greeted with deep skepticism. barbara starr is at the pentagon with details on the report and the caveats. kyung lah is in seoul. retired general james "spider" marks is an expert on military weapons of mass destruction and he joins us. we will talk to the congressman you just heard from in just a few moments. barbara, let me start with you. the portion of the d.i.a. report that the congressman read today, many people understandably alarmed by it. what are you hearing about it, the validity of the information? >> well, what he read was accurate, anderson. that is what the d.i.a. has said, no question about it. but what's the d.i.a. really talking about here? why should all of us be so concerned? what they're saying is that north korea has made significant progress in nuclear weapons. this is broad scale, this is not a nuclear warhead. that's what the pentagon came back and talked about just later today. the pentagon says we're not talking about a nuclear warhead fine-tuned miniaturized highly technical warhead that can be put on a missile and delivered overseas perhaps to the unit

. benghazi time, 6:07 p.m. washington, the state department sends an e-mail to the white house, pentagon and the fbi. it says the islamic military group has claimed credit. >> if there was any thought that this might have been a spontaneous uprising, well, this clearly put that to rest. >> three days before september 11, is a local libyan militia told the u.s. the security situation in benghazi was quickly deteriorating, warning the americans to decrease their presence. >> there may have been a lack of situational awareness. they may have not been able to identify which of the dozens of violent armed groups in benghazi pose a threat to the united states. >> we have breaking news. an american we can confirm now has been killed in libya tonight. >> at about 1:00 a.m., an eyewitness captures a man being pulled from the smoke-filled consulate on video. this is the last image of chris stevens alive. at almost the same time, former navy s.e.a.l. glenn dougherty arrives in benghazi with a rescue team from tripoli. >> he chose to run in and defend, even though it wasn't his job. >> he ran in? >>

over 40 years is pentagon papers, the bush torture sites, cia sites, the ease dropping program and if

program at fort hood is himself under investigation for alleged sexual assault. cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me by phone. what have you learned? >> reporter: well, anderson, it could not be more embarrassing for the military. this is a sergeant first class at fort hood, texas. he is under investigation now for pandering, possible suggestion of prostitution activity there, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates. as a sergeant first class he would have been in a midgrade enlisted position working in the office at fort hood on the battalion for equal opportunity issues, that sort of thing. this just could not come at a more difficult time for the pentagon. just last week, a lieutenant colonel in the air force at the pentagon who works in sexual prevention office, he also arrested by the local police for sexual battery. secretary of defense hagel has said this has to stop. he has a number of initiatives, but every one of these cases becomes a growing embarrassment and a growing scandal. and of course, it's not just these two cases. ther

tip the balance of power. when you hear things like that sources of mine in the pentagon said if you saw the military plane, i think you would feel better. you have to wonder are they explaining it in such a limited way to gain political support including from those on the left and not really talking about that this may be a more involved military operation, though, short-term. >> you say feel better of it, if you support the idea of the strike for those who oppose it, it would be larger than being sold -- >> that's right, but the president's political allies in congress, those tend to be in the middle in the left might not want to hear that this may involve air assets and crews and might want to hear it described in a more limited way. you have to wonder if it's being described to politically back the president. >> the abc news reporting, you look at the draft resolution in the senate and see language that kind of has mission creep or seems larger. >> yeah, look, you can conduct the entire kosovo war within the terms of that senate resolution. you know, first of all, look at the

the pentagon papers case, the whole affair took on a new and more sinister air. two of the convicted watergate conspirators burglarized the offices of a psychiatrist of defendant daniel elsberg to get files on elsberg. >> the message of watergate, as i read it, is the same as the message of the pentagon papers. from the eyes of people who work for the president, all law stops at the white house fence. >> the entire political system that the entire standard of politics in the country has reached an all-time low. >> the president and his cabinet and his administration owe this country an explanation firstly, and secondly an apology. >> i don't respect the shabby journalism that is being practised by "the washington post." >> informed sources say it was the watergate prosecution that set off the recent series of explosions and there are further time bombs in president nixon's hands. >> we're in late april of 1973, and i'm really getting beat up in the press. >> we're going to make it. yeah, let me get up here to the door and i'll -- okay. excuse me. there we are. >> i'm going to be foll

, new york, joined the navy as a reservist in may of 2007. according to pentagon officials, he was discharged on january 2011 following a, quote, pattern of misconduct. while it's unclear what that misconduct was, he did have several run-ins with the law. he was arrested in seattle in 2004 for shooting out the tires of another man's vehicle described in the police report as an anger-fueled blackout. his father said his son was suffering ptsd after helping post-911 rescue vehicles. and disturbing the peace in georgia and arrested in 2010 for discharging a gun in ft. worth, texas, where he lived until recentlily and never charged in that case. one of alexis' friend in ft. worth said he was locked in a financial dispute with the company that contracted him to work for the navy. he did some civilian contract stuff or maybe government contract stuff in japan for about a month, and then he came back over here. i was excited, because i was the one that picked him up from the airport and he's like a brother, you know, to knee. after that, he just didn't feel like he was getting paid the co

benghazi, the pentagon wanted the marines to move closer to the region. barbara starr has more, the pentagon seems to be taking no chances, what is the latest on their movements and the american civilians they may have to evacuate? >> good evening, john, about 150 marines are on the ground there in the nation. heavily armed, waiting for orders. if they get the orders they will go in. they have two possible missions, to reinforce to provide additional security for the u.s. embassy in the capital there, or to evacuate the rest of the people there. the problem is right now, the fighting is so bad, so vicious, so severe, the state department is not even sure if they're on the lookout for americans who may be hiding in hotels, in their homes, anybody who wants to get out they want to be able to provide that air lift to get them out in the coming days. but this is very tough going, as the u.n. warned today, the concern is the fighting is spiraling out of control. >> tough going, barbara, how much is the response anyway to what happened with the stakes here, and how much is the ghost of a

inform the white house and pentagon the ever escalating u.s. hostile policy toward the dprk and its reckless nuclear threat will be smashed by the strong will of all the united service personnel, and people and cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means of the dprk. dprk, of course, is north korea. the phrase, nuclear strike, means -- that refers north korea's nuclear arsenal. most don't believe they have much. nuclear devices, yes, warheads, maybe. reliable missiles that could carry an atomic to the u.s., no. tonight reaction from the white house. it reads in part, and i quote, we have seen today's statement by north korea again making unhelp offul and uninstructive threats. north korea should stop its the provocative threats and instead concentrate on abiding by international obligations. the pentagon late today word the u.s. is deploying ground base intercepters like these to guam. the ones you see here in hawaii deployed four years ago to counter an earlier threat from north korea. that in addition to the floating radar platform being sent to the korean p

political consequences. we start, though, at the pentagon with our chris lawrence. this is pretty groundbreaking stuff. after women flying helicopters, handling bomb-sniffing dogs, being combat medics, getting assigned to submarines, this is really the last great barrier to come down, right? >> you're exactly right, anderson. you're talking about army infantry, marine recon units and even potentially special operations forces. this was sort of the big glass ceiling that had not been broken yet. you mentioned those other ones. the army recently opened up special ops aviation, that women could be pilots and crew members on aviation flights, for special operations forces. but this potentially opens up nearly a quarter of a million jobs to women in the military. >> what's the timeline on this? i mean, it doesn't happen all at once. >> no, it's not like tomorrow all these jobs are going to open all at once. some will open fairly quickly. the easiest ones to integrate where you've got a lot of women already sort of attached or working at a battalion level. those could be open in six to

of thing. but this just could not come at a more difficult time for the pentagon. just last week, a lieutenant colonel in the air force at the pentagon who works in sexual prevention office, he also arrested by the local police for sexual battery. secretary of defense hagel has said this has to stop. he has a number of initiatives, but every one of these cases becomes a growing embarrassment and a growing scandal. and of course, it's not just these two cases. there are a number of these every week across the military, across the country, and really becoming a growing problem for the pentagon. >> so, are they still investigating this guy now for ft. hood? >> yeah, they just announced it a short time ago tonight that he was under investigation, removed from his duties and, in fact, a signal of just how serious it may be for this person, the army criminal investigation command, the c.i.d., now investigating the allegations against him. so this suggests very strongly a potential criminal case. >> wow. we'll continue to follow it. barbara starr, appreciate it. >>> lot more happening toni

congresswoman and iraq war veteran and look at political consequences. we start at the pentagon with our chris lawrence. this is ground breaking stuff after women flying helicopters, combat medics, assigned to submarin submarines, this is the last great barrier to come down. >> you are talking about marine recon units and special operations forces. this was sort of the big glass ceiling that had not been broken yet. you mentioned other ones. army recently opened up special ops aviation that women could be pilots and crew members on aviation flights for special operations forces. this potentially opens up nearly a quarter of a million jobs to women in the military. >> what's the time line on this? it doesn't happen all at once. >> no. it's not like tomorrow all of these jobs are going to open all at once. some will open fairly quickly. the easiest ones to integrate where you've got a lot of women already sort of attached or working at a battalion level. those could be op in six to eight months. some of the tougher ones, special operations forces, certain elite infantry units, those may take yea

doing. even the pentagon admits that its early claims how he has blood on his hands and there was all this damage was wildly overstated. he released very low-level secrets that informed the u.s. government and it harmed nobody. >> but it's not up to bradley manning to make the decision to disclose this. the people who wrote those cables have devoted their lives to trying to make the world a better place, particularly foreign service officers. maybe you disagree about that, glenn, but i admire the foreign service a great deal. and, you know, i trust their judgment about what's a secret a lot more than i do bradley manning's. >> right. and, look, jeff, you can make that argument in every leak case. people in the '60s said daniel elsberg was a traitor. who was he to decide what should be leaked to the public. but what he did was expose systematic lies in the part of the u.s. government. in the bush years, whoever told dana priest of the "washington post" that the they had secret cia operations or whoever told "the new york times" that the bush administration was spying without warrants,

barbara starr is live at the pentagon with more on that. good morning, barbara. >> reporter: good morning, john. the navy helping in a small but important way. a three man explosive ordinance team sent by the navy to boston at their request to help them with disarming some of these devices. you're absolutely right. after years of war in iraq and afghanistan, the military and the fbi working side by side have collected thousands of so-called bomb signatures, the very thing that they're looking for in this situation. what is a bomb signature? well, bomb makers over time tend to put their bombs together the same way and when they train others to make and carry out bomb attacks, they train them most of the time we are told in the same signature, the same way of putting a bomb together. so what we know is the fbi because of years of military assistance and their own work have phenomenal expertise in this. they are able to look at these fragments, and what are they looking for in the signature? what type of material? how it was put together. where it might have come from. they can trace

. first, let's go to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence for the very latest. >> reporter: wolf, a u.s. official says north korea could test a mobile ballistic missile at any time. what happens after that depends on where that test takes place. the u.s. has been pouring over the latest satellite images of north korea and the intelligence assessment is they've likely completed all preparations to launch. an administration official says the missiles have probably received their liquid fuel even though the u.s. has no way to confirm that information on the ground, the military is sending a clear message to kim jong-un. it's not when you launch the moussadan missiles, it's where. if it flies out over the water, they do not want it shot down. >> i would not recommend that. if we have any predetermined imw, we should have a good sense of where it's aimed. >> reporter: if it's aimed over land in japanese territory, interceptor missiles could intercept it. >> if it's at our allies, i would say we should intercept it. >> reporter: this was like the tests when the u.s. had understanding of w

bases against syria. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joins us with more on the military maneuver that we should know about. there are reports that assad is hiding military assets in civilian populations. the military leaders have assured him strikes would be effective a month from now. how confident are officials at the pentagon that you're hearing from, the president isn't waiting too long? >> very. one official told us that if the syrian regime thinks it's going to get benefit out of this delay, they're sorely mistaken. the confidence comes from the fact that they feel they have 24 hour surveillance over syria, the technology to hit precise locations, and they feel that assad cannot hide some of his major assets. they say he does not have the fortified underground bunkers to stash attack helicopters and planes and you can't position and park many of those next to an urban school or a mosque. on the other hand, i spoke with the former general who commanded the air operation over kosovo who says the delay is making it more likely you're getting a cruse missile strike tha

else up their sleeves, as well. our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, is joining us now with the latest. barbara? >> reporter: wolf, military masters of deception, indeed. and new indications that the north koreans may have some other plans up their sleeve. defense secretary chuck hagel's message to kim jong-un and his north korean regime, enough is enough. >> with its bellicose rhetoric, with its actions, have been skating very close to a dangerous line. >> reporter: in the hours before an expected north korean missile test, hagel made clear, the u.s. military is ready to respond. >> our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action, that north korea may take or any provocation. >> reporter: the joint chiefs chairman, offering a grim assessment of how close north korea is to putting a nuclear warhead on a missile, a direct threat to the u.s. >> in the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary, we have to assume the worst case. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence indicates the regime in the last few days may have used several short-range missile launchers aroun

understandable where pentagon planners would be planning for a larger operation. >> anderson, they would have to be planning for a larger operation. the key thing is, the construct in which the planning is taking place is action, reaction and counteraction. that's how you walk through every scenario we've ever had to contend with. and in the case of the pentagon planners, when you look at what assad has been doing with his capabilities, both his what i would call conventional military capabilities and his chemical and what he's done with his chemical and delivery means, there really are a whole host of targets on a target set which are dual use. in other words, what we've heard from the administration is the fact that there are two tracks that clearly assad needs to go and the international community agrees with that. and now this very egregious violation of international law needs to be addressed. but in addressing the latter, you are going to go after the former. that's clearly what we see right now. the planning has to include enhanced capabilities and the fact that assad may implode.

potentially at risk. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent right now, barbara starr. what's the very latest, barbara? >> well, wolf, at this hour, we can tell you that the u.s. intelligence community, the united states military throwing everything they have, satellites, eves dropping systems, reconnaissance, everything they can at the north korea. trying to figure out what the regime is up to. keeping a close eye on that nuclear program. all eyes are focused on this missile -- with a range of 2500 and the question of if and when north korea might test-fire musudans from mobile launchers in eastern north korea. our position has and remained that thort korea should cease. >> reporter: look at this commercial satellite photo from early february. compared to this one, from late march. the north korea bloc 38 north say that you can see new construction a possible effort by north korea to restart its plutonium reactors. >> reactives that part of their program and gives them now, two routes to producing material for nuclear bombs. >> reporter: another worry, could north korea be planni

of nerves. which is why tonight even as they prepare militarily for the worst, a pentagon official tells cnn quote, we're trying to turn down the volume. in a moment we take a look at north korea's true capacity for destruction and talk with christiane amanpour and fran about best how to cool things down. first, the very latest from on the ground in seoul, south korea. the state department taking making it clear they want to shift the focus in this situation to diplomacy, to dial back the tough talk, the rhetoric. what are the south koreans saying? >> reporter: well, it's having two impacts. in the government, what we're seeing is a racheting up of tone to reassure the korean population, sort of trying to keep up with the u.s. show of force. the defense minister yesterday saying that if the country detects there's some sort of imminent nuclear threat, imminent nuclear attack from north korea, south korea will not rule out the possibility of a preemptive strike, so some strong words from the south korean government. but there's also this growing sense among the general population th

to come into focus. barbara starr is working her sources at the pentagon joins us now. what are you learning, barbara? >> reporter: good evening, anderson. at this hour military investigators are urgently trying to figure out what did happen here. the reports are that the helicopter, the blackhawk, went down due to mechanical failure. but once it hit the ground, were any of those six military members still alive? they are looking at a report that the helicopter once crashed came under mortar fire from taliban forces in the immediate vicinity. what they need to determine now, did the six members die in the crash, or is it possible, possible that they were alive when they hit the ground but there was a mortar attack and they perished in that? investigators are talking to members of another helicopter that was flying in the immediate vicinity. they are trying to see what they can learn. we are told from the one survivor of the crash six u.s. military families, terrible news on this holiday season. but this has been a big issue up and down the pentagon hoallways all day what did happen.

could know. on september 27th the pentagon sent a memo on who gets hurt in a shutdown. one item reading, quote, we won't be able to pay some bills during the shutdown. no death benefits can be paid to any family members until the shutdown ends. on that same day the pentagon's comptroller briefed reporters. >> we would be required to do other bad things to our people. examples, we couldn't pay death gratuities for those who die on active duty during the lapse. >> anyone who is angry now shouldn't be that surprised. as a private charity steps in to fill the gap, lawmakers wanting to vent their outrage can always go through these doors and blow off steam at the congressional gym. because shutdown or not, while hundreds of thousands of americans are furloughed, keeping that gym up and running is deemed essential. it remains open. there was other developments on ending this mess. dana bash joins us. there is a rare phenomenon on the hill, actual bipartisan talks. what do you know? >> reporter: there are bipartisan talks, but i don't want to burst your bubble and make you think this i

the pentagon. >>> plus, the north korean propaganda machine with the brutal dictators portrayed as every child's friend and the military is invincible. we will show you the reality though for life for tens of thousands of men and children enslaved in concentration camps. i interviewed a man recently born into the toughest concentration camp, a man who spent more than 23 years of his life not even knowing the earth was round until he managed to escape. this report will forever change the way you look at north korea and its dictator. >>> and later, are four nfl players about to announce they're gay all at the same time? i'll talk with an nfl player who says he knows who they are and is trying to help them make the announcement soon. >>> we begin with a new scare tactic tonight coming from north korea. pyongyang warning foreign diplomats to consider getting out of the country. that is on top of the missile mobilization that's been playing out all week. now looks like they have two medium range missiles ready to launch. russian and south korean analysts are downplaying the latest vaeil

could delay paychecks for veterans and other military families. pentagon correspondent barbara starr reports on what else can go wrong. >> reporter: for 3.3 million disabled veterans, the budget mess in washington is about to affect them in a big way. >> veterans, who sacrificed for their country, will find their support centers unstaffed. >> reporter: if the government shuts down and it stretches into late october, the department of veterans affairs will run out of money. and that means disability and pension checks could stop for elderly and ill veterans. advocates are outraged. >> it's what they need to pay rent, to pay food. it's not their total income but it is a significant part of it. and taking that out of the mix because the government can't get its act together is really dangerous for these men and women who need it the most. >> reporter: disability payments can reach $3,000 a month. for the nation's war wounded, it can be a financial life line. tom tarantino is an iraq war combat veteran. >> member of congress, members of the administration, any politician needs to underst

. he will also be honored at the pentagon on tuesday, after which he will come back here to minot, north dakota, and continue with his new job. meanwhile, the war in afghanistan continues. more than 60,000 american service members are right now in that country fighting that war. i'm jake tapper for cnn in minot, north dakota. >>> good evening. it's hard to imagine a bigger night because it's hard to foresee a bigger winter storm than the one forecasters say could dump more than two feet of snow in parts of the country. tens of millions could be affected. thousands of flights are already canceled. we'll tell you what you need to know to stay safe and where the storm is going to hit. >>> we begin with breaking news. authorities say he's got the means to inflict mass casualties and a mission calling for precisely that. take a look. this is the man that police all across southern california are trying to find. he may now be one step closer to locating. christopher jordan dorner is his name. ex-navy reservist, ex-lapd officer with a grudge against the force. if you see him, do not appr

. >> do you have see any room in the pentagon budget for cuts? >> absolutely. serious conservatives need to make it very clear that taxpayers, republicans, conservatives are looking at the entire budget and saying where can we be more efficient and more effective? we have a rather large pentagon budget, larger than most of the other countries in the world that have armies, navys and air forces all added together -- >> combined. >> and we should have a strong military. we ought to keep the canadians on their side of the border, make sure nobody can throw a punch at us successfully. but to argue we can't reform some of the pension questions and contracting decisions that are made and the good news is the republican caucus, the conservative caucus among republicans, the republican study committee leader jim jordan made the comment that while he was concerned about how the sequester might affect defense, he was more concerned that those cuts might not take place. that was part of a strong america is not to have this massive spending that we've been having. >> i'll have you on for another dis

syria. again, there are four cruise missile armed destroyers in the mediterranean. the pentagon has sent a third and now a fourth in the area. in addition, there are british forces and there may be a number of attack subs, as well. the navy does not traditionally disclose locations. the question is whether and how to use assets. what kind of action to take and towards what strategic goal. sources have been hinting at a limited campaign. pentagon officials telling cnn that the aim would be to deter the assad regime from using chemical weapons again. not targeting the chemical stockpiles or regime itself. retired general james "spider" marks is a cnn analyst. general marks, let me start with you. no u.s. troops on the ground. likely no attempted regime change. was the message out of the white house today -- that's what we heard from the white house today. the leading options appear to be an option involving cruise missiles. what does that look like, and what does that entail? >> well, specifically, it's a confusing message if the message is we want to attack assad's ability to conduct