around mid-morning a massive hurricane was heading relentlessly over the southwest caribbean sea towardss. meteorologists had already classed it as a category five storm, the highest grade on the saffir-simpson scale. named hurricane mitch it would prove to be one of the deadliest storms in history, costing thousands of lives. by october 26th the winds had increased to 180 miles-an-hour and meteorologists realized it was building into a storm of epic proportions as it continued to drift westward over the caribbean sea. now, however, the great winds began to abate and it would not be until three days later, on october 29th, when mitch finally hit honduras, coming ashore around 80 miles east of la ceiba, honduras's third largest city. at this point the storm had been downgraded. but it was still powerful enough to devastate the coastal and the offshore bay islands, guanaja in particular. houses were smashed, bridges destroyed and boats wrecked. torrential rain and a storm surge flooded much of the area rivers burst their banks, adding to the chaos. however, because there had been plenty of

captain dewitt has no choice but to ditch his plane in the caribbean sea. no footage exists of this incident, but our dramatic animation shows what the plane might have looked like as it slammed into those turbulent waters. here is how the pilot describes what it felt like to be in the cockpit in that life-and-death moment. >> my first contact with the water was quite smooth. it was not too long after that that the rest of the airplane was making contact with the water, starting to get a heavy drag, extreme amount of vibration in the cockpit. the instrument panels were vibrating so that i couldn't even read it. >> but how did this flight end up in such a dire situation? after failing to land at st. martin's airport in bad weather, captain dewitt decides to divert first to the near by island of st. thomas and then to st. croix when he finds out it's even closer. but as the plane is climbing away from the airport in a torrential downpour, there's a problem. >> my navigator said to me, my god, look at the fuel gauges. >> because of the wind and the turbulence

they escaped in boats into caribbean sea and sea craft up along the eastern sea coasts. in some cases fugitive slaves taken abroad by their masters waited until they were in foreign lands to escape. >> one of the problems is how many people it actually assisted. the numbers thwart a lot of us. i'm curious what you might be able to say based on your research about the volume of people who might have been assisted by lovejoy and other groups. >> i smile because my brother-in-law is a statistician at the university of minnesota. when i was writing my book i started to develop two or three different ways that i could analyze the numbers. when i read them to my brother-in-law he said my goodness that is terrible, don't use it. i have always been a little leery of guessing at those numbers. we do know this. we can look at certain regions where there were underground railroad operator whose kept records. one kept a wonderful diary of his life living in western illinois. and it's a real piece of gold for a person that does the kind of research that you and i take part in. and in

they escaped on boats into the caribbean sea, and seacraft that went up along the sea, the eastern seacoast, and some cases fugitive slaves who were taken abroad by their masters waited until they were on foreign lands to escape. fergus? >> owen, one of the nicest compliments in researching the underground railroad is how many people it actually assisted and the numbers thwart a lot of us. >> yes. >> i'm curious what you might be able to say based on your research about the volume of people who might have been assisted by lovejoy on other routes in that vicinity? >> i smile, fergus, because my brother-in-law, dr. maurice eaton is a statusition at the university of minnesota. when i was writing my book on the western illinois underground railroad i started to develop two or three different ways i could analyze the numbers. when i read them to my brother-in-law he said "my goodness, that's terrible, don't use it." i've been always a little leery at guessing at the numbers but we can look at certain regions where there were underground railroad operators who kept specific records, a knox colle

coast guard spotting a caribbean sea onboard four men and 3500 pounds of cocaine worth a little 40 milliondollars. coast guard commanders were immediately suspicious. >> the vessel refused to stop and started doing evasive maneuvers at that point our airborne marksman shot the engines. these were stacked up, plain for anybody to see. it is clear this is probably not sugar. >> arthel: the cocaine and all four men in u.s. custody, it is unclear where they came from or where they were head. >> rick: new violence in syria to tell you about. deadly explosions rocking the capital city there the. this time the target wasn't rebel fighters. -- details straight ahead. >> arthel: gas prices costing more everyday. could it also cost president obama at the polls? we'll debate the impact. [ male announcer ] for making cupcakes and deposits at the same time. for paying your friend back for lunch from your tablet. for 26 paydays triggered with a single tap. for checking your line, then checking your portfolio. for making atms and branches appear out of thin air. simple to use websites, tools, and apps. f

is difficult, often impossible, which meant that ships access to the gulf of mexico through the caribbean seainally the caribbean in turn had many ways that few deep passageways. passages none deeper and more convenient to europe and north america than the windward passage on which sits guantÁnamo bay. in short, cuba was a gravitational center around which the system churned. the country that controlled cuba would demand that trade and traffic and north american continents, but of the western hemisphere itself. burning arrived with high hopes. what he found exceeded his expectations. it was not simply a guantÁnamo afforded ready access to sandy i go to cuba, spain second capital in cuba, nor that they could absorb the entire fleet, nor that it offers better protection from tropical storms than port royal, nor finally that it is ideally situated to safeguard british shipping throughout the caribbean. all of which was true. but what put guantÁnamo over the top was its native splendor, it's navigable rivers, rolling hills, fertile plains. and yet from the beginning of the expedition, a fatal dis

broke because they could no longer trade directly with quebec and the caribbean without being interdicted by british ships on the high seas, all their cargoes taken, and they in fact were turned into smugglers. c-span: when you lived in this country when he was 21 -- that would make it 1762 -- what country were you a citizen of? >> guest: great britain. you were a british citizen. c-span: and held a british passport? >> guest: i suppose so, yes. c-span: how many people lived here in 1762? >> guest: i'm afraid i can't tell you that, but it wasn't very many. it was a very small society. people knew people in other cities, by reputation if nothing else. certainly in every town everybody sort of knew everybody, no matter how big it was. it was a much smaller society. c-span: let me jump to the end for someone who has not studied benedict arnold. the title is "the man in the mirror." where did you get that title? >> guest: i got it from the image i ended up really hanging the whole story on. i came to believe that the experience he had when he was a young man was very definitive for him. although he made a grand success of his

significant conquests in the caribbean and ultimately, threw the appointment of amhurst and wolf, the british gained the upper hand and their maritime superior, their superiority on the sea was practically as important as their might on land. of course they controlled the atlantic and the supply routes to canada. so next time when we continue, we'll see how that helps determine the outcome of the war. thank you very much. >>> lectures this history airs each saturday at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern and sundays at 1:00. we feature classroom lectures on different topics and eras. to keep up during the week or to sends your questions and comment, follow us on twitter at twitter.com/c-span history. >>> on november 2nd, 2011, the cia released more than 200 declassified documents and videos that president reagan used in developing his soviet union possible. next officials discuss president reagan, the use of intelligence and the end of the cold war. this hour and a half long symposium was held at the ronald reagan presidential library. >> thank you, duke. i think we all owe you a sincere thank you for making this spectacular venue available today to showcase the declassificat

caribbean border is the u.s. and the virgin islands. the drug smugglers are coming through here to actually distribute drugs in the eastern sea board alls to be stopped and mitt romney has committed to provide the necessary assets to stop that. he has also committed to create jobs and to include puerto rico as a territory, but include us as a nation in any pro-growth initiative to create jobs. jobs in puerto rico are american jobs as well. certainly he has committed to respect -- >> go ahead. sir. >> you were saying? >> forgive me for interrupting. >> and, thirdly, he has committed actually to respect the will of the people and the voters on november 6th on our political status. so, again, if we want to win the hearts and minds of hispanic voters across america, you have to understand what hispanic voters care about. we care about public safety, we care about location, we care about lowering taxes, on creating the proper conditions to create jobs. mitt romney has done that down here in puerto rico. >> we'll see how this goes when the primary happens. governor lewis fortuno, thanks for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> my pleasure