app. i would like to get a ticket. i want to see her. >> i'm going to try to get out there next week. >> she's abeast. she's 15. craziness to think about that. they have a lot of heat and humidity for that. coming wedne >> thank you for joining us. have a great morning. we'll . we are here t

ofneed to get the top tier the pentagon staffed up the soonest. modernization and the triad is top priority. we need to fully develop the domain of space and improve our capabilities. there are a wide range of conventional capabilities we need to improve and many hinge on core technologies that we can speak about during the course of the hearing. >> thank you, dr. esper. much esther very chairman and mr. secretary. in your opening remarks you mentioned the continuing tensions between the united states and iran. madeollowing statement was >> if you think the war on ran out to be a catastrophe. if you think that it would dramatically -- dramatically reduced is hard to over estimate. do you agree? with are not seeking war iran and we need to get back on the diplomatic channel. >> that raises the channel of how do we take steps that would escalationssible leading to kinetic activity. how do you do that. to foreclose the opportunity for any miscalculation and misunderstanding by developing a concept which i understand we have set up a meeting to brief

it was overhyped by the white house and foot dragging from thn pentagon, i blame on both sides. third party is tolame is parties and critics of the president who seized this opportunity, relhieasing t- off the u.s.s. mccain trolling the president because of his ormy relationship with the former senator mccain. this is fighting over the carcass of the u.s. militar which is supposed to be independent, nonpolitical servatt of the entire and not just of the political party. when you bring i it politicizat and you're raising counts about the reliability that the military will obey lawful orders when givennen, that they wi not inject their own partisan preferences into their job, we g pend on that. but when you brem into parts upfood fights as in the last several weeks, you're chipping away at the nonpartisan status and that's not good for anyone. knighter the republican orde crat wins if the military takes on a party caste. >> reporter: mike, do you see that as danger? do you see this administration or prior administration do that chipping away? >> no, ihink it is danger and, clearly

and people in the white house is this. >> the pentagon is in a pretty tough spot, i think.ve largely been muz really. they have said very little this week. nhey, in many ways, have bee told not to talk and to let the president and the white house do the talk og on the. i was told they wanted the element of sur show.n this so doing things like explaining what this would look like or what would be involved hasn't really happened, at least on the record. >> woodruff: i was just going to say, but resistance up until now to the sort of grand display the president had wanted. >> i've heard very mixed stori on that, so i think -- and i think partly because of the limited communication coming out of the pentagon. there was the impssion earlier in the week that a lot of this was all last miute, thahe pentagon wasn't on board but reluctantly carrying it out. over time, it sounded like the pentagon was on board, especially with the air shws out of this. discussions went back to february and march, rteally a lot of this inms ter of what was discussed and how they wewere alto talk about

now lawmakers want to know where infected ticks came from and is the pentagon to blame?is smith points to a secret army bio weapons program to weaponize ticks in the 1950s. >> the bio weapons specialist stuffed tests with pathogens that caused severe disability, disease, even deaths, to potential enemies. >> reporter: army labs not far from the largest concentration of lyme cases were capable of breeding millions of bugs a month. the link was first outlined by stanford's chris newbie, who wrote about it. the secret history of lyme disease and biological weapons. she interviewed william bergdorfer who worked for the u.s. military in the 50s growing microbes inside ticks. >> they experimented in cold climates or campaign against the russians. >> reporter: for whom lyme disease was named in 1982 suffered from late stage parkinsons. hinted before he died that the outbreak may have been a bio weapons experiment run them up. >> the concern now, there might have been accidental leaks and exposures, releases. >> reporter: smith sponsored an amendment to the defense authorization