from cnn center, this is

"cnn saturday morning." it's october 29th. good morning. i'm ailelina cho. a classic nor'easter in october. we'll tell you how bad it will get and where. and breaking news out of afghanistan. a suicide bomber attacks a nato convoy in kabul. we'll get a live report from the region in just a moment. but first, cities throughout the northeast are getting ready for a major snowstorm. an october nor'easter is rare, not unprecedented, but rare. here's a look at new york city right now. the rain is coming down. three to five inches of snow is expected when it's all over. the city is among those preparing for the early snow. and the big apple isn't alone. snow is expected from baltimore all the way to boston. and here's what the radar looks right now. one of the biggest problems besides the snow is what happens next? and that's 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. >> all right. we want to bring in our alexander steele with a closer look at what we're expecting in the northeast. and boy, oh, boy, i just can't believe it. i can't wrap my head around this, alexandra. >> it's unbelievable. as you said, it's rare but not unprecedented because we have had it before. he made some good points. power outages will be the big story tomorrow. of course, new york, new england in full foliage. to all those leaves on the trees, heavy snow coming down coupled with 30 to 40-mile-per-hour winds, certainly that will be our story tomorrow. so how rare is it? well, it is certainly rare. you know, it's about a month and a half ahead of schedule in places like new york and philadelphia. it's only snowed three times in october in new york city. and if it snows, which it will, today will be the first time

since 1959. first snow since 1952 rather. boston, it's only snowed four times in october. we're talking measurable snow. on thursday, they had some flurries. measurable means one-tenth or more. let me show you how it will tran spire. wind and rain today. the snow forecast total expected, two to four inches. heading farther north to new york city. wind and rain today. it will mix with snow this evening, maybe about 5:00 or so, will taper off late tonight. no snow tomorrow. snow forecast, three to five. but as we head farther north and east in boston, you'll see a few inches. tomorrow morning you will see snow as well. and it won't wind down until a little later but then a fait accompli for tomorrow afternoon. philadelphia, we talked about, allentown, lancaster, pennsylvania, allentown, over a foot. yonkers even getting over seven inches. this is the computer model projection of the totals we could see in addition to ours.

poughkeepsie, the hudson valley, the berkshires, the poconos, a foot in hartford even. some incredible amounts of snow and really for boston, the same scenario, we will see snow tomorrow morning. so rare, no question about it. it is unbelievable in october, we've only seen measurable snow three or four times in places like boston and new york. >> i was just thinking, pull my coats out of storage. >> that's right. but then you'll be able to put them back. >> alexandra, thank you very much. also in the path of the occupy wall street protesters, they're camped out in parks in new york and elsewhere. >> we got sold out. >> banks got bailed out. >> we got sold out. >> protesters are vowing to ride out the storm and stay put no matter what the weather brings. here's how michael moore described it to our anderson cooper last night. >> the snow and 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 of a little bit of snow or cold weather, i mean, i think it will only harden people's resolve. >> one problem facing the occupy wall street demonstrators is the fact that police have removed power generators in new york that they said were unsafe. so what's that all about? we will have more on that story in ten minutes. michael jackson caused his own death. that's according to defense attorneys for dr. conrad murray. their theory, that jackson injected himself with the powerful drug propofol. while dr. murray wasn't around. on the stand, the key expert for the defense testified about the theory. >> i cannot understand how it's possible that he got a three-hour infusion when the evidence didn't show the infusion setup. >> so you think it was a self-injection of propofol near the hour between 11:30 and 12:00 that did it? >> in my opinion, yes.

>> closing arguments in the conrad murray manslaughter trial could come as early as tuesday. i juan to tell you more about that breaking news we told you about at the top of the hour from afghanistan. we have seen a slew of attacks targeting international troops in the country. up with those was a suicide bomber in the center of the capital city of kabul. our nick payton walsh is live for us in kabul right now. nick, tell us what happened. >> reporter: it appears that a car bomb drove into a nalt toe convoy right here in the center of kabul, the afghanistan capital, killing we don't know how many isaf forces, they say several. we do know that four afghan civilians were killed, two schoolchildren, a policeman and somebody on a motorbike simply passing by. but clearly here a very accurate, pinpointed attack on a nato convoy on what's supposed to be one of the more secure

parts of afghanistan, alina. >> tell us about some of the other attacks we've been hearing about this morning. there have been several, right? >> a slew this morning, absolutely, one in the northeast of the country, a young woman in a burqa, we understand, detonated a suicide bomb injuring some outside the headquarters of the afghan intelligence services. more significantly, two nato troops also killed in the south of the country today where, as we understand it from an afghan army commander, a man in an afghan army uniform turned his gun on these two nato soldiers who were apparently training him, shooting two of them dead and injuring seven. now, we understand from this afghan army commander these two men were australian, but isaf does not confirm nationalities at this early hour. alina? >> nick paton walsh, thank you very much. the high tide rolling into thailand could mean even more

flooding and more damage in the capital city of bangkok. residents were urged to leave, but many of them stayed put. many areas around the city are already under water. nearly 400 people have died. millions more forced from their homes. our sara seidner has this report from bangkok. >> reporter: this lady has told us that 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's starting to become very, very worried. that's what's happening in a lot of this area. we are seeing some of the elderly people also getting into trucks that the army has brought and jumping in there because their homes are inundated with water. >> this has been the worst flooding in thailand in more than six decades. health officials in north carolina suspect this year's state fair in raleigh may have been the source of an e. coli outbreak. there are ten confirmed cases, another 16 under investigation. four of the confirmed infections

are children. three of them had to be hospitalized. a spokesman for the fair say they are cooperating with health officials. if you were among those who didn't stay up late last night, here's how it ended up. the st. louis cardinals are the world series champions. they won game seven last night over the texas rangers, 6-2, to clinch their 11th title. the cards got into the playoffs as a wild card team on the last day of the regular season. it definitely was the improbable. and as expected, there you see the fans celebrating, partying in the streets. the city will hold an official victory parade for the team tomorrow afternoon. as you can see, the fans aren't waiting, and hometown boy david freese was named world series mvp. a big problem for occupy wall street protesters, and this time the police may not be the biggest problem for the dempon straight

demonstrators. it could be the weather. this weekend, kids begging for candy, we're talking about halloween. if you're worried for your kids' safety, we've got some peace of mind. and guess what? you can get it on your smartphone. we'll tell you. stomers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. get your cash back! oh, hi. which cash back booth looks better to you, chase freedom or the largest cashback card? oh, i'll try the largest. oh, that is too bad. apparently you don't know chase freedom guarantees you 1% cash back. 4 times more than the largest cash back card, which only gives you a quarter percent until you spend $3,000 every year.

but have fun. bob and weave once you're in there. don't get short changed. get your cash back. chase freedom. we're six weeks into the occupy protests that have sprung up across the united states and in some cities it's clear the protesters have overstayed their welcome. take san diego, for example. yesterday police in riot gear cleared the protesters' tent city which was deemed an unlawful assembly. as many as 50 people were taken into custody. a similar story in nashville, tennessee, where 26 people were arrested last night on charges of lacking required permits. we're told those charges were quickly dropped by a magistrate in night court. and right here in atlanta, protesters are playing a version of cat and mouse with police. they moved their encampment from the city's woodruff park to the martin luther king jr. national historic site. after police began enforcing the

park's hours of operation. to where it all started, new york. mayor michael bloomberg says there are no plans to move the protesters out. but as our mary snow reports, police are cracking down in a different way. >> reporter: an unexpected wake-up call for occupy wall street protesters. >> the city 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's zuccotti park. both the city and protesters say there was no resistance. but among people like nicholas isabella who shot this video, it's raised suspicions. >> i think that the city, while they publicly say that we are allowed to be here, internally they're trying to find ways to

weed us out slowly, and this is their way of doing that. >> reporter: michael bloomberg during an interview on the radio says the generators are fire hazards that are against the law. >> our first two concerns, first amend mtd and safety, this was safety. >> reporter: protesters say they've taken precautions including fire extinguishers and question why the city acted now. >> the timing is odd. 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 explanations 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 hasn't complained to us and asked us to

remove people, so that's not a consideration. >> reporter: and 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 affecting this at all? >> it will turn some people away. i'm not going to say everybody will still be here. but for the most part, we're not going to start. it's not going to have a negative effect on us. >> reporter: and in another development here in new york, one union of the nypd, the sergeant benevolence association, 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. >> all right, mary, thank you. we've got more on the occupy protests coming up in just about 15 minutes. i'm going to talk with a member of the occupy atlanta movement about their message. heading out on the campaign trail, it's a critical day in iowa, but that's not where you'll find the front-runners, so where will they be? we'll tell you next. and a puppy gets a brand-new

lease on life. it's a story of survival you just won't want to miss. we'll have it for you.

welcome back. muffin mania may have been a bit overblown in wash waington. a report came out saying they paid 16 bucks apiece for muffins

back at a conference in 2009. it was seen as a major example of out-of-control spending. now the inspector who did the report says they may have got continue wrong. the hotel provided new documents showing that the word "muffins" was used to describe the entire food spread. but they didn't say just how much the actual muffins cost. we're investigating. politics now. it's a big weekend for the republican presidential candidates who are trying to get a foothold in those key early voting states. at least some of them are. we get more now from cnn deputy political director paul steinhouser. >> reporter: good morning, alina. we're just 66 days away from the first votes in the race for the white house, but republican presidential canned date herman cain won't be found in any of the states that vote first on the primary and caucus calendar. he finishes up two days of stumping in alabama which doesn't hold its contest till

mid-march. he surged in polling over the last month says he's in it to win it. >> i'm not supposed to be running. i'm not supposed to win. and i'm not supposed to be standing up here with this hat on, but i'm doing it. >> reporter: cain's also bringing in the bucks. his campaign told cnn they pulled in more than $3 million in this month, more than he raised in the entire third quarter. two other candidates, ron paul and former senator rick santorum are in iowa for a straw poll in a state that votes first for the white house. texas governor rick perry's wife is there as well. yesterday he was asked if he'll be skipping any of the upcoming debates. >> i don't know if we're going to forgo any of the debates. shoot, i may get to be a good debater before this is all over with. >> reporter: perry made those comments yesterday in new hampshire where jon huntsman is

today. he's spending about all of his time there. newt gingrich makes the round in south carolina, the first southern state to vote. alina? >> all right. paul steinhauser, thank you very much. news across the country, a coast guard ship pulled into a florida harbor with, guess what, seven tons of extra cargo on board. that would be cocaine. found in a self-propelled sub off the coast of honduras. the street value, about $180 million. officials say it's the third such vessel they've intercepted since july. it took firefighters in orange county, california, 90 minutes to free a man who was stuck in a tree. deputies found him in a holl hollowed-out trunk after hearing his screams for help. officials say he climbed into a narrow hole near the base of the tree and managed to get his arms and head out. they say they don't know why he climbed into the tree in the first place, and neither do we. and a beagle mix in new jersey has a second chance at

life. daniel was scheduled to be euthanized with 17 other dogs. but when the workers opened the door, there he stood wagging his tail. and isn't he cute? he's now at a shelter waiting for the chance to be adopted. keeping kids safe this halloween, there's an app for that. we're going to show you what's out there. first, for some, it's all about getting the candy. but for others, cue the music, dressing up is the best part of halloween. so which costumes are the most popular this year? here are the top five for adults according to the national retail federation. at number five, batman. four, zombie. three, vampire. two, pirate. and the number one costume for adults, witch. after the break, we'll have the top five costumes for children. life insurance companies treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number.

aviva is here to change all that. we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ 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.

before the break, we showed you this year's five most popular halloween costumes for adults. well, now we have the top five costumes for kids. again, according to the national retail federation, at number five, pumpkin. i was a pumpkin when i was 12. four, pirate. three, spider-man. two, witch. and number one, princess.

what the kids are wearing to what the comedians are saying, you know each time halloween rolls around, the comedians come up with new material. here's a couple of funny ones from late night. >> the worst is when you run out of the candies. but i've learned over the years, here's what you do, one year i gave out sucmerets. they don't know. on your way out of the olive garden. you ever get the packets of chinese soy sauce? kids love those. tums. last year -- and this was a big hit -- i passed out lipitor. oh, my gosh. >> no kidding? >> they had a survey of the scariest halloween movies in the paper. number one scariest movie, "the exorcist." "exorcist" was the scariest movie for women. scariest movie for men, "eat, pray, love."

many parents are looking for ways to make this scary holiday fun and safe. let's not forget safety for their children. the answer may be as close as your smartphone. technology analyst daniel sieberg has been a correspondent for cnn and cbs. daniel, we miss you. he's the author of "the digital diet: the four-step man to break your tech addiction." do we really want to do that? he's also creator of the blog danielsieberg.com. good morning. nice to see you. we want to start with safety. what are some of those good apps to keep kids safe? >> sure. it's all about balance, alina, when we're talking about a digital diet, by the way. let's talk first about new york state which has a facebook app that allows you to look up registered sex offenders by typing in your zip code. this is a relatively new product that they've put out. but not the first time you can do this sort of thing. on a national level, you can actually go to nsopw.gov. that's the national sex offender public website and do a similar

thing, type in your zip code and find out who might be living in your neighborhood. now, the information varies depending on your jurisdiction. not every state releases the same type of information. it may not be as up to date as you would like, but at least it's an option for parents knowing you'll be in a particular neighborhood. and an interesting app here, this is called trick or tracker. and this is for android phones. the idea is you've got two android phones, one for your child and one for the adult. use a p.i.n. code to connect those phones so only those two phones can talk to each other. and you can track where your child goes in a particular neighborhood and see it on a map in realtime. >> i love this app. >> you can even set a particular neighborhood, a particular area where they can't go out of. and it will send you a text message to tell you they've wandered off somewhere. it can even send you a text every 15 minutes just to watch where they are. a lot of kids these days do have smartphones, especially teens,

maybe the parents aren't with them. this is a little bit of peace of mind. it's about $5 opini. but it is free through halloween. >> that's a nice little promotion. probably worth it for trick or tracker. there are lots of good apps to help you with costumes, with pumpkin design. what have you got there? >> yeah. there's all sorts of things. themes, wallpapers for your smartphones. this one in particular is all about finding the best costume for your child. this is a dilemma from my wife and i at the moment. we still don't know what our daughter's going to wear. she's not quite a year. you can see a whole list of different costumes here. once you decide maybe you want to check one out, you can e-mail the choice to a friend or family member maybe to get their opinion on it. you can even order it right there on the website. they do say that it's guaranteed delivery by monday which would be critical to have your halloween costume. but lots of choices there, just a fun way to sort of see what might work for your child.

>> daniel, the breaking news is that you guys had a daughter. i did not know that. congratulations. >> well, not quite breaking news, but yes. that's definitely news for some people. >> for me. congratulations. you know what? she doesn't care. she doesn't know. >> exactly. >> dress her any way you want. >> just have fun with it. >> that's right. daniel, good to see you. massive snowstorm set to slam much of the u.s. northeast. the headaches and early nor'easter like this can bring just ahead in our top stories. plus, a volatile week for the occupy protests across the country. i'm going to talk with a member of the occupy atlanta movement about their message and what they're going to do next when we come back. ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪

♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's

better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

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. 31 minutes past the hour. welcome back. i'm alina cho. t.j. holmes is off today. and thanks for starting your day with us. checking our top stories now. the northeast is getting ready for an early, big dose of snow with a rare october nor'easter heading that way. utility companies are preparing for possible outages.

as many as 60 million people could be impacted. another bloody day already in afghanistan. a suicide car bomber struck a nato convoy leaving four coalition soldiers dead. the interior ministry also says a gunman disguised in an afghan army uniform shot and killed two coalition service members today. and attorneys defending dr. conrad murray get their star witness to suggest that michael jackson likely died quickly after injecting himself with the drug propofol. closing arguments in the trial are expected early next week. want to get more on the big snowstorm that's set to slam the northeast, as she said. meteorologist alexandra steele is tracking it all in the cnn severe weather center. snow is already falling near washington. >> absolutely. west of town. so the storm is a coming. you know, it's certainly rare, but we certainly have seen it before. so it is not unprecedented. so where did this nor'easter

come from? more indicative of winter than fall. here's a look at the forecast map to give you perspective. here's this area of low pressure. this is the nor'easter moving. but this to remember has had history of snow. brought snow to texas, and before that, remember it got and brought all that snow to colorado. so it's zoom add croed across t southern tier. counterclockwise winds around it now bringing in colder air. the moist air is getting there. not yet for some. that's why we're still seeing some rain. here's the computer model look. you see perspective of where we are. here's washington. of course there's the north east. and this purply color is all ten-plus inches. so it's really north and west of all the big cities. that's where the greatest accumulation totals will be. you could see 12 inches in allentown. philadelphia, we'll talk about in your forecast and time it out. lancaster, new york, even yonkers getting snow, maybe up to seven inches. but really the balance of the snow, who will see the greatest accumulations, poughkeepsie,

over a foot. hartford and springfield, so those interior areas. windy and rainy today, then mixes with snow this evening. snow tapers off late tonight. a fait accompli tomorrow. you'll see two to four inches by tomorrow morning. boston, windy and rainy today. it will turn to snow tonight. a little later than new york city. it will snow early tomorrow morning. forecast for you, two to four inches as well. so kind of the keys on this, the 411, heavy, wet snow, 30 to 40-mile-per-hour winds, that is the recipe for power outages aplenty. we'll certainly see that tonight. the strongest winds right along the coast. again, 60 million impacted in one way or another with winds, rain or snow. so we've got a big 36 to 48 hours ahead. alina? >> oh, boy. you'll be watching it all for us, alexandra, thank you very much. >> yep. now to our other top story. police have been removing occupy protesters from public spaces in several cities this week. watch. >> you [ bleep ]! [ bleep ]

>> there you see the scene in oakland, california. police fired tear gas at protesters after authorities say the crowd threw paint and other objects at officers. and in atlanta, police arrested more than four dozen protesters after they refused to leave a downtown park. atlanta mayor kassim reed was asked to cnn to respond to critics who say he was too harsh. >> i respond that we kept everyone safe, and that was my number one priority. we had protests for three weeks. we have not had any injuries in the city of atlanta. we've not used tear gas. we've got used mace. we've not used overly aggressive tactics. we arrested 52 individuals. none of them were harmed. and they were released on signature bonds under 30 hours. so i think that we've acted in a manner that's consistent with our best values. with regard to criticism, it comes with the job. so it probably means we got it as close to as right as we could. >> i'm joined now by someone who

has been speaking for the occupy atlanta movement. jim nichols, we talked to you when the protests first started in atlanta. you heard the mayor of atlanta speaking there. what's your response to what he said? >> well, i think that the occupy movement at large is really more than just what's going on in atlanta and some of the other occupations that have had these issues. i think occupy is about the wall street crimes. and so when the top 1% has seen the increase in their income from 1979 to 2000 go up 275% and then we watch, you know, everyday working people see their incomes fall, people are losing jobs. here in atlanta, we've led the nation in job loss last year. occupy is about people all across this country speaking out and saying that our political system is broken, and the wall

street crimes are unacceptable and that our political leaders have failed to do anything, and we're speaking out about it. >> yes. and i hear you saying that and talking about that. and what that says to me is yes, it all sounds good. it's pretty general. you know, we've been hearing so much about the 99% of the protesters being so mad at the 1% at the top. but what's the solution, then? >> well, it's pretty general. this is a democratic movement. i mean, there are no spokespeople. i'm not a spokesperson. i'm just a person involved. >> what got you so mad that you wanted to get involved? >> there is a great need for everyday citizens to get back involved in the political process. so at a number of the preteotes events here in atlanta, every day they're meeting, networking, coming together, building skill sets and learning to engage

others and start that discussion about how we begin to reform this. >> you are a high school dropout who recently decided to further your education at the age of 30, you said? >> 31. >> 31. so you're back in college. you're also loading trucks for u.p.s. when you can to make some money. what is it about your personal situation, or is there something about your personal situation that really inspired you to get out there? >> well, i mean, i look at some of my coworkers who are getting up at 4:00 in the morning loading trucks for a few hours and then going to their second job. they're playing by the rules. they're working hard, and they're struggling. i've been privileged with an opportunity to go back to school. i've been privileged with good benefits because i'm in a union. and the fact that, you know, some of my cohorts at school are being swallowed whole by debt at 19, 20 years old and have no job to go out to. so i think that, you know, those of us who are privileged to get

involved and have some extra time to try to engage everyday people are able to give something back. because everyday working-class americans do s don't have the to go out and protest and don't have the time to stay as engaged in many of the complex issues that are going on that politicians can just give talking points and platitudes to. >> they've spread to nearly 100 countries, so many cities across the globe. has that surprised you? >> not at all. people -- human beings want dignity and respect, and they want to be able to govern themselves. and being participants rather than just spectators is something that is common to haul human beings. >> well, we aren't going to forget those pictures of occupy protesters around the world for a very long time. so jim nichols, i thank you so much for coming in, waking up early and joining us. >> not a problem. >> thanks so much. life imitating art in india. he's now got a million reasons

to celebrate. we'll tell you how a popular rags-to-riches story on the big screen just became a real-life story. and how can a house in mumbai that cost $1 billion to build -- yeah, that's it there -- have no one sleeping in it because of the lighting? we're going to go to india next in our "morning passport." ♪ waiting on the world to change ♪ and waiting for the world to change, we are counting down till monday when the global population is expected to reach a new high. just how high? we'll tell you. ( phone ringing )

okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. inch perhaps the most expensive house in the world is empty because of lighting? here to tell us about that in just a minute. first, i saw the movie "slumdog millionaire." of course we both loved it. of course, it's much better when

it happens in real life, and it did. >> isn't it, alina? yes. to kumar this week in india, he won $1 million in the indian version of "who wants to be a millionaire?" he's in his 20s who's a clerk, an administrative assistant earning very little, and he now has $1 million. there he is. you're going to see him shortly with one of india's most famous actors. so there they are. and suddenly famous and very rich. but i wanted to tell you that there doesn't he look happy, smiling away. but another story in india that really caught our attention was, as you said, this billion-dollar home which is empty. and it is owned by a petrochemical billionaire. >> i've read about this. apparently they throw parties there, though, every now and then. >> correct. >> but there's nobody living in it. >> they are not living there because, reportedly, the hindu version of feng shui is not

correct. the idea is -- and there you are looking at the 27-story building. now, it's much more complete than some of these pictures. these were taken a few months ago. >> with all due respect, it cost $1 billion and that's what it looks like? >> it doesn't look like that now. you're seeing it in construction. >> all right. >> but a couple of things that they're saying about it that's not correct is it's supposed to face the sunrise, and there are not enough windows on the east side. and the whole idea is to have directional alignment, how the laws of nature affect a human dwelling. and you have to capitalize on the air flow. >> didn't they figure that out beforehand? >> exactly. he's a billionaire. he's on "forbes" nine or ten richest list. but here's the scoop, the real story. the real story is his father died, leaving the fortune to him and his brother. and apparently he won't move into the 27-story home until his mother does. and his mother's not going to move in until both her sons reconcile. >> yeah, there's been a fight about the money, right?

>> that's the real story, correct. but right now i want to tell you they're living in a 14-story, much more modest home. >> of course. >> because the 27-story will have three helicopter pads, floating gardens, endless ballrooms. >> we all need three helicopter pads. >> exactly. >> you never know. >> so what's happening in mumbai, when they do move in, hopefully we'll get pictures of the gold fittings and marble staircases. >> i can only imagine what it looks like on the inside. thank you very much. a new way to fly that grew out of a seed of an idea. it could become a valuable tool for troops at war. we'll tell you how it works next. but first, traditionally california has been on the cutting edge of being green. but did you know it's no longer the country's most energy-efficient state? after four years, there's a new number one in energy efficiency. so can you guess which state is at the top of the list? it may surprise you. it did me. we'll tell you next.

47 minutes after the hour. before the break, we asked you what state replaced california as the most energy-efficient state this year? guess what? it's massachusetts. this according to the american council for an energy-efficient economy. california dropped to number two followed by new york and oregon. well, as leaves begin to fall, many of us look for our rakes. but the robotics lab of lockheed martin found an engineering marvel in this fall chore. our reynolds wolf has this story in our "start small, think big." >> reporter: bill findses inspiration from above. >> you think of maple seeds, how

they fall from the tree every year. they start to generate lift as they spin. ands this' come down from the tree. >> reporter: it's a natural way to fly that's being used in a new way. a single-bladed copter called samurai. >> it has a propeller to provide power. it has a flap for control. >> reporter: tiny sensors and software algorithm give him the ability to fly. the operator just tells it where to go. >> all the complexity of the system resides within the software that's implemented to control samurai. we can build these very small, or we can build these very large. and we can adapt to those users' needs. >> reporter: but the main use is surveillance. >> think of a soldier operating in an urban environment or a police officer who wants to follow a criminal. or they could be used in disaster relief to get a bird's-eye view of the situation. >> reporter: bill sees this as the future. >> if we can learn how to control mechanically simple devices like samry, we can

leverage that technology to provide a whole new level of intelligence to robotic systems. >> reporter: it all started with just a seed of an idea. reynolds wolf, cnn. and we have this breaking news just into cnn from our barbara starr at the pentagon which has just confirmed from u.s. military officials that at least 13 u.s. troops were killed in kabul, afghanistan, today when a suicide bomber struck a vehicle in a military convoy. it's one of several attacks. this official emphasized to barbara that these are first reports of the incident, and details are continuing to unfold. we will have much more in a live report from kabul at the top of the hour. meanwhile, coming up, it was quite a journey getting there. this is a big story. but the st. louis cardinals are now the world series champs. we'll have much more when we come back. the employee of the month isss...

the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? she is the greatest thing ever. one little smile, one little laugh. honey bunny. [ babbles ] [ laughs ] we would do anything for her. my name is kim bryant and my husband and i made a will on legalzoom. it was really easy to do. [ spits ] [ both laugh ] [ shapiro ] we created legal zoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

♪ [ country ]oom.com today and complete your will in minutes. [ man ] ♪ gone, like my last paycheck ♪ gone, gone away ♪ gone, like my landlord's smile ♪ ♪ gone, gone away

♪ my baby's gone away with dedicated claims specialists... and around-the-clock service, travelers can help make things better quicker. will your auto and home insurer... be there when you need them most? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com. ♪ celebrate good times ♪ come on welcome back. joe carter from "hln" sports joining me to break down this weekend's sports highlights. and the st. louis cardinals, boy, two games ago we didn't think it was going to happen. and then all of the sudden they

pulled it out. i have to say, i was rooting for the rangers. they had never won a world series before. >> i think a lot of people out there felt the same way. great choice, audio person, on the music. because it is time to celebrate if you're a cardinals fan. really this was one of the most remarkable turnaround seasons in baseball history. in late august, the cardinals essentially left for dead. they were given a less than 5% chance of making the playoffs. then they got hot. good pitching and hitting in october. made the playoffs on the very final day of the season. and as the underdogs in the playoffs, they beat the favored phillies, the brewers and then the favored rangers. you spoke of thursday night. this team is down to their final strike twice, twice in game six. 24 hours later, they pull off one of the most improbable runs in baseball history. it is a franchise's 11th world series title. only the yankees have more world series wins. and then you've got great backstories like david freese,

third baseman, named series mvp. he went to high school in st. louis 20 miles away from busch stadium. >> hometown boy. >> now hometown hero. a great story. a not-so-great story. players and owners still fighting, still locked out, still can't figure out a deal. the commissioner, david stern, said friday they are going to cancel the first four weeks of the season. they are gone. that means all games in the month of november are gone. these guys have met 11 times for a lot of hours and still no deal. and there's no new meetings set. >> what is the biggest sticking point? >> the contention is split over revenue. the owners want 50/50, the players want more revenue. we are continuing to get more information on our breaking news story. 13 u.s. troops killed in a suicide bomb attack in afghanistan. we will go live to kabul. we will also get our barbara starr from the pentagon on the starr from the pentagon on the phone for us for the la

treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number. aviva is here to change all that. we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. fore!

no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink

we are following breaking news here at cnn. 13 u.s. troops have been killed in an attack in afghanistan. a suicide bomber attacked a convoy in kabul. we are working on this story with all of our global resources and our nick paton walsh will be live from kabul at the top of the hour. on monday, the global population is expected to hit $7 billion people, 7 billion. but what does it mean to have 7 billion people on the planet? a cnn i-reporter tries to put it all in perspective. >> how much is 7 billion? they said that we need eight

glasses of water each day for optimal health. in a year, we consume about 2,920 glasses of water. therefore we need to live about 2.4 million years to consume 7 billion glasses of water. >> the rise in global population means at least 7 billion people are all sharing the world's resources. and as you can imagine, that puts a lot of pressure and strain on the planet. cnn's jim clancy has more. >> reporter: october 31st, 2011. that's the date 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: sachs says it means more demands for food, more stresses on the land and more

loss of water. but that's not the biggest problem. >> the big prisoner is that in the poorest countries, families are still having six, seven or 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 even 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. sachs says rapid population growth in poor countries often creates conflict and political stress at borders. and on top of that, cultural values and available health care in developing countries creates a barrier to proper birth control. jim clancy, cnn, atlanta. dr. sachs also has an in-depth article on the 7 billion mark and what it could mean for the planet. you can check it out at cnn.com/opinion.

good morning, everybody. it is 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. 6:00 a.m. in the west. welcome to "cnn saturday morning." i'm ailelina cho. breaking news out of afghanistan, we have just learned that a suicide bomb attack in kabul has killed at least 13 american troops. it targeted a nato convoy. it happened in the center of afghanistan's capital city. and that's where we find our nick paton walsh with the very latest. hey, nick, what can you tell us about this? >> reporter: alina, a second ago nato have just confirmed to me that 13 american soldiers were killed in this suicide bomb strike that hit a convoy driving through very much the center of kabul here. it appears a car carrying a large number of explosives hit this convoy 13, as i say, american military personnel. according to initial reports at this stage seem to have been killed in this explosion, making it one of the worst attacks against nato personnel for quite some time, alina.

>> and nick, this is one of several attacks that have struck kabul. tell us about the rest of them. >> reporter: well, over the past few months, kabul has extensively seemed to get less and less safe. it was the secure zone of the country for quite some time. but there have been attacks against the u.s. embassy and other key installations, the taliban are trying to remind people living in this city that they're not as safe as they were, perhaps, in their argument years ago. today we've also seen another instance in the south of the country, an area near kandahar, in which it appears that two isaf service members were killed by a man in afghan army uniform who turned his weapon against them. now, we understand when one afghan army commander, the two dead are australians, but they're not confirming that at this point. there are also seven injured. the motivation not entirely clear at this point. >> nick, as you mentioned, it hadn't been like this. it seems there's been a ratcheting up of attacks of late. is there any indication of why

this may be happening? >> reporter: well, i think the taliban, many argue, are keen to show in this winter period that they remain active, that they're not broken, that they're not less in control of many areas of the country. according to the u.n., violence has worsened over the past year or so. but i think the important point to bear in mind is what's coming in the month ahead. there are three important conferences happening internationally and here in afghanistan about shaping the next year here, about discussing america's presence, about the partial withdrawal of american troops here next summer. and many are concerned this escalating violence is all about trying to shape how people see that political process. alina? >> nick paton walsh live for us in kabul. i know you'll be following this for us. well check in with you later. i want to move to that frightening weather picture in the northeast. people there are getting ready for a major snowstorm. and it's happening before halloween. here's a look at new york city right now.

the city is preparing for an unusually early snow. just a little rain right now. but the snow will start falling, three to five inches. and they aren't alone. snow is expected from baltimore up to boston. here's what the radar looks right now. you see the white there? that's snow falling right now. one of the biggest problems, potential power outages. heavy snow could leave around 1 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. it's about four minutes past the hour. i want to check in with alexandra steele with the latest on that big snowstorm heading toward the northeast. as i've been saying, hard to get your head wrapped around this idea, but it's happening. >> you know why. you can't get your head wrapped around it because this area of low pressure is what's wrapping around it and causing the wind which is the greatest winds will be along the coast. where did this come from?

it's rare but not unprecedented in places like boston and new york and philadelphia. but it's about a month and a half early than we usually have these kind of nor'easters. so usually they're in the middle of december. that's the average snow in these areas. let's show you what we've got and where this came from. here's the area of low pressure. now, this area of low pressure has really quite a history of snow. only the last few days, they had snow in texas hurtcy of it. before that, it was snow in denver and colorado because of it. so it's had a lot of juice and energy. and now we're going to see even pick up strength in what we call kind of bomb out. the surface pressure will certainly go down. we'll see the winds kick up and some older air come down, thus bringing in these snow totals. of course, we're going to see north and west of the biggest cities, and substantial snow at that. look at these numbers. 12 inches, over a foot in allentown. this is central pennsylvania. even look at new york. we will see maybe four to six inches north and west of the city as well. but look at the mountains. whether you're in the hudson valley of new york or the berkshires of massachusetts. this is where the heaviest snow

right around here in this quadrant from springfield, mass to heart ford, connecticut, the lispfield hills, kingston, poughkeeps poughkeepsie, north to albany. that's where the heaviest snow will be. it's a quick hitter, just in today, it will be out tomorrow and then boston will have snow tomorrow. it will be heavy, wet snow. new york city, if you're watching, good morning to you. here's what you've got. rain and wind today. that rain will mix with snow this evening, taper off and then two to four inches will be your total when all is said and done and that will be tomorrow. in boston, rain and wind. it will turn to snow tonight. and then you will have a bit of a snowy morning because it's north and east. that would be the last place to wind this down tomorrow morning. and your forecast, two to four inches. so again, rare yes, unprecedented, no. just a few times in the last couple hundred years that we had it. in new york city, it will be 59 years since we've had this kind of measurable snow in october. >> amazing. i'm glad i'm here in atlanta where it's warmer instead of home in new york. alexandra, thank you so much. also in the path are the

occupy wall street protesters. they're camped out in parks in new york and elsewhere. >> we got sold out. >> banks got bailed out. >> we got sold out. >> protesters are vowing to ride out the storm and stay put no matter what the weather brings. here's how michael moore described it to our anderson cooper last night. >> the snow and 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 little bit of snow or cold weather, i mean, i think it will only harden people's resolve. >> one big problem facing the occupy wall street demonstrators is the fact that police have removed power generators they said were unsafe. some of the protesters are questioning the timing of the order with the cold weather on the way. this morning we're following breaking news out of afghanistan. a suicide bomber has killed at

least 13 u.s. troops in kabul. also this morning, in politics, herman cain's unconventional campaign is getting folks to take a closer look. and it's not just the hat. the story after the break.

welcome back. ten minutes after the hour. now to politics and the crowded gop field. the chairman of the republican national committee is rejecting the notion that the gop is just too divided to settle on a presidential candidate. in fact, on cnn's erin burnett "outfront," he said he's not worried about the split between party moderates and supporters of the tea party. >> does that worry you when it comes to a national election where your party's split in half? >> no, it doesn't, because i think, you know, and i agree with sal. i don't think anything's split at all. i mean, you have a party here that has multiple candidates

running for president, and you're going to have some people supporting one over the other. that doesn't mean that there isn't complete yunanimity with president who loves the man in the mirror and the sound of his own voice without actually following through with any promises. while we may be picking our horse, so to speak, and having a debate amongst each other, certainly we're going to have a uniform and a direction in this party that is in one direction, which is to put a republican in the white house. >> he cited the democrats as the party that was bitterly divided during the 2008 campaign but went on to win the election. well, herman cain says he's in it to win it, but political analysts say he has a strange way of going about it. still, his unconventional style is getting a lot of attention. our cnn's jim acosta reports. >> let herman be herman.

>> reporter: for a growing number of republicans, it's all aboard the cain train. ♪ herman cain train >> reporter: even if the conductor doesn't keep track of all the stops. >> i don't know where we left last night. where were we? arkansas. >> reporter: on this day, cain campaigned in alabama, the state that doesn't hold its primary until march 13th. this month cain also visited kansas, ohio and texas, leaving less time for early voting states like new hampshire, iowa and south carolina. sound crazy? >> he's either crazy like a fox or he's crazy, but it doesn't matter because it's working. >> reporter: cain has devoted part of his campaign to promoting his new book. he admits he's heard from one supporter who's questioned his seriousness. >> he said, there's talk that you're not in this to win it. i said, then they don't know me. and he said, well, then i'm going to send you some money. i said now you're talking. >> reporter: cain's campaign

says it's all about building name recognition. take those web videos like this one featuring whiskey-drinking cowboys punching out liberals or the infamous spot starring his cigarette-puffing campaign manager. all the better when that slow cain smile shows up on "the colbert report." aides say it's all for a good cause. >> if you look at the other candidates, i don't think any of them could pull it off. >> reporter: even newt gingrich says you've got to hand it to the guy. >> you have to admit, herman's strategy so far has made him the front-runner, so i'm not going to second-guess him. >> reporter: truth be told is cain is no political novice. he ran briefly for president and unsuccessfully for the senate in 2004. >> scrap the tax code and shut down the irs. replace it with a new tax system that's fair and simple. >> reporter: sound familiar? >> 9-9-9 plan. >> reporter: with cain the near

front-runner, he's getting more scrutiny. as for his smoking campaign manager, it turns out he paid a $15,000 settlement with the wisconsin state elections board in 2001 as he was accused of improper campaign fund-raising. for now it appears block is staying on the campaign train. >> we also have a chief of staff by the name of mark block. and we say, let block be block. >> block told cnn cain has raised more than $3 million just this month. the cain train can use the money to build a more traditional campaign, if that's what he wants. jim acosta, washington. following breaking news, 13 u.s. troops have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a nato convoy in kabul, afghanistan. we are working our sources here at cnn, and we'll have a live report at the bottom of the hour. we're back after this. gary... he hung up. ...why do we have so many a's in our name?

so we're listed first in the phone book. ya know, gives us an edge. you know fedex can, give us an edge. how? well, fedex ships auto parts from factories around the world, they clear em through customs, and that'll help us fix cars faster. great idea. you know you got a bright future here at aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... [ male announcer ] supply chain solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

we are following breaking news out of afghanistan this morning. 13 american troops are dead after a suicide bomb attack in the center of kabul. the bomber targeted a nato convoy traveling through the capital city. an armored bus carrying u.s. troops was in that convoy. u.s. officials say details are continuing to unfold right now. it is the largest single day loss of life for u.s. troops in afghanistan since august. checking stories making news

across the country, a coast guard ship pulled into a florida harbor with seven tons of extra cargo on board. it was cocaine. found in a self-propelled sub off the coast of honduras. the street value, about $180 million. officials say it's the third such vessel they've intercepted since july. it took firefighters in orange county, california, 90 minutes to free that man who was stuck in a tree. deputies found him in a hollowed-out trunk after hearing his screams for help. officials say he climbed into a narrow hole near the base of the tree and managed to get his arms and head out. they say they don't know what he was doing there. and a beagle mix in new jersey has a second shot at life. daniel was scheduled to be euthanized with 17 other dogs. but when the workers opened the door, he was just standing there wagging his tail. he's now at a shelter waiting for the chance to be adopted. well, it's time now to vote for c thinn's hero of the year. we'll join you after the break

to tell you about some of the amazing honorees and how you can vote when we come back. [ horn honks ] hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. [ junior ] ge engineers found ways to cut my energy use. [ cheryl ] more efficient lighting helps junior stay open later... [ junior ] and serve more customers. so you're not just getting financial capital... [ cheryl ] you're also getting human capital. not just money. knowledge. [ junior ] ge capital. they're not just bankers... we're builders. [ junior ] ...and they've helped build my business.

[ horn honks ] ♪ oh, those were the best of days ♪ ♪ i still feel the summer rays ♪ that graced our backs as we went down the lane ♪ [ horn honks ] [ male announcer ] when your car is more than just a car to you, the right insurance matters. are you getting the coverage options you need and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage

or visit travelers.com.

welcome back. don't say new yorkers don't know how to throw a party. take a look at that right there. that's lady liberty. 125 years old. it's raining and nasty in new york as they get ready to welcome a nor'easter in october. but this was the scene last night. take a look at those fireworks. boy, they know how to do it right in new york, don't they? the statue was a gift from france way back in 1886. beyond last night's fireworks, lady liberty also got new state-of-the-art webcams installed in her torch, providing cool views of new york harbor.

calling it torchcam. well, they are some of the most inspirational people in the world, working against the odds to help those in need. and now you can vote for your "cnn hero" of the year. our josh levs is here to show us how. hey, josh, good morning. >> good morning again to you. they really do have amazing stories. the ten honorees this year helping people struggling to pay for necessities, children living in hunger, kids affected by hiv and many others. here's one of them. >> i'm taryn davis, and i'm a new generation of military widows to share their love, their sacrifice and their survival. >> it's neat at these events because they step outside of that comfort zone. >> every time i pop in on the air, i'll show you a different one of our ten. and i'll tell you, you can learn about all ten of our "cnn heroes" this year by going to cnnheroes.com right here. it gives all their stories, a

whole bunch of information. each person who is named one of these ten gets $50,000. and the cnn hero of the year chosen entirely by you will get $250,000. let me show you some things on the screen here. i want to show you how to get some more information about them. when you get here, if you scroll down, what you can do is click on any one of them, and each one has a fan page. i've opened up one as an example. this woman is robin lin. she's helped hundreds of low-income families, women in particular, have healthy families and births. after you've done that, click on the vote tab. and here's how it works. you decide who among the ten you want to be the "cnn hero" of the year. you click that person and then it fills in the box auto mablgtally rigmablg automattically. you tell it your e-mail or facebook information. and then you can share your vote with everyone else. on social media. also this year, you can do all

of it on your mobile devices as well. it's up to ten times a day. so the sooner you start, the more votes you'll get. and alina, those votes are starting to come in. >> the show will be on december 11th. so what's the deadline? how long do people have to vote? >> just a few days earlier. i can tell you exactly. the deadline is december 7th at midnight pacific time. and as alina said, the announcement will take place at "cnn heroes: an all-star tribute" december 11th right here on cnn. alina? >> all right, josh, thank you very much. >> you got it. we are watching breaking news out of afghanistan. 13 u.s. troops killed in a suicide bomb attack this morning in kabul. we are there live with the very latest from the afghan capital. you're watching "cnn saturday morning." we're back after this. knowing that i could smoke during the first week was really important to me. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke -- and personally that's what i knew i needed.

[ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. these are the reasons i quit smoking. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. these are the reasons i quit smoking. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore.

ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪

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. and we begin with breaking news out of afghanistan. we have just learned that a suicide attack in kabul has

killed at least 13 american troops. that bomber targeted a nato convoy in the center of afghan's capital city. our nick paton walsh has more from kabul. nick. >> reporter: isaf are confirming that 13 nato service members died in this attack. not specifying the nationality, but cnn's barbara starr at the pentagon is able to confirm, according to u.s. officials, that initial reports suggest all 13 of these people were americans. obviously, a huge loss for the u.s. here. attack on a convoy by a suicide bomber driving a car, we understand. a police chief saying this was a red corolla that seemed to be laden with explosives. obviously a massive blast to penetrate the kind of armored vehicle. and this happening in what should be one of the more secure parts of the afghan capital. alina? >> nick, this is the deadliest attack on u.s. troops since august when a helicopter crash killed 38 people including 22 navy s.e.a.l.s. having said that, there have

been several other attacks today in afghanistan including a female suicide bomber who targeted the nation's intelligence agency. >> reporter: absolutely. a troubling flurry of violence here in the last day, frankly. in the northeast, a woman wearing a burqa said to be 25 detonated a bomb she was carrying outside the afghan intelligence services, injuring some people, but also more in the south of the country near kandahar, two isaf soldiers apparently shot dead by a man wearing an afghan army uniform who apparently these isaf service members were training. this altercation leaving these two people dead. we hear from an afghan army commander that there were several other people injured as well. a very bad day for nato indeed, alina. >> nick, we will talk to you at the top of the hour. thank you very much. we are on top of the latest developments from afghanistan. we are also watching that october nor'easter. we'll tell you where that's headed. i'm alina cho. i'll beac