the pentagon it's a place where u.s. military brass make decisions about war but the pentagon is about to ramp up a different type of battle this time of p.r. push what's behind this move we'll explain in just a minute. we live in a society that loves to update posts and tweets on social media but should you be required to hand over your social media information to your boss or your college get ready for snow bought a new bill in congress designed to protect your social media privacy. and ladies are you willing to go topless one just ahead will explored naked activism and why it's not a popular form of activism here in the u.s. . good afternoon it's friday february eighth for him in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you're watching r.t. . the face of war is changing that much we've known for quite some time as a result we've watched the pentagon work to stay ahead of these changes multibillion dollar aircraft carriers an f. sixteen s are making their way for drones and cyber innovation wars are no longer being waged s

dwlee deals with fund -- committee that deals with funding for the armed services which is the pentagon. but i suspect that after 9/11 there has been a hyped up intelligence source. my colleague porter gos who -- goss, who took over the c.i.a., i have talked to him. there's a heightened thought of what to do because of potential terrorism. >> have you heard about the n.s.a. we know about the warrantless eaves dropping and the flap over that. the president seems to not only successfully not been hurt by it, but he comes out a winner because the congress has come away from it because they don't want to appear soft on security. but the n.s.a., it is said, put cookies on those computers that inquierd into the n.s.a. have you heard anything about that? >> no, i know it's cookies are put on my computer all the time. it's not only cookies we had a bill dealing with the spyware and that has not passed. >> do you think that the federal government is doing enough with this new phenomenon where a person's identity cannot only be penetrated and exhausted but also stolen? >> i think the government d

and if you just told the pentagon, okay. 000,000 out of your budget by september 30th, you figure it out. they would whine all the way to september 30th. you come up with a workable solution. but that's not the game they are playing. they are playing these across the board cuts. >> on a related question talking about budget and someone who has spoken out about the need to do some debt trimming of the budget let's say in the pentagon. chuck hagel, they are going to vote again next week. what is the feeling at the pentagon do they expect him to be the next defense secretary? >> oh, yeah. i think everybody anticipates him being the next secretary of defense. the issue there is is he a damaged secretary of defense? you have a guy who has got congressional experience, and my experience covering the pentagon all of these years is that political skills are the most important thing that a secretary of defense needs. >> really? >> yeah, because in the end, that's who gives you the money. >> that's whatley on panetta was so good at alt

the pentagon well i think the congress within the next six to twelve months is going to be so absorbed in the deal best stick crisis that is coming as a result of our fiscal irresponsibility we're well on the road to greece and italy that the next secretary of defense and the president will have quite a free hand to make rather profound change in the military establishment the question is will they do it or will they simply cut away incrementally and leave us with effectively a hollow military one with lots of generals admirals and headquarters not very many people that can actually fight lots of chiefs no indians kelly is there any courage in washington to do exactly what we just heard. i am i am not very confident that i was talking with a senior navy officer last night you know i just happened to be. by myself in this conversation and i asked about what the feeling was and and the feeling now is a lot of despondency because i think within the military there is a strong contingent of of of officers and enlisted people who see the circus going on in washington and what they're concern

the pentagon well i think the congress within the next six to twelve months is going to be so absorbed in the deal best stick crisis that is coming as a result of our fiscal irresponsibility we're well on the road to greece and italy that the next secretary of defense and the president will have quite a free hand to make rather profound change in the military establishment the question is will they do it or will they simply cut away incrementally and leave us with effectively a hollow military one with lots of generals admirals and headquarters not very many people that can actually fight lots of chiefs no indians kelly is there any courage in washington to do exactly what we just heard. i am i am not very confident that i was talking with a senior navy officer last night you know i just happened to be. by myself in this conversation and i asked about what the feeling was and and the feeling now is a lot of despondency because i think within the military there is a strong contingent of of of officers and enlisted people who see the circus going on in washington and what they're concern

the pentagon well i think the congress within the next six to twelve months is going to be so absorbed in the deal best stick crisis that is coming as a result of our fiscal irresponsibility we're well on the road to greece and italy that the next secretary of defense and the president will have quite a free hand to make rather profound change in the military establishment the question is will they do it or will they simply cut away incrementally and leave us with effectively a hollow military one with lots of generals admirals and headquarters not very many people that can actually fight lots of chiefs no indians kelly is there any courage in washington to do exactly what we just heard. i am i am not very confident that i was talking with a senior navy officer last night you know i just happened to be. by myself in this conversation and i asked about what the feeling was and and the feeling now is a lot of despondency because i think within the military there is a strong contingent of of of officers and enlisted people who see the the circus going on in washington and what they're con

for example, the pentagon is hit the most, half the cuts are at the pentagon, what do you think it will take for people to say finally let's get together, figure out a way to not let this happen? >> the cuts to the military of course are the most severe and that will i think require the layoffs of hundreds of thousands of civilian employees, not to mention military operations and maintenance. but also, these cuts will affect every agency, every operation of the government except social security, medicare, medicaid, and food stamps. those are exempt. but every other agency and program will receive some sort of cut, probably 5%, around that. but since we're well in the fiscal year, the balance of the year, these few months will have a greater impact than a few percent of the year since we're talking about several months. the cuts are more severe than they first appear. >> the way this thing is designed, every account equally, right down to the -- you call them program levels or whatever -- but not every account says yeah, as an agency is important. if i were the agriculture secretary, i m

kelly was talking about we haven't even done accountability for the money we've spent we have the pentagon refuses to do an actual audit so you don't even know where the money is going to you have spent so how can you justify not spending money that you do have for things you know you must do it's truly insane ok dixon who is running the show the pentagon congress the american people who. well i think at the moment we have to say that it's a combination of force stores in the department of defense and people on the hill who are of course tied to people in industry who are interested in maintaining the money flow for big ticket items look there here's a serious problem that no one bothers to discuss and i think your viewers will appreciate knowing this during the second world war when we had eleven million men in the air force and the army we had only four four star generals to command that force today we have about eight hundred eighty thousand men in the army and the air force combined and we have twenty three four star generals which what we've got is this enormous bloat in senior office

jennifer griffin live at the pentagon tonight. jennifer, what happened? >> well, with little fanfare, shep, u.s. and nate officials in afghanistan removed from their web site the month-to-month figure saying attacks by the taliban were down by 7% last year. there seemed to be a mistake. a mistake that led to administration officials making statements like this. >> violence levels have been trending downward in the last two years after five years of steady increases beginning in 2006. >> the problem is the attacks weren't trending downward. they were exactly the same as in 2011. an embarrassing admission by the pentagon that the the narrative about how the president's strategy in afghanistan was bearing fruit may have been misleading, shep. >> shepard: they must be making some case at the pentagon in their own defense. >> well, in essence, they blame the afghans. the afghan commanders supposedly forgot to submit their field reports about the attacks so the pentagon data was misleading. >> this is a regrettable error in our database systems that was discover

but if you could target it, and i've talked to people, for instance, in the pentagon. it. give us some flexibility. and that will actually be able -- it is the nature of this mindless across-the-board cuts where every agency gets the same amount, 8 to 12% which is ridiculous. >> the reason why we have sequestration is because republicans won't raise revenue. everyone agrees on this issue. >> it's not only that, it's because we're fighting wars and bloating the pentagon budget. >> that's not why we have sequestration. >> it's why we have a crisis. it's why we have an economic crisis. if we look at afghanistan -- >> wait a minute. if we look at afghanistan for every young soldier that's there, there's about 68,000 soldiers that are there, every one of them, it costs $1 million a year. not because they make a lot of money, half of them qualify for food stamps. because of the cost of waging a war half a world away. >> so you're agreeing deficits are driving this? >> no, i'm saying that the wars are a huge part of why we are in crisis. if you bring home one soldier -- >> no

the pentagon is a place where u.s. military brass make war decisions but the pentagon is a balance to ramp up a different type of battle this time a p.r. push what's behind this move will explain in just a moment. we live in a society that loves to update post and tweet on social media but should we be required to hand over our social media information to our bosses colleges except get ready for snow but a new bill in congress designed to protect your social media privacy. gearing up for round two senator rand paul is not a fan of the t.s.a. he even had a run in with the agency in an airport in tennessee now he's calling for an overhaul of the agency we'll tell you about his plans coming up. it's friday february eighth eight pm in washington d.c. and lopez and you're watching our t.v. . the face of war is changing that much we've known for quite some time now as a result we've watched the pentagon scramble to be behind the changes ahead of the changes that is in turn a multibillion dollar aircraft carriers an f. sixtee

stern warnings from the pentagon. what is at stake if congress does not avoid billion dollar budget cuts. >> we are seeing lake effect snow showers downwind of the great lakes. cold weather and an active weather is here to stay. live look outdoors with clouds in place. >> grim warnings from the pentagon this afternoon. massive furloughs are pending for civilian employees if lawmakers don't avoid the sequester. with just nine days left, the president is continuing his own plea for negotiations. >> the fight over $1.20 trillion over across the board spending cuts is raging on even with lawmakers out of town. today it is the pentagon's turn to warn congress did more than 700,000 civilian employees would take one day off a week without pay. yesterday president obama blamed republicans for holding up a deal. he was surrounded at the white house by emergency responders that the president said could lose their jobs. >> these cuts are not smart, not fair, they will hurt our economy. >> the president wants to replace the cuts w

the pentagon is introducing a new award to ensure those fighting us wars from a fall receive recognition defense secretary leon panetta has announced the creation of a distinguished warfare medal it will be handed out to joystick wielding drone pilots who waged their battles without setting foot in combat zones earlier. explains my colleague what it takes to get an award so your signature hair you have a joystick and you point click and then get an award essentially that's all it takes to get it to get a medal which is supposed to rank higher than the bronze medal which is given out to people who actually perform combat duty but according to the pentagon criteria i'm going to cite it here it will be recognizing a single act that directly affects the combat operation does not involve an act of valor and warrants that award higher than the bronze medal so instead of having to go to the front line and risk the extreme bloody violence there you can just sit in your recliner with a joystick and maybe a couple for example and just wage war from about a thousand miles away i guess perhaps there

the stalking of senator hagel. those who don't want this man as pentagon chief will stop at nothing. they're trying to slow the process of his confirmation, anything to give them time to find something to bring the man down. question, who are they try king to bring down? is it president obama's pick for secretary of defense? or is it the man the american people have chosen? is it about a confirmation or a desperate push to undermine the president's second term. listen to those attacking senator hagel and you'll hear the yelps of pain, this motley crew of neocons and the sun belt feel. what they hate, despise, really, is the fact that now in the history books, the american people voting in great numbers reject their war-reich jinglistic notions of what america stands for. their problem is with america's choice of who it wants to be president. who it wants to sign. and what we should be doing in this world. obama works for peace. he works hard for it. this crowd has other ideas. and that's "hardball" for now. happy valentine's, everybody. what a day. and thanks for being with us tonight

d'agata classified briefings from the pentagon. we went in in march to my belief. u are going to be out, for the most part, by the end of the year. there is no long-term plan. in fact, if you're going to fall published administration for something which is why i think that book was unfair, we discourage to think the about what to do with regard to iraq. so then we had to work by the seat of our pants. by the time we left we were not too sure everything, but we had this false confidence that somehow this general would conduct a surgeon at is automated difference. what made differences that soon the awakening which was started before he ever got there. it was general casey. and they encouraged them to get involved because of what al qaeda was doing to their country , the incredible violence which still with the dispute between the factions. but we have this idea, we did it from the soviet union and for china, but these are totalitarian groups. the black box organizations, and once they make a proclamation everyone salutes the proximity of pocket -- proclamation. that'

you know, he would be the first enlisted man ever to head the pentagon. presentation. and that the grunt's view at the pentagon is a real recommendation for chuck hagel. it would be interesting to start to hear from that community about how they feel about his being filibustered. >> michelle, your thoughts on this. i mean, isn't this harry reid's fault? harry had a chance to change the rules of the senate and he was too nice to mitch mcconnell and now look what we've got. there's probably more to come. your thoughts. >> i suppose so, though i remember not very long ago when we were all suffering under the george w. bush administration and there was a real fear that without the filibuster then george bush would have been able to put some of his very radical extremists on the bench and push through more of his agenda. so i understand the reticence to kind of unleash the nuclear option. and you know, i don't think you can necessarily blame harry reid for the unprecedented not just obstructionism but kind of paranoid lunacy of this new crop of senators who, yo

the stalking of senator hagel. those who don't want this man as pentagon chief will stop at nothing. they're out there beating the bushes right now for anything that will slow the process of his confirmation, anything that will give them more time to find something they can build enough on to bring the man down. question. who are they trying to bring down? is it president obama's pick for secretary of defense? or is it the man the american people have chosen? is it about a confirmation or a desperate push to undermine the president's second term? listen to those attacking senator hagel, and you hear the yelps of pain this motley crew of neocons and right-wingers from the sun belt feel even though from the american people's choice of last november. what they hate, despise really, is the fact now in the history books that the american people in great numbers reject their war-like jingoistic notions of what america stands for. their problem is not with obama's choice for a cabinet appointment. their problem is with america's choice of who it wants to be president, who it wants deciding w

do you know is the drone program run by the pentagon? now necessarily the scope of the program, but i can tell you that in recent weeks, that's something that leon paneta as he is doing his final media tour ahead of likely being out of the pentgon, very shortly has been talking a lot about and he kind of said that drone warfare is likely to be a staple of the american military for quite some time looking forward. that was an interview about two weeks ago. the top guy at the pentagon spoken out about and said it will be part of the future the way america handles the military and he spoke to the program's success as well. >> bill: we have been talking. a lot about who makes this decision to go after an american citizen or non-american citizen. >> right. >> with drones. right now, there is a cia program and defense department program. why would you have two? as uncomfortable as i am with drones, i am more comfortable having it run out of the pentagon anthan the cia, given the cia's history of asasssassinateing foreign leaders. it's a weird q

the pentagon needs a seasoned leader to implement cuts. u.n. 12 days since the filibuster not one single thing has changed. not one. yet republicans had to have their filibuster for make their pointless partisan point. they are children. the president's pick for treasury secretary will have a he'dier time. approved the nomination of jacob lew. the vote after a three-hour confirmation hearing with he was pressed just a little bit about working sat citigroup after the financial collapse. unlike the manufactured crisis of bengahzi neither republicans nor democrats have made a national issue about the shaky investments, bailouts that lew has seen. we're more squinting after the smallest sign of progress on the sequester. the the white house and the congress have until wednesday night to avert the cross the board cuts. to highlight those cuts president obama went to newport news shipbuilding but it's dependent on military spending that is due to be slashed this friday. >> obama: the reason why we're even thinking about the sequester is because people

jennifer griffin has the latest for us now from the pentagon. >> good evening. this is the first concrete find the budget uncertainty is going to have a real impact on national security at a time when tensions are high with iran over the nuclear program u.s. has had a policy of having aircraft carriers in the gulf for the past two years. they will replace the u.s. senate. facing budget uncertainty including increasing resolution and a looming potential for across-the-board sequestration cuts u.s. navy made this request to the secretary and he approved the navy to reverse the deployment orders of the uss truman at the last moment. lou: what does this mean for the families on the truman? >> it wreaks havoc on their lives. some have left their least dropped. supposed to leave this friday, so this is a last-minute reversal by the pentagon. they say it could be in the gulf in two weeks time if there were an emergency that would take that long to go from northern virginia. they're going nuts trying to plan for sequestration, something they were told not to plan for and

what are the plans at the pentagon for his first days in office? what is your goal in terms of making it fully in charge and able to deal with congress after this confirmation fight? >> the steps postconfirmation are still yet to be announced. we do not want to say anything and advanced. it is confirmed that senator hagel has some of his strong commitment to get down to usiness. to get deeply invested in the work of the pentagon and its military and civilian workers. he has spent a great deal of time getting briefed on the work ahead. i cant speak for him speak to him to say that he is looking forward to leading this department if confirmed. his goal is to look to the future and secretary panetta believes that he will be an outstanding success oor. >> is he bruised by the confirmation? can he still be effective with congress? >> absolutely. senator hagel is someone who has been much of his life in the holes of the united states congress. he understands the importance of debate, including during a confirmation process. he is going to, with a philosop

chris: what was the reaction by the pentagon the fact we have rules already. the rules are it has to be imminent attack, the person has to be involved in imminent strikes against the united states, and we can't bring him or her to trial and they do have protocols. >> there's a lot of murkiness within an attack. it's a very murky definition, and what defines an imminent attack. i wanted to talk about class value damage which is civilian casualties and i think, yes, the drones do save american lives but there's a lot of -- there's a lot of civilian casualties and they're not as accurate all the time as the pentagon or c.i.a. says. we heard a story this week about a very brave cleric in yemen who stood up in his mosque and denounced al qaeda, two days later some al qaeda guys come to visit him and they're arguing outside and they're incinerated in the drone attack. one of these guys was on the u.s. side. so not only is class value damage but also creates a -- collateral damage but also creates a lot of resentment. >> families and children killed, especially in no

can the pentagon survive budget cuts or are secretary panetta's worries on the mark? mort zuckerman. >> yes, i think they can survive it. they have a gigantic budget. they have to get their funds spent in the right priority. a lot of people feel we're going to have to cut costs out of virtually every department. we cannot ignore it. everybody comes one a case why we should spend money, and nobody comes one a case why we should raise the money to do it. we have to do something to get our budgets under control because otherwise this whole thing is going to explode. >> how does our military compare with mill fares around the world? >> we have about 1 million in the active owe. >> 1.2 million active -- 1.4 active duty, or something. but, john, if panetta is correct, why does the vice president the united states propose a different set of cuts for the same amount of money if it is going to savage the defense budget? he has not come forward with. that clearly this is a meat axe approach. it's not the right approach, but frankly it's the only way the republicans are going to

the pentagon is shrinking its presence in the persian gulf of aircraft carriers. it's par of that long list that secretary panetta that said these cuts are going to have to happen in the coming weeks all because congress cannot agree on an alternative to the budget cuts that are going to kick in as well as a 2013 budget. the "uss truman" was expected to pull out of norfolk tomorrow to head to the persian gulf but wednesday afternoon word came in the truman will stay in port to save money. >> playing the waiting game. it's not very nice not knowing when we're pulling out. >> the pentagon is carrying u.s. presence overseas ahead of $55 billion budget cuts that kick in march 1st. >> this is not a game. >> outgoing defense secretary leon panetta says congress's avoidance of finding cuts is seriously damage america. >> they would degrade our ability to respond to crises precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. >> the idea behind sequestration was that the budget cuts would be so objectionable here on capitol hill that congress would agree on an alter

called a sequester, these automatic bid into automatic indiscriminate cuts across the board, 8% to the pentagon, you have been looking at the kind of impact this will have. what you expect? how much damage you think it would do four different operations? >> needless to say, being an appropriate, but think it is an idiotic way to do business. these are indiscriminate cuts. they are not thought through. they're just automatic across- the-board, without any consideration of good, bad or evil or whatever. so i think the cuts are devastating. i am sad to see take place. but i don't see any effort being made realistically to stop it. >> do you think that, once the sequestered takes effect, that people will see the wide ranging implications and that there will actually start working together to figure out how to replace it or a verdict? >> that is my hope. number one, most of in the week to avoid it. i think it will have a shocking effect on so many agencies of the government that, hopefully -- >> what do you think it will take for people to say, finally, let's get together and figure out a way to not

to slice the pentagon's budget. dean telling the huffington post i'm in favor of the sequester.s tough on things i care about a lot but the fact of the matter is you are not going to get another chance to cut the defense budget in the way it needs to be cut. white house officials disagree. as an outgoing defense secretary leon panetta who warned such deep cuts could leave america with a second rate military. you will remember republicans were furious before the election that the white house did not follow the warren act that requires employers to warn employees about the potential lay-offs. since furlough notices are only going out now, defense officials say they work at the pentagon until late april. even if the sequest starts on march 1. at the white house, ed henry. fox news. >> bret: the pentagon's budget chief says the effects of the cuts will be felt nationwide. he says the biggest potential losses will be in california, texas, georgia and virginia. national security correspondent jennifer griffin on what it could mean for one virginia community. >> sequester take effect,

you question the whole issue of military aid if it is run by the pentagon. just look at the top six recipients of the military aid and ask yourself what are we getting for this? list of the israel afghanistan, egypt, turkey and iraq. israel shouldn't be getting any aid from the united states. they don't need it from the united states. they don't want to get economic aid and they don't need the military, they don't face the threat of require and they have a pretty self-sufficient military industry, highly sophisticated and they can afford to buy the weapons they by. afghanistan, again, we are just feeding this criminal enterprise. who knows what is going to happen when we reduce our presence. pakistan, iraq, you all know what the problems are and the situations. but if you go and you look at the service structure and start with, say nuclear arms, think of the five to $6 trillion that we have invested in the nuclear arms that are in essentially an unusable weapon system faugh what are you going to do? we don't have them anymore. that is how many the country has

how the pentagon is reaching out to >> welcome back on this wednesday morning. a nice looking shot of the u.s. capitol this morning. 36 degrees. things are looking a little better in the future. but dr. jacqui about what we are in store for today. a little clouds in the morning and then getting better. -- let's talk to jacqui. >> we saw just this much sunshine and yesterday afternoon. more like this today. 36 degrees is our temperature now with calm wind. that means we don't have a wind chill factor to deal with, so that's good news. the cloudiness keeping temperatures on the upside. 32 degrees in frederick this morning, 34 in inwood. 32 degrees in madison. let's look at your report cast for today. partly sunny and cold, 36 degrees at 9:00. partly cloudy and 41 at noon. partly cloudy skies and 43 degrees at 5:00, typical for early february. we have a postal system potentially by the end of the week. more details on that in a few minutes. let's check on traffic. how about today? >> it was busy overnight, but all lanes have been reopened in dumfries. southbound 95,

. >> 800,000 civilians working for the defense department may be cursing the news out of the pentagon. they will be forced to take one day off each week of massing spending cuts take place on march 1. >> i will pay the mortgage and utilities, and then you live on what is left. >> the furloughs would begin in mid-april and last more than five months. the pentagon would need to find billions more in savings if no deal is reached. >> this is felt in big and small towns alike, and it won't be just limited to communities with active duty basis. >> it is not just those working for the military who would be affected. unemployed would seek 10% of unemployment benefits evaporate. president obama talked about the sequester's impact in an interview with our sister station. >> we do not need these automatic,-spending cuts that could hurt our economy and military readiness. >> house speaker john boehner asked of the president, what is he doing to stop the sequester that would hollow out our armed forces? as politicians squabble over who should give what in negotiations, defense secretary leon pane

civilian casualties with its war on terror a drone program the pentagon announces a brand new medal for those at the remote joysticks of the death machine. worldwide news around the clock this is. with me it's good to have you with us today. security forces. government protests because some libyans are demanding a second revolution and this comes on the second anniversary. massenet says that the western intervention that helped to oust the late leader is a lot of blame for the troubles in libya now. they're afraid of a big big demonstrations like a date with not to with. when not to was bombing so there are a saying to the people if you come out we would be hard with you they are taking people to the prisons airplanes are full eyeing on the you know war airplanes are flying on. me people are being mean being mercenaries are coming from outside. for the libyan government before i mean even. the most important thing was no i need you and they were had big big controls for that never went inside leave yet and any time they have the idea there was one kind of people inside they were throwin

the bronze medal which is given out to people who actually perform combat duty but according to the pentagon criteria i'm going to cite it here it will be recognizing a single act that directly affects the combat operation does not involve an act of valor and warrants that award higher than the bronze medal so instead of having to go to the front line and risk the extreme bloody violence there you can just sit in your recliner with a joystick and maybe a couple for example and just wage war from about a thousand miles away. perhaps there is a there perhaps there's a basic knowledge of the territory somewhere in the border between afghanistan and pakistan that's involved but let's compare it just sitting around basically just sitting at a base to doing something like something that was done by sergeant william stacey in two thousand and eleven he received a bronze medal a bronze a bronze star which is considered to rank below the medal that we're talking about now what he did was receiving fire along with his squad from ten or twelve and we fighters from five separate fighting positions thoug

the pentagon wants those fourteen u.s. wards from a fall firmly in the spotlight defense secretary leon panetta has announced the creation of a distinguished warfare medal we handed out wielding drone to wage their battles with food in combat zones not easily in english to explain to my colleagues what it takes to get the award. so you're sister you have a joystick and you point click and they get an award essentially that's all it takes to get it to get a medal which is supposed to rank higher than the bronze medal which is given out to people who actually perform combat duty but according to the pentagon criteria i'm going to cite it here it will be recognizing a single act that directly affects the combat operation does not involve and the act of valor and warrants that award higher than the bronze medal so instead of having to go to the front line and risk the extreme bloody violence there you can just sit in your recliner with a joystick and maybe a couple for example and just wage war from about a thousand miles away