opposition control of the east is a big development and this is where most of libya s oil production is located. still colonel gadhafi s threat of not going down without a fight can t be easily dismissed. the show of force as libyan state tv broadcast images of gadhafi supporters rallying on the streets of tripoli just last night. libyan government is not allowing western journalists into the country so we go to fionnuala sweeney in nearby cairo now. first off, there are hundreds of u.s. citizens in libya. i understand a plane was supposed to take them out but did that happen? reporter: no. the u.s. unable to charter that plane and have it take off from tripoli because according to the state department spokesman, there were issues. difficulties, challenges with tripoli airport and it would seem the u.s. and other countries are now switching their operations from airplanes
by the pirates. what went down on the quest and how did the u.s. military responds? our chris lawrence puts all of the pieces together. reporter: u.s. military was right there. hundreds of miles southeast of ahman. four navy warships and drones overhead and special operations forces ready to move. for three days they had been trailing the pirated yacht the quest. trying to free the four american hostages. pirates can be young, poor and difficult to talk to. they don t negotiate. you know? they say show us the money. you don t have the money, there is no negotiation. a little bit of a language barrier as well. it s extremely difficult. reporter: two pirates spent the night on board the uss sterate but the pirates and their prize kept moving. it was clear the pirates wanted to get the yacht to somalia. reporter: tuesday morning a rocket propelled grenade fired
toward the sterate. small boats carrying u.s. naval reaction forces raced out boarding without firing a shot but u.s. sailors discovered the four american hostages shot. when our team got on board the yacht, there were hostages who were still alive and we applied and gave first aid immediately to them. but they were fatally injured. reporter: mysteriously, two pirates were already dead. moments later, u.s. forces killed two more pirates below shooting one and knifing another. 15 pirates in custody. there were explicit warnings to mariners about the regions, the dangers and the pirate activity in this area. reporter: this was the deadliest pirate attack on americans in modern history and it really illustrates how far pirates are now roaming offshore. up to 1,500 miles. to put that in somewhat of a perspective that is the area of
question. why are they doing this? is this a good idea? in report after report, the border patrol has said its top goal is gaining operational control of the nation s borders. meaning law enforcement can detect and respond to illegal activity. with $3 billion spent on just the southern border last year, how are they doing? a recent gao report says 44% of the southern border and only 2% of the northern border meet the definition. now homeland security has decided it will measure border security a different way that better reflects the impact of new technology. operational control, once the holy grail of border security, is being scrapped. that is a very narrow term of art in border patrol lingo and doesn t and should not be construed as kind of an overall assessment of what s happening. reporter: for the time being, dhs will measure numbers on
governments around the world scrambling to get citizens out of libya. the u.s. is now chartering a ferry to take americans from libya to malta because libya wouldn t allow a chartered plane to land. photos of jar red loughner is grinning in a photo after taking down six people and wounding 13 others. police arrested a 16-year-old boy in the killing of is police officer. this is the fifth law enforcement offered killed in the city in less than a month. this video from inside one of mexico drug tunnels earlier this month, rafael romo was inside that tunnel. the obama administration is in the process of changing the way it measures the security of the nation s borders. but why is this such a good idea? jeanne meserve has all of the details. reporter: that s the