a crash like the chinook crash raises your awareness. >> yes. >> reporter: how so? >> we've been here since months and you kind of get in your rhythm and it makes you more wary like, wow, people are still dying here everyday. >> reporter: missions continue across afghanistan and the troops here tell us that something like the chinook incident only served as a reminder of what's at stake and of the work still ahead. seth doane, cbs news, kandahar, afghanistan. >> mason: and the "cbs evening news" continues now with scott pelley in kenya. >> pelley: we've decided to report to you tonight from east africa because the famine emergency here is taking on historic proportions. tonight, the united nations says 3.7 million people face starvation and the u.s. government estimates that 29,000 children under the age of five have died in the last 90 days. this is a camp in kenya where 400,000 somalis are here and 1,500 more throw themselves on the mercy of the camp everyday. these are the new arrivals. you know them by the faces dusted with the desert and by the eyes that have s

chinooks are big, they are slow, but with their lights out, they are pretty stealth as well. >> they are certainly ubiquitous in both of these wars, richard in kabul tonight, thanks. >>> now we turn to london, the streets are calm tonight, some of the police officers who have been dispatched to keep the peace spent today raiding homes and rounding up suspects that have been identified from those four straight nights of violence, riots, fires, looting. meanwhile prime minister david cameron said today he would look here to the united states for help in preventing a repeat. he specifically mentioned a familiar name in the police business, william bratton, the former chief of police here in new york and l.a. and boston as someone who might offer some solutions. when our broadcast continues along the way on a thursday night, it's been two years since she was viciously attacked and disfigured. tonight her new face, a new chance at life revealed to the world. >>> and later, at the ball game, a soldier's wife gets the surprise of her life. >>> it was two years ago that a vicious attack by a

the twin roet tar chinook was shot down by the taliban. 25 were special forces.wake of the bloody crack down in syria the u.n. chief ban ki-moon called the country's president to plea with him to stop the violence. he spoke with him today to express his, quote, strong concern of the rising death toll. the syrian observatory for human rights and activist group estimates 2,000 people have died in the unrest. >>> for the first time in five years, the somali capital is under control of al qaeda tonight. they ruled the capital during that time pulled out today, calling the decision a tactical move. that could help humanitarian groups to deliver aid to 12 many people in the region in need of assistance. >>> he's a politician by strayed but texas governor rick perry says there's nothing political about his huge prayer rally in houston. religious event televised live to churches around the country breaks the standard of separating church and state. perry said the gathering entitled "the response focused on prayer to approve america's struggling economy." about 50 protest

chinook came down in a sandstorm not far from today's crash site, killing 18 americans. and in june of the same year, 16 special operations troops died when their helicopter was shot down near the pakistan border. today's deaths bring the total number of americans killed this year in afghanistan to 297. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> the war in afghanistan is taking an increased toll among afghan civilians as well. the most recent u.n. report says more than 1400 civilians were killed in conflict-related incidents during the first six months of this year. that's up 15% over the same period last year. the report blames insurgents for 80% of the deaths. here at home, financial experts and politicians alike are reacting to last night's announcement by standard & poor's that it is lowering america's credit rating from triple a to double a-plus. whit johnson in washington has more on the demotion and the fallout. >> why, because-- >> that is pernicious nonsense. >> reporter: for those who have long said that washington can't get things done, standard & poor's now offic

seth, how was news of the chinook crash taken there? >> well, anthony, it is a devastating blow, both emotionally and psychologically. we were at a couple of different bases over the weekend, and where there were television sets, they were on, tuned into news channels. people are looking for any sort of information. and it was, of course, the only thing troops were talking about. also, from an operational perspective, at least from what we could see, there were bits of changes as well. i was riding on one of those ch- 47 chinook helicopters today. i took the very same ride across kandahar in a chinook a week ago, and actually fell asleep while i was on the helicopter. today there was absolutely no sleeping at all. i was sitting next to an army aviator who told me that the pilot was trying to make it a very difficult target to hit. he was flying incredibly low, sometimes just a hundred to 150 feet off of the ground. we were going at about 140 miles per hour. you would look out the side of the window and you would see only sky and a secon

a military chinook helicopter was shot down in the dark of night killing 30 u.s. troops and 8 afghans, everyone on board. abc news was the first to report that among the dead, 22 navy s.e.a.l.s later learning most of them were from team 6, the elite of the let. fellow members of their team were the ones that killed osama bin laden. tonight our team from washington to afghanistan reporting in here, and we begin with abc's martha raddatz. >> reporter: it is a crushing loss, the most elite forces in the u.s. military, 22 s.e.a.l.s killed in the fiery crash of their chinook helicopter along with air force and army personnel. 30 americans in all. 8 afghans and a dog trained specifically for special opopations. it happened last night near a taliban stronghold in wardak province. u.s. forces were engaged in a firefight on the ground. the chinook full of s.e.a.l.s was on its way to help when it was shot down probably by a rocket-propelled grenade. an eyewitness describes the same. "we were outside our rooms on the veranda," the witness said, "and we saw this helicopter fl

we don't know how the taliban were able to score this hit on this chinook helicopter. but there a fear that taliban has some new type of weapon that will lead to more helicopters crashing. >> our prayers are with the victims and family and all those that are where you are in harm's way. and lieutenant colonel oliver north will give his analysis and what it could mean for the afghan war. >> heather: now, to the other top story, another bombshell announcement from standard & poor's. days after the s&p downgrading u.s. debt for the first time in history. a top s&p official says there is one in three chance of another downgrade. in washington that is fueling a new round of politics as usual. steve centani is live in washington. so the blame game in washington, what does the s&p say about that >> david beard says no one party is to blame of the down grading. >> this is not about either political party. it's about the difficulty of all sides in finding a consensus around fiscal policy choices. now and in the future. >> reporter: both congress and the white house are jointly

my father was the pilot of the chinook. i have seen other pictures of victims from this deadly mission and wish you would include a picture of my father. he is the farthest to the left. braden went on to say about the coverage, they always say navy s.e.a.l.s.s, they never say my dad. his father brian was 31, he was counting the days until he was supposed to come home on a two-week leave. a scholarship is being set up for his son. >>> up next as we continue here tonight, serving people who have been through so much and still have so far to go. >>> last night we showed you this extraordinary security camera video showing the destruction at the only high school in joplin, missouri, the moment that huge twister tore through town. hard to believe it's been three months now and the good folks there have made a lot of progress cleaning up the mess left behind. but so many people are still struggling. donations of all kind, including food, poured in right after the storm, always happens, but now it's all slowed down. so we have gon

chinook transport helicopters are slow and vulnerable when they take off and land. most defenses don't work at close range. 30 americans are killed on the helicopter, including 22 navy s.e.a.l.s. but as details emerge, so do questions, several military analysts with special forces cc: experience wonder why navy s.e.a.l.s were used as backup to catch a midlevel taliban leader in an isolated, mostly unpopulated valley. >> don't forget the s.e.a.l.s are a tier one unit. when we use them, they better be going into an area that really justifies their use. >> reporter: it was navy s.e.a.l.s, after all, that killed osama bin laden in pakistan, a mission far clearer, analysts say, than the one that turned out to be the deadliest attack on u.s. troops in a decade of war. u.s. troops here, brian, are in the midst of a gradual drawdown. the problem is the afghan government is not asserting control, so this country is just getting more and more dangerous. >> richard engel starting off our coverage tonight from kabul, afghanistan. richard, thanks. there is one community in parti

taliban fighters were identified including a man who fired the rpg that downed the chinook. the suspects were believed to be trying to flee the area but special forces picked up their trail following them for 12 hours to a compound in a remote wooded area. after insuring that was clear of civilians f-16s fired and killed the taliban including the man who fired the rpg. >> our thanks to yis cuomo for that report. the men left 14 widows and 24 children. >>> england is waking up since its first night of calm. thousands of extra police officers patrolled the streets. courts worked through the night to process more than a thousand arrested for rioting and looting and prime minister cameron wanted to restore order by whatever means necessary including the use of water cannons often used in northern ireland but not in britain itself. one of the most disturbing scenes is this one, a group of young men pretending to help a young man only to rob him. he from malaysia in the hospital after having surgery for his broken jaw but says he wants to stay in london. >>> this other news china'

the chinooks are kind of slow. are there reports why a chinook is being used as opposed to blackhawks? >> blackhawk, you load them up and you try to do this and in these valleys, in this wardak province, they're very shear valleys, very, very steep. so you need a lot of lifting power. so if you're at altitude and you've got a heavy load, you need a heavy lift helicopter, which is exactly what a chinook is and a blackhawk may not have had enough power for the mission at hand. >> eric: since this happened at night, is there a concern, obviously, that the taliban may be having night vision goggles, they may have the advanced, sophisticated equipment that can shoot us down? >> you know, there is going to be a lot of questions about that in the investigation because our mantra was we own the night. the iranians have been providing a significant amount. this has been substantiated that the reaps have been providing significant equipment, both capability, in training, and also in weaponry to the afghan and to shiite force

forces seek out taliban fighters, including those responsible for shooting down the chinook. >> it's events like this where their own brothers are shot down that builds their resolve and they come back stronger. >> reporter: matt should know. he recently returned from 27 months in afghanistan as a civilian adviser to the military, spending much of his time in the very volatile area where the s.e.a.l.s were shot down. he told us of the dangers in 2009. >> we were driving and the lead vehicle in front of us was hit with a 400 pound i.e.d. >> reporter: sherman received an award for heroism for pulling soldiers out from the vehicle. when the surge troops arrived things began to change. >> the market has become vibrant. >> reporter: the area has been infiltrated by taliban fighters. >> this is an area where it's strategically important for the insurgency to have a foothold. there are important roadways that they want to have control over so they can influence commerce, influence the population and they can intimidate them as they see fit. >> reporter: parts of wardak province where the he

taliban fighters were identified, including the man who fired the rpg that downed the chinook. the suspects were believed to be trying to flee the area. but special forces picked up their trail, following them for 12 hours to a compound in a remote, wooded area. after ensuring the area was clear of civilians, f-16s fired and killed the taliban, including the man who fired the rpg. for the 13 widows and 21 children who were left behind, nothing can bring back lost husbands and fathers. but their deaths are now part of the resolve of those still fighting for us, to make sure this enemy is defeated. >> this does not ease our loss. but we must and we will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy. >> the idea of vengeance can bring up mixed emotions. but we have to remember what and who we're talking about. the bond between our fighting men is exceptional. they fight for us and our freedom. but many tell me the strongest motivation often is to fight for each other. ve been told the way they honor the fallen best is to make sure that those that killed them never kill again. >> that

the chinook helicopter was hit before reaching those rangers, and those rangers were the first to secure the crash site. joining us live from afghanistan, richard engle, up at an ungodly hour to be with us tonight. richard, thanks so much for joining us, appreciate it. >> it's a pleasure, and it is, i think, a very important story. not just for the loss of life, which is in itself very tragic, but it says a lot about the war itself and how it's going, that ten years, nearly ten years on, you can have the single deadliest incident that would involve so many of these elite troops. i think it says a lot about where this country is going and where the u.s. mission is going as well. >> richard, what do we know about the mission that resulted in the crash, the specific mission, and why so many elite troops were involved in this. what does it say to you? >> effectively, you had a mission underway by the army rangers, and this is not the people who go to ranger school who wear the tab on the uniform, this is the 75th ranger regiment, which itself is an elite group that operates covertly and does

i've been on chinooks hit by machine gunfires, machine guns will bring down a chinook also. >> it's just- there's obvious going to be a lot of after action reporting on this. the loss is extraordinary. thank you so much. >>> and we will be back. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? >>> the fact that we have not been able to deal with our challenges, does result i think from a lack of leadership. and leadership starts at the top. harry truman used to have the sign on his desk that says the buck stops here. this administration's sign should be the buck stops some

and army reserve specialist spencer duncan, just 21, served as door gunner on the chinook. and the next difficult step for the families of the fallen is to wait for the bodies of their loved ones to be flown back here to american soil. carl? >> and, thanh, as the nation tries to get over the shock of the attack, is there any indication at all as to when the remains might be coming back stateside? >> reporter: well, it will be most likely in the next few day, probably within this week. but so far, military officials haven't even released the names or the full list of the names of the fallen yet. carl? >> thank you, thanh. >>> tensions are high tonight in london one day after the streets there erupted in anger and flames when a police protest spun wildly out of control. authorities are now breathing a sigh of relief as people appear to have heeded calls for calm. our report tonight from nbc's martin fletcher. >> reporter: london's worst riot since 30 years ended early this morning. and at day break, the cleanup began. fire destroyed this entire building, a carpet store, while

general allen mentioned that this is not going to make them not use those chinooks in the future.e operations will still be ongoing throughout the country. >> thank you so much for your report from kabul. >>> meanwhile here the treasury department today announced new sanctions against syria as the regime continues its crockdown. the u.s. is targeting a syrian bank and a mobile phone company both of which have helped fund the government's violence against protesters. we're joined by wes moore. wes, great to see you. first of all, let's talk about syria and what we now know the. the u.n. is taking up its condemnation of syria from last week. they're having a meeting this afternoon in advance of that the u.s. ambassador to the united nations susan rice spoke out again today. here's what she had to say. >> in the view of the united states he has lost his legitimacy to rule. and syria would be a better place without him. >> that is the same thing that jay carney has just said at the briefing but it is not that further step saying the united states, the president of the united states be

but later the taliban suggested the man who had fired on the chinook was alive and fighting elsewhere. among the dead, two navy seals. some are being remembered publicly. >> i heard the doorbell rang. and i remember thinking, though, it is just a neighbor. i saw my father opening the door. and men coming in side -- inside in uniform. and there was this energy. everything just drops out of your. address remember saying "no." -- i just remember saying "no." >> some question might the helicopter was making such a vulnerable landing given that u.s. lives were not under threat on the ground. these deaths opposed new questions about the afghanistan strategy at a time when the president is desperate to focus on problems here at home. it may not be a turning point as many americans had already concluded the war is unwinnable. bbc news, washington. >> in a new warning, experts say this since the beginning of the year, a harsh conditions in somalia have seen hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to kenya. that has put a strain on relief camps already established since the civil war of the 198

terribly wrong when that chinook helicopter was shot down according to the taliban definitely shot down. what we heard from a nato spokesman today is that the site where this crash took place is secure. it's been sealed off. that the recovery and cleanup operation is still under way. but that not all of the remains have yet to be identified. the u.s. military has not put out a specific sequence of events, how this actually took place, but speaking to witnesses to members of the taliban, we've been able to put together a picture of what happened when this helicopter went down. it began just in the very early hours on saturday. and u.s. army rangers were carrying out this raid on taliban compound according to the taliban there were 12 militants in this compound about 60 miles southwest of kabul. a firefight broke out. it lasted 30 to 40 minutes. at that stage navy s.e.a.l.s primarily were called in as a rescue element and that rescue operation was going fairly well. they managed to secure the location, stop or at least slow down the firefight and that as those navy s.e.a.l.s and some othe

it is a ch 47 chinook. it had 25 special forces on board. most of them navy s.e.a.l.s when the taliban apparently shot it down. let's go to pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. >> in the worst single incident of war in operation, 25 special forces members lost their lives many were from the unit that conducted the raid against osama bin laden, though none of the s.e.a.l.s on that mission were on this latest raid. a u.s. military source confirms the s.e.a.l.s were rapidly called in to assist another unit that had been pinned down in a fire fight in eastern afghanistan. the s.e.a.l.s came in on a chinook helicopter when they went down. the official said there are growing indications that it hit by enemy fire but a full investigation will be conducted. commanders and special operations and the navy are moving quickly to send assistance officers to the families and hometowns of those lost offering as much information and assistance as they can. remains are expected at dover air force base, delaware, in the coming days. don? >> thank you very m

it's very low altitude when chinooks are coming in and they are turning, in particular, they create a target. and this one just happened to hit the chinook and bring it down, killing everyone on board. >> richard, a toll like this is the sort of thing that brings the nation's attention back to the afghanistan war. whether it was a strategically sensitive mission or not, it has everyone talking about the war again. i know you have been in and out of afghanistan in the last couple of years in particular, where do you think the u.s. is strategically in relationship to our overall reason for being there? >> i think we are in a weak position and i think that is going back to why the story is so important, beyond the terrible and really significant loss of life. because these aren't just soldiers. it's always an awkward position to say that one person's life is more valuable than another. and you can never make that judgment. it is a moral call. but strategically and tactically, these soldiers have an incredible -- these s.e.a.l.s who died have an incredible amount of training and experienc

a chinook aircraft. senior u.s. military official, 25 navy s.e.a.l.s., 7 afghan forces, likely special forces, 1 interpreter, the 5-member crew of the chinook helicopter, and 1 dog. we all know dogs are in these operations. we know this from the osama bin laden raid. so devastating, this news. and that, especially after that news in may, that s.e.a.l.s were able to kill osama bin laden in a raid. today's crash -- and they do believe it was from enemy fire, possibly a rocket-propelled grenade. they believe it was shot down right after an operation. this was in wardak province. now, i also want to add that the first person to say these were u.s. special operations forces was hamid karzai, the president of afghanistan. he released a written statement, sending his condolences, for the loss of those troops and afghan forces, as well. but he was the first to say, special operations forces. and we did confirm through a senior military official they were navy s.e.a.l.s. as you know, bianna, very, very small community of the

the chinook went down in a valley in the warnuck province west of the capital city of kabul. the area is considered a taliban strong hold and it is the taliban claiming responsibility for shooting down the helicopter. in a statement, president barack obama said, their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military. and their families. afghan president hamid karzai offered his condolences. they were from the same unit involved in the rain that killed osama bin laden. but none of them took part in that mission. this is the worst single day loss of life for the u.s.-led forces in afghanistan since the war began nearly a decade ago. during a bike race in massachusetts, senator john kerry said these things are going to happen, as the u.s. reduces its troops in the region. >> it is very sad. the faster we can transition for the afghans, the better. >> reporter: the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff added, the best way to honor the soldiers' sacrifice is to keep fighting. drew levinson, cbs news. >>> standard and poor's tonight is

>> what about the chinook helicopters. we said they were in a ch-47 chinook.copters. they're not exactly stealth. are they basically sitting ducks in these for the enemy? >> reporter: well, you know, to some extent, the helicopter missions in afghanistan are so dangerous all the time. we have flown in these at very high altitudes up in the mountains which is the scenario they were in here. the advantage of the chinook is it can go into these steep mountainous areas, fly at high altitude, they can carry a large number of troops and get them in, in one helicopter mission. that's the positive side. the negative perhaps, the challenge is they are big, slow lumbering, noisy. the taliban can see and hear them coming. they try and fly them at night. this time it just didn't work out. but it's not a helicopter that has any kind of stealth capability, if you will. >> certainly not. barbara starr, appreciate the update. thank you. >> reporter: sure. >> we want to talk about brion nichols. he flew chinook helicopters. he can be seen here on the far left in this photo. wh

there are questions about the chinook in this type of mission? >> well, absolutely, tamron. when you see such casualties, and the numbers we saw on saturday, many people will be questioning why they were using a chinook helicopter to go into this area, but a majority of the area of afghanistan is remote and rugged and terrain is necessary for the forces and the afghanistan terrain is different to get into the areas where tangi valley operation forces were going to land, but the problem is with any helicopter and as they are landing and taking off, they are an easy target, but without the helicopters there is no way to get into many of the areas. tamron? >> we know there are questions about the mission, itself, and we are waiting for new details to come forward and we thank nbc's atia abawi for that report. >>> we are awaiting a important announcement from the u.s. federal policy makers. you see the dow is up 130 points after plunging 635 points yesterday in wake of the first-ever downgrade of american credit rating friday by s&p and in ten minute

. >> benson was one of the 22 navy seals killed when their chinook helicopter was shot down. eight other service members and eight afghans died in the crash. today the u.s. military finished the painful job of recovering what is left of the downed helicopter. but fire fights continue today as the u.s. forces sought up the taliban fighters responsible for shooting down the chinook. >> it is events like this where their own brothers are shot down that really builds their resolve and they come back stronger. >> according to two u.s. officials, they were sent to help the army rangers who had come under fire. as is typically the case, it was a clandestined mission. the whole town is now grieving over benson's death. >> my reaction to this is one of deep sadness because this young man enjoyed a wonderful reputation, and his loss is felt by many, many people who knew him very well. >> many of the navy seals say he was a member of the elite team. team six is a unit that killed osama bin laden. although none of the minute in this weekend's downed helicopter were part of the mission. l

army chinook helicopter. more than 20 u.s. special operations forces, move of them navy seals were killed in that attack. 38 people died in all and they were all aboard that helicopter, the chinook, like this one when it was apparently shot down by an r.p.g. the troops had just arrived to help another team that was in trouble. they were conducting an overnight raid on the taliban fighters. nearly 300 americans have been killed in that country this year. >>> and stocks have been tumbling across the middle east. on the first day of business in the region since friday's downgrading of the u.s. credit rating. a financial had you been of due by, a benchmark that -- dubai, a benchmark exited nearly 4% and egypt's stocks down by more than 4% as well. other gulf markets were also down including abu dhabi and cut tar. >>> 7:36 now, and world market stability is the goal of a new round of talks by the g.7. this morning financial ministers from britain, canada, france, germany, italy, the u.s. and japan discussed the historic down grade

from the president on the tragedy, what happened in afghanistan, 30 american troops killed when a chinook helicopter went down, 22 navy s.e.a.l.s. our reporters are standing by. john king is with me here in our cnn's washington studios. john, this is the late addition, and the president was not scheduled to speak now, but i am sure he felt he had to go out there and reassure the nervous americans that the united states is not in that bad of shape. >> he had consultations with his colleagues about trying to get the europeans to do more, and his challenge is to convince the american people and down the road the financial markets that he will pressure the super committee to do more about the debt and deficit. more broadly, friday night into saturday, i think it's fair to say was the darkest moment of the obama presidency. he's the first president in history to have the downgrade happen on his watch. just as he is digesting that, he is told it's the deadliest day in the 10-year war in afghanistan. this is a very difficult chapter for him as wepresident, and the debts having a lot of people to

. >> a crash like the chinook crash raises your awareness? >> yes. >> reporter: how so?ind of -- we've been here six months and you kind of get in your rhythm, and it just makes you more aware, why people are still dying here every day. >> reporter: missions continue across afghanistan. and the troops here tell us that something like the chinook incident only serves as a reminder, of what's at stake, and of the work still ahead. seth doane, cbs news, kandahar, afghanistan. >>> coming up a little later on "the early show," can the stock market bounce back? we'll have the very latest on the economic developments here and around the world. and on the grim possibility of a double-dip recession. >>> also, our ongoing coverage of the famine in east africa. >>> and the rioting in britain. >>> plus, the latest trouble for kanye west. all that and much more coming up on "the early show." that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm randall pinkston. make it a great day. ,,,,,,

rocket-propelled grenade hit the chinook helicopter killing everyone on board. in angwin, the town newspaper editor says everyone is taking it personally. >> my reaction to this is one of deep sadness. because this young man enjoyed a wonderful reputation. in angwin. his loss is felt be my people. >> taliban took credit for the weekend attack. >>> just about 6:06. the "san francisco chronicle" reports that pg&e officials were warned months ahead of last september's san bruno explosion the pipeline that ruptured was at high risk of disaster. they all but predicted the fatal calamity in an internal report. it says pg&e's emergency response plan had unacceptable risk and said accident would raise questions about what the top executives knew about the vulnerability in the natural gas distribution system. >>> pg&e is advising residents in palo alto they could smell natural gas today. as they are prepping for the high-pressure testing. the project could begin this morning and run for two months. they say it will not disrupt the gas service but could lead to traffic de

. >> he was one of those killed when the chinook helicopter was shot down in afghanistan. eight service members and afghans died in the crash. the u.s. military finished the painful job of recovering what is left of the downed helicopter. but firefight continue as the u.s. forces looked for those who were responsible for shooting down the chinook. >> when the brothers are shot down they build resolve and come back stronger. >> navy seals were sent to help army rangers who come under fire. it was a clandestine dangerous mission. the whole town of anquin is grieving over benson's death. >> my reaction is one of deep sadness, because this young man enjoyed a wonderful reputation, in anquin and his loss is felt by many, many people who knew him very well. >> lilian kim, abc7 news. >>> 4:37 now. investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a grass fire that threatened homes in benicia. smoke and flames rose from behind the homes on kearney street yesterday afternoon. it started near benicia community park. they quickly called for reinforcement in other cities in sol

service members died in combat when a chinook helicopter went down.re plenty of men and women proudly signing up to fight for this country including two twins who plan to deploy on 9/11. >> me and my brother are actually the only two x-ray techs that are going over. i've got to watch out for him somehow. >> we've always looked out for each other, so might as well look after each other at war. jon: it wasn't what the family wanted, but the twins believe it will help both of them deal with the dangers of afghanistan, and we certainly wish them well. jenna: they'll join a whole host of other brothers, though, there with them. so the family will grow, and we think about all those families that are with the service members that are overseas right now. we appreciate you joining us today on such an important news day, everybody. jon: the president speaks in just a little bit. "america live" starts right now. megyn: thanks, guys. this is a fox news alert. we are now moments away from president obama's first on-camera remarks on the big downgrade of america's

. >> they were flying a ch 47 chinook. the seals not often used as an immediate reaction force called in by the early ranger in protracted firefight. a military source said the reaction looked hastily arranged since so many troops were were on a single helicopter. >> i had people involved in the special operations here say no time ever do that many special operation guys travel in a helicopter. this does appear to be a unique situation, that they were part of a response force. >> one deployed six weeks a after his two-month-old daughter was born this summer. >> i talked to him on his birthday. he said granny, don't worry about me. i'm not afraid. i know where i am going. he was a christian. he said when i get home in november i'm coming to your house to hunt. >> the pentagon is not allowing media coverage of tuesday's dignified transfer of the troop remain. the pentagon say the remains are being identified. >> still ahead a preview of the next round of budget battles in washington. when we come back, why iowa is the home o

servicemen killed in the shootdown of that chinook twin rotar helicopter this past weekends. tom costello is with us from dover, delaware. tom, good evening. >> reporter: brian, it was a somber and a heartbreaking day here at dover air force base in delaware. it was after 10:00 a.m. this morning when the remains of these 30 u.s. servicemen and eight afghan nationals arrived here on two air force c-17s. president obama arrived soon after to pay tribute to them and participate in the military dignified transfer proceedings and he then met for a few hours? private with several hundred family members and members of the military. there are no photos of the flag-draped remains out of respect for the family as the military must still identify everyone lost in the attack and the crash. with that pains taking process will be the job of a mortuary specialist. but we're told this was an extraordinarily somber and poignant and deeply-moving day. we're told that's how people reacted. back to you. >> tom costello at dover air force base, thanks. this was a demoralizing crushing blow to all

the taliban claims militants shot the chinook helicopter down with a rocket propelled grenade. fiancee of a guardsman who was killed talked to cnn about her last koerds respondens with him. >> he sent me an e-mail the day before and he told me, he said, please don't worry about me. he said you and the girls are always in my heart. don't worry. this place isn't going to change me. i'm going to change this place. that's just how i am. he said, i will uv you, ma. just take care of my girls. and know that i am here thinking about you all the time. i'll be home before you know it. love you, ma. >> wow. 22 elite navy s.e.a.l.s. were killed in that crash of the helicopter. the incident is the single largest loss of life for u.s. troops since the war began nearly ten years ago. >>> we're hoping to get more answers about a shooting rampage near akron, ohio. seven people killed, one only 11 years old. police believe the gunman shot his girlfriend first then ran next door and shot five more people, then chased other victims into a third house before police shot and killed him. >>> verizon

. >> reporter: well, it is very hard to shoot down a chinook with an rpg.t takes a really lucky shot. that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. it actually happened in the valley in 2005. where i spent a year in 2007. an insurgent brought down a chinook with a very lucky shot. a low altitude shot. and it ruptured the hydraulic lines and they lost control and ultimately 16 people on board died. it can happen. if the chinook was at altitude, any kind of great altitude, an rpg could never make it up to those heights and would it really require a heat seeking missile like a sam 7. that is something the u.s. military is very sensitive about. of course, they know the american public knows that it was the mujahideen in the 1980s one, they figured out how to knock down soviet aircraft, the war turned around and the soviet hs to pull out. that is a sensitive point for american military commanders. >> you know afghanistan better than most people from a military perspective. is this an unwinnable war now? >> you know, i mean, it is like the war on crime of it is not someth

they quickly got on the chinook and took off. and a lucky shot it is said took it down.he appropriate response with an emergency on the ground with troops under fire requesting backup and by the way, all of the troops on the ground survived and secured the helicopter crash scene which is an internal pentagon review under way. >> tom costello at dover air force base. thank you. >>> other stories topping the news. the riots in london are spreading across the country and claimed the first life. a 26-year-old found shot dead in south london. britain's prime minister is tripling the number of police on the streets of london and destrd deploying 16,000 officers tonight. this is the worst looting in 30 years, and it was sparked by the shooting of a 29-year-old man, and since then 100s of people have been arrested in downtown. >> and after a series of attacks called flash mobs mobilize on twitter and facebook and that i am bush people on the streets of philly, and mayor michael nutter said that the city will keep open recreational centers longer to hope to keep teens off of the

they were going to help army rangers pinned down by fire but a raid hit the chinook helicopter killing benson and 29 other american warriors. in angwin the newspaper editor takes the news personally. >> my reaction to this is one of deep sadness. this young man enjoyed a wonderful reputation in angwin. his loss is felt by many, many people who knew him well. >> like in many communities around the country this morning, the people of angwin are reeling at the loss of their hometown hero. >>> san francisco firefighters say a lit cigarette may have started a fire in pacific heights home that left two women in serious condition this morning. firefighters put out the blaze on this home before midnight. elderly woman and her care-taker with were inside. crews rushed them to st. francis hospital where they're treated for burns and smoke inhalation. >>> a young fan who was hit in a hit-and-run is making improvement. white was struck crossing mission street at new montgomery and he just left the giants game. white and his family live near philadelphia. they were in san francisco visiting family.

army chinook helicopter conducting this mission. it was a u.s. army crew flying the helicopter. so they will look at it. there were, in fact, some very official reports from the nato coalition that there was reports of enemy fire in the area of eastern afghanistan when this incident occurred. whether it is -- the helicopter was brought down by enemy fire or it is the result of some sort of other accident is what remains to be seen. that will be clearly, rapidly the focus of the investigation because, of course, either way, chinook helicopters are one of the big backbones of the operation in afghanistan. they will have to find out if there is a problem with those helicopters or there is some vulnerability to being shot down that they did not understand. it will be very important for them to find out as quickly as they can what happened. >> given the fact that these are sometimes secret missions, i do wonder the likelihood of hearing from somebody from the pentagon or from any other military source over the next several hours trying to fill in the blanks for us here or do you expe

we're learning the ch-47 chinook helicopter was on a mission to helicopter army rangers pinned down in a fierce battle with the taliban. their target was a taliban commander responsible for direct attacks on u.s. forces. nato forces are assessing the crash site where the chopper was shot down. we are learning more about the men who died in that incident. one of them was navy s.e.a.l. aaron carson vaughn. i spoke to his grandmother about the last time she saw him. >> it was aaron's birthday. in june he turned 30. i told him to be careful. he said, granny, don't worry about me. he said i'm not afraid because i know where i'm going if something happens to me. aaron was a christian and stood firm in his faith. >> aaron vaughn was stationed in virginia beach, virginia. brian todd is there. this is a tight-knit military community. how are they taking this tragic loss? >> reporter: don, a tough development for people in this community. you don't have to look far around here to realize this is a military town. you have memorials here, military bases dotting the landscape, including one down th

a chinook is a big, fat, slow moving target. that's not the same as the choppers that they use to go in for bin laden, tlaers the primary force. why do you think they were being used? were they the best and the closest available? we're not being told why, specifically. the ranger regiment operates in secret. the s.e.a.l.s operate with even more secrecy. when you have special ops sent in to aid over special ops is military went into a lockdown mode and is only saying that the s.e.a.l.s were sent in as re-enforcemen re-enforcements. they say it wasn't a rescue operation. you don't send in re-enforcements unless there is to a degree a rescue operation. we frankly don't noi why they were put on chi noox. they were vulnerable. they do fly slowly particularly when they're taking off and landing. >> finally, we're now told the additional reporting and the statement from nato is that they were shot down while going in, note while coming out, is that correct? >> that's what the military as said. there was some confusion. i think partly b

and as the reinforcement as arrived on that chinook helicopter, it apparently was shot down.the taliban says it fired one rpg rocket from very close range, about 150 yards. the taliban also says it had 12 militants in the compound at the time and that 8 of them were killed. the site, we are told by nato officials, has been secured and officials are on the ground, still collecting the debris and also trying to identify the remains of those who were on board. >> and richard, when should we expect these troops to make their way, their final stop home in dover? >> reporter: we don't have any word on that, we have just been told that it will be soon, that they're still in the collection process, that there's an ongoing investigation, the site is secure. they're advising afghans to stay away from the area, but no time frame on when any of the remains will be repatriated. >> and going quickly on the attack from the taliban itself, is this an indication that they have reinforcements themselves, or was this simply they just got lucky? >> reporter: it sounds like it was a lucky shot, t

at some point the taliban were able to fire this rpg and took out this chinook. it is very sad day for the u.s. military here in afghanistan. >> rick: thanks. >> heather: to put the crash into context. here are sobering numbers, until yesterday, there had been 1600 deaths in afghanistan since the war begin back in october of 2001. before today, 240 americans have been reported killed in the afghanistan war, that was in the last year. >> rick: frightening moments aboard an alaska bound airways flight. they evacuated the plane at philadelphia airport because of a threatening note that was found. the airplane was searched and nothing was dangerous was found. the plane landed in philly coming from scotland. >> they stopped a potentially deadly plotted to attack a louisiana high school on monday. they have arrested three 15-year-olds. the teenagers are all students at lake shore high school. that is just outside of new orleans. authorities say that fellow classmates turned them in. >>> more than one student came forward to administrators that they were worried about.

the chinook was flown by members of 135th regiment and members of the guard and reserve with years ofxperience under heavy fire. to date more than 1600 american troops were killed in afghanistan and today another five u.s. service members were killed by a road side bomb in afghanistan . one service member died from a road side bomb yesterday. >> jennifer, thank you. >> activist in syria said the army fatally shot people in the western town. we told you that the u.s. government was about to call for bashar al-assad to step down. so far that has not happened. british prime minister cameron may look to u.s. cities on how to fight the gangs. he is blaming them for the violence . streets were relatively calm last night. still ahead. a back stage tour for the facilities. we check back in with iowans we talked two two months ago. see what they are thinking now. diagram a lot of times, things are right underneath our feet, and all we need to do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped irocks thounds of feet

the chinook isn't a very fast helicopter, is it? >> no, i flew in a chin acfor the first time in 1967 when i was a lieutenant. it's an old airplane, it's been upgraded many tiles, this was an f model ch-47, it's essentially an aerial with us, it can carry up to 40 soldiers. the problem is, it's the only helicopter we have that can operate at these high altitudes in the afghan mountains, therefore, the traditional aircraft that support a chin acpraights like, for instance, a cobra or a black hawk or apache can't get up to those high altitudes, so it's the chin aces that operate sort of alone at these high altitudes that makes them so vulnerable. bill: and so many of these operations are successful. this time the taliban had one lucky hit and that's all it took. thanks for your time. >> that's the key point, it was a lucky hit. bill: bob scails, thank you. we like our viewers to know, if you want to learn more about how to support the navy seal community, go to foxnews.com, click on the link for the navy seal foundation,.org, get more

today, troops in afghanistan are working to recover last pieces of the chinook helicopter that crashed over the weekend killing all 30 u.s. troops on board. a rocket propelled grenades hit the helicopters. 22 of the 30 troops on board were navy seals. benson was born and raised in angwin and was one of only 19 of 209 candidates the finish his seal training class. the angwin newspaper editor says everyone is taking his death personality. >> my reaction is one of deep sadness. this young man enjoyed a wonderful reputation in angwin. his loss is felt by many people who knew him well. >> the remains of the service members will be returned to the united states. >>> pleasanton police say they made an arrest in the city's most high profile cold case. 14-year-old tina was stabbed to death in 1984. the pleasanton police and f.b.i. announced that the suspect was a 16-year-old high school student at the time of the murder. he was recently picked up on a drug charge. authorities aren't releasing his name right now because he was a juvenile when the crime happened. >>> dozens of construction worker

why were they flying the army chinooks with less fire power? why were members of the seal team six used for the immediate reaction force? rangers that called them in suffered no casualty and the field unit looked like it deployed in haste there are more questions than answers tonight. lost of the coverage of the feel is the mention of the air crew. sergeant hamberger of the national guard arrived in afghanistan two weeks ago. airman zerbe of pennsylvania, pararescue jumper, and elite special ops position. air force technical sergeant john brown, pararescue man from fort bragg, north carolina, the army reserve specialist spencer duncan, gunner. alexander bennett, 24 years old of tacoma, washington. pilot ryan nichols, reservist from kansas city, missouri. the pentagon has not decided whether to release the full list of names of those who were killed in the helicopter crash. >> bret: jennifer, live at the pentagon tonight. thank you. >>> it is just that, 11:00 p.m. in great britain where they have been unable to head off another night of violence