bystanders in jeopardy. the number of injuries are mounting. and michelle obama takes a stand. is this health care in disguise? we'll ask someone who knows her well. we begin tonight on afghanistan and the war on terror, where 15,000 u.s. and nato troops dropped the hammer. you're looking at a new offensive, taking on a major taliban strong hold. it's in helmand, the center of opium production. it's already cost the lives of a u.s. marine and a british soldier. let's go to cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, this war has been carrying on for years. is this weekend a game changer? >> reporter: it's hard to tell at this point. game changer? this is not really the heartland of the taliban. but it is a major taliban strong hold, a major opium-growing area. let's go to the map and lay out the battle for everyone as it has unfolded over the last several hours. close to 24 hours now coming up on this. this is helmand province in afghanistan. and as we zoom in on the map, this is ground zero where the troops are. we're going to zoom into the marjah region and just hold it there for a minute. what we now know -- and these darker areas are the populated areas. we know that forces have now established a ring of security around here to make sure the taliban cannot reinforce and to control in and out of this region. marines, u.s. marines came in from the north and in from the south, both by helicopter and on the ground. british forces came in from the northeast. afghan forces mixed in throughout this. more than 60 helicopters, don, part of this helicopter assault mission. a major airborne mission. the idea was to put thousands of troops on the ground simultaneously and flood the zone and keep the taliban from mounting any counter offensive. >> part of the mission here too as well is to take on opium production and heroin as well here. >> reporter: oh, absolutely. this is the real key to winning this region. this is a farming agricultural region. it is the opium center of afghanistan. and what they want to do is, first and foremost, get the farmers here off of opium production because that will break their economic link to the taliban. if they can convince them through economic incentives to move away from the opium poppy, then they can break that connection to the taliban. the key challenge now is not really the combat. certainly the u.s. and british forces overmatch the taliban. the key is getting the afghan government, the afghan forces to move into this entire area, take hold, take security, and demonstrate to their own citizens that they can run the region. don? >> cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr. again, we were looking at exclusive video there of that operation in afghanistan. barbara, thank you very much. before u.s. marines deployed for this operation, they were briefed by jeffrey dressler. he is a research analyst with the institute for the study of war and an expert on afghanistan. he's the author of a major report on helmand province. thank you, sir, for joining us. mr. dressler, you're tonight in washington. i want to ask you this. how important is this operation in winning the overall war? >> well, it's very important but especially for southern afghanistan where the taliban have really had a strong hold over the past few years. the thing about marjah that's really important is that a lot of the senior taliban commanders, narcotics elements, and an ied production facilities are locateded in this town. and from this town they project into areas all throughout helmand. given that the capital is right next door in a major population center that we're trying to secure in this counterinsurgency strategy, it's critical to go into marjah, take out these elements, and build up the district. >> what did you tell the marines? what's the one thing you want them to bring to all thf? >> it's very important the population understands why they're there. they're there to protect the population, not to cause harm, even really not to go after some of these taliban fighters in many cases. so making sure the population understands that and knows that we're on their side, i think, is the most important thing. you cannot win this thing unless we can secure the population. >> that's a good point. you talk about the population. what about civilian casualties? there's a risk there. a lot of effort can be lost if women and children can be caught in the middle of this fighting. >> there's no question about it. you saw this operation publicized ahead of time to give warning to the civilian population, but also it's really progressed in a slow, meticulous fashion. i think it's really important because the last thing you want to do is go rushing into an area where there's civilian compounds, dropping air munitions, things like that that are really going to cause damage. and so going slow, broadcasting your intentions is very important. so i think that's the reason why you've seen this thing progress fairly slowly over the last 48 hours. >> mr. dressler, talk to us about the issues with opium and heroin. >> marjah is a main center for that in helmand province. it's estimated the narcotics elements in the taliban make over $200,000 in revenue every month in marjah alone just from the refineries and processing facilities. i think, going into marjah and disrupting these facilities is going to go a long way not only breaking the opium grasp in helmand but take away a large part of funding for these elements. if you have children or grandchildren in the public school system, the first lady michelle obama says cafeteria food could be hazardous to their health. we'll explain more on her war on childhood obesity. and speak tators at a surfing contest nearly get swept into the ocean by a powerful rogue wave. a lot of people were hurt. we're going to update you on that. make sure you join the conversation tonight. log on to the social networking sites. your comments will get on the air. [ male announcer ] when it comes to reaching your big milestones, and all your little mile-pebbles ameriprise financial can help. we have over ten-thousand advisors ready to listen to your dreams and help you plan for them. because the first step towards reaching what you want is reaching the person who can help you get there. our advisors. your dreams. more within reach. meet us at ameriprise.com. let me show you some pictures coming into the cnn news room from northern california. roll them. i can probably tell you that no one here expected that. this was a big, big wave, a perfect wave for surfing conditions but not for a group of spectators. that's california's famed maverick surf bay. two massive rogue waves, we're told, swept dozens of people off a sea wall, as you can see, tossing them into the beach and into the stage and several booths. we're saying that at least several people received broken bones and others were injured. i'm going to go now. if you can come to us here, i'm going to go to our assignment editor on the national desk. nick, you're on with the ceo? >> i'm on with the ceo of maverick. he's on the phone. he wants to convey to everybody. it sounds a lot worse than it is. 13 people taken, had minor injuries. a couple of people taken to the hospital with some broken bones. >> still they don't think anyone was swept under or anything like that? >> nothing like that. it could have been a lot worse than it was. this competition in theory is held annually, weather conditions permitting, and nothing like this has ever happened before. >> thank you, nick. nick is getting more information. this competition in half moon bay. roll that video so you can see it. here's what we know. witnesses say the huge wave just pushed itself all the way to this beach stage right here. we're talking to our weather center. i want to talk to jacqui about this. one woman was swept away by the water. she could feel herself swept away by the water as the wave pulled her out. what causes something like this? obviously, a surfing competition, you want big waves but nothing like this? >> we knew the big waves were going to be there certainly. we've had these storms one after the other that have are really been impacting the pacific northwest, not so much california. but the big waves get generated here up in the gulf of alaska, and they propagate all the way down. that part of the country in particular is prone to getting these big waves. there's a big sea wall out there, so they break along the sea wall and then come on in. we had a couple of waves that were bigger than expected. that combined with high tide. so you get those two things together, and those people got swept off their feet. >> i'm going to tell you there's also more video into this. we're talking about an i-report, jacqui. >> this was from scott anderson. he said he rode his bike out there this morning, and he said he saw the waves breaking out there, and he saw it coming in. so he backed up. there was a little bit of warning for a couple of people. i guess he said there was also an area where there are about 100 people standing, and they did make those people back up. had they not moved those 100 people ahead of time, things would have been a lot worse than they already were. >> let's back up. we have other information we're going to show you. this from s. from our affiliate. this is a weather system going around the country. >> we're going to talk about the southern snow. what a lot of folks are dealing with across the southern tier of the united states, these are pictures out of dallas, ft. worth. what happened here is they got the record snowfall, 12.5 inches of snow. that's over a foot. that brought down power lines and also some trees. some dangerous conditions. and also the weight of the snow is really heavy. we had roof collapses. as you know, we had some of that happen as well in places like washington, d.c., and virginia also. >> it's been a crazy week. this looks very familiar to me here. except for the white stuff on the ground, this looks very familiar. >> it's a little bit of an eerie scene today. look at all the brown patches now in centennial-olympic park. this is atlanta, georgia. snowfall yesterday, little heavier on the south side of town. >> never happens here. i was shocked. >> we get four inches in a year. this is our second snowstorm. >> going to take a little pan here. >> let's tour around. the biggest thing that i'm worried about here, we've had the snow. we've gotten through it. today temperatures well above freezing, pushing 40 degrees. so all thf is starting to melt off. >> and then it's going to freeze again. >> that's right. temperatures below freezing, and black ice is going to be a huge concern. after the sun goes down tonight, tomorrow morning, if you're heading out to church or going out wherever you're going, be real careful with that. >> that's already happened to me. i got rid of it, and some of it froze already. we're going to have some issues. we had like 1,100 flights cancelled by delta and more with other airlines. what's going on today? >> there are still some flights being cancelled today. right now we have about 5,900 planes in the air. this is a lot more than what we had yesterday in the previous days with snowmageddon number two. we've had delays in san francisco because of clouds, but that's about it. air travel is going on. >> what is this, trouble? >> these are my fun facts of the day. >> what is it? >> this is the snow cover across the united states. if you take a close look, every single state in the lower 48 has some snow somewhere in that state. >> so everything except for hawaii? >> hawaii is the only one. actually, this time of the year, hawaii should have snow at the peaks of mauna lea and mauna koa. so the a little unusual. >> it's snowing here? >> we have another little system coming through the midwest right now. two to five inches in the st. louis area. that's going to be moving down to the southeast. for the most part, rain for you in the deep south. maybe a little bit of a mix. the other thing i wanted to point out, right here we've got the winter weather advisories, and there's not any winter weather going on. they issued this for the black ice i'm talking about. i've never seen that before when you have a weather system coming through and they issue an advisory. that's how bad they think the black ice is going to be. >> that looks like the thing on the front of the ice patch that you buy at the grocery store. we have much more than weather. there was a shooting on campus. it seems like a tragic headline that you've heard before. this one has a twist. the accused shooter doesn't fit the usual profile. we'll tell you what makes this case so different. and the woman who became a widow because her husband carried out a suicide bombing. she says she's proud of him. you'll hear her exclusive interview. (pouring rain) i had a great time. me too. you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight. (door crashes in, alarm sounds) get out! (phone rings) hello? this is rick with broadview security. is everything all right? no, my ex-boyfriend just kicked in the front door. i'm sending help right now. thank you. (announcer) brink's home security is now broadview security. call now to install the standard system for just $99. the proven technology of broadview security system delivers rapid response from highly-trained professionals, 24 hours a day. call now to get the $99 installation, plus a second keypad installed free. and, you could save up to 20% on your homeowner's insurance. call now-- and get the system installed for just $99. broadview security for your home or business - the next generation of brink's home security. call now. we're going to check our top stories. a harvard trained biology professor has been charged with capital murder in the shooting death of three colleagues. amy bishop is accused of shooting six people at a faculty meeting yesterday at university of alabama in huntsville. the other three are hospitalized, one in critical condition. bishop had been teaching at the university since 2003 and was reportedly up for tenure. investigators are still piecing together a motive. eight people are dead, another 33 wounded in a terror attack in india. it happened today in the western city of pune near new delhi. witnesses say explosives were packed in a bag and left in a busy eatery. this is the most significant terrorist incident in the area in more than a year. india blames the attack on a pakistani militant group. more recall troubles for toyota tonight. this time it's voluntarily recalling about 8,000 2010 tacoma pickup trucks. the automaker says the four wheel drive vehicles have a glitch in the front drive shaft. it's been called one of the most devastating attacks ever against the cia. seven cia officers and a jordanian army captain killed by a suicide bomber in afghanistan. in an interview you'll see only on cnn, our nic robertson sat down with the bomber's widow. >> reporter: she is the unrepentant widow, shows no remorse her husband blew himself up in afghanistan, killing seven cia operatives. >> translator: my husband was a person who truly believed in this cause. i can say he truly was in love with jihad. >> reporter: she lives in a neighborhood in istanbul. she agrees to meet us in a nearby park. >> we can sit on the bench together and chat this way. she says she'll never forget the early morning call on new year's eve. >> translator: the morning after the incident i got a call from pakistan. a friend of his called me. he said, your husband completed an operation, killing cia agents. he told me he was going to send me his will and his letter. >> reporter: how did it make you to feel to know your husband died this way? >> translator: i was really proud of my husband because we both were truly against the american invasion. i believe that he realized a very important operation in this way, and god willing, i say, he is a martyr. >> reporter: and as she paints a picture of their life together, it emerges that her husband was an angry and often frustrated man, a doctor by day but writing jihadist blogs by night, even volunteering to fight in iraq. did you get that sense from him that he was conflicted about what he should do about what was upsetting him? >> translator: there was a time he would turn to his books for study, then he would close his books and go back again to jihady forums. >> reporter: for a while, she says, her husband tried to cover up his blogging, using a program that hides where you access the internet. then he stopped. jordanian intelligence officials arrested him. he spent several days in jail. >> translator: i guess he was bored of hiding. he said to himself, whatever should happen should happen. after he was arrested, my husband changed a lot. he became more religious. he started going to the mosque constantly. he started doing all his daily prayers enthusiastically in the mosque, and he started memorizing the koran again. >> reporter: her husband was on a fast track to jihad. do you think that your husband set out intentionally to trick the cia and jordanian intelligence? >> translator: of course, that may be. i guess he used them. my husband was a very smart person. i guess with his smartness and submission to god, he was successful in tricking them. >> reporter: as we talked, a crowd gathers, and a plainclothes police officer videos our interview. unfazed, bayrak is also unrepentant. one of the people killed in the attack was a woman who had three children. she's left -- the children are left without a mother now. >> translator: yes, but let me ask, what is the purpose of the u.s. in afghanistan? why are they there? why? for what purpose is cia in afghan territories? why did they invade our lives? i believe she shouldn't have gone there. it's her fault. >> reporter: so they were legitimate targets? >> translator: of course. >> reporter: do you have any remorse for the families of the people who were killed? >> translator: no, i don't feel any remorse. >> reporter: how do you explain your husband's death to your children? >> translator: i will wait for them to grow up a little. >> reporter: we talked for close to an hour, and it's clear that bayrak shares many of her husband's views. after all, this is the woman who wrote a book entitled "osama bin lad laden, the che guevara of the middle east." >> our senior political correspondent nic robertson joins us live. her husband is a doctor. what are we to make of their jihadist beliefs? aren't these the type of people the west needs in order to change opinions about that part of the world? >> reporter: absolutely. perhaps it's the very fact they're sort of so well educated that, when they turn against the west, as they did, their message becomes very destructive and corrosive. his blogs were some of the most well-respected in jihadi circles. that shows you the sort of communication skills that he had. and she studied communications at university as well. so they're both very well-educate. what they had done was bought into the al qaeda message that the west is against muslims, and it's tackling that with president obama trying to do that, if you will, at his speech in cairo last year, that there is an effort to sort of reach out to a broader perspective of muslims if you will, to try and stop some intellectuals -- and, of course, there's only a few -- turning in the opposite direction towards al qaeda. so it is exactly these types of people that one would hope would look to the west as a friend and an ally, not as an enemy. >> nic, i would imagine that's part of the reason, though, she spoke to you. when i was sitting here watching her, i wonder why she would sit down for an interview with nic robertson? >> reporter: her family were very worried. they were worried she would say