afghan address. the president makes an unscheduled visit to afghanistan and outlines the end of the war. >> the goal, to defeat al qaeda and deny a chance to rebuild is now within our reach. hours after the president leaves the war zone, the taliban launches a deadly attack against the kabul compound, housing hundreds of foreigners. and boiling over. occupy wall street protesters hit the street and clash with police on may day. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, may 2, 2012.

good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm michelle miller. president obama is headed home after making a surprise visit to afghanistan. the president signed a strategic agreement with afghan leaders and outlined the end of the war, saying we can see the light of a new day. but this morning the taliban is claiming responsibility for a series of explosions in kabul that killed at least seven people. tara mergener is in washington with more. good morning, tara. >> reporter: good morning to you. that violence a year to the day after the death of osama bin laden and just after president obama vowed to end america's longest running foreign war. a series of explosions hit kabul just hours after president obama left the afghan capital. a taliban spokesman tells cbs news, the terrorist group deployed bombers once they learned of the president's visit. they say the attack was meant to show that the taliban is still strong and still a threat.

the president made a surprise visit to shell out america's future involvement in afghanistan. >> we must finish the job we started in afghanistan and end this war responsy. >> reporter: combat troops are scheduled to pull out of afghanistan in 2014, but some american forces will remain behind. president obama signed an agreement with president hamid karzai to help train local soldiers and provide support in counterterrorism efts. >> our goal is to destroy al qaeda. we are on a path to do exactly that. >> reporter: the war on terrorism has become a cpaamign issue in recent days. presidential hopeful mitt romney praised the president's trip. in a statement released after the visit, romney said, it would be a tragedy for afghanistan and a strategic setback for america if the taliban returned to power and once again created a sanctuary for terrorists.

but president obama did say, the u.s. is trying to negotiate a peace settlement with the taliban. >> if they break with al qaeda, renounce violence and abide by afghan laws. >> reporter: after today's attack, the taliban says it is still capable and willing to strike anywhere. now, the international security assistance forces praising afghan forces for containing that attack, the victims, michelle, included children from a nearby school. >> tara mergener in washington, thank you. the president spoke from the same base in afghanistan where u.s. special forces launched their raid to kill osama bin laden. one year after his death, there have been dramatic changes to bin laden's hideout in pakistan and al qaeda. clarissa ward reports. >> reporter: for six years it was the hiding place of the most wanted man in the world. we arrived in abbottabad to find

bin laden's home is now a playground. this man met bin laden in kabul in 1996, i spokesman for the taliban. he is one of few people with close contacts to militants in the region. what was your impression of him? >> everyone who met osama bin laden had been impressed by him. even as he was his enemy. >> reporter: one year after bin laden's death, they say forces in pakistan have been reduced to just a few hundred. how much of an impact does osama bin laden's death have on al qaeda? >> you know, first thing is that the drone attacks have been a business hostile in the leadership circle. when their leadership circle stall, now they have just a few young guys to with the vision. >> reporter: the circle of new leaders has struggled to

maintain al qaeda's profile. spectacular coordinated attacks in the west, such as those on the world trade center, have been replaced by smaller operations in the region. >> they are using the label of al qaeda to carry out their own -- achieve their own goals. and al qaeda is the happy just to keep a pressure upon pakistani authorities. you know, that means that the u.s. was special in breaking the al qaeda trend in this regard. >> reporter: clarissa ward, cbs news, islamabad. a new york city man convicted in an al qaeda-linked plot to attack the city subways plans to appeal. yesterday a jury found adis medunyanin guilty. they say and he two others plotted to attack the subways as suicide bombers. sentencing iseduled for september 7th.

in ohio, five alleged homegrown terrorists are being held without bail, charged with conspiracy for plotting to bomb a bridge near cleveland. the men described as anarchists said they wanted to strike out against corporate america. after the suspects bought explosives from undercover fbi agents, authorities say they made their move. >> the co-con spor tore fights the two at the base of the concrete support pillar high level bridge. in an attempt to remotely detonate the devices from a location they deemed safe and one that would possibly give them an alibi. >> the men were arrested monday night. they say the suspects discussed other plots before settling on the bridge. a senior u.s. official says chinese dissident chen guangcheng has left the u.s. embassy in beijing. he had been there six days. he's reportedly in a medical facility and will be reunited with his family.

meantime, secretary of state hillary clinton is in beijing for economic talks tomorrow. chen's fate was expected to overshadow that agenda. activists across the united states took part in worldwide may day demonstrations pushing workers' rights. there were marches, rallies and some clashes with police. antiwall street demonstrators joined those protesters. >> reporter: occupy protesters marched on wall street with a familiar message -- >> we are the united. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> reporter: the occupy movement returns to cities around the day on international workers day. >> people are fed up, the 99%. it's time for people to hit the streets and start fighting back. >> reporter: this time demonstrators joined the union workers to protest economic

inequality. >> nothing we are with them, we are with us. everybody together here. >> reporter: while the majority of marchers were peaceful, some turned violent. in seattle a group of hooded anarchists mashed windows and set small fires. portland police wrestled with protesters in the middle of the street. officers in riot gear broke up a massive droud. in los angeles, police arrested demonstrators who blocked traffic. this is the major demonstration for the occupy movement since their camp was dismantled during the winter. organizers hope these protests will reinvigorate their movement. may 1st is the traditional date workers arnold the world demonstration. people in asia people protested cuts in benefits. here in the u.s., the demands are similar. >> that's what may day is really about, connecting the struggle to the working class struggle. >> reporter: demonstrators hope these may day marches will start

protests like last year. homeland security chief janet napolitano says the secret service has found no allegations that they hired strippers and prostitutes in el salvador. the charges were made by an anonymous source and reported by cbs station in seattle. they followed news that agents in colombia hired prostitutes prior to the president's visit there last month. so far, no indication that the columbian women pose a national security threat. at least five people are expected to be charged today in the hazing death of a florida a&m drum major. they say robert champion was beaten aboard the marching band bus last fall. his death was ruled a homicide. witnesses say champion was targeted because he had opposed the culture of hazing. coming up, a big time theft in a small town. a former official is indicted

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this is something a lot of people around the world thought they'd never see. awning sang suh chi being sworn in as a part of burma's parliament. she's been fighting for decades against her country's oppressive military rule and today she took the oath of office. on the "cbs moneywatch," facebook fans have a date with wall street. and chrysler drives off with some impressive sales. randall pinkston's here in new york with that and a whole lot more. good morning, rajd. >> good morning. stocks overseas rallied. tokyo's nikkei gained 0.5%. hang seng gained a%. the dow gained 65 points to close at its highest level since

2007. nasdaq up 4. mark your calendars for may 18th. that is reportedly the day that facebook shares will go public. according to the wall street journal, the social networking site will begin meeting with investors early next week ahead of the initial public offering. facebook hopes the ipo will raise about $5 billion. both ford and general motors reportedly april sales were down from a year ago but the news was good for chrysler. the u.s. automaker had its best april since 200 8 with sales up 20% from last year. a group of british lawmakers say rupert murdoch is unfit to run his worldwide media company, news corp. the ruling is based on last year's phone-hacking scandal at his newspaper, "news of the world" and could affect british sky broadcasting. federal prosecutors say the former controller of an illinois town stole millions more of the

city's money than previously thought. rita krund we will is accused of stilg $6 million. she allegedly used the money to finance a horse-breeding operation. that's it for me. >> and that's a lot of money. randall pinkston here in new york, thank you, randall. alexander dale oen, another way's best hope for a swimming medal in the london olympics died. officials say the world champion in the 100-meter breast stroke was training in flagstaff, arizona, monday and suffered an apparent heart attack. he became a national hero last year when he won the championship just three days after 77 of his countrymen were killed by a right-wing extremist. police say there are no signs of trauma or foul play. dale oen was 26 years old.

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. new york, morning fog, 60. miami, partly sunny, 38. chicago, thunderstorms, 80. dallas, partly cloudy, 85. and l.a. turning sunny and 66. now for a check of today's national forecast. a triple storm threat for the upper midwest, large hail, damaging winds and isolated

tornadoes are possible. afternoon thunderstorms could pop up from eastern tennessee to north carolina. the mid-atlantic states could experience some severe storms and a new storm system will push into the pacific northwest. in sports, the lakers have put the nuggets in a playoff hold. kobe bryant kept driving and drawing contact against denver. he finished the big game high 38 points as l.a. holds off the nuggets 104-100. the lakers now have a 2-0 series lead. a blowout in chicago in the third, williams goes up high for the alley-oop jam to put philadelphia up 14 over chicago. drew holliday tosses in 26 as sixers bore the bulls 109-92 to tie their first-round series. the atlanta hawks were feeling it. leading the celtics at the half. with paul pierce's driving layup in the fourth puts boston up by to. they hold on to stun atlanta,

87 87-80. in hockey action, the new jersey devils shoot down the philadelphia flyers and they did it during the third period, scoring four unanswered goals. devils go by the flyers. in baseball, texas pays for just one bad pitch. in the top of the ninth, the rangers' michael young knocks in the tying run against toronto, but in the bottom of the frame, full count, brett lowrie blasts the walkoff homer to give the blue jays an 8-7 win over the rangers. that's got to hurt. when we come back, an all-star lineup in federal court. roger clemens comes face to face with a former teammate during his perjury trial. come for a smoke? yeah. no. you quit? i'm trying nicoderm cq. [ male announcer ] nicoderm cq, the patch with 24-hour smart control technology, lets you celebrate a little win every time you say no to a cigarette.

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., mostly cloudy,

80. atlanta, mostly sunny, 87. st. louis, partly sunny, 86. denver, partly sunny, 79. seattle, mostly cloudy, 58. the wife of a government star witness against john edwards is expected to be back on the stand today. under intense questioning from edwards' lawyers yesterday, sherri young admitted her husband drank heavily when he worked for edwards and that they kept about a million dollars from two wealthy campaign supporters. she also said edwards' lies about his affair with rielle hunter forced her husband to go public. in a perjury trial of roger clemens, andy petit will be back on the stand today. the yankees pitcher testified yesterday his former teammate told him he had taken human growth hormone. clemens says pettitte, quote, misremembered the conversation. clemens is charged with lying to

congress about his alleged abuse of performance-enhancing drugs. talk about snail mail. a virginia man got his postcard from his mother 53 years after she mailed it. she put it in a chicago mailbox back fwh 1958. it was recently delivered to a woman in florida. she posted it on facebook and managed to track down scott mcmurray. >> it was a very pleasant surprise. you know, it's just like hearing from somebody who you never expected to hear from before. >> why it took so long to deliver remains a mystery. and in a house in grand forks, north dakota, turning heads. the owner painted bright polka dots all over it. officials say it's an eye sore and he's protesting the city's deal to back out of a deal to buy the property. the owner denies it. one good thing he says, the pizza delivery guy won't have trouble finding it.

that is for sure. coming up after your local news on "cbs morning news," more on president obama's surprise visit to afghanistan, plus how being happy can lower your risk of a heart attack. i'm michelle miller and this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ [ upbeat ] [ barks ] [ announcer ] all work and no play... will make allie miss her favorite part of the day. [ laughing ] that's why there's new beneful baked delights. from crispy crackers to shortbread cookie dog snacks, they're oven-baked to surprise and delight. beneful baked delights: a unique collection of four new snacks... to help spark play in your day.

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. good morning. welcome to 9news now. today is wednesday, may 2, the day after baby andrews

birthday. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. happy birthday to all wusa family. monika santami is here. howard bernstein? >> we have some wet weather. a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. let's talk about today. it's going to be another warm one. we squeezed up to 84 yesterday. today upper 70s by noon. some folks were complaining. 82 at 5:00. bite your tongue because it's probably going to get worse. we have a chance of a shower or storm this morning. maybe stronger storms this afternoon. winds east to southeast 5 to 10 miles an hour. you see one batch of storms this morning and showers coming at us now. there's another area back in the midwest that could be arriving later on in the afternoon of the here's live

doppler 9000 hd. the heavier showers up towards laytonsville, just crossed 270 moving east. a calm of light showers near potomac as well. south of warren ton coming out of culpeper, that has lightning and thunder. nothing severe but we have the showers around this morning scattered about the region. a few spots in the 50s like frederick. it's 65 here in washington. 66 in fredricksburg. we're going into the 80s today. there's a slight risk for a strong to severe storm across the region. monika santami, happy wednesday. happy wednesday to you, howard. good morning, everybody. i' wednesday morning so that -- it's wednesday morning so that means you have that construction around. no big deals to report and no problems as you travel on the north side of town. on the west side you have that construction on the dulles toll road right here at the beltway and inbound coming in towards tysons at route 7 as well. no problems on 66 as you come in from manassas toward centreville and fairfax.

let's take a live look on the northbound side of 95 and 395 which is looking good all the way to duke street to the 14th street bridge. no issues to report. we'll go over to the north side of town. -- or south side of town. no problems out of woodbridge into springfield. again a live look outside if you're planning to head here in springfield, no problems to report as well coming up from dale city all the way up to the line of the beltway. in my next report, we will go to the north side of town at 4:39. an dry ya and mike -- andrea and mike? >> thank you, monika. president obama made a surprise visit to afghanistan. >> he sign add pact to lay out the future. >> reporter: a series of explosions hit kabul just hours after president obama left the afghan capital. a taliban spokesman tells cbs news the terrorist group deployed bombers once they learned of the president's visit. they say the attack was meant to show the taliban is still strong and still a threat.

the president made a surprise visit to spell out america's future involvement in afghanistan. >> we must finish the job we started in afghanistan and end this war responsibly. >> reporter: combat troops are scheduled to pull out of afghan in 2013 but some american forces will remain behind. president obama signed an agreement with president car sigh to help -- karzai to help train local soldiers. >> our goal is to destroy al qaeda. we are on a path to do exactly that. >> reporter: the war on terrorism has became a campaign issue in recent days. republican presidential hopeful mitt romney praised the president's trip and tropical depressioned the importance to our security. in a statement released after the visit, romney said it would be a tragedy for afghanistan and a strategic setback for america if the taliban returned to power and once again created a sanctuary for