be healing past this evening. some people will be healing physically, emotionally and mentally for months, maybe years. a suicide bomber killed 13 members of the nato security force in afghanistan today. five of them military, eight civilians. nato isn't revealing the nationalities of those killed. this reaction from u.s. ambassador to afghanistan ryan crocker. he says, quote, it's a shock, it makes you mad, it makes me angry, we are not going to let these guys win. and snowblowers are in big demand today in the northeast. a rare wintry storm is dumping a mix of sleet and snow just this weekend before halloween. some parts of the region could see more than a foot of the white stuff. that's actually especially troubling because the trees are not ready at all for this.

>> the trees, still plenty of leaves on them. you have forecasters saying heavy, wet snow, high winds. those are the perfect ingredients for potentially a large problem with the electric grid. >> we'll have in-depth coverage of the storm with meteorologist chad myers and jacqui jeras in just a few moments. the florida highway patrol arrested a driver accused of going 120 miles per hour. that driver, a miami police officer. the highway patrol says the miami officer was on his way to a second job when he was pulled over and that he was arrested at gunpoint after ignoring multiple warnings to stop. and wikileaks founder julian assange could learn next week whether he will be extradited to sweden. assange deanalyze the accusations saying they are an attempt to smear him because of his work as head of wikileaks which has published confidential

u.s. diplomatic public cables. a deadly suicide bombing in afghanistan's capital city of kabul. 13 members of the nato security force are dead. military and civilian. the pentagon earlier told us all the fatalities were american. one canadian troop was killed as well. nick payton walsh is in kabul. >> reporter: a suicide bomber trieding a vehicle laden with explosives ran into a nato convoy dead nating this device and hitting an armored bus. there are eight civilian personnel and five military. their nationalities, not clear. a u.s. official saying earlier on they were all 13 of them americans. but it now transpired one of them, according to the canadian military, was a canadian soldier. so this is a fluid situation,

testament to the sheer scale of the blast here, an enormous amount of explosive required to penetrate the armor of these huge buses used to ferry nato personnel between hostile areas. this is one of a number of instances during the day. another blast, a suicide bomber, age 25, we understand from afghan officials, detonating a device hidden under her burqa in the province of kunar. and another explosive in the area of kandahar. two were killed. an afghan commander told us both were australian, some that's not confirmed at this time. we could be seeing escalating violence in the weeks ahead, vital weeks for the political process here, important conferences abroad and here as

nato and the afghan government prepare for the handover of afghan territory to afghan security force and hopefully to find a way to put the insurgency further on their back foot. elsewhere overseas, the water is waist-deep in much of bangkok today. more than 370 people have died in the most severe flooding to hit thailand in more than half a century. a small plane crash near vancouver's international airport thursday and a woman on board was so -- was sure that she was about to die. so much so that she actually grabbed her phone and wrote to her children. >> i was struck with the instant knowledge that we were going to die. so i grabbed my cell phone and i wrote letters to my two children. i got to the door, i reached out

and four amazing people dragged me out. >> one of the plane's pilots died. the eight others on board were hurt. and gary giordano will spend another month in jail. he's the maryland man being held in aruba. giordano appeared yesterday before a judge who ordered him held for at least 30 more days. now back to the rare halloween weekend snowstorm hitting the northeast. we have storm team coverage with meteorologist jacqui jeras in the cnn weather center and chad myers in a snowy pennsylvania. let's begin with you, chad, in the snow where it is piling up. >> reporter: it is. i'm getting all these tweets from my followers. you can't do live shots without a ruler. so my producer went out and got one. we'll do the obligatory ruler in

the snow. we just noticed a couple of trees over here sagging on the power lines or telephone lines or cable lines, whatever. but the trees are getting heavy because the snow is so heavy. this is the perfect snow to make a snowman. we just talked to one of the street crews and down this street about two miles, it is shut down as trees are completely down in the street. this is u.s. highway 30. the street is shut down because trees are on the power lines. power lines are on the roads and now the road crews are turning everybody away saying, you just can't get here. my producer called the state police and he said the entire county is a mess. literally that's all. and then hung up on him because he was literally so busy. >> no time for that. >> power lines are coming down everywhere. >> yes. this is going to be terrible for so many people. >> thousands of people are without power not just in

pennsylvania but into upstate new york, connecticut and maryland as well. the storm is really intensifying. we're getting close to the peak of this storm for many of these areas. the snow is coming down extremely heavy, as much as 2 inches per hour. the winds are intensifying along with it. you can see on the satellite that little doughnut whole. sustained winds at 20 miles per hour. we're going to get gusts potentially near 50, 60 miles an hour. maybe 40 heading a little bit further into the interior. this is a very fast-moving storm. it's going to be out of here, affecting just northern new england by tomorrow morning. and by late tomorrow, everybody's done. snowfall totals so far, springtown, pennsylvania, 8.5. stamford, 2 inches. central park, 1.3. that's a record for you. we've never had a single day in

october with that much snow. how rare is it? the average snow for new york city doesn't happen until december 18th. only seen a nor'easter like this for new york state three times in october. it certainly is a significant storm. it's not out of the question. we've seen it before. but rather rare. and not a lot of fun when you have so many leaves still on the trees and people wanting to trick-or-treat in a couple of days. >> people wanted to enjoy the color of the leaves. >> i know. say bye-bye to that. >> thanks so much, jacqui. we have an interesting couple of legal cases coming up. lindsay lohan and her dad, no strangers to legal troubles these days. both made headline this is week. and john edwards' campaign money case is a big step closer to trial. we're breaking down what has been on the legal docket lately.

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what's your policy? members of congress -- don't laugh, richard herman with me now. we were cracking up here. members of congress, this isn't the funny part. they're getting a reality check. living off food stamps for a week. the average per-week allowance, $31.50. we'll be following one congresswoman as she tries to make do in new york city, of all places. but first, our richard herman is here in the house with us. we have at least two more legal cases to delve into. >> two more. >> we're trying to get the most

bang out of the buck with you here. >> use me up. >> talking about lindsay lohan isn't the only one facing legal problems lately. but her dad has had his brush with the law this week. what's happening? this is sad. >> is there any wonder why she's a mental case? >> don't say that. >> look at her father. this guy is -- he goes on -- he holds press conferences to say his daughter has a drug problem, and this guy goes ahead, gets charged with domestic battery against his girlfriend, goes to court, the judge says, if you even dream about her, you're violating my order, i'll release you now. that day, he calls her up, starts harassing her. the police come to get him, he hears the police at his door, and he jumps off the balcony and tries to flee and run away. >> did he get hurt? >> they think he broke his foot. >> no way? >> they took him to the hospital. now he's in prison in tampa. >> she made the phone call -- the ex-fiancee or ex-girlfriend

made the phone call, i've got a restraining order, he's still in the picture, somebody help me? >> yeah. >> and that was the beginning? >> the police had her call him back because he called her. it's ridiculous. the guy is off the wall. it's unbelievable. >> and in this case, off the balcony or window or something. >> with a broken foot. >> meantime, his daughter, she's had her in and out. but she's got a new contract or new job or something that's come about. the same week that the community service reporting for -- not reporting for, violation of probation, all that kind of crashing down at once. >> yeah. well, then we hear she's going to pose for "playboy." they said it's a $1 million deal. may not be. she can't get in the news unless she's getting arrested or violating probation or something. this is the longest driving while intoxicated case i've ever heard. >> i have to feel sorry for them

all. >> why? it's pathetic. >> it's bad. the john edwards case. the latest emotions -- the accusation being that he misused campaign funds to conceal his relationship with his misstress. he made a motion for this entire case to be thrown out. the judge said, no, we're going to proceed. >> his poor wife died of cancer. when you hear his name, do you not get a chill going through you? we've had enough of johnny edwards. >> this case hasn't gone to trial yet. there are many motions to be made. >> they made motions to dismiss. >> this is a high-profile case. >> they made motions to dismiss. they're saying, how could he funnel campaign funds in not one of those checks was deposited in his campaign account? it's the first time in history charges like this have been brought.

he's saying, you can't do it. >> why did the judge say, no, we've got to proceed? >> because the judge is smart. he says, this guy is a lawyer, so he could have directed people who were going to pay for his campaign to not pay the campaign but instead funnel monies to his m mistress and other people providing protections. >> what's the next step? >> he's going to trial. he's going to get his hair done every day. he's made arrangements at the salon. the hair will be perfect for trial. he's going. he might testify in this case. he might brazen enough to get up there and testify. >> well, he's an attorney and he is a man who's masterful at his words. it might be rather impressive for the courtroom to hear his side of the story. >> or he might sink himself. >> yeah. >> who knows? >> we weren't worrying about our hair earlier, since you brought it up, were we? we had a little fun with the halloween spirit. it's become a tradition. you, me and avery.

there, we revealed ourselves. we had a little -- >> how hot was it under there with that hood? >> it was hot. i was sweating. i only had it on for a matter of minutes. and there's our occupy wall street -- >> i've already given my hair back to nancy so she'll have it for the set. >> it's a good thing you and nancy grace are good friends. >> she's my buddy. >> that hair had to be hot. >> it was hot. i love seeing you, fred. ten years all these names in atlanta, i can finally put faces to them. everyone's treated me so incredible here. >> you're wonderful. >> i'm coming back. >> yes. and hopefully we can get both you and avery here together. >> that would be great. >> and we can play our peaches and herb reunited. >> absolutely. >> fantastic, richard. so good to have you. >> thanks, fred. perhaps you're not getting enough sleep -- do you? you're a new dad? getting enough sleep these days?

>> just now. until about 5:00 in the morning, which is great. >> there are real health ramification ifs you're not getting enough sleep, insomnia can lead to serious heart problems. first, a new survey using numbers from the cdc ranking the most sleep-deprived cities. what do you think would be? >> probably new york. but we're not taking the propofol to go to sleep, so we're okay. >> new york is number five. it's not number one. number four is new orleans. three is oklahoma city, hit hard by the recession. number two is birmingham, alabama, recently ranked one of the last healthy cities in america. can you guess what the most sleep-deprived city in america is? >> atlanta. >> the answer after this. it's not atlanta. we sleep pretty good here. ♪ and the flowers and the trees ♪ ♪ all laugh when you walk by

♪ and the neighbors' kids run and hide ♪ deep inside you, there's a person who refuses to be kept deep inside you. ♪ but you're not ♪ you're the one be true to yourself. what's healthier than that?

this is the subject of oir weekly look at how to get and stay healthy. dr. bill lloyd joins us from sacramento.

something tells me you get a lot of sleep. you're always so rested and perky. dr. bill, what's the difference between an occasional sleepless night and insomnia? >> fred, all of us lose sleep every once in a while, maybe because of a big job interview you have the next day or maybe you're sitting for a deposition in front of richard. who knows? people who have insomnia have a perpetual sleep problem. it could be one of three things. you can't fall asleep, you can't stay asleep, you wake up multiple times during the night or you wake up in the morning and you don't feel rested. and it happens more than once a week. if that's the problem, you've got insomnia. >> oh, my goodness. how can a lack of sleep lead to something dangerous like a heart attack or heart disease? >> well, this information is coming to us from a first of its kind study. this involved over 50,000 volunteers in europe. and doctors followed these patients for 11 years. in addition all the usual health

milestones, they asked them, tell us about your sleep, do you sleep all night, do you have to get up during the n.i.t. night, et cetera? and they correlated that information with the health of these individuals. of that large group, 2,400 develop add heart attack over that 11-year period. when they crunched the numbers, they found out in upwards of 45% risk of heart attack in people who claimed they had trouble with sleep. >> what causes insomnia? can it be things like stress, like many people in detroit turn out to be the most sleep-deprived city? >> yeah, i tell my patients insomnia falls into one of three different categories. it could be a medical problem, something like heart failure. it could be your medications that are keeping you up as well. it could be other problems like anxiety or pain. patients with chronic pain have a terrible time getting a full night's sleep. but most of the time, it's due

to poor sleep habits like eating too much before the bedtime and bringing that laptop into the bed with you. >> define full night's sleep for me? are we talking about eight hours? >> now, to find that number, we might as well be debating about the flat tax. it's different for each person, of course. and there's a lot of myths about how much sleep you need. young people need a lot of sleep because they're growing. but older people need a lot of sleep as well. if you found yourself drowsy during the day, it means you're not getting enough. before you run out and buy sleeping pills over the counter, treat yourself to good sleep habits and get yourself to bed earlier normally than you need and get up the same time every day. >> that's a tough thing to do. we're going to try, try real hard. i think i need eight, nine, maybe ten for a full night's sleep. >> i'll grab it whenever i can.

>> get those cat naps in all the time. thanks so much, dr. bill lloyd. appreciate that. >> happy halloween. talk again soon. >> happy halloween. antonio banderas is back on the big screen this weekend.

could you live on food stamps? millions of americans do. coming up, a dramatic challenge to congress. but first, cnn reporters, anchors and producers cover stories around the world. that means we also get great tips on some of the best

restaurants, hotels and travel spots. in this week's travel insider, we're off to san francisco. >> reporter: i'm dan simon in san francisco. one of my favorite places in the city is here, downtown at the historic ferry building. i love coming out here on a nice day and checking out the views. for more than 100 years, this place has been used to ferry people to different communities across the san francisco bay. but now the ferry building is used for all kinds of different things. >> 33. >> inside the major theme is food, high-end gourmet food, from fruits and vegetables to caviar to olive oil to cheeses, it's really a foodie's paradise in here.

but i think i like it outside even better. a few days a week, they have a farmers market and this is the freshest stuff you can possibly imagine. you could grab a sandwich, sit down at one of the picnic tables and have lunch. so that is the ferry building, restaurants, shops, good people watching. i think it's one of the best places san francisco has to offer. life insurance companies

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a suicide bomber killed 13 members of the nato security force in afghanistan today. five of them military, eight of them civilians. nato isn't revealing the nationalities of the victims. the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker said this -- tennessee police are again cracking down on occupy wall street protesters. demonstrators who defied a curfew in nashville were arrested overnight. many were camping near the state capitol. despite the arrests, a judge refused to jail the protesters

saying he could find no legal authorization for the curfew. and across the northeast, people are grabbing jackets, gloves and hats today. a rare halloween weekend snowstorm is bearing down on parts of the mid-atlantic and new england areas. thousands of power outages are already being reported in pennsylvania and new jersey alone. snow-laden tree branches are coming down and breaking power lines. this is a live look at snow coming down in the nation's capital, new york city and beyond. you see the capitol building sort of at the lower left and the white house in the upper right. and you're also seeing a little bit of connecticut as well. snow everywhere. pennsylvania being hit hard. already there are power outages. chad myers is in york, pennsylvania. you've seen these big tree limbs full of leaves. they're bending and in many cases breaking and snapping and coming down. >> reporter: they are, absolutely. entire trees are coming down. in fact, i was on the turnpike

coming here from harrisburg, down to 83 and then this way, and there were trees completely across the roadway. people were driving around them. this was four hours ago. this is back-breaking snow, almost heart attack snow. it took me literally about five minutes to put down a huge snowman down the hill. i think this snow could be record snowman ireport snow here, if you want to put an ireport down for us make sure you give us a yardstick. or at least have your child stand next to it. temperatures down to the upper 20s. winds blowing 30 po 40 miles per hour. there's also something possible in upstate new york, connecticut and maybe even northern pennsylvania where the mountains aren't so high. something called snow rollers. if you wake up tomorrow and see big rolls that almost look like giant white ho-hos in your yard, it's that the snow begins to

turn and roll on itself and almost makes its own snowman. >> never seen that before. >> reporter: i've seen them a couple of times. look on wikipedia or google. they're two, three feet long, maybe 18 inches along. >> snow ho-hos. that's funny stuff. thanks so much. i know it's a big nuisance to a lot of people, this snow is. thanks for braving the storm for us there, chad. >> reporter: sure. with congress focused on cutting the deficit and cutting spending, religious groups are challenging lawmakers to live on what food stamp recipients live on for a week. it's a bid to prevent cuts to a program that serves 45 million people. here's cnn's athena jones. >> reporter: years ago as a young single mother, california congresswoman barbara lee lived on food stamps. >> i thank my country for giving me that helping hand when i needed it, a bridge over

troubled water. >> reporter: now she's taking part in a week-long food stamp challenge organized by religious groups nationwide. >> what i'm trying to do is develop a balanced meal or a balanced three meals for today for $4.50. >> reporter: the challenge is meant to highlight the importance of continued funding for the government's food stamp program, also known as s.n.a.p., even as lawmakers try to rein in the deficit. lee is one of a dozen democrats in congressman taking part in the challenge. more than 45 million people received food stamps from the government in july. the average recipient gets $133 a month. that means buying this tin of spam and this can of vegetables would put them over their budget for the day. it's hard to shop as washington, d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton discovered on a trip to the grocery store with one of her constituents. >> what i'm really learning is

it's impossible to buy nutritious food on $31.50 a week. >> reporter: others say the program works well but that benefits should be raised by 20% to better meet families' nutritional needs. >> it's not a good enough program for people's health and productivity and children's learning in school because the benefits are just too small. >> reporter: program critics like alabama republican jeff sessions believe the amount the government spends on food assistance has skyrocketed in part due to fraud. he thinks benefits should be cut. >> 11 million more americans are on food stamps now than when the president took office. it's time to look under the hood of this program. >> reporter: the usda estimates fraud accounts for more than one cent of every food stamp dollar. and advocates say the increased demand is a as a result of the sluggish economy. lawmakers like lee hope this

effort raises awareness about what being in need feels like. >> have a good day. >> thanks very much. i wish everyone could walk in the shoes that i have walked in before and that so many people are walking in today. >> reporter: athena jones, cnn, washington. awkward questions coming up like, nice car, how much did that cost? and very personal questions, too. we all get them. and if you're not sure how exactly to answer them, we'll have some answers for you. stick around. oatmeal is a super. ♪ it gives me warmth. ♪ [ boy ] it gives me energy to help me be my best. quaker oatmeal has whole grains for heart health. and it has fiber that helps fill me up. ♪ [ male announcer ] great days start with quaker oatmeal. energy. fiber. heart health. quaker oatmeal. a super grain breakfast.

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we've been talking about some weird, wacky weather this halloween weekend. snow in the northeast and mid-atlantic states. and the expectation is there could be upwards of a foot of snow in some places. already in pennsylvania, they're experiencing some power outages because some of those branches that are filled with those beautiful fall leaves are now covered with snow. our jacqui jeras is going to be joining us momentarily to give us an idea of whether you're going to be hit in the northeastern community or mid-atlantic community that you're in. she'll be right along with it right after this. ♪ and the flowers and the trees ♪ ♪ all laugh when you walk by ♪ and the neighbors' kids run and hide ♪ deep inside you, there's a person who refuses to be kept deep inside you. ♪ but you're not ♪ you're the one

be true to yourself. what's healthier than that?

awkward moments are bound to happen, like someone asking you, how much did you pay for that? or someone at the restaurant table not paying their fair share. so let's talk about how to handle some of these awkward moments. personal financial expert alexa von to bele joining us. alexa, good to see you. >> you, too. >> everyone knows what these

awkward situations are like. but not everyone knows how to handle them. here's the first one -- scenario. what should you say if you're asked, how much do you make or beautiful house, how much did it cost? >> sure. we've all gotten that question before. you can go two routes. if it's someone you're not talking about money with, simply deflect, make light of it and say, oh, i paid way too much in this economy. but if it's somewhere you're comfortable sharing the topic with, friends are starting to talk to each other about money these days. you can learn a thing or two. we talk about everything from our jobs to our diet. if you are comfortable, go ahead and share and talk to your friend. >> here's another scenario. a friend does some work for you and even gives you a discount but in the end, you don't like how the job turned out. what do you do? >> we've all had this happen. mixing family and friends in business can be a wonderful

thing but it comes with a unique set of challenges. think about it just as business. if you're the business owner, make sure you're not doing a deal that you wouldn't be comfortable with for your business. you can give a discount because it is a friend or family member. but ultimately make sure it's good for your business. as the individual or the customer, make sure that you're spending your hard-earned dollars in a way that you're going to be really happy so ultimately if you're not comfortable talking to that -- the friend or family member to complain about something, maybe you shouldn't work with them. that's how to think about it. just as a business transaction. >> and you don't necessarily say, well, they did give me a discount, they're a friend, i'm not going to complain about it? >> yeah, those things build up. you want to make sure you think about it as business. if you do have things you want to complain about, do it but do it nicely. you don't have to do it in a mean or rude way. >> and this happens too many times over at the restaurant table. your friend forgets his or her

credit card or perhaps you're out shopping together, forgets the credit card, can't pay for it, asks you to spot them. what do you do? you simply say, yes, and hope that you have to remind them they have to pay you back or just let it go? >> sure. this happens to all of us all the time. we like to call it death by 1,000 microloans. the awkward thing about that is it's such a small amount of money, $10 here, $20 there. that's what makes it so uncomfortable because it builds up. if you've reminded your friend nicely two times and they haven't paid you back, let it go. but going forward, don't be so quick to pull your walt out for that friend and use excuses. but fundamentally, the guilt will be on you going forward if you keep loaning to that friend that doesn't pay you back. >> here's another very awkward situation and everyone has been

through this. you're at a big group dinner or maybe just a few friends. the bill comes, you know what you ordered, you know how much it would cost, you throw your money in but somebody didn't put enough down. so there's a deficit on the table. what do you do? how confrontational should you be? >> this happens to me, i think, every few weeks when i go out to dinner with big groups. here's the way we think about this. when you decide and agree to go to a large group dinner, you're implicitly agreeing to split the bill evenly. you need to be thoughtful as the person attending the dinner. are you going to a pricey restaurant that's going to put you out of your comfort zone or are going with a group of friends that tends to overspend? be thoughtful about that. though there are exceptions to that rule, if you're going out with your best friends and you're not a drinker, it's easy for you to say, guys, maybe you guys can leave the tip. or if you're at a really big

dinner and someone orders an extremely pricey bottle of wine, it's obviously that that person at that table needs to pitch in more. and as the hostess, you need to think through your guest budget and be mindful because we're not in a great economic condition here and people aren't feeling great. you want to be cognizant of avoiding those awkward situations. >> alexa von tobel, thanks for being with us. lots of awkward moments like these will arise. you've helped us through it. thanks so much. for more tips on what to do with these awkward situations, go to alexa's west, learnbest.com. a miami police officer was arrested at gunpoint for leading a state trooper on a seven-minute chase that reached speeds of 120 miles per hour. check out the dashcam video there. an incident report says 35-year-old fausto lopez ignored

repeated warnings to stop. he reportedly told the trooper he was running late to his off-duty job. in los angeles, closing arguments in the conrad murray trial could happen early next week. yesterday an anesthesiologist testified for the defense saying he believes michael jackson self-injected the fatal dose of propofol. and d.c. area schoolkids about to get a big halloween treat at the white house. the president and first lady are hosting a big bash there in a twist from mrs. obama's usually healthy eating crusade. the kids will be getting to bunch on white house m&ms and sweet dough butter cookies. yum-yum. now back to that rare halloween weekend -- >> come on, the snow's a treat, fredricka.

>> the white house, always so pretty in snowfall, even if it is halloween weekend. >> i know. it's a little early. you hate to put the -- some people decorate for halloween. >> this family decorates this white house at halloween. traditionally they have. but you can't see them right now because of the snow. >> oh, well. >> we'll check back with you, right? >> really? >> are we going to check with you later? >> no? >> go ahead, talk. i've got people in my ear. >> this is a big storm that we do need to take seriously. it's a little fun and over the weekend. and a lot of people don't have to go places. but if you do, it's dangerous. this is a heavy snowfall for a lot of people, affecting millions of people and grounding a lot of flights. we're peaking into the height of the intensity of this storm for the mid-atlantic states, the snow is coming down heavy and

the winds are increasing. you get up to the coast, we could be talking about gusts pushing 50 miles per hour or so. when you're looking at sustained winds, the average wind speed around 20 miles per hour, that's really rough, especially if you're talking some snows. all the major cities have seen snow or at least a mix now with the exception of boston. you guys are eventually going to change over. but your snowfall totals will be a little lesser there. we're really focusing in on the i-95 corridor, the magic mark between the heavy snow and the rainfall. you get west of there, especially up into the elevations, that's where we're expecting to see the 6 to 12 inches of snow, place like poughkeepsie towards springfield, massachusetts, maybe 5 to 10. in the major cities, 1.3 in new york city. that's a record for you. you've never seen that much day in one day in the month of october and it's still coming down. if we get any of that thunder snow, you can get 2 inches in an hour easily. that could skew the numbers a little bit. we also have quite a bit of

coastal flooding as strong winds intensify around this low bringing moisture from the atlantic ocean, bringing it up and over and interacting with that cold air. this is an extremely intense storm. it's going to move quickly to the north and east. that's the good news. by tomorrow, say, 7:00 a.m., you're done with it here in the megalopolis. boston out after it by 10:00. and new england by the end of the day, the whole thing's out of there. we were talking about a little bit of fun, fredricka. want to show you the ireports that are starting to come in. we love them. this is janell from new jersey. look at that creative head on that snowman. that's like a monster snowman or something. people enjoying it. >> very fitting for this halloween weekend. thank you, jacqui. for more multiracial americans than ever before and it's presenting challenges for health care.

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9 million people chose more than one race on the 2010 census, up from 7 million in 2000. multiracial children are the fastest-growing youth group in the country, having a diverse background presents unique challenges when it comes to health care, however. here's cnn's soledad o'brien. >> one of my birthday's at chuck e. cheese. >> reporter: she just wants a normal childhood. you look like a perfectly healthy 11-year-old girl. >> yeah. >> reporter: do you feel okay? >> yeah, okay. sometimes i get my ups and downs. you have aches and pains everywhere. but it still hearts. >> reporter: she has m.d.s., which means her bone marrow doesn't produce enough blood cells. it could lead to leukemia if she

doesn't get a bone marrow transplant. how did you feel when they first diagnosed her? >> it took it all out of me. >> reporter: it's difficult for imani because she's biracial. >> there are so many possible combinations. so tissue type is very complex. that's one level. and then if you match that with half of one ethnicity versus half of another, it explodes into the millions. >> reporter: outreach groups are trying to lower the odds. >> i know there wasn't any current organization or outreach specifically targeting the mixed race community. we do community events, college events and the donor drives there. >> if you're of a mixed race background, consider joining. it's really a wonderful -- >> reporter: i'm in. you talked me into it. >> perfect.

>> reporter: the cheek swap is easy. waiting for a match is the hard part. how does that make you feel? >> it feels like you're cut off from the rest of the world and what they get to do and what you get to do. >> we don't want a pity party. we want a cure. >> reporter: and it's a bone marrow transplant. >> that's the only cure. >> so we need a donor. >> reporter: reporting for "in america" soledad o'brien, cnn. >> and look for "the new promised land, silicon valley" a essential with soledad o'brien sunday, november 13th, at 8:00 eastern time right here on cnn. thanks for being with me this afternoon. i'm fredricka whitfield. much more of the "newsroom" straight ahead with don lemon. ♪

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