they're calling were creates a web of information. >> bringing in our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, on this story because, barbara, you hear about all of this, the cell phone locations and who they're trying to trace, is it americans, americans living abroad, how expansive is this, if you're overseas and you're on the phone? >> reporter: well, we don't know a lot about how expansive it is. "the washington post" reporting that this all came from more leaks by, guess who, edward snowden and documents that he had, and that is it about 5 billion cell phone records a day. how much does it affect americans? well, by all accounts, if you're an american, you're out of the country on business or may vation, you pick up your cell phone, use it, that call that record of that call, not the conversation itself, is most likely to be recorded by the nsa. why are they doing this? they're trying to establish a huge database of connections. they have terror suspects they want to go after, look at that, they look at who might be calling them and work their way back through this web of informati

web of information. >> bringing in our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, on this story because, barbara, you hear about all of this, the cell phone locations and who they're trying to trace, is it

into newsrooms and seize the information. all of the best reporting over 40 years is pentagon papers, the bush torture sites, cia sites, the ease dropping program and if you want to criminalize that you want to be kept ignorant and let people in power to have no accountability or transparency. journalism is not a crime and not terrorism. >> i want to mention any information david had is likely duplicated or backed up. so con so confa skating it, this was to intimidate you and send a message to others. >> what they did is ludicrous. of course, we have much adrian sutil -- multiple copies of what we're working on. if you lose it or someone steals it. of course we have copies. david, personal items are protected by enkripgs which they can't access. so taking it doesn't allow them to know what is in there, either. it doesn't stop reporting and doesn't do them any good. all it did, as i said this week, is give them a huge black eye in the world and make them look thuggish interfering and creating international problems with brazil for no benefit at all to themselves, which is why i said t

to see over at the pentagon, chuck hagel, and then john brennan, his pick for the cia. obviously the benghazi matter is an obstacle for chuck hagel's confirmation and vote there in congress and then this john brennan matter is very important to the issue of these targeted drone strikes, rand paul, the senator from kentucky has said that he is willing to hold up that vote on john brennan. if he doesn't receive assurances from the white house that the united states will not target any drone strikes on americans on american soil. so some of this information i think the administration is hoping will at least for now satisfy some of those members with these concerns, wolf. >> it's going to be a tough battle, i take it. both of these confirmations likely to go through next week. but it's by no means a done deal, is it? >> reporter: it's not a -- especially when you have senators saying they may hold up nominees and so we're going to have to wait and see whether or not senator paul is satisfied with the information that he's getting from the white house. but this is perhaps, you know, a bre

who know what's going on over at the pentagon. they have no great stomach to do this. they don't want to do it unless they know there's a mission, an end game, they have the sort to do what they need to do. not to just do some modest gesture, if will you. >> right. wolf, the u.s. and britain have had a special relationship, as winston churchill called it. the fact of the matter is the u.s. has plenty of fire power in that neck of the woods right now. a fifth destroyer is coming in, there may be a converted boomer with 150 t-limbs on board. >> tomahawk cruise missiles. >> tomahawk cruise missiles. they want an alliance to do it. if it's only france and turkey, it won't be as good as if britain was on board. >> my interview with mike rogers, who says it's very clear the syrian regime did in fact carry out that horrific chemical attack last week. stay with us. [ male announcer ] come to the lexus golden opportunity sales event and choose from one of five lexus hybrids that's right for you, including the lexus es and ct hybrids. ♪ this is the pursuit of perfection. like carpools...

actions against jihadist in northwest africa. let's go live to cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. she's got the latest. barbara? >> the administration has been saying for months now that al qaeda is on the ropes but the u.s. intelligence committee is now saying something very different about a very different al qaeda threat. with the success of the attack on a guest plant in algeria, extremists are growing more daring. a senior u.s. intelligence official tells cnn, quote, what we have seen is intelligence suggesting the desire to carry out more attacks against western and u.s. interests in the region. though there are no specific targets yet that the u.s. knows of, one of those plotting mokhtar belmokhtar was behind the algeria attack. >> we are starting to see an increasing collaboration, sharing of funding, sharing recruiting efforts, sharing of weapons and explosives, and certainly sharing of ideology that is expanding and connecting these various organizations. >> if chuck hagel becomes the next secretary of defense, he already knows what he's facing. >> i will ensure we stay

capabilities and potentially u.s. vulnerabilities. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. she's investigating what is going on. what are you finding out, barbara? >> so far, wolf, u.s. officials aren't saying much about this. so the question is, is it iran showing the capabilities of one of the u.s.'s most secret spy airplanes? iran claims this is classified video from a u.s. spy drone. >> this aircraft has had many flights in countries around iran. in operations that have taken place in pakistan, this aircraft has provided guidance. >> u.s. officials are trying to figure out what exactly iran has in hand. in washington thursday, defense secretary leon panetta wasn't talking. >> did iran hack our drone, mr. secretary? >> most alarming will be if iran's claim is true that it dekripted a video from one of america's most secret aircraft. >> looking at the video, it certainly seems to be genuine but i think it's a give away that you can see that the video in places is masked by what looked like frames in a glass cover. >> since it captured in the drone in 2011, iran has

. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has one worker's stories. she's joining us. barbara? >> wolf, we've heard about this fancy washington word sequester for months now. what does it really mean? it means for hundreds and thousands of federal workers trying to figure out how to live on less. maintaining fighter jets and warships at the ready, providing care at military hospitals, crucial military functions done by some 800,000 civilian workers. now the pentagon has told congress these workers will be forced to stay home one day a week without pay if mandatory spending cuts are not averted. >> everybody is waiting to hear. it's definitely become the new "f "word here. furlough. >> for federal workers it will mean painful decisions. peter is already making plans. >> i'll pay those core bills. i'll pay the mortgage and the utilities and then you live on what's left. >> the head of the government workers union says his people have already suffered. >> already these employees have suffered a 27-month pay freeze. now a 20% pay cut. >> the impact of a one day a week furlough for 22 weeks

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

. >>> breaking news from afghanistan. we have our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence and our international correspondent in kabul on breaking news four americans have been killed at bagram air base. let's start with you, chris. what have pentagon officials told you? >> this was supposed to be a day where u.s. officials were highlighting the fact they were stepping back from the front lines in afghanistan. instead, they're now trying to explain how at least two more american service members have been killed. sources are saying this was an indirect fire attack in eastern afghanistan. that suggests that it could be a mortar attack or rpg attack. we know at least two of the dead are u.s. service members. four casualties in all. jake? >> and raza, what are you hearing there? >> we just got off the phone with isaf officials. they're not revealing anything other than what chris just told us. they said it happened late last night. it's 3:00 in the morning right now. so we know it didn't happen within the past three hours. they said late last night. this was an incident that took place and they cou

house pentagon officials closely monitoring these developments. president obama's chief of staff dennis mcdonough told jake tapper they take the use of chemical weapons, quote, very seriously. >> we are going to be very clear to the syrian regime, as we have been throughout, and to all the syrian supporters throughout the world, and then obviously to our partners in the region, that if this is substantiated obviously it does suggest that the president's just said that this is a game changer and we'll act accordingly. >> game changer. so does that mean the united states would take some kind of military action? chris lawrence live at the pentagon for us. good morning, chris. >> good morning, christine. u.s. officials are telling us that they have seen the regime moving the chemical weapons away from some of the urban fighting areas over the last month or two. and the pentagon has been updating its military options so that if president obama requests them, they're ready to go. these sources are telling us that the u.s. has plenty of firepower in the area, including fighter jets on b

find what we call the bombmaker's signature. we'r gngo go live to the pentagon with details just ahead. >> we'll be telling you things about this bomb we haven't heard before that arellin ts instigation to move forward. we'll be talking to people who are at the center of the investigation, the atf, the u.s. attorney in boston during 9/11. they will be joining us with the latest insights. >> was over there like literally two mutefe i walked down and heard two big explosions. large plumes of dust, sme, glt. everybody was going crazy. >>> welcome back to this special edition of starting point, evyo.ritow forensic experts are scene of the boston marathon he bombing. it just a few blocks bin ck ere.oylston street directly they're hopingoin the bombmaker's siature. pha fmhe unexploded explosives exosesthe.th joint terrorism ta is on board wh long with a cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon with the details this. good morning, barbara. >> good morning, john. we've talked so much abo ts notion of a bomb signature. what is it a why is it impoant? you know, bombmakers tend to put th

and the pentagon had a plan in place to deal with it. >>> the secretary of state in brussels this morning. meeting with russia's foreign minister and other nato diplomats. john kerry is also meeting separately with the foreign minister of russia. we could find out later if the two talked about the accused boston bombers, and their roots in russia's republic of chechnya. back in the u.s., president and first lady plan to attend their second big memorial service in two weeks. on thursday the obamas head to baylor university in waco, texas. services will be there for victims of that massive fertilizer plant explosion in the nearby town of west, texas. 14 people were killed. the first couple attended services last week for boston bombing victims. >>> the flight delays you were so worried about that we warned you about, they're happening. up to 90 minutes. and even longer if the weather is bad. thousands of air traffic controllers are getting furloughed because of forced budget cuts in washington. passengers are feeling it. >> well we had to wait 30 minutes because there was a backlog

intelligence on what might have led them to this point is on, significantly on. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has been investigating. what are you learning, barbara? >> reporter: did the men have extremist connections to chechnya? vladimir putin is calling for, quote, contact between russian and american investigators. their uncle told cnn he believes others must have influenced tamerlan. >> who are mentors of all of it. and how possibly could he get involved and do this harm to innocent people. >> reporter: senior u.s. officials tell cnn so far there's no solid evidence of a direct link between the brothers and international terrorist groups, but the u.s. is assembling a web of information about their movement and who they communicated with. it starts back in 2011. the fbi was asked then by russia to check out tamerlan tsarnaev because that country thought he was a follower of radical islam and a strong believer and that he had changed drastically. the fbi interviewed him and checked its databases, but found no evidence of communication with radical groups. the ot

... of pepto-bismol to-go. >>> of all the government offices being hit the hardest, the pentagon is getting hit the hardest. it's explained how it's going to affect the wars, troops, and civili civilians. >> reporter: this room few get to see. now it's where military officials are making plans to cut $46 billion from their budget. >> effective immediately, air force flying hours will be cut back. >> if you stop training for a while and you're a combat pilot, then you lose your rating and eventually can't fly at all. >> reporter: here's what's already happened. the pentagon warned their 85 million workers to expect furloughs and instant hiring freeze. curtailed building maintenance. they halted the deployment of the "uss truman." the army will cut training time for most soldiers. i can lead to a delay of deploying troops to afghanistan. >> we'll have to make a decision to either extend those already there or send people there that are not ready. >> reporter: and families will have to wait longer for family's funerals at arlington. chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. >>> all right. now

check our top stories. pentagon has beaten back a proposal that would have removed military commanders from a growing problem, sexual assaults. a recent pentagon survey estimated 26,000 troops were sexually assaulted last year. some lawmakers said the number could be reduced if commanders were removed from the initial judicial process. >> the chain of command has told for us decades that they will solve this problem. and they have failed. take it from the victims who have said to us over and over again that they do in the report because they do not trust the chain of command. >> it is the chain of command that can protect victims of sexual assaults. >> senator carl levin won the argument against allowing military trial lawyers to decide which cases to prosecute so those sexual assault cases will remain in the military's chain of command. >>> we're hearing for the first time from the foreman of the jury that found jodi arias guilty of murder. he was one of four jurors who voted against giving her the debt penalty. he spoke with ktvk about the trial's impact. >> the tension was so high i

indeed very painfully. >> the pentagon has offered support, but no requests have been made, a photographer for the "new york times" when bullets starred flying and he described the chaos. >> it was very con fusing inside and not only for the few photographers in there, but also for the security forces who are trying to contain the situation, trying to evacuate civilians. it became clear within a few minutes of getting inside the mall, that no one really knew where the gunmen were. >> we'll have the very latest on this situation coming up at 2:00 eastern time. i'm fred reekericka whitfield. >>> one week ago, larry summers withdrew his name from congress tension to be the next chairman of the federal reserve. summer's tenure under president clinton is part of the controversy surrounding him. so what does clinton think about summers and his decision and about the new contender in chief, janet yellen? listen in. are you disappointed that larry summers has withdrawn his name from consideration for the fed chairman job? >> well, he's a friend of line and i think that a lot of the cr

differently. for example, the pentagon, they say that workers will be furloughed one day a week for 22 weeks. now the next deadline to look for is march 27th. the next day. government funding runs out on that day and the government will be shut down unless congress acts. then the next is sometime between mid may and august. the nation will once again hit the debt ceiling and risk defaulting on its debt. and on its loans. republicans in congress will demand spending cuts in exchange for a vote on raising the debt ceiling. now there's a bit of good news. that is the president and the house speaker signaled that they will work hard to make sure that the government does snot shut down. in this climate of grid lock. you do not know. they have different ideas and priorities of how to fund the government. the house is starting to move legislation this week to keep the government running. >> all right, dana bash in washington, thank you very much. one prominent republican is not buying the dire predictions over the spending cuts and he is mitt romney. remember him? the former gop president cal

sniff out roadside bombs in afghanistan and now patrols the pentagon. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm brianna keilar. you're in "the situation room." >>> a federal judge today ruled the massive collection of data on virtually every phone call in the united states is legal. that comes just a week after another federal judge said it's probably unconstitutional. let's go straight now to cnn justice correspondent evan perez. so we're hearing two very different things here. >> right. you have two district judges, one in new york, one in d.c., they look at the same set of facts, the same program run by the nsa, and they've decided two separate and different, opposite conclusions essentially. what this judge in new york said today you go back to 9/11 and you see what the government might have missed before 9/11 and ways they could have stopped the attacks from happening. this is what the nsa is doing now to try to prevent the next attack. i think that is the biggest point that he was trying to make today, as opposed to the judge last week who was focusing more on the privacy angle. >> what d

accident. he remains in stable condition tonight. want to take you straight to the pentagon to our correspondent there chris lawrence. chris, what can you tell us about what they were doing about the seal and the accident? >> a navy official told me that the seal was killed in a free fall parachute accident. so unlike some of the films or movies that you've seen where the military people are hooked up to a line inside the plane, this type of training involves them actually jumping out of the plane, falling for some time and then pulling the rip cord to release the canopy. that is the type of training they were doing. it's something that all seals are proficient in, something they use for hostage rescue and anti-terrorist operations. we're also told the second seal has been taken to a hospital and that seal is in stable condition. we don't foe in they were on the mission that killed osama bin laden. >> of course, our thoughts tonight with his loved ones and family back home. chris lawrence, since i have you, i wanted your opinion on our other top story, north korea. new details toni

loop." >> how's the pentagon? >> it's picked up a little, they're talking invasion reasonably seriously. >> reporter: his interest in the military went beyond fiction producing two hbo documentaries about the effects of war on the men and women who fight them. he visited troops in both iraq and afghanistan. here he is from a uso tour in 2010. >> i like coming out here to the bases. i think it's a good change of pace for the guys and ladies, and i know that it makes me appreciate the whole thing more. >> reporter: twice married with two kids, gandolfini mostly stayed away from the limelight. he spoke to james lipton in 2004. >> finally, if heaven exists what would you like to say when you arrive at the pearly gates? >> take over for a while, i'll be right back. no, no, no. >> that's it, you dare not change it. >> no. >> it's too good, it's too good. >> think of the possibilities. >> reporter: gandolfini who spent part of his young years in naples, italy, he was set to receive an award in sicily. saying good-bye won't be easy. david chase, the creator of "the sopranos" also said

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developed a mobile missile. it's something that pentagon officials admitted today surprised them in the threat level. they didn't think it was moving along as quickly as it did. it has now and that contributed to this change in policy. >> all right, chris lawrence, thank you very much. i want to bring in former general marks. appreciate both of you being with us. spider, let me start with you. the obama administration rather suddenly decided they are going to go ahead with a missile defense system with the development of this which is a plan that george bush put forth that the president moth balled when he got into office. >> they are responding to what they see with kim jung-un. when you look at the timelines in terms of getting the interceptors in place, it's going to take 24 months. we have to make some assumptions that the north koreans are working on the weaponization of a payload whether that's nuclear or conventional and the further development of a rocket and marrying those two up to threaten the the united states and u.s. territories. so the system all has to come together and

his job as secretary of defense at a private pentagon ceremony. that step coming after a pretty tough confirmation fight in the senate. a round trip mission to mars is in the works. it's to send a man and woman to fly by the red planet in 2018. the mission would be a 501-day mission. it's the brainchild of dennis tito. if you remember that name rmgs he was the first space tourist. tito is holding a news conference a couple of hours from now. >>> even after 11 days on the witness stand, jodi arias's story continues to change. it is a remarkable murder case, a trial you don't seem to be able to turn away from. we're covering it next. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes we trip ourselves up. but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance, we can untrip you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. just call... and speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married... move into a new house... [ crash! ] or add a car to your policy. don't forget to ask about saving up to 10% when you combin

detainee for something like this? >> you know, erin, when you're at the pentagon you discover when you breathe you spent about $1 million. every time you open your mouth you spend another $1 million. things are expensive at the pentagon. yes, this is a shocking amount of money to spend on a place we said we were going to close a long time ago. on the other hand, i think we're focusing on the wrong canned scandal. we got the people. we have detainees and guards there. we have to make sure that conditions are humane and we have to make sure that they're safe. i think the real scandal is that we've got people there who have been cleared for release who are government believes are innocent and harmless but we can't figure out what to do with them. so they're still basically stuck in jail. and we've got people who are detaining indefinitely. we don't plan to try them. we don't know what to do with them. that is the real scandal. it's not about guantanamo. it's about our detention policies more broadly. >> you raise an interesting point. there was a report last year from the office of th

you listen to the science of, say, the pentagon or the world bank or the last citibank report? the world bank report that came out about the climate crisis said that if we continue using fossil fuels and especially these carbon-intensive fossil fuels like tar sands, we are looking at total systems collapse, and they recommended, the world bank, recommended themselves that we end our use of fossil fuels as quickly as possible. now, the good news is, if solar energy continues to grow and expand the way that it has the last five years for the next five years here in the united states, we will be getting 50% of our energy from solar. your oil that you're trying to get out to the marketplace because right now you don't have access because you can't get it to your coastline through enbridge. you want to use it because you can pay off politicians the money. >> let's let him respond to that. >> excuse me, the whole issue -- we agree, we've signed on to the copenhagen agreement along with the president. we are reducing per capita demand on oil in both canada and united states. i think a lot

. >> cnn's barbara starr is at the pentagon. what makes u.s. officials believe these tapes are authentic and there's more? sn>> what they are pointing to these tapes, horrific as they are, was shot from multiple angles. some of the data points, match the outdoors around the facilities, areas, known areas, they were confirmed by overhead satellite imagery. some of the surviving victims were able to confirm some of these details. it doesn't get to the exact question of what part of the syrian regime the u.s. believes carried out the attack, per se, but there is very much, i think, fair to say, a growing body of information that this horrific act happened, the u.s. does feel it was at the hands of the regim regime. >> barbara, clearly the obama administration is trying very hard to make its point with the president making himself available tomorrow and then a primetime address to the nation, as it pertains to congress. where do we understand the support is? >> right. right now, what you're going to see in the next few days, as dana bash and our whole congressional team have report

then general council for the pentagon said in a recent speech to the oxford union that as the battle against al qaeda continues, there will come a tipping point that so many of the leaders and operatives of allocate da and it's affiliate have been killed, captures such as al qaeda as we know it has been effectively destroyed. at that point he said our efforts should no longer be considered an armed conflict. you might not realize it, but we're still living in a state of war. this is the longest period that the united states has lived in such a situation. longer than the civil war, world war one or world war ii. it grants the president and the federal government extraordinary authority, effectively suspends civil liberties for anyone the government deems an enemy and also keeps us at a permanent war footing in all kind of ways. ending the situation should be something that appeals to left and right. james madison, the author of the constitution, a long-time conservative was clear on this topic. of all the enemies to public liberty, he wrote that war is perhaps the most to be dreaded b

big question that everyone from the pentagon to seoul is asking. here to talk about that is gordan change. hey is the column nis. he knows a lot about this particular subject. he joins me from new york. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> you know, it sound like a cliche but we have seen this rattling over and over again, blustering. the is there a reason to think it's any different. >> i think that it's different. in the past the north koreans have thrown a tantrum when the u.s. and south korea started their drills. this time the threats became more dire and i think it's because jim young unhas yet to consolidate his position. at no time since 1949 has a north korean leader had a smaller base of support than he does today. that's why we're sealing all of these threats one after the other. i don't think this is going to end very well. >> okay. go ahead. why do you say the last sentence, you don't think it's going to end very well. >> well, because i think he's painted himself into a corner. the legitimacy in this regime is based upon taking over south korea killing foreigners.

losses. according to the pentagon more than 4,400 u.s. troops were killed in action. for every u.s. combat death, seven were wounded. almost 32,000 americans came home with battle wounds. >> so we may never really know how many iraqi civilians died in the war. arwa damon covered the war for almost the past ten years or so. she has an incredible perspective. early on she met with an iraqi man. and in the beginning he welcomed u.s. forces. now he says he regrets this. and the country is worse off than before. >> yeah, indeed. arwa stands literally years covering the war. i should warn you her report here contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some viewers. >> reporter: we're heading along the euphrates river valley. lands that once made up part of al qaeda's kingdom in iraq. driving towards a town close to the syrian border. the market is vibrant, alive. so different from the last time i was here. it was november 2005. i was embedded with u.s. marines on operation steel curtain. it was similar to countless other combat. troops going house-to-house, civilians filing out pet

all in the int intelligence we have coming out of north korea. the pentagon says we are confident. are you worried that we might not know? >> well, it is really two things. one as far as intelligence coming out of north korea itself, it is a black hole for intelligence. it's very difficult to get any sort of human intelligence out of north korea. as far as knowing, you know, the missile delivery system, that can be done through analysis and observation. so i would put them in two separate categories, missile intelligence and actual intelligence as to what kim jong-un is planning and plotting. i think based on the scientific evidence, even the dia, it reports, what it was saying is they still don't believe that they can accurately deliver a missile. >> some people are worried about that. i'm trying to figure out where we stand. the national security adviser recently drew a red line, here's where it is. >> the united states will not accept north korea as a nuclear state, nor will we stand by while they seek to develop a nuclear missile that can target the united states. >> but then

. barbara starr's at the pentagon. barbara, we have new details. i know there were green berets involved. can you tell us whether or not they were among the injured? >> well, suzanne, what we know at this hour is sadly at least one of those killed was an army special forces soldier, a green beret. the other was not. identities of course still being very closely held until all of the families involved are notified. ten other americans at this joint base wounded. this is one of these so-called green-on-blue attacks that have really been a problem over the last several years. someone in a uniform, afghan uniform, opening up with a machine gun apparently killing a number of u.s. and afghan troops as they stood outside this area wardak province a very critical area. this is really one of the major lines of by which insurgents travel to get into kabul to try and conduct attacks in the city. this is a real focus for u.s. and afghan forces, suzanne. >> barbara, do we know if it's related at all to the secretary chuck hagel's visit over the weekend? >> well, we don't. what we do know is

many american navy and air force bases. and on the other hand, the pentagon now dialing back on its own language saying they want to turn the volume down being careful not to escalate what might just turn out to be a war of words. >> now, let's get to ambassador christopher hill in here now. he's probably got the most thought firsthand experience than anyone really today. ambassador, the pentagon approach a very diplomatic one. we talked about this before whether the u.s. was playing into the propaganda hand of north korea. you agree with this approach? >> yes. i think it's important not to get into a war of words with the north koreans. i think we need to be kind of steady and to avoid any kind of escalation there. at the same time i very much support the deployment of ships. i mean, we need to be ready. we don't know for certain whether this is all bluster from the north koreans. so i think it's the right mix that is speaking in a kind of softer tone but maybe carrying a bigger stick. >> chris, how is it that you actually prevent some sort of accident from happening where you have

, that's what we're hearing from the pentagon and that's what south koreans are saying. and nobody knows if the north koreans are bluffing or not. live in seoul in a few minutes. >>> and here in the united states a breakthrough in the gun control debate. two senators announcing a deal that expands background checks. we'll go live to capitol hill as well. and celebrity chef anthony bourdain going to talk about his new show premiering sunday where he travels to unusual places like myanmar to sample the local food. >> really looking forward to that, huh? >>> rets begin with a bit of a breakthrough in the fight over new gun laws. two senators, a democrat and republican, reaching a deal on expanding background checks. >> so across the network today we are bringing you in depth coverage, guns under fire, a cnn special report on background checks. get right to dana bash on capitol hill with details of the deal. dana, we know it's all about universal background checks. the obama administration wanted this, but it is not the complete picture here. it really is kind of a watered down version

about spending. let's not target only the pentagon and hospitals and doctors, which is what the sequester targets, but let's make smarter spending cuts to affect everybody from all walks of life, including corporate world and therefore we can do something to give our children a better future with less debt on their shoulders. that's the smarter card for the republicans to play. >> let me switch to you, james, on the chuck hagel nomination to be the next defense secretary. there's been some quiet murmuring, some complaining among democrats, not unusual, i should say. you've heard it as well. why can't a democratic president ask a democrat to be defense secretary? they go back to the clinton administration when president clinton invited william cohen, a republican to be defense secretary. then the obama administration, president obama asked robert gates, a republican to be defense secretary. then there was leon panetta. and now another republican, chuck hagel. what's wrong with democrats being defense secretary? >> right. actually, just as an historical footnote, roberts used to b

and present danger yet today officials at the pentagon and state department say they want to turn down the volume of their own rhetoric against the north. >> it was the ratcheting up of tensions on the dprk side that caused us to need to shore up our own defense posture. we have done that. but we have also been saying all the way through that this does not need to get hotter. we can change course here. >> in just a moment we'll talk to the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations bill richardson who has visited north korea a number of times. first i want to bring in tom foreman to explain how this could escalate. please explain to us. >> jake, all eyes today are on the map of north korea right now particularly looking along this eastern coast over here where military intelligence says, you see the red part there, about a 250-mile stretch where somewhere a missile has been moved into position for launch. that's what we're hearing from intelligence. we don't know where but we hopefully would think they do. this is a fairly big area. we're talking about a missile model that is very ba

to be answered. in the meantime, u.s., i talked to the chief pentagon press secretary yesterday, and he had this to say about the maneuvering -- >> well, we haven't seen any kind of troop movement on the north korea be side that would indicate imminent military action. we think things may be dialing down on the peninsula. we're prepare for any contingency with our south korean allies. >> so a lot of this show of military might that the united states has been deploy nothing the region over the last several days and week is as george little said designed to inspire confidence in their allies and to show the north they are determined and capable should the north try anything. the question is, will they? what remains me now of what's going on is, according to u.s. officials the north is trying to be accepted as a nuclear power, to be dealt with with the united states and by the united states and other key powers as a legitimate nuclear power. and this reminds me of what iran went through starting in 2005, determined that the world will deal with them as a nuclear power. now they say

president obama called president kenyatta and offered condolences and a u.s. official says the pentagon has reached out, but so far, there have been no requests for assistance. we have reporters on the scene and we'll get an update in just a few minutes. so kenya's government says about 30 people are still being held hostage by 10 to 15 gunmen, but the gunmen say they won't negotiate about freeing any of the hostages. so how does this crisis end? joining me now from washington to discuss what we know about this situation, cnn military analyst, rick francona. so, rick, first off, before we talk about the negotiating, nonnegotiation, let's talk about what we know of the makeup of some of these al shabaab members, three what we understand are americans from minnesota as well as from missouri. i think it was you who said earlier, we're talking about a terrorist group that has recruited a lot in the united states, particularly from minnesota. so, how does this sound to you, learning that three are americans? >> well, three of maybe 10 or 15, that's kind of surprising, kind of a high number.

from the way things are right now. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is "outfront" tonight. chris, what is this new agreement mean for american troops and the threshold where they would be in conflict? >> reporter: erin, it basically puts it down on paper in formalizes the agreement that the u.s. is going to be a part of this defense right from the get go. not just all out war but even the small scale attacks. so what are we talking about? well, north carolina was accused of sinking torpedoing a south korean ship. so one of the provications could be north korean ships going into these disputed waters which they have in the past. also air. north korean jets flying into south korean airspace. they came close to violating the dmz just last year. south korea had to scramble four fighter jets in response. and finally, shelling these border islands like they did a couple years ago, that also would very likely invite a response. some of the other reasons are to step up the cooperation between u.s. and south korean troops as well as act as a deterrent. for example, just recently, he threa

in flames after north korean attack. pentagon spokesman george little says we take their rhetoric seriously and if you look at what they said recently, it's been extremely provocative, threatening and bell koes. what would you do beyond saying what george is saying? >> well, two things that the united states is doing right now. one is we're bringing more interceptors online in terms of california and in alaska in order to have the capability if there were ever a rogue launch from north korea. they're not to the point yet where they can miniaturize their icbms. i would suggest before they get that capability of putting a weapon on an icbm that we go back to what we did in 2005 when we were confront bid provocative behavior. they were then counterfeiting our $100 bills. the u.s. treasury department froze the bank accounts, froze the accounts in the bank of delta asia and other bank that's were being used for hard currency by north korea which suddenly meant that not only could the dictator not pay his generals, but he also couldn't continue the production lines on his missile progra

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moved to the east coast of north korea over the last few days and the pentagon now says it's working to turn the volume down while shoring p the defenses in the region. this is the time of day we typically see some news out of north korea. it's morning there. you're just waking up. what's the mood there today? >> there hasn't been any specific news out of north korea. i can tell that you there isn't any particular massive shift that we're seeing in south korean sentiment. although, we are seeing an incremental change in the tone here. and part of it is as the pentagon is now expressing, concern that the u.s. may be part of the problem. one of the major newspapers here in south korea said that perhaps the show of force by the united states is having the effect of cornering a crazy rat. that rat reference, of course, being the leader. so there is this concern among a minority of south core evens that the u.s. may be part of the problem. certainly this news jake out of the pentagon may at least be appreciated by some here although overwhelmingly most people are appreciating that show of fo

news on an emergency meeting called. i asked the pentagon press secretary what's next? >>> plus, oscar pistorius is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. does a decision today though mean he's going to go free? and new information tonight about the relationship between the boy who killed those children in sandy hook and his mother. and what she gave him for his birthday. we asked dr. drew what the shocking revelations mean. let's go "outfront." good evening, everybody. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, we have breaking news. there is an urgent military meeting at the supreme command in pyongyang and ordered rockets to be on stand by for firing at american targets including the american mainland and military bases in the pacific and south korea. this is according to north korean state media which also quotes kim saying, "the time has come to settle accounts with the united states. if the u.s. makes a reckless provication." this latest move is in retaliation to the united states flying two b-2 bombers over korea today. it was a training exercise and a forceful signal to n

pentagon. dana, i understand 15 republicans voting with the democrats to move forward on the official vote for hagel as defense secretary. how did it break down? what do we know? >> reporter: after all of the division, all of the debate, all of the delay, this was a pretty bipartisan vote to stop this filibuster and to allow the haguele nomination to go through. 71-27. that's right. 71-27. it wasn't even close to move this along. and we believe actually maybe more towards 18 republicans. we're trying to get the final breakdown. we can report that the final confirmation vote will happen in about two hours plus, 4:30 eastern. three hours, i should say. by the end of the day, chuck hagel, according to the vote, will be officially confirmed by the senate as the next defense secretary, after a lot of partisan division and pretty ugly back and forth about him and about his positions and it's gotten personal. >> and i want to bring in barbara starr at the pentagon. obviously there are some things he's dealing with straightaway, the relationship with israel, that was something that he came un

headed to guam. the pentagon is taking this seriously enough, especially the threats against guam that they're moving the missile defense there. two warships have gone into the region. and the secretary of defense chuck hagel today described the threat from north korea as a real and present danger. how real is the danger against guam right now given that guam is the american territory that would be the most reasonable for north korea to try to strike? >> i don't think the north koreans would strike guam in the beginning. they're going to go after south korea or better yet japan. but, you know, we can get involved. it's not just guam. it is also our bases in japan, okinawa. >> okay. that's my question. would they do that because as our reporter was saying, a lot of -- they're pointing at the u.s. as opposed to their own domestic people or south korea. at least the reb lhetoric. >> if they thought the rhetoric was going to break down this he would go after anything they could catch. that is not the first thing they're going to strike. you have to be resolute. the north core evenkoreans,

launch a nuclear attack. today we learned that the pentagon's intelligence arm has assessed with "moderate confidence" that north korea has the ability to fire nuclear weapons delivered by ballistic missiles. chris lawrence is working his sources at the pentagon tonight. we have a reporter in seoul. of course, it's tomorrow morning there. chris, we have known for a while that north korea had nuclear capabilities and we knew that they had missiles. but what we didn't know was that they could actually put those two things together. what are you learning? >> i can tell you that the announcement of this potential capability came as a complete shock to folks in the pentagon who were shocked to hear this mention in an open hearing on capitol hill today, erin. basically, congressman referenced this intelligence assessment that said that with a moderate degree of certainty, they felt that north korea had developed a capability to develop nuclear weapons with the capability to deliver them via ballistic missiles. what we have just learned is that the administration will be releasing a sta

front." >> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. out front, message in a bomber. the pentagon announcing to day it's going to be flying nuclear capable b-52 bombers over south korea. it is part of a joint military exercise intended to send a signal to north korea's leader. now north korea appears to be send something very strong messages of its own as recently as today. we have a new video that we found posted to a semiofficial government website in north korea. it's basically a portrayal of a violent attack on the u.s. capital and a gun sight that zeros in on the white house. now, i want to emphasize that we can't verify the authenticity of the video. i can tell you this, it is the second one that we foupd that depicts a north korean attack on u.s. soil. the other which was posted to the same website last month showed a nuclear strike on new york city set to the song "we are the world." "out front" tonight, the ranking member on the intelligence committee joins us. good to see you, sir. i appreciate you taking the time. i want to ask you first about this video that we found,

to use chemical weapons. now today we've heard from the pentagon, the pentagon press secretary george little said, the united states continues to assess reports of chemical weapons used in syrian. the use of such weapons would be unacceptable. we reiterate in the strongest possible terms of obligation of the syrian regime to safeguard the chemical weapon stockpiles. senior officials have told cnn they've been concerned in the past month there have been a lot of movement of the syrian chemical stockpile. he says while they believe that it has not been used by the syrian regime, the fact that it's been moved so much raises serious concern about whether or not the u.s. will be able to continue to monitor syrian stockpiles of chemical weapons. >> all right. mohammed jamjoon, appreciate it. infrared video used to locate the suspect. coming up, my exclusive interview with the s.w.a.t. team that helped to take down dzhokhar tsarnaev in the final few minutes. >> we broke away from the shield protective cover and rushed him. we put hands on him, grabbed him, and pulled him off the boat. [ agen

laughing it off the pentagon isn't. it is sending a message of its own with stealth bombers. how scared should we be? in national, a disabled man trapped on the it's a small world ride and forced to listen to the song over and over. he called it torture and disney had to pay. he will join us exclusively. >>> the sports lead. he's had over 3,000 hits and a world series ring for the thumb. what could derrick jeter possibly do to top that? i want to own a team one day is my next goal. >> would you be like george as an owner? in some ways i would. >> rachel nichols talks to the yankee captain. >>> we begin on this good friday with our national lead. one pastor who will have a very busy easter weekend, joel osteen. he oversees a congregation far larger than the thousands who fit into his houston church. he is a tv megapastor whose message reaches millions of households weekly and every year he takes his show on the road for a night of hope event filling stadiums with music and a message of faith. joining me now is joel osteen pastor of lakewood church in houston, texas. pastor osteen thanks

the pentagon that no foreign connection or link to al qaeda had been found in this attack, at least not yet. they have not named any suspect yet, the federal government, and no one has claimed responsibility. but the man hunt is on one assumes one of the most intense in our country's history. the news of the attack sent a shock wave through wall street yesterday. the dow suffered its biggest drop of the year. today the markets bounced back. optimism about housing and a pickup in hiring are credited for the surge. the traders began the day with a moment of silence for the victims in boston just before the opening bell. we'll have more on the marathon bombings in just a moment, but first we want to bring you some of today's other headlines. thousands of american airlines passengers are stuck at their gates thanks to a computer outage. the airline grounded flights across the country until 5:00 p.m. eastern while the system is being repaired. american airlines said the ground stop did not impact arrivals. passengers who want to change their reservations will not be charged the airline s