government for publishing the pentagon papers. it is well-known how "the new york times" first published exits of the secret document -- exerts of the secret documents, but less well-known is how the beacon press, a small nonprofit publisher, came t to publish the pages that exposed the history of the u.s. involvement in vietnam. the publication led the press into a spiral of two and a half years of fbi arrested, intimidation, near bankruptcy, and the possibility of criminal prosecution. this is a story that has really been told in its entirety. back in 2007, i moderated this historic event at the annual meeting of the unitarian universalist conference in portland, oregon, in front of about 5000 people, commemorating the publication of the pentagon papers and its relevance today. we hear the story from the three men at the center of the storm. grand rentagon and executive, and we also hear from mike gravel, who will tell the dramatic story of how we entered the pentagon papers into the congressional record and finally, robert west.

first meeting at the pentagon president said to then secretary of state bob gates, i think of myself as parallel parking. in other words i'm coming in there, two wars going on, host of hold over policies from the previous administration, i just want the fit myself in between what is going on. now you've had three secretarys of defense all leave saying they felt micro managed like the white house was controlling everything. new person who comes in as to figure out whether they're go to have autonomy or seen just as puppet of the president. >> o'donnell: michael, is this sort of bellyaching by people who don't like the process that goes on or is the process really dysfunctional? >> well, as i think some of both. what you see is gradual centralization of foreign policy not just national security military, but foreign policy in this white house. to degree that people say is unprecedented where few people in the white house, national school and advisor susan rice and white house chief of staff who has foreign policy background really have their hands on the controls here in way that drives

once jsoc submitted their game plan to the pentagon, the brass at the pentagon took about, by all reckoningsix hours to say, good. heather: that's fast, right? >> that's fast. get it over to the white house. that's where i think there's a combination of things. right now you've got a very political white house, it looks at everything through a political lens. you've got a collaborative, deliberative process in the white house, they want everybody's opinion. so i think it took about 48 hours or so based on the timelines that we're seeing from the pentagon and national security team information that's released about this. now, you could argue that after all these years of dealing with the terror threat once a plan is reviewed, approved by the pentagon and handed over to the white house and it involves the lives of u.s. citizens, that it shouldn't take that long. and it's very interesting because the national security spokesperson said, well, look, the president approved it as soon as he had unanimous approval or recommendation from the national security team. heather: so it becomes a decision

, his understanding of the pentagon, how he's seen by officials of the pentagon? s this different from his predecessors? >> he was deputy secretary for some time, was the head of procurement there. he's had several stints within the pentagon. he knows the military brass, the bureaucracy, he understands how to make it work and has been effective in making it work in the past and that is quite different from the folks that precede him there in this administration. >> woodruff: but you still believe he's going to have difficulty getting done what he believes should be done because of the white house. >> well, look, you read the gates or the panetta book and you see the frustrations. you saw the frustrations in thenned of hagel's term in office. i think the problem is this: first of all, the white house does micromanage. the white house does tend to a top-down style that has alienated some of its cabinet. but secondly, it's seeking to pursue course in a place like syria and iraq that is full of ambivalence and half-way measures and he's going to have military brass at

i keep going back to the fact that he knows the pentagon. there's been a lot of remarks about the fact that he's a physicist. yes he is but he also has a doctorate in medieval history. so this is the kind of guy that questions, that probes, that looks into things. >> he is quickly going to become one of the smarter guys in the room when the national security team meets but he's also very personable. he certainly wouldn't remember me, i was a young two-star general at the time. but he's the kind of guy that can shake hands and people know that he's got a good feel for what they're trying to say. he does explain himself and that's important in today's environment because he's not only going to be faced with isil and sequestration and additional budget cuts, but in my view this is the toughest world we faced in a very long time. he's going to have all kinds of critical requirements all over the globe and then he's got to get out and speak his mind. as soon as he meets the soldiers and the sailors and the marines and airmen out there, they'll lik

will he be a yes man for the pentagon? and work then to bring the president around to the president's thinking on tactics and strategies on issues ranging for i.s.i.s. to afghanistan and iran and iraq. the real question for him is not so much the policy, but the budget. will they stay within the sequestration limits or will they cabinet relief. -- will they get relief. chuck hagel tried to get relief, was not successful. it will be interesting if carter can next year. remember, he has a short time to change things. we are almost into the presidential election year. >> what do you think - broadly speaking, what do you think of the critique of this president. robert gates - that suggests that the white house micromanages the pentagon, and people with no military experience or involved in military decision making. >> i think that happens all the time, there's always tension between the white house and the agencies. the real question is is the secretary of defense able to go to the president and say "look, if this doesn't stop,

let's begin with barbara starr over at the pentagon. ve caused the internet in north korea going down? what's the u.s. say? >> well, right now, wolf, the obama administration isn't saying anything. very interesting. the white house, the state department, the pentagon, all quiet about this. but you will recall that the administration said it would respond to north korea's hacking of sony, it would respond at a time and place of its choosing, and that response may not be made public. it may be very secretive. and that's leading some of the speculation around the world tonight that the u.s. may be behind this hacking attack against north korea, retaliation. a lot of people say maybe not. that the u.s. wouldn't want to do something so overt. you can't always measure north korea's response. maybe the north koreans took themselves out of the internet business to protect their small network. maybe the chinese took them out, you know, getting annoyed with north korea's constant rhetoric and leading to more instability in the region. the north ko

a time uncertainty at the bent pentagon. t he has to shake some things up in the foreign policy. it needs a reboot. he has decided to do that by changing the position at the top of the department of defense, now white house officials who i've been speaking to said carter was tapped because he's not afraid to deliver bad news or challenge the president. the counter to that is he has been at the pentagon for quite awhile. some critics argue he might be more of a yes man. that, of course, remains to be seen. he's going to face some steep hurdles from the escaladeing crisis against isis which i mentioned and looming budget cuts jose as a part of the sequester. still the rest of the sequester sit to kick in. chuck hagel stepped down last week amid reports he was too passive in the face of the new challenges. on thursday hagel pushed back that he was forced out. he said the decision was mutual. based on my conversation has been largely bipartisan support from capitol hill. republican senator ted cruz saying he's skeptical that cart

nato presence in europe are funded from the pentagon base budget but overseas contingency operations a separate pool of cash not subject to congressional budget caps. >> congress is very low to cut the war budget because they don't want to be accused of under cutting the troops when the troops are engaged in the field and the war budget supports the troops. >> reporter: there is also plenty of room for noncombat belt tightening says america universities gordon adams. >> pentagon as 1.8 million people who are essentially the back office for 1.1 million people in uniform. so there is a great deal the pentagon could do starting now to trim back the size of that huge overhead. >> reporter: while president obama under scored friday the necessity for a leaner military going forward the incoming republican congress will likely give the new defense secretary plenty of breathing room with the nation's defense budget, patricia are al jazeera. >>> for more on the nominee for defense secretary we turn to jamie at the white house for us and good to see you, what are your thoughts on this? >> well,

barry goldwater and others were behind the chain of power in the pentagon. crow had become the most powerful peacetime military officer in american history? >> right. >> what -- is there anything else you can say about the upshot of that law and is that law a good thing? >> the law was designed to give the chairman of the joint chiefs more power to express his opinion and more power to speak his own mind in the interagency battles that took place. therefore, bringing them up closer to the power of other cabinet members in these sorts of -- in these decisions. i think the real difference there's an imposition where he could speak his own mind. but the admiral crow himself was an effective man in that position and was hand picked by ronald reagan to take that job in the reagan administration. so very often we know james baker's power in this administration comes from his close relationship to george bush, not because he's secretary of state. he's more powerful as secretary of state because of his close relationship. i think that ronald reagan trusted admiral cr

carter is no stranger to the halls of the pentagon. n the clinton administration as deputy defense secretary and well-known defense expert. why this pick? ed henry on the north lawn with the very latest. there are a lot of accusations that the white house micromanages pentagon policy. would you describe carter's style? is he somebody that can stand up to the president and be independent? >> reporter: they tell us ash carter is independent and bold, willing to stand up to the president and key advisors like susan rice. that is important because rice clashed with chuck headache gel the outgoing defense secretary, not just over policy but direct access to the president. i mean i've been told by people close to chuck headache gel that one of his great frustrations was that susan rice and others were blocking hagel from getting more direct one-on-one meeting with the president so he could speak his mine on strategy over isis in russia, some of the big national security challenges. one of the big questions moving forward is going to be whethe

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senator for as hisa, best known release of the pentagon papers. ng on mark udall to get the senate intelligence committees 4000 pages into the congressional record. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] woman: support for christina cooks is provided by eden foods, dedicated to the creation and maintenance of purity in food. and suzanne's specialties, makers of pure sweetness the way mother nature intended. man: closed-captioning of christina cooks provided by melissa's world variety produce... if you feel like you're juggling lots of things in your life-- marriage, career, love life, children, getting everybody every place-- you must be a woman. well, the good news is the tightrope leads right to the kitchen. it's all about balance today on christina cooks.

the pentagon didn't think it was a great policy. the congress and treasury didn't think it was a good policy. the sanctions were decided upon because they were the only policy everyone could agree upon. >> let me read you a line about admiral crowell. he was authorized to express his opinions. unilaterally he solve conflicts among the chiefs. this is a result of a 1986 law that was passed. mostll had become the powerful piece to officer in hamburg in history. is there anything else you can say about that law? designedk the law was to give the chairman of the joint chiefs more power to express his opinion and speak his own mind in the interagency battles that took place. bringing him up closer to the power of either cabinet members. difference,real certainly he was in a position where he could not speak for himself. effective man in that position. he was hand-picked by ronald reagan to take that job during the reagan administration. know, powers we comes from his close relationship to george bush, not because he is secretary of state.

jim miklaszewski from the pentagon of course. heard from our own chuck todd and moderator of "meet the press." it's somebody who knows how the pent gon works ala gates and rumsfeld who knows the inner workings and mechanizations. is that accurate and will he be respected in that building overall? >> actually, he knew more about the pentagon than either gates or panetta as well. as deputy defense secretary. this guy was in charge of just about everybody, including the massive multibillion budgets. and it's one of the issues that the obama administration and the pentagon are going to have to struggle with over the next couple of years as those budgets are shrinking. it will be ashton carter's responsibility to figure out how to keep from hollowing out the military forces. i think the big change will be in the atmospherics. the white house will have far more confidence in ashton carter in the next two years than they would have in chuck hagel. >> he was the guy the white house wanted to have all along. i want to switch to luke summer

i think you'll hear republicans talking about the white house micromanagement of the pentagon. 've heard a lot of that over the past year from predecessors like robert gates and leon panetta. others say it's hard for us to do our jobs at the pentagon and hard for secretaries of defense to run the pentagon because the white house has been micromanaging and doing it in a way that has been indecisive or vague on what the policies should be. so it's a real combination of problems in dealing with the white house. what mccain was getting at when he made the statement to ashton carter, look, we don't have a lot of faith even though we think you're pretty qualified that your arrival is going to make any big changes because it's a bigger issue. it's how the administration deals with the defense secretary. and that's a big deal, so i think these hearings will really focus on the white house perhaps more even than the nominee himself. >> yes, back to that statement that you mentioned, senator john mccain saying that carter should expect micromanagement. in his statement he says "i hope tha

why is the pentagon unhappy? >> this one dollar and one cents trillion spending plan has almost half of the resources devoted to the pentagon, $554 million. you think the pentagon would be happy, but this bill contains things the pentagon didn't ask for and doesn't want. >> air force pilots love the low slow, an attack jet for it's survivability. the air force hates it for its fiscal survivability. the cold war relic has survived every attempt by the pentagon to kill it because it has powerful backers in congress, especially from the state where many of the states where they are based. >> the air force has fought congress to retire the a10. why they weren't focused on other important issues, i don't know. >> the air force would argue the four billion-dollar cost of maintaining the a tens is an important issue in these tight budget times, but it's a tiny fraction of overall pentagon spending. the add have a kaz groups citizens against government waste that exiled pork products and unwanted weapons. $90 million to u

his primary role may be to mollify a reck bureaucracy at the pentagon. ormed military, concerns about what's happening with isis, concerns about what's happening with iran, concerns about the u.s. military overall. and there's been some restlessness to be sure. i think chuck hagel had a hard time keeping a lid on it. >> one of the things that's popping up is obviously the fight against isis in iraq, now we have reports that iran is striking isis inside iraq. how does that three dimensional chess factor in, because we're obviously negotiating with iran and now we're, what, cheering for them to take out isis too? >> it's a strange alliance, right now we don't want to sign over power, to be honest with it, we want assad to be dashing the -- we want iran to help in the same way. we don't want to admit it, it would be toxic to admit it. we are in alliance with iran and with russia against the vietnamvietna vietnamvietna slauislamic state. >> there's concern on capitol hill about that? >> and again, it comes back to an overall broader strategy, which you heard

the 2012 pentagon budget had the word "cyber" in it 12 times. the 2014 pentagon budget has the word "cyber" in it 147 times. so a twelvefold increase just in the mention of the world. n., it's become sort of a -- in fact, it's become sort of a joke that it's really the only part of the dod budget that's growing. if you want money for your project, just slap the word "cyber" on it. [laughter] a couple of weeks ago, the senior dod official joked he was starting to see a lot of proposals for things like cyber tank crossing his desk. [laughter] no such thing as a cyber tank. so government officials have really taken to talking about our vulnerabilities and the way that we're victimized, the way that our companies are being robbed by spies which is true. but i think that they're doing this, there's a bit of a cynical calculation in here. kind of playing the victim is a good way of focusing national attention and drumming up money for defense programs. but it tends to obscure the other side of the story, which is what this book is also about. we're qu

this concern about micromanagement and a concern about not enough independence being given to the pentagonnd the second is what is really the strategy for isis in the middle east and it's pretty clear that this is going to be a continuing, evolving story and no one really knows where it's going to end up right now. we have a situation where the white house has said we have to make it a priority to destroy isis, but we have the military campaign that is not actively destroying isis. it's best drawing to a standstill so something will have to change over the next year and we don't really know where that's going to go, and i think where ashton carter will find himself is in the middle of this fight that you've seen already boiling into public view over the last several months where the pentagon wants more freedom to do things that it knows will be effective there, but the president doesn't want to do for political represents like put troops on the ground. >> dave, what do you make of john mccain's assertion that ash carter seems like a nice guy and he'll have absolutely no say in dictating wh

the pentagon said to have a security problem therefore we have a security problem. if you want to continue to be contractors you will take our help. once again in epitomizes the national approach the pentagon team up with contractors with information and intelligence sharing. contractors agreed to report the threats they would see on their network and when it was breached and the pentagon agreed not to disclose publicly and in return they would provide the corporations with the affirmation that was gathering from its own intelligence six operation and what nsa was gathering. so this partnership is set up private-sector and public come together for the purpose of the computer networks this is true across the board company's own roughly 85 percent of the network infrastructure in the united states. the government to sadistically control and so they have to participate in this intelligence sharing if we protect the internet. of the effort that began was the defense industrial base initiative called the dib 100 members of members today barely a dozen originally but it is

that is very important if you are going to get things done in the pentagon. lso told me when it comes to issues that he cares about like increasing the body armor for troops, that he is a fierce advocate, basically saying you do not want to tell him you will get something done and then not get it done because you will pay for it. his relay lay shunship with the white house will probably be the most difficult part. he doesn't have a long-standing relationship with the president. and the president tends to trust the people who have been with him since his days in chicago. those are the people that past secretaries of defense have said were listened to above the secretaries of defense. i think it's interesting that the president began with what secretary hagel has said about him in the past. because he was supposed to be leer. and then defense officials said the secretary chose not to come because they wanted it to be ash carter's day. and that's a giant slap at president obama, and confirms that secretary hagel was very much forced out. >> this comes at a very s

then again it's also the pentagon. >> the pentagon wants to know what to do. come to me i will do it 40 million. i may even do it -- >> -- i will do it. >> 15,000. >> okay. i will do it for 10. >> anyway. general scales, always nice to see you, sir. >> thank you, greta. >> george h.w. bush releasing a statement saying in part nearly four decades ago it was my privilege to go to langley to lead the men and women of the cia at a contentious time. during my short time there i learned firsthand that they are among the very finest people serving in the united states government. i felt compelled to reiterate my confidence in the agency today and to thank those throughout its ranks for their ongoing and vitally important work to keep america safe and secure. and if you want to see president bush completed statement go to gretawire.com. and straight ahead. well, all eyes are locked on the chaos on capitol hill. what about isis? is president obama breaking his promise? kid: hey dad, who was that man? dad: he's our broker. he helps looks after all our money. kid: do you

the pentagon to some extent, as far as the pentagon is concerned, the white house to some extent felta bit passive. it's not entirely clear where ash carter will stand on this. but he has a lot of grounding in this. and may with a sort of academic background have a lot to input into this. but it's going to be difficult for him i think to have an impact on the actual strategy. >> if he gets through the congressional hearings, we'll find out, won't we? thanks very much. >>> south africans are marking one year since the death of nelson mandela. the father of the nation was credited with guiding the country from apartheid to democracy with mandela himself the first president. that solitary bell ringing kicked off a three-minute silence, which was recognized across much of the country, in fact. and then followed by the singing of south africa's national anthem. there have been commemoration ceremonies taking place around the country, including at mandela's ancestral home in the country's eastern cape province. speaking at a wreath-laying ceremony in pretoria, mr. mandela's widow graca mach

and allies to the terror commander? i'll ask a pentagon press secretary, rear admiral john kirby. >>> plus, a cnn exclusive, nick paton walsh on the most dangerous assaults by isis. >>> and coming into "the situation room," also, we're getting new pictures from a deadly new school bus crash. we're going to have details of this and the day's important news. all of that is coming up. turn the trips you have to take, into one you'll never forget. earn triple points when you book with the expedia app. expedia plus rewards. ♪ ♪ abe! get in! punch it! let quicken loans help you save your money. with a mortgage that's engineered to amaze! thanks, g. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, shopping online is as easy as it gets. carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. it's sleep train'ser: interest free for 3 event!leep! get three years interest-free financing on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort,

you heard president defending earlier this morning as well. >> schieffer: david, at the pentagon. >> still got two wars going. war against isis and iraq and syria and war against taliban and al qaeda in afghanistan. u.s. had 1300 airstrikes against isis targets. just last week commander of the operation there said it would take three more years just to get iraqi army up and equipped and ready to retake all of the ground that has been lost. that's not saying anything about what goes on in syria. that's just iraq. >> schieffer: let me ask you a question that i've often thought about, i don't know if i know the answer bud like to get your take on it. we talk about how long it takes to train an iraqi. in world war ii we sent kids to officer candidate school we had 90 day wonders. three months they sent them off. they spend less time training enlisted people. why is it that takes so long now? >> the difference was in world war ii those young men had a reason to fight for their country. the government of iraq has not given many of the young men -- >> schieffer: best answer i've heard. john,

and has been in the pentagon for decades. he's known as a -- an acquisition guy and his focus has been on the budget and one of the biggest accomplishments he's had is really streamlining contracting at a time when it got out of control during the wars in iraq and afghanistan. gwen: but he does not have any military experience unlike -- that's what was heavily touted for chuck hakal, his predecessor because he was a vietnam war veteran. >> we saw with chuck hagel that doesn't necessarily guarantee that you have a successful long career as defense secretary. what he does have is a long, long career. he's considered a real thinker and an intellectual. and an expert on budget matters. and when you look at some of his writings that he has a real keen interest and been quite prescient on key policy issues like terrorism. >> what does ash carter have that chuck hague the didn't have? gwen: such an impolite question. >> well -- gwen: but a real one. >> well, let start with what chuck hagel did have. a close friend of obama's and he h

he's a civilian analyst at the pentagon with one of the nation's highest security clearances. his companion is tai shen kuo, a spy for the people's republic of china. bergersen knew a secret that the chinese desperately wanted to know, and neither man knows that what they're about to do is being recorded by two cameras the fbi has concealed in their car. >> let you have the money. >> oh, oh. are you sure that that's okay? >> yeah, it's fine. >> welcome to 60 minutes on cnbc. i'm bob simon. in this edition, we turn our attention to some foreign intrigue. first, a story about a mysterious computer virus that struck an iranian nuclear plant. later, the report of how american agents hunted a notorious arms dealer. and finally, an account of a chinese-american spy trying to steal u.s. military secrets for china. we begin with the story of stuxnet, a computer virus considered to be the world's first destructive cyberweapon. it was launched several years ago against an iranian nuclear facility, almost certainly with some u.s. involvement. but as steve kroft reported in march of 2012,

in the budget for the new fighter the pentagon requested $6.3 billion for 34 planes. but congress decided they need 37 aircraft. what will the air force and navy do with the extra planes they didn't ask for? military leaders are not sure. the f -35 is the most expensive aircraft built in history. >>> the obama administration asked for a 475.5 million for research help, but congress decided to give them $571 million. the united states in richmond corporation, the nuclear related company filed for bankruptcy last march. logically the department of energy has subcontracted some research with the company but decided to stop. tennessee lawmakers are not ready to declare the company a failure just yet because jobs are there. a bankrupt company that even the federal government does not want to deal with any more is going to receive another $97.2 million. joining us now from los angeles is michael shure. a company that went bankrupt in march gets $97 million. detroit gets nothing but scorn for its bankruptcy. what's going on here? >> it's a typical budget bill where things--th

in that regard, i would say these are not the pentagon papers, and these are are not wi wikileaks. he didn't say how newsworthy the documents are. he just said that's what they have to consider in considering if these are helpful documents that they should be publishing. now i would suggest that the style editor at the new york times could help here. by simply changing the word "hacked", to the word "stolen", ever where it appears in the sony stories. for example, change hacked to stolen. hacked still has that air of juvenile, high school fun, kids having fun at their computers on a whim. and let's not have the editor of the "new york times" ever again, ever, ever use the phrase surfaced by others, as in we have used documents surfaced by others. seriously? surfaced? just say the "new york times" has used documents stolen by others. don't try to soften your moral dilemma by softening the language of what's involved. nothing surfaced here. the stuff was stolen. ♪ many americans who have prescriptions fail to stay on them. that's why we created programs which encourage people to take

because ashton carter is a person that is well-known and well liked at the pentagon, we're told. omes from an academic perspective. he is a physicist in fact, and a rhodes scholar, so he brings a lot of that academic wealth to the approach, and he is seen as somebody who is very personable. he really has been up until 2013 when he left the man that was running the day-to-day operations at the pentagon as the deputy defense secretary. so his fingerprints are really all over the recent decisions that we have seen in many years. he is seen as a sharp contrast to chuck hagel, of course who resigned under pressure very recently, and we also know that he did work very closely with robert gates. in fact he was a chief weapons buyer under gates. >> if confirmed he'll be the fourth defense secretary, kimberly, in six years. what sort of challenges lie ahead for him. >> the big challenges right off of the top will be afghanistan and iraq. with respect to afghanistan it will be with the u.s. draw down there. is there a need to slow down that draw down when it comes to iraq? and of course doe

mick at the pentagon, appreciate it. let's turn to doug olivant who knows a thing or two about national security. not only did he serve two tours in iraq, he also served in both the bush and obama administrations on counterinsurgency and now is a senior fellow at the new america foundation. thanks for being with us. >> good afternoon. >> what do you make of the fact that the president is elevating here a pentagon insider, someone who can really hit the ground running? >> well, i think it shows that at the very least -- perhaps this wasn't the intent, but he's getting someone who can run the building very, very effectively. his previous bosses, referred to his tenure both in the very unglamorous world of acquisition, technology and logistics and as deputy of defense secretary. as git who was down in the engine room, who really had his hands on the lever. he really understands how the building works two or three levels down and will be -- you can't -- you won't be able to bluff him on a policy issue o why something can't ha

the pentagon says the u.s.roops from the 82nd airborne will not be engaged in combat, little comfort for these american military families once again preparing to send their loved one to iraq. >> well put. thank you very much. >>> security will be extra tight in times square after the murders of two nypd officers put police nationwide on alert. city officials say police will ramp up their presence in times square amid threats against those officers. it's already one of the city's most high profile events with is many as 1 million people packing times square to see the ball drop. looking ahead to the weather that's fully anticipated. the security fears come as police departments are warning officers to be careful, that they, too, could have targets on their backs. police say a career criminal executed two police officers saturday in brooklyn. they say the killer apparently wanted revenge for michael brown and eric garner. here in new york city the police union blamed the mayor's office for the policemen's murders

. >>> a new boss at the pentagon again. good morning everyone i'm maria bartiromo. lcome to "sunday morning futures." president obama taps ashton carter. i will ask john mccain set to become the next chairman of the senate arms services committee why defense secretaries never stay very long in this administration. how high can the stock market climb? will thereabout a sell off in 2015. a pioneer in the hedge fund industry is ahead. it's happening, gasoline prices have fallen below $2 a gallon in at least one major city. what's been a boon to our wallet kos be a stop to high paying jobs. our panel takes on the pros and cons of plus meting oil prices as we look ahead on "sunday morning futures." >>> well last week just as president obama was announcing the nomination of ashton carter as his next defense secretary, i had the opportunity to speak with senator john mccain. we'll get to my exclusive interview with the senator in a moment but first who sashton carter? fox news senior correspondent joining us with us that angle. good morning to you, eric. >> good morning. fo

. >> when it comes from the budget the pentagon has two complaints. it doesn't give it enough money for the things it wants and forces it to spend too much money on things it really doesn't need. >> air force pilots love the low slow a 10 ground attack jet for its comeback survivability. the air force hates it for its fiscal survivability. the cold-war relic survived every attempt by the pentagon to kill it. it has powerful backers, especially from the state where many of the 40-year-old a 10s are based. >> the air force spent most of this year fighting congress to retire the a 10. why they weren't focussed on other important issues, i don't know. >> reporter: the air force argued the $4 billion cost in keeping the a 10s is important, but it's a fraction of pentagon spending. >> the advocacy group compiled a list of dubious projects and unwanted weapons in a pig book. among them upgrading the m1 abrahams tank, $60 million for alternative energy research, and biofuel costing $400 a gallon. and $24 million for the star base youth programme, teaching scie

ash carter very well-known around the pentagon. he served as hagel's deputy. he has served in a number of jobs in the past to the pentagon, including the top acquisition official, essentially the top weapons buyer. he knows the budget. he knows how billions of dollars in taxpayer money is spent buying weapons with budget cuts come, he will be very experienced in being able to formulate any budget plan, what to keep, what to cancel potentially. those are all the pluses that are seen for ash carter, he knows the military, he knows the military leadership. part of the big question jim may be better to answer this, does this answer the mail for the white house? they pushed hagel out saying they wanted to transform to new leadership. ash carter well respected but he's really part of the old existing leadership here at the pecht go pentagon. will he be able to deal with the white house micromanagement, will he be able to offer new ideas and have them accepted? >> jim, take it away. >> reporter: yes. well, you know, the term white house micromanagement, that seems to

. >>> an american hostage in yemen pleads for his life while the pentagon explains what happened in a failed rescue attempt. >>> the make a wish, they make it come true. a perfect gift from a team having a remarkable start. >>> the san francisco sinkhole that opened up during the storm yesterday will continue to be a problem for a while. abc 7 news reporter tiffany wilson tweeting that crews say the hole won't be repaired until early next week. in san jose, abc 7 news reporter chris win is covering the cleergs of a homeless camp called the jungle. the tweets say where will the jungle residents go from here? san jose city crews used heavy equipment to remove tons of debris from the wooded area along coyote creek. >>> more peaceful protests following a grand jury's decision not to indict a new york police officer in the choke-hold death of an unarmed man. marci gonzalez is live in new york city with the latest. >> reporter: thousands of protesters are back out making their way through the streets of lower manhattan. you can see the nypd is outstanding by through several parts of the cit

we look at how the bill impacts the pentagon. >> when it comes to the budget the pentagon has two big complaints with congress. it doesn't have enough money for the things it wants, and it forces it to spend way too much money on things it really doesn't need. air force pilots love the low slow, a ten-ground attack jet for its combat ability. the air force hates it for its fiscal responsibility. has powerful backers in congress especially from the state where many of the 40-year-old 810s are based. >> the air force spent most of this year fighting congress to retire the 810. why they weren't focused on other important issues, i don't know. >> reporter: the air force would argue the $4 billion cost of maintaining the a-10s is an important issue in these tigh tight-budget times, but it's still a tiny fraction of overall spending. they say government waste has compiled a list of dubious pork project items. for instance, the upgrade of the tank. $60million alternative energy research, and $25 million for the star base youth program. which teaches science and math to at-risk youth. but to

he has been the top weapons buyer here at the pentagon. he knows how billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent and with budget cuts coming potentially from congress he will be on the hot seat to figure out what is cut, what is kept. he's someone who is likely to get readily easily confirmed by the republican-led senate arms services committee. they know him. he shouldn't run into any particular problems. perhaps the biggest question, though, you know, hagel was pushed out because the administration, the white house said it was time to transition to new leadership. is ash carter really new leadership? probably not. and a big question about whether the white house really wants that. you hear an awful lot about micromanagement from the national security council from the president, will a new secretary of defense offer new ideas? will he will listened to? will the white house even want to hear new ideas or is it basically full steam ahead with what the status quo is for the next 18 months or so. >> interesting thought. peter, let's bring y