if floyd landis and the government wins this whistle blowing case he could be looking at $100 million in losses because they are treble damages. >> >> bill: explain the case to me. >> floyd landis said wait a second, you were on this team, you were using these drugs along with me. and you defrauded the government. the oust postal service. >> did landis get caught using them i don't believe. >> he was you. i didn't realize that he was a team of armstrong's. he then came clean, said i did it. armstrong did it armstrong called him a liar, i would assume, right? >> defamed him publicly and there is allegations that he continued to threaten and do the same thing with other people that tried to expose him that he pressured a number of these teammates to blood transfusions to take performance the result is the seven tour de france. >> bill: landis is suing for what though. >> under the whistle blower statute pay back 35 million and treble damages. >> bill: who has to pay. >> labs armstrong is going to have to pay it because he defrauded the u.s. postal service. one of the requirements is you

fellow teammates floyd landis and tyler hamilton and former tour winner greg lamond all spoke up and all were smeared as jealous liars trying to profit, cover their own troubles, or both. but landis wouldn't be denied, speaking with investigators, and eventually launching the investigation that brought armstrong down. he talked about it in a "nightline" exclusive in 2010. >> if i'm taking on lance armstrong, that should be evidence enough that there's a problem with the system, because i'm saying that a bunch of people did it. at some point, people have to tell their kids that santa claus isn't real. i hate to be the guy to do it, but it's just not real. >> many people think that the real tipping point was floyd landis and his decision to come forward and confess. >> i'd agree with that. >> that was the tipping point, yeah. >> i might back it up a little and talk about the comeback. i think the comeback didn't sit well with floyd. >> reporter: armstrong has been accused of running up a doping bill investigators have pegged at more than a million dollars. officials describe a ghoulish

obvious ones, the ones that we know by name, the frankies, the betsys, the greg, the tyler, the floyd landis, i owe them apologies. whenever they are ready, i will give them. >> what was he trying to accomplish here? that remains puzzling to me. he talks about being reinstated. that he thinks he should be reinstated. he's 41 years old. his career as an elite athlete was over anyway. >> he said he would love to run in the chicago marathon at age 50. >> okay. but is that something -- that's so different from what he used to be, to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in the chicago marathon nine years from now -- >> but he's dominated triathlons. a triathlon is a huge sport in his country. he could be a big name in the world of triathlon. >> the world of triathlons. that's a tiny world. compared to the tour de france. >> yes, compared to the tour de france, but triathlons are a big sport. jeff, i don't know how often you're running out there but there are a lot of folks competing in triathlons. there's not the scale of the tour de france, but there are a lot of events in which -- he's a

a lawsuit already has been filed by former teammate floyd landis that alleges armstrong defrauded the postal service and the federal government. the postal service paid armstrong more than $30 million. under the law, if fraud against the government is proven, the penalty could be triple, more than $90 million. one interested viewer of the interview last night was david walsh, chief sports writer of the "london sunday times." his newspaper settled a libel lawsuit with armstrong back in 2006 and paid the cyclist nearly half a million dollars. walsh wants that money back. >> the sunday times was the only newspaper that i know that was consistently questioning lance armstrong, that had a position, the position was we didn't believe the guy. >> reporter: armstrong's legal opponents will mo doubt be tuning into part two of the interview tonight for more insight into the man who, for 13 years, was living a lie. >> was it a big deal to you? did it feel wrong? >> at the time? >> uh-huh. >> no. >> it didn't not even feel wrong? >> no. scary. >> did you feel bad about it? >> no. even scarier. >>

and they have hated each other for years, so it will take some time, but floyd landis has filed a federalnce armstrong alleging that he defrauded the u.s. postal service out of millions of dollars. so if lance is able to reconcile with floyd, perhaps floyd could be influenced to drop the suit. floyd is hostile toward lance because of the way he attacked him and portrayed him as a fraud for such a long time. so that's something that it's going to take time to mend some fences. who knows if it will be repaired, that relationship. but the strategy for the armstrong camp at this point, by coming forward now and finally confessing, it's long term. they do not expect forgiveness overnight. they do not expect people to drop their grudges against him overnight. they are looking at a five-year, ten-year process where they hope history will judge him favorably and starting with his confession today. >> thank you, brett. and "usa today" reporting tonight that lance armstrong confessed to oprah winfrey he used performance-enhancing drugs. >>> "outfront" next, a legendary hacker and activist commits s

i rooted for floyd landis. i think he has a shot at redemption. he couldn't win it tonight.se it. you know, maybe he hung on to that chance here. i think in the end, it will be a help, if he does the work. >> paul callan you have the legal perspective. help or hurt? >> hurt. it was a confession without remorse. it was a performance that showed he abused the legal system, filing baseless lawsuits. and i think it's going to haunt him. hurt in a big way. >> and to our ed lavandera. you've been covering all the people that have been so personally hurt by lance armstrong. do you think this helped or hurt him? >> well, i look at this through the prism of the city of austin, where we are tonight, where lance lives part time. this is where livestrong foundation is not too far from where i'm standing. there's the lance armstrong bikeway which the mayor of the city of austin, a good friend of lance's says they have no intentio to change that. i've talked to a great many of people in this town. many people are simply fed up with lance armstrong and are tired of hearing about him. >> ma

tyler hamilton, floyd landis, and then they all turned on armstrong, and andrea, when they vacated those seven tour de france titles, they did not award them to anyone else because the sport was so tainted at the time, but, you know, as everyone knows, you know, everybody else was doing it is never a good excuse, and certainly is nott an excuse in this case. people like betsy andrews felt that not only they were telling the truth and then the whole lance armstrong machine came down on them, they felt that they were intimated into keeping silent and these are people who have been deeply, deeply hurt, and what is not known is if armstrong at this point has made any kind of outreach to apologize for what they've been through not just for a day or for a month, but literally for years. >> ann, if i can get personal for a moment. i think as a fellow cancer survivor, i think that you wore a livestrong bracelet. have you taken it off? >> well, i actually -- mine broke, and i think like many people who wear livestrong bracelets, i wore mine for my cousin, danny, who had cancer of the esophagus an

. >> the case that floyd landis has brought is against lance armstrong, but also against the team. and since thom weisel owns the team, he could ultimately be culpable. >> reporter: he did not return our request for comment. sources close to the situation tell nbc the negotiations has focused on money and armstrong has not offered to deliver or testify against anyone else. now, returning to elite competition is armstrong's goal, if it is, the interview will not help him. today in a statement, the world's anti-doping agency says, "only when mr. armstrong makes a full confession under oath can a gal and proper process for him to seek reconsideration of his lifetime ban commence." also tonight, sources tell us armstrong is beginning to reach out to those he criticized in this long, drawn-out saga. >> certainly a bellwether day in this saga. anne thompson, thanks. >>> now to another big story. this one's been a big story for days, this rough flu season we're enduring. it's spreading fast now in other parts of the world, as well. europe is seeing its first outbreak, while in this countr

today released a copy of the whistleblower lawsuit filed against armstrong by former team maid floyd landisit accuses armstrong of defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars while ride on the u.s. postal service team. now, the justice department hasn't decided whether to join that suit or not. the deadline for that decision is this week. justice department officials have asked for an extension. at the live desk, erica gonzalez, news 4. the closure of 15 schools is announced this fall, but 15 too many for parents and children affected. henderson says it will save $20 million to put back into other programs. protesters say the closures d disproportionately affect minority students. >> we're following the latest developments out of algeria tonight. some americans did escape that hostage situation at a bp natural gas facility there others are still being held or are uncan'ted for. bp says hostages are on a chartered flight to london. algeria's government refused foreign aid and today sent its own troops in to rescue the hostages resulting in a lot of gun fire and a number of repor

federal government to join the lawsuit under the false claims act filed by his prior teammate floyd landis which has nine figure implications and jail time as well. this is the duck theory. on the top of the water the duck's head is smooth and nonbobbing while below the surface the legs are churning fervently to proposal the duck forward. what we saw tonight was the head of the duck while lance's team is working fervently to bring these issues rapidly to a close behind closed doors. when we talk about objectives and the court of public opinion, lance couldn't go out today based on his lifetime of tactics. the old pr mantra is you can be the hammer or nail. you can be proactive or reactive and lance has been the proverbial hammer and always surrounded himself with a very aggressive and effective team in that regard. so having that type of background and career strategy as it relates to his image and brand development, you can't then come out and garner sympathy and empathy and immediate forgiveness. it has to be a very matter of fact format and that's what we saw tonight. >> thanks for comi

but the whopper is federal whistle blower lawsuit filed by former teammate floyd landis that could have armstrong on the hook for $93 million, triple what the postal service paid his team "sunday times" journalist david walsh was in armstrong's cross-hairs. he wants the whole truth. >> this guy told so many lies. he's going to have to almost tell as many truths now as he told lies in the past. and that's going to keep him talking for a long time. >> reporter: walsh says lance armstrong has to become the greatest whistle blower cycling has ever seen. armstrong said he would be willing to appear before an anti-doping agency's truth and reconciliation commission, brian. >> i heard it contended today the sport is cleaner today. and why would that be? >> reporter: they say if you look at the science, it proves it. look at the times. they have gone down since armstrong's era and if you look at blood levels, you're not seeing the high levels where you saw more red blood cells, more oxygen. because they have the bio passport and instead of testing for specific drugs, tests for changes. so when

armstrong is attempting to apologize by phone to a select few former friends, including exteammate, floyd landiswho broke his silence to abc news in 2010, and sparked armstrong's downfall. >> for people in the police. >> reporter: but can the tell-all get rid of the enormity of armstrong's disgrace? >> he's lost this game. and people have been wanting an apology. >> reporter: the stakes are huge. lance armstrong risks hurting himself even more, in the hopes of winning sympathy and restoring a lost reputation. authorities tell abc news that lance armstrong is now in talks with the federal government about returning -- potentially returning some of the millions of dollars paid by the u.s. postal service to sponsor armstrong's winning team. they're saying that armstrong is talking with authorities about cooperating and naming names. quite a turn. neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. >>> new clues this morning into one of hollywood's most mysterious deaths. the coroner now says bruises on natalie wood's body may have occurred before the actress drowned. that's part of a ten-page addition to the autops

federal whistle-blower lawsuit filed here in washington in 2010 by one of his former teammates, floyd landis, landis said he used, well armstrong and some of his associates used taxpayer dollars to fund the drug program on the u.s. postal service team, so right now, the government is deciding whether to. >> the court:. > a plaintiff and hearing they should do, make that decision as early as this week, and right now lance is sort of trying to beat them to the punch by offering not only his testimony against the team owner and some other people on the team but offering millions of dollars, to give millions of dollars back to pay the, repay the u.s. postal service on some of the response sorry ship money on the teams so he is trying to make anticipateds on that and that's the most serious thing he faces right now. >> rose: someone else told me the hardest thing he had to do is tell his children. >> no kidding. i mean, i was just talking to my mom about this the other day, and for those of white house are parents, you know, you might be flawed, but in the eyes of your children, you are perfect,

pushing it, when he was attacked he didn't just deny he attacked back, kept going, he always, floyd landis says lance always double down, when he is in trouble he doubles the bet and the oprah interview is in some ways the ultimate doubling of the bet, he pushes everything on the table and said, look, there is where i am going to try to do to get out of this. >> rose: so what are you looking for? each of you in the oprah interview? >> well, you know, i don't -- i was asking myself that same question and i really don't know what to say, like he will confess. >> rose: right. >> i don't, having done some reporting on lance armstrg i woul fool myself i could interpret the thoughts of a goldfish before i think i know what lance armstrong is thinking so judging his contrition is not an issue to me, strategically this looks like 15 years of deny, deny nye until there was about penny left from deneigh and let's see what we can get from confessing so i think a lot of people will try to interpret his emotions and mannerisms and to me, i am in a place where i understand i can't even begin to do that,

armstrong is attempting to apologize by phone to a select few former friends, including ex-teammate floyd landis, who broke his silence to abc news in 2010 and sparked armstrong's downfall. >> i think that the team had become paranoid that the police or somebody was watching the hotel rooms. >> reporter: but can a tell-all with oprah repair the enormity of armstrong's disgrace? the man who once hung out with ex-presidents and movie stars is now just scraping for a second chance. >> i think he's at a point where he realizes he's lost this game and people have been wanting an apology. >> reporter: the stakes are huge. lance armstrong risks hurting himself even more in the hopes of winning sympathy and restoring a lost reputation. oprah says the interview lasted 2 1/2 hours and that armstrong came, quote, ready. it was reported to be an emotional interview but no word as to whether armstrong confessed. it should be noted that the u.s. anti-doping agency has an offer to armstrong to offer him a massive reduction in his lifetime ban, if he comes forward and names names. so far, diane, he has not. >>

ex-teammate floyd landis described in an abc news exclusive, a cloak and dagger strategy that even involved injecting drugs hidden in the team bus on the side of the road. >> and the blood would be taped on the wall or hung up at a certain level above your head so that gravity caused it to run in your veins and then you leave. >> reporter: landis was attacked by armstrong for his admission and he wasn't alone. armstrong trashed anyone who accused him. former friend betsy andreu says she was in the hospital room when, during his fight against cancer, armstrong admitted performance enhancing drug use to his doctors. when she refused to lie about it, she says he lashed out, putting the brakes on her husband's career in cycling. >> it's bittersweet. there's been a lot of damage done to us, but at least the first step has been taken. >> reporter: those who know lance armstrong best say pictures of his face during competition tell you everything. ferocious and focused. someone who planned meticulously and executes based on his own instinct. and that hasn't changed. lance armstrong may admit using

floyd landis has filed a federal whistle blower's suit against lance armstrong alleging he defraudedstal service of millions of dollars when they were cycling for the u.s. postal service cycling team. if he's able to reconcile with floyd, perhaps floyd could be convinced to drop that suit. i think floyd is aware of that and certainly he is hostile toward lance because of the way that he attacked him and portrayed him as a fraud for such a long time. so that's something that, it's going to take time to mend some fences. who knows if that will ever be repaired, that relationship, but the strategy for the armstrong camp at this point, by coming forward now and finally confessing, it's long-term. they do not expect forgiveness overnight. they do not expect people to drop their grudges against him overnight. they're looking at like a five-year, ten-year process where they hope that history will judge him favorably and starting with his confession today. >> all right, well thank you very much, brian. as we said, usa today reporting that lance armstrong has now formally confessed to using p

that comeback did not sit well with floyd landis, who lost his tour title to doping and landis began to talk. matt? >> anne thompson, thank you very much. tyler hamilton is one of armstrong's former teammates and in his new book "the secret race," he says that armstrong doped. you knew the truth. we were all hearing it for the first time. what was it like to watch it? >> number one, thanks for having me on the show. i just want to make this point, that i think it's a huge, huge first step for lance armstrong. for a lot of people, it's raw. i've known about it for a long time, since 1998. big first step. it's really what happens next, you know. the proof is in the pudding. what he does -- basically, what is he going to do, moving forward? >> you spoke to me on the phone, tyler, one thing worried you. that he would get emotional, that he's very good in front of a camera and people would think this comes from the heart and, in your opinion, the only reason lance armstrong is talking now is to help lance armstrong. do you still feel that way? >> yeah a bit. but you can tell, it's real. h

. >> reporter: but he said this interview, his former teammate, floyd landis, coming forward and telling all in an abc news exclusive, was the beginning of the end. >> many people think that the real tipping point was floyd landis and his decision to come forward and confess. >> i'd agree with that. >> that was the tipping point? >> reporter: what those who know him say was missing, in the words, the body language, in all of it, was any real sign of feeling, of contrition. >> were you a bully? >> yeah. yeah. i was a bully. i tried to control the narrative. and if i didn't like what somebody said, and for whatever reasons in my own head, whether i viewed that as somebody being disloyal or a friend turning on you or whatever, i tried to control that. and say, that's a lie. they're liars. >> reporter: many thought the apologies in particular didn't seem to have much heart to them. and then, of course, there's the question of how much of what he said can really be believed since armstrong clearly admitted to being a very, very good liar, george. >> that's the bottom line. okay, neal, thanks

but armstrong still faces several investigations including a case filed by his former teammate, floyd landis. any admission could bring new legal troubles and punishment by the anti-doping agency. >> all right. michelle franzen, thanks. >>> want to check now some of the other top stories from jenna wolfe. good morning. >> hey, good morning to you. police in minneapolis are waiting for blood test results before deciding whether to file charges against an american eagle pilot. the pilot is 48-year-old coley christiansen. he was suspended after failing a blood alcohol test before a flight to laguardia airport. agents smelled alcohol as they waved the pilot through a checkpoint. he was taken off the flight before any passengers boarded. the flight landed safely at laguardia. >>> keep your checkbooks out. that's the message from northeast lawmakers to congress following a congressional approve of almost $10 billion. the money slated to help pay flood insurance claims to 115,000 people and businesses hurt by superstorm sandy. lawmakers from the region also want speedy approval of about $52 billion

number of entities, insurance companies that paid bonuses to him for winning tour de france titles, floyd landis, one of the his teammates at one point is bringing a lawsuit against him, a whistle-blower lawsuit, because he was basically alleged that armstrong was taking money from the u.s. government, the u.s. postal service which sponsored lance armstrong's team, and he was lying to the u.s. postal service about doping. he has a lot of civil exposure. he apparently decided it was worth it to questions, even risking that civil liability to get a chance to compete and move on. >>> in the sports world, are people going to look at him maybe give him a bit of a break or see this through a hypocritical light? he's done such good work through the livestrong foundation. >> he's a very complicated guy. he's clearly done a lot of good through that organization, that charity. he talked about that charity, also, by the way, did a lot of good for him. his association with that organization allowed him to be much more marketable as an athlete to make millions in endorsement deals with nike -- >> a huge part

and floyd landis in particular could gain about 25% of any recovery.department with its formidable resources can join that kind of lawsuit, right? they can intervene and sort of take the ball and start running with it. given this confession that he just gave to oprah, it tells me that the government will likely get involved, try to retrieve some of that money, and, you know, his legal trouble is just exploding because you not only have that, you have that other federal investigation that was sort of put to rest in february of 2012. we don't even know why. >> the 20-month criminal investigation, right? so it was dropped, right? it was dropped in february as you point out. we have a little sound because this is how armstrong described that moment. here it was. >> you're suing people and you know that they're telling the truth. what is that? >> it's -- it's a major flaw. and it's a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted and to control every outcome. >> when the department of justice just dropped that case and nobody knows why, i have to ask you, did y

case against armstrong in the fall, do you think they will join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by floyd landis yeah, think about your previous guest on the show, john. i mean this could solve the whole fiscal cliff crisis in terms of what we canet this back from lance armstrong. that's a little bit of an exaggeration. i see this where lance armstrong is like this wounded gazelle. the lions are gathering and if you can get a chunk out of that, you're going to do it. it is an amazing list of people. i was calculating them before. starting with lance armstrong's $100 million fortune and going through what different entities have already said publicly from the sunday times of london to a dallas-based promoter to the u.s. postal service to former teammates and what they've all said they're going to sue him for. by the time it's done, he might be the first ever triathlete to compete wearing a barrel with two little straps over his shoulders. >> john: ten seconds left. i have to ask you what about the live strong foundation, i don't think any of his sins negate the foundation. is there any way for th

theris federal whistle-blower lawsuit brought by former teammate floyd landis accuses him of defrauding the postal service who sponsored him for $30 million. the potential legal bills go on. he is worth more than $100 million. some say 150 million. could he loose all of that. >> he could certainly lose close to 100 million. i think that is why he is doing this now. we know his lawyers have been in talks with the department of justice about this whistle-blower lawsuit. it is definitely possible that they are trying to negotiate a settlement. if you're going to settle with the justice department and you want to do it cheaply, you're going to need to admit your conduct, be contrite and accept responsibility. so this could be part of a negotiated resolution of the whistle-blower lawsuit with the justice department. melissa: i'm not a lawyer. why does that help you do it more cheaply if you come on "oprah" and say what you did? why does that contain costs? >> the potential loss on this whistle-blower lawsuit could be at least $100 million. but generally the justice department doesn't take a

. >> that and floyd landis' confession, as well.s. he said he looked at it as one big lie. that he kept on repeating over. we see all these denials and think he lied 1,000 times. in his mind, he lied once just repeating it. >> saying the sports world is rife with this illegal drug usage. but they can't even figure out who to give it to next, because it seems everybody was doping. >> it's a mess, yeah. >>> moving on, the fate of several americans and other foreign hostages still unknown this morning. a day after algerian forces stormed a gas compound where they were being held. at least five americans among the survivors, but there are widely conflicting reports how many people were killed. the algerian military launched the assault without informing the u.s. or the nine other nations whose citizens were inside and the hunt continues for a suspected al qaeda master mind, mokhtar belmokhtar. >> he's very, very cold. very business like. very focused. i cannot tell you the extent to which they hate us. they believe we are evil incarnate

the postal team got government money and floyd landis decided to come clean, i got to whistle blow onwasn't clean money that the government was giving us. to that point, actually, professor, i don't know what the feds did in their investigation because it's not public. they dropped it very mysteriously. but if the feds asked for lance armstrong to speak with them and he gave them false testimony, which i can only assume he would have to given that they didn't launch any action against him, isn't that lying to federal investigators, and isn't that a felony that's punishable by jail? >> it's obstruction of justice. it might be false statements. but here's the thing. mr. armstrong was advised by an extremely competent team of attorneys, there's no way any lawyer worth his salt would let mr. armstrong go and talk to federal prosecutors without agraa gra grant of immunity. i imagine when he floated the idea by his attorneys for going on oprah. if he said, what's my criminal risk, not so much. i'll take the chance with the money, i guess he feels like he can afford all this money's he's goi

but the biggest problem he may face is that floyd landis, one of the other riders on his team has filed a federal whistleblower suit. you can file and say, look, the federal government wasted money and i can prove it. he got $30 million from the federal government from when he was riding for the postal service am. if landis wins that lawsuit he not only gets the $30 million, he gets triple damages. $90 million potentially. and that is certainly a possibility. there are other aspects to the suit that may be more difficult to prove. but armstrong has bought himself a world of civil legal problems tonight. >> we're going to have more with the entire panel, betsy andreu as well around 10:30. for a full review of this interview, again, fascinating stuff, stick around for that. guys, we'll see you just in a moment. >>> lance armstrong said he's spoken to her and her husband frankie, his former teammate. we'll ask her about it. let us know what you think. follow me on twitter. @anderson cooper. i'll be tweeting tonight. >>> up next -- more breaking news. late details on americans held hostage

>> there's a whistleblowers lawsuit going on right now that floyd landis has brought and that the justice department may join. that has to do with all of the money he got from the u.s. postal service and the question is, did he get it under false pretenses? under his contract, he said that he would do nothing that would bring him embarrassment, and not use drugs. so if he gets up and admits that he breached that contract under the whistleblower statute, he not only has to pay back all the money he has, he has taken, but could get hit with trouble damages, which means three times the amount of money he's taking. >> it is pretty -- go ahead. >> this is what makes lance lance. he likes risk. this is why he has succeeded in this corrupt world of cycling for so long. it's why, as we describe in our book, there was smuggling bags of blood in underdog kennels in to the tour. giving transfusions on the bus during the tour. he doesn't shy away from risk. that's what this is. he has made the calculation. he has a net worth over $100 million. he probably won't lose all of it. >> you think he will ha

the suit was filed by former teammate floyd landis, and, in the next few weeks, the federal governmento decide whether to join landis in the suit. the potential penalty for armstrong and his business partners is $90 million. the department of justice has not made a decision about whether to join that lawsuit against lance armstrong. what do you think they should do? >> tygart: i think they have to join the suit. i mean, we were surprised the criminal case didn't go forward based on the evidence that... that we had seen and generated through our investigation. so, we'll be, you know, once again shocked if they don't join the suit. i think a jury should have an opportunity to decide whether the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that were defrauded by this team and lance armstrong and his associates, whether or not the government should be paid back for that. >> pelley: as we reported, tygart has given armstrong a deadline of february 6 to agree to tell all under oath. amstrong's lawyers have now replied to that, saying armstrong cannot appear by that date and, rather than usada, they