that german biplane was only damaged slightly. >>> the united states' army might be downsizing in orderduce defense spending. defense secretary chuck hagel will propose the idea sometime today. if congress approves his plan, it would reduce the size of the army to its smallest size since before world war ii. some military officials worry the cuts could be dangerous for the remaining troops. >>> president obama meets with governors of both parties and western states about the droughts and wild fires. last night the governors were welcomed by president obama and the first lady. the president told them that this is a year of action and he needs their help to move america forward. >> our partnership on behalf of the american people, on issues ranging from education to health care to climate change run deep. deeper than what usually hits the front page. >> governor jerry brown is not at that governor's conference. he said he had to stay here in california to work on the drought problem. he did meet with president obama last week in fresno about the water crisis. >>> the family of a san loren

investigators needed more than that, and to get it, they turned to an unlikely source, the united states army> more than two years after karyn slover's murder, investigators now suspected that her ex-in-laws were involved. the motive, karyn's former mother-in-law, jeannette, wanted sole custody of her 3-year-old grandson. >> i think jeannette slover is filled with rage. i think that the relationship between jeannette and karyn was not good. i think that jeannette felt like the boy was her own, that karyn was a threat to take the boy from her and she had to eliminate the threat. >> investigators found no forensic evidence inside the slovers' house, but concrete from their used car lot was consistent with concrete found in the garbage bags with karyn's body. investigators wanted more proof and went to unusual lengths to get it. they called in the army to help them remove all the topsoil from the slovers' 5,000-square-foot car lot. during a late winter snowstorm, 60 five-gallon buckets were filled with material. for six painstaking months, teams of investigators sifted through the debris. finall

. >> now, dale, obviously recruiting new recruits to the united states army is a good thing. and 24 scheme was a good thing at the time, but i think the issue is the way they went about it, the mission use of funds. the misappropriation that was not intended to be used in the way it was. >> do we know whether this program was necessary in the first place. >> i think you have to look back to the era, 20005. the war was at it's height, the afghan war was still going on, and it is very difficult to recruit people to the army. i think much less so the u.s. navy and the air force, i think when you are fighting there, you have an element of protection. people were reluctant to sign up, and there was a real feeling that they may have have to resort to a draft. now here is colonel michael jones. and he said look, at the time, this was pretty much a last resort. take a listen. >> it was what can we avoided to do to avoided a draft 357 because that was beginning because of all that was happening and all of the other traditional methods that had worked honestly for 20 years. >> weren't

johnston retired from the united states army in 1992 and subsequent to his military service has dedicated his efforts towards working with nonprofit organizations. commander johnston, we welcome you here today. other new placements within the professional leadership of dav include navy veteran j. mark bergus. gary august steen is the new executive director. nice to have you back. marine corps veteran jim now serves as dav national service director and his fellow marine corps veteran barry janowski leads as executive director of headquarters in coal spring, kentucky. very good to have you back, too. with us today is miss susan miller who was elected today office of national commander of the dav aux illry. she prefld served as a registered nurse with the veterans administration and her son, trent, is a member of the united states army, recently serving in his second deployment to afghanistan. gentlemen and miss miller, thank you for your leadership and for your service. i look forward to working with each of you in your new roles and continuing to work with those of you that are continuing

united states department of defense. we have colonel john devillier, my apologies, the commander of air force mortuary affairs operations at the united states department of defense. colonel kirk brown is the director of army casualty and mortuary affairs operations center at the united states department of defense, and we have commander aaron brodsky, the director of navy casualty services at the united states department of defense. pursuant to committee rules, all witnesses will be sworn before they testify. if you would please rise and raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? thank you. you may be seated. let the reflect that the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. as we have discussed with the department of defense, i want our audience, and particularly the families to know that there are some limitations on things that we can discuss. as i've mentioned, there are certain classified information, certain things about the actual operation itself that we cannot and will not in a non-classified setting discuss. that is for the safety and security of the ongoing operations of ours mili

planning committee, the city ccpc you talk about the allocation of $500,000 which references the united states army corps of jers. -- engineers. these are 2 separate efforts but while you can't quantify anything by this time i would hope by the next time this is presented to the commission because sea level rises is obviously a huge strategic issue because this will be added to the capital plan at some point and we just have any way of knowing with the size of the effort is and also under the multi agency study my question is bcdc, are they involved? because it would seem this is not just a port of san francisco issue, it's really a bay area-wide issue. i'm asking more questions than you can answer. >> someone can answer them, i believe mr. dunham is going to do so right now. >> brad benson, special projects. regarding the first expenditure describing the capital plan, it's a grant agreement with the dutch knowledge for climate program. the commission previously authorized that grant agreement. there we're working with bcdc and some of our development partners in the area and i'll let daly talk abo

and that came into being in jiewj of 1941, a half year before pearl harbor, and it was the united states army air forces. there were some 15 numbered outports, and hap was the chief of that, and because it was a time, they earned half a seat on the joint chiefs of staff so for the first time, u.s. chief of staff was loutly clear action they reck niced the need for coordination and various services that army and navy are bad on each other too. you have the army. the navy. the u.s. army air forests, those threads seeds on the expwroin chiefs, and that was part of half lobbying mar shall. what happened with thissist army our force? used to be the u.s. army airplane corp.. well, in six qers, built it up from 1700 obsolete airplanes that had to be bone away, to 17,000 air r airplanes. there was. en stuff there, some stuff sold for -- 34,000, and in six years, it was nearing 80,000, 20,000 men p mushroom to 2.4 million. hap arnold built the largest air force in the world. it's the largest air force in world history. what did he do with this air force? a lot of things, he timely had the chance toker

and it became the united states army air forces -- that's forces plural because there were 16 numbered air forces. and hap became the chief of that, and he -- and because it was autonomous, this earned hap a seat on the joint chiefs of staff. so for the first time, the joint chiefs of staff -- which, actually, is a newly-created organization because they recognized the need more coordination between these various services that had been army and navy had been at each other's throats for centuries at that time -- so you had, you had the army, the navy and the u.s. army air forces. those three seats on the joint chiefs. and that was, and that was part of hap lobbying marshall. so what happened with this u.s. army air force, used to be the u.s. army air corps? well, in six years hap build in this thing up. -- built this thing up. he built it up from 1700 obsolete airplanes, most of which had to be thrown away, so 7,000 airplanes -- 17,000 airplanes. it didn't stop there, it didn't stop at 34,000. within six years it was nearing 80,000. 20,000 men mushroomed to 2.4 million. hap arnold built

and again, the united states army air forces, forces plural because there were 16 numbered forces, and hath became the chief of that. he -- and because it was autonomous this and had a seat on the joint chiefs of staff. so for the first time the joint chiefs of staff, which is actually an organization because they recognize the need for coordination between these various services, army and navy had been in each other's throats for centuries at that time. so you had the army, the navy, and the u.s. army air forces, those three seats on the joint chiefs. and that was part of have been lobbying marshall. so what happens with this u.s. army air forces that used to be the u.s. army air corps, well, in six years have built this thing up. he built it up from 1700 obsolete airplanes, most of which had to be thrown away, 17,000 airplanes. it did not stop there. it did not stop the 34,000. within six years it was nearing 80,000, 20,000 men. marshalling to two and a half million. hap arnold built the largest air force in the world. and it is the largest air force in world history. so what did he

jenmar sha anderson became the first african female two-star general in the history of the united states armyhope to one day serve their country. as military officers, by providing them with a career road map that she did not have when she dwbegan as a second lieutenant. joining me now from d.c. is major general marsha anderson, acting as assistant chief of the u.s. army reserve. thank you so much for being here. >> it's my pleasure. >> so you joined the army late. you weren't an high school rotc. you actually joined after high school. what made you want to join the united states army? >> i actually joined while i was in college. and it's a really quick story. i needed a science credit as i was registering for classes. and military science fit the bill. it also looked a lot like physical education, so i just decided to give it a shot. and as it turns out, that was the best decision, truly, i could have made for either my civilian or my military career. because it taught me a lot about leadership, and it challenged me, and it's been the best thing i ever did with my life. >> so talk about what

. >>> right now at 6:00, major budget cuts coming to the united states army and shrinking to the smallests will be changing as early as next year. >>> and outside of a school in arlington elementary school, a woman is killed while getting her child in the back seat. >>> dispatchers are being derated after recent performances. >>> there may be some snow in a little while. >> doug kammerer is tracking the possibility. what now, doug? >> well, we are talking about the cold air that is going to be making its way into the day tomorrow. we know tomorrow, much colder, and much more than we saw today. storm team 4 radar is clear, and back to the west, you have to look close to see where the next storm is coming in from, and omaha and parts of iowa and little sliver of snow going to cincinnati and that is what is moving into the day tomorrow, and it will follow snow tomorrow, and another chance of snow on wednesday. and look at it, 43 in hagerstown, and winchester, and these temperatures are 15 to 20 degrees colder than where they

and that is, it's a great tribute not only to the monuments men but to the united states army and theunited states of america. contrast this enormous effort to save cultural property to get it returned to its rightful owners. with the action of the soviet union coming from the east to berlin, and they were intent on doing just the opposite, stripping germany, stripping its museums of everything that they could that was movable, taking it back to russia as war compensation for their enormous losses. so here we are doing exactly the opposite, trying to preserve it, trying to get it back to its original owners while the soviets are trying to compensate themselves for their losses. with respect to the report, we had lawsuits that were being brought against the swiss banks, and we began to realize that there was a broader story than the amounts put in swiss banks by victims. and that broader story was how did the germans finance a war effort for 12 years when their currency, the right mark, was accepted as international currency? and to his enormous credit, william, may he rest in peace wh

one of the most important things the united states army does is things from happening. there is an under appreciation of that contribution, speaking particularly about the conventional army, about 70 or 80% of special operations command our u.s. operations soldiers. do not want war in northeast asia, you must demonstrate the capacity to and it so belligerents in that region takes stocks of their ambitions and does a cost-benefit analysis. in one instance -- one incidents, the second, third, largest economies in the world, we would go right, and train if we had a war. that has ramifications for everyone. in the persian gulf, it is not that we have to maintain a significant footprint, but we have to demonstrate the capacity to respond in a manner with forces that are operationally significant that can compel behavior. not because we want to but because we have the capacity, those things do not happen and you prevent the global gas station from being inflamed. with dire consequences to our own interest. the aspect of convention is an area i am concerned we give short -- two

just over an hour ago, defense secretary chuck hagel unveiled a plan to shrink the united states armyits smallest size since the buildup before world war ii. >> we are entering an era where american dominance in skies and space can no longer be taken for granted. second, defense spending is not expected to reach the levels projected in the five-year budget plan submitted by the president last year. >> here's a quick look at the numbers. in 1945, the u.s. army surged to 6 million active duty personnel. by 2011 #, we had 566,000. hagel's plan would wind down the number to senior between 440,000 and 450,000 active duty personnel. the proposal, "takes into account the fiscal reality of government austerity and a president who planned to end two costly and exhausting land wars." and it's coming amid national security conflicts being fault through the use of special forces and drones rendering some old school tactics and military machines obsolete. it would eliminate the entire wing of air force a-10 tank killer attack craft and the cold war era spy plane. the political pushback has already

gerri: joining me now is a former helicopter pilot in the united states army and a military advisor., it's great to have you here. this is a disturbing trend. a doubling of the number of military folks are getting food stamps are and what is going on? >> is, this is the unfortunate reality. lower in the ranks of those who are married and have multiple children and they are unable to feed their families. many of them are making just over the poverty line at about $20,000, which is putting them on a really tight budget and some of them have to go on food stamps. gerri: we are looking at the redemption levels and these are military grocery stores. so basically they are saying the huge increase of food stamps. you said that they start the earnings at about $20,000. another big problem that i've read about is a lot of spouses are not working either. so essentially you're trying to raise a family possibly on just one salary. >> yes, the military lifestyle is not consistent or stable as anyone in the military community knows. often soldiers are called in to work during the middle of the nig

i spent six years in the united states army where i proudly served my country as a combat infantryman. the work was hard, the hours long, and the duty was dangerous. after my honorable discharge from the military in 2008, i returned home from california to begin a new life with my wife and daughter but was quickly met with the realization that there was no work for a skilled heavy equipment operator and i was struggling to make the transition to a new career. i cannot find work in the construction industry, so i started to apply for fast food restaurants and retail stores. with no luck, i was motivated to work and i wanted to work, and i knew i could contribute to society like i had in my military service, but i felt helpless, lost, and more importantly, a disappointment and failure to my family. i was very fortunate to find online a new program started by pacific gas & electric company in california called the power pathway program that offered job training and skills to people who had no experience in the utility industry. i quickly applied and was accepted into a 16-week program in

addition to being a brilliant scholar and professor of law here at gw, he is also a colonel in the united states army reserve who has served in many positions including pellet judge. i do not know if you're in the room at thank you very much. the panel wants to express its thanks to the assistant dean of administrative affairs as well as natalie fields and her assistant. i want to thank all of you for helping us put this meeting together. they had established the response systems panel to conduct an independent review and assessment of the systems used to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate crimes involving adult actual assault and related offenses under the uniform code of military justice for the purpose of developing recommendations regarding how to improve the effectiveness of those systems. among many other very important and challenging tasks, congress directed the panel to assess the role of the commander including initiatives to modify the current role of the commander in the military justice system. the panel has arty focused much of the efforts in this area. we will spend today discussin

miller's son, trent, is a member of the united states army, recently serving in his second deployment to afghanistan. gentlemen and ms. miller, thank you for your leadership and for your service. i look forward to working with each of you in your new roles, continue to work with those of you that are continuing and the roles that you've had for a number of years but i would also like to recognize the dav members from my home state of florida who may be with us today but if you could just raise your hand out so we can say hello. isn't this just like home? this is just like him. [laughter] welcome to those from sunshine state but we are glad to have your. each of you are a credit to our state of florida and to your communities and i'm proud to have you here in your nation's capital. .. capital. thank you for your military service and for our ongoing service to veterans. commander johnston, officers, and members of the dav, you have a tremendous force behind you to accomplish the immense mission that is before each of us. our charge, yours and mine, is to assist and oversee that the depa

on the army site, we have some units we have put a positions in eight states -- in every state to see our cyber expertise. we stood up our first cyber protection team which will be positioned around the world for the army. they will be supporting this around the world. we are positioning now within the state. this is a 39 person team. be ready to be on orders for a year. trained,et them eventually break them off and send them back to 39 states. build 10 39p is to person teams. up where most of them come from civilian organizations. we bring them to the national guard. network defense. is about 20% full-time every day and the rest will be traditional. militarybring into the both the training dollars. we can train and certify them. in. the expertise the bring a lot of opportunities for the future. capitalize. the last part of the moniker, i want to thank you for your support. many states have two partners now with countries around the world. 65 state partners conduct did ofr 739 missions in support an commands. ine would be engaged by you helping the countries, especially the newer part

over normandy please join me in say a special thank you to first lieutenant art or del of the united states army's right here the uh the uh. birds are they really took an entire generation of heroes like art. to free france from fascist. and. we remember the generations earlier. at our moment of maximum me when the odds were against us and those on certain days of the american revolution the united states might not have survived beyond our infancy. without france by our side. remember that when both our nations confronted existential challenges. it was our good friends. which is rooted in our shared principles and values that carried us through. still today. we give greater meaning to that friendship with our work together. chin almost every car in the world that is in conflict today. in libya and syria. in preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the fight against aids and in the fight to deal with climate change. so today i want to ask all of you to join me in a toast miss universe and all. all the new radio operating the only that we had dreams of being a nation free. when men like fr

we had the most junior three star in the united states army with an organization that was not fined to conduct the irresponsibility is and operational responsibilities and it wasn't until the spring of 2004 we had a four stock command and the three start command side-by-side and the division of those responsibilities, it was too much for any one person to handle fleet to be able to focus on countering a budding insurgency with political, military interface in baghdad and washington at the same time. you could have had the best person you could imagine and would have been able to complete that job. in terms of ambassador crocker and ambassador bremer's position in 2003 would things of done better? possibly. in my view that is a better analogy. problem is he has to have worked for donald rumsfeld who isn't going to allow him a lot of leeway and is going to steer things in a certain direction as we know, as the previous question indicated, secretary rumsfeld wanted that to occur, he wanted the army to be disbanded. just like germany in 1945 which was the vision they have which was an inac

a 20 year veteran of the united states army trooper stewart is just one example of the dedication of the fine men and women of our highway patrol. trooper, thank you for your service and your sacrifice. [applause] [applause] the men and women who wear the blue and gray of the mississippi highway patrol remain the best of the best that they now need your help. the last trooper school added 51 officers to a patrol that remains nearly 150 below its necessary number. this shortage puts not only the motoring public lives at risk but also those of our troopers. now let me assure you, without more troopers on the road, people will die. please help us fund a trooper school this year. [applause] of all the things that make mississippi great, perhaps none is more valuable than our ability to persevere and achieve great things together. mississipians as a whole are without a doubt the most resilient, the most passionate and the most capable people in the nation. time and time again history proves that when we fix our focus on a goal be at repairing the damage brought by natural disasters are la

fan ofs no bigger the united states air force and navy than the united states army. what distinguishes it from the relatively affluent media? technology gives you a greater advantage. you typically have a small number of targets that you can identify and engage and established the domains. what is different is incident a bounded number of targets, on land you have tens of thousands of targets, all of which are trying to be classified as such. you can recognize counter measures that are land-based. there are two ways to fight the united states military brother. what is important is for us to d joint forcee to jewel war capability. that is what combined arms capability is. our enemies will take action to avoid our strengths. there's never been a silver bullets. there are always countermeasures developed. he talked about some that are developing now. we had on our strength capability. that is under threat by not just traditional countermeasures that increasingly technological. for us to have an effective capability to prevent and when as the nation, we need a balance jo

the taliban says it is suspending talks with the united states to exchange a u.s. army sergeant for five taliban prisoners. last week, a u.s. official said american diplomats have been holding sense siv discussions with -- sensitive discussions in hopes of freeing a prisoner. they say the talks are being suspended because of the current complex situation in pakistan. the spokesman did not say what the situation was. bo bergdahl was captured in 2009. >>> the united states and south korea have started their annual drills. today's drill last lasts for about 11 days. the second drill is scheduled to continue through mid-april. that exercise will involve 7500 u.s. soldiers and more than 150,000 south korean soldiers. >>> 7:16. a meeting will be held tonight at a southern california school where a teacher was just arrested accused of inappropriate contact with students. 28-year-old melissa lingren teaches 8th grade. she was arrested friday after two boys told a counselor about an alleged relationship with her that included late-night texting. she's now facing child molestatio

it projects the smallest united states army since world war ii. >> he will submit a recommendation as part of a budget preview today that would shrink the army to about 450,000 soldiers from a high of about 570,000. there were already scheduled cuts. this goes further than the scheduled cuts. it also is reported to stop the use of an ailing attack jet. this is the reality of the post 9/11 era. the pentagon does not see feature wars involving massive invading armies. the focus will be on special operations and drones. nevertheless, george, you can expect a big fight on capitol hill. >> no question about that. p thank you very much. >>> let's get the other top stories from josh. >>> we begin in northern minnesota. dozens of ice fishermen have been stranded for three days on a lake after a massive snow drift there trapped them in their ice houses. the snow piled up to seven feet high in some places, buried as many as 100 people in their shelters until the weather finally cleared the way for rescuers to reach them thankfully everyone involved is now home safe. >>> a medical mystery in cal

charges, she took him to trial and the man who raped her was acquitted and still serves in our united states army today. when she spoke after her re-enlistment, tears streaming down her face, she said, i loved being a soldier, i love this army. her courage, resilience and commitment to fulfilling her duty is what makes our military the strongest in the world. we owe it to staff sergeant valdez and all service members to bring about reform so they're not faced with this kind of adversity. they are fulfilling their duty and their responsibility every day. we must fulfill ours. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. payne: madam speaker, i rise today to remind every member of this chamber that just over a year ago this congress voted to provide $50 billion in much hurricane sandy relief, including to my home state of new jersey. i fought very hard for that money, and now this congress

close with is that there is no bigger fan, there are no bigger fans of the united states air force and navy than the united states army. and the marine corps, for that matter, as well. and that's because, you know, we recognize that we couldn't even get into a fight or to protect our interests if it weren't for the air force and the navy. but it's important, i think, to understand something that we've alluded to in the previous panel. what distinguishes war on land from war in the relatively fluid media of the aerospace and maritime domains? i think a few things. first of all, technology gives you a greater advantage because you typically have the bounded or a small number of targets that you can identify and engage and establish supremacy of those domains. but what's different about war on land is instead of a bounded number of targets on land, you typically have tens of thousands of targets, all of which are trying to avoid being classified as such, right in and so what you have to do is recognize countermeasures to your technological capabilities that are human-based, that are land based. because geography complica

court-martial jurisdiction over the course of the year that exceed all the rest of the cases in the united states army. exactly what holly o'grady cook has said would be a concern because you would pull it away from all of those commanders over to one part and it would become like trying to get a medical plane up. you are not getting that day after tomorrow. >> originally too i was open to the idea of a pilot project because i didn't come to this with an adverse approach to the proposal. i said there -- everybody thinks it could be harmful. let's try it out. i have reversed my view of that because i don't see any reason to do it. if you give me a reason to do it i will be ready to do it right now. where is the conflict of interest? i heard people talk conflict of interest, i am not seeing it. i don't see it. it doesn't exist. show me the conflict of interest, that is serious but just because a commander has to -- 05406 level or lieutenant-colonel, don't ask me what that is. that is a pretty high level person, that commander, not likely to know either one of the people and so what is the conflict? that

. >>> still to come -- a major discovery of mistrust inside the united states army.y 600 soldiers no longer allowed to help military sexual assault victims or even be drill sergeants because of sexual abuse in their own past. we're going to talk about that next. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. you get 4 lines onw at&t's network...ilies including unlimited talk unlimited text ...and 10 gigs of data to share. 10 gigs? 10 gigs. all for $160 dollars a month. you know, i think our family really needed this. it's really gonna bring us closer together. yep. yep. yep. yep. yep. yep. introducing our best-ever family pricing for instance, a family of four gets 10 gigs of data with unlimited talk and text for 160 dollars a month. only from at&t. >>> 588 soldiers can no longer hold a position of trust in the army. they can't be sexual assault counselors, recruit

the army prints paid for by the united states army on its recruiting posters this bill would require the army to change its wording and say, printed at taxpayer expense. i've not heard any explanation, either at the committee or hear on the floor, for why such a change is so necessary. congresswoman duckworth, the former assistant secretary of veterans affairs, raised an important point during our committee's consideration of this inthism pointed out that some terms printed by the department of veterans' affairs state that the v.a. produced the materials. this is important because veterans need to be able to trust the source of the information and seeing department soft veterans afairs engenders just that trust. four years ago this body passed a law co-sponsored by chairman i, is a chairman of our committee that prohibited nongovernment parties from sending mailings marked census, without a clear disclaim we are the name of the party sending the mailing. that law was pass theafed republican national committee sent a mailing that led recipients to think it was an official census docume

he received a commission to the united states army but unfortunately he was too young to accept it at the time. he then was admitted to princeton university. during his time there he received the prestigious new york herald book award. he graduated in 1942 with highest honors and rotc. these earned him another commission. this time to the united states marine corps. as a second lieutenant, in july, 1942, following officer candidate school at quantico, he began artillery training. on february of 1943, bob sailed out of san diego harbor with he second about a tailon, 12th regimen. and he fought in the south pacific, then the original invasions in guam andy woe jeema. during his time in auckland, new zealand, he met his wife and married in may of 1946. mary died in april, 2005, just two weeks before their 60th anniversary. mary always maintained as lieutenant commander, she outranked him both in the military service and in their marriage. thur' survived by two -- they're survived by two children as well as four grandchildren sam and joe and michael. after the battle of iwo jima, he retur

it had everything to do with information that protect the united states, allows the army to protect soldiers, the navy to protect themselves in the south china sea. that information is something that he may not have even understood existed. we are very curious how this scrape tool was developed to go after pieces of information he may not have any understanding even existed on the network. what's of questions we still have to get answered. i look at the totality and come to the conclusion i am not sure we have heard all of the story yet. >> the ukraine -- what is your biggest concern? dissolving of the ukraine is not in the interests of the european union. i do not even believe it is in the interest of the russians. i am not sure they know that yet. >> do you think the russians could come in? >> i do not see putin using troops. i see him exerting influence through intelligence services and other ways to cause a split. i think he believes he cannot afford to lose all of the ukraine. i have heard it said that russia without the ukraine is a country, but russia with the ukraine is an empire. io

austria and slovenia people in the parts of the southern austria were busy clearing away cylinders state army units were deployed to the new style from throats. more heavy snow is expected on friday meanwhile melt the snow has flooded several villages in southern slovenia the government release over at three hundred thousand years for emergency aid to the dentist areas mostly intended to buy generators so this one's already affecting the economy as well but as i mentioned yet another hurricane consistent to be on the way so slight unknown break for a people in the uk and parts of the band can in fact innocent of these two sentences passed in germany a spud guns will be up to hundred and thirty kilometers per hour and the way is up to seventy meters high anywhere cause i am and that is. and this powerful storm system will be down to about nine hundred and forty had to pause stop and be uploaded when coming in for saturday staple that the one to the skies cool indoor outdoor activities for the weekend and think it will be remaining at but to the flip side of the continent in making at the sky and tem

theyr: i don't believe should do anything to hurt personnel of the united states army.ut they should probably look getting some of these contractors. this military is becoming a corporate military. some people believe -- i believe --t corporations are making they really enjoy war because their profits go up. i think this thing about tri-care. the bulls and the commissary -- it is just a smokescreen. it cost a lot to be a retiree. that is pretty much all i have to say. host: next up for azeri, robert is on the line. -- from missouri, robert is on the line. what do you think about the budget cut proposal? caller: i am a retired military, retired navy. i was in 20 years. host: what do you think? caller: i would like to say that these people in the war are volunteers. i was drafted and i went on. something,e to say the waste that is going on in the military -- these people have given their lives for our country. the government is not paying for get out whento they get out. what i'm trying to say is they get hurt and they come back with legs off, arms off, and they are they'

there is word tonight that the united states government is trying to negotiate the release of army sergeante bergdahl who has been held by a taliban affiliated group for five years, the only known american prisoner afghanistan. in exchange, the united states would reportedly free five senior taliban prisoners currently held at guantanamo bay. for his family in idaho, the wait is excruciating. ed lavandera begins our coverage now. >> the only snapshots we've seen of army sergeant bowe bergdahl in nearly five years are from a handful of videos posted by his cap tors. >> let me go. let me to go, just release, get meet to be released. >> reporter: his mother and father have waited and waited for their son's release. they live in the small town of hailey, idaho, this is banner showed the weathered strains of this ordeal has hung outside the coffee shop where he worked before he joined the army. the family has mostly shunned the spotlight but occasionally speaks out publicly in hopes their son can hear their words. >> i will not leave you on the battlefield, beau. these people here will not leave

talibaners suspending talks with the united states over the possible exchange of the army sergeant for five taliban prisoners. it states a complex political situation for breaking off negotiations but offers no real explanation. he has been held by insurgents in pakistan since 2009. >>> a stern warning from the united states to russia. it would be a grave mistake if vladimir putin sends military power to seize power in the crane. this morning pro western rebels are celebrating the ukrainian president's departure and looking at the president's palace. here's one visitor posing for a picture while atopped a palace toilet. others strolling the grounds, admiring the artwork and most of all gloating over the people's victory that toppled an unpopular government. nick peyton walsh has more for you. >> reporter: the oust president is wanted for mass murder and on the run in the south. probably crimea seen leaving a private house. a new government is forming, mourning the dead and enjoying a strange period of where the people are the only power around. moscow has been silent about losing its m