>> prince. >> piers: prince is pretty amazing. >> i would love patty smyth on backing vocals but she would upstage me. >> piers: a pretty good group. gentlemen, brilliant rolling backed years with you. good luck with the album "all you need is now," a template for dur ran dur ran. all about now, isn't it? >> thank you very much. >> piers: that is it for us tonight. from cnn center this is "cnn saturday morning." good morning, i'm alina cho. t.j. holmes is off. we begin with the crazy, snowy weather headed for the northeast. bracing for a storm in october. victims of terror attacks sponsored by libya were promised

millions of dollars by the u.s. government but many of those victims say they have to the seen a penny what does the government say about that? and certainly something to cheer about. they barely made the playoffs, now the st. louis cardinals are the world series champions. we will show you the celebrations. we begin this morning with cities throughout the northeast getting ready for a major snowstorm. it's happening before halloween. let's take a look at new york now. the city is preparing for up to a foot of snow, and they aren't alone. snow is expected from baltimore up to boston. and take a look at the radar, here's what it looks like now. one of the biggest problems, potential power outages. heavy snow could leave about a million people without electricity. >> the trees, still plenty of leaves on them.

you have forecasters saying heavy, wet snow, high winds, those are all the perfect ingredients for potentially a large problem with the electric grid. >> all right. let's bring in our alexandra ste steele for a closer look. when is the snow going to start falling? >> here's a look at the big picture, it's rare but not unprecedented. you saw the radar. here is the rain, the green. there is the white. we already have the snow beginning to fall in western pennsylvania, western maryland, in western west virginia as well. so, what we're seeing with the rain will change over to snow in the northeast. here's the big scenario. a quick-hitter, a one-day event it will wind down tomorrow morning. heavy wet snow is the key plus 30 to 40-mile-per-hour winds, gusts to 60. power outages. at least 60 million people impacted with snow, wind and

rain. and let's show you how much. that's the key. just to give you a perspective of how rare it is. the average snow in philadelphia and in new york is about a month to a month and a half away. the earliest has been october 1979. we will show you what to expect for the next 48 hours. look at this swath, those pink colors, those are up to ten inches of snow the colder air is working in. later tonight, really tonight is the time frame for the heaviest snow. we will watch the changeover. 12 inches in allentown. yonkers, 7.5. new york city, this is the computer model printing out 4.7 inches. so could see three to five inches. even in philadelphia, three to five inches not out of the question. boston, 5.1. this is the computer mod prmode

projections. substantial snow, a one-day event. today we will see the rain change over to snow. the winds kick in tonight. tonight is the worst of the storm, and tomorrow we will see it die down and the sun come out and temperatures rise into the 40s so a quick melt. >> that's good news for someone, me who is headed back to new york tomorrow. also in the path are the occupy wall street protesters. they are camped out in parks in new york and elsewhere. the heavy snows could impact the demonstrations, but the protesters are vowing to ride it out, even in the rain that you see. there here is how michael moore described it to anderson cooper last night. >> the snow in the winter is not going to stop the collective anger of tens of millions of americans who have suffered as a result of the economic policies of corporate america. if you think a bit of snow or

cold weather -- i mean, i think it will only harden peoples resolve. >> one big problem facing the occupy wall street demonstrators is the fact that police removed power generators that they said were unsafe? what's that about? we'll have more about that in ten minutes time. bank of america may now amend a plan to charge customers a fee for making purchases with their debit cards. they are considering new ways for users to avoid the fee by carrying minimum balances or having other bank of america credit cards. j.p. morgan chase and well s fargo announced they have abandoned fees. there could be more flooding and more damage to bangkok. many residents were urged to leave but many have stayed put. many areas around the city are under water. nearly 400 people have died.

millions more were forced from their homes. >> reporter: this lady has told us she has run out of money, she is afraid for the safety of her animals. these are her dogs. she's got a few rabbits there. and she's just trying to get them to higher ground. she is starting to become very, very worried. that's what's happening in a lot of this area. we are seeing some elderly people also getting into trucks the army has brought. >> this has been the worst flooding in thailand in more than six decades. michael jackson caused his own death, that's according to defense attorneys for dr. conrad murray. their theory is that jackson injected himself with the powerful drug propofol while dr. murray wasn't around. on the stand, the key expert for the defense talked about the danger of combining propofol with other sedatives that jackson was already taking. >> i believe that potentially it could have lethal consequences.

>> why is that. >> because you're rapidly administering a bolis dose of propofol on top of a high concentration of ben szbenzodia and lorazepam, so you have drugs with synergistic effect and it could be profound. >> are you saying this combination right there, that's potentially lethal? >> precisely. >> closing arguments in the conrad murray manslaughter case could come as early as tuesday. we have this just in to cnn. new violence in afghanistan. a suicide bomber targeted a nato convoy in kabul today. taliban is claiming

responsibility for the blast which killed four civilians. there are reports of coalition troop casualties as well. a spokesman for the nato-led international assistance security force say they do not have exact numbers of casualties yet. a big problem for occupy wall street protesters, this time the police may not be the biggest problem, it could be the weather. we'll have details. first, traditionally california has been on the cutting edge of being green. but did you know it is no longer the country's most energy efficient state? after four years there's a new number one. we'll tell you which state that is when we come back. whoa. whoa. how do you top great vacations? whoa. getting twice the points on great vacations. whoa! use chase sapphire preferred and now get two times the points on travel, and two times the points on dining and no foreign transaction fees.

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american-efficient economy. snappy music there. california dropped to number two, followed by new york and oregon. we've seen arrests this week in oakland and some other areas as cities crack down on those occupy protesters. in new york mayor michael bloomberg says there are no plans to move the protesters out. as mary snow reports, police are cracking down in a different way. >> reporter: an unexpected wake-up call for occupy wall street protesters. >> city law does not allow for the storage and use of generators and fuel in a manner that threatens public safety. >> reporter: new york city firefighters accompanied by police showed up to inspect and remove generators and fuel containers the city says are a fire hazard sitting among the hundreds of protesters camped out in new york. both the city and protesters say there were no resistance. among people like nicholas

isabella who shot this video, it's raised suspicions. >> i think the city, while they publicly say we're allowed to be here, internally they're trying to find ways to wean us out. this is their way of doing that. >> reporter: new york city mayor michael bloomberg during an interview said the generators and containers are fire hazards that are against the law. >> our first two concerned, first amendment and safety. >> reporter: protesters say they have taken precautions, including fire extinguishers and questioning why the city is acting now. >> the timing is a little odd because it's the first cold day. it comes after a terrible, violent attack by law enforcement on occupy oakland. of course we're concerned. legitimately concerned because sometimes the explanation we're given in this city is not what's really going on. >> reporter: the move follows violence against demonstrators this week in oakland, california. the mayor there has since apologized. in new york, the mayor says there's no plans to move

protesters. >> the property is not city property, and so far brookfield has not complained to us and asked us to remove people so that's not a consideration. >> reporter: then there's the weather factor. protesters like nicholas isabella are bracing for cold weather and snow vowing to stick through it. you don't see the cold weather effecting this at all? >> it will turn some away. i'm not going to stay everybody will be here, but for the most part, we're not going to stop. it's not going to have a negative effect on us u. >> reporter: one union of the nypd pointed to recent violence at other occupy wall street movements across the country, saying it will sue protesters if officers here get hurt. mary snow, cnn, new york. we'll have much more on the occupy protest this morning, throughout the day, in fact. that includes a conversation with one of the occupy atlanta demonstrators about the movement and the message.

that's in our 8:00 eastern hour. to sports, big news. they're celebrating in st. louis, of course, now that the cardinals have beat the texas rangers to win the world series. they were never expected to get this far, but each time they were faced with elimination, the cardinals delivered. david freese had a key hit last night to clinch it for the cards. he was named series mvp. it is the cardinals 11th world series win and their first since 2006. as baseball wraps up its season, the nba just can't seem to get theirs started. all nba games have been canceled through november 30th. and the nba commissioner says there will not be a full season. >> as i said, we made good progress, then we turn to the subject of how to divide basketball-related income, i m

summarized the positions of the parties previously and said that the nba owners were willing to go to 50%. >> we didn't want to rush through this today just to, you know, build this artificial pressure to close out a deal today that's going to impact our members for the next ten years. so, you know, with that being said, we're not sure when we'll meet again, but we're hopeful that soon enough we can get back at this and try to close this out. >> just a couple of days ago, both the players union and the owner seemed to be making headway, but negotiations collapsed again last night. victims of the gadhafi regime now being seemingly ignored by the u.s. government or are they? promised payment for their pain and suffering, so far some have not seen a penny. their story is next.ur tudents sd in america's most in demand careers. we provide you with instructors who are professionals

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it's not just good for business. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $7.8 billion to small businesses across the country so far this year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. welcome back. the international criminal court says it is having informal conversations with the son of libya's late dictator, moammar gadhafi. saif gadhafi is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity. his whereabouts are unknown. the bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland may be the most famous case of libyan-sponsored terrorism, but it isn't the only attack that

can be tracked back to the gadhafi regime. the u.s. government promised to compensate victims against those attacks if they dropped lawsuits against libya. at the time it seemed like a good deal. now some are calling it a deal with the devil. >> reporter: these victims came to us with their stories of horror. >> i saw people dying in front of me. >> my kids ask about him a lot. and -- >> i look on my hand, i have skin and blood. >> reporter: maria diaz was just 15 when she and her aunt were caught in the crossfire in the 1972 airport attack in tel aviv. diaz was hit with a grenade. her aunt, just six years older, 21 and newly engaged, was killed. >> i would have given anything for that to happen to me, not to her. >> reporter: after all these years this is diaz's first tv interview. >> four minutes, and it changed

my whole life. >> reporter: in the nearly 40 years since, diaz says she still has pain in her legs, has endured eight surgeries, and has not seen a penny of the money the u.s. government promised she would get. money that is supposed to be taken from a $1.5 billion fund set up to compensate victims of libyan-sponsored terrorism. instead what diaz got was this letter from the u.s. treasury department, saying she would eventually get a pro-rated payment, 20% of what she is due. how much of the money have you seen? >> at this point, i haven't seen any. >> reporter: the problem, say these victims, is that the go government miscalculated and there's not enough money left in the compensation fund for more than 200 victims. an estimated shortfall of $350 million, but the statement department says it is too early to say there would be any

shortfall. the state department told cnn it's premature to determine there will be a shortage of settlement funds, roughly half the claims are still being processed. some of the money was distributed to some of the victims. >> lockerbie and the discothe e discotheque, which at the time are the attacks most people knew about. >> the most high-profile. >> the most high-profile attacks. there were a lot of attacks most people don't recall. >> reporter: like the one where jonathan pollack was injured in 1985 in rome. if you were injured, you were entitled to $3 million, if you were killed, 10 million for the family for wrongful death. >> reporter: you thought, okay, eventually i'll get this money. >> i did. >> reporter: he has received $600,000, but it's 20% of what he's owed. >> that's insulting. to say you will get a pro rated amount now and not guaranteeing you will get the whole amount

later is insulting. >> reporter: neither pollack nor diaz are among those who sued libya for damages, but they are entitled to claims from the same fund under a law that congress passed to cover victims of state-sponsored terrorism. alex was a litigant in the historic case that led to the u.s./libyan agreement to compensate victims. he lost his father on uta flight 772, when it exploded over the african desert in september 1989. his family has been paid 2 million of the $10 million that was owed to them. >> i blame the u.s. government. i mean, clearly they -- they didn't do their homework and they were rushing to make a deal with the devil. the amount of the money is not really the issue. it's really about justice. >> the $1.5 billion compensation fund was set up in 2008 under president george w. bush when relations with libya and gadhafi

were softening a bit it covered nine attacks in all, including lockerbie. it's time to vote for cnn's hero of the year. josh will join us after the break to tell us about some of the amazing honorees and how you can vote. women men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes, i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] write your story with the citi thankyou premier card, with no point caps, and points that don't expire. get started at thankyoucard.citi.com. with no point caps, and points that don't expire. metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber,

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hour. they are some of the most inspirational people in the world, working against the odds to help those in need. now you can vote for your cnn hero of the year. our josh levs is here to show us how. josh, good morning. good morning to you. those votes will make a big difference. the stakes are coming up. first their stories are amazing. the ten honorees this year are helping those in poverty, kids with hiv, military widows and those all over the word. here is one of the heroes. >> i'm eddie canales, i'm here to be for young men who suffered spinal cord injuries playing high school football. since we started we worked with 19 families just in the state of texas. that's one example there. every time i pop in i show a

different one. i want to show you this, you can learn about all ten of this year's cnn heroes at cnnheroes.com. here are the stakes, each of them will get $50,000. the cnn hero of the year, chosen by you, will get $250,000. so, how do you learn about them? at cnnheroes.com each of them has a fan page this year. i'll show you one example here. this is diane latiker, she works in chicago. she created an organization that networks with young people to help them avoid gang violence and stay off the streets. after you learned about all ten, here is how to vote. click on the vote tab at cnnheroes.com. what you will see is a simple system. just highlight the person whom you want to choose as cnn hero of the year. give your e-mail address or hook it up to your facebook count and then your vote can be shared with your friends on social media. now you can do all of this on your mobile device as well.

it's all there for everyone to do right now, cnnheroes.com. >> you want to really vote for everybody because their stories are so inspiring. i was part of the voting committee one year, you do read all of these stories, you think how do you possibly choose. having said that, is this like "american idol"? can you vote as many times as you want? is there a limit? >> first of all, let's point out to everybody, you were part of the committee, which was great, that committee decides the decision, then who are the cnn heroes of the year, that one is entirely up to you. yes, folks, you can vote up to ten times a day. so it's not the same as "american idol," but if you start now, you can vote every day all the way up. so you can get a lot of votes in there. the announcement will take place live at cnn heroes all-star tribute. everything i showed you, i put up for you online.

cnn.com/josh, i'm on facebook and twitter. alina is rocking twitter these days. >> that's right. please follow me. josh, thank you very much. by the way, the deadline for voting is december 7th. we'll see you later. >> you got it. the northeast braces force an october nor'easter, alexandra steele is tracking the snowstorm and will bring us the latest. good news in the disappearance of a young, autistic boy. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. . good morning. it's 30 minutes past the hour. welcome back. i'm alina cho in for t.j. holmes. thanks for starting your day with us. some serious snow is in the forecast for much of the northeast today. meteorologist alexandra steele is tracking it all for uses in the severe weather center. i was e-mailing with my producer, he is headed to york, pennsylvania with chad myers where they are expecting ten inches of snow. how bad will it get, alexandra? >> what's so interesting about it, it's certainly rare in

october. about a month and a half rare for new york and philadelphia. but it's not unprecedented. but this would be, in new york city, the first time in 59 years that we had measurable snow in october. on thursday they had some flakes. flakes don't count in terms of making sure you are getting the correct amount. measurable means at least a tenth of an inch. here's the radar right now. look at this. the white already showing up in western pennsylvania, western maryland, look at how close to washington, d.c. that snow is already. it will be contingent upon the cold air coming in. we'll see a changeover from rain to snow. it will be a heavy, wet snow. it will be pretty, but we're at full foliage in the northeast. the heavy, wet snow coupled with the 50 to 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts, power outages will be

plenty. 60 million people will be impacted by wind, rain or snow. new york city, the average first snow is december 18th so about a month to a month and a half early. only snowed measurably three times in october in new york city. only four times in boston. how much, right? let's get to it. this is the swath of over ten inches. north and west of the big cities, where the greatest snowfall will be, 12 inches in allentown. philadelphia even 3.5 inches expected. on average between three and five. new york city between three and five. yonkers, this is the computer model projection spitting this out, putting together the information and detailing it. hartford, connecticut, over a foot. new york to boston, four to seven inches. quick, though. one day, quick-hitter, in today, out by tomorrow morning. boston will see the latest of it. tomorrow morning, snow changing over to sun by tomorrow afternoon.

>> that's the kind of snow i like. thank you very much. let's see how things are shaping up right now. here's a live look at new york city. still dark outside. as much as a foot of snow could fall from tonight to tomorrow. millions of people could be impacted from virginia to maine, 60 million to be exact. here's how the storm looks on radar. one of the biggest problems is potential power outages. >> the trees. still plenty of leaves on them. you have forecasters saying heavy, wet snow, high winds, those are all the perfect ingredients for potentially a large problem with the electric grid. checking our top stories now -- >> we got sold out. >> banks got bailed out! >> we got sold out! >> occupy wall street protesters

take their movement to the doorsteps of big banks. a group of demonstrators marched across midtown manhattan friday delivering thousands of letters to the executives of five banks. the letters detailed many financial hardships that americans are facing. >> bank of america may be softening its stance on the $5 a month charge for people using their debit cards. according to a person familiar with the matter, the bank is considering waving the fee for customers who use direct deposit, maintain a minimum balance or use bank of america credit cards. the fee set off a wave of public outrage when it was announced last month. in st. louis, the champagne is expected to flow all weekend long. the st. louis cardinals just won the world series, beating the texas rangers in game seven last night. final score, 6-2. this is the cards 11th world series title and their first

since 2006. the city has a parade planned for tomorrow. good for them. new violence in afghanistan to tell you about, a suicide bomber targeted a nato convoy in kabul today. the taliban is claiming responsibility for the blast, which killed at least four civilians. there are reports of coalition troop casualties as well. a spokesman said they do not have exact numbers of casualties just yet. investigators in canada are trying to find out why a charter jet crashed near a runway at the vancouver international airport. the pilot of the twin engine beechcraft survived the crash but later died in the hospital. eight others on board were injured and pulled from the wreckage. one of the passengers talked about the flight's final moments from her hospital bed. >> i looked at the pilot, his hands were shaking. a huge tremor. i was struck with instant knowledge that we were going to die. so i grabbed my cell phone and i

wrote letters to my two children, inside was full of gasoline. i got to the door, not knowing how i was going to leave it because i didn't feel my legs. and i reached out and four amazing people dragged me out. >> officials say several people on the ground saw the crash and rushed to help pull survivors to safety. there's better news to tell you about in the search for an 8-year-old autistic boy who disappeared last weekend. authorities in richmond, virginia say robert wood jr. was found yesterday. the boy wandered away from a family outing in a nearby park last sunday. his disappearance prompted thousands of volunteers to search for him. one of those volunteers found the boy in a creek bed curled up in the fetal position. doctors say despite spending five days in the elements, he will be okay. that's good news indeed. apple may have sold 4 million of its latest iphones

during its opening weekend, but another manufacturer takes the crown when it comes to shipments of smartphones. according to research firm strategy analytics, samsung shipped almost 28 million smartphones between july and september. that's compared to apple's 17 million. however it is unclear if samsung passed apple in actual sales since the company doesn't disclose those figures. guessing apple may have done a bit better. etiquette for the digital age, there's a list of dos and don'ts from social media sites from people who know. >> reporter: emily posts etiquette standards for american manners almost 90 years ago. now in its 18th edition, great great granddaughters anna and lizzy post are among those making sure the family business keeps pace. >> emily used to have an entire chapter in 1972 about chaperons. on a whole we do have a to keep

moving and adapting. >> reporter: so emily post etiquette manners for a new world covers tweeting, texting, e-mail, like the digital breakup, a big don't. >> no. no. you can't. in person. phone if you have to, but facebook, changing the status of letting them know -- >> no. >> eager brides and grooms updating their facebook status at the altar or guests who tweet as soon as they hear i do, that's taboo, too. >> is that your priority at the altar? i think not. as for guests, who are you tweeting, people not invited? >> reporter: it's okay to unfriend or unfollow if a wall's posts or tweets make you uncomfortable, but if you are friends meet face to face. >> there's not some electronic brick wall between you and the

other person. it's a real person at the other end, so think about them. >> great tips. traditions dating back centuries are changed in the united kingdom. i'll explain why gender no longer has any bearing on who will rule. that's why i recommend crest pro-health clinical gum protection. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. crest pro-health clinical gum protection. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart.

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daughter of the new duke and duchess of cambridge, william and kate, will eventually become queen. a ban on the monarch being married to a roman catholic was also lifted. the kingdom of saudi arabia has named interior minister prince naif as next in line for the throne. the former heir died last week after being ill for some time. but now there's question about he'll lead the country. why does it matter? brian todd reports. >> reporter: he could be the next king of saudi arabia, a key u.s. ally who america will count on. he was just named crown prince by the aging king adubdullah. >> the main problem with prince naif is his human rights record.

it's a very ugly record. he has cracked down on women activists, religious freedom activi activists, and any democratic activist reporters, journalists, bloggers, all types of activists. >> reporter: ali al ahmed is a long-time vocal critic of the saudi ruling family. saudi arabia has had no arab spring protests, & says that's thanks to naif arresting protesters and clamping down on social media. in a cable two years ago, american diplomats called naif conservative, aauthoritarian, pragmatic and not pro-western. in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, blamed on mostly saudi hijackers, naif caused a stir when he said it is impossible

that the al qaeda organization did that alone. i think they, the zionists are behind the attacks. we couldn't get anybody at the embassy to respond to the statements, but it was said that naif's job was to clamp down on protests, and he may not be that way as king. naif's stance as a hard liner virtually wiped out the terrorist network inside saudi arabia. as a matter of security, that's something america appreciated, right? >> absolutely. after finding out they created a monster that came back to bite them, they began to work closely with the american authorities, which was difficult for them. >> reporter: so difficult it almost cost naif personally. in 2009, a militant who pretended to surrender blew up a bomb which might have been

concealed in a body cavity in the same room as naif's son, the deputy. his son survived. brian todd, cnn, washington. it's a critical day in iowa, but that's not where you will find the front-runners.

it's a big weekend for the republican presidential candidates, who are trying to get a foothold in early voting states, key voting states, at least some of them are. >> reporter: good morning. you know, we're just 66 days away from the first votes in the race for the white house, but republican presidential candidate herman cain won't be

found this weekend in any of the states that vote first in the primary and caucus calendar. he finishes up two days of stumping in alabama which does not hold a contest until mid-march but the businessman, who's surged in national state polling over the last month, says is he in it to win it. >> i'm not supposed to be running. i'm not supposed to win. i'm not supposed to be standing up here with this hat on, but i'm doing it. >> cain is also bringing in the bucks. his campaign told cnn they brought in more than 3 million in fund-raising this month, that's more than cain raised in the entire third quarter. ron paul and rick santorum are in ira today for a gop forum and straw poll. rick perry's wife is there as well. yesterday the texas governor was asked if he will be skipping any of the upcoming debates, as he's hinted. >> i don't know if we'll forgo debates or not.

there's going to be a lot of debates. shoot, i may get to be a good debater before this is all over. >> reporter: perry made those comments yesterday in new hampshire, that's where jon huntsman is today. he's spending just all of his time in that state. newt gingrich makes the rounds in south carolina today, the first southern state to vote. aleein alina? >> thank you very much, paul steinhauser. a billion people around the world are celebrating the festival diwali. we will take you into this world next in our morning passport. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

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welcome back. nadia has our morning passport. this is the festival of diwali. a time of reflection and celebration. when do you get an opportunity to wear something like this on television? it's spectacular. >> the festival of lights diwali is shrouded in the most beautiful mythology. it's the story of lord rama who is exiled for about 14 years, he's one of the hindu gods. during that time his wife is kidnapped, he then overcomes evil. what you are seeing now are the fireworks. the whole idea of diwali is slight through darkness. good overcoming evil. the conquering of light over darkness. a grand celebration as you can see with the fireworks

happening. all kinds of celebration happen. people dress magnificently, eat delicious food. >> this is not just limited to india. >> people celebrate all over the word. on wednesday it began with paying homage to the goddess of prosperity. thursday was the new year. and friday is a beautiful -- this friday was -- it's known as bajduj, that's a celebration of brothers and sisters. >> i like that the fireworks are used to chase away evil spirits. that's a nice reason to -- >> exactly. the whole idea of conquering evil. conquering as lord rama did. >> so it's a week-long festival. >> it's really three days. it's the wednesday, thursday, friday of this week, which is the celebration of brothers and sisters. all kinds of beautiful festivities. >> so they were not just

celebrating the st. louis cardinals win in the world series? >> i'm sure many hindus around the world were celebrating that, too. what we say to our hindu viewers, we say happy diwali or happy new year. it's a colorful, glorious celebration of hindus around the world. one of the most beautiful parts is the pictures they create, patterns on the floor of homes that you're seeing. >> what is that made of? >> different things, chalks, different materials, the idea is let's create a home that is very welcoming and colorful. >> so happy. >> that's a big part of it. so happy, colorful and joy us. as you can see, full of color. >> i don't want to know how long it took you to get that on. probably a good half hour. >> it looks much more simple

than it really is. >> i tried to get into one of those before, it's not easy. >> you need help. >> you do. thank you. winning one battle in the war against drugs, and the u.s. coast guard unloads the spoils of a massive multimillion dollar cocaine bust. you got to see it to believe it. that's next in cross country. chn women men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make

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checking stories cross-country, check out the u.s. coast guard unloading a massive amount of cocaine seized in a bust three weeks ago in central america. this is the crew of the coast guard cutter cyprus unloading

seven tons of the drug. that's 15,000 pounds it equals roughly $180 million. this haul alone represents roughly a third of all land-based drug seizures in the united states for an entire year. near charleston, west virginia, folks can tell it's time for halloween by all of those jack-o'-lanterns adorning the mayor's house. there are 3,000 pumpkins cleaned, carved and hit up. 3,000. hundreds of volunteers help out in this annual community effort. boy, is it beautiful. north of the border in canada, plenty of canines are getting into the halloween spirit and costumes. from dressing up as a punk rocker to a hound dog wearing an elvis costume, more dog owners are embracing the holiday. there's a new barbie on the scene, and this one is causing quite a buzz. if you check it out, you'll see

the tattoos on the arms and the neck. that is what's causing all the buzz. some are wondering why an iconic doll would promote body art? does it send the right message? this is what the barbie looked like back in 1959. it isn't the first time that barbie has sported tattoos. a couple of years ago you could get stick-on tattoos for barbie. at the time some stores pulled those barbies because of complains from parents. the same happened with harley davidson barbie which also had tattoos. but mattel may have a hard time dumping this latest one. why? because it's pretty much sold out. a puppy in new jersey has become something of a celebrity because of something that didn't happen to him. daniel is a beagle mix. he was supposed to be euthanized along with 17 other dogs. but when shelter officials opened the door, there was daniel standing and waging his tail. he's now in the care of 11th

hour, a no-kill shelter. daniel is now waiting to be adopted. >> even though daniel is the celebrity dog at the moment there are a million daniels in shelters right now that are going to be killed today or tomorrow. >> some states like new jersey ban the practice of animal euthanasia and officials say there are millions of animals just like daniel waiting to be adopted. from cnn center, this is cnn saturday morning. it's october 29th. good morning, everybody. i'm alina cho. t.j. holmes is off a nato convoy has been attacked in afghanistan. coalition troops are among the casualties. we'll get a live report in a moment from kabul. crazy, snowy weather is headed to the northeast right now. bracing for a big storm in october. we'll tell you what to expect.

but we begin with breaking news. a nato convoy has come under attack in kabul, afghanistan. the target of a suicide attack. our nick payton walsh is live for news kabul. nick, what happened? >> reporter: it appears several casualties, not just saying how many, when a vehicle car bomb ran into a convoy of nato personnel. right in the center here of kabul. it's not exactly clear what kind of vehicle was being targeted. we understand two afghan school boys and an afghan policeman were killed in the explosion, but nato not giving precise numbers at this time as to who they lost in the attack. clearly another sign that security in the capital is not how nato forces would like it to be. >> nick, this wasn't the first time this happened. i remember reading in my e-mail earlier this morning there was another incident in northeastern

afghanistan, right? what can you tell us about that one? >> reporter: well, a slew of violence today, another incidence of suicide bombing where a young woman in a burqa blew herself up outside the afghan intelligence services headquarters there. the more troubling instant is two dead isaf soldiers in kandahar, apparently shot by a man in an afghan army uniform. afghan commanders are telling us these isaf soldiers were australians training the afghan and he turned his weapon on them. a bad day for nato indeed. >> all right. nick paton walsh, thank you very much. we want to turn back to the united states and the northeast in particular. alexandra steele has more on the snowstorm that is approaching. i want to say hello to t.j.

holmes who just e-mailed me and is watching. >> it's certainly rare. unprecedented, not so we have seen snow in october, but it's about a month and a half early for the big cities. yeah. this is not december. look at this radar. western new york, western maryland, elkins, west virginia, morgantown, state college. this is just the beginning of it we will watch the cool air come in. colder air comes in, it will change the rain over to snow. for the balance of everyone, that won't happen along the eastern seaboard until tonight. here's a look at the big picture. new york city, here's the deal. windy and rainy today. we'll mix with snow this evening, the snow will taper off tonight in new york city. three to five inches. this is the first time in 59 years that we had october snow. so, pretty incredible. boston, the later and the more north and east you are, the later it will come but the later it will stay. windy, rainy day, turning to

snow tonight. forecast for you, three to five inches. look at this pink, over ten inches. north and west of the big cities, that's where the heaviest snow will be. of course it's early and along the coast, like coastal connecticut, it will be hard to sustain that snow. 12 inches in allentown. philadelphia, three to five. new york city, four to seven inches. boston, five inches. springfield, so it's interior areas, hartford 13 inches. about a foot in springfield. poughkeepsie, we will see in the berkshires, the catskills, that's where we will see the foot plus snow. more on that and the power outage factor that will be a big player, especially tomorrow. back to you. >> that's always the problem. the high tide rolling into thailand now could mean even more flooding and more damage to the capital city of bangkok. residents were urged to leave but many stayed put. many areas around bangkok are already under water. nearly 400 people have died with

millions more forced from their homes. >> reporter: this lady has told us she has run out of money, she is afraid for the safety of her animals. these are her dogs. she's got a few rabbits there. and she's just trying to get them to higher ground. she is starting to become very, very worried. that's what's happening in a lot of this area. we are seeing some elderly people also getting into trucks the army has brought and jumping in there because their homes are inundated with water. >> we also heard from sarah earlier that crocodiles and snakes are being seen in the floodwaters that have washed over city streets. this has been the worst flooding in thailand in more than six decades. it's hard to be exact about these things, but on monday the u.n. estimates that the 7 billi billionth person in the world will be born. it's not the population but where many of the babies are

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7 billion people, that's a lot of pressure on this planet and it could pose serious challenges in terms of food, resources and the environments. jim clancy has more. >> reporter: october 31, 2011. that's the date that the u.n. says the 7 billionth person will be born on earth. 7 billion. that's a crowded planet. >> it took only 12 years to go from 6 billion to 7 billion. and it's expected to take maybe another 14 years to go to 8 billion. so the trajectory is still rising quickly. >> reporter: all those people mean more demands for food, more stresses on the land, and more loss of water. but that's not the biggest problem. >> the big problem is that in the poorest countries, families are still having six, seven, eight children.

that's what's putting this tremendous growth of population continuing, because in the high income countries, fertility rates have come down to two children on average or less. >> reporter: this map shows you birth rates across the world. multiple births above five are centered in africa. most lower birth rates are in developed countries. dr. saks says rapid population growth in poor countries often creates conflict and political stress at borders and on top of that cultural values and limited health care creates a barrier to proper birth control. jim clancy, cnn, atlanta. dr. sachs has an in-depth article on the 7 billion mark and what it could mean for the planet. check it out at cnn.com/opinion. help is on the way for homeowners. the president has a new mortgage plan and he is helping out students struggling with debt.

first, what do you think the average student loan debt being carried by the graduating class of 2009 is? we're talking about four-year non-profit colleges. is it 2,400? is it 4,000? or 24,000? i have a sneaking suspicion i know what the answer is, but do you? we'll have it for you when we return. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks.

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welcome back. we asked you before the break what do you think the average student loan debt is that's being carried by the graduating class of 2009? we're talking about four-year non-profit colleges. there you see the options there. $2,400, $4,000 or $24,000? the answer is $24,000. that's according to institute for college access and success. it's true that it really is tough out there. unemployment rates are high. there are record foreclosures, and the student loan debt is sky high. people need relief urgently. this week president obama announced two plans to ease the financial burdens of americans. on one front mortgage loans. on the other, student loans. clyde anderson is here to look at both plans. we want to start with the announcement to help homeowners refinance their existing mortgages with lower interest rates. let's listen and we'll talk on

the other side. >> through this plan we will help between 7 million and 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages so they can afford -- avoid foreclosure. we're not just helping homeowners at risk of falling over the edge, we're preventing their neighbors from being pulled over that edge, too. >> all right. that sounds great. how does it work? >> the main thing, he released something similar, a plan that said you could only go up to 125% of the loan to value, meaning people who are und underwater, they want to refinance mortgages and take advantage of the low rates. they are saying you can refinance even if you are underwater in your mortgage, meaning you owe more than your house is worth. so they are giving them an opportunity to refinance. that's huge. >> you cannot be behind on your payments. what are other criteria for this? >> it must be a primary residence t must be a fannie mae

or freddie mac loan and it must be issued before may 31, 2009. that's the organization backed by the government so they have the ability to do that. >> takes effect on december 1, 2011 so not -- you have to start working on it if you want to do it. >> again, you see who qualifies. you know, a lot of people do qualify. >> yes. >> but it doesn't work for everybody. >> no you can't be late on any mortgage payments. that's big piece there. a lot of people are behind on their mortgages. you can't be behind on the mortgages, so make sure you're current, you have this conventional loan product and that you are under water. the loan amount does not change as far as if you owe more on the house than it's worth, you will still owe more but you just will refinance it. >> how will this boost the economy? that's the bottom line here,

right? that's why the president is coming out with these plans. >> they say for taking advantage of the low interest rates, the average person will save about $2,500 a year, so you can now put that money back into the economy and boost the economy. >> thank you very much, clyde anderson. great tips to have. clyde anderson will stick around. student loan debt surpassed credit card debt in this country. it's hard to believe but it's true. it's creeping towards the $1 trillion mark. president obama says he has a plan to ease that financial burden. clyde will break down hgive us on that and whether or not it will work when we come back. .. ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003.

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just before the break we told you that student loans have surpassed credit card debt. this week president obama laid out a plan to help ease the burden for people paying off student loans. watch. >> i intend to do everything in my power right now to act on behalf of the american people with or without congress. we can't wait for congress to do its job. so where they won't act, i will. >> financial expert clyde anderson joins us again to break down the plan. the president talked about how it took him and the first lady ten years to pay off their debt. i've talked to students who are so underwater, hundreds of thousands of dollars, that they say they can't pursue their american dream. >> it's a big issue, for a lot of americans it's taken more than ten years. we have high unemployment and the cost of higher education is

surging. we have the high costs mixed with unemployment, and we have people wanting to go to college because they want to compete for the jobs so now they have all these debts and they can't afford to pay for them. >> in many cases they are moving in with their parents again. what does the president's plan do and who does it help. >> the president's plan says if you take on these student loans, they will give you more time, and after 20 years, you could potentially have your loans forgiven. >> right now it's ten years. >> right. >> they're saying 10% of the income is maxed as far as what they can say is your minimum payment. before it was 15%. now it's cutting down and saying let's work with you to get the payments lower and maybe forgiving the debt after a certain amount of time. >> these kids are getting out of college. in many cases they can't find jobs. if they do, a lot of cases they're low-paying jobs. will this work? >> we're hoping it will work. it will help some people, not

everyone. but it's a push in the right direction. a lot of people out there want total forgiveness, don't think that's going to happen but that's something they would like to have and see. a lot of people are hurting now, so it's hard for them. they say you shouldn't take on more than 10% of the income after graduation from the job you're going to have as far as loans. it's crucial to know what you're going to school for. >> it's easy to say, but a lot of people are trying to make ends meet. it's impossible to avoid. then it has a snowball effect. >> you have to weigh your decisions right now. this is the time to think it through. is it time for me to go to college? can i afford to go to college? what kind of job is waiting for me on the other side. >> it's sad to think about it in those ways, but it's the reality right now. clyde anderson, thank you as always. coming up, a new hurdle for the wall street protesters in new york, it's not that the authorities have to be concerned with this, there's the weather, too. you know that huge nor'easter

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elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. 23 minutes after the hour. checking our top stories, the northeast is getting ready for an early big dose of snow with forecasts of a foot or more for cities like new york later today. the snowy outlook has utility companies preparing for possible outages. the snow could impact upwards of 60 million people. the impending storm could pose problems for those occupy wall street protesters. they say they will keep the

faith despite the falling temperatures. new york police have seized power generators and gas containers from the occupy camps, citing safety concerns. health officials in north carolina suspect a festival there in raleigh is the source of an e. coli outbreak. four of the confirmed cases are children. three of them had to be hospitalized. a spokesman for the fair says they are cooperating with health officials. there are new guidelines for the hpv vaccine. now the centers for disease control is deciding it's not just for girls anymore. we'll explain when we return. ♪

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three minutes before the top of the hour -- bottom of the hour, rather. let's turn back to the weather and get some information on the snowstorm for the northeast. alexandra steele has that. and the snow is already falling west of washington, right? >> it's not even halloween. this is like a december or january map. rare but not unprecedented. north of the big cities, 8 to 12 inches, perhaps. in the big cities, new york, washington, philadelphia, yes, accumulating snow for you. this is measurable snow. that's what we will see and that's what we don't usually see. one thing about this, it will be a quick-hitter. the balance of today, tomorrow morning and then it's done. with the strong winds coupled with the heavy snow, power outages will be a sure thing.

60 million people will be impacted. philadelphia, we go south to north along the 95 corridor. north and west of the cities will see more snow, double digits. rain and wind in philly today, mixes with snow overnight. philadelphia, two to four inches. in new york city, it's been since 1959 that we had the last october snow. they only had three snows, measurable snows in october since records have been kept. so rain and wind today, mixes with snow this evening, maybe about five or so tapers off tonight, three to five inches for you. boston, you will still see snow tonight and into tomorrow morning because you're further north and east as this nor'easter moves away from you, you will be the last to see it. tomorrow morning, three to five inches, much more on the nor'easter. very interesting, we'll talk more about it coming up. >> alexandra, stay with us. we want to look at washington right now. you can see -- well, of course

the sun has yet to fully come up. it just looks chilly, doesn't it? >> it does. and just west of washington the snow has already begun. they're close, so close, but temperatures have to cool down and the air saturated a bit more, but then they will. >> all right. thanks. moving on, a vaccine to help young girls fight off some cancers later on in life is being recommended for boys. elizabeth cohen has more. >> this week a cdc committee voted to recommend the hpv shot for boys. that shot, if it sound familiar, is already on the vaccine schedule for girls, but this committee said that boys ages 11 or 12 should also be getting the shot. the shot is given as a series of three shots. the vaccine will help boys and their future sexual partners. as far as the boys go, it will reduce the chances they can get genital warts when they do