journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation. dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund, supporting investigative reporting and enterprise journalism. additional funding for this program and for frontline's expanded broadcast season is provided by the bill and melinda gates foundation. >> thompson: i'm heading to amarillo, texas, to investigate a case that began 11 years ago. it was a saturday morning, and a mechanic named ernie lopez was babysitting the children of a local doctor at his home. the youngest was six-month-old isis vas. >> i fed the kids breakfast. i had them on the kitchen table, and i had isis in her swing. she had her bottle but she wasn't eating it. so i got her out of the swing, and i went to go put her in the crib. and i went to the kitchen. i left her in the crib, and when i went back in there, i noticed that isis-- she was limp. she was just there, and her lips were blue. >> is she breathing right now? >> okay, i need you to keep doing cpr. >> thompson: ernie lopez' mother, rosa lopez, lived across the street. >> we started hearing s

and by the frontline journalism fund, with a grant from scott nathan and laura debonis. additional funding for frontline's expanded broadcast season is provided by the bill and melinda gates foundation. >> smith: for six months, frontline has been investigating the secret war that made headlines with the killing of bin laden. in december last year, i traveled across afghanistan and up to the border of pakistan, together with frontline correspondent stephen grey. beyond this checkpoint, the campaign against the taliban and al qaeda is led by us intelligence. here, the cia is funding, arming and running secret afghan militia who guard the border, gather intelligence and launch kill raids against the militants. >> they're called "counter- terrorism pursuit teams," and they are groups of afghans very well paid, apparently pretty well trained, with guns, and they operate at the direction of the cia. these are direct-action, you know, go-to-the-ball kind of groups. they're not standing around and guarding checkpoints and, you know, street corners. they're going after people. >>

journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund. ( helicopter blades whirring ) >> tonight, i can report to the american people and to the world that the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. ( cheering ) ( explosion ) >> go, go, go, go, go! >> narrator: on may 2, 2011, us special operations forces killed the world's most wanted man in a raid on a house in pakistan. the operation gave the world a glimpse into a vast and secret campaign being waged by the united states. it's known as the kill/capture program. >> all right, spot on 1-6-0. ( explosion ) >> was it good? >> roger, control. >> narrator: it's a campaign that the military says has killed or captured more than 12,000 militants in the last year. ( explosion ) using cutting-edge technology, elite teams are hunting down taliban and al qaeda leaders one by one, and taking them out. >> firing. missile away. >>

journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation. dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund. ( phones ringing ) >> smith: the news broke on december 11, 2008, and within seconds, phones were ringing around the world. ( phones ringing ) michael bienes was in london when he got a phone call from his business partner, frank avellino. >> "and i said, frank, what's wrong?" because i could hear it in his voice. "michael, bernie madoff..." i said, "he died." in a nanosecond, "he died." "...was arrested..." i said, "oh, no," and then another nanosecond-- "...sex crime or some [no audio], you know?" "...for stock fraud." >> smith: phones were ringing in palm beach, too. >> i received a call from an investor in aspen who said that he had heard that bernie was arrested. and i called bernie's office, and i called his secretary. and i said, "gee, we just got this really strange call." and she said, "no, no, everything's fine." >> smith: emails were flying. >> i read it. and then, i read it again. i was, like, in shock-- like, non-believing shock. and i thought he couldn't

journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund. hr/ >> yep, that's meth. and your hypodermic needle that about punctured my arm fell out from your hat. he's dealing. >> how many bags do we have? >> four baggies. you have the right to remain silent. anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. >> narrator: this is the story of an epidemic that has swept across america-- an epidemic of methamphetamine abuse. it begins in oregon, one of the places hit hardest by the epidemic. >> 104, 104. stop right here. >> narrator: when we filmed here in 2005, this trailer park in portland was a favorite place for addicts to crash after days of speeding on meth. >> can i step in and talk to you? >> it gives you a euphoric rush. it's like your whole body tingles all over the place, and it's a good feeling-- a happy, giddy... but then when you come down off of it, then they start pulling... people start wanting more, and they go crazy.z and that's when they do... they lose themselves. i think meth has destroye