0 you buy a painting by george zimmerman? let us know on twitter out don lemon or out front at cnn. thanks for joining me so much. join me tonight at 11:00 for the 11th hour where we'll discuss words that get people into a lot of trouble like the "n" word. should you be allowed to say it? is free speech. is free speech. ac 360 starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com don, thanks. good evening everyone. tonight two breaking afghanistay survivor of another horrible chapter in the war and the afghan hero who risked everything to help him. in nevada, gunfire at a reno hospital complex. the crisis over the questions just beginning. later, some answers to the question so many people have about the report that takie ing multi vitamin and supplements won't not only not help you but might hurt you. the deadliest single incident for americans in began stan since the summer last year. a black hawk helicopter down. it happen in southern afghanistan. even though we don't have a full picture, it's beginning to come into focus. barbara starr, what do you know. >> good evening, anderson. at this hour military investigators are trying to fir gur what happened. the helicopter, the black hawk went down due to mechanical failure but once it hit the ground, were any of those six military members still alive? they are looking at a report that the helicopter once crashed came under mortar fire from taliban forces in the immediate vicinity. so what they need to determine now, did the six members die in the crash, or is it possible, possible that they were alive when they hit the ground, that there was a mortar attack and they perished in that. investigator tors are talking to members of another helicopter that was flying in the immediate vicinity. they are trying to see what they can learn. we are told from one -- the one survivor of the crash for six u.s. military families, terrible news on this holiday season, but this has been a big issue up and down the pentagon hallways hall day, anderson, constant meetings about what did happen and we know defense secretary chuck hagel is looking for answers. >> and the taliban is claiming responsibility for the attack? >> they have claimed, interestingly enough, they shot down a u.s. aircraft today. these are the kind of claims they often make most of the time obviously not true. proaganda, but this is also raising the question clearly was this claim that they shot it down related to the report that it came under a mortar attack? >> and this comes, i mean, at a backdrop of afghan president refusing to sign an agreement with the white house over long-term troops in afghanistan. >> that's right there are now 42,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan. they want to get this agreement for a number of troops, probably about 10 thousa,000 to remain a 2014. the job of the u.s. troops will be to train and assist afghan forces and do the very dangerous work of continuing to go after terrorist targets in afghanistan. he hasn't signed the agreement and the u.s. is getting increasingly frustrated with him, given especially the price that u.s. troops are paying. >> yeah, all right. barbara appreciate the update. thank you. more than 12 years long, this is america's longest war. another siring chapter. the story began when a four-man navy seal team found themselves badly out numbers in a long and vicious fire fight. one sale sueal survived. his name is marcus. this is his account of a mission that went wrong after he says his unit was surprised by of all things, goat herders and their goats. they weren't the only american casualties a. chapper with 16 special operations forces to help latrel was shot down. this was the largest loss of life in one day for naval special warfare since world war ii. jim mcguire told us that no seal will ever forget that terrible day. was that the toughest day for you as a special forces commander? >> yes, you know, most people of my generation, they ask the question, you know, do you remember when kennedy was shot? well, i remember that, as well, but much more moving day for me and one more defining is the 28th of june 2005 when that helicopter was shot down and three of my men were killed. >> reporter: 19 men lost their lives. joe mcguire was head of seal training at the time. >> you would have to go back to world war ii to have had one day where we experience that many casualties at one time. >> reporter: mcguire says the entire seal community was devastated. it's a commune day marcus latrel and his twin brother decided they wanted to be part of when they were teenagers. >> he had in his head, this is what we'll do. it will be great. jump out of airplanes, shoot guns, blow stuff up, scuba dive and there is an 80% chance we're going to die. i'm like sign me up, man. >> reporter: he became a seal at the age of 25 and says receiving the special warfare insignia was the proudest accomplishment. >> do you remember getting the try dant put on your chest? . january 22nd, 2001. >> you remember the date? >> like my birthday. >> reporter: out of 86 people that started out, only 20 graduated. it's that sort of rigorous training that vice admiral mcguire says prepares seals for the fire fight marcus found himself fighting in the mountains of afghanistan. >> these are unremarkable men who do remarkable things. it's a warrior class spar rid and they are extremely talented individuals, and, you know, there is -- this story that's come to light because marcus survived, and marcus feels like he survived in order to tell the story. >> reporter: on june 28, 2005, petty officer marcus latrel wasn't sure he was going to survive. he was badly wounded and didn't conon was trying to rescue him. >> my back was broke. i had frag laying everywhere. i called into this rock embankment, took dirt and put it in my wounds so i wouldn't bleed to death. >> so you had no medical care? >> gone. >> compass? >> gone. >> i didn't have pants on. >> you had no pants? >> it was completely ripped off me. >> he had been fighting for hours. his three seal brothers were dead or near death. petty officer danny deeds from littleton, colorado had been in charge of communications matt, ax for short, a petty officer and sniper. lieutenant mike murphy was the team leader. they were part of a larger mission called operation red wings. their job was to locate this man, the four seals have seen in grainy photographs. he was aligned with the taliban. >> who was amad shaw? >> he had a group called the mountain tigers and creating havoc, killing marines, army, you name it. >> reporter: latrel was outside cobble and his team had no idea how many fighters shaw had with him. >> i remember telling the guys, you know, grab extra rounds, we may need them. >> reporter: it was pitch black when the team were dropped by chopper a couple miles from where amad shaw was believed to be located. they hiked for hours through snowy, steep and treacherous terrain. as day came, they laid down so they wouldn't be detected. that's when everything went wrong. suddenly, they were surprised not by gunmen, but by a goat herder. >> i was laying next to a tree, probably 60 feet long. come walking down it and when he jumped off it, he jumped over the top of my gun. >> he didn't see you at all? >> he had no idea i was there. and i had no idea he was above me. >> reporter: did he say anything? >> not one word, just a look, that's all he would do is look. i know that sounds funny, but there is a way somebody looks at you when you cut them off in traffic and they are mad or who not and there is a way someone will look at you when they want to kill you and when it happens to you, you'll never forget it. >> two more herders showed up with 70 goats. the seal's mission was compromised. >> you hear the bells jingling and come up every side of it. >> reporter: go aheads. >> goat goats. >> reporter: he tried to call back but couldn't get through on the radio. the team had to decide on their own what to do with the goat herders. run through the options you talked about. >> talked about zip tieing them, zip tieing the goats, zip tieing and taking them, zip tieing and leaving them or just executing the goats, talked about and eliminating the threat, the human threat. >> talked about killing them? >> yes, and the last one was turn them loose. >> reporter: u.s. military personnel are required to operate under formal rules of engagement that specify when deadly force can be used. a commander has the authority and obligation to use all necessary means available the rules say to defend his unit from a hostile act or demonstration of hostile intent. but the goat herders who surprised the team were unarmed. >> we knew they hated us, and they weren't on our side, and if they had the chance, they would like to see us dead. that's the feeling we got. >> reporter: and you had every reason to believe if you let these guys go, they will run down the mountain and tell -- >> but you can't justify that feeling to our superior in a court of law. >> reporter: the seals knew that other u.s. military personnel had been court marshalled and inprisoned for violating the rules of engagement. >> you were concerned if you killed them, you would be charged with murder. >> absolutely. >> reporter: that's something you talked about? >> absolutely. >> killing them was really not an options, because were non-combatants and unarmed. >> reporter: he said the only options the seals had were to take them captive and try to get evacuated by helicopter or let them go. >> you don't shoot innocent people. you don't shoot unarmed people unless, of course, they pose a threat. >> reporter: even if those goat herders will run down to the village and compromise your location? >> that's correct. you don't kill innocent people. >> reporter: latrel told us they discussed what to do and were divided. he was criticized by saying they took a vote, something that's not supposed to happen because it's up to the team leader. what did mike decide to do? >> cut them loose. >> reporter: what did you feel? >> i got this sinking feeling, this is bad. everybody did. >> reporter: a couple times you said, looking back on it, you wished you had made a different decision. you wish you killed them. do you still believe that? >> sure. got my friends back? i mean, who knows what the outcome would have been. you can't -- yes. i wished i would have is the answer to your question. >> reporter: latrel says it was only about an hour the first enemy fighters appeared. they were on a ridge above where the seals dug in. >> we had to break out shovels and use our boots and build these shelves to stand in and when we were done we leaned against the mountain like this. the first guy had an rpg and ak-47 and 30 or 40 guys in line with him. >> reporter: had they seen you? >> not yet. my rifle right here. i just cradled it and rolled up and shot him in the head, the game was on then. [ gunshots ]. >> reporter: according to latrel they moved in to out flank the seals. we obtained this video from an american writer and photographer with military sources. the date stamp and scenes too grew some indicate it was recorded the day of the fighting. [ gunshots ]. >> reporter: this is how the fire fight is portray in a new film called "loan survivor" based on a book marcus la trel wrote. he says the captures the intensity of the battle. the enemy fire was continue use, ak-4 ak-47s, rocket propelled grenades. when the rounds started coming from both sides, it broke the sea seals' position. >> that shelf that i had made, crumbled and fell apart and just like somebody opened up a trap door underneath me and i fell, and i started tumbling, and then i hit mikey, and i busted him right off his little perch he was on. >> reporter: you're basically tumbling down the mountain? >> yes, sir, yeah. i landed on my back and broke my back and mikey landed on his face and crushed his face. >> reporter: the four seals continued to fire on advancing fires but repeatedly fell or were forced to jump down the mountain. >> every time you fell you broke something. i mean, an hour and a half into this, danny has been shot three times. i was dragging him, set him up, we would fight for awhile. i'd drag him somewhere else. >> reporter: after danny was shot multiple times and you were dragging him, he was still firing. >> yes, sir, the best he could. we got to an area i was telling him there was another way to fall and when i put my arms underneath him, i put them under his shoulders, when i spun him around i spun him into a bullet and hit the back of his head and killed him. >> reporter: danny deeds was the first seal to die. now it was latrel, and two others alive. >> i caught up with mikey. he asked where danny was. he is dead. we tried to go get him but once you fell a certain distance, you can't get back up the way you came. too steep. was. working. >> reporter: what happened then? >> ax walked off behind the rock, i almost shot him. he sat indian style against my left hip and leaned against my right leg. he said i'm sorry, bro, i can't help you, i'm blind. they shot me in the face. >> reporter: the seals were surrounded. they hadn't gotten through on the radio so he says lieutenant mike murphy decided to move to a completely exposed position to get a signal on his satellite phone and call for backup. >> mikey pushed out under this boulder out in the middle of the draw in this wide open, no cover, on a satellite phone. >> reporter: latrel saw his lieutenant make the call, the call mike murphy knew would cost his life. >> took two rounds to the chest because he spun like a drop ato dropped him. i tried to make my way to him. he's my best friend, and i had already lost danny, and i knew axle was dying. i didn't want to lose him. he started to crawl left. i was out in the open, waving my hands like come down to me, that's all i wanted him to do is come down to me, and i heard his gun go off, and a lot of gunfire in his area. i was trying with everything i had to get to him, and he -- he started screaming my name. he was like marcus, man, you got to help me, i need help marcus, it got so intense i actually put my weapon down and covered my ears because i couldn't stand to hear him die. all i wanted him to do is stop screaming my name, and they killed him. i -- and i put my weapon down in that gunfight while my best friend got killed so that makes me a coward. >> reporter: how can you say that? >> say what? >> reporter: why do you think that? >> what? >> reporter: putting your weapon down makes you a coward. >> that is a coward act, putting your weapon down in a gunfight. they say every man has his breaking point. i never thought i would find mine. the only way to break a navy seal is to kill us. i broke there. i quit there. >> reporter: still, marcus latrel says he managed to pick up his weapon and found matt axleson, the only seal alive. >> he was below me and crawled underneath this rock over hang. i said we're going to die man, we're going to die right now. >> reporter: you said that to ax? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: i made my peace with god a long time ago about dying, but most of the time, we don't know what we're going to die. they just shut our light off, and so it's a weird feeling when you know the reaper is at the door. >> reporter: matt axleson was badly wounded but latrel the team medic said there was nothing he could do. >> he was blew on top of me. i remember how loud it was and how white it went. when i pushed him off me, it blew me one way, blew him another, never saw him again the rest of my life. >> reporter: marcus isn't sure how many hours they had been fighting but as darkness fell he was all alone. how did you get through the night? >> it was rough. it was the longest night of my life. sun went down, dark, pitch black, i'd fall and knock myself out. i'd come to, keep crawling, i just kept doing it. >> reporter: the next day despite still pursued by enemy fighters, shot twice, three cracked vertebra and bleeding but the biggest concern to find water to drink. >> people wouldn't thirst being a big deal but it becomes all you can think about. >> that's it. all i could concentrate on, all the wounds i had, my broken back, nothing, all i cared about was the thirst. that was it. i mean, i was willing to deal anybody or anything or do what i had to do to get water. >> reporter: when he finally found water he didn't get to drink long. he was surrounded by a small group of afghan men. >> i found a water fall, took my gloves off, leaned into the water fountain and got two sips before a guy was screaming at me. i had my gun at my hip and my safety was off. >> you had a grenade, too. >> i pulled the pin, i said if you try anything, i'll kill us all, i had enough. >> he had enough. the second time marcus had to decide were the men in front of them civilians or enemy fighters. he didn't know an american rescue operation had been mounted and went terribly wrong. we'll have those story when is we come back. the breaking news out of a hospital complex after a gunman goes into a head kill office and opens fire. /úññ [ female announcer ] there's one thing dave's always wanted to do when he retires -- keep working, but for himself. so as his financial advisor, i took a look at everything he has. the 401(k). insurance policies. even money he's invested elsewhere. we're building a retirement plan to help him launch a second career. dave's flight school. go dave. when people talk, great things can happen. so start a conversation with an advisor who's fully invested in you. wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. the #1 selling pain reliever, in one cold medicine. advil congestion relief. it delivers a one-two punch at pain and sinus pressure with the power of advil and a nasal decongestant in a single pill. advil congestion relief. in a single pill. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare.