tonight on "nightline," pizza wars. how the humble pie became a recession power house, as pizza took over the world. but now, who will win the fight for slice supremacy? under fire. father and son travel to afghanistan to find out what is really happening. and they got a lot more than they bargained for. we have the inside story. and, case closed? a breakthrough in the ronny chasen murder. police announce what they think is the answer to a. >> reporter: strange rvery stra riddle. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 8th, 2010.

>> good evening, i'm bill weir. well, legend has it that an ancient sill sill yan king would dress like a commoner and would sneak out and gorge himself on pizza. a few hundred years later, that delicious combination of crust, cheese and sauce creates such universal delight it has become an american economic indicator. you can tell the depth of the recession by how many pepperoni supremes come out of the oven each day. and john berman tells us why. >> reporter: a slice of heaven. a batch of bubbling beauty. a literal piece deresistance. but that pete is a isn't just a beacon of gooey goodness. pizza is delivers a taste of economic goodness. there are more than 65,000 pizza parlors in the u.s., with more popping up each day. and this year, americans ordered more than 5.5 billion pies.

yes, the slice seems remarkably recession resistance. so, you opened new locations? >> yes, five locations over the past year and a half. >> reporter: no way. >> yes. >> reporter: that's right. opening stores, hiring workers and selling pizza. lots of it. though it is cheap. the 99 cent pizza business is booming? >> absolutely. >> reporter: brian is the director of operations for 99 cent fresh pizza. they sell slices for just 99 cents. does it taste cheaper? >> i wouldn't say this is high quality people sa but it's not bad. >> it tastes like pizza. but you won't claim it's the best you've ever had. >> no. but it's not the worst. >> reporter: that should be your motto. not the best, but not the worst. hey. it's 99 crepts. >> there you go. >> reporter: yes, there is something about pizza. with the cost of dough, cheese

and sauce, they make about 30 cents a slice, but sell 500 pies per location per day. not bad. are you guys getting rich doing this? >> no, absolutely not. >> reporter: but in this sluggish economy, cheap sells. cheese sells. and pizza sells. just ask pizza hut and dom knin. last year, pizza hut introduced a $10 large pie with up to three toppings. domino's offers two mediums for $5.99 each. and the success has spread up into what's called the casual dining sector. how is the pizza business? >> getting better all the time. >> reporter: frank is president and ceo of uno. what are the pearls of the pizza business? >> a lot of competition. everybody wants in because everybody eats pizza. >> reporter: how has it helped

you pull out of the recession. >> pizza in everybody's mind is affordable. a lot of people come to us because they know we have pizza and they can afford pizza. no matter what the economy is. delicious, huh? >> reporter: very good. >> really good. and you're not to the best part. the best part is here. when you get to the trusts -- >> reporter: i promise i'll get there. i'll tell you when i do. >> reporter: pizza, frank says is the food for every man. you think there's a pizza out there for everyone? >> no question about that. >> reporter: there is something about pizza. >> it's almost like a banana. why do you eat that? it's easy, you peel the skin off. almost the same thing here. you have no grease on your hands. >> reporter: it's all on my face. >> the cheese is dripping down. >> reporter: but if america is in the middle of a pizza paradise -- more pizza -- not everyone is totally happy to be there. jim is the master baker at

company. >> and you think most of the pizza business is concerned about what? >> money. 99.9% of the pizza industry, the money, money, money. >> reporter: he's convinced that pizza, as we know it, is in need of a serious makeover. there is something about people sa, he says. but -- >> it's the most ewe big by does form of food. the most globally rekcognized. yet, they're the dumbest, because of their -- it brings the standard down. >> reporter: you think most pizza is dumb? >> i think it's inedible. >> reporter: you think this pizza craze is a bad thing? >> no, i mean -- it's a reaction. it's like the market responding to a change of circumstances. there's something called a recession two-year-olds years a.

people were reacting to that change in the market. i always look at food that's good, healthy and accessible. do i have stuff all over my face? >> reporter: don't worry about it. >> just focus on the edge it will become round. a little bit of cheese. >> reporter: he taught me how to make his celebrated popeye pizza. >> put it right here. a little bit of spinach on top. >> reporter: that's all salad. >> unfortunately the way people are programmed to look at pizza, it's a messy pool of -- >> reporter: you with use this word. >> it's not like -- i'm not criticizing anything. i'm just saying that's just reality. >> reporter: his reality is good, too. but if it's a piece of the old reality that you want, there is nowhere more old school than defarah's in brooklyn.

how many pizzas have you made in your lifetime? >> must be a million. >> reporter: a million? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: dominick has been making the pizza here himself for 50 years. you think you make the best pizza in new york? >> well, other people say that. i'm not going to say it. >> reporter: you think it's good? >> i think it's good. >> reporter: so good he charged five bucks a slice. and people love it. no matter what the cost. how is business? >> very good. >> reporter: have you noticed any change in business the last few years? when the economy -- >> i never feel it. >> reporter: at all? >> no. >> reporter: you know there's a big recession? >> i don't feel it. >> reporter: you're lucky. >> yes. >> reporter: yes, there is something about pizza. it puts cheese in your mouth -- delicious -- a smile on your face and money in a lot of wallets. i'm john berman for "nightline"

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it is known as the ink stain approach to warfare. drop american soldiers into an area crawling with the enemy and

they'll take a secure zone and spread it the way a spot of ink spreads across cloth. sounds good in think tank speeches or policy papers, but to see what it looks like on the ground, abc's mike boettcher and his son, carlos, packed up their cameras and spent three months with the 101st airborne. their report is part of abc's week-long series, afghanistan, can we win? >> reporter: this is what it sounds like. and looks like. to run for your life at 9,000 feet in afghanistan. that's me running for cover. bull lets cracking everywhere, camera in hand. my son carlos and i are imbedded with a small team from 101st airborne, who, along with us, are pinned down on a barren, steep mountainside by eight

taliban gunmen. we're behind some cover, but not much. the apaches have come in. hopefully that will keep their head down. specialist eric powell below me shoots back. >> shooting from the bushes right there. >> reporter: sergeant rice heeder's job is to protect his boss, the war squadron commander who is trying to build spreading pockets of peace in this violent, mountainous slice of eastern afghanistan. >> hey, heeder, take it easy, all right? >> this deployment so far, had two rockets land within 25 meters. i got hit with a suicide bomber from about seventh feet away in the beginning of the deployment. i was the only one to walk out without a scratch. had a 600-pounder hit me.

>> reporter: that was a very bad day. >> the suicide bomber stopped right here and detonated? >> yes. >> reporter: no soldiers were killed or wounded. only afghan children. >> little kids playing in front of their house, 600 pounds of explosives in the back of a truck goes off. totally innocent. they had no idea. >> reporter: heeder and his commander have been trying to convince the mountain people in khost province that it's the taliban who are killing and wounding innocent civilians, not americans. the bombing has given them an opening to drive home the point. they hand out blankets and water as another sign of goodwill. it seems to work. >> itbys us credit. there's a little bit more trust for us. >> reporter: a few miles down the road, though, war ska dron leaves the business of making friends and returns to the task of finding enemies. >> what are you doing, heeder? >> reporter: heeder again must

keep an eye on his boss's back when they enter an afghan family compound. but an informant says this family is giving refuge to taliban bombmakers. wall murals were the first clue that this wasn't friendly territory. >> that's in the wall. >> reporter: then, there was the suitcase that the family told heeder it couldn't open. >> i told him that they open or i open it. they refused. they said it was empty. >> reporter: inside, a family photo album -- of sorts. >> somewhere in a building with weapons. >> reporter: the search is pressed. sergeant heeder carfully checks for hidden explosives above ground and below. >> there's a well that we drove by every day and we ended up finding 100 rpg rounds, grenades

and rockets in it. >> reporter: after an hour's search, in an outhouse we just walked by, a bomb is found. but jihadist murals, photographs of gunmen and even a bomb are not enough to arrest the men of the family. not enough evidence, huh? >> reporter: they decide to shift gears, again, and tries to make friends out of enemies. >> i don't think you're taliban. but i think you turn the other way when taliban come through. >> reporter: a long day made longer by constant role reversals from good guy to bad guy and back to good guy, not to mention the bombs and bullets, has one last chapter to play. >> bottom right-hand side there. >> oh, yeah, that green thing? >> reporter: one more bomb is found along a dry creek bed patrolled by war squadron. the final job of the day is left to the robot. without emotion or prejudice, it performs its job. the bomb is destroyed. its job is finished.

if only life were so simple for the living, breathing soldiers of war squadron, like sergeant heeder. but day are not robots. and nothing about afghanistan is ever simple. or quick. for "nightline," mike boettcher, abc news, khost, afghanistan. >> another day at the office for the 101st airborne. and still ahead, the influences behind the sweet sounds of winton marsalis on tonight's play list. [ male announcer ] how can rice production in india affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus

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>> announcer: "nightline" comets from new york city with bill weir. >> he is among the world's most honored musicians, winning everything from grammys to a pulitzer. but for all the accolades, it's the music that means the most for win don marsalis. he's made over 70 jazz and classical recordings. his latest work, spanish-influenced music. he tells us about the songs that shaped his musical point of view in tonight's play list. ♪ >> this thing that i notice about the jazz musicians when i was growing up, the level of intelligence was very high. the conversation was so much higher. much more culture, much more sense of the world and much more open about other people and what they did. ♪ embrace me

♪ my sweet embrace >> the song i remember most was "embraceable you." my mom would say, mom mip used to be a singer. we were dealing with financial issues, where we lived, having a lot of kids and my one little brother was youautistic. mom would say, come on, place "embraceable you." she would start singing kind of out of tune and we would be like, oh, my gold, it's the worst thing we've ever heard. we would be teasing her. i remember like that. because we had a good time, just mainly teasing our momma about her singing. we would play music for her, too. you want to show off. played stuff like "the carnival of venice." she would be like, boy, stop showing off. ♪

>> i learned the music from duke ellington. i had a chance to go to one of those concerts. my daddy said, you want to check duke ellington out? i was like, man, i want to see the raiders game on tv. i looked at it on a very small black and white tv with a hanger in it. oh, it was a bad choice, but that's why you don't let 11-year-olds decide. they'll complain, but at least they don't have to say, i didn't see duke ellington. i don't remember who won the game. i can't make up any good lies about it. ♪ >> the real horn part from the '70s that everybody played all the time, line, in a challenge was "sir duke." because it's in the key of b. so, that's not a key that you want to mess with. ♪

we played big dances at this department store. it would be three bands set up and we would play until 2:00 in the morning and the bands would battle. i played that song every night, and, you know, i really didn't know it was about duke ellington. he was giving an homage to duke ellington. i can't speak for none of the other guys. maybe they knew. maybe i was the only one that was out of it. ♪ >> what i really loved from miles was, "kind of blue," everybody loves that recording. when i was in high school, i loved it. i wanted to be like that record. when i was trying to set my lips on my trumpet, i didn't like the way it looked. i was looking in the mirror, and i got miles davis record, they had good pictures of him

playing. you could see it. i get my brother come in, hey, man, do i look like miles? he say, well, looking more like freddy now. what about this? okay, i started practicing to get it, so, i always remember "kind of blue." ♪ my star dust melody ♪ the memory of love's refrain >> of course i love willie nelson. he's so insightful about music. i love when he sang "star dust." i think he has perfect pitch. he can come in and be exactly on key. and, you know, he's from texas. i'm from louisiana. and we come from the same kind of body of music, american folk music. same forms, the same, even though they deal with a lot of barbecue in texas and we more, you know, we got more sauces with our food, we show -- i always tease him, i say, we showed you what to do with the cat fish. they're using cat fish as bait. people in louisiana are like,

hey, you eat this. ♪ ♪ >> little "in that glory land" from win don marsalis and great stories. when we come back, the president versus a revolt from the left. that is the subject of tonight's closing argument. but first, here's the man who is up next, jimmy kimmel. >> jimmy: tonight, helen mirren, paul bettany, little big town, and we're bottling oprah tears. "jimmy kimmel live" is next.áñáñ

time for tonight's closing arguments. and the obama administration was back on its heels again today, warning fellow democrats that if they defea