it is not a letter from leon panetta. it is from democrats to leon panetta which they say was not official communication, but in a letter they say that the cia has been lying for years. now what do they want him to do? >> you have to understand this is part of a political game and they are playing. republicans were thinking about bringing up this controversy where she called the cia lawyers -- they planned on resurrecting that today when the house took up the cia authorization bill. in order to have backed off, democrats basically said, if you resurrect that, we are going to resurrect this thing and we are going to throw the bush cia era under the bus which shows that the cia misled congress. the idea was that democrats were trying to get republicans not to go after nancy pelosi. and then they would not go after nancy pelosi, and they could just pass this authorization bill. megyn: a lot of our viewers watched her accusations and there was a lot of controversy. then we saw her awkward press conference where she was diggin

leon panetta himself. jon: the fear on the part of republicans, if the cia had said something like this, the feeling among many republicans is he is trying to throw the bush era cia under the bus. >> that is the feeling of a lot of republicans, that this is being manufactured to vindicate speaker pelosi. >> the intelligence committee has the oversight for the intelligence committee. i'm sure they will pursue this in their regular committee process. and that is the way it will go. >> should these letters silence the debate over your proprietary that you're making charges about the substance of your charges? >> i did not know there was a question about propriety. i am proud of my work. people know where i am on the issue. this is an excuse, not a reason. our success is driving the republicans to distraction. any excuse will do. the fact is, there is a brief lead that is of serious concern to members of the committee. they have their course of action to deal with it. that is that. >> leader john boehner has t

were you shocked by at leon panetta ha tell the coittee? >> wt i make of it is this is more about polical cover for the speaker than it is athing else we get befgs regularly on issues and since i have been on the committee, there have always beenssues about notifications, about when we're notified,ow soon we're notified, howull the notification i but what's unusual in ts case is that it was more than two weekago when this briefing occurred and yet it was only two days ago just as the cia budget bill is cominto the floor that a of this gets ma publi >> cgressman thornberry -- >> it looks ke it's more political. >> iyour time on the committee has the director ever walked inhere, sat down with you, and told you you have been misd about a program, a sret program for eight years? is this the first time that's happened to you? >> don't remember that happening this time. weo get information about programsegularly, and part of our job is to ask more questns and see shld we have been notified about this? whknew about it? did this rise to a ctain lev

." >>> tonight, more on congressional democrats who now say cia director leon panetta told them the agency has been lying to congress for years. republicans say the democrats are playing partisan politics, trying to protect house speaker nancy pelosi. >>> also tonight, a new push for another stimulus passackage, ev though unemployment is still rising and only 10% of the first stimulus funds have been spent. a panel of top economists join us here tonight. >>>and the obama administration moving ahead to introduce comprehensive immigration reform. the white house also now promising to tighten border security. >>> first tonight, congressional democrats are claiming the cia routinely lied to congress and they say cia director leon panetta backs their claim. republicans don't see it that way. they're accusing democrats of putting partisan politics ahead of national security. their dispute revives the controversy over charges made by house speaker pelosi that the cia lied to her about its use of waterboarding. brianna keilar reports from capitol hill. >> reporter: to hear democrats tell it, the c

chairman, you make reference to oth instances beyond what leon panetta discussed with you rectly. in thaare you ying to specifically referto the ntroversy involving nancy pesi and whether or not she walied to about werboarding? >> i am not becse i was not there and have no idea what information s proved to the speake these are separat stances that the coittee has be awareof. >> coressman thornberry, what do you makef this? were you shocked by what leon panea had to te the committee? >> what i make of i is this is more aboutolitic cover for the speaker than it is anything else. we get briefings regularly on issues and since i have en on the committee, there have always been issues about notifications, about when we're notied, how soon we' notified, how ful the notifation s, but what's unual in this case is that it was more thawo weeks ago when this brieng occurred and yet it w only two days ago just as the cia budgill is coming to e floor that all of this gets de public. >> congressman thorerry -- >> it looks like it'ore political. >> in your time on the committee has the cia direc

and is was a 180 by leon panetta and i think it exonerates nancy pelosi. your thought on that. >> thiss one of three serious breaches ony less thanhr years on the intelligence committee. where the c actually lied or failed to tell us or misled the congress or the united state so, you ow, let the listeners judge. nc pelosi said that ther were regular, you know, regur misleading of thecongress. and i just want to s too that on both des of the aisle, members ofhe house elect committee on intelgence have be outraged each and every ti this has happened. >> okay, congresswoman jan schakowsky, thanks for jning us tonight. > earlier today, house speake nancy pelosi held a press conference and was aed about is situation. here's the question and sponse. e said, s, misleading the congress of the united states misleading the congress he united stas,'m quoting what the head of the ciasaid. what they briefed us perhaps they should release th briefing. and sh says -- she went on to say that i would be very happy if they would release e briefing and then you wi see whathe

speaker nancy pelosi, the director of the cia, leon panetta, d have a comment on this? >> these people are out of touch with reality. greta: who? touch with reality. greta: who? >> nancy pelosi and her six puppets. greta: if she says that the cia was misleading and then the director says, yes, we did not tell them. >> this should lead to a serious ethics violation. they go to a secret briefing where they're supposed to be doing things in secret. they go off on their own and write a letter. they referred to secret testimony. i if controlled by the former chairman and ranking member -- i have been told by the former

cia direor leon panetta has told lawmakers that agency officials did indeed mlead congress andid so since 2001. roughly, of the bush , administration. the cia confirming to msnbc d nbc news that dictor panetta told lawmakers that congressas not adequately informed out unspecified post-9/11 activity, assified activity. this c will not say what the briefing was abo. other officials say was not about waterboarding, nor abo interrogation practices. two days after panetta testimony, several docratic members of the house inteigence committee having then sent the dictor in the wake of his own testimony readg in part, quote, you recall, no dbt, that on may 15th, 09, you stated the following in a letter to cia employees --et me be clear, it is not o policy or practice to mislead congress. that is against oulaws a values. in light of ur testimony, the letter continues, a that you publicly corre your statement of may 15, 2009. in anoth statement tonight, rector panetta is refusing to end what he said in may, nor evenonrm what the congressmen and women said he said in june. ain, reading in part, dire

now, m chairman, you make reference tother instances yo what leon panetta discussed with y recently. in that are you trying to specifically refer to the coroversy involving nancy pelosi and wther or not she was lied to about teoarding? >> i am not because i was not there and ve no idea what infoation was provided to the speaker. these are separate itances that the committee has become aware of. >> conessman thornberry, what doou make of this? were you shocked by whateo panetta had to tell the committee? >> what i make of it is this is more about political cer for the speaker than it is anyth else. we get briefingsegularly on issues and since i have be on e committee, there have ways been issues about nofications, about when we're notified, how on we're notified, how full the notificaon is, but what's unusual in this case is thatt was more tn two eks ago when this briefing occurred and y it was only o days ago just as the cia budget bill is coming to the floor that allf this gets made public. cgressman thornberry -- it looks like it's more political. >> in ur time on the committee hat

. >> the timing of the story is related directly to leon panetta telling congress that, you know what, there was this secret program, we don't know what it was. but the then vice president told the cia, don't share this information, even with the leadership of the house and senate. >> the word is fully operational. 98% operational. washington, that's a great kind of statement. i think what is going to happen here is that something like this comes up and i don't think leon panetta. he's fiercely independent guy and i don't think he'll be involved in any conspiracy to try to save the president's agenda or anything like that, but i think eric holden and people are giving serious consideration and does anybody think this is going to be the last one or we know most certain it is going to be more revelation and might be what they did and enough questions being raised where it's going to be very hard to take this thing away. >> the chair of the senate finance committee, dianne feinstein, is very concerned. listen to what she said today. >> i think you weaken your case when you go outside of

the cia director leon panetta has informed lawmakers about cheney's role and his program. efforts to contact the former vice president for reaction so far have been unsuccessful. nasa will try to launch the shuttle again tonight. but only if the shuttle's electrical system checks out and the weather cooperates. last night's launch was scrubbed after several lightning strikes near the launch pad. if the mission gets the thumbs up, liftoff is set for 7:13 p.m. eastern later tonight. those are the headlines on "state of the union." >>> after a week of international travel, president obama and his family arrived back at the white house just after midnight before he left his final stop in ghana, he sat down with anderson cooper for an exclusive interview. you can see, by the way, the full interview tomorrow monday night on "ac 360." the number one topic, as it was for most of us, the u.s. economy. >> vice president biden said you misread the economy. you said no, no, no, we had

because it is highly classified and while we know about the fact that leon panetta on june 23rd learned about the program, and went to brief the house and senate intelligence committees on the 24th and say that he had stopped it we don't know what the program was. it is not clear whether the program actually, ever went into effect or whether it was simply being planned. but if you look at the 1947 national security act, it says that congress needs to be briefed, on intelligence activities by the central intelligence agency, and -- or anticipated activity and i'm not a lawyer but it does seem this might well fall within that, and what is the interesting wrinkle today, is that some of the people who were in the briefings of congress, say that panetta told them that vice president cheney, then vice president, specifically, ordered the cia not to brief congress on that. senator feinstein was quite concerned about the vice president's role, and senator jon cornyn, who was also, was there to talk primarily about the sotomayor hearings was less concerned and seemed to think it was part of the

i don't think that leon panetta, he's been a pretty fiercely independent guy. i don't think he'd be part of a conspiracy to sort of try to save the president's agenda or anything like that, but i do think that eric holder and people now are giving some serious consideration into looking into this. and does anybody think this is going to be the last one or that we know almost to a certainty that there's going to be more revelations? it might be perfectly legitimate what they did, but there are enough questions being raised where it's going to be very hard to take this -- >> and mary, the chair of the senate intelligence committee, dianne feinstein, is obviously very, very concerned. listen to what she said today. >> i think you weaken your case when you go outside of the law, and i think that if the intelligence committees had been briefed, they could have watched the program. they could have asked for regular reports on the program. they could have made judgments about the program as it went along. that was not the case because we were kept in the dark. that's

leon panetta has informed lawmakers about chaina's role and has stopped the program. efforts to contact cheney for reaction have been unsuccessful. at least so far. confirmation hearings for the supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor kick off tomorrow morning in washington. they will push back against republican opponents who paint her as an activist judge. if confirmed, she would be the first lutina on the high court. right here our special coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow morning. all of that and more coming up on "state of the union." >>> you're looking at live pictures of the u.s. capital, a beautiful sunday here in the nation's capital. tomorrow the hearings will begin and the confirmation hearings for sonia sotomayor. history will unfold. welcome back to "state of the union." let's talk about that and more with our senior analyst jeff toobin and senior political correspondent candy crowley. they'll all be here with me tomorrow getting ready to assess what's going on on these hearings. here are some poll numbers, jeff. let me start with you. we asked

leon panetta. brianna keiler has that letter that's raising questions. >>> and more republicans saying the stimulus isn't working. where are your tax dollars going? a new report breaking this morning said it may depend on how your county voted. parts of the country that are blue getting more of the stimulus cash. >> plus, new exclusive details that michael jackson's family tried to get him off of drugs. janet was frightened into action by his aappearance two years ago. the special correspondent drew griffin has exclusive reports just ahead. >>> but we begin with a bombshell inside the beltway. seven house democrats saying this morning cia director leon panetta admitted in testimony in congress that the agency had been concealing information and misleading lawmakers for eight years. brianna keiler is tracking developments live from capitol hill. break this down for us. what happen? >>> good morning, joe, this is a long and winding story. let's start at the beginning. back in mid may, house speaker n

now leon panetta says that is wrong, he never said so. the cia misleading congress is a federal crime. what we do? they are calling for a full- blown investigation. a good idea? >> absolutely. he would have thought he would have started back in may when the speaker said that. the speaker is the third most powerful person in america, saying up the cia mislead allies to congress consistently. we are now in the middle of july, and guess what? silvester race as an the intelligence committee have had zero hearings on the allegations. they are not doing anything. you would think that they would take the lead on this, and they are not doing anything. trace: why have we not heard publicly from the cia director? democrats say they were misleading congress, and we're hearing that he did not exactly say that. when will we hear from the director of the cia, and should we? >> i think that leon -- i will tell you, he has come to capitol hill, try to be forthright with the committee, and i appreciate that very much. i think he is between a rock and hard

do you think leon panetta lied in that closed-door meeting? >> well, i don't have any reason to believe that he lied, but i also didn't walk out of that meeting thinking that he said that he and the c.i.a. had misled congress. there is a lot of misconstruing going on right now, and i think it is a lot of political theater, and less based on the facts of the issues. we're not even quite clear yet that there was any requirement under what they have done to notify congress, which is a big difference than they have mislead, which is a crime, by the way, or lied to a committee to mislead, which is another crime, by the way. those very, very serious charges, and we take them very seriously, and i don't think they ought to fling them around like that. that's exactly what got the speaker in trouble, and, you know, the chairman just two nights ago, slipped a letter under the door of the republicans after everyone had gone home saying i have determined that they misled us and lied to us, and we can't get any confirmation or corroboration, none of it, an

. >>> national news, cia director leon panetta has shut down a covert supply operation that was kept secret from congress eight years. democrats say the secret program began after the september 11 attacks. at this point, the nature of the operation and the information obtained by it remains a secret. leon panetta has said internal probes are the reason why congress was not told. >>> president obama has landed in ghana for the final stop on his overseas trip. they were welcomed by well- wishers. he is expected to make a speech to lawmakers and take a tour of the ocean front for on the western coast that was once used for ships. >>> before flying there, he made a quick visit to the vatican to meet with pope benedict xvi. they met about half an hour and were later joined by the first lady. mr. obama called the meeting a great honor and he looked forward to a strong relationship with the vatican. the president told pope benedict that the g-8 summit was productive. otherwise, it is not know what they discussed. >>> house lawmakers say they know how they want to pay for the proposed health

what does leon panetta say? >>> graves dug up, bodies dumped. a disturbing scheme to resell cemetery plots. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm tony hairs and you're in the "cnn newsroom." >>> so, let's begin this morning with issue number one. it is the economy, a story that impacts every family in the country. new jobless numbers and what they may tell us about the trends we could see in the months to come, as always. the cnn money team has you covered. our chief business correspondent ali velshi with me here in atlanta and susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange. susan, let's start with you. if you would, walk us through this weekly job's report. >> hi, tony. well, new claims for unemployment benefits fell by a big amount. more than 50,000 to 565,000. so, that was much better than the street expected. it's the first time that number has dropped below 600,000 since the beginning of the year. it is just one week, so you can't say this is a trend. it also tends to be a volatile time of year. you get auto shutdowns and other manufacturers shutt

she says current cia director leon panetta informed intelligence committees about it in late june. >> he was told that the vice president ordered that the program not be briefed to the congress. we were kept in the dark. that's something that should never, ever happen again. >> to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal. >> reporter: the counterterrorism program was established as the cia ramped up its hunt for osama bin laden. no one has revealed details, but a u.s. official familiar with the project told cbs news it was never fully operational. the firblds said cia director panetta cancelled it when he found it hadn't been reported to congress. his decision to kill it was not difficult or controversial, officials said. it was on again, off again. this was not a capability on which our country relied, and no one called the program illegal. but the cia could still face tough questioning on another front. attorney general eric holder is reportedly leaning toward hiring a special prosecutor to investigate wheth

cia director leon panetta comes back and says, come on. there's no policy of the cia to mislead congress. now we have congressional democrats saying panetta told them the cia has not always told the truth. what do you make of this? >> it's one of the most bizarre episodes in politics that i've seen in my time here in washington. you button top of that that this week also the chairman of the committee sylvester reyes has accused the cia of lying yesterday on the intelligence authorization bill. the president issued a veto threat. you know, this is -- these are all democrats saying the cia lied. the cia director leon panetta said, no, we did not. we're just kind of sitting on the sidelines. we're trying to focus on national security policy, national security issues, and the democrats, from my perspective, are looking for some adult supervision. there's no leadership here at all, harry. it is -- this is very, very bizarre. >> i'm going to get to the veto threat in a second. in your experience, have you ever been misled or purposely told somet

california, leon, nancan in anna. she's nogoing to call leon panetta a liar, and iunderstand th. i hate to put it in those terms. she's saying leon petta is telling them one thing behind publicly.ors and one thing el >> he said something publicly before he came to em and knew the program was in exisnce. >> what not being discussed is the ise of intent. at would motivate the cia to lie, rit? people who tnk the cia is lying, they've got so kind of assumption abo w the cia would be lying and the people who are saying the ciaoesn't make it a practice. what are wefraid of? is the cia acting like regades? are th off the reservation? what are we afraid of? >> harold? >> ihink in fairness to what the cia spokespersonaid he did give validity to what anna hoo said. th the cia itself took the initiative tootify the oversight committe which you an i c say we notifiethem of somethinghat was going on. other question for me, d thsk the director orre there other programs sheay not be aware of and what steps are you taking to learnof them. he notifd them when he learned of them. what action, if a

"the new york times" says leon panetta told congressional leaders that the cia withheld information on a secret counterterrorism program on direct orders from a notorious secretive vice president. >> the congress has been systematically misled. i know that i've been lied to. >> reporter: abc news has learned the secret program was only in the planning and training stages. >> the question was, or is, was it a program that had to be revealed to the congress? >> reporter: cheney has taken to the airwaves to defend the bush administration's intelligence-gathering methods. >> it was legal from the beginning that it was constitutional. to claim that it isn't, i think is just wrong. >> reporter: now news of cheney's role will likely increase calls for an investigation. >> this is certainly one example of an investigation i hope that will have into the cia persistently lying to the congress. >> reporter: the news comes after a new report to congress found that a secret warrantless wiretapping program produced limited intelligence and was carried out with extraordinary and inappropriate secrecy

the person that could do the most to clear this up is leon panetta. shepard: thank you. a high-speed pursuit caught on camera. there is no chopper. see this? this is a 14-rolled kid who is doing more than 100 m.p.h. at one time or another. gecko vo: you see, it's not just telling people geico could save 'em hundreds on car insurance. it's actually doing it. gecko vo: businessmen say "hard work equals success." well, you're looking at, arguably, the world's most successful businessgecko. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko." come on people. but with aleve, i don't have to worry about my knees hurting. only two aleve can stop pain all day. that would take three times as many tylenol arthritis pain. aleve works for me. shepard: president obama met with leaders representing some of the largest economies. with the state of the global economy, there is lots of talk a

member of the committee now say leon panetta -- >> you know, there are americans all over the country who say that's what the cia is paid to do. they're paid to keep secrets. and there are indeed americans saying if the cia wasn't trying to kill osama bin laden or al qaeda leaders there would be something peculiar about that. congresswoman, your reaction? >> my reaction is the following. we have a solid obligation to protect the american people. it's called national security. and i just heard -- and i have respect for my colleague peter hook extra. one of the shodiest explanations of how the cia informed the congress. the cia director, mr. panetta, came up and briefed us, and he said he stopped the program the day before. now, there was never any notice. in fact, the cia was directed. this is according to the directors. they were directed not to specifically, not to inform the congress. now, i think this flies in the face of the law. i think that we have to establish facts. this should not and is not partisan. god help us if we start playing partisan games with national security. the

in fact, they claim the cia director leon panetta admitted as much in a briefing last month. so far no comments directly from pa net attachment but he has already said that it's not the agency's policy to lie to congress. the new accusations come in a letter from seven democrats on the house intel committee. but republicans claim that it's just an attempt to distract from the firestorm as speaker nancy pelosi unleashed when she accused the cia of misleading congress. there was a loot of back and forth on this day as can you imagine. we have more now from both sides in their own words. >> i have worked closely with our intelligence professionals. and they are that, professionals. and i do not believe that the cia lied to congress. >> the intelligence committee hats oversight responsibility for intelligence in the house and equivalent committee in the senate. i'm sure they will be pursuing this in their regular committee process. >> when it comes to the information with regard to enhanced interrogation techniques, it's pretty clear what the cia briefed members of congress on. a

leon panetta nixed the plan. still, some were furious because they had been kept in the dark for so long. chris kofinis joins me now. so now, you have dennis blair, the director of the national intelligence office saying the cia didn't break any laws, that it was in the planning and sometimes it was off, then back in. what kind of game here are these democrats playing? >> well, i'm not sure it's a game. it's a question of trying to find out the truth. i think dennis blair has his perspective and congress has theirs. there are some really troubling questions that have been raised about this. there's probably nothing more corrosive to our government than if you have an agency and electelect ed officialed deciding not to inform congress. whether there's illegalalties or not, i don't know. >> but according to "the washington post," this is not an operational program. is the cia, do you think, supposed to go to congress when they're sitting around a table going, we really want to get osama bin laden and the top leader

leon panetta. today a letter has surfaced. it was a letter written to leo panetta om seven democratic members of the hse intelligenceommittee and the letterays this. quote, dear direct panetta, you recall, no dou, that on may 15th, , you stated the following in a lter to cia employees let me be clear, it is not our policy orractice to mislead ngress. that is againsour laws and values. recentlyyou teified that you have determined that top cia officis have concealed signifanaction from all members of congress and misl members foa number of years from 2001 to thiweek. this isimilar to other deceptions of which we are are om other recent periods. in light of ur testimony, we ask that you publicly rrect your statement of may 15th, 2009. they don't actlly say meow, but 's implied. and it is signed, sincerely, a eshoo, rush holt, mime ompson and adam smith. it was signed by ln panetta january 5th. it was sent to him twoays after he briefed the house commtee. now, these sev signatories are considered allies of the speaker of the house

they say that leon panetta told the intelligence committees. senator durbin, do you think this has to be investigated? >> absolutely, it does. let me tell you, we have a system of checks and balances. there's accountability in our executive system. they cannot keep these programs and keep congress in the dark. there's a requirement for disclosure. it has to be done in an appropriate way so it doesn't jeopardize our national security, but to have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal. >> so you want the intelligence committee to look into this? >> absolutely. >> sflart kyle? >> i believe they are. in any event, leon panetta, the cia director has come forward with information, he said the cia doesn't mislead the public. specifically, in rance to house democrat allegations that the cia had misled, he said that's not true. so i don't think we should be jumping to any conclusion, moreover -- >> but with the program that was kept secret? >> the republican leader on the intellig

that is when director leon panetta shut it down after being informed about it. panetta then briefed congress about the entire program. dick cheney couldn't be reached for comment about this. >>> deadly foreign attacks in mexico may be retaliation for the arrest of this man seen right here. he is one of mexico's most wanted drug suspects and leader of a drug cartel. attacks were carried out in eight mexican cities. five federal police officers and two soldiers were killed. at least 18 officers were wounded. >>> oklahoma city has never seen itself quite like this before. >> the buildings will be lit. there is going to be movement. we're going to have the boats hopefully moofg moving in the canal. >> why one man is recreating the city's landmark with legos. >>> a grown man is spending his whole summer building a replica of oklahoma city out of legos. his name is kurt zimmerle. he is a lego master who is taking on this huge project to help raise money for a new school, a great cause. he works on it more than 12 hours a day and is using more than 1 million lego brick

ananddemocrats are saying that leon panetta hasow adtttt that t theiaia had sled congress. of c coue,e,his feeds into other controversyy involvingg nancy pelosi, who saidd jstst tt when it cameoo wawateoarding. all ofof it statartgg t add up all l thee pieces beieing conned now, tamron. >> mike, you know,onongrswoman jajan that wsky wants an ininveigation. on panetta as an ternal ininststigion according to reports. t t w you've got rerts eric lder may w wtt something stronger to happen.. criminal iinvtititions. >>>> rorter: we're talking a aut a slightly d difrere subject he. this iss investigating the usesf tortrte,e, pmarily, ocourse, ring the busush administrarati.. this is someththg g th presididn obama himself f hasasaid thahat did not want t tpursue, contrarr to the wishesf f t democratic base. maiberals say that tisiss soththinthat absolutely must be done. tteadingemocrats, including, of crsrse,he esident and ncycyelosi have sasaidt's not timim to lookback, 's time to okokforward. now reports say erichohold,,f coursehehe obama administratition a aorney geneneraisis c

so this secretive "don't tell anyone" program that leon panetta shut down immediately upon learning of it last month had to be something other than just capturie ining and killing members of al qaeda. was it capturing and killing them in inconvenient countries, like countries we are allies with? well, technically, pakistan is our great ally in the war on terror, but we kill people there on a really regular basis. for example, june 23rd, u.s. drone fires more missiles into pakistan. july 4th, u.s. drone attacks said to kill 17 at taliban outposts in pakistan. july 8th, u.s. drone attack kills 12 in northwest. how many times have you read headlines about drone attacks killing pakistani civilians while we were targeting al qaeda suspects in that country? if killing al qaeda suspects inside the borders of our ally, pakistan, doesn't even make the front section of the newspaper anymore, then a plan to kill al qaeda suspects inside the borders of other countries hardly seems like something that would stop the presses in washington the way that this program has and that would send the directo

"b," the perso who's least gleeful is leon panetta. because he is try to dotwo things at once and it's rlly toh. he wants to lead the cia. he wants presint oba to have credibility with t cia. he wants to get us to a new place. so the really n't want to be dragged into these old controversies. but he's also a formermember of congress. and he kno that congress is suppos to be briefed on this. d he believes in briefg congressn this. so i think the notion tha leon panetta, with his responsibilities at the cia, i somehow cooking somethingp for nancy pelosi,that fls in the fa of who he and is how he behad when this controversy started in the firstplace. >> i want to ask you aout the sotomayor.on hearings of sonia w gressive do y anticipate the republicans to g? today was kind of a shot ove the bow. wh knows if it will go any further than what it did toda most pe arehking there aren't going to be jor roadblocks here. what do you thin >> i don'think we're going to have maj roadblocks but clearly th repuicans have laid wn that they are going to

before leon panetta, the proposal was kept secret by what? three different c.i.a. directors, and under the law, they were supposed to tell congress. >> that's right. the law you are referring to is the 1947 national security act. that's the act under which the c.i.a. was formed. under it, it was supposed to inform congress, quote, keep congress fully and currently informed about the intelligence activities of the united states including any significant anticipated intelligence activity. that's crucial, shep. one former intelligence official said there was no significant intelligence activity, and they didn't anticipate any significant intelligence activity, and that's why they didn't inform congress. shepard: all right. still nothing from the former vice president cheney on this, right? >> that's right. he has not spoken about this. remember, these are classified briefings. it was a classified program. his daughter, however, liz, has been making the rounds defending her father. what's interesting is attorney general eric holder was asked about the proposal and why

>> i think that leon panetta is trying to bend over backwards to be cooperative. how many plans would you guess there are in the pentagon and how many plans would you guess there are in the state department and how many plans which authorize? greta: if it is not important, why do you say, by the way, we did not tell you the last 8 years but we did have this rather significant operation or plan or whatever. >> which was never used. greta: apparently it was started. >> they plan did. i expected the cia to plan a lot of things. greta: if it is insignificant, why are they confessing to this? >> i think that he had just been briefed on this. he was trying to prove how cooperative he is. there was a secret meeting where they're supposed to be responsible adults and protect the secrecy of the u.s.. you get a letter signed by six puppets from pelosi and the cia claims that they said something they did not say. this morning, the cia spokesperson said the letter is inaccurate. greta: we are hung out to dry on this. we have this fight between the cia, the democrats, and repu

. >> we're learning that leon panetta told members of congress the agency withheld information about a secret counter terrorism program on the direct orders of then vice president dick cheney. now, that is coming from a source knowledgeable about panetta's classified briefing to lawmakers. the program was instituted before panetta took over the agency, but the source tells cnn it was never fully operational. panetta shut it down last month after being informed about it. so far, there are no details about this program. dick cheney could not be reached for comment. >>> the white house may not be behind the move, but attorney general eric holder apparently may push forward with a criminal investigation into the bush administration's interrogations of terror suspects. the justice department official tells the associated press, holder is considering whether to appoint a prosecutor. president obama has expressed reluctance about such a probe saying the nation should look forward, not back ward. the white house is concerned an investigation could distract from other priorities such as healt

they say leon panetta has admitted it. republicans say this is a purely political case of democrats trying to protect one of their leaders. brianna is up on capitol hill with more on this story. >> reporter: wolf, the house is set to take up a big intelligence agency bill. republicans seeing this as an opportunity to attack house speaker nancy pelosi for some comments she made about the cia. knowing that, democrats have staged a pre-emptive strike. the cia has been keeping congress in the dark for the last eight years. >> what does this mean? >> it means that something very serious broke down. >> and six other democrats on the house intelligence committee say c.i.a. director, leon panetta, admitted that the cia misled members of congress. they say recently, you testified that you have determined that top cia officials have concealed significant actions from all members of congress and misled members for a number of years. he inform >> he informed us there was an operation in place in 2001 until the day before he came to no

congress was never told about a program and recently found out about it from leon panetta. >>> the country cost terror alert system may be getting a makeover. the system wa created after 9/11 and has been criticized. homeland security secretary to paul totten appointed a task -- janet napolitano as an appointed a task force to investigate. >>> president obama went to michigan today to announce a plan that would invest $12 billion in community colleges. the hope is unemployed people can learn new skills and get back into the workforce. >>> after paying the government back its tarp money, goldman sachs posted earnings of $3.5 billion for it they have also set aside $6 billion for employee bonuses. >>> road construction is taking up a lot of dust. this is what it looked like last week in falls church as people cost their way around their neighborhoods. tonightanother committee faces several -- similar problems. is anything being done? >> i'm on americana strife in annandale. it looks like the dust bowl. even people who are flying into washington say they see the red clouds of dust. it would b

panetta saying not true and leon panetta said it is not our policy to practice or mislead congress, it is against our laws and values. now, when he learned about the program, that was allegedly kept quiet from the cia he went to congress, the gang of 8, back in june, and we're learning about this. >> dave: june 23rd. >> clayton: and said, i learned about this yesterday. i ended the program yesterday,'d and brought it to congress to let them know about it. >> and a program went on from 2001 until june, as you mentioned, so whatever the program was, it had gone on for 8 years, now. and years, of course from a cia spokesman. >> it is not agency practice to discuss what may or may not, as they said, in a classified beefing, be said and when a cia unit brought to it director panetta's attention it was with the recommendation it be shared appropriately with congress and that was his view and he took swift, decisive action to put it into effect. and he terminated the program, the next day, after he talked to congress about this. >> clayton: exactly. we'll talk so much more about this, and

leon panetta is said to have told direct -- it says that the cia withheld information about a secret counter-terrorism program from congress for eight years of direct orders from the former vice president. it says that two people with direct knowledge of the matter said that on saturday. the report with us that he was behind the decision to conceal this program from congress and it deepened the mystery surrounding a. it suggests that the bush administration put a high priority on the program and its secrecy. it says that the current director who ended it when he first learned of its existence on june 23 reached two intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day. efforts to reach mr. dick cheney were unsuccessful. i want to get your calls on the store. but top bush officials opted not to brief congress on a secret program belatedly disclosed last month to leon panetta all. the official was asked not to be named because of the classified nature said the decision to keep the details secret in the past was made in part because the program remained "in the capab

. >>> leon panetta reportedly said that former vice president dick cheney ordered that this program be kept private from congress. democrats are calling for a full investigation of cheney and the agency. >>> a virginia man convicted of murder will not be executed tomorrow as scheduled. justices will consider his argument that he was tried twice for killing 16-rolled steel reyear-old stacey reid. >>> [unintelligible] today, in the pretrial hearing, a detective testified of the horrific scene. the girls were deador approximately seven mont before their bodies were discovered. the judge is now considering whether or not to keep her taped confession sealed. >>> bernie madoff is being transferred to the security facility in north carolina. he was moved to this afternoon. last month, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison for defrauding billions of dollars from investors. >>> kim jong il has pancreatic cancer, it has been reported. they said they do not expect him to live more than five more years. some analysts are skeptical of these reports. >>> a passenger takes a picture of a bus driver

director, leon panetta told them the agency has been lying to congress for years. they are trying to protect the speaker of the house, they say. also, another push for another federal stimulus package although unemployment is still rising. only 10% of the first stimulus package has been spent. a panel of top economists and members of congress come together and join us here. the obama administration moving ahead on comprehensive immigration reform. the white house promising to tighten border security but how much? two opposing congressmen will be here for our face-off debate tonight. did the cia lie to congress? join us for that and a great deal more as well, of course, all today's news at the top of the hour. wolf, back to you. >> lou, see you then. >>> unusual, even by his standards, sacha baron cohen, bruno interviews an alleged terrorist jeannie most takes a most unusual look. ddddddd >>> it's been two weeks since the washington metro rail collision killed nine people right here in the nation's capital. now passengers are using cell phones and digital cam

leon panetta has ordered an investigation of how the cia briefed congress. this came from inside the cia. house speaker nancy pelosi has accused the agency of misleading congress and democrats on the house intelligence committee, claiming the cia hit a covert program from them for eight years. one says the secrecy was the liberal and might have been illegal. catherine herridge as live in washington. you spoke to that congress woman today. >> the dispute between congress and the cia is opening a new and angry chapter as one democrat claims there is a broader problem that boils down to add to. >> what i felt when i came to the intelligence committee is that leaders of the intelligence community, not all, but several of them, were contemptuous of the congress. >> a senior u.s. intelligence officials strongly disputes her characterization of events, telling me that at no point did the cia lie to congress, also that the program was never fully operational. rick: what about republicans on the committee? >> a few months ago, the speaker claimed publicly that the ci

leon panetta has ordered an investigation of how the cia briefed congress. this came from inside the cia. house speaker nancy pelosi has accused the agency of misleading congress and democrats on the house intelligence committee, claiming the cia hit a covert program from them for eight years. one says the secrecy was the liberal and might have been illegal. catherine herridge as live in washington. you spoke to that congress woman today. >> the dispute between congress and the cia is opening a new and angry chapter as one democrat claims there is a broader problem that boils down to add to. >> what i felt when i came to the intelligence committee is that leaders of the intelligence community, not all, but several of them, were contemptuous of the congress. >> a senior u.s. intelligence officials strongly disputes her characterization of events, telling me that at no point did the cia lie to congress, also that the program was never fully operational. rick: what about republicans on the committee? >> a few months ago, the speaker claimed publicly that the ci