take a look at the t.s.a. millions of holiday travelers prepare to have a hellish experience this weekend and our guest tonight our use of the federal government airlines all suffer from a complete lack of imagination when it comes to anticipating the next kind of terrorist attack the t.s.a. is doing it all wrong so we'll see if he has any better ideas then there's a new debate over the value of transparency versus safety in the scientific community a federal advisory board has asked that certain research not be published for fear that it could be used as a biological weapon so has the global war on terror finally spread to science and why everybody is celebrating the extension of the payroll tax cut let's not forget that there is a lot out there that congress still hasn't done so artie's lauren lyster host of the capital account is going to join us to break down some of the long forgotten pieces of dog frank that still like dormant we're not all that morphy tonight getting a dose of happy hour but first take

sentinel that the t.s.a. is basically doing it all wrong join me to discuss this is ben brantley director at lyme advisors but i want to thank you so much for joining us tonight and according to your estimates or your talk you say that fifty six billion dollars has actually been spent on aviation security since nine eleven how do you come up with that figure with that figure is whether it's put together by a couple members of the house who recently looked into expenditures as well it's a pretty widely reported number i want you to an average about five point six billion dollars a year just on aviation screening which when you think about how that relates to with expenditures on the intelligence community or. actions that could be taken against terrorism it seems like to be the folks in the field it seems like a rather massive misdirection of research. as one gets before we get into what exactly you think the t.s.a. is doing wrong i have to ask you ben if you think that it should exist at all because i think t

in the mess of the rest of the news the t.s.a. security theater staking its act on the road t.s.a. security teams are now roaming the countryside you have shopped at other transportation depots besides airports over ninety three hundred unannounced checkpoints were set up this year at places like train stations subways ferries and other mass transit hubs costing you and me by the way one hundred ten million dollars and while they left the chertoff x. ray porno scanners back at the airports the t.s.a. teams did arm themselves with radiation detectors and dogs so far there's no proof that the random checkpoints are working to prevent any sort of terrorist attack at the t.s.a. is as. for more money to do even more random checkpoints all across the nation so why is the t.s.a. trampling on the rights of americans to be presumed innocent for just wanting to get on a bus train or plane veered off or his take is john whitehead attorney and founder of the rutherford institute john welcome thank you jon i'm i'm about as left as you can get i call myself a democratic socialist you and your or

so the t.s.a. doesn't have the staff, the training, the direction, or, frankly, the expertise to approach what they are suggesting. >> how much would it cost to go to next level of metal detector? if we give them $5 billion, what kind of number would it take to make it completely safe? >>guest: you will never be completely safe but we have do have security at the airport not the object patrol pushing you through an x-ray. can you have good security for a less money than they squander today. >> are you in favor of behavioral profiling at the airports? >>guest: not with the people we have now. they were not hired for it. they don't have the skill set. we don't have anyone to do it. that is not what they were hired to do. >> thank you. do the new light bulbs, the government is pushing, threaten to burn up something else? we report. you run for cover. earthquake, -- >>eric: going green could cost you your home. the new light bulbs are potential fire hazards causing 48 complaints and ten involved actual

the t.s.a.ly limited tests on the backscatter machines, and no independent safety tests have been done at all. so the scientists wrote a letter to president's science advisor raising numerous red flags about the safety, and the scientific rigor used to test the technology. eventually, they received a four page response from the food and drug administration. >> which was in reality nothing more than a restatement of the facts that are out there primarily coming from the company that makes these machines. >> reporter: the company is called rapiscan based in torrance california. the t.s.a. has purchased 250 of the machines so far at $180,000 a piece. rapiscan hopes to sell the government many more machines, assuming the t.s.a. approves a new model, which replaces the privacy stripping images with cartoonish graphics. peter kant is the vice president for government affairs. all right. so walk me through this. what's going on in here? >> so here on the left are the computers that are operating the sy

the bag was open for inspection by a t.s.a. agent who found a vibrator and wrote a message to the owner. and is that like get your girl so there's a new story this time rapper freddie gibbs tweeted that t.s.a. found my weed and let me keep it and they just let us know that's a has come on. i'm assuming that guy probably got fired by now they just let the. other guy got to have his staff got to know that we need we need these guys that are going to look at something like ok clearly this is not going to hurt anybody i'm not going to harass or scare and oh it was like you know guys that we need in place and yet at the same time they're making sure that the person knows they didn't get away necessarily with sneaking the weed on they just they saw it and. what do we do right people at all because we're paying them to write little notes like come on three gun girl why are we why flying through people's bags in the first place. there's no reason to be like cohen stuff out of people socks and what even get me started the t.s.a. that ex

has gotten a little note happy ok rapper freddie gibbs says the t.s.a. agent left a note that in his bag after bag was randomly searched and marijuana was found the note from the agent read. and luckily gives got to keep his pot course this harkens back to another note left by a t.s.a. agent woman's bag after the agent discovered a certain type of vibrating sex toy that no red get your freak on girl so we know republicans and presidential candidates republican presidential candidates are flying all over the country all the time checking their bags so the question is what notes from the t.s.a. might they find in their bags some possible choices where you can come up with your own. a new gingrich may find a note reading nice blaming or be that romney may find a note reading not boxers or briefs but magic underwear or c. ron paul me if i don't know reading. it i think. it's probably the most realistic but that this is probably the most realistic i would hope though that maybe they offer some like get out of like taking off your shoes free cards and things l

-span i read the documents i made a public now they have t.s.a. checkpoints with the army and marines in states all over the us and you pull up in the middle of the countryside and there's highway checkpoints with cops dragging you out of the car under the orders of t.s.a. that they have marine corps running dui checkpoints to make it sound like good p.r. they're just getting everybody ready for the. army times stars and stripes three years ago shed homeland brigade brigade homeland was the headline preparing to pull triggers on american citizens and i'm not in the military public they are training i've been to the drills where they train to go door to door confiscating our firearms arresting political dissidents what came to russia what came of nazi germany what came to china what's come to every other country classical authoritarianism is now coming here and the drones that we pay for are going to be used against us not when there's a bank robbery not a liquor store gets robbed not when your house gets invaded but when you are that rural gun own

currently, the t.s.a.he customer reps at most airports under the schumer plan, an advocate would easily be summoned in person by any passenger who feels they were inappropriately searched. rick? >> rick: julie banderas reporting from laguardia airport. in queens in new york city. thank you very much, julie. >> arthel: a popular place -- >> rick: busy. >> arthel: in the next few days. go to the west coast now and fingers crosse crossed in southn california. a tanker truck explodes damaging a major freeway and shutting down traffic. officials are hopeful that the worst may be over. new information straight ahead. >> rick: plus, president obama reacting to major legislation passed by the senate today. ed henry has a preview for us. hi, ed. >> reporter: good to see you, rick. president feeling good about payroll tax cut deal. is at it done deal? maybe, maybe not. we have full details from the white house in a minute. the droid razr by motorola. the newest droid armed with motocast. granting you wireless access

the t.s.a., the transportation security agency, to create a system to speed members of our uniformed services through airport security. i would also like to thank senators lieberman and collins for their input on this piece of legislation. we've all worked hard to move this bill through quickly, and it is the house bill that we will be taking up very shortly, with the modifications that i have mentioned. the bill establishes a time line for the transportation security administration and the department of defense together to develop and implement a program to establish expedited security screening procedures for military personnel and their families. i think we can all agree that our military men and women make sacrifices for our nation every day. the least we can do is try to make their lives a little easier when they travel around the country they defend. i think they have earned the right to at least go to the head of the line or have some kind of trusted passenger status. our armed forces are

now tonight we're going to take a look at the t.s.a. millions of holiday travelers prepare to have a hellish experience this weekend and our guest tonight argues that the federal government airlines all suffer from a complete lack of imagination when it comes to anticipating the next kind of terrorist attack the t.s.a. is doing it all wrong so we'll see if he has any better ideas then there's a new debate over the.

next if you thought your interaction with the t.s.a. was over once you left the airport this weekend think again the t.s.a. is expanding its operations so what does that mean for our privacy. and what drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions it's going to break through it's already been made who can you trust no one who is you know in view with a global mission a region where we had a state controlled capitalism is called sasha's when nobody dares to ask we do our t. question more.

see my family they're going to be traveling which means that you're going to have to deal with the t.s.a. in the long lines and having everything checked in taking your shoes off and either the scanners or the pat downs which means that it's a good time to start asking whether the t.s.a. is really doing things right whether it's actually keeping us safer and so tonight we're going to have a guest on who used to advise the airlines who says that basically they're doing it all wrong and the government and the airlines are all suffering from a complete lack of imagination when it comes to being able to predict what kind of attacks or what kind of dangers they really need to look out for and at the same time there's a big debate right now in the scientific community over whether or not some research should be kept secret so look forward that alone to thank you that is coming up next on the alone a show that is going to do it for now for more on the stories we covered go to artsy dot com slash usa and check out our you tube page it's youtube dot com slash r t america you can also follow me on

rick: still ahead don't try to bring a cupcake on your next flight the t.s.a. big guy right now? we are tracking santa claus with norad. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually se arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammatio plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. a celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naen, and melocam have the same cardiovascar warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart dease or risk factors such

when you look at that t.s.a. check point the easiest thing we can do is put in place a trusted traveler program those who are willing to provide more information about themselves can get a better experience. we need to get away from this one size fits all approach where we assume everybody is a potential terrorist. it's a waste of resources and it's not making us more secure. >> neil: how would it create more jobs though if everyone, for example, didn't have to use the same ziploc size bag with all of their personal effects which i find interesting because invariably i'm behind the guy who has the tube of toothpaste, the shaving cream and razor blade. remove all those requirements and simplify them. how is that going to create jobs. >> here is the real unfortunate effect. people are traveling less. the airlines themselves are projecting 1% decrease in holiday travel this year. >> neil: because of this, right? >> people are avoiding travel because of the hassles. in fact, they say travelers claim they would travel

ladies and gentlemen, please meet your t.s.a. holiday singers performing for some spectacularly unimpressed travellers at l.a.x. on behalf of the flying public, and in no small part because my family and i will be passing through a tsa checkpoint in the next few days, thank you tsa, for your holiday spirit. >>> our nationwide round-up of over the top christmas lights continues as we turn our sunglasses toward virginia. with thanks to al and esther thompson for what they call their annual tacky light tour. 170,000 lights, 150 home-made hand painted figures, we are guessing all of it visible from space. >>> up next, what one family saw in our making a difference report that inspired them to pick up the phone, calling to help even before we were off the air. >>> all this week here we are following up our making a difference reports, checking back in to see what's happened since our stories aired originally. well, tonight the heart-warming story of a family that had fallen on hard times like a lot of other folks, and the strangers wh

. >>> an elderly new york woman said she is planning to sue the t.s.a. after what she said was a humiliating strip search. 85-year-old lenore silverman was at jfk headed to ft. lauderdale. she asked to be patted down after she refused to go through the full body scanner because she has a defibrillator. she said that led to a if i kas as -- fiasco in a private search room. zimmerman told reporters if they stop 85-year-old ladies because they think you might be a terrorist, this country is in big trouble. >>> now to concerns over one of america's secret drones, so-called black operations that crashed in iran and whether it is giving the iranians highly sensitive information about top secret intelligence missions. the u.s. denies iranian claims they shot down the drone, but that's just the start. nbc's jim miklaszewski on duty for us tonight at the pentagon with more exclusive details tonight. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. nbc news learned when that unarmed, unmanned american drone crashed in iran last thursday it was on a mission for

meet your t.s.a. holiday singers performing for unimpressed travellers at l.a.x.n no small part because i and my family will be passing through in the next few days thanks for your holiday spirit. >>> our nationwide round-up of over the top christmas lights continues as we turn our sunglasses toward virginia. with thanks to al and esther thompson for what they call their annual tacky light tour. 170,000 lights, 150 home-made hand painted figures, we are guessing all of it visible from space. >>> up next, what one family saw in our making a difference report that inspired them to pick up the phone, calling to help even before we were off the air:. have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, halluc

terrorism out of the front line of your life do you want to repeat yourself some terrorism do you want the t.s.a. sticking your hand up your sniffing and looking for silver to cover j.p. morgan silver sharks do you do you do or are you a baby or are you a little baby suckling a bedbug you know marjorie love you well through food stamps but a little bit like did the bosal is that you. know well now we're going to turn to another call for a boycott now this woman is an barnard she's shut down her commodities trading for if she was an independent commodities broker and she was interviewed by peter schiff she shut down her firm because of the m.f. global fraud but here's a clip where she's calling for the boycott of the entire financial system in particular because the bankruptcy judge and the fed apparently allowed for this bankruptcy to proceed as if m.f. global were securities firm rather than a futurist firm peter schiff asked her well what's the difference i have to explain this there what that means is is that in a security firm bankruptcy the debtors or the creditors of the company go to the

in addition, the senate amendment allows t.s.a. to include accompanying military family members in the expedited screening process quote-unquote to the extent possible, end quote. overall, the senate amendment to h.r. 1801 improved the bill and i urge my colleagues to support it. in close, i'd like to thank the transportation security committee, mike rogers and sheila jackson lee, peter king and bennie thompson for moving this legislation. additionally, i'd like to thank senators kay bailey hutchinson and jay rockefeller for having their measure pass in the senate. i'd like to recognize some of the great staff on the homeland security subcommittee, including jennifer, amanda, steven, nicole smith, jay rainer -- rehberg and paul blocker and their staff for all they have done in the process. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. ms. richardson: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the senate amendment to h.r. 1801 and i yield myself such time as i

not sought out authorization has not requested to be able just to ensure that tried to try to sue t.s.a. for this the scanner the federal courts we don't do constitutional issues well but this was a procedural issue actually when epic came in and challenged the body scanners in the airports we were able to go forward we got a very positive decision on the grounds that the government didn't seek public comment and what it is is there's a very specific procedure she had to go to when challenging agency action so a lot of people tried to challenge these and just come into court without going through the procedures and what we like to do and what we like to encourage others to do is really examine what you have to do first do you have to petition the agency and then you can take them to court and say this is wrong amy thanks so much thank you so much have a great day great to see you again cops using drones points to one unfortunate conclusion the rise of the military industrial complex and the militarization of our police are nearly complete. it's time for our daily poll your chance to tel

well, the t.s.a. thinks so.s she was humiliated after being stripped searched at john f. kennedy airport. she asked to forego the body scanning machines because she thought it could interfere with her defibrillatorror, and two agents took her two a back room and removed her clotheds and it took so long that she missed her flight and the t.s.a. denying it did anything wrong. wow! >> and, an american favorite, now, "sesame," treat is debuting in afghanistan, making it more suitable for a conservative muslim audience, another version debuted in pakistan this year, and that funded by the u.s. government in an effort to spread a message of we tolerance. i am not sure it made its debut in pakistan yet. they have tried in the middle east and it hasn't work, it does not translate. >> elmo not universal. >> risk is here with a check of the weather. >> good morning, and now, a few things going on the rough winds in southern california still with us this weekend. maybe into monday. we will still have 50 or 60 miles per hou

but also ice and t.s.a. will have a vital role with what the standards and requirements are moving toward guard, just as we have in other similar goebel arranges." . with respect to china we have done some buy lateral initiatives. we have reached an agreement on intellectual property protection with china. it remains to be seen whether and how that will actually be implemented but on paper we have one. we have done some exchanges and some things that are training exchange in nature. but i would venture to say that there's probably a lot more that we could do at the by lateral level with china. -- bilateral level with china. >> all the way in the back there. >> mike with cnn. thanks for taking our questions. after the turner cartridge threat about a year ago, dhs announced a goal of inspecting 100% of cargo on inbound international passenger flights for the u.s. that deadline has been changed. has the goal also been changed? do you intend to inspect or screen 100% of cargo and will that comply with the congre

may i mention our t.s.a., aviation -- we fund that. and then we make sure that the trade -- and i want to mention this for louisiana. our fish hemen have had a terrible time. maybe in delaware and other places along the east coast and the west coast you all understand this. but in the gulf, our fish hemen are trying to make a living in the middle of hurricanes and oil spills. in addition, we get crawfish and shrimp dumped from places like china and vietnam, and we need money in this bill to enforce those trade laws. so i stepped up and significantly enhanced that effort in this bill. and i was proud to do it for the maritime -- well, not maritime, but shrimping and fishing industries in our country, and particularly the gulf coast the and so that is in this bill as well. and i might mention secret service, which we have to support in addition to the coast guard, customs and border protection. it's a lot in our $40 billion bill. let me just make one other point. we have eliminated $204 million of rescissions, as i said, low-priority pro

yet, the republicans would treat these conditions as a nuisance rather than as medical can t.s.a. row fees for the familiar -- catastrophes for the families of america. so let's be clear what this bill is all about. this is another attempt by the republicans to protect big coal by creating another loophole to avoid the clean air act so that families don't have to worry that their children are inhaling these dangerous materials, the arsenic, the lead, the mercury that they are petro find are going to have -- petroified are going to have a long-term affect on their child's development. that's what this is all about. bottom line. and the coal industry is saying no. the republicans are using the guise of some farm dust, cloud of confusion to mask what they're really trying to do which is to allow the coal industry to send this lead, this mercury, this arsenic up into the air and into the lungs of children across our country, especially those that are so young that we know it has an impact on their development. especially of their brain. so i urge an aye vote on this amendment, and i d

do its job, the t.s.a. dealing with aviation security to do its job. how clearer do we need to be? cities and towns across the nation facing threats, indeed every day ensuring the security of the homeland requires the interaction of multiple federal departments and agencies as well as operational collaboration across federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. nongovernmental organizations of private sector. how in the world can we do our job and protect the american people? how can we provide small businesses with the opportunity for new technology procurement by layering and layering their ability to get this done? i ask my colleagues to stand with me in supporting the homeland and homeland security. vote for the jackson lee amendment that exempts homeland security regulations once and for all, let's be bipartisan on securing and protecting the american people. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. -- the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield myself the balance of the time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sm