follow me at twitter.com. yes, that's actually me on twitter.com. we thank you for being with us tonight. please join us tomorrow. for all of us, thank you for watching. good night from new york. good night from new york. next here, campbell brown. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome. we got a lot to talk about. we'll start as we always do with the mash-up. our look at the stories making impacts right now. we are watching it all so you don't have to. we begin tonight with an explosive new claim from a top official in the bush administration. some vt president's closest aids, this claim says, seek to exaggerate the terrorist threat here at home for political gain. >> the former homeland security secretary tom ridge. he's now suggesting he may have been pressured by the bush white house to influence the 2004 election. he was pressured by top bush administration officials including secretary donald

rumsfeld and john ashcroft to raise the terror threat level from yellow to orange the weekend before the 2004 re-election election. >> ridge says there was no intelligence to justify raising the threat level and he writes in his book, i wondered, is this about security or politics? he says there is a tense debate. he won. the issue never even reached the president. but it did reinforce ridge's decision to leave the administration. >> ridge says the drama played out after osama bin laden had released a pre-election message critical of bush. in libya tonight, the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103 is now a free man. >> the convicted terrorist returns home walking free from a scottish prison after two decades of unleashing the worst terror attack ever on british soil. >> the anger and outrage over the bombing of pan am flight 103 flared again today when this picture flashed around the

world. a libyan agent convicted in the attack that killed 270 people getting welcomed home today as a hero. tonight, family members say a terrorist is getting the mercy their loved ones were denied. >> we thought it was a mistake. we're now in contact with the libyan government and want to make sure that if this transfer has taken place, he is not welcomed back in some way, but instead should be under house arrest. >> many victims claim that al megry ra hi's release has more to do with oil relations with libya, a claim the government denies. >> al megrahi was freed on humanitarian grounds. on cnn's "situation room," wolf blitzer pressed scottish official kenny macaskill. >> is there any precedent where a mass murderer has been freed

to go home to his wife and family because he's suffering from cancer? >> this crime is unprecedented in our small country. it's actually the worst atrocity, terrorist atrocity, ever perpetrated anywhere within the united kingdom. in scotland, justice is equally tempered with mercy. >> in just a bit, you're going to hear from the brother of one of al megrahi's victims. in washington tonight, an early exit for a government program too pricey and popular to survive. >> the cash for clunkers program winding down. the government says the popular program will end-month-o monday >> car owners can get up to $4,500. well, at 8:00 p.m. eastern time on monday, all that paperwork must be submitted. >> dealers must front the money, sometimes to the tunes of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the government has

been slow to pay them back. >> of the 1.9 billion in reba rebates, the government has reimbursed them 145 million. >> they're going to get their money. >> the program spiking auto sales. in the health care war, obama today struggling to regain his grip on the debate. first, rumor patrol. fielding calls with the conservative radio host. there you see that there. then preaching to the choir, at the democratic national committee. telling supporters not to believe reports he is off his game. >> just about this time, you'll recall that the republicans had just nominated their vice presidential candidate and everybody was -- the media was obsessed with it and cable was 24 hours a day and "obama's lost his mojo" and -- [ laughter ] you remember all that? there's something about august

going into september -- where everybody in washington gets all wi-wi'd up. >> this, as the white house inches, ever closer, to breaking off talks with the republicans. the message today, we tried, but enough is enough. >> i think early on a decision was made by the republican leadership that said, look, let's not give him a victory. >> republicans in the leadership who have obviously decided they have no interest in working with the president. i think we would certainly be willing to work with them if they were willing to work with us. >> i have no control over what the other side decides of their political strategy. >> the president can only do so much. >> my obligation to the american people says we're going to get this done one way or another. >> of course, the president's got his hands full dealing with the left. house speaker nancy pelosi

drawing a line in the sand today, saying no public option, no reform at all. in afghanistan tonight, they're counting ballots, but there aren't many to count. voting plus violence equals low, low turnout. >> they voted for ten-plus hours. now their votes are being counted deep into the night. afghanistan holds its second ever presidential and parliamentary election. you can bet u.s. officials are watching. >> the fear of violence is affecting turnout in early voting. there have been no major a salts today. but there have been reports of scattered rocket attacks. >> we visit one polling station this morning and spoke to many voters who are determined to cast their ballots despite the threat. >> we do expect to hear certain results in a few days' time. we're going to get preliminary results on september 3rd. and the final results should be coming in september 17th. >> but can we trust those results? white house envoy richard holbrooke telling reporters the test is going to be in the counting. and now to elizabeth

edwards. on "larry king" last night with cautious answers to difficult questions about her marriage. and about whether her husband, john, is the real father of his mistress' baby. >> you were so candid in the past about the impact of your husband's problems on your relationship. how are things going? >> things are going fine. we're getting the children ready for a new school year. everything seems to be going pretty smoothly at my house. but thank you for asking. >> and the continued questions about the paternity factor? is there any solution there? dna test? do you know if anything's going to happen? >> my expectation is at some point something happens. and i hope for the sake of this child that it happens, you know, in a quiet way. >> as for her health, mrs. edwards, who is battling breast cancer, says she is feeling good. and moving, now, to a bizarre story from the world of

sports. yesterday, south africa's caster semenya breezing to victory at the world championships in berlin. today, that win in question, amid speculation she is really a he. the story now from abc's "good morning america." >> questions that have been raised because of semenya's tremendous speed, muscular physique and deep voice. semenya, who is 18, burst on to the scene just a few weeks ago with a dominating performance in another racing competition. after that, international track and field officials asked the south african authorities to conduct a gender verification test. used to be that such tests required no more than dropping the pants. but today's version requires reports from a gynecologist, an endokrin knoll jiflt, an

internal medicine specialist and a gender expert. >> we'll have a whole lot more on this very strange case coming up later tonight. finally, the punch line, courtesy of mr. david letterman, a man who sure know hows how tod a grudge. >> you know who squeaky from is? in the 70s, tried to assassinate president ford. she's been let out of prison, been paroled. is she going to get a job? is she going to start dating? i mean, come on. if you think about it, there aren't many jobs for unstable gun-toting women, unless she wants to run for governor of alaska. i'd like to apologize for that joke. i'm sorry, squeaky. >> david letterman, everybody. and that is the mash-up. tonight's big question, did members of the bush

administration try to use the terror alert system to help win the election? former head of homeland security says that is one of the reasons says that is one of the reasons he quit his job.

stunning new revelations coming out tonight from the man chosen to help protect our country in the aftermath of september 11th. former homeland security secretary tom ridge now says he was pressured to raise the nation's terror alert level to orange on the eve of the 2004 presidential election. ridge claims he fought off the suggestion and wondered whether it was all about security or politics. that bombshell in ridge's new book, which hits book shelves in just a matter of days now. right now, cnn national security contributor fran townsend who was president bush's adviser. along with republican consultant alex constellos, cnn political

contributor, james carville. and in new york, cnn political analyst roland martin. fran, you were there. i'm going to go through this with you. take us back. this is days before the 2004 election. a new osama bin laden tape had come out. everybody wondering what that would mean for the election. tom ridge claims secretary of defense rumsfeld and attorney general john ashcroft pressured him to raise the terror alert for political reasons. you were there, is that what happened? >> i wasn't only there, i was chairing this meeting, and i will tell you what happened is after a discussion between tom ridge and i, we agreed i should call a council meeting. the reason you call that meeting is to get the various views the other cabinet secretaries. they frequently don't always all agree. and what you want to encourage is this free exchange of their views. which is exactly what happened. by the way, tom ridge was not the only person at that meeting advocating the terror alert shouldn't have been raised.

next, i think we have to point out to our viewer, there is also a tape probably worse than the bin laden tape with adam gadahn. he was an american member of al qaeda who in his tape talked about the streets of the united states running with blood. depending on outcome of the election. and in -- earlier that year in the summer, we'd had this threat, very specific and credible threat, against the financial district. so that was the background against which this whole discussion took place. and frankly, in the end, the consensus of the council was to recommend to the president not to raise the terror alert system and the president agreed with that recommendation so it was never raised. >> let me stop you just for a second. you will confirm, though, as he writes in his book that rumsfeld and ash krofcroft were in fact lobbying it be raised? >> they did. they were not the only ones on that side either. there was a full discussion of all the participants of the counsel. and there was a division of views. >> i think -- if i'm reading

this correctly, ridge is making the assumption, look, this has to be for political reasons. four days before the election. i think when you have that kind of debate, and there were plenty of osama bin laden tapes that had come out and i don't recall at any point the terror alert being raised because of one of those tapes, if one comes out right before the election and there's a huge debate about it, is he not -- i mean, is it not fair to give him the benefit of the doubt that his assumption that politics might be coming into play here isn't completely off base? >> it is completely off base. there was no discussion of politics in that meeting. >> but isn't it implied by virtue of the fact that you're four days before the presidential election? >> well, bin laden issued the tape before the election. the administration wasn't responsible for that. and i have to tell you, we all the to ask ourselves, tom ridge has been out of the government a very long time. less that two weeks ago, he came before a group who's talking about looking at revising the advisory system, the alert system.

he's never mentioned this, never -- he didn't mention it when he was in government. he hasn't mentioned it since he left. why now, other than to sell books? >> i couldn't agree with you more. i think so many, why didn't they speak up if all of this is true at the time? and yet we find out about none of this until they have a book to sell. james, give me your take on that. >> well, subpoenas have to be issued. oaths have to be taken. lawyers have to be hired. this is an allegation of the utmost seriousness. i have no idea what the case is. this is hardly a shoe clerk making this assertion. two-time governor of pennsylvania, the first secretary of the department of homeland security. and he said he felt pressured. i think this has to get to the bottom of. if this is true, i don't know miss town send, she's a reputable person, i don't know, but this is something of the utmost seriousness. and it has to be looked into and looked into immediately. >> but, alex, can't he -- in his role, it's not like he's some, like, little guy here and

rumsfeld can order him what to do. he's the secretary of homeland security. how does one feel pressured when you're in that position of power? >> well, he actually -- >> i don't know -- >> -- he says -- no, james, he's actually clear in the book if you'll read it that he says he wasn't asked to do anything. this was a discussion where people had different views four days before an election. again, we should remember that terrorism is a pr component. they're here to manipulate our will. so, again, tom ridge has served his country well in many ways. he's not serving his country well now. he's selling a book. i worked with the people in the bush administration for eight years. if you ever brought anything political to them and you were their friend and you had any political interest, they put you at the back of the line. this is a president who stood up to his own vice president and didn't pardon "scooter" libby so -- >> you can't say that these guys put their integrity first -- >> let me hear from roland. >> the problem here is when the homeland security secretary says that was pressure for political reasons -- >> he doesn't say that -- >> no, wait a second.

one second. when you say that he was not ordered to do anything, but the reality is, he understand, as campbell stated what is implied. that is still a serious issue. when you talk about terrorism, this is a -- this is national security. this is changing the lives of americans who are going to airports, who are going to trains. as james said, it is very serious. should be a further conversation. some kind of investigation. because, again, we cannot excuse this kind of behavior, democrat or republican. >> fran, let me let you jump in. because i'm not sure -- i mean -- and then i'll have james respond. about the fact that this is -- was a discussion, a debate, that was happening internally. >> right. if we have investigations and subpoenas and lawyers every time cabinet members disagree or debate a policy issue, we'll never get anything done. it's ridiculous. there is a -- you want to encourage this sort of debate. they had a debate. they came to, i think, the right conclusion. it's the recommendation the president accepted. there were no politics in it.

this was a conversation, a discussion, among cabinet members that you want them to have. >> james, you get last word. >> james, let's investigate eric holder for -- >> hold on, hold on -- >> investigate tomorrow -- >> excuse me -- >> okay, james, go ahead. >> they're not. yeah, i know, they don't have the -- they're not talking about funding levels for national park. they're talking about scaring the heck out of people. i don't know what the truth is. this is a matter of utmost gravity. this has to be looked into it. it has to be looked into immediately. >> we'll hear more from ridge. i'm sure he's going to go on a book tour in a matter of day, given that his book is coming out shortly. many thanks to the panel. appreciate it, guys. thank you. hurricane bill heading towards bermuda and that just happens to be where bill and hillary clinton are vacationing right now. we have the storm track. plus, an 18-year-old world champion track star being forced to prove she is, in fact, a she. announcer: what are you waiting for?

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now, a check on some of the other must-see stories of the day. hln's mike galanos with the download. >> hurricane bill closing in now. here's a tropical storm warning, hurricane watch, in effect for bermuda. the associated press reports the warning comes a day after former press bill clinton and his wife, secretary of state hillary rodham clinton arrived in bermuda as part of a getaway. the storm's been downgraded to a category 3, on course to barrel between the east coast and bermuda saturday morning. another story to keep you updated on. a reality tv contestant believed to be on the run is now wanted

for murder. ryan jenkins was a finalist on vh1's "megan wants a millionaire" reality show. now cops say he killed his ex-wife, jasmine fiore, found strangled and stuffed in a suitcase. police believe jenkins fled to his native canada. police dash cam camera putting you in the front seat of a head-on collision. this is in floyd county, indiana, just outside of louisville. the cop was driving home after work-month-old monday when this driver veered into his lane. he'll be okay. the other driver checked at the scene turned down a trip to the hospital. as far as why, well, this other driver -- just facing some traffic citations. you may have heard of dumpster diving. how about dumpster swimming? yeah, they've turned garbage dumpsters into pools. it's the cool thing in new york. they sand down the rough edge, line them with plastic. this is clean water.

it is exclusive. if you want to take a dip, it's by invite only. so, campbell, maybe hunt down one of these places. >> that still kind of grosses me out. >> that's one of the -- one of the people said we feel a little like garbage swimming around. >> mike galanos, thank you. the man responsible for killing people in the pan am bombing is free tonight. the brother of one of the men he killed. >> you're saying to all the terrorists, keep going at it. the united states and the united kingdom are soft. they'll give in.

all of the outrage from the pan am bombing came rushing back today. one of our big questions tonight, how does a convicted terrorist get a hero's welcome? >> the libyan agent convicted of murdering 270 people in the bombing of pan am flight 103. the airliner blew up over lockerbie, scotland, back in 1988. many of the victims were

americans. 289 -- excuse me, 189, to be specific. termally ill with cancer, abdul ali al megrahi was sent back to libya today still insisting on his innocence. welcoming his home in celebration. >> a scottish court ordered the release of the only person convicted in the bombing of pan am flight 103. the family also of many of the victims are furious. >> here's the convoy now, just pulling out of this prison. >> it will be a bittersweet return. he's been told by doctors his cancer is resistant to any form of treatment. and he will be dead in around three months. >> joining me now, better ammerman, who lost his brother in the bombing. also, fran townsend, homeland security adviser to former president bush with us as well tonight. and, bert, you just saw this picture a few moments ago, feeding in, of al megrahi coming

off this plane to what can only be called a hero's welcome. >> i listened to obama today make the statement he would contact libya, stating no hero's welcome. and i'm just listening increditediously because now he's had the hero's welcome -- >> you knew this would happen. >> absolutely. now what does obama do? it's an awful weak statement on foreign policy that's been exibted by the united states and united kingdom on this issue. >> the term used by the scotland judge was that it was a release on, his word, compassionate grounds. >> yeah. >> i know you're not feeling any compassion for this man on any level. can you understand this judge's decision or how he came to it? >> no, because this is a bigger issue than this man. this is a political ramification. he massacred 270 people. 259 at 31,000 feet. by letting him go early, you're saying to all the terrorists

throughout the world, keep going at it, the united states and the united kingdom are soft, they'll give in. >> fran, you just heard bert make reference to this. i want to play for you what president obama did say earlier about al megrahi's release. >> we're now in contact with the libyan government and want to make sure that if, in fact, this transfer has taken place, that he is not welcomed back in some way but instead should be under house arrest. >> fran, you saw what happened when that plane landed. what's your reaction? >> i think the release -- i completely agree with bert. i think it's a tragedy and a travesty. i think it's absolutely outrageous that he would have been shown compassion that he did not show the 270 victims that were on that flight, pan am flight that day. so it's absolutely outrageous that he should be shown and given this compassionate release. that said, you know, i was

concerned about what steps did the administration take before today and i did speak with folks in the white house. i know the attorney general, the secretary of state and john brennan, my successor at the white house, all implored the british and scottish officials not to permit this to happen. now, they obviously failed in that. i'm sorry -- i think that they're very uncomfortable with the actions taken to facilitate the release. i know that they did implore them not to have a hero's welcome. as mr. amorman says this is inevitable. it only really underscores the tragedy of this, that they would have permitted this man to be released at all. >> well, fran, you also said you were concerned to see president obama -- this is going back a little bit, shaking gadhafi's hand at the g-8 summit earlier. explain why. >> you know, there was a real debate in the prior administration whether or not libya had taken sufficient steps

to be taken off the state sponsor list. that decision was made. there had been continuing concerns in the intelligence and law enforcement communities that libya didn't really sincerely renounce terrorism. and so those -- with those lingering concerns, i will tell you, i was disappointed to seat president shake his hand at the g-8, given the ongoing concern, even post taking office -- >> it was the bush administration who made that decision ultimately. it was konld leacondoleezza ricw there and met personally with him. >> that's right. a number of steps they had to take. the decision was made during the bush administration to take them off the list. i will tell you there had been, after that point, ongoing concerns, based on intelligence and law enforcement sources, that perhaps that their renunciation of terrorism was not sincere. >> let me ask both of you this going forward. fran, what should the obama administration do now? what can they do now?

what are their options? >> i think their options are really quite limited. which is why i want to satisfy myself they had actually taken a forceful stand with the british to discourage this. i think they did. i think they're left, as bert ammerman says, looking incredibly weak. >> bert? >> this is the last chapter of pan am 103, a sad chapter. when i came in to do all these interviews, it hit me like a ton of bricks. our loved ones i guess were guilty for being on flight. the families, i guess we've been guilty to try to make our government do what is right. >> we'll have to end it there. brert ammerman, i appreciate your time. and when we come back, sounds like an outrageous accusation. but a new world champion runner is being told to prove she is really a woman. i never thought i would have a heart attack,

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my depression. (announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq. a south african teenager received her gold medal today. caster semenya dominated to win big. but there is a huge controversy tonight. revelations she must take a test to prove she is a woman. >> there was a south african runner just winning a gold medal. now there's a challenge. officials are wondering if she could really be a he. >> is the champion a man or a woman? gender tests results are pending

on the south african winner of the women's 800 at the world's athletics championship in berlin. the question of the winner's gender was first raised last month.

>> with that comes rumors. i heard one that you're born a man. what do you say about stuff like that? >> i have no idea about that. who said it? i don't know. i don't give a [ bleep ] about it. >> joining us tonight is christine brennan, a columnist for "usa today," author of the book "best seat in the house." and has written about this. also, dr. jennifer berman, a

urologist who specializes in sexual health and has some understanding of this as well. christine, we just heard this woman dismiss these allegations. there are now two investigations under way to see if she might be a man. what is going on? >> it's unprecedented at least in this time. over the year, going back to the '30s, the '60s, the soviet, east german, pole, the eastern bloc, that seemed to engage in some of these activities to try to sneak men in to compete against women. in this day and age, it's really a surprise. and we've got one of two things. we've either got a man competing against women and saling a wanifhes,ndhe ds thing. >> jennifer, we're told these tests could take weeks. most people including me thought you could tell a man from a woman by dropping the trousers. but it's way more complicated than that. explain to us how this gender testing works. >> yes and no. ggt amn or ht.or tpeons di t ggt oa medical d hil 3% di t ptie is aa a ouinllhe eifexist, that's no accounting for her athletic abit >> christine, this issue has been a real challenge for the sports world. i mean, gender testing, i think, i had read, was even abandoned by the olympics at the sydney game because it was so complicated. i mean, can we get a clear-cut answer here? >> well, i hope we can. i'll leave that to medicine to give us that answer. as the sports journalist, i would say this, you're right, there were, especially women's group, saying, wait, why do we have to have women be tested? and that was basically then ruled out about 1999, 2000, as you said. and that's why i think this is

such a surprise. it's south africa, an 18-year-old, who's come out of the blue to win and shock everybody in the last few, you know, weeks -- >> genetic testing can be done. in addition, there's ultrasounds and c.a.t. scans that can determine the internal genitalia. that's not complicated. the best thing that can come out of this, if she does have some chromosomal abnormality is it will be detectled because there's risk, of cancers and other things. >> let me stop you and explain that. i don't understand it. i think most people don't. what that would mean if she had an extra chromosome or hormonal disorder of some sort. >> let's say she's genetically a male, an xy chromosome, but on the outside looks like a woman, she could have what is referred to as an undescended or -- a te testical that hasn't come down. and those can turn mallittle nanlt and turn cancerous and they need to be removed. best case is we'll identify that

and we can, you know, cure her from something that might happen in the future. but this is a horrible way to go about determining that. >> jennifer, to your point, you sort of hintled that the before. this is a young woman, a young girl. pretty cruel thing for this girl to have to go through emotionally, psychologically. presuming it's not a scam. >> right, and, you know, for all intents and purposes, from my perspective, i don't believe it is. it is humiliating. it will affect her for her lifetime. clearly. her ability to perform in terms of an athlete and her ability to perceive herself as a woman perhaps. >> christine? >> well, track and field has been dealt many blows over the last 20, 25 years. ben johnson, the steroid scandal of 1988 at the seoul olympics, and the sport has been reeling, really, for a good couple decades. the question here now, is someone trying to get an edge, are they not? but this is the kind of thing

that can taint a sport that has already dealt with so many issues involving cheating that one has to feel that track and field, you know, again, bearing the brunt, the bigger issue of the sport itself and can we trust what we're watching? >> all right, we're going to leave it there. thank you so much, appreciate it, guys. when we come back, stunning new information tonight about who the cia picked to target and possibly kill some of the key members of al qaeda. just how big of a role did just how big of a role did blackwater play? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%d

new information coming to light about just who the government turned to for a crucial mission, getting to and possibly killing leaders of al qaeda. >> remember the assassination program? well, here's why it was a big deal. turns out the agency secretly hired some help. blackwater, the controversial contractor. >> -- already investigating whether the cia broke the law by failing to inform congress it was developing this secret program to track down the terrorists. >> why is the obama administration still using

blackwater as a contractor? why do you continue to hire this group? >> i'd have to look and see what the extent of that use is and i would point you to the cia -- i'd feel more comfortable talking about this when i had a little information on their contracts. >> our big question, why was the government outsourcing some of its most important missions? with me now to talk about this from atlanta, suzanne simmonds, author of "master of war" a book about the founder of blackwater. in washington, jobe warrick, who covers national intelligence for the "national post." this program kept secret for eight years. what have you found out? >> we're finally starting to understand why congress got so excited when they found out about this program two months ago. it wasn't just that the program was kept secret for all this time. it turns out it involved black water which is of course the security contractor that has got such a bad reputation for excessive use of form allegedly and the death of civilians in

iraq. this is a troubling combination and congress is very intent to look into this very deeply now. >> and what were, as much as you know, i guess as much as we know, what was the mission here? who specifically or, you know, again, as much as you know, were they trying to assassinate? >> the whole idea wallace to try to take out the top al qaeda figures. osama bin laden and his deputies. and this could be a number of ways they could do it. they had plans over eight years for going after him. this one phase, they decided, let's outsource it, let's use blackwaeshgs which is seen as great connections with cia, lots of former cia employee also there, task them with the job of trying to find these guy, and either capture them or kill them. and it turns out it didn't get very far. they had training. they had purchase of weapons. they spent millions of dollars. they apparently did some field surveillance. they never got close to pulling a trigger so eventually the thing was cancelled. >> suzanne, blackwater's involvement in iraq was very

controversial. there were accusations of excessive force, of killing civilians. were these contractors equipped to pull off a sensitive operation? >> i think if the american public had any idea, they'd be terrified. the fact there are now more of them in iraq than there are troops. the issue has always been accountability. they're certainly equipped to pull something like this off. the people of blackwater, most, are very highly trained professionals. so a team like this probably would have involved former special forces people, would be the first thing that comes to mind. in terms of equipment, they have an unmanned air ship. they've got a jet. they've got retro-fitted helicopters that they actually had on lease to the state department for a long time, which is one of the main reasons why blackwater wasn't kicked out of iraq right after that shooting in december 2007 because frankly the state department could not function or continue that work without blackwater. >> you say americans would also be surprisefold they knew how

close blackwater is to the cia. give us a sense for that. >> it's not just the cia. that's why i was kind of surprised to hear robert gibbs say he had to look into the extent of their involvement with the government. it's the cia, the department of defense and the department of state. and they've had this relationship for some time now. the relationship specifically with the cia goes all the way back to shortly after 9/11. when eric prince sat down with the executive director of the agency at the time, alvin cronguard and said, look, we've had this terrible attack and we want to do something to help. it was after that they were given a classified contract to go help secure some of sites being used as prisons throughout afghanistan. >> suzanne simmons joining us, as well as jobe warrick. great reporting. appreciate your time tonight, thanks so much. >> thank you. so, if the recession really is coming to an end, what can you do right now to get ahead of

the curve? buying a home, buying a car, paying off your credit cards? we'll talk about that, the money coach here next for tonight's "money & main street." %%%%%

another headline today points to the recession being over. take a look at these headlines. in july, for the fourth straight month, an index of economic indicators up .6%. earlier this month, the economy leveling out. "wall street journal" economists say the recession is over. for our "money & main street" segment, we want to know what should you be doing to get ahead of this curve? welcome. >> thank you.

>> let's first look at housing. prices down from last year. is it a good time to buy? >> i think it's a phenomenal time to buy. best way to position yourself, especially if you're a first-time homebuyer, is jump in now. you've got until december 1st to close if you're a first-time homebuyer. you'll ghaeet that $8,000 tax bk from the government. prices are continuing to fall so even if you get in now or just before they bottom out, you're still going to gelts a great deal. >> let's go to credit cards. new rules to protect consumers but interest rates are up so will the new rules help? >> they will help. most of the big changes kick in in february 2010. two important changes started today. first, banks have to give you at least 45 days' notice before they jack up your interest rate. as a consumer, you can say no. you can reject it. if you don't like the new deal they're putting on the table, you have five years to pay off your debt at the existing interest rate. also, consumers are going to get more time to actually pay their

credit card bills because the banks have to mail those statements to you 21 days before they're actually due as opposed to 14 days which is the standard now. >> that's important. we got to talk about cash for clunkers. it's over on monday. even without cash for clunkers, still a good time to buy a car? >> i think very much so. obviously, we've all heard about the demise of the auto industry in the u.s. tons of great bargains out there. still a lot of great negotiating to be done. prices arespectionive so it doesn't hurt to get out there and say, listen, i know i won't get the $4,500 through the government, but if i'm going to buy a new car, which is topping out right now at about $27,000 accord to edmonds.com, i'm going to get a used car, which is about $15,000 or so, i want the best possible deal. fall season is actually a great time. they're trying to unload that year-end inventory and make room for the 2010 models. >> you're going to see real

deals? >> i think we'll see better deals, yep. >> appreciate it, thanks. new cars are one thing. leases, a whole different animal, right? we break it down for you. you can click on the clunker debunker. yeah, that's what it's called. you can go to big league baseball games your whole life and never, ever touch a foul ball, let alone catch one, which is why tonight's breakout story is going to amaze you. i've helped somebody. you know, it makes me feel pretty good. we're offering a solution for a customer that maybe has to choose between paying their credit card or putting food on the table. our main objective is to reach out to the customers that are falling behind on their payments. a lot of customers are proud and happy

that bank of america actually has a solution to help them out. i listen. that's the first thing i do is i listen. you know what, what happened? what put you in this situation? we always want to make sure that we're doing i'll go through some of his monthly expenses, if he has a mortgage payment, if he pays rent. and then i'll use all that information to try and see what kind of a payment he financially can handle. i want to help you. bank of america wants to help you through this difficult time. when they come to you and they say thank you aj, for helping me with this problem, that's where we get our joy from. why is dick butkus here? i hired him to speak. a lot of fortune 500 companies use him. but-- i'm your only employee. we're gonna start using fedex to ship globally-- that means billions of potential customers. we're gonna be huge. good morning! you know business is a lot like football... i just don't understand...

i'm sorry dick butkus. (announcer) we understand. you want to grow internationally. fedex express you hungry? yeah. me too. (door crashes in) (broadview alarm) (gasp and scream) go! go! go! go! go! go! (phone rings) hello? this is mark with broadview security. is everything okay? no. someone just tried to break in. i'm sending help right now. thank you. (announcer) brink's home security is now broadview security. call now to install the standard system for just $99. the proven technology of a broadview security system delivers rapid response from highly trained professionals, 24 hours a day. call now to get the $99 installation, plus a second keypad installed free. and, you could save up to 20% on your homeowner's insurance.

call now - and get the system installed for just $99. broadview security for your home or bususess - the next generation of brink's home security. call now. of the hundreds of reports that we've seen every day, we pick the very best, the most amazing, to be our breakout. tonight, a 12-year-old boy who took his glove to sunday's texas rangers/boston red sox game. what happened?

pretty incredible. here's reporter walt of our dallas affiliate. take a look. >> reporter: this 12-year-old loves baseball. he's been playing it since he was 4 and has a shelf full of trophies. >> making that -- >> reporter: every time he goes to a texas rangers game, he brings his glove, just in case he gets a shot at a foul ball. that shot came sunday at the rangers/red sox game. >> josh hamilton was up and i saw it go up in the air. it started coming. i was like, oh, gosh, this is coming. >> that's how you do it. >> then i caught it and i stared at it for a second. i thought, i caught this? >> that's why you bring your glove to the ballpark right there. you never know. you got a moment in time he will never forget. >> reporter: that moment wasn't over yet. >> i had just handed the ball to my uncle in case -- we were just kind of joking around maybe he'd hit another one. and then he did. >> just went right to the release point. no! again?

>> i just kind of jumped and it was there. i was like, oh, my god. >> it's a big ballpark, fella, spread 'em around. >> then i was like, wow, the chances of that happening -- the chances of getting one was almost impossible and two is, like, not gonna happen. but it happened. >> reporter: c.j.'s dad almost missed the whole thing while grabbing a hot dog. >> i happened to look up on the monitor and the tv and i said, that looks like c.j. i'm watching. i said, it is c.j. he just caught a foul ball. i said, how great is that? >> reporter: a moment later, he heard a roar in the stadium. >> i said, oh, they're showing it again. i thought, wait a minute, that's a different catch, that's another foul ball. he's got two foul balls. then i could see where everybody was giving him a standing ovation. >> reporter: c.j.'s going to have to make a little more room on his trophy shelf. >> that is