committee republicans accuse the democrats of misrepresenting panetta's briefing and said panetta himself feels this way. >> lee onis disputing -- leon is disputing the characterization of what he told the committee on june 24. what the disclosure by director panetta was was that a program begun in '01 and not previously being briefed and now terminated was being briefed to the committee. now, if you look at that carefully, there is no lie, and there is no coverup. it wasn't briefed. >> sources tell fox news the program disclosed in panetta's briefing had nothing to do with interrogation techniques, but the democrats' latest charges resurrected the controversy that erupted in may when speaker pelosi claimed the c.i.a. misled her about the agency's use of waterboarding during interrogations n response, panetta on may 15, issued his flat denial that langley misleads the congress, the very words that some democrats are demanding he retract. pelosi herself said she has barely spoken to panetta since jan riry. >> i had maybe one briefing from him, and it could be two, but not recently. >> the

is it nancy pelosi or the on panetta? there is a new letter from leon panetta that poured gasoline on this battle royale. cócó bill: is suspected -- is suspected that there could be another wave of cyber attacks in south korea. they are under high alert. this comes at the same time cyber attacks hit the u.s. over the fourth of july weekend. targets included the white house, pentagon, york stock exchange, and countless others. experts say that north korea could be to blame, but it will be tough to track them down quickly. megyn: it is the start of the trading day on wall street. we have a positive number to report. over all, though, the dow is down for the week. new economic data including that drop in unemployment claims. 565,000 americans seeking first- time unemployment aid. that number should be compared with the overall number, which is unfortunately at a record level, nearly 6.9 million. meantime, retailers are reporting weak sales for the month of june. however, dell futures were up ahead of the opening bell. we a

it is silyix democrats very closely aligned with the speaker against leon panetta panetta is not acknowledging that there w any lying that we on in the past. he's just saying that nothing like thawill happen in the fure. >> andrea,he speaker stated she had been misled he cia and republicans said that that was disparagg our country's agents and that this was never done. panetta's comments sam to back up that of the political mastrom here. what we're dling with in between the charactezations by these x presentatives in thatetter and what the cia have said on mr. panetta's behalfn response, is it nuance and shading, or is thiyes or no? do eitr versions confirm what panetta said? >> i think they' in dict conflict although panetta sor indicates roh people that he has no way of knowing what happened, he just knows th it's tru they were not inrmed of certain ings. the big distinction here though is that officials say it's not over waterboarding. they are backing the fthat pelosi and others were tensively briefed on waterboarding and that tre is, in fact, the are records to that eec they're saying tha

the ci panetta are not acknowledginthat. saying it did nohappen. >> andrea mitchell in our washington bureau, who h added so much to this story in the last half hour. grt workgreat thanks. >> tnk you. >>or more on the implications of this, let's turn to former cia officeand former precutor, jack rice, giving us some of his time once agn tonit. thk you for doing so, jack. cod this be a missing link or maybe better, is it a linchpin turng point, whichever cliche is mt appropriate, towards some sort of manner of actua substantiati investigation into bh administration policy here and what the congress w and was not told by e cia post-9/11, wheer it's about torte, whether it's about warraness wiretapping or anything else relating to th agency? >> potential, what it's really abt now about credibility. ere's really two parts to this, as we listen to anea's report here. the t part is not providing all of the infortion that the cia d. that'sne part. but if they actual rposely lie here, the next pce of this investation, i'm thinking a

panetta. -- two days later, seven house democrats wrote to panetta. there has been no official response from the cia director, but there have been published reports that stated that leon panetta feels that he has been misrepresented in this matter. obviously, it will be decisive when we hear from mr. 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 w

." >>> 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

>> i hrd what director panetta id. he brought a matter to our attentn that had not been brought to our attention before. i don't know that necessarily shouldave, and i certainly don't know that the committe was intentionally ed to about that mter. there are mouestions to be asd, but i think those -- r homework needs to be de before we adopt aeady, shoot, aim sort of mentaly. >> well, cgressman thornberry, before i go back tthe chairman, let me just re t you mething i know you've read before, which is the statute, the natial security act, which spifies exactly what the cia musteveal to congress. it says and has said in law since 1947, the cia shall ensure that theongressional intelligence committees are kept fully and curreny informed of the telligence activities of the united states, inclung any significant anticipated intelligence activity. so what it is saying is the cia mu inform you when they anticipate doing setng. they must then infm you when they are currently doing something, and what leonanetta came in therand

director panetta's actioions bk that up. eaearlr this year, housee spear pelosi, of course,hahang acsesed e cia of misldidi heinin briefings aboutt ee enency use of w wateoaoaing. someththinshshe id she never heard aboutt in a a kind off brieiefi, , seet or otherwise, an allegation rr wch she has be roundly tatack by repuicics. time nowow t turn our chiefef foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchelel w whoas been working ththis sry for msc and nbnbnews. thanks for your timemetonight, andrea. >> you bet. there's a lot -- >> do we know - >> youou nono keitith, there's lot of digrgrment over wha happened and w whoaiaid at to whomom what wee dononow i iththat the anddeeon panenett are not t acknowledging in anyny fashion th he testified thatathehereas any misleadingng ococongss. they s s t thais not true. u.u.s. officials s y y th panet bebelies ststngngly that congre shshou be informeme t thathere were s some matters that werere adequately briefed, that werere inappropriately not briefed to congrere.. and that hehanged that

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

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

in the panetta institute. i don't think that he -- >> that was before he became cia director. >> nor would the vice president, the former vice president do anything other than what was in the best interest of this country. so, if you're suggesting that leon wouldn't and somebody else would, i hope that wasn't your suggestion. >> we have an investigation and we'll find out. maybe everybody is right. >> meanwhile, we're investigating, wolf, the cia is saying i am not gathering intelligence, i don't want to put my family through this. you can indict a ham sandwich in this town and if they feel that's what's going to happen to them -- >> you admit they should do it lawfully and legally. >> and 100%, 110% confident the vice president and the former administration did everything within the confines of the law. >> don't go away, we have much more to talk about with james and mary. >>> president obama is back from his overseas trip. anderson cooper within the african nation as well as spoke with the president. we're g

>> heard what director panetta said. herought matter to our attention that had noteen brought to our atttion before. i don't knhat it necessarily should have, and i certainly don'know tt the committee was intentionally li to about thatatter. there are more questions to be asked, but i think those -- our homework needs to be done fore we adopt a ready, shoot,im sort of mentality. >> well, congressman thornberr before i gback to the chairm, let me just read to you something i know've read before, whh is the statute, the national security ac which specifies exactly what the c st reveal to congress. it says and s said in law since 1947, the cia all ensure that the congrsional intelligence committeeare kept fuy and currently informed of the intelligence activits the united states, incding any significant anticited intelligence activity. so what it is saying is e a must inform you when they anticipate doing something. they must then inform u when they a currently doing sothing, and what leon panetta came ithere d said, and you

panetta, i think, is the key figure here. he can both tell the american people what was briefed to mrs. pelosi over the last year, and he also can clarify whatever he told to them in closed session, and as long as the democrats broke the security of that closed session, i don't see why mr. panetta can't come out and set the record straight. i think that's where it should go. steve: let's talk about that for a second. you have, i guess there is about 20 on each the house and senate in these intelligence committees. assuming these people were all briefed on everything going on at the c.i.a. between aides, between staffers, how many eyeballs will be on some of these very important things going on around the world, and maybe we don't want our people out there with everyone watching? >> well, i think that's right. you always have a little bit of classification, although it's fading in the security world these days, but i think the point i would make is that there is no congressman or senator who cannot get a briefing if he wants o

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 health care reform. >>> president obama and the first family arrived back at the white house early this morning. their whirlwind trips included stops in italy and russia and was capped off by a visit to ghana where the president addressed the country's parliament. in his speech, he praised ghana for the democracy and economic progress. he also challenged people on the african

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

if congress needed to be told about that, the last three days we have seen the former viper and leon panetta didn't tell congress everything and nancy pelosi was less than fully honest about her knowledge of terror interrogations and the question right now, are any of these three really lying, to america? good morning, everyone, i'm eric sean on the search for the truth, at fox news reports. >> jamie: i'm jamie colby and here in america's news headquarter, great to have you with us, our new set, eric, good to see you this morning and the new report, this morning, involves the top-secret program, drafted after 9/11, to help catch -- capture dangerous terror suspects. >> eric: and congress was reportedly never told about the program, and did it get to the point of requiring an actual congressional briefing, caroline shivley follows the development, caroline, what do you know about the program. >> eric, we know it was a counterterrorism program and it is indeed classified and "the new york times" reports, it did not involve the cia interrogation program, and it didn't involve domestic intellige

leleon panetta dedenies it. democratatic ngresswomanand anna eoo and john holt from nejersey are both memembers of the house intetelligen committee joining now, both signed ththat letter. than for coming to talk to us. >> good t to be with you, andr. >> firstst of all,let's be clear about ththis program. thisas a pviously undisclosed secret proam. leon panetetta learned ain't ito june 23rd came to see yll on junene 24th. it d not invololvewaterboding or intererrogati praractices. so we're n not talking about th previous isissue. we're told thihis program, thou, was in operaration since 2001. first question cacame to mimindy did it take so l long for t new cia director to leararn about himsf? >> i it's a great question, andrdrea. his own top leership didn't en brief him that thisis program existed. he came, he did the right thi, hehe informe us and sid that he had just leararned iit, as you said, the e day before. and he stopped it. ththe issuehere, clelear a centr is that th cia withheld pertent information to t

no panetta has changedis tune somewhatupportg at pelosi has said allalong. mbers ofhe hous intelligence comttee believe laws were broken anthey want answers. joininme on the pho because there's votes at thi ur, jan shi cow ski from the hill. she also chairs theommittee on oversit and investions. congresswoman, good have you wi us tonight and i areciate your time. i know you're voting at this ho. so we've gotou on the phe here. there's a deloping story out your state. senator roland burris hasust announced he is not going to seekreelection. now, congresswoman, i realize th you have said thatyou're nogog to run for the senate, but does this announcement change your situation at all? no, and the rean it doest is because i right in the midd of the work on the heah care bill that's coming up. all of the things i' been working on and waiting for all of my life are ppening rely some of them in the next couple of weeks. and so i'm not changing my plans to run for senate. but i do realize that roland buis has, you know, made a b decisi. and i think it's a wise decisi

in the panetta institute. i don't think that he -- >> that was before he became cia director. >> nor would the vice president, the former vice president do anything other than what was in the best interest of this country. so, if you're suggesting that leon wouldn't and somebody else would, i hope that wasn't your suggestion. >> we have an investigation and we'll find out. maybe everybody is right. >> meanwhile, we're investigati investigating, wolf, the cia is saying i am not gathering intelligence, i don't want to put my family through this. you can indict a ham sandwich in this town and if they feel that's what's going to happen to them -- >> you admit they should do it lawfully and legally. >> and 100%, 110% confident the vice president and the former administration did everything within the confines of the law. >> don't go away, we have much more to talk about with james and mary. senator john mccain just said whether or not he would endorse his former running mate sarah palin in 2012. much more with mary

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, nancy losi. her contention thathe cia deliberately misled r and othemembers of the congress about waterboarding is wha prompted the cia to sue their "wdon't mislead anyone" rebutt way back in may. now these members ofongress are saying tt leon panetta directly contradicted at statement and mied that the cia has misled congress, bute did it in testimy behind closed drs. they now want hito say it in publ. for its part, the cia is sticki to its guns, releasing a statement toght, once again reiting, quote, it is not thpolicyr practice of the cito mislead congress. joining us now to follow all o this smoo its fiery source is "newsweek" inveigative correspondent and msnbc contributor michael ikoff. mike, thanksery much for joing us. >> great to with you, rachel. >> first, do you think that i've mmariz this right? members ofhe house say that leonanetta a

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

director leon panetta. national security core spobdz ent -- correspondent jennifer griffin has an update from the pentagon. >> panetta went to brief congress when the agency requested that this proposal enter a new phase. one u.s. official told me, quote, this wasn't a program that had taken shape, and the focus was on those programs that were actually being implemented when a c.i.a. unit brought the program to panetta's attention, it came with a recommendation to brief congress, since there was thought being given to moving toward a more operational status -- that is, some training." now, hit teams would have complemented an already successful program using predator drones, killing targets without putting intelligence officers in harm's way. democrats isn't decided whether to seek a broader investigation, and the attorney general explained why panetta didn't brief congress on a non-program. >> one of the things we want to do in the obama administration is to make sure that all the things that we are doing

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

then director panetta responded saying it is not our policy or practice to mislead congress. and within days the republican leadership was demanding proof of pelosi's accusation. now, since then, the uproar has died down a bit. but with an upcoming intelligence bill threatening to reignite it, republicans argue the timing of all of this seems somewhat suspicious. and they say it might just be a move designed to protect the speaker. james rosen tracking developments live on the hill. james, first, does the cia director actually admit the agency repeatedly lied to congress? >> >> no. and leon panetta stayed silent since this erupted once again fnt a number of republicans who were present during that briefing and have spoken to him say well director panetta feels as though he has been misrepresented somewhat. that that briefing he gave on june 24, all he did was tell the lawmakers about a covert program that existed from 2001 to the present day canceled last month in which lawmakers say never really even got off the ground. >> we're not quite sure if it even reached the potentia

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. >>> former cia director general michael hayden denies claims the bush administration misled congress about the details of its post-9/11 surveillance program. in an interview with the associated press, hayden said he personally kept top members of congress well informed all along the way. the ex-cia chief was reacting to a report on friday by a team of u.s. inspectors general which called the program unprecedented. the report also questioned its legal rationale and the secrecy that surrounded it. >>> 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. a 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 lo

when someone went to panetta in the cia and panetta went to the congressional committee. what then happened? it leaked. >> actually, they wrote letters publicly. and the letters circulated. >> part of the reason they wrote those letters was in defense of the speaker, nancy pelosi who had said -- >> do you know what the program is they're talking about? i don't. >> no. >> one had said they had been misled and the speaker has lied to us, i think she said, all the time. we've all be discussing these things all week. the country's been pretty absorbed by michael jackson. no question that it is -- i see sam laughing over there. it's also creating a real debate about whether we've gone too far. at the memorial service on tuesday, congresswoman sheila jackson lee getting up before the crowd at the memorial service and saying she was going to produce a resolution, house resolution to honor michael jackson. >> that claims michael jackson as an american legend and musical icon, a world humanitarian, someone who will be honored forever. >> he's a child molester, he's a pedophile, to

"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 vi president. >> the congress has been systematically misled. i know that i've been lied to. >> reporter: abc news has learned the seet 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 mhods. >> 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 gro

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

the ranking member said that panetta was right and that pelosi was wrong. you have six renegade democrats who are puppets for pelosi who wrote a letter that is astonishing. they were not supposed to be talking about this. then you have the former chairman of the committee who said the letter is false, the allegations are false. you could take that amount of data and reach a conclusion that speaker pelosi did not tell the truth. her own former democratic colleague has said publicly that she was not accurate. they repeated it this morning. if the question is, was speaker pelosi misleading the country, the answer is yes. greta: i am sufficiently confused by the accusations back and forth and i'm confirmeconce. i would like to have them all sit down and clear the air and find out what happened instead of making this a political game. >> they should create a special ethics panel of former members of the ethics committee to go through the process and determine whether or not what speaker pelosi said is in any way true. greta: does the white house really need 18 m

one congresswoman di say republicans were stunned by what panetta revealed tothem. michael isoff is an msnbc contributor and he been reporting on muc of this. michaeirst of all, howig pped have members of congres and intelgence sourceseen on this is this? >> fairly tight lipped. we know it was apost-september th program that presumably related then tocounterterrorism operions, but there sems to be a dispute as to whether i was quot fully opional. what we're told is that it was on again, offagain. there was discussio about it. it's not clear whether it was put fully into effect. part of thequestis that arose about -- ts gray area. the sculationstohat this program may he been almost overshaws the potical signicance. the we he president obama sentially siding with the cia in how much informatio they must ge up congress, right? >> i thk that's the most significanpart o this, at least until we know what this program is. that's the most significant part of it. there has been this debate for s, particularly under t sh era, about how adequate congressional oversight is, how

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

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

panetta and the commiees. theye asking panettwas this prm illelnd he's tling them, no, it wasn't. just something we should have told you about and we dn't, and so publicans' rejoinder is why are you stopping this ogram if it was legal and it's doing the right thing? i think it all lies in theery murky area of exactly how th thing waeing carried t, if there were lines bein crossed, ybe international sovereignty issues being addressed here we just don't know about. there's some vy interesting conflicts in ts story we're getting ow. >> well, joby, where does eric holder -- i mean, we were heing that he could be moving closer to an investigation. we've heard the president y that the justice department should actyou kn, alon it should no be a tool used by the president. are ey very far apart, the obamadministration and i s that obviously as thesident beinghe lea and what we're seeing from the attorney general? >>es, i think they honestly haveot decided this. there's increasingly prsure on the obama administration do something at least half a loaf

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

she saiai she hasn'n't eventata leoeo panetta. thesesarar two democratic politiciananfrfromorthern cacalirnrn. eyey kw och eeach other verery . e e hasn't talklked to h him si it was announced he would be the nominee to heaeadhehe cia. she said, and this is sometethi i have to corrrrt t fr last ur, dadavi that she is bririef byby tirirecr of natatioll tetellence, dennis blair, who is nominallybove l lon panetta inin t chain ofcocommd here in terms ofof t intelligence committee. rereblicans on thee h hoe side, republicans h he in congresess y this is alal a red heing, a ststwmwman democrats are setting this up on the eveff an annual intelligence bill l erere the white hohoushaha threatenened t veto i iovover provision tatat would have panded theniverse ofofemembe of congress w w wld briefed onon ciactctivies such as werboarding and other activivieses tt are carrieied t ov overseasas sort of a white housuse versus democratat t thi. republicans s say demococtsts w simply tryining to coverfofor nc pelosi all thrououghtt the coure of t

leon panetta. today a tter has surface it was a letter wrten toeon panetta from seven democtic members of t house inlligence committee and the letterays this. recall, no doubt,hat on may ou 15th, 2009, you stated the following in a lett to cia employees -- let me be clearit is not our policor practice to mislead congress. at is against our laws a values. recently, you testied that you have determed thattop cia officials have conceed significant acon from all members of congress and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week. this is similar to other deceptions of which we are are fr otherecent peiods. in lig of your estimony, we ask that you publicly corre your statent of may 15th, 2009. th don't actually say ow, but it's implied. and it is signed, sincerely, ana eshoo, and adam mith. it wasent to him two days after briefed the house committee. now, these sen signatories are nsidered allies of the saker the house, ncy pelosi. herontention that theia deliberatelymisled her a other m

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

and ifhat director panetta told the committee is true and ere was an overt order for mr. cheney to keep this from ngress, does he have any gal wiggle room? is that a matter of negotiation at tt point or a rather clear cut matter of the law? >> i wong it's a rather clear cutmatter of t law. the question thewod be wha is the remedy? ery violation of l is not a crimal offense. an you have if y wish to proceed as a ciminal matt find a char that applied to at situation. and coue that there is none. >> there have been some calls for the senate intelligence committee to iestiga this matter. you're a mer of that committee. can you tells if therere plans at thisoint to investigate? would you support that? >> i think in the exercise our oversight responsibilities it is very importt r u make sure t this isot a continuing problem with the cia. it is of so concern that this camep at t last mi. apparentlyirector pnettaas very rapid in briing itto our attention d tryin t cure the illegality, butit's not exactly heart warming to think that the director of the cia for many months was unaw

panetta briefed congress about the entire program. dick cheney could not be reached for comment about this. >>> a tornado slammed a town in southern ohio, hurting at least five people there. emergency officials say the twister hit folks hard yesterday afternoon. check out the damage here. some homes completely destroyed. at least three mobile homes wiped out. utility crews are working to fix power outages, as well, in the area. a real mess. some roads are closed because of debris and high water. the red cross set up an emergency shelter in the area to help out. >>> news on a story we brought you yesterday. police are questioning two men in connection with killing a couple who adopted a dozen special-needs kids. you may remember this one. this is an update for you. a sheriff says the couple was found dead in their home in florida on thursday. investigators later found the two men by tracking down this red van leaving the victims' home. however, those men are not under arrest. they're considered persons of interest, though. investigator

nancyy pelo's friend who signed on t that letttter regardining n panetta. congressn hry axman says gop leads are rootg against th country.. the formrmer chief of staff for president clinn, mack mclarty. a look at the t top stories politico iss rking on from th supernova of washington, d.c.c. i speak, of coursese, of mik allen. you must be looking r motorcycle insurae. you'u're good. than. . so i our bike insuranance. all the coverage youou nd at a great price. holdn, cowboy. cool. i'm nodo -- for less than a dollar a month, yoyou also g g 24/7 roadside assisise. ght on. ah, vroom-vroom! sounds likyoran a 500. more l like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused ththright surance for yo ride. w, at's progressive. call or click today.y. sure, but do wee speak hybrid? es, we do. and we can say 70000 miles on a single e tan and epa estimamated 41 mpg city d d althe words stick ecause they're true. wepeak the most fu-e-eicient midsize sedan iamamica. we speak the all-newew 10 ford fusion hybrid.d. t in... and d drivonon rrd d oue speak the all-newew 10 ford

. >> reporter: panetta himself first leaed of the secret program on june 23rd. the very next day traveling to the capitol where he broke the news to members of the intelligence committees. >> he was told that the vice president hadrdered that the program not be briefed to the congress. >> reporter: though details remain classified, the cia is required to tell congress of its operations. democrats are outraged. >> they have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in congress. it is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal. >> reporter: and the allegation that it was mr. cheney himself who directed cia briefers to keep congress in the dark raises questions. >> what this shows is that the former vice president, dick cheney, could persuade the cia against the better judgment of some people in the agency not to tell congress about a secret program when it involved counter terrorism. >> reporter: the program began in the aftermath of 9/11, around that same time cheney told nbc's tim russert that secrecy and counter terror operations was essential. >> a

u'u' note the toneneofof our letter is n not accuse t tryf fr panetta. it's true. he ce e to voluntarily.aato of papatttta. it's true. came us to voluntarilily. aais esesons why i may after he hadbeen director r for many months he c camtoto real this.. i bebeliev i i just ca his atatteioion. this culture o o concealment, which can bee really dangerous some of uss in our gneneraon rerembmber shamrockk and so of these ththin from the '6'6 a '70s0s tha g ge rise tohehe ne ofof t congressional oversighth in the first placece this is sosomeining at is not w.w. >>>> theheeepuican suggestion here thatthe oversightht tere is toto protecthe speakeke to backfillll hlaims about the pass, butt the provisisnsns actually predatete athe speaker said about ci lack of full clclrity. at is the impetuousus rr yiying to changnge ee nature of tt briefings? i i'v been on the intelligence committee a feww yrs no anyone w who s sveved on tha mmmmite for any lenenthth of tie and is straighght rwrwar will ll you, yeye there iss d denl d deception by the intelligence communinity not all the

announcing cia director leon panetta has shut down an agency program it that with a so secret even panetta himself didn't know about it the u.s. women's soccer team defeating china to win the highly coveted world cup. 90,000 fans packed into the rose bowl in pasadena to watch the game. largest crowd ever for a women's sporting event. after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime, the game was still scoreless, so it went to a shootout. each team got five shots and then on the last kick for the americans, brandy chastain squeezed one through to take the title 5-4. she even tore off her jersey in one of sports history's most memorable tournaments. that tournament did huge things for soccer here in the united states it was all u.s.a. all the way 10 years ago today. that's "the fox report" for frif day, june the 10th, july the 10th, 2009. i'm rick folbaum in for shepard smith. i will see you this weekend on america's news headquarters

announcing cia director leon panetta has shut down an agency program it that with a so secret even panetta himself didn't know about it the u.s. women's soccer team defeating china to win the highly coveted world cup. 90,000 fans packed into the rose bowl in pasadena to watch the game. largest crowd ever for a women's sporting event. after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime, the game was still scoreless, so it went to a shootout. each team got five shots and then on the last kick for the americans, brandy chastain squeezed one through to take the title 5-4. she even tore off her jersey in one of sports history's most memorable tournaments. that tournament did huge things for soccer here in the united states it was all u.s.a. all the way 10 years ago today. that's "the fox report" for frif day, june the 10th, july the 10th, 2009. i'm rick folbaum in for shepard smith. i will see you this weekend on america's news headquarters 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. eastern t