susan candiotti, thanks so much.ing forward to than that's expected to happen an hour and a half or so from now. thanks so much. >>> also coming up, a facebook making changes that not everybody's really happy about. we'll have more on that in our next gaming and gadgets segment. first, which country uses the most social media? is its united states, japan, the united kingdom or germany? the answer after this. it feels like a short cut, even through customs. it feels like everything's gonna to be just fine. it feels like the experience of a lifetime. that's what it feels like to be a member. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger

susan candiotti thanks. >>> let's get caught up on some other stories tonight. usan hendricks. >>> syrian security forces stormed a hospital in the western city of hams and took away 18 wounded patients. just took them out. five of the patients were reportedly removed from an operating room, including two who were described as unconscious. that is according to human rights watch. earlier we spoke with a doctor who says he just cannot reveal his name. it is simply too dangerous. >> the most terrible second or moment when you can't -- when you are a doctor and your mission is to protect people, a soldier, he has no mercy, preventing you from giving help to patients. i don't know what happened to them. but i'm sure that they are suffering now. >> in libya today, there has been fighting on the streets with the deadline coming and going for gadhafi loyalists to peacefully surrender with no deal. clashes also took place in benny walid. also following this, stocks took a beating on wall street today due to fears over europe's financial woes. fuelling the selloff resigna

susan candiotti thanks. >>> let's get caught up on some other stories tonight. ricks >>> syrian security forces stormed a hospital in the western city of hams and took away 18 wounded patients. just took them out. five of the patients were reportedly removed from an operating room, including two who were described as unconscious. that is according to human rights watch. earlier we spoke with a doctor who says he just cannot reveal his name. it is simply too dangerous. >> the most terrible second or moment when you can't -- when you are a doctor and your mission is to protect people, a soldier, he has no mercy, preventing you from giving help to patients. i don't know what happened to them. but i'm sure that they are suffering now. >> in libya today, there has been fighting on the streets with the deadline coming and going for gadhafi loyalists to peacefully surrender with no deal. clashes also took place in benny walid. also following this, stocks took a beating on wall street today due to fierce over europe's financial woes. fuelling the selloff resignation of a

susan candiotti is with me here at ground zero. athena jones is standing by at the mall in washington. also, in just a moment we'll check in with suzanne malveaux, she's in afghanistan for us this morning. spending the day with troops whose lives were changed because of what happened on this day ten years ago. they're having their own ceremony to remember 9/11. they'll be talking about their commitment to this country's security. let me begin here at ground zero, site of the attacks on the twin towers. it is an impressive and gorgeous memorial, footprints they call it, the foot prints of where the towers once stood, huge memorial pools. susan candiotti joins me now. good morning to you. help us set the scene for what we are seeing this morning and what we will see throughout the day. >> good morning to you, t.j. because of the ongoing terror threat there's still very tight security around the city through various checkpoints and the like. security is extra tight directly around here, around the memorial, around ground zero. as peop

assistant director tom fuentes joins me now along with susan candiotti.e heard from fran townsend earlier in the program. he believes that authorities believe one suspect is already in the united states. officials have announced a name. this is basically a man hunt going on right now? >> exactly, anderson. but the reporting is that it's a very common name and very difficult for the authorities to actually find the person, specifically identify him and track him down. >> were -- the -- the sourcing on this day is that it's only a partial identity. what does that mean? >> well, obviously, the first name or the last name and a very common name in the united states. so, it again makes it difficult. my understanding is that the sourcing of the information coming from pakistan also has been commonly intercept in the past and that's why they think it's credible information, but, again, they're putting the fact that the information coming in because it's this weekend, has heightened the alert even more. >> susan, is there any sense or any authorities possibly fig

cnn's susan candiotti was there when the hikers spoke a short time ago. susan, what did they have to say apparently we are having trouble with susan candiotti who has been following that story. we will listen to the hikers. >> we had to go on hunger strike repeatedly to receive letters from our loved ones. many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten, and there was nothing we could do to help them. >> though we'd like to be very clear, this was never about crossing the unmarked border between iran and iraq. we were held because of our nationality. >> that was josh fattal an shane bauer. they returned to the u.s. today. they were let go on wednesday and they are back on u.s. soil. obviously they are happy. their families are happy. sarah shourd and josh fattal are al actually engaged to be married now. he made her a wedding ring out of a shirt he wore in prison. the first time they are speaking out on u.s. soil. you see all three hikers there. susan candiotti is standing by. i hope all is well with you now and your live s

susan candiotti, i appreciate your

susan candiotti in paterson, new jersey, a city flooded by hurricane irene last weekend. president obama toured that area today. but we want to begin with ed lavandera. he's in jean lafitte, louisiana, near new orleans. set the scene for us where you are. >> reporter: good afternoon, alina. jean lafitte is south of new orleans, on its way down to the gulf of mexico. if you look in the distance, you'll see an orange sheet on the horizon. on the other side of that, this that is the intercoastal waterway. to the left takes you down toward the gulf of mexico. to the right it winds back in towards the city of new orleans. the problem here isn't necessarily wind, which has been minimal or the rain. it's actually been tidal surge. as this storm slowly crept inland, the winds shoot out to the south. all this water is getting pushed up through here. this is already a low-lying area. the water is getting pushed out of the waterway into these neighborhoods around lafitte. mostly what we're seeing is homes where the water is threatening to go inside. and what they need here, accord t

one source telling our susan candiotti those reports were false. former white house homeland security adviser fran townsend joins us, peter bergen and also susan candiotti. peter is on the phone, author of "the longest war." fran, what's the latest you're hearing from sources on the threat? >> well, anderson, you know, it's interesting because as they begin to pull this thread, the more and more you hear is sort of words of caution. it is unconfirmed. the answer is they're looking for corroboration. they're clearly reaching out to allies around the world as well as looking inside existing databases to try and understand, is this really credible? somebody said to me, you know, it's a plausible threat but i'm not prepared yet to say, the s source said, it's actually credible. we need to act on it. we need more information, more corroboration. >> jessica, how seriously is the white house taking the threat? i talked to jay carney earlier. >> they're taking it quite seriously, anderson. the president was briefed by john brennan, his chief counterterrori

for this, look for anything suspicious in your communities too, because you just don't know. >> susan candiotti, pakistan is shoulding journalists from their compound. check it out. >> reporter: it's early quiet, though. we catch a glimpse of the house. bushes growing thick around it, almost like they are trying to swallow the secret again but, out of nowhere, we are stopped by a soldier. >> we have been pretty quickly stopped by the police here. asked for our passports and told to leave. in fact, we have been asked to stay with them a a little while while. all surprising given a few months ago this place was teaming with journalists and things have definitely changed. >> they have. people in the area say many of bin laden's former neighbors have been accuse of being spies of the cia. >> something most of us will never forget but a new poll shows 9/11 it may be fading from some of our thoughts. fewer people by about 9/11 every day than one year after the attacks. 5% today compared to 30% back in 2002. only 12% now think about it every week. many more people say they think about it at least once

cnn national correspondent susan candiotti in patterson, new jersey.ater stopped rising but that doesn't mean they don't have a mess on their hands still? >> that's right, t.j. over my shoulder you can see the passaic river certainly the current remains very strong. the water level is coming down. no one better to talk to about the situation in patterson than mayor jeffrey jones. thanks for joining us. the president is coming here tomorrow to see personally what patterson looks like, what will you show him? >> we'll show him whatever the secret service allows us to show him. mainly the impacts that this flood has created to many of the residents in this area on both sides of the river, which is about 200 yard distance from the center of the flood to the next point. which is quite extreme for this area. >> now the waters are definitely going down. >> yes, they are. >> how much -- do you have any early damage assessments and what's the latest with how many people have been impacted with this, evacuated, the economic impact as well? >> the damage toll is

we want to check in on now, susan candiotti in new jersey, amber lyon in vermont. you. the president is going to be headed your way this weekend. what do the people want him to hear and see? >> reporter: i think the message very likely will be send us help and more likely than not send us money. of course this state has been declared a federal disaster area by president obama and so help is very likely to be on its way. we're standing in the middle of a parking lot and over here is a street. this street leads to a neighborhood, a neighborhood that obviously remains cut off, unless you can go in and out by boat. we had that chance yesterday, some people who live back there or know people back there gave us a ride. >> this is lake pasaeic. >> reporter: now called lake pasaeic. i'm seeing what it are probably the tops of the fences leading up to the front door. that is not a house on stilts, that's a garage underwater. they stayed around that house? of course lost the car. oh, a classic mustang lost. you've gone through this time and again. why do you and other people

one reporter telling our susan candiotti those reports were false. former white house security adviser fran townsend, susan candiotti and the author of "the long f-war" joins us as well. what's the latest you're hearing from sources on the threat? >> well, anderson, it's interesting because as they begin to pull this thread, the more and more you hear are words of caution. the answer is they are looking for corroboration. they are clearly reaching out to our ails around the world as well as looking inside existing databases to try to understand is this really credible? somebody said to me, you know, it's a plausible threat but i'm not prepared to say yet, the source said to me, that it's actually credible that we need to act on it. we take them all seriously, but we really need more information, more corroboration. >> jess characters how seriously is the white house taking the threat? i spoke to jay carney earlier? >> they are taking it quite seriously. the president was briefed by his chief counterterrorism adviser john brennan this morning and he's

susan candiotti, cnn news, new jersey. >>> then officials in the u.s.oast region say lee is stubborn and slow moving. the storm has drenched new orleans with more than 25 centimeters of rain. the deluge that put the levee system to the test. a tornado watch is in effect. the rain is expected to last for another 24 to 36 hours as lee makes its way north. let's get the latest on lee with ivan at the world weather center. >> not only for the southeast, but it will head to the northeast. that was impacted by irene. two areas of the united states will be under the gun for heavy rainfall here. one of the pumps that the army corps of engineers put into place had to be used after this rain event. there is the low there. the depression that will essentially merge with the frontal boundary from the west. as that happens, look at the rain shield that extends from louisiana all the way into canada here. a lot of tropical moisture coming in from the south. flash flood watches in effect. flooding that is in effect in mississippi and eventually into alabama. here is t

let's get right to susan candiotti in new york. susan, you're getting important new details about what or who u.s. officials are looking for? >> reporter: that's right, fred. we're learning interesting new information about the timing of this possible conspiracy. at least two of the three men involved in this possible terror plot have traveled to the united states last week. of course it remains unconfirmed as does the plot as to whether these people arrived in the united states. the authorities are still working on the assumption that they may have already arrived in the united states. a third man that is believed to be part of this possible group was traveling in europee. now, two of the three men we've been telling you about have been described as u.s. citizens. we are also now learning that two of the three of them are also of arab descent. it's been difficult trying to track down these men because their names are very common in the mideast. however authorities are using flight manifests and logs to try to determine whether thes

susan candiotti, ahead of the president's visit.usan, thank you very much. >>> sarah palin is taking on republican presidential candidate rick perry. we'll shell you what she said after the break. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. >>> sarah palin is grabbing the spotlight in the key presidential caucus state of iowa she just wrapped up her keynote speech at a tea party rally in a town of indianola. if she walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it is a duck, right? she hasn't announced a presidential bid. she sounded like a candidate today, though. >> she did sound a lot like a candidate. you're absolutely right. sarah

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our susan candiotti shows us the devastation in new jersey. >> susan, the great falls and paterson, newy are always a spectacular sight, but nothing like this, thanks to irene, the passaic river here has a very strong current causing the waters to gush over this water fall. and the passaic river to overflow it's banks. on this day nearly a week after the storm came through, many people remain evacuated from their homes in parts of the city. hundreds still have to boil their drinking water, many people still don't have electricity and some stores remain closed as well. this is the backdrop for president obama's visit on sunday. inspectors wearing protective suits are also looking forebusinesses and homes that have been damaged by the flood to make sure they're safe before people move back n i spoke with a lifelong resident of the city, a maim carrier about what he thinks about the president's visit on sunday and how he thinks residents have been affected by the storm. >> after the initial shock of everything, and it's like everything else, there's a grieving process that goes on when som

cnn's susan candiotti was there when they spoke with reporters soon after arriving home. so, susan, we've been waiting to hear from these men. take us inside that press conference. >> well, you know, the very first thing we learned was how it was that they found out that they were going to be set free. and they said, normally, every day they had a bit of exercise in the prison that was outside, then they would normally be blindfolded and taken to their 8 x 13 cell. but last wednesday, after their exercise, they said they were taken to a different floor of the prison and that they were given street clothes and they were fingerprinted. then they were taken somewhere else and met with an envoy for the sultan of oman, and he said to them, let's go home. and don, that's how they figured out they were going home. and of course, they did say that they were very thankful to be set free by the iranian government, but then they didn't waste any time slamming the iranians, saying that they don't deserve any praise, other than the fact that they let them go. here's how they elaborated

cnn national correspondent susan candiotti live in paterson, new jersey, one of the two towns the presidentisited today, the other being wayne. susan, i see you're wearing a mask there. it's because of the smell. what's going on? >> reporter: i'll take it down for obviously the purposes of this report. the workers here, many of them, have been wearing these masks all day long. we're on the temple street bridge in paterson. this is one of the bridges that remains closed. workers have been doing their darnedest to get it cleaned up and re-opened as early as this afternoon. there is so much dust in the air, i'm told by them, there are a lot of hazardous, potentially chemicals in the air. they're trying to protect eyes and lungs as best they can. it is indeed, this is the place, one of the locations where president obama was here today and we'd like to show you pictures of that. where he played the role of comforter in chief. he was in here as well as in wayne, new jersey, shaking hands, he was hugging a lot of people, quite frankly a lost residents who lived here all of their lives who have lo

thanks to susan candiotti for the report.rene is blamed for at least 43 deaths and total losses from the storm could reach $6 billion with a b. >>> turning to politics, mitt romney is looking for new friends in the tea party, you could say. until recently he hasn't spent a lot of time courting the big government activists. tonight, a different story. he spoke at a tea party rally in con ford, new hampshire. he played up his business background and said he is the president to unseat president obama and solve the nation's economic problems. >> we have zero confidence, zero faith in a president who created zero jobs. it's time for someone who knows how to create jobs and get the economy going. that's in my wheelhouse. i will get america working again. >> south carolina's jim demint was on "state of the union" making his feelings known about the upcoming jobs speech to congress on thursday. >> i don't think those things will create jobs, candy. what the president appears to be doing, and i'm so tired of his speeches, it will be h

our susan candiotti talk good them earlier. n, you know, the world's eyes are on really ground zero right now even, even more so than tomorrow. they're trying to make sure everything is safe and they heard about this credible but unsubstantiated terror threat that's going to be happening tomorrow. you can imagine all the security and people involved in this -- >> there has been questions, don, about whether they should alert the public. but officials say we want people to know because we want them to know if we see something to say something in that area. so i think it's a good thing to have people on high alert and they're doing a security sweep at ground zero. live pictures. >> yeah. looks like the traffic, susan, is starting to move. earlier it was just really a wall of red flashing lights there. and that's the west side high y highway, and then you have the hudson river which is close. and you see the buildings, where the buildings once stood. we don't have the control of pictures of photographers there. and they're zooming

susan candiotti spoke with the three jurors in the case. >> reporter: they are three jurors who sharedce that triggers haunting memories to this day. >> like a bad dream you can't wake up from and you can't control. >> reporter: serving on a jury who saw and heard painfully expliz it evidence that the murders were described as pure evil. >> you're capturing all of what's said and processing it. and a lot of it was painful stuff. >> especially now with seeing the new trial coming up and i see flashes of josh on the television. that's when some of the bad feelings do come up. >> reporter: feelings from powerful testimony. that mrs. hauck-petit was forced to withdraw money from a bank, taken home, raped and strangled and her daughters were tied to their beds and set afire. young makayla was sexually assaulted. mr. petit was severely beaten but escaped. some images are inescapable. >> when i look at fire now, it almost always comes to mind. >> reporter: what was the experience like for you? >> i can imagine makayla was the same way my daughter is, happy, had a good family. they did things

friday morning, though, so we're clearly not out of the woods yet.l >> cnn national correspondent susan candiottioins us now from little falls, new jersey, susan, just start with what you have seen today.l >> reporter: well, we've seen a lot of flooding in a lot of areas.l you mentioned the number 18,000 as the governor did.l 3,500 of those people live in this little falls, in this particular passaic county area.l i'm coming to you from the middle of a parking lot.l a parking lot for a car wash.l so, i guess you could argue that if you want on get your car washed, you wouldn't have to pull it through the scrubbers, you could just pull it right through here, because the current here, candy, is very strong.l you get a sense of how deep it is.l i'm five feet tall, and if you look over that way just a little bit, you can see a car, the water comes halfway up the waterline there, so you have a parking lot, a lot of businesses here are flooded out.l but i spent a large part of the day also looking at a lot of homes.l flood stage here earlier today was 14 feet above the flood stage, so it's more than tw

our national correspondent susan candiotti is joining us now. she's in new york. susan, i assume you can see the precautions under way this weekend in new york city. >> reporter: oh, absolutely. of course, security was already at a heightened state because of the importance of the particular anniversary. and now it's ramped up even more. so, yes, you can easily see a bigger police presence at train stations, at tunnels, on the streets, with bags being checked, with cars, all kinds of vehicles being checked, for explosives, the possibility of radioactive bombs as well. and this is all part of the plan of ramped up plan to make sure they're not going to miss anything throughout this weekend. but you know, wolf, it's also interesting to look at the origin of this threat. and my colleague, pentagon correspondent barbara starr, has learned that this started on wednesday when some information was intercepted from an al qaeda operative, someone that authorities believe has been credible in the past that they've eavesdropped on in the past. they took that information, that

our susan candiotti is there now. he president to see, susan, and what do they want him to hear? >> reporter: well, he's going to see things like this. we're on a street called presidential boulevard. a lot of houses here, flooded. the water came up, filled the basement, at least, i would say, 12 feet, and another 4 or 5 inches inside the house. and people here are just looking back at their homes today and shaking their heads about what lies ahead for them. this is a business across the street. also starting its cleanup. this is the passaic river. this is how close they are to the waterfront. and the business operator here tells me that the water has overflowed at times, but never this high. it's receded now, but looking at that fence, debris is stuck nearly to the top. that's another indication of how high up the water was. and over here, this street is impassable. at one point, that car was submerged, no longer. so it's another sign that the water -- floodwaters are going down. we talked to a mail carrier, who has l

that is coming in from susan candiotti. the president speak about this threat, is this current threat based on what you know the wolf type of operation the president was concerned about or something more significant? >> it's certainly sounding more significant. it's a vehicle with improvised explosives and a car bomb. three operatives and potentially two target sets of d.c. or new york. this is not a lone wolf. it's understandable that that is what the president was focused on at the time because it was after norway, this is more of an al qaeda central. let's be clear. he thought a large scale attack was unlikely. i will tell you if you compare even the outlines that we have, three people and a car bomb is a much less significant event if it were to happen than a 9/11. three planes and 3,000 people dead. that's not to minimize the threat. they are running that to ground right now. this is not large scale on the skile scale of a 9/11 even though it is significant. >> nick robert in kabul, what does it say to you that two of

susan candiotti is live in canford, new jersey, with the details. ood morning. in fact, this area still hundreds and hundreds of people are without power. and so many people are trying to clean up after the mess. the floodwaters are gone here, but look at the stuff lined up along nearly every sidewalk here. some people even lost the foundations of their homes and one man, as you indicated, could have lost his life. now he flat out panicked when the river started to rise. he defied an evacuation order and stayed inside his house. he could have gone up and stayed on the second floor and could have ridden out the storm, but instead, he decided he was going to take a chance. because he couldn't take it anymore, he went downstairs, opened the front door in chest high water and decided to swim to escape. >> reporter: the river is right in your backyard. you're watching the water go up and then you see your kids' play set in the back of the tree. what are you thinking? >> i'm thinking it's very dangerous and time to leave this place. >> as you're looking ou

susan candiotti. >> so far, so good. >> thank you, susan. >>> let's head to atlanta and check in witheded in vermont but not in new jersey. why is that? >> rougher terrain. deeper mountains and bigger valleys and the water drains much more fastly. you get the torrential force behind the rivers and why we saw the structural damage across vermont. the river valley takes 24 hours to completely drain so it moves quickly. jersey, it's a little bit flatter so it rises and recedes more slowly and down towards places like north carolina, it rises much more slowly but takes days, if not weeks to recede. >>> more rain in the northeast? hurricane katia, a 1 overnight moving to the west at 19 miles an hour. here is the forecast track. bring it to category 3 status by the weekend. moving it closer to the u.s. that is the trajectory right now. . only five days out. it does miss the caribbean. we are hoping it misses the u.s. too early to call that yet but there are stronger cold fronts i see down the pipe and hoping pushes this thing out to sea. can't make that clear signal call just yet. this thin

susan candiotti is standing by for us at ground zero. a short time ago, we saw police making a very public security sweep. you were standing above the highway overlooking the memorial when we saw you last time here on cnn. that sweep was happening live. you have since moved. why? >> well, they're conducting a security sweep from our position overlooking that memorial. right now we're down on the street and it's a completely different atmosphere. we can no longer look over the memorial, but here, different situation. this is mainly a commercial district, not residential. it's quiet anyway at night. taking a look now, we're in an area where our movements are restricted. as you can see, there's a bit of traffic now. and looking down the street as well, you can see the ground zero is just beyond there where all the lights are. you see the high rises. there you see looming ahead of you, this is one world trade center. it is the -- going to be the largest building they say in the country and possibly the western hemisphere. it's also going bei

our susan candiotti is there in patterson, new jersey. esident, susan, heading your way soon. >> reporter: -- we happen to be on presidential boulevard. perhaps this is one of the streets the president will see. there's a lot of devastation for him to look at around town. this is one of many streets around patterson. not all of the city is underwater, but certainly, there are areas of devastation to look at. this was once -- this car was once submerged, it's not anymore. so the good news is that the water levels are going down. if you swing over this way, you can see the passaic river. the current is running strong. obviously, the levels are down. but at one point, that water was all the way up to this fence line. there is debris still stuck to it and there are high water lines, if you look even farther down this block a little bit, there's even an auto body shop, indicating that some people are trying to get back into their businesses and homes, certainly, to start the long cleanup. the long, hard cleanup. we spoke with a mayor earlier th

. >>> breaking news, a 9/11 terror news, susan candiotti is on top of the breaking story. susan, what is the latest information you have? >> reporter: the latest information, piers, is that three people might possibly be involved and the authorities are trying to track down this information. the latest ihave, according to a u.s. government source, that the names of the people who might be involved are rather common, which might make it it that much harder to try to track down the specificity of this information that they've been looking into, piers. >> obviously there's a fine balance to be struck between not wanting to alarm people but also wanting to be aware if it is a credible threat. it seems from all the way the people in official places are behaving they are taking this pretty seriously. >> reporter: oh, absolutely. and this information was available, let's say, as of early this morning so certainly came to authorities within the last 24 hours, i am told. so that's why you heard authorities say at this press briefing that they are taking steps above and beyond, for e

susan candiotti spoke to three of the jur mors the hayes trial.y say they are still haunted by the images they saw in the courtroom. >> they're three jurors who shared an experience that at times triggers haunting memories to this day. >> it's like a bad dream you can't wake up from and you can't control. >> reporter: serving on a jury who saw and heard painfully explicit evidence that steven hayes helped carry out the murder of jennifer hawke-petit, her 17-year-old daughter hayley and 11-year-old michaela. murders described as pure evil. >> you are capturing all of what's said and processing it. and a lot of that was painful stuff. >> especially now with seeing the new trial coming up and i see flashes of josh on the television. that's when some of the bad feelings do come up. >> reporter: feelings from powerful testimony that mrs. hawke-petit was forced to withdraw money from a bank, take it home, raped and strangled. her daughters were tied to their beds and set afire. young michaela was sexually assaulted. mr. petit was severely beaten but esc

>> susan candiotti at jfk where shane bauer, josh fattal, and their families have touched down, very of course, had been imprisoned in iran for more than two years. i want to bring in elise labbot, producer at the state department, and ask you why now. it's been more than two years since they were hitchhiking along the iraq/iran border. they along with sarah shourd were detained by the iranys, put on trials. she was released on humanitarian reasons. now after two years, suddenly they're out. why is that? >> reporter: i think that they -- iranians came to the conclusion that they weren't really getting the bang for their buck anymore with these hikers. this was really becoming an international incident. they had hoped maybe they could get some leverage with the united states, maybe make a trade for some iranian detainees that they felt were unjustly detained in u.s. jails. that wasn't happening. and as i said, this became an internal incident because the u.s. and iran don't have relations, the swiss were getting involved, the omanis, and international celebrities. i think it was as pr

our susan candiotti was there >> reporter: back on u.s. soil, freed hikers josh fattal and shane bauer came out swinging at iran, calling themselves political pawns and iran's officials liars for calling them spies. >> they do not deserve undue credit for ending what they had no right and no justification to start in the first place. the only reason we have been held hostage is because we are american. >> reporter: and they disclose how they found out their two-year ordeal was over. last wednesday, in prison, they were inexplicably given street clothes, and fingerprinted and taken to meet an envoy from oman and -- >> he said, let's go home. >> reporter: within hours they ran off a plane in oman and into the arms of their families. including the mother of josh fattal. what was that like for you? >> well, we were hooting and hollering and we were waving our scarves and we just couldn't wait till they got down to us. i couldn't have asked for anything better. >> reporter: in prison, spending months in isolation, with no diplomatic visits and

let's turn now to susan candiotti live outside the courthouse in new haven, connecticut.urors in the trial of steven hayes, and what did they tell you? >> reporter: you know, they talked about trauma that some of them still feel, and little things that trigger bad memories, like seeing the same model of the getaway car, or passing by the police station. they talked about painful memories that they share. they are three jurors who shared an experience that at times triggers haunting memories to this day. >> it's like a bad dream you can't wake up from and you can't control? >> reporter: serving on a jury who saw and heard painfully explicit evidence that steven hayes helped carry out the murder of jennifer hawke-petit, her 17-year-old daughter, hal hayley, and their other daughter, micaelmicaela. >> especially now seeing with new trial coming up, and i see flashes of josh on the television, that's when some of the bad feelings do come up. >> feelings from powerful testimony that mrs. hawke-petit was forced to withdraw money from a bank, taken home, raped, and strangled. he

we'll have to see. >> susan candiotti, thanks for that great piece and great reporting.r top stories in "the situation room" now. testimony in the trial for michael jackson's personal doctor suggests that conrad murray looked like he didn't know how to give cpr. >> yeah, this was very bizarre, joe. one of michael jackson's bodyguards, he is telling the jury he didn't see any medical monitors in the room and the third day of the trial against jackson's physician, conrad murray, alberto alvarez testified, the doctor told him to scoop up all the drug vials by the bed before they called 911. murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's death in 2009. >>> rapper t.i. is out of an atlanta halfway house. the road to freedom begins now as the performer whose name is actually clifford harris jr., serves a year long probation. he was given an 11-month prison sentence on a parole violation. >>> if you ever wondered what happened to the little boy in the movie "the shining," steven king sure did and he's now working on the sequel called "dr. sleep." it promises

we want to get straight to susan candiotti who is there and joins us live. susan, have you seen the president? tell us what's happening. >> reporter: not from our perspective but he is certainly being seen by a lot of people. we all know his title as commander in chief. today he is also playing off his title as comforter in chief. he's already visited two communities from new jersey, wayne new jersey and right now in paterson, new jersey and he has been meeting and greeting with residents and getting out of the motorcade and telling them that the united states is there to help them with federal disaster relief. he also stopped briefly and made a statement in which he said that he wants people to know that america is behind them and that everyone women support them. that there is federal money, enough to meet its obligations to help people recover from hurricane irene. we're also going to show you know where we are in paterson, new jersey, this is a command post where they are setting up. 600 people in the city of paterson remain without power and don't have e

>> susan candiotti there out of new york for us. susan, thanks. >>> and one hour from now, president obama faces a high-stakes test of diplomacy. he's going to stand before the united nations and face two very different audiences. one, the international community on edge over u.s. efforts to block palestinian membership. the other, his republican challengers ready to pounce on any hint he's backing away from israel. brianna keilar live at the white house. how careful do you think the administration is being in trying to achieve the right balance here? >> overall in the actions the administrations have taken over months, you could argue that they tried to have a balance there. but if you look, kyra, at the president's actions in new york, what we're expecting him to say before the u.n. general assembly today, if you look at those things in isolation, this is not walking a very fine line. this is the president coming down firmly on the side of israel to say that this is not the venue for the palestinians to seek statehood and it's also

susan candiotti has his amazing story. >> reporter: the river is right in your backyard.ing the water go up and see your kids' play set in the back of the tree. what are you thinking? >> i'm thinking that it's very dangerous and time to leave this place. >> reporter: as you're looking outside, what is the storm looking like? what is going on in your head? >> the house is surrounded by water. i thought about eventually leaving 3:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon on sunday. i grab my credit card and my keys. i literally open the door, the water rushed in. i started walking down here. i did one of these. i finally got here and the water is up to here. i walked, i walked. literally the water is splashing in my face. i walk up here. this is the lowest point to come up. i literally walk up and it goes higher ground. i literally grab on to the railing here and my neighbor is pumping the water out. i said i've got to get the heck out of here. i said i'm swimming out of here. >> reporter: are you walking or swimming? >> i hold ton to branches and get pushed here. i grab on to the pole h

susan candiotti is live in new york with the latest. susan, so now they've been released.elieve they go now? where are they headed? when do they reunite with their families? >> the last word we have from iran's state news agency is that they are wheels up, they're on their way to oman where their families are known to be anxiously awaiting what is sure to be a very emotional reunion after not having seen them, remember, only once they were allowed a visit on mother's day one year after they were imprisoned. so waiting for them, the families of josh fattal, shane bauer and sarah shourd is also there. remember, she's engaged to shane bauer. we recall she said when she was released, she said back in january of 2010, shane got down on a bended knee and had fashioned an engagement ring out of a thread from the shirt he'd worn to present that to her. so she will be there also. we are told. we're waiting for a statement from the family at any time, presumably it will be when the plane touches down. they're being escorted by a representative of oman. that country enjoys, of course

susan candiotti is in cranford, for us. >> reporter: here in cranford, new jersey, take a look at the river looking more normal but did it wreak havoc in hurricane irene. it overflowed its banks big time. one neighborhood still don't have their electricity turned on and many residents are telling us they would give anything for a hot shower after nearly a week without power. this is what a lot of the neighborhoods look like. debris all over the place. they have a lot of cleaning up to do here. they have got all kinds of furniture, personal belongings, chairs, washing machines all left to be picked up. in fact, some homes even had to be condemned because either trees have fallen down on them or their foundations have washed away. here in union county, they are still waiting for a declaration of disaster. the police chief tells me they hope to get it once they get the proper paper work filed with fe fema. t.j., back to you. >> three weather situations we are continuing to keep an eye on. >>> 10 minutes past the hour now. turn to a disturbing string of deaths in hockey. three current or

susan candiotti covering both angles of the story for us at ground zero tonight for us. n, what are people talking about? i'm wondering, are more people visiting today with the anniversary tomorrow? >> reporter: there have been a lot of crowds, particularly here at ground zero, looking over the memorial from a distance. some people have had advanced tours. but in addition to thinking about what will happen here tomorrow morning in a wonderful ceremony, everyone is also talking about the possibility of that threat, a possible attack on new york city still unconfirmed, that threat is yet. but when you talk to people on the streets, they're also not overly concerned or worried about all the increased security around the city. they're putting up with it. take a look. >> i think new yorkers who went through the aftermath just got a little bit tougher. you almost accept the fact if you're going to live in new york, that threat's going to be here perennially. >> we hear that all the time. it's hard for that to -- it doesn't necessarily seem like a reality. >> there's always goin