nick payton walsh, cnn afghanistan.we like to go the extra mile for our clients. with the wassman family, it was 2,500 extra miles. we're the wassman family from skagway, alaska. livin' so far out and not havin' a bank within 90 miles... i was runnin' into dead ends. happened to come across quicken loans online. [ chris ] walked over to the computer... i was able to see all the paperwork. while i was on the phone, i was able to go through the checklist. [ kathy ] they were quick and efficient. quicken loans is definitely engineered to amaze. they were just really there for us. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. >>> it seems everyone had a reaction to the casey anthony verdict. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: it only took two words to finally get a smile out of casey anthony. but not guilty was not music to everyone's ears. from nancy grace -- >> the devil is dancing tonight. >> to the cartoonist who portrayed cas

it's pretty certain. >> nick payton walsh joins us from kabul.he lieutenant said the taliban is getting, quote, pretty gutsy. where does this confidence come from, and does it it stem in part from the fact they know the americans are leaving? >> reporter: i think that's true to a certain extent. the gutsiness is perhaps a suggestion that some fighters there are foreign. u.s. officials identifying what they believe were safe havens there before they launched a large operation into that particular area. the focus was on pakistan's safe havens there. that where many in washington believe al qaeda was hiding. big concerns they naif found a breathing space in afghanistan. >> if they have a breathing space in afghanistan, we are nearing a decade mark in this conflict. can you push al qaeda out of afghanistan permanently, and the subquestion in that scenario has been when will the afghans be ready to do this themselves? when will they take the lead in the army and police? where are we there? >> reporter: very difficult to answer that. the immediate reac

nick payton walsh, afghanistan. >>> very courageous journal list there.huge empty space and it's on track to cost american taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. we're flook to an outrageous case of broken government in the united states. >>> plus stephen colbert dives in to the world of campaign finance. but is the comedy central star really serious? oh common. and how can you talk to me about fiber while you are eating a candy bar? you enjoy that. i am. [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. i bet it could last through some artsy foreign film. good idea. let's go. did i just say that out loud? [ female announcer ] feel fresh up to 5 times longer with scope outlast. still feeling fresh? oh, yeah. [ female announcer ] what will you outlast? >>> a huge office space leased by a federal agency is being held up as an example of outrageous government waste in the united states. the reason? it's empty. lisa sylvester has been doing great reporting on this story for us. part of her broken governm

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cnn's nick payton walsh joined an army patrol on the hunt. >> reporter: almost a decade in the hunt forks like this. americans pushing the afghans to the front, taking the high ground in hills impossible to police. the pressure for less americans here is extreme, but the afghans only mustered five men for this patrol. >> it has to be five to seven round bursts and go. >> reporter: and despite this training, policing the local villages, let alone taking on the terrorist network that america came here to eradicate. it is here that afghanistan's future looks like its past. american control does not extend up to this valley and high on the ridgelines, they found safe havens for al qaeda. they have revealed to cnn they located here al qaeda fighters using the secluded alpine villages for training and planning. in june, hundreds of americans were airlifted in, 9,000 feet up, but they faced fierce resistance and a longer nastier fight than planned. u.s. officials say they killed 120 insurgents and top leaders, many taliban, but several of them arabs linked to al qaeda, damaging their network.

nick payton walsh, cnn, afghanistan. >>> top of the news this hour, a one new nation in the world, two big celebrations marking independence day. this is the flag of the now independent nation of south sudan, rising for the first time over the capital city of juba. the country is officially separate today after five decades of on and off civil war with the mostly muslim north. the same flag rising today in washington, d.c. over the new embassy of south sudan. >>> the man who won this year's dancing with the stars, well, he may have waltzed himself right into trouble with the dui ticket in atlanta earlier today. hines ward who is a star receiver for the nfl pittsburgh steelers, posted a $1,000 bond. his mug shot taken of him at the dekalb county jail. >>> royal couple will and kate are in california. they're being greeted by celebrities and local politicians. california's first couple gave the couple an ipad 2 loaded with california themed songs and movies. prince william is set to play polo this afternoon in santa barbara. >>> in washington, d.c., a call for peace from the dalai lama,