keep the drug pipeline flowing. >> today is a vy sad day for those of us who are committed to law and order because we are faced with the disconcerting reality that drug trafficking has invaded the sanctity of our state and our police departments. major banks freezed foreclosures over flawed paper work in the housing crisis. the banks are being sued. we're all over this one. good morning, i'm tony harris. those stories and your comments right here right now in the cnn newsroom. it is now nine years since american forces invaded afghanistan, more than 4,000 u.s. troops have died there. we focus on one soldier who is emblam mattic of so many. lance vogeler served 12 combat tours in iraq and afghanistan. we will take you live to hunter

army airfield in georgia. in the war zone, hamid karzai is trying to get the taliban to the peace table. cnn's ivan watson is in kabul. ivan what is the latest on the afghan peace council? >> reporter: well, this is the inaugural meeting that took place today here in kabul and you had a bunch of tribal elders, clerics, eight women participating and the warlords who have records of bad atrocities in the past and the afghan president repeating a message he has made for years with little result. take a listen to what he had to say there. >> translator: the opposition are our taliban brothers. every son in this land, and

every youth, whether he is inside or outside of this country wishes to serve this country. i call on them once again to use this opportunity and to say yes to this endeavor. i want them to come and bring peace to this land. >> reporter: now, when you talk to the taliban spokesmen, they say that they are rejecting any offer of negotiation with what they call a puppet government. they say they have one precondition before any kind of peace talks can every take place, and that is for all foreign occupying forces -- that's how they refer to the some 150,000 u.s. and nato troops here -- until they leave this country once and for all. >> yeah, it sounds like a public statement. we clearly understand there is something going on here, so, i guess, ivan, the question is, who would the afghan peace council be talking to? are we talking about senior taliban representatives with the blessing of the leader of the

taliban? >> reporter: that is another good question. when you ask members of the new council who can you negotiate with? they say, we don't know. that's something that is our job to figure out. we don't know who represents the taliban as a movement right now because the movement was smashed. the government was smashed in 2001. of the leaders fled into exile and believed to be operating out of pakistan and there is an extensive network of taliban insurgents fighting all across afghanistan. there are shadow governments in different provinces across afghanistan and we don't know how much coordination there is between the senior leadership forced to flee to pakistan and the younger guys fighting on the ground right now in afghanistan. that is a major challenge before you were go forward at all to try to make any kind of peace settlement here in afghanistan. >> yeah and ivan, one more for

you. what's the united states role in all of this? >> reporter: the u.s. said it has stuck to its three main conditions here, tony. they say that before any peace deal can be reached, the taliban must cut all ties with al qaeda. it must respect the afghan constitution, and that any peace settlement must be an afghan-led process. now, there have been a lot of reports, reports coming from within the pentagon of alleged talks between afghan president hamid car guy some mysterious high-level officials within the taliban movement, the u.s. also saying that it is not privy to any of these negotiations and not participating in talks that took place here in kabul here this week between senior members of the pakistan ruling elite and the afghan ruling elite, the u.s. saying they were not part of those talks as well. the pressure that the u.s. can

bring to the table, however, is significant, military fire power, 150,000 nato troops and they're battling the taliban in the fields and mountains and ravines of afghanistan every day. >> thank you. you will get more insight into the peace council next hour. i will take to james dobbins. he played a central role in the nation building of afghanistan. weeks of cleanup ahead in arizona after a rare tornado outbreak. at least four twisters touched down yesterday. damage was heavy around flagstaff with dozens of homes there damaged and trees uprooted and vehicles overturned. >> all of a sudden the wind got bad and the whole thing started shaking side to side. >> i always used to fear that the top half of my home woas going to go and it was a nightmare come true.

>> the wind was so strong it blew a train off the tracks. no word of any serious injuries. it was a big story at this hour yesterday here in the newsroom. we will check in with rob marciano for the latest. authorities in mexico resumed the search today for an american reportedly killed by pirates. david hartley's wife said he was shot in the head on lake falcon, the lake straddling the board are of the u.s. and mexico. his wife says the family just wants his body returned. >> once we do receive david back and we can, you know, properly give him, you know, the burial that he would like, we could be able to say our good-byes and really have that closure. the suicide of a rutgers university student leads to a new investigation and legislation. tyler clementi killed him after

two other individuals taped an encount are with another man and streamed it on line. they want to create anti-harassment policies and spoke at an anti-bullying town hall last night. >> tonight we call on one another to stamp out the bigotry and harassment that introduced this young fellow to take his life at 18 years of age. tyler clementi's death has broken hearts across america and around the world. >> tune into anderson cooper 360 tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern time. did police provide protection for drug dealers in puerto rico? latin american affairs correspondent rafael romo has the details. >> reporter: it's the biggest

corruption investigation in the history of the fbi, the crackdown on police corruption in puerto rico produced 133 arrests, including 89 law enforcement officers, 2 u.s. army officers and 30 civilians. >> without question, this will disrupt drug trafficking operations in puerto rico and help to strengthen law enforcement operations across and beyond the island. >> reporter: puerto rico is just east of the dominican republic and is a major shipping port for drugs, and the united states federal officials say the two-year investigation is known as operation guard shack. >> involved an unprecedented level of logistical resources and technical assist by 30 of the 56 field divisions and hand-to-hand coordination with the department of justice and the united states attorney's office in puerto rico.

>> reporter: as part of the investigation, undercover agents conducted over 125 drug transactions involving amounts ranging from $500 to $4500. >> you will be caught, you will be stopped, and you will be punished. >> reporter: more than 1,000 fbi agents and other personnel were deployed to puerto rico to conduct the arrests that happened in the early hours of the morning. >> today is a sad day to those of us committed to law and order because we have the reality that drug trafficking has invadeded sanctity of our state. >> what did this corruption look like on the ground in puerto rico? >> reporter: it started two years ago when an undercover fbi agent went to a guy and said he was a drug dealer, and he put

the word out that he needed protection to do his dealing and several proffer police officers forward to work for him and were being paid from $500 to $4500 and used equipment they use in conducting their police operations, and little by little, more and more police officers started joining this and getting money from fbi undercover agents. in the end, it was half a million dollars that was distributed to all of these people. let's remember that it's 133 people who are being arrested, about 90 police officers. so very sneaky the way the police officers were operating. >> and you have -- i know you have a reporter who can tell you more about the operation on the

ground and when might be next. >> yes, let's bring into the conversation my colleague with wapa in san juan, puerto rico. thank you for joining us. i want to ask you. it must be a difficult day for police in puerto rico trying to reorganize after all of these arrests. what can you tell us about that? >> definitely, it has been a very sad day in puerto rico, more than anybody, for the police department. it was a huge hit to the department and to the very core of the police force. today, police officers all over the island very sad. in the headquarters you can see their faces, and probably many of them ashamed of what happened here yesterday. as you know, more than 1700 policemen are part of the police department here in puerto rico, and most of honest people, but the arrest of almost 90 of them yesterday brings question on them definitely. one of the main worries right now is the trust of the people

in their work and in the investigations that are taking place right now, especially the ones from drug trafficking. >> i wanted to ask you. puerto rico is a favorite destination for many americans. they go there to spend their vacations there every year. do they have anything to fear and do the arrests change anything when it comes to vacations in puerto rico? >> reporter: new york i don't think so. maybe the rain will. this is something that has happened. as i said, there's more than 1,700 policemen still working. they are very good people, and security in tourist areas is mostly on municipal police work and smaller counties. i don't think there is any problem in terms of tourism or anybody traveling here to the island. >> may i? >> absolutely.

>> i have one question for you. when you talk about 90 or so officers there on the ground in puerto rico swept up in this raid, good us an indication of how widespread this is and how far up the food chain this reaches in that police command structure in puerto rico. >> reporter: okay. there were policemen arrested all over the island. the island is divided into many different counties, so you can have people working for drug dealers in san juan, north, like in the central part of the island, in the west and south. it was a general thing. they were not working coordinated. they were not working as a band. people in san juan or copping in san juan didn't know what they were doing in the other areas. this is mething that happened that drug trafficking operations

that were quietly and in a subtle way got infiltrated in this police workforce, and maybe two or three of them new about each other's wrong doings, but not about the whole thing, not that this was such a big thing going on. there are sergeants and maybe up to lieutenants arrested but just up to there. nobody up in a high officer ranking. >> how much is this going to disrupt drug trafficking from south american countries like colombia and purr rue, puerto rico being a transit point into the east coast? that part of drug trafbing, how much is that going to be disrupted? >> reporter: well, we certainly hope in a big way. these policemen were offering suter to these organizations, and they were it depending on

them and this investigation was conducted in a very confidential way, so nobody knew that this was coming. it was a big surprise for everybody. so i would expect at least for the few months to come that it they would have trouble getting their things together and starting a new way to do this. i probably think they will find a way eventually. i just hope it's not with the help of police officers. >> celimar adames, thank you for joining us. one more thing. if they're con vikd, they face sentences from ten years to life in prison. the long war in afghanistan, changing the role of the female fighter. live from the pentagon. rob marciano tracking a couple of stubborn storms that have overstayed their welcome. we have seen things yesterday pop in arizona. >> we did, unusual weather

across arizona with four tornadoes, damage, injuries. that weather calming down, and the stubborn storm lifting. we have tropical storm otto coming up. cnn newsroom is coming right back. sure i'd like to diversify my workforce, i just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com. [ man ] if it was simply about money, every bank loan would be a guarantee of success.

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a somber reminder of the sacrifice of war, culling on this, the ninth anniversary of the u.s. invasion of afghanistan, the remains of sergeant first class lance vogeler are returned home. he served an astonishing 12 combat tours in iraq and afghanistan. no one here can believe this. his parents are deaf, so their oldest son interpreted as his grieving mother talked about her beloved son. >> shared a lot of love. loved to help people. very joyful man.

a great son. >> 12 tours. can't believe it. on this ninth anniversary of operation enduring freedom, the look at the role of women at war. officially, females can't fight but 22 american women troops have lost their lives in afghanistan. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence now. >> reporter: when the fighting started in 2001, this young soldier had no idea what she was in for. did you know today's army would be so different than the one you joined? >> no. initially, i said, the army's going to change. what i didn't realize was how many different ways it would change. >> reporter: through two deployments in afghanistan and one in iraq, kelley rodriguez did jobs that didn't exist nine years ago. in 2006, she was one of the first female combat medics to

deploy with special forces teams, spending a year in remote parts of afghanistan. >> it worked the because that unit has taken several females down to do that mission. >> reporter: this year, her second afghanistan deployment took her to the border of pakistan during the most violent months of the war. >> did i change? yeah. i saw a lot of injuries. >> reporter: she was single during the first deployment. then married another soldier and now has three boys at ft. bragg. >> how did you do? >> good. >> reporter: how did it go coming back from deployment and having to be mom again? >> perfect example is my youngest son was 3 1/2 when i came home and i told him to do something and he said mommy, you're not the boss. >> reporter: since 2001, about 250,000 men and women served in war zones. female dpoor gunners man the weapons on helicopters.

last spring in afghanistan, i followed a female engagement team of marines going into the homes of afghan women. >> they are definitely a key player in getting information. >> reporter: women still can't be assigned to ground combat teams but for years kpand commanders have been getting around pentagon policy by attaching them to units. the marine corps had to impose a time limit. so in afghanistan every six weeks the female engagement teams go back to a big base for one night and reattach with their combat unit for 45 days. >> a none sensical policy that we have been living with for nine years and it does confuse the on the ground commanders. >> reporter: this woman runs the women in the military project and has seen more changes in all of the years since world war ii. >> in these wars women are shooting and killing and they have not done that if u.s. wars

as members of the military at any time in the past. >> reporter: as jobs expanded, so did the military's ability to accommodate the woman's personal life. what was expected of women in the military ten years ago? >> it seemed like they were -- i don't want to say ridiculed but they said, she has to leave early because she has a kid and there was a resentment. >> reporter: now? >> i think it's easier for women. you're a mom. nothing's going to change that. it's nice to know i'm going home and i'm not going to get talked act tomorrow. >> chris lawrence joining us from the pentagon. what's next for women in the military? >> reporter: well, tony, you know, just last week, defense secretary robert gates says he cease a day when women will be involved in special forces. you know, we know that the first class of navy female submarine officers are in subschool right now and could be in the fleet by next year.

i was talking to a lot of people in the building about this, and they say a lot of qualities even forespecial forces, swimming long distances, running long distances, processing a lot of information very quickly, women can do that just as well or if not better than men. the key they said, comes down to strength. with some of the jobs that still require brute physical strength, even one very capable female officer i talked with said i can go to the gym like mad but i'm never going to be as strong as some of the men. that would be the one hurdle but when you look at what some of these commanders are already doing, there is sort of a growing sense that perhaps the policy needs to catch up to what's already going on there on the ground. >> sounds like it. at the pentagon, chris lawrence for us. appreciate it. thank you. afghanistan's president launched a peace council today. tribal leaders and elders will look for ways to get the taliban

to the negotiating table. that was one of the top issues on "parker spitzer." >> this whole idea of bringing the taliban into the government, is this a way for us to get out? is thit the best exit strategy for us? >> i don't think we should think of it that way. there are very good studies of civil wars. most civil wars end through negotiations. it's very rare to have the north triumphing over the south as it did in the american civil war. most of the time you have a messy political outcome with a negotiation. particularly with the taliban, this is a little different than people's imagination. 33 are not arabs that enters the country. they represent the conservative part of the community. these guys are he to stay. >> "parker spitzer" on cnn. tune in for smart political talk every night right here at 58 p.m. on cnn. >> police accused of protecting

drug dealers in puerto rico. where do those drugs actually end up?

we have a bit of breaking news. cnn has been able to confirm from south bend, indiana, from a city engineer that there is a natural gas leak near the wells fargo bank in downtown south bend.

the natural gas leak has forced between 1,500 and 2,000 people from the downtown area. i don't know if i have everything as clear as i need on this. we will try to hustle up that engineer or someone who can tell us more about what's going on there. federal prosecutors handed out a slew of new subpoenas in the john ed words case, focusing on payments made by the campaign to his mistress to allegedly buy her silence. look at this, only the second time -- the second -- no-hitter in post-season baseball history! the pitcher roy halladay pulled it off in a divisional playoff gins the cincinnati reds. >> being able to win the game comes fir, and that's kind of your only focus until after it's over with. i think once it ends, you know,

it's a little bit surreal. more top stories in 20 minutes. ♪ [ engine revs, tires screeching ] we give to you the all-new volkswagen jetta. we have one more surprise for you. fifteen-thousand nine-hundred neunzig dollar? [ sobbing ] [ camera shutters clicking ] ♪ whoo-hoo, yeah ♪ whoo-hoo, yeah

history targets puerto rico. the island is a major shipping point for transporting drugs between south america and the u.s. east coast. joining us to talk about the operation is don clark, former u.s. special agent. it's been a while. good to see you. i hope you're well. >> thanks. >> when you heard about this case shaping up to be the biggest police corruption case in fbi history what did that say to you about the size, the scale and the scope of what was going on in puerto rico? >> well, tony, when i heard about this operation had come to a conclusion here and the success that they had over there, it was really a very good

feeling to have knowing what they must have gone through to be able to get to this point. i mean, we're not talking about some simple buy and bust type operation here. we're talking about people getting into the business community, into the banking, and yet being able to carry this through in silence until they could get the effects that they wanted. >> how was this case developed and cracked? are we talking about undercover work? are we talking about surveillance video? are we talking about informants or a bit of all of the above? >> you're exactly right, tony. you're talking about all of the above. no one element of this operation could have been successful. the undercover operations have to be patted on the back because they're going in and playing a role every day and they can't afford to make a mistake in any way. you have all of the other entities, the street people, the people buying, selling, talking, moving these types of drugs, and to keep this silent and great

training on all of the law enforcement people and a great operation. >> how high in the police department do you think this went? was it just at the street beat level? did it climb higher to the lieutenant level? did it go all of the way to the top? is that possible? >> absolutely, it's possible, tony. i believe that you cannot carry on an operation with this just with the people at the bottom. you have people at the bottom getting a few coins out of it but this is a major dollar type of an operation, which means that had you to have somebody in authority to bless what was coming through in a sinister type way to get it through. so, no, we can't just say it was the little gheit on the street. this was the big guys, and i would venture to say that the people higher up in the police organization were involved in this as well. >> yeah. let's talk about the product. let's talk about the drugs here. so puerto rico obviously a major hub for the drug trade and we're talking about guns and a money

enterprise as well. once in puerto rico, it seems to me the clock is ticking, and you got to get the drugs, the money, you got to get the guns off the aisle. how is that done? >> well, you have all types of activities to get them off. you can get them off by air and certainly by sea is probably one of the main ways you're going to get them off. they just need to get them to the southern border there either through mexico or -- >> stop there, don. let's walk over here to the big vista wall. ali uses it all of the time. you talk about getting them off the island. we created sort of a drug distribution routes map here for everyone. so, okay, the drugs, the money, the weapons, all of that stuff on the aisle of puerto rico, we highlighted it there. where does it go from there. we have a couple of areas highlighted. you start with south florida? >> you have got to get around

the domestic min cal republic and get to south florida so you start getting it on the ground from there and you really get it on the ground from there and through the air to get it up north where you ultimately want to go with it. >> then you mentioned to us that it takes a route through the gulf and ends up in east texas, correct? >> that's right, because now when you move from the east, and you start to move west there, what do do you? you've got to come through mexico and we know the problems we have suffered with the drug trade coming through mexico and all of the drugs coming through mexico. there's no secret it takes place. where does it come, right into south texas and right up through the major corridor and up in the houston area where we live and straight up on the freeways going north from there. and then if you move west of that, you're talking about in the west texas area, when i was in charge of san antonio, we had it coming through the laredo

area, the same drugs we're talking about from puerto rico going over that far west and coming up north and continuing, and then it goes on out into the san diego area and california and does the exact same thing, tony. >> what's next in this investigation? would you expect some of those arrested officers to begin speaking and talking and giving up some of the information that they have on this? >> well, i don't think the fbi's changed for a bit, tony. that's what they're going to be looking for now is more information because even though this is a vast number, 130-something people in higher up ranks, that's just the icing on the cake there. there's a lot more going on. they are going to be looking to talk to these people for information as to what's going on because the next group is right behind them and seeing if they can prevent that from going any further. >> don, thanks for your time. >> always a pleasure. the toll of america's longest war, sanjay gupta joins

me next in the cnn newsroom.

america's longest war is taking a toll on the health of troops. dr. sanjay gupta you spent a lot of time on the front lines both in iraq and afghanistan. you've seen firsthand the devastating injuries to these soldiers. is it the mental health aspect of it? is that the elephant in the room? we know it's there and know it's an issue and we're not talking about it? >> i think that was the case for a long time. we focused on injuries and head injuries being the significant injuries in this war. mental health in part because people thought of it as vague,

harder to define, was sort of the elephant in the room. people knew it was a real problem. until you started to see the numbers like those we are about to show you, looking at the hospitalizations now for mental health problems versus physical injuries. it's more. that's the point. more people are being hospitalized for mental health injuries and you and i both know there are so many people that never come forward. that's a grossunder estimate of how many troops in one year alone were affected by this. we know the suicide rate among u.s. troops significantly higher than the general population. it's no longer the elephant in the room. for the first time they are thinking about this mental health problems as injuries as opposed to disorders. it changes the way doctors think about it, the way it's reimbursed and the resources allocated to it and becoming more talked about. >> even top commanders are saying to you and others that this is an emergency situation. you've highlighted the numbers.

what needs to happen now? >> you know, part of it is just a resource problem, and now that you've started to try and destigma ties it and classify it as an injury not a disorder, it is a resource injury. ft. hood had 4,000 mental health visit requests in one month. think about that. 4,000. most big hospitals could not handle that sort of load. you have to think about how you best are going to take care of people with these issues. fir of all, are they going to be redeployed if they have been diagnosed with ptsd. you have to create more resources and allow people to get help, for example, off-base, have confidential telephone sexes, for example, available for people, changing the types of resources and the quantity of it available for these soldiers. >> is there something -- i'm reaching here with you -- look, everybody knows you're a renowned neurosurgeon.

is there something that happens in the minds, something that is measurable for people like you, when soldiers come back with these injuries, these brain injuries, ptsd? is there something measurable that happens? >> that's a great question. what there isn't is a blood test or a really specific imaging test that can show it much in the way someone has a physical injury but what we now know is someone who has had skmoes sure to some of the mows violent things on the battlefield, something does change. the way those memories are seared into their brain and can be recalled in the unpredictable swayings is real. and we know that you release a big dose of epinephrine, the fear hormone, when you see to situation unfold and that serious those images into the brain in a way that's hard to reproduce but unfortunately it can come back, and that's the

nature of ptsd. >> that's what i was looking for. dr. sanjay gupta it's been a while. >> take care. >> a lot of damage in a state that rarely gets hit with powerful storms. this was a story really popping at this hour yesterday here in the cnn newsroom. folks in arizona really beginning to clean up in earnest now. trailers toppled a train derailed, literally blown off the tracks. vehicles tossed around. we'll check in with rob marciano and get the latest on that system, where it is and what's next for our friends in arizona. i used to see the puddles, but now i see the splash. ♪ i wanted love, i needed love ♪

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or visit getmedicarecomplete.com. let's see. do we have the pictures from -- perfect, perfect, perfect. look at all of the damage, damage that you wouldn't necessarily expect to see in arizona. boy, pars of the state really devastated, cleaning up after those powerful storms and tornadoes. at least four struck yesterday in the flagstaff area. was it west, rob? >> just west of flagstaff. there was one that touched down south. four total. yesterday when we were covering this right here, it was almost surreal to see these storms developing in arizona in the morning and have them then drop tornados and having us tell you about the tornado warnings go off. arizona averages about four or five tornadoes a year, and they had four yesterday all in a period of tles than four hours.

all from this storm that is weakening and moving north. the back side has some showers and higher elevation snows, but it's starting to fill in. the setup yesterday was very dynamic and very strong energy in the atmosphere going up over the mountains into flagstaff. new york to boston, we are starting to see this low. two stubborn areas of lows locked in place. now the pattern is beginning to release. you're going to get out of the dreariness that the new york to boston corridor has endured. a few showers working their way through eastern parts of new england, and things will get a little more dry as we go through time. austin, texas, 42, record low, record low in alexandria, asheville saw record lows, record lows in florida, jacksonville, daytona and orlando. it's that time of year. you see less sun at night.

longer nights. sunshine abounds across parts of the south, and i think the forecast for tomorrow looking really good, and overnight lows tonight, not seeing much in the way of record lows, 40s and 50s for the most part. briefly, on tropical storm otto, now become officially tropical as opposed to subtropical, meaning warm core, tighter circulation. it's been dumping a whole lot of rain across parts of puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands. i think portugal has a better chance of seeing any action than anybody else. >> we are getting an update on the effort to gets miners out of chile, and it's good news. we'll share in it just a moment.

i got to tell you, the news for those 33 trapped miners chile seems to be getting better and better by the moment. a close source to the rescue operations to free those trapped miners is now reporting that a plan b drill is now less than 100 meters. doing the conversion in my head,

about 300 feet, is that right, from those miners. the news getting better and better. we're getting reports that that plan b drill operation could reach that chamber where the miners are now by the weekend, by the end of the weekend. you remember the first this whe broke that the miners were trapped is that they wouldn't be freed until somewhere around christmas. you know, near the end of december. so, again, the news keeps getting better and better for those trapped chilean miners. we will continue to update that story. one of the issues now is they've got to get out, and we hope that they are slim enough -- some of the miners had to lose some weight -- to get out of that mine once everything is put in place to rescue them. we'll keep you updated on all the developments in this story. a quick break ask we're back. red velvet cake and key lime pie, mmm, it threw a curve at my curves. so i threw it right back... with yoplait light --

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time now for your cnnpolitics.com updates. dana bash with the best political team joining us from washington, d.c. dana, what's crossing right now. >> the republican party is pulling out its ad in west virginia when we got ahold of a casting call for actors for this spot shot in philadelphia, not west virginia and specifically asking for, a, quote, hickey,

blue collar look. here's the ad. >> joe is not bad as governor, but when he's with obama -- >> he turns into washington joe. >> then washington joe does anything obama wants. >> well, we better keep joe here in west virginia. >> away from washington. >> the only way we're going to stop obama. >> due to the fact actors were used in that spot is not unusual, but what's stunning about that is it calls forrester yoe typical west virginians. it asks actors to bring boots and preferably look beat up. they tell cnn they did not know the talent agency they hired did this, they do not support it and they will not work with them again. i was in west virginia this week doing a story on this very senate race, and they didn't have to shoot this with actors in philadelphia.

they actually had a lot of west virginians that liked the governor but didn't want to send him to washington. and now we see what they really think of west virginians. another thipg i want to mepgs is another vacated senate seat that republicans hope to get into republican hands and out of the democratic column. the race in illinois is very tight. today the president will be helping the democratic candidate raise money and he will actually return right before election day for another campaign stop. boy, would that be an embarrassing thing for the president to lose that senate seat to a republican. >> good to see you. appreciate it. >> you, too. for political news, you know where to go. cnnpolitics.com.

i'll take you to philadelphia now, and i believe we have some pictures from our affiliates, wbpi. philadelphia airport, you see at least one airplane there on the tarmac. let me not go there. law enforcement officials are saying there is a report of a person seen in a uniform out on the tarmac who did not have an

i.d. on, right? so law enforcement is actually looking for that pepprson right now. they said this could be a suspicious person or nothing. the person could have just lost their i.d. they're looking into the situation right now. we'll look back at this as we get additional information, but again, the philadelphia airport, a report from law enforcement officials of a person seen in a uniform out on the tarmac who did not have an i.d. on. when we get more information, we'll share it with you. back in a moment. ♪ [ male announcer ] your first day. you try to lie low, get the lay of the land. but then autoblog.com calls your interior

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hello, again, everyone. i'm tony harris on cnn where anything can happen. a soldier's final salute. people welcome home a now nine-year hero in afghanistan. >> he thinks his son is really awesome. a survival story. a man mauled by a bear. you have to hear his wife's did he say desperate call to 911. >> i just remember the sound it made as her teeth went into my head and running along the skull. >> ouch! you're on line right now and we are, too. josh is following what's hot. josh? >> tony, making phone calls from your tv. how video kompsi iconferencing

to go your living room. >> we an update to a story we brought you moments ago. let's go back to philadelphia international airport right now. pictures provided by our affiliate wpbi. you see a plane in the foreground, there is also one in the background. but see the vehicles surrounding the plane in the foreground. apparently there were three people approaching this plane. one could produce an official i.d., the other one couldn't. what i don't have a clear understanding of is whether that person who could not produce an i.d. was taken into custody -- we're now hearing that third person who could not produce an i.d. is not in custody. we don't know what is happening

at this point. we don't know the status of that individual. there is some reporting to suggest that the person -- this could be something, it could be nothing. but at the very least, we're going to continue to follow it, because as you can see, there was a lot of attention being paid to that particular plane right there on the tarmac. the person simply could have lost their i.d. but that wouldn't explain that person not talking to the authorities right now. so we will continue to follow this. the fbi and local police are certainly on the scene. as we get additional information -- i think we're about to get some additional information. our correspondent, jean, is in philadelphia. she's following this story. what did you learn? >> i don't have a whole lot of information than you've just given. we know they're investigating the cerebral palscene of what h. there was somebody seen in that area not wearing an identification badge. of course, there has been a lot of concern about airport

security overall, there has been an effort to really clamp down on the security not just of the passengers getting on the aircraft but the people who work around the aircraft. they try and do spot searches of people going into work, and obviously they're supposed to wear i.d.s at all times. apparently there was one individual not wearing their i.d. and now they have vanished and they're trying to find them and figure out if this is somebody who misplaced their i.d., didn't have it with them and dipt want to get in trouble or whether this is somebody that shouldn't have been around that plane. >> if you get any additional information, let us know. a somber homecoming on the anniversary of the war in afghanistan. we focus on one soldier who is really emblematic of the service of many. lance vogeler had served in

afghanistan. this number, 12 tours in iraq and afghanistan, why so many? >> reporter: a huge number and very significant, although it has to do with the rotation of the rangers. he was an army ranger and their rotations are a little different. instead of going for a year, they tend to go three and four times. still, four times in iraq, eight times in afghanistan, and it was in afghanistan where he was killed last friday. as you say, today is when his body was brought home to savannah at hunter army airfield. this is the moment for the family where the reality really sets in. they have been notified, but seeing the flag-draped casket as it's unloaded, to see the honor guard there, to see the casket, and of course the many other rang rangers that are also there to

pay their respects. it was a moving scene to be on the tarmac, especially when this huge airfield comes to an absolute standstill, and everybody, no matter what they were doing on that base, stopped and took note of what was happening as this young man's casket was unloaded and give p t -- given the respect that it was due. his family spoke to us, and what is slightly different is, of course, mom and dad are deaf. so they speak not with words but with hand gestures. yet they're so full of pride, and at the very same time, their hearts are breaking, of course, with the loss of their son who they say was not only a great soldier, but he was a boy scout, he loved soccer, he loved roller bla blading, and he loved god. he was all about faith. he was a minister as well as being a soldier. tony? >> marty, i think i understand this on a couple different levels, but this is a big military town we're talking about here. why is this particular case, the loss of this soldier, getting so

much attention? >> well, it's a very good question. in fact, look, you'll see that his story and his parents were on the front page of the newspaper here in savannah. you might wonder, with this being such a huge military area, why would this particular death be of note? but the thing to keep in mind is that even though this is a military town, they actually do not get many characteasualties come back here, because traditionally the fallen soldier is transported back to his home town where he would be buried. in this case, his home town was also where he was based. so that's why they do not often see them coming back here, so they not only put it on the front of the paper, they took the hearse from the airfield to the funeral home, they published that, and as is tradition in this town, people come out all along that way and they pay their respects as the hearse

goes by. so it's quite moving and quite meaningful in this particular town. >> what a wonderful goodbye. marty savage for us. marty, good to see you as always. thank you, sir. as marty just mentioned, vogeler was a wounded soldier and he returned to war. today veterans are fighting to stop the military from deporting wounded troops back to battle. members of the veterans are marching. why do they accepted them basen war? >> there are all sorts of stories like that. let's take a look at where the casualties stand. ha been killed in iraq. 1,307 u.s. soldiers killed in this war in iraq.

and there's a large number of countries that lost soldiers. britain, canada and france lost soldiers as well. we're talking about wounded troops. there are over 8,530 coalition soldiers that have been wounded in this war. we hear about a lot of casualties and we need to keep an eye on that. civilians inside afghanistan is another category, and they looked at the first half of this year, first half of 2010 through the end of june. they found 1,271 civilians were killed as a result of fighting, and they said 76% of those casualties were due to the taliban and other related anti-government forces. the taliban rejects that, but that's what they say right here. that's what we know about afghanistan casualties. let's talk more about afghanistan itself in general, where things stand. i know we have some video of everyday life there. i want to talk about a u.n. report on where thipgngs stand l

these years later. a decade of war combined about seasonal earthquakes and hazards like drought and floods, have left, in their words, most people in the country extremely vulnerable. they also say the majority of the country is unsafe. they say they're shrinking humanitarian space to get their work done. more than half of the children are facing chronic malnutrition. lots of the public facing lack of services. lack of clean water, electricity, medical care, access to jobs, lower attendance at schools. there are things along the way that we should stop and say, hey, they've been achieved by u.s. troops, including the building of schools. as of 2004, no girls at all in afghanistan, and in 2007, a couple million. there are strides taking place by afghans and also u.s. troops who are working really hard, ndk

troops around the world, to get that done. humanitarian is huge as the country continues to grow. >> let me do this first and we'll do the update on the philadelphia situation coming up in just a couple minutes. we'll get you more insight on the afghan peace council and it a chance for success. we'll be talking to george w. bush's special envoy to afghanistan. can we take the pictures. wpbi in philadelphia? okay, wpbi in philadelphia, philadelphia international airport. federal and local police are at the airport searching for a person in uniform who was not wearing identification while on the tarmac. and this official is saying to us that this could be a suspicious person or it could be absolutely nothing. and the evacuation of an

aircraft was sparked when one of three people dressed in employee uniforms while loading a plane couldn't produce i.d. badges. let's get back to jeanne me sermeserve in washington. i hope i didn't steal your thunder, but that's all i have. >> a law official is telling us this plane was bound for bermuda. three baggage handlers were loading this plane. two of them noticed the third guy didn't have a badge, he didn't look familiar to them, so they confronted him, they asked him who he was. according to this official, the person without the badge left the area and law enforcement are still looking for him. the plane has been evacuated of all its paengssengers. they are checking out the bags, according to this law enforcement officer, to determine if there is any kind of threat. bomb dogs are going over it. no other part of the

philadelphia airport has been evacuated and the plane has been removed, as we can see from the pictures, to a remote area of this airport. as i was mepntioning before, th tarm tarmac, the area around the planes are supposed to be secure. they're supposed to wear these badges. they go through background checks to get those. the point is to keep the entire envelope around the airplane free of anybody or anything that could be a threat. that's why there was so much concern when they saw somebody who was not wearing a badge. but that's the latest we're hearing from a law enforcement official. tony? >> thank you, appreciate. it you're in the cnn newsroom. gr with alertness aid to fight fatigue. so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am. the morning pain reliever.

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let's do this. let's get you the very latest in the situation in philadelphia, philadelphia international airport. let's go back to the live pictures from wpbi, our affiliate there. as you just heard from jeanne meserve, this is a situation where we had a plane presumably at a gate -- we don't know that for sure, but presumably at a gate. this is how the narrative is taking shape right now. you had three baggage handlers who were, we understand, loading the plane. two of the baggage handlers did not recognize the third. and apparently that third person did not have a badge visible. so at some point obviously the other two sort of alert officials, law enforcement. that third person has disappeared. we don't know where that person is. right now law enforcement is trying to locate that person. the plane was -- all the

passengers taken off the plane, and clearly the plane was moved. if this took place at the gate, the plane clearly has been moved. it's been relocated to another area of the airport, away from gate traffic, obviously, and so the search continues there for this third person who was not wearing a badge but was involved in the baggage loading process of that particular jet. you can see why this would be very concerning to everyone involved in this. so we will continue to follow developments of this, and jeanne meserve is working on this, the plane being checked now by bomb-sniffing dogs, we understand, so it's a story that continues to develop. we will get more information and share it with you in just a moment. afghanistan's president launch aid peace council today. tribal leaders will help negotiate a way with the taliban

today. >> this whole idea of bringing the taliban into the government, is this just a way to get out? is this the best exit strategy for us? >> i don't think we should think of it that way. there are a couple very good studies of civil wars. most civil wars end through negotiations. it's very rare to have the nor triumphing over the south quite as it did in the american civil war. most of the time you have some messy political outcome with the negotiation, and particularly with the taliban. this is a little different than people's imagination. these are not arabs that entered the country. these guys are here to stay. >> parker-spitzer on cnn. it's 8:00 eastern every night on cnn. there are negotiations to get the taliban to the peace

table nine years after the start of the war. then-secretary donald rumsfeld says the taliban is gone. james, i've been looking forward to this conversation. i haven't seen you in a while. it's great having you back on the program. so who would the afghan peace council be talking to in these negotiations? are we talking about senior taliban representatives with the blessing of moulah omar, the leader? who is talking? >> i think we're talking about lower-level leaders, but there is effort to talk to the top, moulah omar, and people who respond directly with him, to see if the fighting can be halted through some process of

accommodation. >> the united states government is not going to participate, is our understanding, in the talks. is that a good idea? >> i think, again, there is two levels of talks. there are talks among the afghans. and then there are talks among the surrounding nations who have the capacity to undermine any agreement that the afghans reached. so the u.s. will be talking to pakistan, russia, india, maybe even iran, country that have traditionally interfered in afghanistan and supported different factions to ensure that the after gaghans are gett converging signals rather than urging them to continue to fight. >> what are the prospects, in your view, for these talks being formed? >> as general petraeus has said many times, this is the only way this war is going to end, so we might as well get started. yo i don't think the process will

be quick or easy. history of civil war suggests it could take several years, and during that time, violence could well increase as the sides maneuver for advantage. and the side that's going to emerge best is the side that shows the most tenacity through this process. >> let me attempt to channel a question that many viewers might be asking themselves after all these years of war in afghanistan. it took us less than two months to oust the taliban. what have we been doing since that time, honestly, in afghanistan? >> there is a popular line that the war is now entering its tenth year, and that's not really true. for the first several years after the taliban was toppled, there was no war, there was virtually no fighting and the u.s. was doing very little to help rebuild an afghan government and pacify the country. the real war started three or four years ago and intensified only in the last 18 months or so. but i think another thing people

lose track of is how much better afghanistan is today than it was in 2001. by any objective measure, whether you're talking about longevity, child mortality, access to education, access to electricity, access to telephones, access to free media or per capita income, afghanistan was significantly better off than it was eight years ago. the gdp of the country has doubled in that time. 100% increase in income. >> but ambassador dobbins, you know this to be true. people are kerconcerned about tr security anywhere in the world and the ability to take care of its people. how soon will afghanistan really be ready to fight its own internal battles, to settle what many are calling a scivil war? how long? >> iltd s would say first of al

security situation has dominated the moves and tended to obscure these other areas of progress. but even in terms of security, afghanistan is safer today than, let's say, iraq. and it's safer than it's been in most of its 30 years. there is a civil war there. afghanistan is a small, weak country that can easily be influenced by its neighbors, so a lot of it will depend on whether its neighbors will stop fermenting conflict. i don't see a quick or easy solution here, but we do have to remember as we see caskets coming home with our own troops and look at the cause and see that a lot is being achieved. >> thapnks for your time. we will update you on the situation in philadelphia. a security breach just up ahead. you're in the cnn newsroom.

the latest update in the situation in philadelphia, we've rolled some tape on it, and this is the scene that is still ongoing at philadelphia international airport, the video from wpbi, our affiliate in philadelphia. all of the activity around u.s. air flight 1070 bound for bermuda. our understanding right now is there were three baggage handlers actually loading the plane, okay? two of them noticed the third guy doesn't have a badge. everyone has to have a badge, right? they didn't recognize this third gentleman. officials said the two baggage handlers then confronted the third and asked, who are you? at that point the person without the badge apparently left the area. law enforcement still looking for that individual. the plane evacuated and all of

the bags have been checked by a bomb-sniffing dog. actually, a couple of dogs, at least two. no other part of the airport has been evacuated. that's the information that we have right now. and the plane has actually been moved to a remote area so all of this activity, more searches, whatever else is needed to secure that plane, can actually take place. so the plane has been moved from the gate area to this more secure location where that activity can take place and more searches of the plane and the area around it. the search continues for that individual who was helping the two other baggage handlers load the baggage bound for bermuda. that person has not been found at this point. we'll continue to get you information as we go here. i'm going to check the printer and see if there is some additional information and i'll share that with you in a moment. we get to chad meyers, and chad,

it was really this hour yesterday when we had all that action west of flagstaff with tornadoes. four of them, correct? >> people ask me, why do you like your job, and i tell them when i walk into this building, i have no idea what might jump at me that day. it can be an oil spill, it can be tsunamis, it can be earthquakes, it can be tornadoes on the ground in northern arizona. they all seem unlikely at some point in time. today i think the threat might be a little farrther to the wes. west of denver, on i-70, headed toward salt lake city. we have been getting dramatic pictures in the last couple hours ask this is brand new. this is out of phoenix, but they flew up into the flagstaff area to find this. we think this is probably an

f-2, an ef-2, wind speed somewhere around 110, 120, maybe 130, because as they keep flying around, you will see homes without roofs. not without shingles and not without the plywood, but without the structure of the roof as it should be there. >> there's the house right there. i think you're going to zoom into it there. you shouldn't be able to see down into a home at 89 miles per hour or at an ef-1. an ef-2, you begin to lose the structure just like that. this is how much damage this tornado did. i only saw this one house. that might have been that much ef damage for 100 feet. but when you pan to the left and right, you see a lot of homes without shingles, some have tarps already, but you see the

structure of the homes somewhat intact. we also did see the video of the train that fell over. i called them boxcars yesterday, and they're cars with boxes on them. they're not a true boxcar. they're more like these containers that they stack on top of a flatbed, so it falls over maybe a little bit easier because of the tall structure. this is the video we believe to be -- and i haven't been able to take a look at this, but you see the swirl there? you can kind of see something coming up from the ground. not necessarily do you always see this gray-black kansas-looking tornado that sucks things up. sometimes it looks just like this where you can't even tell it's to the ground until you see. you look on the ground and go, oh, my gosh, it looks like a funnel, but on the ground stuff is flying around. the bottom layer and top layer not always connected in a tornado when it makes it all the way to the ground. look for the damage on the ground, not so much that tube that might come down from the clouds. >> good stuff. amazing pictures. you're not supposed to be able to look into the top of a dog

gone -- all right. thank you, chad. do we want to do a quick update on the philadelphia situation or on the other side of the break? let's do it. we've got pictures from wpbi -- oh, great, live pictures now. chad, here's the situation. wii got that u.s. air flight 1070 bound for bermuda. at some point in the loading process of the bags -- people are already on the plane. so now you're loading the last of the bags. you've got three baggage handlers. two handlers are supposed to be there. they've got the i.d. badges, everything you're supposed to have. you've got a third person without a badge. >> somebody forgot their badge. we have 3500 people that work for cnn and i don't know them all. there is a close-knit community in the baggage handling and in the airline industry. you know everyone you work with so you see them on a daily basis. >> yes. and you don't leave, okay?

if you're not a part of that community or if your fellow coworker is asking you, where is your badge, who are you? >> right. you know what, dude, i messed up. i've got a badge. there's something more to it than this. maybe the guy forgot his badge, he was embarrassed, he didn't want to get fired for leaving his badge or, heaven forbid, for sneaking in without the badge. that's going to happen, too. you can follow somebody in, follow somebody out. you know how they open those doors. open the door, there you go, you're walking right out. the uniform is of most concern. where did he get the uniform? obviously, the two guys who saw him should be able to finger him, point him out and say, who was this guy? >> this is a telling picture right here, so obviously they moved the plane from the gate to another area. >> what's the threat? not that somebody is working for free. this is not an intern situation. what was that person without a badge trying to put on the

airplane? >> let's see the pictures again because this is important. you've got the bomb-sniffing dog, i think there were a couple others helping out in this effort. you get all the boggs after the plane, and you let the bomb-sniffing dog do its thipg. i don't know if this is happening realtime or a short time ago. we were able to roll on it. live pictures right now, so this is still going on. this third individual, the person in the uniform without the badge, has not been located. that's the work going on right now and the tsa has sent a note saying they're absolutely aware of the situation. how could they not be? we'll deny continue to send you developments on this. back in a moment.

in you're just joining us, take a look at the breaking news we've been following this hour, and all the activity around flight 1070 bound for bermuda from philadelphia international airport, there is the jet. in a moment you'll see what's going on around the plane. there is one bomb-sniffing dog going through all the luggage taken off that aircraft. here's the situation. at some point in the last hour or so, we received word that this plane has been moved. there was a situation at the airport. three handlers, apparently, were loading bags on that flight bound for bermuda. two of the baggage handlers didn't recognize the third guy.

confronted the third guy and said, who are you and where is your badge? you're not official to be here right now. you're in uniform but you don't have a badge. apparently that third person left the scene. now, the fbi and local police are all over this scene right now, and you see the work that's going on with this aircraft and the luggage, the bags that were on that aircraft. the plane moved away from the gate. all the passengers obviously taken off that plane. the plane then moved to this area of the airport, everything taken off. you would think that the bomb-sniffing dog has gone through the aircraft and now is working outside on the bags. and we're just going to keep an eye on the situation. that third person who was posing, you would think -- we don't know that for sure -- but certainly didn't have the proper credentials to do the job he was doing at that moment. that third person has not been located at this point. the tsa obviously aware of the situation. ask we're going to keep an eye

on it as well, and we'll give you updates as soon as we know the situation. big banks -- moving forward now -- big banks admitting problems with foreclosure documents. one person is going forward and pointing to the banks as fraud. cnn money is all over this one. the games are over, her pain is back, that's two more pills. and when she's finally home, but hang on, just two aleve can keep back pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rachel, who chose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. ♪

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hey, i didn't see this coming today. let's take you to cnnmoney.com. consumers are opening their wallets, retailers report gains in same-store sales for a 13th month in a row. e analysts cautioning -- we're not going to talk about the analysts cautioning, but a little euphoria where consumers are opening their wallets just ahead of the holiday season. could this be a good sign heading into that season? we understand retailers are hiring more, anticipating nice sales. let's get you to the new york stock exchange. we get close to 11,000 yesterday. yesterday was essentially a flat day. we're expecting to see that 11,000 number and look what happens today. we're starting to sell. down 51 points. the nasdaq is down as well, down

eight points. we get to a story we've been following several weeks. loan associates failed to identify loan documents. poppy harlow is all over this story for us. what's the latest on this, poppy? >> it's interesting, tony, you said it has been developing for a few weeks. it's become a political fight, too. the state of ohio, their attorney general alleging allied financial and its unit committed fraud. they say allied had some phoney documents that the owners signed off on. they want to block allied from doing any more foreclosures in the entire state until they get this rectified. what we have seen, i should tell you, over the past few weeks, allied is suspended, but not all of them. just the ones they think may

have been impacted by this robo signing. what does that mean? that means that someone signed off on foreclosure documents which means people get kicked out of their home, without reading them all, without making sure everything is accurate. the attorney general wants all of that to stop and he's also calling for a civil penalty of each violation. the company says, look, there is nothing fraudulent about our practices when it comes to foreclosures. they say they fixed the document problem, tony, and they also say they'll be vindicated in court. this has been going on a few weeks and this is the first attorney general of the state to step in here and try to take major action. sdp >> is this the story growing in scope? am i right chase may be one of the bapgs lonks looking into th problem as well? >> it's not just allied.

thels th they say this may be the tip of the iceberg. what we do know is that j.p. morgan and bank of america says they will hold foreclosures in the 23 states that needed judges to approve them because of this robo signing issue. but i have to say there are 23 other states that don't require a judge to review foreclosure documents, but you also have leaders in those states coming out, like california and texas and they're calling for action. what we also learned, tony, the house speaker nancy pelosi, some other democrats in california, are calling for a federal investigation. really taking this to the highest level, and we have in texas the attorney general there saying he wants 30 loan services to stop foreclosures until they go through their procedure and all these documents. i think the bottom line on this is it underscores how serious the foreclosure crisis is. we have about 300,000 foreclosure filings every month, and the question is, did people

get kicked out of their home, tony, that shouldn't have? they'll review all this paperwork. we'll keep it updated for you. >> if you foreclosed on your home and -- >> and you're living there. >> yes. stay on that for us. that could be huge. we're getting some new pictures and new sound from the tornado damage in arizona. you will actually hear from a homeowner whose home was really hit and destroyed. that's just ahead. you're in the cnn newsroom. ♪ ♪ ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylight comes ♪ i'm on my way [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away [ dogs barking ] ♪ the boss told me ♪ i'd get paid weakly ♪ and that's exactly

[ bull lows ] ♪ how i'm paid ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylighcomes ♪ i'm on my way

boy, we watched this story really develop yesterday in these hours in the cnn newsroom. we're talking about four tornadoes touching down in western flagstaff, arizona.

take a look at some of these pictures so you can see new pictures coming in to cnn by some of the damage done by one or more of those tornadoes. i'm not quite sure where the area of flagstaff this is, but you can see you've got at least one home here that you'll see in a second. this shot widens out and then zoomz back in on a particular house with no roof. it was really hit hard by the tornadoes. let's get you to the flagstaff area, belmont, arizona specifically. mike wallace is joining us. where are you, specifically? are you in someone's home? >> we're in someone's what's left of somebody's home, tony, and it's a heartbreaking scene. you look out the window here and you get the perspective that many people are waking up to in this little subdivision in belmont, arizona. it's just west of the larger community, flagstaff, and this is really the epicenter where

these tornadoes went ripping through yesterday morning. i'm joined by a very nice gentleman, carl rohoff. you were renting this house in the last few weeks -- >> about six weeks, actually. >> you're a marine, you were here with your family. tell us what happened. this is the master bedroom? >> basically around 5:00 a.m., i was getting ready to go work out with my military unit here, and my daughter, there was a little bit of a wind storm going on, and when the hail started, my 1 11-year-old daughter got a little scared. she ran in here and asked if she could stay with her mom and then my two-year-old. we basically heard something like a train coming in, and then an explosion. the best analogy i could make is the sound of an iuds going off in afghanistan. >> you would know. >> that's right, and we watched

the roof being blown completely off. it shot straight up and out to the side. a few seconds later we had a wall from the neighbor's house come up over the top and land on my wife, myself and my kids on the bed and basically, you know, busting my head open a little bit. >> you got an injury? >> yeah, i stitched that up already yesterday, so we're all right with it. but that was kind of a mixed blessing, because when this wall from the neighbor's house came down and landed on us, it actually gave us some protection, and we looked up and the wind was there for a fraction of a second and then we saw lightning shooting up from the bottom and we realized we were in the eye. >> you're laying in bed looking up at what was your roof and realized you're in the eye. >> we scrambled down to the foot of the bed and pulled the wall over us as the rest of the tornado passed over us.

we tried to just keep ourselves from getting sucked out of the house. >> it almost took the back wall off right there. it not only took the roof, but took the back wall. that would have sucked you out. >> yeah, it would have. it took a lot of our stuff, and by the grace of god, we managed to hold on until the storm finished passing. sdp >> we certainly appreciate you taking time for us and we're glad your wife and family are okay. not only did they lose their home, but carl just paid off his truck that was destroyed in the driveway. >> mike, ask carlos a quick question for me. from the time it started and to the time this episode ended, how long are we talking about here? are we talking 30 seconds, a minute, a little longer than that? >> tony from cnn is asking, how long did this all take? you heard some winds -- >> i think from the initial moment my daughter ran in, it

was probably a minute, minute and a half until we heard the freight train noise coming in. and the moment the tornado hit, that whole span of watching the roof blow off from us was probably 30 minutes. during that time, things slow down a significant amount so you get to witness everything in microseconds. >> tony, we'll throw it back to you. >> thank you, and give the best to carlos and his family. find out where president obama is going and who he is campaigning for. ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world.

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time now for your cnnpolitics.com update. 26 days to go until the mid-term elections. john king with the best political team on television joipg us from washington. john, good to see you. what's going on now? >> 26 days, tony, who is counting? if you're keeping track of those potentials for president, put to tony -- rick santoreum on the list. the long-term goal to make friends in case he makes president in 2012. imagine being in ten states that have early voting under way. leet say you already voted. you can't escape the negative

ads and perhaps you already voted. ten states. vermont, south dakota, ohio, nebraska, iowa, california. you can already vote in those states. 17 more states in the district of columbia will start voting in the next two weeks. as you mentioned before the break, president obama out on the campaign trail today. a short trip. he's only going 19 or 20 miles away from the white house. he's going to help martin o'malley in the state of maryland in a reelection campaign. o'malley leading the polls right now, but across the country the president is trying to help out getting young voters to the democratic base. >> o'malley up against the former governor, bob ehrlich. >> that's right. and most recent polls show o'malley up -- >> i think we just lost the host

john king of john king usa. your next political update coming in one hour. for the most updated political news go to cnnpolitics.com. you take just once a month. taken with methotrexate, simponi® helps relieve the pain, stiffness and swelling of r.a. with one dose once a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi® can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders, liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi®, your doctor should test you for t.b. and assess your risk of infections, including fungal infections and hepatitis b. ask your doctor if you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, or develop symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough or sores. you should not start simponi® if you have an infection.

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