supermarket. lots of injuries, but amazingly, no one killed. >> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> let's begin with breaking news just coming into the situation room right now out of afghanistan. word of a military crash. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. i know there are casualties. what are you hearing? >> wolf, a u.s. official tells us a u.s. army black hawk helicopter has crashed in southern afghanistan. at this point they believe it crashed during bad weather, but the official tells us they cannot yet rule out enemy action in this incident. sadly, they do believe all four crew members onboard perished in this helicopter crash. there were a number of soldiers on the ground at a combat outpost waiting to be picked up by the helicopter, transported to another area and they report seeing the helicopter go down. so it could have been significantly worse, but the most terrible news possibly now for four american military families. again, they believe this black hawk went down in bad weather, but they cannot yet rule out enemy action and if the past is any example, you should expect to see some sort of claims from the taliban, so the army, the u.s. military, will want to get specific word out as soon as they have all of the facts. wolf? >> four more american families are about to be notified of a loss of loved ones. sad story continuing in afghanistan. we'll get more information, barbara, as it comes in. i spoke of this war in afghanistan at nato headquarters outside brussels, belgium, yesterday. i spoke with leon panetta and secretary of state hillary clinton. they sat down with me for an exclusive interview in brussels. listen. >> madam secretary, mr. secretary, thank you for being with us. >> we are glad to be with you. >> let's talk about afghanistan. $2 billion a week in u.s. taxpayer dollars being spent to maintain the troop level and the existence to the afghan people. is this money well spent right now? $100 billion a year for another two and a half years? >> well, first of all, wolf, we are in a transition and as we transition, the afghan security forces are stepping up to protect their own people and as we saw over the weekend with those deplorable attacks luckily, they were not successful and that was because the afghan security forces which our soldiers and others of the nato alliance have been training and mentoring. so i think that if you look as we do at the progress that has been made on the security side and other indicators and health, education and the economy there is definite progress. that doesn't mean it is going to be easy, but we are on the way to fulfilling the commitment that president obama made about moving toward the 2014 deadline for the end of combat operations. >> so this is money well spent. hundreds of billions of additional dollars, is that what you're saying? >> i think you can certainly find fault with any kind of war and this has been a war. you can go back and look at any of the wars that the united states has fought, but if you why we're there and the fact that, thank goodness, we've not been attacked again since 9/11 and we have dismantled al qaeda thanks to a lot of great work when leon was at the cia before going to the defense department, i think there's no doubt that america is more secure, afghanistan is more secure, but we're not resting on our laurels. we're looking forward to what kind of relationship we all will have, nato and the united states after 2014 to help afghanistan continue on this path. >> you trust afghan president, mr. secretary, hamid karzai? >> he is the leader of afghanistan. >> do you trust him? >> i've sat down with him. i talk with him. we talk pretty frankly with each other, and you know, he is the leader and he is the person we have to deal with. >> does that mean you trust him, though? >> well, certainly, you trust the leaders that you have to deal with, but you always kind of watch your back at the same time. >> that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement for the leader of afghanistan. >> it's true for any leader we deal with. >> this one has said awful things about the united states. >> i understand. obviously, that's been a concern, but at the same time we have had the ability to directly relate to him when it comes to some of the major issues. $100 billion. you know what kind of money could spend during these tough economic times? the american public is increasingly frustrated when they see this money is being spent in afghanistan rather than the united states. >> i understand what you're saying, wolf, but you know what? the whole purpose of this is to protect the american people. that's what this war is about. >> bin laden is dead. >> no, but the reality is that the attack on the united states on 9/11 was planned from where? it was planned from afghanistan and our mission there is to make sure that we have an afghanistan that can secure and govern itself and it never again can become a safe haven for terrorists who had planned attacks on our country. >> do you know the u.s. intelligence officials have told congress there are more al qaeda operatives in somalia right now than in afghanistan. >> the danger is this, that if we don't succeed in afghanistan then there is a real probability that the taliban will come back, establish the same kind of safe havens that they have in the past and who will be the first people to take advantage of it? al qaeda. that's what we have to protect against. are we asking too much of these, four, five tours of duty and now these reports posing with dead bodies of taliban fighters, urinating on dead bodies, burning korans and one american soldier starts killing 17 afghan civilians including children. is the stress too much to bear right now on these troops? >> well, look, there's no question we've been ten years at war, and obviously, ten years of war takes a toll on people and families, but the reality is, the vast majority of our men and women in uniform have performed according to the highest standards that we expect of them and for every one incident that we sometimes read about and atrocious behavior that we all can have, there are a hundred incidents where our people have helped afghans and where they have performed courageously in battle. so i've been there a number of times as has the secretary. i've got to tell you that i am always impressed with the quality of our people that are fighting the battle on behalf of the united states. >> let's talk about iran. >> as you know, these talks with the iranians are continuing and another meeting scheduled for may 23rd. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and i'm quoting him now and there will be another round and my initial impression is that iran has been given a freebie. a freebie. >> well, i think that is not accurate because what came out of the first meeting was a commitment to a second meeting with a work plan between the two meetings. we are really getting down to testing whether or not there is a willingness on the part of the iranians to reach some kind of negotiated resolution. >> were you encouraged by the first round? >> i believe that the first round was positive because from our assessment after having no contact in 15 month, the iranians kale become to the table at a time when sanctions are continuing to put a lot of pressure on the iranian government and are willing to talk about their nuclear program which is an important, positive step. now, we have a long way to go and this has got to be very clearly laid out as to what the international community expects, what is acceptable, of course, to the united states since we are at the table with the p-5 plus one, but there is a chance and i don't want to oversell it, that between now and the second meeting we will hammer out what the international community represented by the so-called p-5 plus one requires of iran and what iran is willing to do. >> and if they do take these measures, will you encourage the alliance to slow down on these economic sanctions? >> i can't answer that because it is so hypothetical right now. i believe in, you know, very clear action for action. we have to see what the iranians are willing to do, and then we have to make sure they do it and then we have to reciprocate. that's what a negotiation is all about, and right now we are still in the testing stage. >> if they don't do what you want them to do, the iranian, are you, and you're the defense secretary, ready to use military force to destroy their nuclear capabilities? >> as the president has pointed out and as i've pointed out, we're prepared with all options on the table if we have to respond. is there a plan in place? there are always contingency plans for everything. >> do you have a specific contingency plan to do that? >> one hell of a lot of planning on everything. so i can assure you that there are plans to deal with. >> if you have to do it will they succeed? are you convinced they will succeed? i don't think there's any question that they have to implement that plan it would be successful. >> we have a lot more of this exclusive interview coming up in "the situation room," including this, hillary clinton and the secretary of state, is it possible she could be vice president of the united states? what she told me certainly has a lot of people buzzing right now. you'll hear it for yourself. that's coming up in our next hour. much more of the interview, as well. also, sources are revealing critical new details of the secret service prostitution scandal. we're getting new information. that's coming up after the break. plus, a car plows into a public supermarket. we have some dramatic surveillance video, but what happened right after the crash is really, really amazing. ♪ [ male announcer ] we believe small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. purina one discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. with this kind of thinking going into our food, imagine all the goodness that can come out of it. just one way we're making the world a better place... one pet at a time. vibrant maturity. from purina one smartblend. this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? 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[ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. >> jack cafferty is here and he has "the cafferty file." the secret service colombian prostitution scandal keeps heating up and it is unclear at this point if resignations of the agents at the center of it will be enough to put out the fire. more resignations are expected now this week in addition to the three we already know about. a total of 11 members of the secret service including 20-year veterans have been implicated in this. they're accused of bringing 20 prostitutes to a hotel in cartagena. as many as ten members of the u.s. military are being questioned about potential misconduct. this includes five members of the elite army special forces. the whole thing's a mess. it's a bit of a national disgrace and a potential security risk for president obama. so what's being done in washington? the house oversight committee is investigating. there will likely be a review board set up to find out whether this was an isolated incident or part of a broader secret service agency culture, but some people don't think that's enough. at least one congressman, republican randy forbes of virginia, called for secret service director mark sullivan to be fired. hes it's time for someone else to be in charge to change the culture of that agency. mitt romney said he'd clean house at the secret service. he would fire the agents involved and romney like president obama says he has confidence in the director. sullivan's been in charge of the secret service since may 2006 which means the 2009 security breach at the white house that involved two party crashers getting into president obama's first state dinner also happened on his watch. here's the question. what's the right punishment in the secret service scandal? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog or go to our post on the situation room's facebook page. wolf? >> all right, jack. thank you. let's dig deeper right now on this developing story. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is getting new information. what else are you learning, jessica? >> reporter: there is a growing sense in the law enforcement community that because two high-level officers were involved and because this partying started just hours after the group landed in cartagena that it is harder than originally thought to believe that this was just an isolated incident. two u.s. sources tell cnn the secret service members in colombia were part of the jump team that flies in on military transport planes with the presidential limousine and the rest of the motorcade. sources say investigators have found none of the women involved were minors, and there's no sign that drugs were involved. at the white house, continued support for the head of the secret service. >> the president has not spoken with director sullivan in recent days, but i wouldn't lead anything into that. i think i said yesterday that the president has faith in the director, confidence in his leadership. >> reporter: and a wait-and-see approach. >> we'll await the results of that investigation before we can talk about broader issues. >> reporter: one source tells cnn investigators are now likely trying to get remaining secret service members to turn on the others. multiple sources say to date only one has taken a polygraph test. one source says investigators will look through e-mails and texts to see if the partying was arranged in advance. they might visit other cartagena hotels to see if other members of the u.s. delegation were involved as well. already this story is taking a political turn. one republican tying this scandal to a spending scandal in the federal bureaucracy. >> i know sometimes the presidents they appoint as gsa and the secret service doesn't work for them like they're some independent agency. the president needs to assert discipline and management direction throughout the executive branch and the presidents are to be held responsible. >> that sounds very much like a lawmaker attempting to politicize something that is not at all political. >> reporter: wolf, cnn has been reporting that the secret service plans to name an outside panel to investigate whether this is part of the culture of the service and to take any actions or recommend any actions to change the service. if, in fact, it is, the white house would not say whether the president plans to name any members of that panel and they also won't say whether the president believes in the future the head of the secret service should perhaps come outside the service just like the fbi has a head who does not come from within the ranks of the fbi. wolf? >> jessica, thanks very much, as a result of this scandal, he did, in fact, resign and he stepped down. >> other news, after circling for hours and hours and what we think might have happened. >> president obama says he wasn't born with a, quote silver spoon. and a legendary rocker passes away. we'll tell you what happened. ♪ ♪ ♪ allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. and now it powers our latest innovation in more efficient cooling and heating. introducing the world's only solar-powered home energy system, which can cut your heating and cooling bills in half. call now to get up to 1,375 dollars in rebates. or zero percent financing for 18 months. plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energy-savings calculator to show how much you'll save... with lennox. innovation never felt so good. involving a delta flight. our own ali velshi was onboard. you're on the ground and you're at jfk. tell our viewers what happened. >> reporter: i was on my way to los angeles and we were delayed from a 3:00 departure. delta plane, the boeing 757. we took you hava. it was seconds into the takeoff and there was a loud grinding noise and the plane started shaking a little bit. more more of a shake than you would typically hear when reaccount troising the landing gear. the cabin started filling with smoke. it was unclear what was going on. the captain then came on a few minutes later and it appears that there had been a bird strike and he then turned back and it looked like we did a fly bye for the inspection and we were landing at jfk not much longer after we took off. there was one, and he's filming it and all of a sudden, we're in the air and these birds fly by on the ride side of the plane and seconds later, not seconds later, within a second this grinding noise starts. there are a whole bunch of people inspecting the plane. it is on the ground at jfk. it does appear that something struck it, created that smoke, but a very smooth landing. no panic on the flight. the crew was fantastic about it. got everybody -- they were ready and clearly at the ready to do whatever was necessary, and whatever degree of evacuation was necessary. they're on the ground. as we got there it was one of the warm well christmas you get, lots of ems, fire, police purpose they were ready to spray the plane down to ensure there wasn't going to be a fire from that engine. no need to do so in the end and 15 to 20 minutes later we were off the plane and i'm now on a bus pulling back to the terminal. who knows what happens next? but i'll be nice tore everybody for the rest of the day, wolf. >> what about the fear factor as far as you were concerned, ali. you fly a lot. did you get nervous? >> wolf, as you know, not only do i fly a lot. i've been trained as a pilot, and i have never heard that noise in my entire life. i've heard a lot of noises and all sorts of noises and sometimes it doesn't come all of the way out. . never heard a noise like that in my life, you know, sometimes on a plane when things go wrong your reaction has a lot to do with what everyone else's reactions are. i