dynamics is that the cia maybe doesn't want this job any more. although they have been ramped up to become a covert air force, not everything is psyched up about it. after petraeus had to resign, the acting director who took over was described in the press as concerned about the overmilitarization of the cia. john brennan who president obama appointed to run the cia in his second term, he told the washington post in october that he too was interested in the cia getting out of the drone business, saying essentially that that is war and not intelligence and as such it should be done by the pentagon and not by the people who are supposed to be our nation's spies. well, that transition, that change, that potential change, at least, is now maybe happening. it's just a single article, citing three anonymous sources. but it says the white house is poised to sign off on getting the ca out of the war business, putting the cia back in the business of spying. war by any other name would be conducted by the military. and is overseen that way within our gover

because the cia has contracted officers the procure for goods and services just like any other federal agency so it would seem to me that they would have had some something in writing that if they're providing all this other information to acted could documents and stuff like that they would have had some kind of contracts roll. contract paperwork to provide as part of their defense the news stated that a couple of very high ranking cia officials spoke on their you know in a document wrote on their behalf. probably trying to help them help their defense but the thing that really would have defended him and what backed up their argument would have said well where's the contracted you know where's the document that says you were under contract to the cia that was of course after the fact not not before so let me ask you this first of all should it be that surprising that they did have these close ties allegedly and also do you think that that didn't really branded academy has these kind of close ties with the cia well they probably do it's probably not a unique arrangement the sea. he ha

the cia wanted tknow if one of the men was khallad. soufan took the photo back to quso. >> and he said, "this guy looks like khallad, but he just looks like him. i'm not sure if it's him." >> smith: soufan was incensed that the agency hadn't shared their intelligence months earlier. the cia asked him to look at yet another photo. >> and basically, my answer wa "how many people need to die in order to know how many freaking photos there is out there?" so we get another photo. i mean, i didn't need to ask quso. obviously, it's khallad. we know what he looks like. this is definitely khallad attash. >> smith: khallad was linked to the 9/11 plot. from malaysia, he had flown with two of the hijackers, khalid al mihdhar and nawaf al hazmi, to bangkok. from there, mihdhar and hazmi bought tickets and flew to los angeles. >> now we know why quso delivered the money. >> smith: so you're lookin this... >> yeah. >> smith: ...and you're seeing al midhar with khallad, and you're told in the report that al mihdhar was on flight 77... >> yes. >> smith

former congressman hoekstra said well we needed the cia needed blackwater at the time that was in its name at the time because they didn't have the resources to do the job themselves that that's really the main problem the problem is why doesn't the cia have the resources or the operatives that have the experience and the know how and all that to do the job we're outsourcing to civilians to be operatives for the cia it just sounds kind of and the same things happening in the military with companies like blackwater were outsourcing soldiers the job of soldiers so the problem is that the government is outsourcing for everything in this particular case if black black war stories to be believed they were outsourcing to blackwater to do all sorts of stuff and they got caught and it's surprising that they said that they don't have the resources considering just how much of our budget actually goes to the department of defense and others let me ask you this does the fact that these two had close relations excuse the fact that they were possibly buying these these guns under without a firearm

>> the now dead american born terrorist who became the first american to be targeted for death by the cia imam the circle of friends and neighbors included future flight 9-11 hijackers. he made a point to tell his roommates to go seal lack can i at t al lack can i at the wros can for work. >> two of the hijackers the first time that we know he met the hijackers. >> what did they do? >> got them an apartment. settle twoed of them into an apartment. >> both chahazeh tell you they are not religious people yet they go to anwar al-awlaki. it seems like it's by design. al la a oo i remember many time shake mying head and saying we are getting deeper involved. >> they believe there's an unknown relationship between anwar al-awlaki, his roommate. >> the 9-11 commission report is supposed to be the road map for 9-11. if there's not one to the syrian in this book. >> chahazeh was being interviewed at the time of the 9-11 commission. they believe he was more of a leader but he was more of the one being told what to do. >> he was doing the legwork and the syrian was pulling the strings? >> it i peeap

but they ain't worried a paper trail because it was revealed that the cia had instructed blackwater togive the king the guns since quote the agency had forgotten to get gifts for him hoops well i'm glad mercenary thugs can pick up where the cia leaves off and since selling the company that continues to be the line of defense used by prince against the allegations he said quote blackwater carried out countless life threatening missions for the cia and in return the government chose to prosecute my people for doing exactly what was asked of them basically blackwater was just acting under orders of the cia so if anyone should be held accountable it's them look i never thought that i would agree with prince but i can't say i disagree with the fact that the cia is ultimately responsible for outsourcing their death squads to private mercenary corporations who commit their dirty detestable deeds under a cloak of impunity plus passing the buck to the cia is a brilliant move since will surely see no prosecutions or indictments coming out of this ever elusive agency so let me get this straight l

that is not the role of the cia. ministration wanted him to toe. >> we think we stumbled onto one avenue of a nuclear weapons program. >> there is no question there were erroneous judgments in that national intelligence estimate. the purpose was to sell a policy initiative, which was to go to war against iraq. >> the 90-page classified nie asserts that saddam is actively pursuing his wmd program. it cites the debatable intelligence on aluminum tubes, the yellowcake uranium purchase, and mobile weapons labs. but deep inside that thick document are strongly worded dissents that argue the evidence is weak, even wrong. >> the nie is sent over to congress. it's kept in a classified vault. as far as we can tell only about half a dozen senators actually read it. had they done so, they would have seen that it was filled with dissents. >> if i had read the national intelligence estimate on iraq, i probably would have been -- have done myself a favor by being better informed on the intelligence, rather than listening to the adm

>> we asked for information about the cia's use of drones to carry out targeted killings. the answer the cia gave us is that it couldn't confirm or deny any involvement in the targeting killing program without jeopardizing national security. they said we can't even process your freedom of information act request and that's the question we took up initially with the district court. and then to the court of appeals. the question was, can the cia really respond or not respond to freedom of information act request in this way? and the decision we got today is a decision that thecy cia can'to that. the cia has to process freedom of information act requests. it can't claim that its interest in the targeted killing program is a secret. it is a very narrow victory in a way because if in a way all the court is saying is that you the cia have to acknowledge what everybody already knows to be true. but on the other hand, it can have significant procedural implications because it means that cia now has to explain which records it's holding. about the drones. >> it has to respond within

still to come here on our team new head at the cia john brennan earned as the director of langley despite a controversy on capitol hill over his indorsement of the u.s. deadly drone program. how some communities in britain are battling to keep the age old traditions alive that are being put at risk by strict tax policies stay with us lots more to come here on r.t. . did you see darth vader is stormtroopers trying to make their way into the ukrainian justice ministry as part of a protest well probably a lot of you saw this fun viral video but how many people remember what exactly they wanted and what their protest demands were all about probably not that many trust me i understand that using wacky protest tactics gets media attention and if you are pushing a cause that media attention is critical but when no one even gets what you want or why you are in that wacky costume it doesn't help there seems to be like almost a protest a culture and language like you see people protesting they're so satisfied with themselves in their costumes and silly gimmicks but if your protest is actually aimed

the former cia chief's first public words since the sex scandal cost him his job. >>> history in the making at the highest court in the land. justices now just hours away from hearing a case that could redefine marriage in america. >>> and also new this morning, shaken and scared. the first moments of a deadly earthquake caught on camera. dramatic video this morning. take a look at this. a camera captures a bus driver's close brush with death. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. john berman is hosting later this morning. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. let's get started. >>> first an apology for former cia director david petraeus. the five-star general making a return to public life after retiring in disgrace over an affair with paula broadwell. casey, petraeus has been laying really low since november. what is the end game behind last night's public appearance and very public apology? >> clearly, zoraida, petraeus is attempting to rehabilitate his public image. retired general david petraeus picked a receptive audience to launch his comeback from the sex scandal that cost h

then the cia would say, this is a secret. and not only is it a secret but it would jeopardizes to even mention it. this decision narrows the gap between those two things, at least a little bit. >> the courts have been really quite differential and reluctant. seems like this was a high water mark hit in which the court was pushing back against a lot of assertions both in the secrecy front and just sort of executive authority front. a lot of that had to do we detainee treatment during the bush era. seems like the courts have been much more differential the last three or fours years. maybe you don't think that's the case. but it seems to me that's the way the wind are blowing. and i wonder if you think that the cultural and political shift that we've seen around this issue, particularly on targeting can killing affects the courts. courts are embedded this that same national conversation. >> that's good question. it is hard for me so t.o. sato say, i don't know what goes on behind closed doors. you know, this is a decision that is

portrayed like zombies from the one of the dead here who could the cia really control holywood yes of course this may sound like a crazy conspiracy theory to people who are exposed in a regular basis to fox news and c.n.n. the new york times which never talk about these things the cia has been propagandizing the american people through the us media since world war two there's a whole part of the cia hold off aeration mockingbird they may have changed the name but i'm sure it's still around operation mockingbird is that operation in the cia that is in the media there were i forget it's six seven hundred fairly high level and influential cia assets paid by the cia in the media and so it's not surprising that many news articles and hollywood movies are intelligence operations they just one thing also of war is the law about how can a film be a war crime well as did the international covenant on civil and political rights makes it illegal to engage in war propaganda people who have billion dollar media industries at their fingertips are not supposed to be pu

barack obama's home a counterterrorism adviser has been confirmed as the new head of the cia but before the senate could vote in john brennan his nomination was held up by questions over his role in washington's controversial drone program what republican lawmakers spadeful a marathon thirteen hours to get guarantees that remote control strike crofter would be used on the home front as marina reports. so many u.s. lawmakers have a long objected to john brennan's nomination and there's various reasons before even getting to the drone program he's considered to have played a major role in the cia's enhanced interrogation program under george w. bush and he's also known as the top cheerleader for america's controversial drone program now that program has been criticized as having a huge lack of transparency last year brought in argued for the legality the morality in the effectiveness of america's drone program and publicly had to acknowledge the cia the cia join attacks have been taking place in pakistan yemen somalia libya afghanistan and elsewhere now on wednesday senator rand paul spen

-- gathered through the use of cia. have you seen any information since april 2009 to change your views on the topic? >> i was trying to express -- i was not aware of the practices of the facts. >> thank you. yount to follow up with later. i will turn to director brennan. congratulations on your appointment. i appreciate your involvement with the hostage negotiations. i look for to working with you in your new role. in her confirmation hearing, we discussed the committee study and the importance of putting reforms in place to prevent past mistakes from happening again. theso pushed for committee's report. last week before you were on the job for the first day, newspaper story was published senior intelligence official who claimed that the cia is ejecting a majority of the 6000 page report, which has footnotes direct resource to cia documents. there was numerous inaccurate statements about the committees report, including a has has 20 recommendations, which it does not. it appears that the unnamed intelligence official wa

through the us media since world war two there's a whole part of the cia hold off aeration mockingbird in view of change the name but i'm sure it's still around operation mockingbird is that operation in the cia they do seem to found the media there were created six seven hundred fairly high level in the winchell cia assets being paid by the cia you know in the media and so it's not surprising that many news articles and hollywood movies are intelligence operations they just one thing also of war is the law about how can a film be a war crime well as did the international covenant on civil and political rights makes it illegal to engage in war propaganda people who have billion dollar media industries at their fingertips are not supposed to be pushing war propaganda and that's what our goal is and more effectively because it's not recognized as such but it's it's it's catch full of lies that it depicts irradiance as a. had dishes on human animals the one that you cited earlier of putting out false information about cigarettes from foreign nations through selected misleading leaks out o

has access to such databases but now the plan is to give the cia and the n.s.a. full rights to americans financial records the idea is that this will better equip agencies to track down terrorists so they can spot suspicious financial activity but some privacy watchdogs say this is going too far and could even lead to people being falsely accused of terrorism to discuss i'm joined now by a private investigator kenneth cummins welcome there kenneth so up until now the cia and the n.s.a. has kind of had to make this this case by case requests if they wanted to have access to peoples of finances and now this is going to have they're going to have a free pass to this information. is this legal. well it's legal now that they can do it case by case. yeah i guess it would be legal. because this was tried ten years ago but then the congress wouldn't fund it it's be interesting to see if you know because obama is considered a liberal if this is going to this will get more traction now just because it's legal doesn't make it right right. i want to ask you as a private inve

in spite of having problems between the cia and the national security adviser it wanted to impose her opinion by making certain changes in the cia reports in the counter intelligence business you should let the opponent have its sources inside your country who you keep under control you should ensure that there's a certain information leak to the extent you want to have it before the war in our secret communication we confirmed that they convince the world in the need of entering iraq in order to resolve two major issues w m d and ties with al qaida but what would they tell the world if they invaded iraq and didn't find w m d's or ties with al qaeda while you may have noticed that the entire talk was held in a different key after a while they changed the entire plan and they said they were pursuing democratic goals in a rug and once chaos began in iraq they called it constructive chaos seize the entire arab region in their strategy they believe that america would rule this whole area once they overthrew saddam hussein but it actually works out the opposite way when chaos seized the en

since early january, specifically because john brennan's been busy, because he was nominated to run the cia in early january. so he's essentially been too busy since then to keep droning the heck out of yemen and pakistan. well, if drone strikes rise and fall with how busy john brennan is, if he gets confirmed as cia director the day after tomorrow, should we expect the drone pace to then pick back up? maybe or maybe not. last week, former white house press secretary robert gibbs said something on this show that i don't think got enough attention. he said, he thinks that john brennan believes when it comes to drone strikes that they should be handled by the military and not by the super secretive cia. >> i think what john believes is, when we need to deal with any aspect of military activities, those military activities should be conducted by the pentagon. and i think that, again, is a change in the program, because, again, john understands where we are is just not sustainable. >> that's a big deal. if it is true that the new cia director doesn't think the cia should be killing people with

a federal appeals court has unanimously reversed a lower court decision that allowed the cia to deny that it had any documents about the drone program. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams is in washington, d.c. he is following this story closely for us. what can you tell us? >> this is a three judge panel of the d.c. court of appeals. it says the cia can't simply refuse to say that it can't confirm or deny that it has any kind of records. the court said that position has been completely undercut by public statements about the drone program made by the president, made by leon panetta when he was director of the cia, and john brennan when he was the white house counter terrorism adviser. the court says that given these acknowledgement that's the u.s. has participated, it doesn't make any sense for the cia to say that it would reveal anything that is not already in the public domain, to at least say it has an intelligence interest. then here's a statement from what the court said today. it that those statements make it implausible that the cia does not possess a single document

in were satisfied enough with that explanation to the point where he was confirmed as the head of the cia. israeli forces appear to have found a way to gag with the press. we reported on our group of international reporters including our cameramen with his best to while covering the peaceful protests in the west bank. also online for you this is what happened to a fifty nine year old cancer stricken man who's been two years and solitary confinement in the american prison even without a trial at r.t. dot com to learn how he managed to become a millionaire. international officials are still negotiating the release of twenty one un peacekeepers abducted by syrian rebels in the golan heights several of the services said in videos posted online that they were safe even as activists reported clashes and shelling near the israeli border where un troops are being held the rebel group has backtracked on earlier claims it took the peacekeepers hostage as human shields but its says it contravenes the captives until syrian government forces stop bombarding the area and pull back the rebel group invol

prevailed over him so the question now is how obama how is he going to die you'd act the cia effort in syria again is the backdrop of the war in afghanistan the war against terror and others so it's a very very tough test for obama and he should get more involved and more engaged in syria otherwise it could be to climb into his presidency if things deteriorate ok dan should there be more western intervention in syria before answer that i also want to relate to what the earlier totally. false claims are the are not even worth. mentioning but still israel has peace with egypt as well as pits with jordan israel on the verge of reestablishing negotiations with the palestinians of course of the syrian responsible regime comes into power i'm sure that israel will be. interested in in gauging in a dialogue to see if pieces is is possible i do is really. to deal with your focus on circulation you're talking about bills comments regarding. the bill or about the u.s. role in this i think it's absolutely critical in essential that you are steps up its efforts aiding the opposition. supplying t

john brennan voted is the new cia chief despite controversy on capitol hill over his endorsement of the u.s. deadly drone program. nine am in moscow i met très a good to have you with us here on r t we begin today in egypt where the city of port site is said to be a war zone army and police units protecting government buildings from angry anti-government protesters have been on a rampage since sunday at least seven people killed in this spate of unrest bell true has more. there are ten scenes here in egypt's coastal city of post as the clashes continue into the night time standing right in front of the front line here we've witnessed excessive use of tear gas by the security forces as well as hearing gunfire although i cannot confirm whether this is my munition all the reports have come in that i mean it has been used in the past few days these protests broke out a few days ago off the defendants in this very contentious. verdicts were being moved from one prison to on the unknown location the families of the defendants in this trial were very angry and that's how these clashes began sp

>> it was rom emanuel who called me and said we are thinking about the cia job. i said you got to be nuts. i spent most of my time working on budgets. he said, you know, the president really wants you to do this. he thinks you have the credibility to try to restore the reputation, particularly the cia at that time. i looked at it as a challenge. i'm a sucker for challenges. >> his new challenge is daunting. he needs to decompress. he still stops everything to ansz a call. now, it's not the oval office or pentagon. it's his wife at home in carmel valley. >> if the white house calls, you can put the white house on hold, but if your wife calls, you have to take the call. >> absolutely, first things first. >> will we ever know how much pressure you had? you have a full head of hair, you look great. will we ever know the amount of pressure and scrutiny? >> i don't think so. you know, i don't know quite how to say this, but starting when i was director of the cia and then continuing as secretary of defense, we get the first thing i got each morning is an intelligence br

the u2, the cia guy, he was captured by the russians. the cia had told ike that if the plane is shot down, plane will break up, or the pilot will take the suicide pill and kill himself. didn't happen. russians got powers. powers was splashed all over soviet tv, and eisenhower came into his office that miles an houring and said i want to -- that morning and said i want to resign. he got over it, eisenhower always bounced back, but it shows you how shaken he was. because he knew it was derailing this chance of really putting a lid on the cold war. and, indealed, this was the beginning of the most dangerous period of the cold war. the danger period for all of us really was from that summer of 1960 to about october 1962. that's when the world was actually at risk of a nuclear conflagration. >> i think that's about all the time that we have. we will be signing books in the tent directory in the square -- directly in the square afterwards, so we appreciate you guys coming. let's give a hand. [applause] >> thank you. >> the best day to be a pla

after a bruising confirmation hearing john brennan is officially sworn in to lead the cia but when it came time to take the oath of office he used a constitution draft that was missing the bill of rights that story straight ahead . plus you have the right to report police officers a new ruling says citizens can video officers and use the footage in court will look at the ruling and what it means for citizen rights. and the u.s. loves to use drones overseas but more and more american police departments are turning these machines to track their citizens back home now congress is demanding information on the drone domestic drone program we'll take a look at that issue ahead. it's monday march eleventh eight pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you're watching r.t. well after a contentious confirmation process john brennan is officially taking over as director of the cia brennan was sworn in on friday by vice president joe biden with a few people in attendance the media however was not invited to attend the event and only a few pictures actually did come out from the event that the