officials from the tsa and the u.s. coast guard testified at a joint hearing held by the house oversight and transportation committees. this is just under two hours. >> the committee will come to order. the oversight committee exists to secure go fundamental cansavo know that money washington takes from them is well spent. and second, americans deserve an efficient, effective government that works for them. our duty on the oversight and government reform committee is to protect these rights. our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers, because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from their government. we will work tirelessly in partnership with citizen watchdogs to deliver the facts to the american people and bring genuine reform to the federal bureaucracy. this is our mission statement. today today we are calling the third hearing conducted by the oversight committee, today a joint hearing where we plan to hold at least two additional tsa oversight hearings in april and may. there

has been thoroughly screened with tsa standards. there are airports around the world that fly directly to the u.s. with our partners abroad to make sure that we have the best security. ow much u.s.-bound cargo is screened? >> we believe over 90% of all cargo on those plans are currently being screened. our goal as i mentioned earlier is to have 100% of all that done by the end of this year there a risk-based model. >> what constitutes as high-risk cargo? >> we do not define its. we do not want the terrorists to go to our website and say, ok, this is high-risk. i will do something that is not high-risk. i will give you an example. the bombers from yemen for shipping computer printers anfrm chicago and paying $500 in shipping costs. from a security perspective, why with somebody be shipping computer printers from chicago when they can get it much less likely? it comes down to assessing and working closely with the cargo industry which has the permission of who the shipper is and what type of shipment it is. it comes down to trying to

the tsa must achieve a delicate balance. tsa must be -- posed. we also expect it to be responsive to the needs of the public and demand ofs congress. 6 since the terrible events of september 11, 2001. including an attempted bombing in twine of northwest airlines flight and the attempted bombing of 2010 of a cargo jet. in our nation's 450 airport gs. more recently they have developed the program to expedite screening for low risk travelers. as the agency develops new screening techniques. today hearing will also review over reventials. 2007 and 2008 to review the rollout. in my estimate they have paid approximately $280 million to implement the program. tsa must also secure that twiks are not issued to ineligibleable applicants. secure areas of us vessels. there are many risks that approach from the waterside that twik was never intended to address. and none of the foreign mariners are calling on the u.s. ports. 6. >> with that, i yield back and i want to thank you for your courtesy. >> i want to thank you. >> thank you so much. i am honored to co

that's not tsa's time publicity. we act for the mass transit and other carriers, but that was part of the enabling legislation is to say you need to be responsible for all modes of transportation security and how do we do that? what we do in terms of the efficiencies, we have tens of thousands of employees. 24% are veterans. over 14,000 of our security screeners at airports are part-time. for those of you whoa travel regularly, in the early morning there is awe rush hour and in the afternoon there is a rush hour. rather than having people on full time status throughout the course of the day, from an efficiency model we have the part-time people in the morning at the largest airports and the same in the afternoon. we try to find the exact staff and allocation model that makes sense to provide the mosteffect efficient way. >> if you were fully granted your wish list, how much bigger would the budget be and how would you allocate the extra money? >> i testified last week for a house committee where we are asking $200 mi

.hat tells us something critic >> the tsa has refused to let them. >> i think the tsa is going to makem available to the tsa officials to work with the devices. we and watching this pretty closely. a few months ago, there was an indication the tsa was launching a pilot program to make funds available. they would maintain there is no health risk, but there's been quite a lot of concern expressed. i think they're beginning to of knowledge to people should have the right to least know the level of exposure they may be subject to. >> i'm looking at a 2010 piece about janet napolitano current department homeland security secretary saying -- airline passengers might want to consider a trip to the gym before heading to the airport at the high-tech body scanners have been unveiled a kennedy airport. the permanent homeland security janet napolitano held it as an important breakthrough for fight against terrorism but when it came to testing devices, which produce chalky, naked x-rays of passengers, she turned the floor over to some great volunteers. i do not know if it was she did not want the p

tsa deputy administrator. allison fitzgerald and speaker committee chair. i will speak our speaker for a moment. chris mclachlan, office of security operations. al jazeera. rachel oswald, global security news wire. nathan hurst, cq roll call. . >> as the "new york times" noted, soon after he became the fifth head of administration in jlt of 2010, john is the unwitting face of everything americans hate about airport security in a post 9/11 world. every time we are asked to take off our shoes and pull out the laptops or submit submit to a pat-down, we have his agency to blame. he spent most of his career chasing the bad guys and he can take it. as he toll the times, my hope is whatever people want to call me, they recognize we are doing everything we can to work with people to provide the best possible security. the son of a church of god minster, he graduated from anderson university in indiana and indiana university law school in indianapolis. he joined the fbi in minneapolis. he went on to work in new york before moving to the bureau's headquarters in wash

my office was informed by tsa that the point of operation was for tsa agents to recruit truck drivers into the first observer highway security program. the tsos and bdos involved in the operation were only supposed to be handing out recruitment brochures since neither position has actual federal law enforcement training. however, i've got a couple of posters here you can see back here. if you look at these posters, i'll call that one exhibit a, and if you were watching the video of this transaction, would you see that this individual who is tsa employee is walking around and inspecting the truck. so if they were supposed to be handing out brochures, what were they doing inspecting the truck and what type training do the tsos and bdos receive to detect abnormalities or potential threats in semi trucks? mr. mclaughlin? >> thank you. first, i should say the viper you reference in your state of tennessee it's important to note was a joint training exercise with 23 different agency, both federal, state and local where tsi was invited to participate and by all accounts the two or three-day

tsa declined our request for an interview but in a statement wrote quote, tsa a counterterrorism agency that provides the most effective security in the most efficient manner possible. it's currently developing procedures to implement the provisions for the opt out program under the new law. we contacted the oakland and san jose airports. san jose got back to us. a spokesperson there says they have no plans to opt out. she says they don't see a great benefit to it. kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. >>> thousands of california teachers are about to get an unwelcomed message in the mail. today is the deadline for california school district to send out thousands of pink slips. california teachers association says nearly 20,000 layoff notices went out statewide. >>> flames, dramatic pictures tonight of a firefighter being pulled from a burning apartment building. he is recovering after falling through the roof. you see flames coming from the firefighter's arm. the fire forced 17 people out of their homes. the captain says the firefighter fell through the ventilation hole that

the tsa was created through that legislation and we continue to be proud of how tsa was staffed and operationalns -- i would say most americans don't know the building of tsa required the largest, most complex mobilization of a federal work force since world war ii. as tsa administer you're i have been privileged to know and work with a number of dedicated individuals who know our agency's story better than anyone because they happened write it. dedicated public servants like then-transportation secretary norma net a, department secretary michael jackson who bill a deputy secretary at homeland security. ralph bashol, and jim roy from the coast guard, and david stone, and then kip halley, the next three administrators, and also on that list is our current deputyied administrator, gail, o is here, and was there at the start, one of a handful of public servants given the urgent task of setting up a knew security agency whose sweeping mission has always been to protect the nation's transportation systems to ensure the freedom of movement for people and commerce and also note that gail served for 18

knows numbers were numbers we received from tsa a while ago. i support the federal air marshal program 100%. as an aviator, as an airline pilot, i love it when they're onboard. i also want to see our pilots armed. for the price of an air marshal, $3,300 per flight, for the price of two in the front of an aircraft, you could fill up business and coach with federal flight deck officers on a 777. that's 440 flight deck officers peppered across the system. amount of flights covered would be enormous. the two forces combined, federal air marshals, flight deck officers, provide that last line of defense. they need to be preserved. currently, where the administration is headed is to say we don't want you to spend $10,000 of your own money, pilots, thank you very much. we believe the cockpit door suffices, even though it opens and closed and at times has had problems. they are turning those folks away. that is a travesty. that puts us in jeopardy, puts the flying public in jeopardy. that is not only a misunderstanding of security in aviation, but clear

dao reviewed the performance and said that 24 times 17 known terrorists went through airports past tsa and they have yet to detect one terrorist and that was actually a request that was submitted by one of the people in florida we had open question online if we allowed people. can you name any terrorists that you have actually stopped in the program? >> we are not apair of any we do not know that they were working at the time that those individuals came through number one and number two we know that they were not operational. >> can i comment on that? >> yes. our report was to study the travel patterns of people associated to see if they were exhibiting spot behaviors. i don't believe it's known whether they were exhibiting people or not. we believe that would be a rich source of information? >> i would ask for consent to put in the record where we had a demonstration project and there is still one in destroit. we saw unbelievable -- >> without objection. >> we want to detail findings. >> without objection that will be placed in the record. >> we now go to a gentleman. >>ty. you may ha

the tsa was created through that legislation and we continue to be proud of how tsa was staffed and operational. in fact many americans, i would say most americans don't know the building of tsa required the largest, most complex, mobilization of the federal workforce since world war ii. as tsa administrator i've been privileged to know and work with a number of dedicated individuals who, know our story better than anyone because they helped write it. dedicated public servants like then transportation secretary norm mineta. deputy secretary michael jackson who became later deputy secretary at the newly created department of homeland security. john mack gau the first administrator of tsa and ralph bash some who worked closely and jim loy came with the coast guard and dhs and david stone and kip hawley, the next three administrators. also on the list is our current deputy administrator who is seated here who was also there at the start. just one of a handful of public servants give the urgent task of standing up a new security agency whose sweeping mission has always been to protect our nation's

the tsa, what the tsa does is a highly valuable function. they do it well. but we have to be smarter. we have to use a risk based intelligence based and i agree with that 100%. one of the bills we were just able to pass was for example, military people coming home on orders in uniform with their i.d. card are going to be treated like the heroes that they are and be able to go through an expedited screening process. the same type of expedited screening process those with other frequent flyer of traing programs. instead of having our troops coming home from afghanistan just trying to get home to their families, you see them in their stocking feet and t-shirts going through tsa. that's not how to treat our returning warriors but using is risk based analysis so that we can focus on the unknown or the known risks and then allow those that are considered low risk to go through an expedited screening process. using that type of security basis, that is why it is absolutely imperative that we strengthen the safety net associated with it. that's why the ffdo program d

the request for more information and the tsa ain't offering it which has a lot of folks like charles saying enough. >> by the way this is a microcosm of what's going on. the big picture, the president, the executive branch, usurping power from congress and can't ask the tsa for information and everyone is running over congress. >> everything comes back to the president, everything comes back to the president. >> by the way, they've branded this and said we can't wait and they've actually branded this, to get the public to buy into the motion to three branches of government don't work anymore and the true executive of this-- >> could we get away from this, a political point? i'm saying in all seriousness and you could help me with it, that the scanners themselves, it's like if you repeatedly r them. i think of our fax sales guys, they're in the air constantlily and go through the security checks 50 times a week and several of them i have seen glowing. so i'm wondering if that's bad and i'm wondering, you know, seriously, maybe there's something to it? >> i think that there's something

i saw the scores for tsa. i think that reflects a large screening work force that has somewhat stressful job. they are interacting with the public day-to-day. it is not clear to me what the department was doing on that. we have work underway. >> i am going to give you an opportunity to tell me that. would it surprise you to learn it was 13%? >> if that is accurate, it would not surprise me, no. >> and 10% for the last five years? higher than the average federal agency. >> anytime an agency experiences that kind of turnover, there is that kind of challenge. >> given the nature of the mission, should it not concern us we have low morale and high turnover and that could affect the performance? >> i am not sure what the causes are. >> putting aside causes. with that not suggest we're putting in danger the mission? but i am not that enthusiastic about the mission or i do that even care about the mission and i do not like my boss or the agency. what is the impact on the traveling public if they are not carrying out

a lot of people outraged with the tsa. >> i am.le are. more and more americans think tsa stands for trying to scare america and this is exactly the thing that gives ron paul so much credibility when we see this sort of thing. might it be a 12-year-old held back trying to bring lip gloss on a plane. >> a 3-year-old with a broken leg trembling in front of the tsa. >> he doesn't look like he's freaking out. you know well about 3-year-olds freaking out. he's not freaking out. >> he seemed to be understanding and you have to wonder does the tsa have a warning that al qaeda or terrorists are using children? do they have some information we don't have? >> because he's in a wheelchair. that was the problem before they could walk, a bigger kid they have to walk through. i had the issue when i was on crutches. he is being patted down as well, this is before the guidelines where children are less screened. if my information does not exist the tsa is guilty of a lack of common sense which no one is surprised with. >> i travel last couple years

that is not the primary responsibility of tsa.t was part of the enabling legislation that congress passed, to say you need to be responsible for all modes of transportation security. how'd we do that? in terms of efficiency, yes, we have tens of thousands of employees. 24% of those are veterans, people who served in the armed forces. over 14,000 of our security screeners at airports are part time, because for those of you travel regularly, you know that in the early morning there is a rush hour and in the afternoon there is a rush hour. rather than having people on full-time status throughout the course of the day, from an efficiency model, we have a number of part-time people in the morning and the same thing at the afternoon at the largest airports. we try to find the exact staffing model that makes sense to provide the most security in the most efficient way. >> if you were fully granted your wish list, how much better with your budget become and how to allocate the extra money? >> i testified last week and we are asking 200 mo

all the one-quarter of the funds used by tsa, from aviation -- used by tsa come from aviation fees. those you are flying pay a heavy price. there are landing fees and other collections, ticket fees, to run our airports. in fact, it is a high price to pay, a gordon, if you will, on our efficiency, so whether the dollars come from ticket fees or from the taxpayers directly, it is essential that we review the tsa effectiveness. by 2013, tsa will arguably by its own accounting have wasted $500 million of taxpayer money developing advanced imaging technology or "ait machines." the are classified g-8 reports that painted a dire picture of ineffectiveness -- are classified gao reports. gao believes screening of passengers by observation techniques, which has already cost taxpayers $800 million, is ineffective. congress should consider limiting funds for this program. gao claimed tsa deployed spots before having solid scientific basis for its effectiveness. when it worked, it was only an accident. despite the potential $3.2 billion cost to the federal government, gao continues to find that

tsa manages the contract with the private security firm.ravelers receive the same level of screening they would with federal workers. some house leaders disagree, claiming the private sector performs better. they accuse tsa attempting to shut down of what they call a cost effective and more efficient screening model for airports. in a statement, they wrote it just approved a private screening contract for another airport and is developing procedures to implement the provisions for the opt out program under the new law. we contacted both the oakland airport and the san jose airport. only san jose got back to us. the airport is very happy using tsa, they have no plans to opt out. it works for them, and they don't see any benefits to changing anything. live at sfo. kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. >>> thousands of teachers about to get an unwelcomed message. today is the deadline for schools to send out thousands of pink slips for positions that may not be funded next year. nearly 20,000 layoff notices went out statewide. the largest number

the medical pack if medically necessary. >> the woman did get in touch with tsa officials yesterday who said that the agent involved will go through some sort of training and a memo will be sent to all the agents at the airport who have to deal with similar situations in the future. >>> 20 minutes after 6:00 right now. a welcome end to three grueling days at sea for 1,000 passengers and crew members. what hundreds of cruise ship passengers had to endure for days while being stuck out on the ocean. >>> also ahead this morning, this scene was not a vigil for someone's death. the hundreds of tulips women receive inside support of the prime minister. we have details on that just ahead. we'll be right back. >>> as we head to break this morning, we're going to take you live to atlanta this morning. they're already in the mid-60s. we'll find out what's in store for our weather when we come back and check in with lynette. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got re

those were numbers we receive from tsa a while ago. as an aviator and airline pilot, i love when the fire marshals are on board. but it also want to see our pilots armed. for the price of an air marshal, 3000 river dollars per flight, the present to the air marshal's in the form of an aircraft, you can fill up all of business and coach with federal flight deck officers on a 777. the amount of flights covered would be enormous. the two forces combined, federal air marshals and federal flight deck officers, last line of defense. the missing, we believe the door is sufficient. they're turning those folks away. we think that is a travesty. that puts us in jeopardy, but the flying public in jeopardy. we think is that only a misunderstanding of security and aviation, and from the comments i've heard indicate [unintelligible] we are more vigilant than we have been in the past, but not infallible. this current budget proves his in ministration this not support this program and we have to go to the legislators for that support. we're asking for

it's every bit as effective as tsa screeners. the administration's been an active obstacle to expanding that program, to giving people the options. if we are going to go to a process where the federal government is going to do everything to protect us, what's going to happen is we are going to wind up being less safe. we are going to wind up being less free, and it's going to wind up costing us a lot more money. we, as a nation, the people that live here, have a part to play in protecting ourselves. it's finding that balance and preserves our freedom. it allows the common defense that that's important. i think there are two really key factors here. i call them right and responsibility. there's goodness in having the people that are responsible for themselves take ownership of that responsibility. katrina, for example, the most effective responders in katrina were the victims. there are people in that own community that cared about their community who did more and were more effective organizing a response than anybody else. it's p

i saw the scores for tsa. i think that reflects a large screening work force that has somewhat stressful job. they are interacting with the public day-to-day. it is not clear to me what the department was doing on that. we have work underway. >> i am going to give you an opportunity to tell me that. would it surprise you to learn it was 13%? >> if that is accurate, it would not surprise me, no. >> and 10% for the last five years? higher than the average federal agency. >> anytime an agency experiences that kind of turnover, there is that kind of challenge. >> given the nature of the mission, should it not concern us we have low morale and high turnover and that could affect the performance? >> i am not sure what the causes are. >> putting aside causes. with that not suggest we're putting in danger the mission? but i am not that enthusiastic about the mission or i do that even care about the mission and i do not like my boss or the agency. what is the impact on the traveling public if they are not carrying out

by tsa constant. the first question i have, 65,000 tsa workers. a quarter of them are employed in administration. do you think that is a fair ratio or are you a bloated, bureaucratic organization that has a lot of people working and a lot of systems that do not work? >> thank you for recognizing the hard-working men and women of tsa. i will have to take a ratio for administrative to front-line personnel. i think it might be different from that. >> when i travel, obviously, to a number of places. houston, sacramento, san diego. i can tell you that i periodically count. for four active checkpoint in san diego, there will be 35 people standing there. wouldn't you agree, based on your own observations, the amount of people directly at a checkpoint versus the total number is extremely high? you have not created any efficiency in the 10 years of your existence. >> i do not agree with that. tsa is working hard -- >> let's go through the numbers. there are four times as many employees as there was seven or ei

. >>> still ahead on 9 news now giving the tsa the boot. we'll tell you about efforts at a major airport to get rid of federal screeners. >>> people are taking to the streets of rockville this evening to support a montgomery county college student who has been threatened with deportation. he's now 19 and jorge acuna has been in the country since he was 8 and his plight has attracted a lot of attention. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in rockville where a young college student facing deportation received a hero's welcome this afternoon after being released from detention. 19-year-old jorge steven acuna and his family just released from a maximum security holding facility on maryland's eastern shore pending deportation proceedings late yesterday. >> fighting for justice! >> reporter: and they've come home to a hero's welcome. friends from montgomery college where acuna is carrying a 3.5 gpa hastily started an online campaign last week to get him and his family freed. >> you're brought here to this country by your parents and all you're willing t

and the "tsa" glyph is confirmed. it can be added to this chart of known maya syllables. "tsa." but many glyphs convey ideas and imagery not found in dictionaries. these words and images are symbols to be interpreted in the context of an ancient culture. this glyph right here is the verb of this monument, and we expect that because it comes after the calendrical information above it. and it's probably referring to bloodletting. and you can see represented a human hand with droplets coming down from between the fingers, probably represents blood. keach: blood was an essential element in maya rituals. maya paintings depict the gruesome sacrifice of captives. according to the spanish, the maya offered blood to appease their gods. maya nobles committed excruciating acts of self-mutilation. here, a woman pulls a rope embedded with thorns through her tongue. by spilling blood, the nobles believed they could communicate with powerful ancestral spirits. this monument commemorates another bloodletting -- but whose ? stuart: in the glyphs that follow, we have the name of the person who is

. >>> the tsa fired one of its managers at dulles international after he was arrested on prostitution- related charges and as fox 5's john henrehan reports, it's not the first time bryant livingston has faced those accusations. >> reporter: he was supervisor in charge of the morning shift of tsa employees at dulles international airport. bryant jermaine livingston had been employed by the transportation security administration for nine years. on wednesday, february 15th, livingston used cash to rent a room at the crowne plaza hotel in silver spring, maryland. >> hotel management suspected there may be some sort of prostitution going on in one of the rooms rented by this defendant. management had recognized him as being in the hotel before and observed a lot of traffic, males and females, going up the elevator, down, in and out of the room. >> reporter: the manager and police knocked on the door of the fifth floor room. when they were invited in, police observed three naked females and four men who were attempting to get dressed. a total of 11 people were in the room. bryant livingston

he said he is no longer employed by the tsa. >> thank you. it at 6:00 right now, a lot of unwanted stair climbing for metro commuters this morning. take a look at the station this morning. one of a handful of stations where people had to walk up and down the escalators that just popped running during the height of the rush hour. stephen tschida is live at the dupont station. >> a rough morning for three commuters. the culprit -- escalator's like the when you see right there. they were not working. >> the fact of a major escalator failure. -- the effect of a major escalator failure. >> all for escalators went out of commission at 8:50. for the next 20 minutes commuters streamed onto the stalled escalators. >> it was slow going up. a lot of people had to stop and rest a little bit. it was annoying. >> mentor says two escalators were undergoing repairs. meanwhile at the dupont circle station, instead of three they had two at the morning rush. >> i am out of breath walking up the escalator. >> metro is plagued with faulty escalators. a multimilli

tsa agents had to shut down the terminal when they found explosives materials. the u.s.airways flight is set to arrive in just a few hours. >> if you know anybody who was on the u.s. airways flight this morning from philadelphia to sfo, they might have a story to tell. it is supposed to arrive here at 920 this morning. the information they're gathering is from media reports out of philadelphia. they say it was a 29 year-old man who was going to be boarding the u.s. airways flight. he was going through security when the tsa found a plastic bottle with explosive powder in it. the kind you might use to make fireworks as well as three firecrackers. the man said according to media reports that he was just fooling around with the items and forgot that they were in his backpack when he winters security. a couple of different reports. we heard that one gate was closed for 20 minutes and we heard the entire terminal was closed for a half-hour. we're trying to gather more information on how this affected air travel but the flight was allowed to take off and it is due at sfo at 920

the s&p 500 was off 4. >>> a viral video is renewing the debate over tsa patdowns.ddler in a wheelchair getting swabbed by security in chicago. >> this incident happened two years ago but the boy's father has recently posted the video to youtube. rob elgas reports on why the patdown should never have happened. >> they have got to just check you, okay, it's no big deal. >> she's starting to shake. >> reporter: dad's voice behind the camera remains calm but even two years later matt has trouble watching this video of his son, roc rocco, being patted down and swabbed by a tsa employee. now we're two minutes in and what are you thinking? >> i'm pretty angry. i'm talking to my wife and noticed that he's shaking. >> reporter: he recalled how difficult it was to stay uninvolved, told by tsa he could not touch or get near his son as his legs, feet and wheelchair were swabbed for possible explosive. >> i can't get close to him. they said you can't touch him because we're going to swab him. >> reporter: he did help with the most awkward part of the search, lifting his son's t

the tsa has had to learn that lesson again.ost recently in hawaii, when a screener had to prove that a breast pump was real by using it. they're not supposed to do it. and when celebrities take on breast-feeding as a personal issue, it gets some attention. "nightline" profiled selma hayek in sierra leone, a country where the culture discourages breast-feeding. and it leads to malnutrition. this video of when hayek breast fed a little boy went viral. stars don't often breast-feed perfect strangers. perhaps beyonce was trying to make amention. when she gave birth to blue ivy, she and jay-z rented an entire wing of lenox hill hospital. a breast-feeding group threatened to sue. now, beyonce has joined the breast-feeding brigade. asserting her right to breast-feed, even wh with paparazzi in hot pursuit. i'm david wright for "nightline," in los angeles. >> go, beyonce. tonight, a recap of our top story. that line of the deadly storms ac

if that program is a success, the tsa says it will be expanded. you're not the only one who checks your sheets in the hotel room for stains. apparently i should do this. the l.a. times reports 90 percent of people surveyed say they have checked their hotel rooms for cleanliness. of surprising considering 70% found something gross such as cockroaches and hair. travelers say they use everything from disinfectant wipes the toilet paper to clean up with the housekeeper may have messed. >> my wife brings her own sheets sometimes. >> if you are headed out today, a little bit chilly out there right now but dry at this hour. into the 30's inland, '40's in the bay. mostly cloudy skies outside but no rain drops right now. by the afternoon, staying mostly cloudy. bought as much wind today so it will probably feel a little bit warmer than it has. high-pressure trying to build in here right now. we will dry things out briefly. another storm system to the north could drop right over the ridge and might bring some light showers to the bay area mainly to the nort

tsa agents found a device that looked like a firework in his carry-on luggage. they are saying that it looks like he left it in there on accident. there are also saying that there are no initial indications that the incident is related to terrorism but the police, the fbi and tsa are investigating. the man is still being held, no flights had been delayed. the security checkpoint area was closed for a little bit, we are ever more details and we will keep you posted. >>darya: another developing story unfolding in morgan hill where the search continues for sierra lamar. investigators believe that she was kidnapped. yesterday the santa clara county sheriff's department sent out five teams to nearby waterways looking for clues. they say they did not find anything and they did not have lucas defeat reason to search the water but they wanted to make sure the water was checked as a part of the investigation. a high-school sophomore vanished on march 16th. she left home and was supposed to be headed to her bus stop. will tran is in morgan hill and has been following this

. >> why would you want to work to the tsa to protect you from terrorist?r let the airlines to do it to get people quickly through. airlines do a bad job, they lose passengers. tsa does a bad job. nothing happens and we give them more money. >> dennis, which saves more money. private sector solution? >> no question that private solutions are more efficient and productive okay. i am glad we are having the debate today. it shows we have largely healed a lot since 9/11. but the morning of 9/11 when we saw the hijacking, oh, my gosh. we didn't have government military officers in charge of airport security. i think we ought to have marines and navy seals and washington and la . places like orlando san ford privatize it >> steve, what about the military coming in airports to assist. >> the military is there to protect us from known enemies. and having us pat us down they have more important thing to do. >> retired marines. it would be a constitutional issue putting our military in charge. >> and in the tsa line. oh, my god. >> bring it back to the private sector

. >>> still ahead on 9 news now a former tsa agent grounded for allegedly operating a prostitution ring. >> plus charges leveled against a jetblue pilot who had a meltdown mid-flight yesterday. we'll have those stories and much more after the break straight ahead. >>> in the republican presidential contest for the nomination former president george h.w. bush is said to formally endorse mitt romney during an event in houston tomorrow. his campaign recruited former first lady barbara to record pro romney robocalls ahead of the ohio primary on super tuesday. former florida governor jeb bush, his son also endorsed romney as well last week. >>> turning now to the protest over the shooting death of trayvon martin, the house of representatives was the latest scene of a tribute to the slain florida teen. illinois congressman bobby rush drew the ire of leadership when he two a hoodie as he spoke out against racial profiling. >> just because -- when he wore a hoodie as he spoke out against racial profiling. >> just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum. >> members need to re

it is every bit as effective as the tsa screeners. the administration has put obstacles in a way of expanding that program. if we are going to build a process where the federal government is going to do everything to protect us, what is going to happen is we are going to wind upo being less safe and less free and it will one the costing us a lot more money. we as a nation, the people that live here, have a part to play in protecting ourselves. it is in finding that balance that advances our freedoms, preserves how we keep our economy free and open, and allows for the common defense. that is important. i think there are two really key factors here. i call them rights and responsibilities. there's good nest in having the people that are responsible for themselves take ownership of that responsibility. hurricane katrina, for example, the most effective responders in katrina were the victims. there were people in that community that cared about their community who did more and were more effective in organizing response than anyone else ou

the tsa says someone phoned in a bomb threat at about 7:30 a.m..rescreening. the tsa says after the plan was evacuated it was removed to a remote location. the plane is now being searched. the tsa says passengers are boarding another plane headed to sfo. we will keep you posted as soon as more information comes in. >>mark: we will check back for more. we're watching weather, there is their rain and snow line. we will keep track of the storm as it makes its way to the bay area. >>darya: and a few hours college students will protest on campuses statewide to call on lawmakers to restore funding to higher education. our rallies, marches, tetons and walkouts planned on 30 college campuses today. the protests are a privilege to a major march and rally in sacramento on monday. >>mark: police one help finding this bank robber on the list. the robbery happened at bank of the west on north california blvd. yesterday morning. he demanded cash but the suspect does not appear to have been armed. officers searched the area after the robbery but did not locate th

the tsa says he was employed by them for more than a decade. ken molestina, 9news now. >>> the stakes couldn't be higher. i don't think there's ever been a suit where over half the states had sued the federal government over the constitutionality. >> but there is such a suit right now. and paul clement carried the ball for the opponents in the supreme court argument over whether the health reform act is constitutional. today was day three as the court focused on two questions. can the rest of the law survive if the court kills the requirement that everyone buy insurance and does the law go too fire in ordering states what to do with their medicaid program? gary nurenberg is here to report that whatever the answers are your healthcare costs will be affected. >> reporter: after tuesday's blistering questions about the individual mandate to buy insurance -- >> the individual mandate looks doomed to me. >> reporter: the court wednesday heard arguments about whether the rest of the law can stay on the books if the individual mandate is found unconst

. >>> a tsa manager is out of a job tonight after police busted him on prostitution-related charges. he's apparently been investigated for similar complaints in the past. fox 5s john henrehan has details from the newsroom. john. >> reporter: the prostitution incident, which may have involved as many as 11 people, happened in february. the police in montgomery county investigated for nearly a month resulting in the arrest of a ts assign visor while he was on the job at dulles airport. he was a supervisor in charge of the morning shift of tsa employees at dulles international airport. brian germane livingston was employed by the transportation security administration for nine years. on wednesday, february 15th, according to charging documents, he used cash to rent a room at the crown plaza hotel in silver spring, maryland. >> hotel management suspected there may be some sort of a prostitution going on in one of the rooms. rented by the defendant. management had recognized him as being in the hotel before and observed a lot of traffic, males and females, going up the elevator, down and