Spent? timothy geithner has one answer. he s testifying before the house budget committee on the president s spending plan for next year. geithner played out the plan on the senate side earlier this month. private contractors behaving badly and the military that hardly holds them accountable. the two big bullet points being fired by top gun senator carl levin this hour as they grill blackwater s owners for employee conduct in the iraq and afghanistan conflicts. the recalls, the repairs an contrite commercials. today some answers. mr. toyoda himself, out of his lofty comfort zone in japan, and into washington s hot seat. his name, his company on the line. brianna keilar on capitol hill where the grilling happens next hour. but you won t see it live in japan. tv blackout. they can t bear to watch it. why? because mr. toyoda may as well
Paralyzing him. the company reports it to the military as the reckless use of an unauthorized weapon. but senator carl levin says the right people never read it. if that shooting back in december of 08 had been investigated, it would have been discovered that personnel were using weapons, unsafely, unsafely, inadequate supervision. reporter: flash-forward to may of last year. on a dark, dusty road in kabul, blackwater contractors with unauthorized weapons, opened fire on afghan civilians they shaw as a threat. the incident cost the u.s. military goodwill among some afghans and sparked a diplomatic incident. reckless behavior by contractors to help set the stage. government oversight failed and, thirdly, blackwater broke the rules relating to weapons. chris lawrence, the buck s got to stop somewhere. who ultimately is responsible?
Company on capitol hill s hit parade today though. remember blackwater, the private contractor so loved and revered in boast iraq and afghanistan? in about 20 minutes the chairman of the senate armed services committee is expected to read the company the riot act. cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence has our preview. reporter: private mercenaries running around afghanistan with no accountability. taking weapons, shooting civilians. that s the picture being painted by a congressional investigation. what you need is oversight and hopefully this hearing is going to lead to dramatically better oversight. reporter: last spring, cnn brought you an exclusive interview with one of the contractors now charged with murdering two afghan civilians. when i got out of the vehicle, i had my weapon in my hands, yes. reporter: this investigation alleges a series of problems that nobody caught led up to that shooting. it goes back more than two years and involves blackwater, which
Now calls itself z, and the company it created to get work in afghanistan. congressional investigators say a blackwater employee took more than 300 ak-47s from a storage bunker, guns set aside for afghan police. both the company and the defense department admit there s no paperwork to document it. 300 assault rifles, no receipt. when a new rule required afghan officers to sign for any weapons, blackwater takes another 200 rifles out of the bunker. who signs for it? eric cartman. what did you do that for? i didn t screw up! reporter: there s a south park character by that name. but blackwater told investigators no eric cartman s ever worked for the company. blackwater admits, contractors should not have been armed without proper approvals. later that year, one contractor accidentally shoots another trainer in the head, partially
Children. dr. earl bradley faces nearly 500 counts of sexual crimes. what s even more unsettling, prosecutors expect to add even more charges as the investigation deepens. private contractors behaving badly in the military that hardly holds them accountable. the two big bullet points being fired as the chairman of the senate armed serves committee grills blackwater s owners for conduct in the iraq and afghanistan conflicts. and we got this just in, former president dick cheney out of the hospital after suffering a mild heart attack. cheney checked into a george washington hospital just a few days ago complaining of chest pains. his spokesperson says he s feeling good this morning. the good news about a certain fertility treatment, it can help you get pregnant. but if a study is correct, the bad news trumps the good.