animals, including lions, bears, leopards and 18 endangered bengal tigers. officials say only a monkey has not been accounted for. the humane society lashed out at the governor for allowing a statewide ban for buying and selling exotic animals to expire in april. >> at the end of the day there will be legislation. >> officials say they had no choice but to kill the animals because of the danger they posed to the public. now, the man who owned those animals was released from prison just a few weeks ago. terry thompson served a year for possessing illegal firearms. he and his estranged wife kept the animals in cages on a 73-acre private reserve. friends say they were animal lovers but he, thompson, had been convicted of animal cruelty. officials have not said what might have caused him to kill himself. secretary of state hillary clinton is in kabul, after after this morning for talks with afghan president and other top officials there. she's expected to assure president karzai that the united states remains committed to the reconciliation efforts in the nation. they're also expected to talk about pakistan's relations with afghanistan. clinton's visit come as the nation pursues peace with the taliban after the longest war in u.s. history. tens of thousands of angry greek protesters are jamming the streets of athens this morning. take a look. these are live pictures of the protesters gathered outside the parliament building, all part of a second day of a general strike. protesters are venting their rage over a new tough round of budget-cutting measures aimed at reducing the huge national debt. the government says the move sim pairative in order to secure continued payment from an international bailout fund. new developments this morning in the deadliest attack on a u.s. military help capitoler in the afghan war. these are the first pictures released by the defense department on the downing of a u.s. chopper back in august. all 38 people on board were killed, including 22 navy s.e.a.l.s. the s.e.a.l.s had been called in to reinforce other troops already under fire. just before landing, the chopper was hit by rocket-propelled grenades. barbara starr explains how it all went down. we don't have that. i apologize for that. the report also says the taliban commander in the united states was -- that they were pursuing, turned out to pose mainly a local threat. in other words, they were chasing another helicopter that did not pose a major threat. barbara starr, we have it now. she'll explain more. >> reporter: the steep mountain valley gave the taliban the critical edge to see what was coming at them. investigators were told, quote, there's two ways in, two ways out, north or south. as was routine even with this area full of taliban troops and weapons, u.s. military planners were not given critical information about the helicopter's specific route. information that could have further helped avoid risk. one of them told investigators, quote, one of the outcomes of this was, hey, we have been asking for it, but we never received it. now, we are getting them. >> all right. the report also says the taliban commander the u.s. was pursuing turned out to pose mainly a local threat. he was killed last month in combat operations. but by the time the chopper came in for the landing many of the taliban fighters had been killed or captured. officials are pointing to a possible cause of the listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupe. it may be due to unsanitary conditions at a packing facility. another least 25 people have died from the outbreak. the number of new cases seem to be diminishing. the cdc says it's too early to declare the outbreak over. a california judge has thrown out a claim that the network committed fraud by not paying them for merchandising sales. the cast was seeking $10 million. the ruling means that the case will go forward only with a breach of contract suit, thus preventing the actors from receiving punitive damages. cbs says it's thrilled by the court's ruling. the attorney for the actors say they'll push forward with the lawsuit. the trial is scheduled to start in june of next year. let's head to atlanta and check in with reynolds wolf. any problems at the airports this morning? >> we see quite a few, especially in chicago. let's take the graphics full screen. chicago, one of the biggest culprits of your delays. gusty winds, rain mixed in. new york metros, wind, morning showers, d.c. metros. in philadelphia, the wind will keep you grounded on the tarmac. boston, detroit, basically the same situation, delays under an hour in both those locations. in terms of temperatures, a lot of people waking up with things well belove normal. take a look at the morning lows in the upper 20s. these will remain in place through friday morning. something else we have, the cool temperatures not just across the northern plains, back into central rockies, denvering with colorado, 37 degrees. 50 in albuquerque, 55 in portland and 06 in washington. 66 in miami, 54 in boston and 67 in new york city at this time. we're waking up also to a neat discovery. check this out. a viking warrior grave discovered, this one in edinburgh, near scotland. they found a viking sword, an ax head and a bronze ring pin discovered. they believe this was actually a warrior. the grave is pretty big, too. it's 5 meters in width, a really big area. looking through the checklist of the viking sword, ax head, bronze king pin, what better way to start off your day. had i known this story was coming up i would have worn my viking helmet. >> darn. >> i was looking for an excuse to wear it, too. hopefully we can rerun the story at some point. i'll bring it in. you can see the horns. good stuff. >> kind of glad i didn't see that. >> oh, come on. >> trying to imagine that right now. >> a little bit of nightmare in your morning hour. >> thank you so much. >> see you in a bit. it's been one heck of a week in the world of politics. late-night comedians just can't get enough. here's your "punch line." >> things got physical. at one point during the debate, mitt romney put his hand on rick perry's shoulder and said, i'm speaking. later he put his hand on newt gingrich's chest and said are those real? michelle obama said her daughter's watch "keeping up with the kardashians" but president obama didn't at prove. obama said if i want to see a giant ass who doesn't do anything, i'll have lunch with joe biden. i was shocked, too. >> that was cold. researchers make a connection between the number of your facebook friends and the gray matter in your brain. we'll explain, just ahead. first, our "quote of the day." you have to make voters hate the other guy to win. it was not from anyone in the political field. learn who said that in 90 seconds. it's eight minutes past the hour. you're kidding. no. where's that money coming from, steve? did it even cross your mind to ask your wife before signing us up for something so expensive? my mother was right; i should have married john clarke. they were free. i got them when i signed us up for unlimited messaging. 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[ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. ten minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." now back to our quote of the day. here's the quote. you have to make voters hate the other guy to win. who said that? kelsey grammer, the actor said that in an interview in "usa today." he's a staunch republican and said he's dispoliced with the political discourse. he went on to say, in the past, there's a way to make a better choice between the candidates. researchers say there's a connection between how many facebook friends you have and what's beginning on in your brain. let's go on to kristie lu stout. >> it's more like a correlation. there's a direct lunk between the number of friends you have on facebook and the size of certain parts of your brain, namely the areas of your brain known to play a role in memory and emotional and social interactions. this is according to researchers at the university of college london. there's a which came first, the chicken or the egg dilemma here. they're not sure if a people haver brain density because they have more facebook friends or they're predisposed to be savvy social networkers. the next step for the researchers is to see how a brain on social media changes over time. a lot more study, a lot more brain scans ahead. carol? >> i'm just glad it doesn't make you dumber, because we always hear that. yes, i'm heartened. you have this really cool camera to tell us about. this could be groundbreaking in the world of photography. >> that's right. it was unveiled this morning here in hong kong at the asia d-conference. it's called the litro. it shoots first and focuses later. it works by recording all available light in a particular scene. the design is very consumer friendly. it has two buttons and a zoom slider. it's a social camera, meaning you press a single button and you can instantly share your snaps on facebook. the price point is $399. order them now on the company's website for delivery early next year and for the hard-core gadget geeks out there, move pretty fast. it's first come, first serve. back to you, car. >> $399? >> for a first generation high-quality camera that's a pretty good price. >> you would say that, you technogeek. kristie lu stout. live in hong kong. he's not even the republican nominee, at least not yet. the democrats are using mitt romney's own words against him. what does this say about their strategy heading into 2012? we will tell you. home menu orange chickenans women men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. but they also go beyond banking. we installed a ge fleet monitoring system. it tracks every vehicle in their fleet. it cuts fuel use. koch: it enhances customer service. it's pretty amazing when people who loan you money also show you how to save it. not just money, knowledge. it's so much information, it's like i'm right there in every van in the entire fleet. good day overall. yeah, i'm good. come on in. let's go. wow, this is fantastic. ge capital. they're not just bankers. we're builders. they helped build our business. 14 minutes past the hour. some people call tuesday gop presidential debate vegas fight night. rightfully so. things got heated and fast. so why not have comedian jon stewart recap a few of those moments? here's your punch line. >> congresswoman michele bachmann set out to show that even in a tight field, no one puts crazy in a corner. >> i suggest that if you want to become president of the united states let both people speak. first, let me speak. >> i love you, brother. >> i don't think you should do the brother thing. i don't know if you remember a couple of weeks ago, there was disclosure that you leased a ranch called -- >> the name of the place was called niggerhead. >> i'd go easy on that brother. >> time now for your political ticker with tim farley, host of morning briefing on sirius podus, live from washington. >> i assume your presence this morning is evidence that you did not win big at the tables in vegas. >> i even played at the airport and nothing happened. bad luck, don't you know it. let's talk about the democrats, because they are out already with a new ad targeting democratic presidential candidate mitt romney and they're using his own words against him. let's listen. >> i don't think i've ever hired an illegal in my life. >> we hired a lawn company to mow our lawn and they had illegal immigrants working there. we said, look, you can't have illegals working on our property. i'm running for office for pete's sake, i can't have illegals. i'm running for office for pete's sake. >> well, first of all, tim, it's interesting. mitt romney is not even the nominee yet, yet the democrats are making ads about him. i guess this gives you a hunt of what strategy they will use if mitt romney is the republican nominee for president. >> i think you're right. it does indicate they are believing he will be the man. it's also interesting because they are portraying him, in that two-hour debate, they come up with that line. this is not something new. the republicans had a problem with mitt romney and the democrats are picking up on it and taking advantage of it. they see mitt romney as a political opportunist. he's just not somebody who is vetted through a particular philosophy. he's somebody that finds the right way to go, like water running downhill and goes that way. there was a conference call last night, it immediately went to mitt romney and the discussion. when somebody asked a question about herman cain's 9-9-9 plan. >> let's talk about vice president joe biden. i'll ask you this question after, of course, we listen to joe biden. he was pushing the president's job bill and got into a little trouble with a reporter from a conservative outlet afterwards. let's listen. >> the only thing i've heard from my friends who oppose this, this whole jobs bill and this, this is just temporary. well, let me tell you, it's not temporary when that 911 call comes in and a woman's being rape, if a cop shows up in time to prevent the rape. it's not temporary to that woman. it's not temporary to the guy whose store is being held up and a gun pointing at his head if a cop is showed up and he's not killed, that's not temporary to that store owner. give me a break. temporary? i wish these guys had some notion what it's like to be on the other side of a gun or a 200-pound man standing over you, telling you to submit. folks, it matters. >> okay. so, tim, is joe biden doing the president a favor or making things worse? >> well, it's one of those piece of strong language and nancy pelosi did something similar, pretty much tarring with the republicans that they are in favor of killing women on abortion issue. i want to go back to a quote from the 1800 election where -- this has a long history of being used. murder, rape, robbery, adultery and incest will be openly taught and practiced. the soil will be soaked with blood and the nation black with crimes. that was a newspaper editorializing against thomas jefferson and john adams in a testy election in 1800. this has a long political tradition. this is not so much a gaffe by joe biden as it is a change in strategy. when you start using this approach, you are going away from the brand that the president established so successfully in 2008 and whether or not that is the pathway to success, it has been for candidates before. can it be for this president who was behavior all that in 2008 remains to be seen. i think that is something we'll see plenty of. >> tim farley, thank you for joining us as usual. >> thanks. drug cartels in mexico are targeting teenagers in the united states. not as clients but as employees. we'll have details for you next. get out a piece of paper, grab a pencil and jot something down. today is national day on writing. the u.s. senate actually passed a resolution making that declaration. it's a day men to the help us recognize the importance of writing, including poems, essays and stories in our lives ♪ i write the songs that make the young girls cry ♪ a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? 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[ male announcer ] get more value from at&t. buy an unlimited messaging plan, and call any u.s. mobile phone free. at&t. 23 minutes past the hour. welcome back. mexico's drug wars cross into the united states as we learn that drug cartels are now recruiting kids in texas. let's head round the world with zain vergee. she's reporting live from london. good morning, zain. >> reporter: good morning, carol. this is a disturbing new strategy and basically it's coming out of the fact that a lot of these cartels think they can give a minimal amount of money to teens and they'll take it, something like $50 for an operation to get them involved in something like that. and also, the laws are more lenient with minors. so that's become attractive as well. what happened earlier this month actually was that a 12-year-old boy was caught in a stolen truck with something like 800 pounds of marijuana. that just gives you an idea of how young the people they're going for are now. here's what the former u.s. drug czar had to say about this development. >> the dominant criminal enterprise in the united states, more than 260 cities, i was just in portland, oregon, talking to their police department, is elements of mexican cartels. they're moving hundreds of metric tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, marijuana across that border. >> the u.s. border patrol, carol, launched a pretty intensive campaign in high schools to educate the students there and warn them of the dangers of doing any kind of drug smuggling. carle? >> wow. let's talk about something good. a new little baby girl for the french president and his beautiful wife. >> reporter: and that's all we know, because we're not getting too much information from france, because essentially carla bruni is saying she wants to keep the baby girl oust public spotlight. she's also been quoted in a french newspaper as saying she couldn't wait to have the baby so she could get back to having a few drinks every now and then and one or two cigarettes as well. the french president nicolas sarkozy was in germany for a pretty important meeting on the euro zone economy. he came back for about 30 minutes or so to check and see if everything is okay. good news. baby girl, mother and baby are doing well and carla bruni doesn't even want to talk about it. >> i was just thinking if an american first lady said she couldn't wait to get back after being pregnant so they could have a few drinks and a couple of cigarettes, people would find that outrageous here. >> at least carla was honest. >> yes. i admire that. i do. zain vergee reporting live from london. thank you. coming up, a prosecution witness says dr. conrad murray, if he had performed one simple move it could have saved michael jackson's life. another jobs bill showdown in the senate. could happen today or to