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December 10, 2009
Inside a border tunnel
Posted: 10:10 PM ET
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Editor's Note: Authorities have uncovered an underground tunnel between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California. Anderson will be live from this new tunnel tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Inside the border tunnel.
Inside the border tunnel.

Charlie Moore
AC360° Senior Broadcast Producer

Authorities have uncovered an unfinished tunnel under the border between the United States and Mexico. The tunnel, complete with an elevator, electricity and a ventilation system, extends from Tijuana, Mexico to Otay Mesa, Calif., in San Diego.

The tunnel was discovered by Mexican law enforcement working with the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, which includes agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Border Patrol.

The tunnel would have been used primarily, if not exclusively, for moving drugs under the border, according to DEA agents. Thirteen people were arrested inside the tunnel last week and an investigation into others responsible for planning and building the illegal tunnel is ongoing.

CNN photojournalist Neil Hallsworth takes a dummy car down 90 feet into the tunnel.
CNN photojournalist Neil Hallsworth takes a dummy car down 90 feet into the tunnel.

The tunnel is approximately 900 feet long and reaches a depth of up to 100 feet. Law enforcement agents estimate it has been under construction for roughly three years. The Otey Mesa exit point had yet to be finished, but agents say it was very close to completion.

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More about: Charlie Moore •  Mexico
September 25, 2009
Video: Behind-the-scenes in Afghanistan
Posted: 10:54 PM ET
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More about: Afghanistan •  Charlie Moore •  Neil Hallsworth
September 7, 2009
Photo dispatch from Marine Camp Leatherneck
Posted: 11:00 PM ET
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Program Note: We're reporting live from Afghanistan tonight. Anderson is on the ground with U.S. troops in the region, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from a hospital in the war zone and Michael Ware is live from Kabul. Tonight 10 p.m. ET.

Charlie Moore

AC360° Senior Broadcast Producer

The first thing you do after deplaning at Marine Camp Leatherneck is drive – for awhile. The place is sprawling. You pass the contractor trucks bringing fuel, the raw, open desert field where more barracks are being constructed, the huge gravel mountain that will soon be spread across the expanding camp to help keep down the blowing sands.

There are other massive U.S. military bases around the world of course, but maybe none as impressive as this one. There are around 11,000 Marines based out of Leatherneck, and the entire place was scratched from the desert only about eight months ago. It’s now the launchpad for what U.S. military leaders consider the last, best hope to gain control of the southern part of this country from the Taliban.

The Marines are confident they can do it. Yesterday we talked to the Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, the commanding General of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade headquartered here. BG Nicholson says he’s too busy to pay attention to new polls saying the majority of Americans no longer support the mission here.

He doesn’t think of this fight as being eight-years-old, but instead just over two months. Indeed, it was 63 days ago when the surge of Marines arrived here. He says the new strategy of engaging the Afghan population – turning them against the Taliban – is already working. The people of Afghanistan have seen war for 30 years, he says, and they’re tired of it. They want the peace and stability a country without the Taliban can bring.

To execute the new strategy, Marines are constantly deploying from Leatherneck to smaller forward operating bases and combat outposts. Super Stallion helicopters come in and out of the camp at a relentless pace, either ferrying Marines to the remote reaches of the country, or bringing them back to Leatherneck where they’ll go out again in just a couple of days.

Our team spent the night here and we’re now waiting to depart Leatherneck for an operating base further south. As we waited to leave this morning, we had a few down hours.

Some read to pass the time, while others rest up for what we’re expecting – and hoping – will be a Marines-eye-view of this conflict from the remote, front lines.

We’re sharing a helicopter with the 2nd recon Marine platoon that is going to a different location. To make sure we get off at the right spot, the logistics team draws the initials of our destination on our hands with a Sharpie.

It’s a 30-minute ride to our base, and assuming we get off at the right spot, we hope you get a chance to watch the coverage this week.

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More about: Afghanistan •  Charlie Moore
August 3, 2009
Former President Clinton to negotiate for release of Ling and Lee
Posted: 11:26 PM ET
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Protesters calling for the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee in June.
Protesters calling for the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee in June.

Charlie Moore
AC360° Senior Broadcast Producer

Former President Bill Clinton is headed to North Korea to negotiate the release of two American journalists held there since March, a source with detailed knowledge of the former president's movements said Monday.

The imprisoned women, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are reporters for California-based Current TV - a media venture of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. They were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China and sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea. Efforts to resolve the issue so far have been handled through Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in the reclusive communist state.

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July 10, 2009
Photo Gallery: The Cape Coast Castle in Ghana
Posted: 11:45 PM ET
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Program Note: President Obama makes his first official trip to Ghana today. He is the first African-American President to visit the African continent. Anderson sits down with President in Ghana to talk about the significance of his trip and the President's own African history. Tune in tonight for more from Anderson next week for the interview. AC360°, 10 p.m. ET.

Charlie Moore
AC360° Senior Broadcast Producer

These pictures were taken at the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, which was used in the trans-Atlantic slave as the final departure point for slaves bound for the western hemisphere. Thousands of slaves were held in the dungeons of the castle before being transferred to boats. More on the slave trade next week during our special, "President Obama's African Journey."

The courtyard of the Cape Coast Castle.

The "door of no return." Slaves would exit this door and board ships bound for the western hemisphere.

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More about: Africa •  Anderson Cooper •  Charlie Moore •  Ghana •  Global 360°

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