per hour or more and visibility around a quarter of a mile or less. so that can really cripple travel. we're expecting a mess in the midwest tomorrow. kyra? >> that does it for us. back here tomorrow at 1:00 eastern time. rick sanchez picks it up from rick sanchez picks it up from here. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com protesters in iran ramp up the defiance calling the leader a murderer. scientists fire back at those accusing them of tweaking global warming stats. >> some find it inconvenient to accept the inevidentability. >> reporter: we're live with both sides of the story in cop n n haguen. we follow the money and told you about money in washington. look who else is saying it? >> i think their lobbyist is reimbursed at $1.7 million. >> we love vick! >> reporter: michael vick cheered in atlanta. but wait. he doesn't play for atlanta. we use twitter to connect you to newsmakers today. our access is your access on your national conversation for monday, december 7, 2009. hello, again, everybody. i'm rick sanchez with the next generation of news. this is a conversation, not a speech and it's your turn to get involved. let me show you a picture right there. inside that white house right now, president obama's preparing to talk to general mcchrystal who commands u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan. he'll also talk to carl aikenberry, the u.s. ambassador. this is taking place as we speak. that meeting about to get started and if there is news, we'll bring it to you this hour. here's what we know. we now know which troops will be going to afghanistan first, how many, when and from where. it's no coincidence that the chairman of the joint chiefs spoke today at camp la julejeun north carolina. why? that's where the troops, the first to go, are packing for deployment before new year's day. and in just a couple of months, that 1,500 will turn into 13,000 or so troops if the pentagon sticks to its timetable. this is where it gets controversial. that timetable has an end date and that sticks in the craw of a lot of folks who say announcing a pull-out date is just plain dumb. here's the secretary of defense. >> -- balancing a demonstration of resolve with also communicating a sense of urgency to the afghan government that they must step up to the plate in terms of recruiting their soldiers, training soldiers and getting their soldiers into the field first to partner with us and our isaf partners and then on their own. so it's an effort to try and let the afghans know that while we intend to support them for a long time, the nature of the relationship is going to begin to change in july of 2011. as the security component comes down, the economic development and the political relationship will become a bigger part of the relationship. we are not going to abandon afghanistan like we did in 1989, but the nature of the relationship will change. >> that is the plan. there are obstacles though. as you might imagine. here's an important note. the turkish prime minister was in washington today. he told president obama, no, on any more troops from their country though turkey is a part of nato. here now barbara starr with a look at how american generals are trying to make a difference in afghanistan. seriously here, one handshake at a time. >> reporter: we are continuing to travel throughout eastern afghanistan having a look at the security situation on the ground. we went to a location about 30 miles outside of kabul, the capital. this is an area called logar province. i was there a year ago and the security situation was so dire you could not walk the ground. everyone traveled in the u.s. military by armored vehicles, heavily armed troops. today, it is a different place. we were able to go with a security detail but on foot, on patrol through a very busy marketplace talking to shopkeepers, looking at produce, stopping along the way. this is an area where a small number of u.s. troops have worked with afghan national police and have had some impact. they have been able to at least drive the taliban and the insurgents out of this one area and, as a consequence, it is a thriving marketplace. business is growing in this region. but that's not to say that there aren't problems in eastern afghanistan. commanders estimate there are as many as 4,000 insurgents in this four-province area. they have seen foreign fighters. they are seeing ieds that are larger and more deadly. when the additional u.s. troops come to afghanistan, a number of them will come here. they are expected to heavily focus on training those afghan forces so they can do a better job of eventually taking over. barbara starr, cnn, bhagram. i told you about rick's list. i have been telling you about -- hold on. come back to me if you could. all right. i have been telling you about rick's list and what we continue to do is try to follow up on all the things that the people we talk to bring us reaction on what's going on. all right. let's go to that over here if we can now. this is mullens just moments ago before he arrived at camp lejeune. told soldiers at fort campbell they would play a key role in afghanistan strategy. then he says, off now to camp lejeune. there you have it. by the way, you will want to see this. we have gary berntsen with us. he was told to go in and kill osama bin laden. he's the guy who will tell you how bin laden got away at torabora. you will see him -- me, live tomorrow. >> lobbyist is very well reimbursed. i think $1.7 million. >> all right. i believe that was john mccain. we have made some calls to senator mccain's office and i'm going to tell you who he's talking about. lobbyis lobbyists, campaign contributions. does this ever stop? i will follow the money for you again. also, what do these icy paths on the world's most famous peaks reveal about the climate change debate? a trip to mount everest as international experts convene in copenhagen. don't forget the other way to participate in the national conversation, call us in the united states. the number is 877-742-5751. i'll be right back. this, my friends, is what i am bringing to the table. do you trust me? uh... hunt's flashsteams every tomato to keep that backyard garden fresh taste. get your hands out of there now. you're very lucky that it came out this good. isn't it time to take a fresh look at your tomatoes? female valve: hahahaha...i am sfx:strong like the ox.ght. i crush you like tiny clown car. because you are... ...clown, yes? female valve: come, you hit me again and i break you. male valve: oh, you messed with wrong pipe now, car. ha, ha trust me...i have to live with her. announcer:accidents are bad. but geico's good with guaranteed repairs through auto repair express. i'm rick sanchez. welcome back. sorry about the confusion so far. one of the problems we're having today, i will be transparent about this, is two things really. we're now doing rick's list which i have explained to you on many occasions. we give you access to people who are relevant to stories and they are reacting to the stories as we are putting them on the air from all over the world. today's when we are unveiling it from washington. the problem is as we were getting ready to go on the air, twitter went down for repairs. so there was no way to do the twitter board as we were trying to get information from twitter to bring to you. obviously you don't care. you want us to bring you that information and that's what we'll be doing. something else going on. for months now i have been telling you how special interests are working to shape health care legislation to their own advantage with money. lots of money. as i have reported to you, in the form of campaign contributions to lawmakers to get them to vote for or against -- mostly against -- the health care reform. in fact, i told you the money to influence this bill is on track to set a record, the most ever in the history of legislation in this country. here's another example of that. the senate is expected to vote on an amendment that will let americans pay less for drugs by importing them from other countries so you can save money. the sponsor of the bill is democratic senator byron dorgan. he says this can save consumers $100 billion. now i want you to hear what republican senator john mccain has to say as he accuses the obama administration, in this case, of selling out to the drug companies who don't want that measure to pass. >> the deal that pharma cut which was on the front page of several newspapers around america that in return for their support of the legislation the administration would oppose drug reimportation from canada. i know this -- that the administration and pharma are pulling out the stops to try to stop legislation which is clearly in the best interest of people who have to buy prescription drugs because they are much less expensive when they come from another country such as canada. i mean, there is no way you can disprove that statement. there is evidence of it. so they are pulling out all the stops. we'll see who wins here -- special interests, obviously the pharmaceutical company. i saw the other day their lobbyist is well reimbursed. i think $1.7 million. of course their campaign contributions and the ads they are running, i have no idea how many millions of dollars in supporting, guess what, this plan because they have done very well in this deal. >> so good for john mccain, right? talking about lobbyists who are giving people -- or getting campaign contributions and people who are getting money in this entire system that we have often criticized. here's a question -- is the debate being influenced by drug company money? just as it's been influenced by health care provider money. and are democrats and republicans getting that money -- both, not just republicans, not just democrats but both. in a word, yes. we have been able to determine that the lobbyist, by the way, that senator mccain is referring to is none other than former republican congressman billy towsen, the president of the pharmaceutical companies and research of america. funny how people go from lawmaker to lobbyist to lawmaker to lobbyist -- isn't it? so how much money has now been spent to influence the health care debate? as of mid november -- this is information you should know -- more than $600 million spent to influence this debate from people with a dog in the fight. we follow the money and we'll continue to make that a regular segment. by the way, talk about rick's list now. you know how we are constantly getting information from people relevant to stories on this list that we started just last week? look what we just got. go to open secrets over here, dc. see that? this is from opensecrets.org, an organization we used here and have vetted in the past. they sent us this regarding the story we just told about john mccain. our research indicates that john mccain has received $1.6 million in campaign contributions from lobbyists over his career. just thought you should know. >> the ice is going to be moving much more. so when climbers are in there, accidents and more deaths will occur. >> if climate change is real, is it about to get deadly? the theories, the skeptics and, of course, the e-mail scandal coming out of europe. of course, with officials from all over the world in copenhagen we'll use rick's list to find out what they are saying today and when they say it, you will be the first to see it. our access is your access. r lif. call... to get started, and learn how to secure retirement income that won't go down -- guaranteed. call fidelity at... for details about guaranteed income for life, and change the way you think about your retirement savings. welcome back. you know, we have been following on rick's list a lot of situations going on in europe. you have heard a lot about it. this controversy over these hacked e-mails that reveal that there may have been some shenanigans going on with some of the leading scientists over in europe. and certainly the right is making a lot of hay out of it -- and so is the left. we have been getting a lot of tweets on this just from regular folk, but we are also getting some people who follow this because it's part of their job to follow it. let me show you what we do with rick's list, first of all, because you have access to it. my access is your access. robert, go over to the screen so we can see what we're talking about. there's the regular rick's list. over on the right you can click and you will get to any of the lives we have created. one is experts on afghanistan. another is a list on celebrities. another is a list on experts and people talking about the tiger woods situation. then there is a list on global warming and climate change. that's the one that we are into today. these are all people who are relevant or have something to do with it. let's go to people we have been hearing from today so far. this is alex steffen. he says, note please, hacked e-mails haven't cast doubt on climate science. they're a pretext for expressing existing opposition to climate action. he's calling this a pretext. let's go to the next one if we can. this is from grist, one of the biggest news environmental blogs there is. he sends this to me -- they send this to me and say, it strengthens the hand of skeptics but doesn't change science. not as if glaciers have been paid off to melt. two opinions as we speak. there's rick's list. we'll continue to bring it to you. it's copenhagen day. the u.n. climate has started. even before president obama gets on the plain, the white house is declaring that greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide are officially endangering you, me and all of our families. it's a debate -- a loud one. we're not going to settle the argument here on cnn, but i can take you to places where there is no way to deny that things are getting hotter. scientists are not entirely sure why and people are getting worried. let's watch this report together now from as far as cnn headquarters can get. literally the top of the world which some say is melting, yes. ice on mount everest is melting. roll it. [ chanting ] >> reporter: no sherpa will lead an expedition to mount everest without first making offerings to the mountain herself. they take this ceremony extremely seriously and with good reason. even as prayers were said, an avalanche ripped down the slopes a few hundred meters from where we would be climbing. of all the glaciers in the himilayas this is the most celebrated as it leads to the top of the world, but our guide showed us the fame had not saved it from the degradation of sun and warm air. >> we are in the middle of the ice fall. it's winter and every afternoon when the sun comes out the ice melts and creates big puddles and then it flows away. this is very unusual. >> you wouldn't believe ice would melt up here this time of year. >> exactly. it is and we're standing on it. >> we are just tiny dots in the vastness. it is a huge and slow-moving river of ice, but on a slope this steep where a river will become a waterfall, the glacier becomes an icefall. deep crevasses open, each to be crossed precariously on the way to the top. if the melting continues climbing the icefall may no longer be an option. >> the ice will be moving much more, so when climbers are in there accidents are going to occur and more deaths will occur. >> reporter: presumably similar things are happening. >> oh, yes. if you look around us, all the glaciers are melting and it's all going to be the same. >> reporter: our ambition was to climb to the top to where mountaineers established camp two, but as we approached camp one the weather took a decided turn for the worse. 50 and 60 miles per hour winds battered our tent all night. i don't know how much longer this tent is going to last. it's anyone's guess. by dawn, it was clear the only safe option was to head down and fast. we couldn't see for ourselves the condition of the glacier higher up, but dawa steven has been there recently. >> this year in the spring we saw running water on the surface at 8,000 meters. further up even at the summit itself on the summit ridge, crevasses are opening up. >> reporter: it could have implications as lower altitudes for rivers and aquifers if the glaciers and annual meltwater disappear. locally, the situation is serious. globally, it could be a catastrophe. it is hard to believe standing here high in the icefall that the glacier like this could simply disappear. some say such a scenario would be a long way off, but others are not so relaxed and say on the precaution mcnair principle alone it is something that the world and asia in particular must start preparing for. james mates, itv news on mount everest. >> cushy trips to destinations bought and paid for with lobbyist dollars. i told you i would be following the money on this newscast. today, the new york times is tracking more than a thousand trips by lawmakers that are iffy at best when it comes to an ethics rule. i will talk to the reporter who investigated that at the new york times. also, when it comes to appearances being everything, how does it look when a u.s. senator suggests his girlfriend for a top job? how does that look? >> caller: hey, rick, this is peter from crescent city. with the mccain deal, it's not just how it's done. there are billions spent and it's just how it's done. if he mentions all the billions, but he doesn't. so it's politics as usual. >> welcome back, i'm rick sanchez from the world headquarters of cnn. what would you do if you were responsible for filling a job opening and the most qualified person for the job were your girlfriend? that scenario is generating a buzz in washington since it was revealed saturday that democrat senator max bacchus recommended his own girlfriend for the position of state attorney in his own state. she didn't get the job because their relationship was getting serious and they decided it would be best to withdraw her name from the running. but the girlfriend, melod melody haines was also an employee of the senator. they were both separated from their spouses at the time they say. he submitted six candidates for u.s. attorney to his vetter. that vetter came back with just three names who were viable enough to go on to the white house. one of those was ms. haines. here now, the senator is speaking to cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash this weekend. >> reporter: did the vetter know about your relationship? >> i don't know if the vetter did or didn't. i don't know if the vetter did or didn't. but the point is when it became apparent, the relationship -- it made close for it not to continue. >> the vetter did or didn't. ms. haines works at the justice department and lives with the senator in washington. republicans are calling for an ethics investigation. we'll keep you posted. [ screaming ] >> iran's government doesn't want you to see this but we do. students protesting the outcome of the presidential election on an important date in their history. members of congress traveling far and wide, but who's paying? you can join the national conversation. call 877-4cnn-tour or check us out at cnn.com/tour and you could be a part of the show here in the studio with me. and this is his new chevy, what sold you? i can return it. of course, now on top of chevy's 5-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, they're offering their 60-day satisfaction guarantee. now, when i buy a new chevy i can return it within 60 days if i'm not thrilled. just one problem... what's that? i'm thrilled. change is good jim. the 60-day satisfaction guarantee. from chevy. it can be tough living with copd... but i try not to let it slow me down. i go down to the pool for a swim... get out and dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, or have vision changes or eye pain. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. every day could be a good day to breathe better. announcer: ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you. by changing her medicare prescription plan. all we had to do was go to cvs.com and use the free savings calculator. we learned that changing your medicare part d plan could save an average of $612. woman: we just entered my prescriptions, and it compared plans for us. it was easy to find the right plan for the prescriptions i need. your cvs pharmacist can help, too. come in today, or go to cvs.com before december 31st to find the best plan for you -- at cvs/pharmacy. we're going to continue to get more information on the stories unwinding out of washington. we told you moments ago about this controversy involving senator max bacchus and his girlfriend. we have more information. let's go to rick's list. opensecrets.org sent me these tweets about him. melodee hanes donated $940 to him in 2002. she also made contributions to john kerry and other democratic interests. this one says we found he has extensive history of former staffers scoring lucrative lobbying jobs, 26 in all. useful information from opensecrets.org. we make it our business on this show, as you know and as you can see, to follow the money. it's your money. it should be your business. i have told you about campaign contributions, but what about junkets, the all expenses paid trips for politicians that are often about flupsing them more than just about -- influencing them more than just about anything else. why are they allowed? the new york times turned up more than a thousand questionable trips. eric was one of the reporters on the story and he's been good enough to join us. thanks for being with us. >> pleasure. >> aren't there supposed to be rules to curb this? >> yeah. there were new rules put in place in 2007. you may remember at the height of the jack abramoff scandal, the disgraced lobbyist. you probably saw pictures of him taking tom delay and others to scotland on golf junkets. >> among other places. >> they are the symbol of washington abuses and there are new rules in place. we started looking at a bunch of trips that have taken place under the new regime. we found that a lot of the rules are so full of holes and contradictions that members are getting awfully creative in basically evading the new restrictions and finding ways to get what amounts to financed trips. >> i imagine they say there is a very important business for jurisdiction and my citizens need to possibly do potential business with lichten stein which is one of the places mentioned in the story. >> a lot of times they don't even make that assertion. it's just an educational symposium or conference in london, paris, hawaii or the caribbean. >> let me stop you. what are these really? what do i need to understand? i'm sure not all cases but in most cases, what are they really? >> they run the gamut. there are some that are seen as truly educational forums that bring together leading thinkers from around the world. there are others which seem to be just chances for lobbyists and executives to sit on the same panels as members of congress, sometimes paying -- in one case lobbyists paying $18,000 to go to a conference in israel with members of congress and the fact that members of congress were there was billed as part of the attraction of this, to get access to this elite cadre of power brokers. >> that was represent iliana ross lateman who i have covered for years. is there an accusation that she or any of these people are doing what wrong then by being there? >> well, the possible violation of the new rules -- for instance in that case -- is that there were lobbyists involved in planning that trip. this came at the invitation of a new york company that had a mission statement with invitation, dear congresswoman, dear senator ben nelson who came, we would love to have you for this exciting lavish event. lobbyists are not supposed to be in planning those events and making invitations anymore. the fact that they were involved on its face appears to be a violation. there are other instances we found, again, where lobbyists played an up-front or behind the scenes role in financing the trips, underwriting the trips, often with the money passing through nonprofits which were set up for no other reason than to finance trips. >> lavish is the key word. eric is a reporter with the new york times. as usual, you work for the new york times so i'm sure you have heard it a million times. good work. good journalism, thanks. >> thank you very much. >> we contacted the offices of representatives davis, ross-layton and sensenbrenner. we haven't received replies yet from davis and sensenbrenner, but lehtinen said this. my trip to israel in 2008 was approved in advance and was not at taxpayer expense. also the trip provided me with the opportunity to discuss critical surt issues with top israeli officials. at no time was i lobbied. >> it's silly when it every place else and these people have been raised with it forever. >> no christmas party, no hanukkah, no holiday parties. nothing having to do with religion. why are the hallmarks of the holidays being removed from some schools in this country? also, here is a case of a woman who just wouldn't let it go, referring to this train passenger and her purse. you're going to see it right there -- oh, no. we'll be right back. what would you say if i told you that drivers... who switched from geico to allstate... saved an average of $473 a year? no way! way. ♪ a short note about what's happening in iran's capital today. look at the pics. again, people, mostly young people in these cases, are filling the streets, shouting things like "death to the dictator" talking about their president mahmoud ahmadinejad. they are slashing with riot police and armed militia we have talked about in the pascaled the basiji in iran trying to break up the protest and shut them down. we are replying -- relying on witnesses to try and bring us as much information they can. amateur video like this one. why? well, because the iranian government has told cnn that their camera crews need to stay away. we are banned from covering these protests. we cannot take pictures, ask questions, so we are relying on these kinds of videos to come to us. we guarantee we'll keep trying to bring them to you. these students are using almost any occasion to protest the presidential election they say was rigged, unfair and illegitimate. all right, next, christmas, hanukkah, kwanzaa, bah humbug? we are told there is a school that says no, can't have it, kibosh, sorry, but we won't celebrate that because the holidays or a celebration of the holidays would be unconstitutional. what do you think? >> caller: hey, rick, this is jeff from nashville. schools forbidding a christmas party? i can understand why they are tip-toeing around it, but come on, it's santa claus, not jesus. 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( laughs ) that's a great deal! with annuities from fidelity. turn your savings into income -- guaranteed, anget a retirement "paycheck" for life -- guaranteed. call... to get started, and learn how to secure retirement income that won't go down -- guaranteed. call fidelity at... for details about guaranteed income for life, and change the way you think about your retirement savings. >> caller: hey, rick. this is johanna from virginia. i think that the christmas parties need to be banned in school. they are too religious. everyone would not like if we were having parties for buddhists, muslims, jews. how come we can only have christian parties at school? ♪ it's beginning to look a lot like -- ♪ >> every other day of the year at a school in connecticut. you won't find a single santa claus, reindeer, menorrha, decorated tree, but school officials are saying the holidays are too complicated to celebrate these days, not to mention they are thinking it may mess with the constitution. but getting rid of the holidays? what do you think of that? we have our group here. they're visiting with us right now. this is the inside the conversation tour. give me a hand up if you agree with this school's policy that we shouldn't have celebrations like this? give me a hand up if you disagree with the school's policy. all right. we've got five of six disagreeing. now all of us together, you six and me, let's watch this report from wtnh and reporter eric cox. >> reporter: you won't see holiday recommendations on the windows or -- decorations on the windows or walls at walsh school. it doesn't display symbols of christmas. no santa claus, no christmas trees and no classroom celebrations. >> kind of silly when it's everyplace else. these people have been raised with this forever. >> reporter: rodney parker, the parent liaison at the school says it's been this way for years. >> i haven't heard a parent complain about anything. i don't know where this came from. >> reporter: it's not just at the walsh school. waterbury asks all principals to be aware of the multicultural community and not create situation where is some students may be offended. a statement from superintendent david snead reads in part, student assemblies or classroom parties need to celebrate all holidays if they are to be held. displays also need to be all inclusive. there is a school-wide winter celebration at walsh where each student is given a gift. >> we have singing. kids sing christmas songs, hanukkah songs. it's all-inclusive. look at this. she's not going to let it go. now somebody else is in trouble because she wouldn't give up her purse. in fact, two people -- and as i told you, you can come here and visit us at least once a week. there's the crowd right behind you. give us a shot as we go to break. wave, folks. hello. we'll be right back. can your body wash nourish this deeply? the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only new dove has nutriummoisture... which can nourish deep down. new dove body wash with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. your hair mixes with pollen and dust. i get congested. but now with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breathe freer, so i can love the air™. (announcer) zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. gut reaction on the story i was telling you about. first, you'll see the list in its entirety. you can click on anytime you want. there it is, all the folks relevant to any particular story. the story we're following right now is the one out of copenhagen. guess what? we just got this in. this is from kate shepard, the environmental blogger for modern jones, a left-leaning publication, as you probably know. she writes this to us -- the e-mails are a distraction from the very real problem pushed by skeptics and perpetuated by the media's ignorance of the issue. again, that's kate sheppard. the start of "saturday night live" this week, rihanna. most of all lately known for getting beaten up by her boyfriend. that's a story of a woman getting beat up by a man, according to police, which isob. but what about a man getting beaten up by the woman? that's the take, in "las fotos." >> for all of those who have supported me over the years, i offer my profound apology for these multiple transgressions. >> multiple? so it happened more than once? >> did i say multiple? because -- >> this just in, tiger woods is back in the hospital. apparently just hours after a press conference, where he confessioned to multiple transgressions, woods had an accident in his home, where he fell down a flight of stairs, then inadvertently threw himself through a plate glass window. woods has just been released, and he is about to give a statement to the press. >> wow, i've been really clumsy this week. >> funny? yes. double standard? most definitely. is it more noticeable because of the fact that rihanna was their featured guest this weekend? absolutely. is timing everything? yeah. enough with the questions? okay, fine, i'll stop. boston now, a woman trying to catch the subway, a door closes on her arm and her purse is stuck inside. the conductor takes off. why? because he heard the station anyant give the all-clear. the woman runs alongside the train. she ends up slamming into a wall. she's injured, by seriously. the station attendant fired the conductor suspended for ten days. the woman? bruised. we love vick. >> atlanta now crowds of falcon fans cheering on michael vick, but wait a minute, he plays for the philadelphia eagles, who were playing against the falcons. the eagles crushed the falcons and then sent vick in to do some mop-up, and boy did he. vick detractor say those aren't real falcon fans. either way, vick is again the talk of the town in atlanta today. all right. here's a couple serious questions that i think the american people want to know the answers to. where is moula omar? where's zawahiri? where is osama bin laden? that's next. i don't think you can live the american lifestyle without energy. we have all this energy here in the u.s. we have wind. we have solar, obviously. we have lots of oil. i think natural gas is part of the energy mix of the future. i think we have the can-do. we have the capability. we have the technology. the solutions are here. we just need to find them here. "what do you mean homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods?" "a few inches of water caused all this?" "but i don't even live near the water." what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you. including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $119 a year. for an agent, call the number on your screen. welcome back. i want for tell you what we'll be doing tomorrow. this is important, maybe too grewle many for some of you. this involves livestock, pigs specifically. those are what you -- you may want to look away. not too sick to go to the slaughterhouse and end up in your grocery store. tomorrow a cnn exclusive that we're going to bring you right here. how these pigs are permitted to stay in the food chain. it may trouble some of you, but it's also important to know, since it's something your loved ones may very well be eating. let's talk about today. octavia nasr is joins me now. she's our senior editor of, what, middle eastern affairs. is that what we call it? it seems like we have different titles. you know the region and you know what's going on. and now that we learned today the first 1,500 troops will be headed to afghanistan, as americans, are you with me over there? don't you want to know what's the situation on the ground? what are we getting ready to see? you know what i want to know? perez ayman al zawahiri, where is mullah omar, where's osama bin laden? that's the reason we went to war in the first place. >> if i knew where they were -- >> i know we don't know, but maybe i should have that somewhat rhetorically. we should have either killed them or imprisoned them when we went to war, but all three are talking about us every day, and frankly i believe most people are troubled by that. >> many people are troubled by that. they ask the question all the time? where are they? why aren't they captured? why aren't they killed? this week we're mark ago very important anniversary, that's as close as the u.s. got to nabbing osama bin laden. he even talked about it. he left a will, saying it's over, he's done with, and he wants to die as a martyr, and yet since then, he's been on the run. how do we know? he sends messages. he posts messages. >> let me stop you real quick. let's start with osama bin laden. the broadband reported last week that they had sources who said he was in part of afghanistan, not pakistan, which is contrary to everything else we've been hearing. is it legitimate? >> the problem is -- it is legitimate, but all intelligence is pointing to that region, but when you think about the region, anyone should get a map and look. this is a rugged, no-man's-land. it's hard to say this is pakistan, this is afghanistan. this is a place why osama bin laden can hide in those regions, but then there are others. on the border with china, for example. some intelligence is saying this is where he is, and this is a place where a human can't get there, you can only get there on the back of a donkey, this is why it's so hard to get them. >> but the frustrating part is it's not just him, it's mullah omar, or dr. zawahiri. he started the muslim brotherhood, the precursor to al qaeda. it seems like we never got a handle on those guys. >> no one knows where they were. >> mullah omar, by the way, he started the taliban movement in afghanistan and made it -- he's essentially the leader of the country we attacked. >> absolutely. he seems to be able to send out messages, you know, to his supporters, and of course the taliban are making a resurgence in afghanistan. >> is he still in pakistan with, we presume, where with osama bin laden? and so is sawa herri? separate caves or same? >> i think they're in separate