good morning. it is wednesday. hope you are doing well. the sun returned to parts of the south after a week of record-breaking rain only to shine light on gut-wrenching stories of tragedy and loss. plus, congress is notorious for getting things done slowly. but maybe not this time. new help may be on the way soon if you are unemployed. and cameras are rolling as an out-of-control car barrels towards this little girl. how she walked away without scratches is amazing. after nearly a week of rain the southeast is finally getting a break. the sun came out yesterday but it is still a mess. roads across the region are

still blocked. some schools in georgia will be closed again today. look at muddy water, though. there's still plenty of flooding going on. some people cannot return to their homes. many people staying in shelters and others made it back to see the damage and some relived how they escaped. >> i mean, i'm laughing and joking about it but i'm really crying on the inside. because this is just -- unbelievable. i mean -- when we left here yesterday, we got stuck in the field with three kids and trying -- we broke the 10 down trying to get out of here. >> for the first time we are hearing from the distraught father of this 2-year-old boy that drowned when they got trapped in the floodwaters. >> i just -- i told slade it would be all right and i loved him. and we would make it.

but we didn't make it. >> so awful there. it happened monday in a creek that turned into a raging river. the father was hanging on to the bushes and n one arm and then the boy was in his other arm but the water was just so powerful that eventually pulled the boy right out of his arms. president barack obama is going to speak to the united nations general assembly this morning. she expecting to plainly ask world leaders for help in dealing with terrorism and the economy. libyan leader moammar gadhafi will address the assemb assembly. ahmadinejad will also speak to the assembly. glad glad is trying in less than ten minutes richard lui will explain what they are doing to keep gadhafi

out of their backyard. many people would get 13 extra weeks of unemployment benefits under a bill that the house approved yesterday. and jennifer westhoven is joinings us more with a million people that may qualify for the extension. is that right? >> yes. that's a lot of help. 13 more paychecks, unemployment checks, some states. of course, the average benefit is about $300 a week and a lot of people are depending on that money to feed their families just for the end of this month, 314,000 family was have run out of benefits and without this, it would have been what natasha said more than a million people in coming weeks and months. this pushed some states and you see them here in red. these are states where unemployment is more than 8.5%. 27 states, more than half the country, people are saying look, i'm willing to work, i'm ready to work, but they can't find work because the unemployment rate is so tough there. so tip really we have the government supporting hundreds of thousands of families and

said it is expected to approve this and the president to sign it quickly. natasha, back to you. >> jen, thanks. spontaneous combustion of manure at a ranch may have started a fast-moving fire in southern california. ventura county sheriff's department county thinks. video from the fire last night. look at these flames. up to 600 families were told to leave but some have been told to go home. fire has burned more than 8,000 acres through canyons and hills. we have video you have just got to see. we want to tell you first that the little girl in it is okay. even though it really looks like a car plows right into her. here she is in this outfit here at a convenience store. watch this. police in washington state said the out of control car hits the store and a parking -- wedged underneath this car and lifts over the 6-year-old girl. amazing. watch. >> and when the mom saw the video she had a moment there, she broke down for a bit.

that basically covered his mouth and couldn't believe what he saw in the video, how it -- it happened so quick. >> i would have a moment, too. little girl is okay. the police say the driver had a suspended liesens and is charged with reckless driving. candy and fruit flavored cigarettes are now illegal in the u.s. the ban took effect yesterday and banning clove-flavored cigarettes. the fda said the flavors appeal more to children. the ban does not include menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars and anti-smoking advocates say the companies are already skirting the ban by making ci r cigaciga cigars the size of cigarettes. looks like some there cops are in trouble. surveillance video inside the convicted drug dealer's house shows cops playing wii after storming the house to search it. one sheriff's detective who is supposed to be cataloging evidence is seen repeatedly putting down her work and

picking up the wii remoetd to play a bowling game. they were in this home for nine hours. police are investigating. >> yes, you know. i played the wii bowling. it is exciting when you get a strike. >> it sure is. good throw your hip out, too. i have done in a a couple of times. >> hopping around like she won the world championship in bowling. >> i know, i know. >> what's up? couple things we are watching. one is a new storm system. winter storm. it was out there last night. it is still churning around the denver, colorado area. the low is in western kansas. rain going up and slow. turning into snow west of denver. number two and three, it is the big shot of rain coming in through northern alabama in towards tennessee. that's the last stages of heavy rain to flood out parts of georgia and parts of the alabama area, too. and the other thing we are watching this tropical wave coming ashore around the carolinas. and as for the flood watches,

not quite as extensive as yesterday. flood warnings are still out there. bright shaded counties, including a lot of atlanta and in fact, most of it. get back in towards alabama, wet side here getting flood warnings. parts of mississippi and arkansas, too. heavy rain we are getation cross carolinas is mostly hugging the shore. breakaway showers moving through fayetteville and may affect you later this afternoon to charlotte and columbia, too. south carolina, we will watch that. tail end of th@e front is down towards orlando. as a tropical wave moves westward it will pull a lot of rain across central florida and at least over the next day, day and a half. that's one area we will watch for heavy rain. jet stream getting light showers affecting right now the jersey shore. might be around new york city and get a delay there. heavy rain possible south of akron, ohio. and get down towards texas and all beneficial stuff, southern half of texas, more rain for you. brownsville and far north as waco could get decent rain. we will talk about that. more showers coming out of atlanta over the last few days. floods affected a lot of

co-workers and families. these note owes are from ashley billups. she took this picture in billerica, georgia. this area hit hard as well. just about everybody i know has been affected some way or another from these massive amounts much rain. this area itself, doppler radar, 15 to 20 inches of rain in three day. that's a half a year's worth of rain in three days. >> amazing. the ground can't soak it all up. bob, thank you. sarah palin is following in the footsteps of former president bill clinton. he's heading in a new direction and it is apparently making her bank account a lot fatter. major search is over at the home of philip and nancy garrido, couple charged with kidnapping a girl and holding her hoss haj for 18 years.

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a private swim club accused of turning away daycare kids because of their skin color may have to pay up. that's after a hum an relationings commission in pennsylvania found racism was likely part of the decision in june. the panel ordered monetary damages of no more than $50,000. swim club's lawyers blamed the media firestorm and saying they are going to appeal the ruling. former vice presidential nominee sarah palin gave a high-profile speech in hong kong today. palin talked about economics and government and u.s. affairs. it is the same conference that hosted former president bill clinton, former vice president al gore and former fed chairman greenspan. it was closed to the media. the controversial libyan leader moammar gadhafi will speak at the u.n. today with many americans furious that he was even allowed in the country. last month gadhafi gave a heroes welcome to the man convicted in the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103.

correspondent richard lui -- there is also a controversy over where gadhafi is planning to stay while he is here in the u.s. >> yes. uproar now comes to the united states. gadhafi setting up a step in bedford, new york, no r, to hold meetings in this ten here you see here during his visit. technically the massive tent it is inside the air where he's allowed to travel. people that live here are simply you raged that he is in their backyard. >> he is not welcomed. this guy is a terrorist and maimed and killed innocent people. he really doesn't belong here. let alone the united states. >> town attorney says the libyans needing a building permit for a test of that size and issued a stop work order yesterday and are going back today to make sure that they complied to all of that. >> the latest where the ten is being set up, owned by the trump organization. what's donald trump have to say about this? >> it appears trump did not kno

property and the statement of his company said -- protests erupted in new england, new jersey, when gadhafi tried to pitch his ten will and he was also snubbed from central park and a posh new york hotel. we will have more on the response and why gadhafi is here in the country. now, over to business and jen westhoven, nothing is worse than getting stuck with overdraft fees. now there are changes to help coming you up. jen westhoven has all of that for you. >> you probably know in talking to me overdraft fees are something that, as robin said, burn my cookie. a lot of gulf how overdraft fees have gotten out of control and congress has been looking at new rules. as you can imagine bank don't necessarily like government rules. we are seeing changes. bank of america and chase making some -- look like minor tweets here but they might help you

when it comes to overdraft fees. so one part of this is you could choose, you could still keep it the current way where maybe you forget, you know, you are out shopping, and you accidentallyious your debit card and go below zero and get hit with a $35 overdraft fee. maybe you knew that and you still wanted to make the purchase anyway. but here is the other option. you could also say look, when my account hits zero, i probably just forgot and we don't to pay the fee. let me know so i don't go over. banks are making changes that would limit the number of times you can get socked in one day. there are times when, you know, people are out charging, say, $10 lunches and they are getting hit with a $35 fee. obviously they forgot and not doing it on purpose. the banks will charge you anyway. we will watch those minor changes and see what happens there. other good news happening at general motors. total of 3,000 employees are going to go back to work. they are being recalled 24shgs 00 of them, as output raised at three factories. turning out more cars and

trucks. that's good news in a bad economy. hiring another 600 people as some of their stamping and other plants that are out there as well. as they try to ram up production a little bit. if you are traveling this morning, it is wednesday, what do you think? is it mostly cleared up at fleas this area? >> has gotten a lot better. good morning to you. if you are trying to catch a flight in or out of atlanta today is going to be a better day. yesterday afternoon, actually shaped up to be pretty nice. start this morning, low clouds hanging out there. you can see the tower cam and temperatures today for the low 80s, you see the cloudy start to the morning. sun come out and heats up the ground a little bit. clouds will begin to disperse. good news there. as for the rest of the region, deep southeast, looking to get the showers mainly from florida flew the georgia coast and carolinas. in through charlotte, too. here is what we have for today. metro brushed with a shower or two. same with philadelphia. and d.c. and denver as well light showers. shore delays. more thunderstorms around memphis and towards nashville. charlotte and back into

cincinnati, houston. talk about that in a little bit. all right. a stunning twist in the anna nicole smith case. her doctor is facing charges in connection with her death. now the lawyer says the client did not have sexual relationships with her because he's openly gay.y nature valley.s ♪ the place that inspires her to go faster... ♪ and slower. ♪ elk mountains, colorado. where's yours? 100% natural nature valley granola bars. the taste nature intended. over health care reform, aarp has chosen a side-- yours. we're fighting to guarantee that you'll never be denied coverage because of your health or age. to prevent anyone from coming between you and your doctor.

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four people got hurt after guns were fired at the busiest border crossing between the u.s. and mexico. this is in san diego yesterday. agents fired shots across traffic to stop a group of vance trying to get past inspectors to get into the u.s. at least 70 people were taken into custody. one of the shooting victims is in critical condition. a 7ier old girl in arizona said she was left locked inside her school nurse's office after the staff left for the weekend. her mom says a school janitor found her and the girl's mother says her daughter was traumat e traumatized. >> couldn't get anyone to come to her and wet herself. all she could do was throw herself on the bed and cry and pray for mommy to come get her. >> a school official called the incident unfortunate. police in the school district are investigating. the second grader is now at another school. a safety warning out this morning could have connections to a deadly airplane crash. european safety experts issued warning for the part on the

airbus 330 and air 340. the par measures air speed and faulty one could have played a role in an air crash. in the air france crash that killed 228 people in june. airbus says the parts are in limited use. what are you doing next tuesday night? we have an exciting edition to our prime time lineup coming your way pp. "the joy behar show" will air every night at 9:00 here on hln. it kicks off tuesday, september 29. put it on your calendar and make sure you tune in. you can check it out right now at cnn.com/joy. two photographers are suing tom brady and giselle about for $2 million. they said they were shot at when they tried to photograph the couple. >> inflammatory accusations, lawsuit filed by a manhattan court. two photographers allege the security guards fired guns at

them for taking pictures at a post-wedding party in costa r a rica. that happened after they refused to give up their cameras. bullets theirly missed their windows. they claim brady hired improperly trained guards. an emotional day in court for plaxico burress who tearfully said good-bye to his young son and pregnant wife after getting a two-year sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun in a nightclub where he accidentally shot himself in the thigh. hero of last year's super bowl was immediately taken to rikers island. you have to feel for the wife and kid. former boston red sox pitcher kur schilling said he will not pursue kennedy's seat. a hero in massachusetts after the infamous bloody sock. even though he got a lot of support, it didn't make sense. schilling campaigned for former

president bush and john mccain. he would have run as and. the most important story of the day. the world beard and mustache championships. look at these guys. this is dedication. 160 men entered this bizarre contest. 17 different categories. they are judged the same way ice skating and gymnastics are in the olympics. >> really? >> you can see the judge there writing her score. that one is my personal favorite. that will poke an eye out. get this. this year's winner hailed all the way from alaska. usa! usa! >> must be a lot of product. >> yes. a lot of product. >> thanks. okay. doctor charged with illegally giving drugs to anna nicole smith never had sex with her. proof? his lawyer says he is openly gay. the attorney says a compromising photo cited in the documents was snapped at a gay pride celebration and that it is one

of the many flaws in the police investigation. the district attorney's office says it is too early to comment on this case. police responded to an unusual scene where a big media of world leaders at the u.n. giant inflitable balls caused a bit of a scare. grocery store customers like to shop where the products are best.

especially for beef. consumers will go out of their way to find a better cut. so to round up more business, smart grocery chains have partnered with cargill who supplies stores with a line of top quality beef hand selected and specially prepared so grocers can sell beef so appealing it will have more shoppers blazing a trail to their store. this is how cargill works with customers. "see ya later, wrinkles!" awkward! with unbeatable prices on neutrogena deep wrinkle anti-wrinkle moisture, beauty costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. we're shopping for car insurance, and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that?

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i mean, all over the place with their friends and teachers. we just don't know. we are praying for the best. >> students and teachers at one atlanta area school did not know what is going to happen next. look at the pictures. flooding left the school completely under water. the rain finally did stop yesterday and coming up, meteorologist bmeewe will find out if it is going to dry up or if more rain is on the way. new help could be coming if you are unemployed. house overwhelmingly voted to ex-tend benefits for 13 weeks and 27 states. highest unemployment rates of 8.5% and higher.

the senate is expected to pass a similar bill. this would help more than a million people. justice department is going to take a closer look at the community organizing group a.c.o.r.n. the inspector general will find out if a.c.o.r.n. got any grant money and how it used the money. a.c.o.r.n. has come under fire after giving employees advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp. police are looking in dallas for a man who escaped through a hospital prison on saturday and prison officials say joshua dwayne barnes tied together several blankets and crawled right through a vent to make his getaway out of the hospital. barnes was serving a 35-year sentence for seven burglaries and he has a history of trying to escape from jail. this is the headline we are following. welcome back. a memorial service planned for annie le tonight. the grad student killed days

before her wedding. it will be held in new york. her funeral is planned for saturday in california. a yale lab technician is charged with killing her. a new york senator says new york can't spend nearly $97 million in stimulus money set aside for daycare centers. a federal agency hasn't issued guidelines on spending it. she is asking with the health and human services department to do something about that. some states have already started spending their money. large protests are planned today outside of the u.n. building in new york and demonstrators are angry that libyan leader moammar gadhafi is being welcomed into the country. core department richard lui is joining us. what is it about gadhafi that's getting people riled up? >> three years ago libya was taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism and just last month, gadhafi gave a hero's welcome to the man convicted in the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103.

you see that man. president obama expressed his disapproval then along with a lot of victims' family members. folks across the united states who lost loved ones on that flight say that it is not enough. >> you can try and make peace with the country but this guy is still a monster. >> i just cannot fathom what people are thinking in the free world to allow this to happen. >> gadhafi has been blamed for financing several different terrorist acts that killed hundreds of innocent people as well. >> why is gadhafi here? what's he trying to accomplish in the u.n. now? >> he's here for the united nations general assembly meeting which continues today. this also has a lot to do with appearances. gadhafi wants to show the people in his own country that he is being accepted by the western world. this is his first appearance at the united nations in his 40 years as ruler of libya. libya, by the way, currently a rotating member of the u.n.

security council. that might have something to do with it, too. >> got you. richard, thank you. >> sure. police have wrapped up their search of a kidnapping suspect's property and they say so far it doesn't look like there is a connection to two other missing person cases but still investigators had not eliminated phillip garrido as a suspect in the disappearances of two young girls. garrido and his wife are charged with kidnapping jaycee dugard and holding her captive for 18 years. the flu is hitting hard in minnesota. in one elementary school, 200 students and a third of the student body were out with flu-like symptoms yesterday. parents say that nine have confirmed cases of the h1n1 flu. the state department says in all 123 schools are reporting flu outbreaks. health officials recommend if your child has a fever, keep them home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medicine. calamari?

park officials say they are getting dozen of reports of big squids washing up on the oregon shore. the parks department thinks they are humble skwids which can grow as large as six feet long. the ones coming ashore could be dieing from disease, hunger or just old age. live ones have been reported farther north. i feel bad when we talk about -- i don't know. i crave calamari. >> you are broadcasting for two. the cravings are definitely getting up there. >> squid. >> early this morning, natasha. weather brought to you by zyrtec. let me show you what's happening across the deep southeast. the rain has been prolific and heavy at times yesterday. right mao for georgia, not so much for northern alabama. the rain line is still going to be shaping up today. you see lie showers northern part of the state. flood warnings shrunk a little

bit. good news here. all the bright shaded green counties under a flood warning now. notice the wash of red around nashville on, heavy rain towards central tennessee. inch, maybe a little bit more than that. what up find piling up, at least over the next 24 hours. another shot of rain coming in off the atlanta coast. tropical wave coming around wilmington and back down towards charleston. heavy downpours. we have them now and will con to spill in through the myrtle beach. the tail end of that is now affecting areas as far south and inland as porl. you can see showers just offshore. now moving inland, too. around melbourne. that's all going to be out there for the better part of the day. scattered showers and thunderstorms south of there. basically west palm all the way down to the keys. just scattered showers for you. rain also around the jersey shore. breezy around new york city later today. and more down towards on cleveland, akron. ontario as well. you can dry out temporarily tomorrow. beneficial rain. we have it once again. lower parts of texas. weak wave of low pressure to the

north. energy rotating around that. check it out. looking at decent rain now out of san antonio, austin, all the way up towards basically the waco area of the afternoon. then the rockies. winter type storm developed overnight. you see the rain coming in and going upslope turning into snow. warnings for you looking for seven to 12 inches of snow. mainly above 7,000 feet. that's the elevation just west of denver. that's what we are watching now. it is good news for you if you want to see material snow. all right. let me show you. time lapse coming in from earlier this morning trying to get in or out of atlanta. low clouds are here once again. when have you that much rain in place, you know you will get the fog developing with lipt winds overnight. that's what we have. you see the building. as the sun comes up, clouds will gradually disappear and sun heats up the ground and makes things mix out. more sunshine for most of the day in north georgia. that will give us a chance to dry out. beautiful shot, too. >> yes, gorgeous. >> wow. >> it is nice. pretty pictures after all the flooding. we will talk more about that later. this is something like, you

know, out of like a james bond movie. what we are learning about heist involving a helicopter and explosives. real one. people freaked out when they saw a body next to a billboard. look for yourself here. big misunderstanding that had police a little mythed. [ woman ] dear cat. gentle cat. your hair mixes with pollen and dust in the air. i get congested. my eyes itch. i have to banish you to the garden. but now with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. i can breathe freer with zyrtec-d®. so, i'll race you to our favorite chair. i might even let you win. zyrtec-d® lets me breathe easier, so i can love the air™. zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. ♪ ♪ which one's me - for a cool convertible or an suv? ♪ too bad i didn't know my credit was whack ♪

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♪ get this. police are looking for thieves who use explosives and stolen helicopter during a robbery this morning. it happened at a cash depot near

stockholm, sweden. witnesses say the chopper landed on the roof and the suspects handed out bags of money to it. depot serves atms all over the city and the robbers hit a payday. people called 911 when they thought that they saw a dead body on a billboard. okay. when a police checked it out they found it was actually a mannequin. promotion for an art exhibit. there she goes. >> artist chose a billboard that was really never used. and we -- he basically puts his sculptures in unexpected places. >> the police say it was an all unnecessary expense to the city and the art group plans to put up more signs bit tomorrow but will let officials know about it.

the idea here was to protect you from abuse. now congress may be scaling back a plan to make the financial product that you buy safer. our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. >> operative word in your sentence is "was." this is what happens when things -- have to be compromised. you may be forgiven if you thought a clear lesson from the financial crisis, financial crisis, that rocked the whole economy, was to rein out-of-control mortgages. stories of people that were shepherded into mortgages they clearly did no understand and clearly could not afford. the white house propose ad government agency to look out for you when it comes to financial products. that's being completely watered down as it makes its way through congress. latest proposal, pardon me, you would have fewer protections. there is a person, elizabeth warren, she's kind of a government coin person for consumers, no not a lawmaker. she is an advocate and said there were more rules to

guarantee the safety of a toaster than there are for mortgages which obviously, you know, carry so much weight and become something you are really responsible for for many years. stocks rallied again last night and carried the dow and s&p and the nasdaq up to new highs for the year. and this is two weeks now where stocks have been slowly but steadily inching up, carving out new highs again and again. there you see the dow at 9829. getting closer to 10,000 and today's focus probably going to be on what happen this afternoon. the fed is going to wrap up its two-day meeting and people want to know what they say about the economy, how it is doing and how the future looks. >> for sure. jen, thanks. >> newly announced evening news anchor diane sawyer will speak at the clinton global initiative conference today. the topic is how to deal with gender inequality. it is the fifth year for the long conference that addresses global health, poverty, education. president obama complimented the group yesterday for its work.

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check out the live pictures of rapidly moving fire in southwest california. injured two firefighters tuesday and as it ripped through the hills and rugged canyons. you can see how big those flames are getting and claiming that hillside there. more than 8,000 acres have been burned already in this fire. we will keep you posted if anything more develops. hopefully firefightkers get that thing under control soon. if you are going to a gig game this week, sports officials want you to know they are taking your safety very seriously. homeland security officials september out federal bulletins warning police departments that stadiums could be a top target for al qaeda. there is no specific threat but all of the big pro-pro-sports leagues they sayer prepared and always talking to law enforcement officials about possible threats.

the families of american tigers held in iran are holding on to hope they will see them very soon. in an associated press interview iranian president ahmadinejad said he will seek leniency from iranian courts. the hikers are charged with illegally crossing into iran from iraq. just this morning, one of the families said they haven't heard anything. >> we still don't have word from them. we haven't gotten a phone call. we haven't been able to receive a letter, send a letter. we have had no contact. that's been extremely difficult. again, we are hoping that we will get to give them a big hug. at this point we are hoping for their quick release. >> iran's president is in the u.s. to address the u.n. general assembly and families say they wanted him to bring the hikers with him. get this. an nfl player has canceled his twitter account after offending a lot of his fan base with a

tweet. you have to be careful with those tweets. >> yeah. entire part of america's work force, natasha. i mean, you heard of sticking your foot in your mouth. this guy stuck his tweet in his mouth. anyway, we are talking about washington redskins linebacker robert henson whose twitter account was taken down tuesday after he i talked his fans on his page for booing the team in their win over st. louis sunday. henson, who is not even active on the team, posted this or tweeted. ouch is right. you are lucky to be playing in the nfl. don't ridicule people in how they make their living. now pitching important the new york yankees, supreme court justice sonia sotomayor. she's going from the bench to the mound to throw out the first pitch at yankees stadium saturday. sotomayor is a yankees fan from the bronx and helped end baseball's strike in 1995.

oh, by the way, the yankees became the first team to earn a spot in the playoffs with a win over the angels last night. playoffs? speaking of jim, jim beam, is now out of nascar. first jack and now jim. the maker of the jim beam is no longer going to sponsor the nascar. jim beam's spirits said it would shift ad dollars outside of nascar. lastly, this is a guy we can learn from. arizona's mark reynolds set a record for the most strikeouts ever in a season with 206. breaking the record he set last year. but he is still hitting well. he has his 100th rbi to go with 43 home runs. the point here is, kids, when he strikes out he doesn't seem to mentally hold on to it. when asked about the record he said so what. we won. i got my 100th rbi. it was a good game. >> priorities.

thanks, rayfer. rafer. ♪ she loves you there's a lot of love for the beatles. the catalogs has sold 2.25 million in five days. that breaks records. billboard meg zeen says that the mag fab four had 16 titleses in the top 50. there's nothing wrong with your picture or the camera. parts of australia really did turn this color. kind of an orangey-red color. a dust storm swept through the southern part of the country today and health officials are warning people with asthma or heart conditions to stay indoors. >> the color was amazing. i've never seen it. i'm 72ees old, and i've never seen that in my life before. it's the first time ever.

so it's really a phenomenon. >> my eyes are a bit sore and my throat, yes. that is affecting me. >> ambulance services say they've gotten a lot of phone calls involving people with breathing problems. you can hardly even see, too. that dust is thick, bob. >> that part of the country, southern australia, is in a major drought. that's part of the problem. there's absolutely no mud anywhere. it's dust. that's part of the problem. what about our continental air travel? doesn't look too bad. one ground stop in philadelphia until 8:30 this morning because of the low clouds there. clouds at about 600 feet with light rain. that's a problem. the rest of the day, new york city metros will get low clouds in, 30 to 60-minute delays. charlotte looking at thunderstorms developing around the piedmont. 30-minute delays. houston, more thunderstorms, beneficial rain, showers in denver could slow you down to about a half hour. if you're looking for a

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>> welcome to comcast local edition. my guest this hour is dr. faye williams, national chair of the national congress of black women. thank you so much for joining me. >> it's always great to be here. >> now, for those that may not know, what's the mission of the national congress of black women? >> well, we are an organization that works with the community, mainly with young people. we have a program for 9-12 years old where we teach them about the wonderful vocations there are in life. we bring in ambassadors, athletes, and we want them to

know that they can be more than a singer, dancer, or football player. we have another program for which comcast is our media partner on young ambassadors. we try to teach young adults to navigate life. we teach conflict resolution, about vocations, and about going to school, the importance of time management, discipline, that kind of thing. >> thou, you have an anniversary awards luncheon coming up. you recognize numerous women for their wonderful accomplishments. when is the luncheon? >> sunday, september 27th. people remember it by the sunday morning following the congressional black caucus. it's at 11:00 this year, which is a change of time. >> where is it located? >> this year at the united states naval yard, sixth and m street southeast. we're looking forward to having a wonderful time.

there's a beautiful view of the water there. >> and in celebrating your 25th anniversary, congratulations, by the way. >> thank youia who are some of our honorees? there's an extensive list. >> we always honor first our founding chairs and fathers. we want to salute them first. janet lange heart corn, we have several other women, we always honor the newly elected blank congresswomen. that will be marsha fudge this year. we have a judge from michigan, judge denise langhart mars, and

i'm sure we have a couple of more, a general manager of a car dealer, ms. craft from the area, and of course, our wonderful chair, president of the northern verge urban league laverne chapman. regina kelly, the subject of the movie american violet. >> you have an extensive list of women that touch us in so many areas of our lives. >> we have a good mother award. this year it's being received by peter harvey. we are honoring him, because as an attorney general, he worked very hard on domestic violence. that's one of our projects. we honored him. last year we were honored that have kami brown. >> thank you for honoring him.

>> we are probably the only organization in town that has a $75 fundraising ticket. that's the general admission. there are corporate tickets, member tickets, and general membership tickets, general public tickets. they are selling pretty fast this year. when they hear about the honorees, people want to bring their young children, especially young women to meet these people. they can meet the young lady that flew across the country. >> thank you for joining me. >> we hope to see you there this year. >> my pleasure, definitely. my guest has been dr. faye williams national chair of the national congress of black women. if you're interested in what comcast is doing in your area, go to on demand and click local. for comcast local edition, i'm

donna richardson. x÷

it is wednesday. hope you're waking up well. good morning. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade today. the sun returned to parts of the south after a week of recordbreaking rain only to shine light on gut wrenching stories of tragedy and loss. plus, cameras are rolling as an out of control car barrels right toward a little girl. scary to watch being but she actually walked away without a scratch. and we all hate having to pay overdraft fees when we use our debit cards. some changes are coming your way to help you out. even though the heavy rain has cleared out in the southeast, the devastation caused by all the flooding still isn't over.

now, just this morning, we've learned of another confirmed death in georgia. some roads are still closed. look at these pictures. and some people can't really return home. one georgia woman made it back with her family to see the damage and she relived their escape. >> i mean being i'm laughing and joking about it, but i'm really crying on the inside because this is just unbelievable. i mean, when we left here yesterday, we got stuck in the field with three kids and we broke the fence down trying to get out of here. >> and for the first time, we're hearing from the distraught father of this 2-year-old boy who drowned when they got trapped in the floodwaters. >> i just told slade it would be all right and i loved him and we would make it. but we didn't make it. >> and they tried so hard.

it happened monday in a creek that turned into a raging river. the father was hanging on to the bushes with one arm and he had the boy in his other arm. but the water was so powerful it eventually pulled the boy away from him. in about two hours, president obama will speak to the united nations general assembly. he's expected to pointedly ask world leaders to help in dealing with terrorism and the economy. and then libyan leader will address the assembly for the first time in his 40-year rule. victims of the locker by bombing over scott the land call him a terrorist. they plan to protest his visit. he is trying to set up a massive tent in one new york suburb during his visit being but the people who live here in that area, they are just outraged about it. in less than ten minutes, correspondent the richard lui explains what they're doing to keep him out of their backyard. the mass transit system you right to word could have a natal flaw. that's what the ntsb is warning.

in june, a washington metro train plowed into another one, killing nine people. investigators say that an automatic system should have stopped it. the ntsb says rail systems across the country need to be checked for the same flaw. transit officials say that the impact should be limited. new this morning -- many people would get 13 extra weeks of unemployment benefits under a bill that the house approved yesterday. jennifer westhoven is here. jen, more than a million people may qualify for this extension. >> yeah. this could help a lot of people, natas natasha, using these checks to feed their families. it's 13 more weeks of unemployment checks in some states. now, the average benefit, about 300s a week. 314,000 families would have run out of benefits this month without this third extension. as you mentioned, more than a million in the coming months. i said some states. you see them here in red where

unemployment is more than 8.5%. we're talking about 27 states now, more than half of the states in the country, where people are saying, look, i'm sure, ready, willing and able to work, but there just aren't any opportunities. it's not my fault i can't find wok. that point, with three extensions here, we've got the government supporting hundreds of thousands of american families. the senate is expected to approve this and the president is expected to sign the bill shortly. generally speaking, benefits go about 26 weeks. in some states now they're 52 weeks. with this extension, some people could have 79 weeks wf benefits. >> thank you. we've got video here you've got to see. before you see it, we've got to tell you that the little girl in this video is okay even though it looks like a car just plows right into her. she's at a convenience store. police in washington state say an owl of control car hits the store and then a parking pole wedged underneath the car lifts it right over the 6-year-old

girl. >> and when the mom saw the video, she had a moment there. she broke down for a bit. the dad just basically kind of covered his mouth and just couldn't believe what he saw in the video, how it happened so quick. >> again, she is okay. police say that the driver had a suspended license and is charged with reckless driving. parts of of the southeast are drying out right now but not everyone is going to see sunny skies today. bob voon dillon joins ug with the forekaest. it's just a mess. >> it is. it's rough in georgia and alabama, parts of mississippi, same with tennessee. but the main line of rain from the past couple of days is shifting once again toward alabama into tennessee as well. that's right here. you can see it. high pressure squeezing in with that frontal boundary. look at this tropical wave coming into the carolinas. decent rain stretching into the georgia coast later today.

heavy downpours across the north south carolina coastline right now, get into north carolina, too, and stretching down into florida. flood watches, warnings, still have them posted from the weekend storms into monday. you can see the warnings out there for atlanta, parts of alabama, parts of mississippi, ak arc, back in towards tennessee also. the rain shield itself is basically moving to the north. look what's coming in from the atlanta ick. i think it will fall shy of the areas that really got flooded out over the last couple of days, georgia and alabama. you'll get heavy rain for the careful coast, towards north florida, too, even toward central florida coast. rain around the jersey floor, brushing in philadelphia, new york city, too. here's the northern extent of the rain, close to cleveland, down south by cincinnati, you're dry but showers in the forecast. live to cinci, clouds in the forecast, light rain showers, too. so far you're dry, looking pretty nice. looking like a couple of thunderstorms developing later today, frontal broundry real close in the vicinity. more dramatic pictures coming in

the atlanta area. look at this. the owners of these horses had to rescue these. the water up you to the thorss' neckses. they were all fine. they all survived. that is just heart wrenching. >> we've been hearing a lot of stories about pets and farm animals being swept away in the floodwaters. >> horses swim very well. >> yes, they do. >> thank you, bob. take a look at these new pictures just in of this wildfire in ventura county, california. look at the huge flames going up the hill side. this has burned at least 8500 acres, ripping through canyons and hillsides. california governor arnold schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. get this, the sheriffs's department thinks that spontaneous combustion of manure at a ranch may have started this whole thing. up to 600 homes had to be evacuated. a drug bust turned into kind of a party. you've got to see this tape of

officers having fun in a convicted drug dealer's home? paying $8 a day for lunch can add up fast.

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nine minutes past the hour. the controversial libyan leader will speak at the u.n. today, but many americans are furious that he was even allowed in the country. last month, gadhafi gave a he hero's welcome to the man convicted in the pan am bombing that killed nearly 300 people. correspondent richard lui joining us with more. there's a controversy over whether he's planning to stay while he's here. >> he set up a massive tent in bedford, new york, to hold meetings in during his visit. there's the tent right there. technically, it is inside the area where he is allowed to travel, but the town attorney says the libyans needed a building permit for eye tent of size. they issued a stop work order yesterday as a result and they're going back today to make sure they've complied. >> he's not welcome here.

this guy is a terrorist. he's maimed and killed innocent people. he really doesn't belong here, let alone in westchester, in the united states. >> last month protests erupted when he said he would pitch his tent in that area. he was banned from central park and a posh new york hotel as well. >> wow. so you mentioned that the pan am bombing, he actually has a really long history of being tied to terror attacks. >> gadhafi took power in a 1969 coup and libya was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism ten years later. in 1986, three men who wok for the embassy bombed a berlin nightclub. the u.s. retaliated by bombing libya, killing his adopted daughter and the pan am bombing you were alluding to was libya's response to that. in 2003, libya accepted responsibility for the pan am bombing and agreed to pay more than $2 billion in compensation to victims' families.

so quite a history that gadhafi has in relationship to the united states, hence the reaction that you are seeing partially so far today. >> i would say so. thanks, richard. we have an exciting addition to our prime-time lineup coming your way next week "the joy behar show" will air every night at 9:00 p.m. on had ln. here is a quick taste of what you'll get, her "moment of joy" commentary. >> so i hear the ukraine has turned down elton john's request to adopt a 14-month-old boy named lev. okay, who's in charge there? who oes in charge? victor u shank co-? i think i dated him, listen, victor, are you saying that elton john is too old or too gay? uh-huh. he may be gay, but he also happens to be a celebrated humanitarian who's been knighted by the queen of england. in fact, some people think he is the queen of england.

this baby, this poor baby, is unwanted, hiv positive, and stuck in some depressing orphanage that makes abu ghraib look like the presidential suite at the waldorf with no prospectses to move up in the world where is he going to go, atonia? here is a chance to be taken in by two loving fabulously rich parents who will give him everything he needs. so now, sir elton will move on and find some other more tolerant country willing to let him be a dad. meanwhile, little lev will likely grow up in foster homes and turn into a drunk and return that orphanage and say, you you [ bleep ] i'm leave living in a dumpster when he could have houng out with sting and elizabeth hurley. that's a sad story. but maybe that's just me. >> "the jay behar show"

premieres next week. you can check it out now at cnn.com/joy. jen says she loves the queen of england line. after months and months of plant closings layoffs, buyoffs, there is a glimmer of hope for automakers. >> yeah. gm calling 3,000 workers back on the job, that's good news in a bad economy and not just for the workers because, look, we are basically all stock owners, we're basically all owners of gm at this point. if you pay taxes, you own part of gm because of the bail government bailout. gm is adding a third shift at some plants, the assembly lines will roll out more cars and trucks. here is the tricky part. gm wants to respond to new demand, make enough tar cars and

trucks but they've got to be careful not to do what they use used to do, relapse into their old habit of making too many of them. then it starts the whole vicious cycle where they have to slash prices to try to sell them all. we'll watch that one closely. you know that where you live is a big part of your home's value. it ace's cliche location, location, location. but how much is it worth? the realtor caldwell bank eeree looked at basically the same house all across america. 2200 square feet, four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths. the average price for that home? $363,000. but, boy, the selling price depends on where you live. if you want to be in la jolla, california, that house will cost you more than $2 million. the same house in grayling, michigan, the most affordable, $122,000. can you imagine? you could get like 15 of those

homes for the same price as in la jolla. what a difference it makes but very interesting. that way you can really see the actual disparity. >> definitely. jen, thanks so much. perspective for us. a certain type of cigarettes are now illegal because they may appeal to kids? find out how some companies are tying to get around the new law. and the dalai lama raised his fist to the mayor of tennessee. sort of. it's a moment you've got to see.

welcome to progressive. how may i help you? i'm looking for a deal on car insurance. i think i might have a coupon in here. there's an easier way. we've got the "name your price" option. you do? follow me. you tell us how much you want to pay, and we'll build you a policy that fits your budge@e and i still get great coverage? uh-huh. go ahead. you're the boss. i'm the boss of savings. more like the c.e.o.

oh, oh. no glass ceiling. the freedom to name your price. now, that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes are now illegal in the u.s. an fda ban took effect yesterday and bans clove-flavored cigarettes. of the fda says it makes them more appealing to children. the ban does not include menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars. some are skirting the ban by making the cigars the size of

cigarettes. it looks like some central florida cops are in trouble. check out this surveillance video at a convicted drug dealer's house. it shows the cops playing wii after storming the house to search it. one sheriff's detective is shown putting down her work, picking up the wii remote to play bowling. they were in the home for nine hows. police are investigating. >> hey, you know, those video games are addictive, natasha. >> yes, they are. especially the wii. >> suddenly nine hours is gone. >> but you get a workout on the bowling one. two photographers are suing tom brady and gisele bund chen for a million dollars. they say they were shot at for trying to photograph the couple. here's the scoop. >> these are rather inflammatory accusations. in a lawsuit which was filed in manhattan, two photographers say brad di and bunchen's security

guards fired shots at them after taking pictures at a post-wedding party. after they refused to give up their cameras and memory cards. the photogs say the bullets smashed a car window and barely missed them. the suit alleges brady and bunchen hired improperly trained guards. their lawyers have not commented yet. it was an emotional day in court for plaxico burress who tearfully said good-bye to his son and buy wife. he is part of a plea deal is sentenced to two years for carrying an unlicensed gun where he accidentally shot himself. he was immediately taken to liker's island, a hard-core prison. he could be out in 20 months for good behavior. what he did was stupid but i feel for his wife and kid. it looked like a random bit of luck when bengals several owe checinco found fans for the lambeau leap. it turns out they were plants. oc ochocinco solicited fans through twitter and according to several media outlets bought them

front-row seats so they would be there when he did the lambeau leap. so ochocinco put in three amigos. that's a look at sports. >> you don't get in trouble for that, right? >> no. >> i mean the jumping part. >> well, he upset some people but found friendly bengals fans. >> hopefully bob behaving himself. >> there was a packer fan who said he was number one you. did you see that? >> yes. we had to blur it out. >> let me show you a time lapse of new york city. if you're trying to travel up there, low colludes moving in from the south. we start out with sunshine, clouds moving through. we have light rain reporting in philadelphia. you're about to come out of a ground stop because of that. in knock, you're still dry. here's the rest of the day, half hour around new york city, showers in the deep south, probably a delay in areas like orlando, houston. getting showers and

thunderstorms there. about a half-hour delay is what you'll find. more in a bit, natasha. >> bobby, a lot of storms to keep an eye on. there's a new claim that a doctor that treated anna nicole smith had a sexual relationship with her? we don't want anything... ...to slow us down. but even in your 30s... ...your bones can begin to change., overtime, you can begin to have bone loss. calcium and vitamin d work together, to help keep your bones strong., and yoplait gives you... ...20% of your daily calcium... ...and is the only leading yogurt with vitamin d in every cup., keep your bones strong every day... ...with yoplait.

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where are the kids going to go now? they're going to be all over the place but their favorite teachers are elsewhere. we're praying for the best. >> parents, students and teachers at one atlanta area teachers don't know what thai going to do. the rain finally let up, but georgia governor sunny purdue plans he asked to ask president obama for a federal emergency. purdue has declared states of emergency in 17 counties. new help could be coming if you are unemployed right now. yesterday the house overwhelmingly voted to extend benefits for 13 weeks in 27

states with the highest unemployment rates. the senate is expected to pass a similar bill. this would help more than a million people. welcome back. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade. it's wednesday. so we're covering breaking news right now. chicago police are negotiating with a man who barricaded himself in a hospital emergency room after firing a shot. police said that the s.w.a.t. team has surrounded the area. these are pictures of the hospital. they're trying to figure out if the man is connected to the death of a couple found fatally shot last night. police say a shot was fired into the hospital ceiling. >> the doctor just got through telling me i was okay and give me medicine, and then they went out of the room, about i would say 30 seconds after they went out of the room, i heard like a pow, i knew it was a gunshot so i started unhooking the ekg off me. i went to the door and saw say gun standing in the emergency room with a gun to his head.

>> local media reported the man pointed a gun at his head and asked for help, then told a medical technician that he had just killed his parents. large protest planned outside the u.n. building in new york, the dman straighters are angry that the libyan leader is being welcomed into the country. richard lui is joining us with more. what is it that has people so riled up? >> good morning. it was only three years ago that libya was taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. and then just last month gadhafi gave a hero's welcome to the man convicted in the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103. there's the welcome that outraged so many of the victims' family members as well as politicians. president obama expressed his disapproval then but americans who lost loved ones on that flight say it's not enough. >> you can try and make peace with the country, but this guy is still a monster. >> i just cannot fathom what

people are thinking in the free world to allow this to happen. >> gadhafi has been blamed for financing several other terrorist attacks that killed hundreds others. >> richard, why is gadhafi here? off ostensibly he's here for the meeting that kicks off, president obama speaking this morning. this has a lot to do with appearances, too. gadhafi wants to show he's accepted by other world leaders. the brother of one of the pan am bombing victims says the should not give him the satisfaction. >> he needs validation and acceptance by the western world so he's come here to show that the western world is now embracing him. i think it's a tremendous hypocrisy on our part to ignore what has been one of the worst, most brutal regimes we've seen in 50 years. by accepting him and embracing him in the united states. >> this is his first appearance

at the u.n. in his 40 years as ruler of libya. the country also is a rotating member of the security council, which the united states of course holds a permanent seat upon. >> it will be interesting to see what happens with the protesters krout side with this visit. richard, thank you. a memorial service is planned tonight for annie le, the yale grad student killed days before her wedding. the services will be held at her fiance's synagogue in new york. her funeral is planned saturday in california. a yale lab technician is charged with her killing. the families of three american hikers held in iran are holding on to hope they'll see them soon. in an associated press interview, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad says he will seek leniency for them from the courts. the hikers are charged with illegally crossing into iran from iraq. >> we are very, very encouraged by the compassion of president ahmadinejad in the release of

all three children, josh, shane and sarah. we have a humanitarian appeal that he will continue his compassionate attitude towards our children and that he will release them and bring them to the united states. >> the families wanted ahmadinejad to bring the hikers with him when he came to the u.s. you. the justice department is going to take a closer look at the community organizing group a.c.o.r.n. the inspector general says he will find out if a.c.o.r.n. got any justice department grant mr money and how it used the money. a.c.o.r.n. has come under fire lately after employees were caught on video giving advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp. police have wrapped up their search search of a kidnapping suspect's property and they say so far it doesn't look like there's a connection to two other missing personses cases. still, though, investigates have not eliminated phillip garrido as a suspect in the disappearances of two young girls.

garrido and his wife of chaged with kidnapping jaycee dugard and holding her captive for 18 years. finally a break for the atlanta area, but how you long is it going to last? bob van dillen here with a look at the forecast. >> i think we're dry today across north xrornlg george, parts of eastern alabama. but by the weekend, more thunderstorms beginning to develop and affect us. i don't think it will be quite as bad, a 100-year flood we're going through. high pressure building through you the northeast down across the south, one stripe of rain showers towards alabama and tennessee, more heavy rain coming in across the carolina coast. but notice the swirl in the clouds right there, an upper-level low basically a cool pocket of air. here's what i'm talking about. let me show you the daytime highs for the afternoon, everything seems to be on the warm side. we're talking about the east half of the nation. we're talking about upper 70s around memphis, nashville. then you get in towards denver, 47 the high today.

there's the cool pocket of air. snow developing to the south and higher elevations, same to the west. denver should just be a cool rain, temperatures in the mid to upper 40s today. heaviest downpour action today is across the deep southeast around north carolina and south carolina coastlines. more showers moving in through northern alabama, too. flood watches we have in the nashville area, the warnings are the areas shaded in light green and it includes atlanta. we're going to see the flooding continue today with more thunderstorms working in for the weekend. let me show you pictures we have of the atlanta floods, affecting a lot of our co-workers and families, too. these families are from ashley phillips, the daughter of our director tom. they took these photos west of atlanta. this area hit with 15 to 20 inches of rainfall in just three days. >> wow. >> that's a half a year's worth of rain in just three days to put it in perspective. >> hard to believe. bob, thank you. well, people who don't identify themselves with a

religion could one day surpass the nation's largest denominations. a new trinity college study finds that 15% of people in the u.s. do not affiliate with a church. and that number is growing. to put it in perspective, 24% of people in the u.s. you say they're catholic and researchers say things like an influx of people from other countries could change all that. well, getting burned by overdraft fees, jennifer is here with how the banks are responding to big-time pressure. >> yeah. you make a mistake and in one day you could get hit with hubs of dolla hundreds of dollars in overdraft charges. not anymore. banks are feeling the heat, making changes. do they go far enough?yo would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask.

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new this morning, president obama is calling for an end to subsidies that encourage the use of fossil fuels. and he thinks it needs to be a worldwide effort. white house officials say he will propose it at the g-20 summit that starts thursday in pittsburgh. some scientists believe the use of fossil fuels contributes to global warming. reps for the fossil fuel industry say this would hurt u.s. energy security. so do you notice that your asthma symptoms get worse with the change of the weather? now science is backing you up on it. researchers find that changes in temperature or even humidity trigger more emergency room visits for children with asthma. asthma experts say that the study shows that people with allergies and asthma need to be vigilant about controlling their symptoms. i can second that. a safety warning out this morning could have connections to a deadly airplane crash. european safety experts have

issued a warning for a part on the air bus a-330 and 340. that part measures air speed. a fulty one could have played a role in an air france crash that killed 228 people in june. air bus says that the parts are in limited use. timing is not everything, at least when it comes to having elective heart bypass surgery. researchers looked at more than 18,000 bypass surgeries and that they found at the cleveland clinic that the hour, day, month, or even phase of the moon did not make a difference in the outcomes of the operation. intere interesting. nothing worse than getting stuck with overdraft fees after using your debit card. now there's changes on the way to help you out. jennifer westhoven is here with how pibanks are feeling the hea from congress? >> yeah. you may make a miscalculation that could cost you hundreds of

dollars. congress has been hearing a lot of outrage over overdraft fees. so it's been considering new rules. the banks obviously don't want rules from washington, d.c., they want to get out in front of that and try to make small changes and sort of pull the rug out. bank of america, chase are making some, they look like minor tweaks, may be good for you. one idea would be that you could choose, have the current way, which is that if you -- you can make a choice and say, well, maybe there's only $10 in my bank account but i'm going to go out and buy this anyway and get hit with a $35 overdraft fee. or you can say, you know, when that happens, i probably didn't make a choice. it was probably an accident. so i would like it if when i get to zero the card doesn't let me use it and i don't get hit with that fee. so that haes one option. they're also looking at limiting the amount of times you can get hit in one day. but it's still more than once. it's still four times according to one of the banks. something that we'll watch for. stocks rallied again last

night. that carried the dow, the s&p and nasdaq to new heights for the year. you've got the dow up near 9829 and the headlines this morning look not great but pretty good. the "wall street journal" says futures were tiptoeing higher. i like that choice of word, tiptoeing. >> cautious little prediction. thanks. when it comes to twitter, it's a good idea for sure to think before you tweet. rafer weigel is here with one a story of an nfl player who maybe wasn't thinking too much. >> this is a player who probably wishes he could fix it. now he may have trouble at the drive-thru window. it's not the new lexus. 's not the new bmw. it'sbot the new audi. what it is... is impossible to resist.

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♪ a new york senator says that new york can't spend nearly 97 million in federal stimulus doles set aside for day care

centers. a federal agency hasn't issued adequate guidelines on spending it. she's asking the health and human services department to do something about that. some states have already started spending their money. police are looking for thieves who used explosives and a stolen helicopter during a robbery this morning. it happened at a cash depot near stockholm, sweden. witnesses say the chopper landed on the roof and the suspects handed up you bags of money to it. the depot reportedly serves atms over the city. and robbers hit on payday so the building would have been filled with cash. look at that. like james bond all over again. an nfl player has canceled his twitter account, completely canceled it, after offending a human chunk of his fan base with a tweet. you've got to watch those tweets, rafer. >> you know what? we seem to have a lot of athletes in the police blotter stories. now we need our own section for athletes and twitter stories. washington skins linebacker

robin henson's twitter kl was taken down after he attacked his fans on his page for booing the team on sunday. this guy isn't even active on the team, yet he had the guts to tweet, "don't come to fedex to boo dim mitts. who are you to say you know what's best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at mcdonald's." mr. henson, you better check your food the next time you get it at the drive-through. he also told reporters that he "understands how he offendnd some fans." that's good i guess. now pitching for the new york yankees, supreme court justice sonia sotomayor. she's going from the bench to the mound to throw out the first pitch at yankee stadium saturday. they're playing so well. they could probably still win with her there. she's a yankees fan from the bronx, helped end the strike ae 95. they earned their spot in the playoffs. the maker of jim bean said the company will no longer

sponsor the sprint cup team, this after a day after jack daniels said it would stop sponsoring the number 7 car. perhaps a sign of the times. jim beam spirits says it was going to shift ad dollars outside of nascar. lastly, this man can teach us all a thing or two. arizona's mark reynolds set a record for the most strikeouts ever in a season with 206, breaking the record he set last year. normally a guy would be down about that, but he's still hitting well. he got his 100th rbi to go with 43 home runs. the deal is when he strikes out he doesn't seem to hold on to it. he just moves on. when they asked him about the record, he said, so what? we won. i got 100 rbis. it was a good day. look at the positive. let's check on bob van dillen in case you're wondering what's going on with your flight. >> great attitude to have. yeah, i struck out, big woop. life is too short. i love that. we have a couple of delays,

o'hare has a 30-minute delay because of low clouds. fixing a hole in atlanta on the tarmac possibly due to the rain. a 30 hi minute to one-hour you have a 30 minute delay because of that. new york city metro, showers moving in. could see about a half hour delay there. thunderstorms redeveloping across the paid monte. so far, snow is falling to the west, no concerns in the mile high city. >> thanks so much. is it your birthday? if it is, happy birthday. you share it with jason alexander. here he is. turns 50 today. not that there's anything wong with that. happy birthday. here's some stories to watch for today.

at 10:00 a.m. eastern, the senate judiciary committee is holding a hearing on whether or not the revise an edition of the patriot act. and the federal reserve on changing a key interest rate. and the first meeting since president obama announced the decision to scrap president bush's plan. four people were hurt after guns fired at the mexico-u.s. border. agents fired shots across traffic at some vans trying to get into the u.s. at least 70 people were taken into custody. one victim is in critical condition. maybe you're looking for a quick fix to get caught up on your bills, but clark howard warns some companies that promise debt help could be a

rip-off. and palin following in the footsteps of bill clinton? she's heading in a new direction, apparently making her bank account a lot happier. ♪ (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ so blessed with inspiration ♪

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cgs -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning to you. i'm natasha curry. so glad you could join us. here are the stories making headlines. we are following breaking news from a hospital where a man with a gun reportedly has barricaded himself inside, making some really frightening claims about his family. some people may get a chance to try to dry out from the devastating floods today, but their headaches are just beginning. a quick trip to the store nearly turned tragic for a little girl. this story comes with amazing video. breaking news.

chicago police are negotiating with a man who barricaded himself in a hospital emergency room after firing a shot. police say a shot was fired into the ceiling and a s.w.a.t. team has surrounded the area. >> he got through telling me i was okay, gave me some medicine. went out the room and about 30 seconds after they went out of the room, i heard pow. i started unhooking the ekg and saw a man standing there with a gun to his head. >> media reports he put a gun to his head and then told a technician he had just killed his parents. >> even though the heavy rain has cleared out of the southeast, the devastation is not over yet. just this morning, we have learned of another confirmed death in georgia. that makes at least nine people there. now, some roads are still closed and some still cannot return

home. one georgia woman made it back with her family to see the damage and she relived their escape. listen. >> i am laughing and joking about it, but i'm really crying on the inside because this is just unbelievable. i mean, when we left here yesterday, we got stuck in the field with three kids and we broke the fence down. trying to get out of here. >> for the first time, we're hearing from the distraught father of a 2-year-old boy here who drowned when they got trapped in the floot waters. >> i just told slate it would be all right and i loved him and we would make it, but we didn't make it. >> so sad there. it happened monday in a creek that turned into a raging river. the father was hanging on to the bushes with one arm and had his little boy in the other arm, but

the water was so powerful and pulled the boy away from him. and if you would like to help families hit hard by the flooding, go to our impact your world page. you're going to find links to several organizations on the scene. that's at cnn.com/impact. many people would get 13 extra weeks of unemployment benefits under a bill the house approved yesterday. jennifer westhoven is here with more. a million people who may qualify? >> yes, this is the financial lifeline for a lot of families. 13 more weeks in some states. a lot of people are depending on them to feed their families. 314,000 families this month would have had their benefits run out if not for this third extension. beyond that, this could affect more than a million families.

the states, you'll see them in red. these are states where the extension has been granted because the unemployment rate is more than 8.5%. people say look, i'm ready, willing and able, but there just aren't that many opportunities out there, so the house has passed it. it goes to the senate next. they're expecting the president to sign it quickly. >> thank you so much. in about an hour from right now, president barack obama is going to speak to the united nations general assembly and he's expected to ask world leaders for help. then gadhafi will address the assembly for the first time. victims of the lockerbie bombing called him a pterrorist and pla to protest his visit. the people who lived in suburb

are ticked off about his visit. richard lui will explain what they're doing. a private swim club accused of turning kids away because of their skin color will have to pay up. the panel ordered monetary damages of no more than $50,000. the swim club's lawyers blamed the media fire storm and said they're ging to be appealing the ruling. we've got video you have to see to believe, but the little girl in this video is okay even though it looks like a car hits her. police say an out of control car comes in here, hits the store. and the pole wedged lifts it right over the 6-year-old girl. >> and the mom saw the video,

she had a moment there. she broke down for a bit. the dad just basically kind of covered his mouth and couldn't believe what he saw in the video, how it happened so quick. >> again, she is okay. police say the driver had a suspended license and is charged with wreckless driving. >> wow. i'm so glad she's okay. >> that's the greatest story of the day so far. she's fine. wow. >> thank goodness. parts of the southeast are drying out, but not everyone's going to see sunshine. >> we need the rain in texas. all the rain that's been falling in texas have been purely beneficial. you've been in a drought for about a year and a half. look at the steady stream of rain in san antonio. some energy rotating around it. we're going to see this on and off for the next day, day and a half. areas around the coast here, probably get as much as an inch

to inch and a half of rain today and tomorrow. look at the upper level low around western kansas in towards nebraska. you're getting the rain over colorado. going up the rockies. up into the higher elevations, notice the white. that's all snow. we had some advisories and warnings, those have expired. showers overhead, probably catch a delay or two at denver because of low visibility. also, red flag warnings are out once again, north of l.a. to san diego. it's going to be hot and dry and winds are picking up, too. as for the rest of the country, high pressure trying to build in across the east coast, but you get across mid-atlantic states, clouds are coming in with a low level jet. around the beltway, you'll catch a delay or two. so far, you're dry, but expect a

few shores this afternoon. i-reporters have been doing a great job with the flood in atlanta and georgia. this is what it looks like in marietta, georgia, north of atlanta. this bridge washed out. we're talking about five to ten inches of rain in a day. 15 to 20 inches of rain in three days. no ifs, ands, or buts about it. flavored cigarettes are now illegal. and you won't believe what officials say may have started these flames. more on that in just a bit. ♪

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gadhafi will speak at the u.n. today, but many are furious that he would even be allowed in

the country. last month, he gave a heros welcome to the man who was convicted in the lockerbie bombing and richard lui joining us with more on this. there's also controversy on where he's planning to stay while here. >> gadhafi set up a massive tent in bedford, new york, to hold meetings in during his visit. technically, it is inside the area where he is allowed to travel, but the town attorney says the libyans needed a building permit for a tent of that size. they're going back today to make sure they have come plied. >> he's not welcome here. this guy's a terrorist. he's maimed and killed innocent people. he really doesn't belong here. >> last month, protests erupted in englewood, new jersey, when he said he would pitch a tent in

that area. >> wow. we mentioned the pan am bombing, but he also has a really long history of being tied to terror attacks. >> gadhafi took power in a 1969 cue and libya was a state sponsor of terrorism. then in 1986, three men who worked for the libyan embassy bombed a u.n. nightclub. the u.s. retaliated, bombing libya killing his adopted daughter. in 2003, libya accepted responsibility for the pan am bombing and agreed to pay more than $2 billion to families. so quite a history he has in relation to the united states. >> thanks. take a look at those new pictures of the wildfire in ventura county, california.

it has burned at least 8500 acres. you can see the picture around here from the helicopter to look at the flames. different patches of fires breaking out here. governor schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. they think spontaneous combustion of manure caused this thing. candy and fruit flavored cigarettes are now illegal in the u.s. a ban took affect yesterday and also banned clove cigarettes. the ban does not menthol cigarettes or flavored cigars and antismoking advocates say some companies are skirting the ban by making cigars the size of cigarettes. police arrested a couple

they say was legally drunk. new for you in about 30 minutes. the problem wasn't what they were doing inside this bar, it was the baby they allegedly left outside. the idea was to protect you, but now, congress may be scaling back a plan to make financial products you buy safer. jennifer westhoven's looking out for you. >> you might think after hundreds of stories of people who said, i don't know why they put me in this loan. i couldn't afford this loan. when looking at their income, it was clear they couldn't handle it. you might thing it's a clear lesson it's time to reign in out of control mortgages. and yes. a proposal to create a consumer products agency, it's being watered down as it makes its way

through congress. it's being stripped so that you would have fewer protections. a government point person, not a lawmaker, but advocate, she once said there were more rules to guarantee the safety of a toaster than there are for mortgages. we'll watch that one very carefully. gm calling 3,000 workers back on the job. that is good news in a bad economy. not just for the workers either. could be a sign gm's getting back on its feet. they're adding third shifts where the assembly lines will roll out more cars. what i said was, not just good for the workers, but for all american taxpayers because in a way, we all own general motors. maybe you're traveling this morning. bob, how's it looking? >> we have a couple of low clouds around atlanta, so we have about a 30-minute delay in atlanta. also o'hare, low clouds in chicago. about a half hour delay there.

here's the southeast. look at all the planes come ng and going out of atlanta. rain off the charleston coastline. that's going to slow you down. here's what we have for the day. about a half hour delay. we'll see those pop up in new york, philadelphia, d.c. and denver. the showers had storms popping up today. a bunch of cops in florida swarmed a drug dealers home, then discovered his cool video game. before you know it, the hours were just flying by. ♪ this is john park's restrictive calling circle. he's saying "toodel-loo" and switching to sprint - with any mobile, anytime. - hi, john. now, on the sprint network, he can call any mobile phone, on any network, anytime he wants. without worrying about the meter running. so he's decided to call every mobile phone in the country. he'll finish... just after his 93rd birthday. pulcome to the now network.

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you haven't seen him... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. a 7-year-old girl in arizona says she was left locked inside her school nurse's office after the staff left for the weekend. her mother says the janitor actually found her then her daughter was traumatized. >> we just couldn't get anyone to come to her and she'd wet herself. all she could do was throw herself on the bed and cry and pray for mommy to come and get

her. >> a school official called the incident unfortunate. looks like some central florida cops are in trouble. video surveillance inside a drug dealer's house show cops playing wii. one sheriff's detective is seen repeatly putting down her work and picking up the wii remote to play a bowling game. they were in this home for nine hours. police are investigate. >> at least they're getting cherz. two photographers are suing tom brady and his wife. they say they were shot at when they tried to photograph the couple. >> it's just crazy. in a lawsuit filed in a manhattan court, two photographers say their security guards fired shots at them after taking pictures at a post

wedding party when they refused to give up their cameras and memory cards. they say the bullet smashed a car window. the suit alleges they hired improperly trained guards. lawyers have not commented yet. it was an emotional day for plaxico burress. he tearfully said good-bye to his young son and pregnant wife. he's sentenced to two years for carrying an unlicensed gun in a nightclub where he accidentally shot himself. the hero of last year's super bowl was immediately taken to prison. and it turns out that three bengals fans that chad ocho cinco just happened to find were planned. look at this. one of the guys said he was punched by a packer fan wearing

the boxing gloves. they were phony and one got hit. and it's the world beard and mustache championships. this is exactly what the cnn make-up room looks like every morning. i'm kidding. before make-up. that's a look at sports. >> i love it, rafer. oh, my gosh. that's crazy. former vice presidential nominee sarah palin gave a high-profile speech in hong kong. she talked about government, u.s. and agent affairs. this is the same conference hosted by bill clinton, al gore and alan greenspan. it was closed to the media. what are you doing next tuesday night? we've got a new addition to our line-up. the joe behar show will air

every night and kicks off tuesday, september 29th. tune in. the picture you're about to see the real. a dust storm turning day into night. it's getting crazy. ♪ (announcer) romano's macaroni grill has a way to get things cooking..... at home. they're macaroni grill dinner kits, the restaurant favorites that'll ignite your senses. you get thpasta, special sauces and seasonings. add your grilled chicken, cook for 20 minutes then top with our cheeses. for a meal that'll make any night feel special. romano's macaroni grill dinner kits. the restaurant favorites that let you.... stay in, and go all out.

soccer stars here, just ringing in the open bell at the new york stock exchange. stocks may not move much today until the federal reserve reveals what it's going to do with interest rates. that's come thg afternoon. check this out. this wildfire is spreading and threatening hundreds of homes in southern california. it's burned nearly 10,000 acres in ventura county. up to 600 homes were evacuated. police are looking in dallas for a man who escaped from a prison hospital on saturday.

officials say joshua dwayne barnes tied several blankets together to get out. he's serving a 35-year sentence for seven burglaries. welcome back. hope you're doing well today. parents, students and teachers of one atlanta area school do not know what to expect next. the flooding has left their school underwater. there is no plan yet for getting the kids back into classes. >> where are these kids going to go now? they're going to be all over the place, their favorite teachers elsewhere. we just don't know. just praying for the best. you hear it often. the worst e events bring out the best in people. neighbors have started collecting supplies and donations for the school. wow. a memorial service is planned tonight for annie le,

the yale grad student killed days before her wedding. the service will be held at her fiance's synagogue in new york. a yale technician is charged with her killing. the flu is hitting hard in minnesota. at one school, a third of the students were out with flu-like symptoms yesterday. nine have confirmed cases of the h1n1 flu. in all, 123 schools are reporting flu outbreaks. health officials recommend if your child has a fever, keep them home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medicine. police have ramped up their search of a kidnapping suspect's property. so far, they say it doesn't look like there's a connection, but the haven't eliminated phillip garrido as a suspect.

he is charged with kidnapping jaycee dubt and holing her for 18 years. people called 911 when they thought they saw a dead body on a billboard. when police checked on it, they found it was a mannequin. part of a promotion for an art exhibit. >> the artist chose a billboard that was really never used and he basically puts his sculptures in unexpected places and the billboard was one of them. >> police say this is all an unnecessary expense to the city. the group plans to put up more signs by tomorrow, but will let officials know about it. we're going to show you these pictures again of a wildfire in california. look at this. this wildfire is spreading and it's threatening hundreds of homes in southern california right now. it's burned nearly 10,000 acres

in ventura county. governor arnold schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency. up to 600 homes were evacuated. just look at those pictures. >> the conditions are awful, too. the wind is picking up right now. you can see right there, the smoke is not going straight up. getting fanned pretty quickly. 20 to 30 mile per hour winds. it's going to be dry again today. humidity in the teens this afternoon. temperatures into the 80s. still going to be hot. red flag warnings are out. i'll show you those in a couple of seconds. >> and parts of the southeast will get a break from the rain, but that doesn't incleed everyone. >> the mid south is going to get hammered with downpours again. not as heavy as a couple of days ago, but it's still there. we're also watching the upper level low with a cold pocket of air underneath it. showers coming out of nebraska, going up the rocky mountains and

eastern colorado. snow, too, across the higher elevations. if you want to see the anomaly, the hot weather for september, that's in the middle part of the country. there's your cold pocket. the blue shaded colors. that's around the rockies and towards the extreme western plains. it's going to be cool there with the snow coming down near denver. most of the action is right around i-70 and it's moving towards the west. it's going to pretty much rain itself out and more showers come ng by later today. we have that rain and the rain exiting out of georgia, but let me show you some pictures we have. the floods made it hard for homeowners everywhere. this is one of those subdivisions that's just cut off. tons of water falling in this

area outside atlanta. this is the river in willburn and a beaver. >> a beaver? hanging out. i also heard there were fish. >> snakes, the whole nine yards. things are draining out now. on wall street today, the focus is on the federal reserve and what the central banks will have to say about the economy and susan lisovicz is live at the new york stock exchange, where the market is in a holding pattern now. >> that's very typical, natasha. things heat up about two hours before the closing bell. once we hear from the federal reserve, in this case, the central bank likely to leave rates near zero, but wall street will pay close attention to stales about future action. ford expects total u.s. industry sales to go from 11 million in '09 to 14.5 million

in a couple of years. ford has said it expects to break even by 2011. the automaker has lost $30 million since 2006. general motors is doing a lot better. food makers in general have benefitted by consumers spending on necessities, like food, and eating more food at home. finally, is laughter is best cure for recession blues? a media company says humor websites grow more. the second fastest growing category was education. see what people are doing. they're laughing and they're

educating themselves. good way to beat the recession. >> definitely so. susan lisovicz, live at the new york stock exchange. thank you for that. >> you're welcome. police say that a couple was partying hard inside a bar, but it was the baby they left outside that got them arrested.

in less than 20 minutes, president obama speak to the united nations general assembly. he's expected to ask for help on terrorists. michelle obama is going to be there to hear it. she arrived at the u.n. here about ten minutes ago. and we just got video of a

large crowd of demonstrators outside u.n. headquarters in new york. some are angry about gadhafi's speech to the general assembly later today. others are there to show their support for the libyan leader. gadhafi has been criticized over several terrorist attacks, including the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103. the massachusetts governor is one step away from appointing a temporary replacement for the late senator ted kennedy. the state senate approved the measure yesterday. both chambers will vote again, but it is a formality. the white house wants this replacement because democrats need 60 votes to dodge a senate filibuster against health care reform. police say a man and woman were busy partying inside a bar while their 4-month-old baby was locked in a car outside.

people got suspicious when a woman bought in a baby bottle. a woman went to investigate and told the bartender there was a baby outside by itself. >> i was like, you better be joking. insure enough, i walked out and there was a baby. in the backseat, no parent in sight. it was an infant. it had the booties, the little chubby legs. it was a baby-baby. >> they were bonded out of jail and their daughter is in protective custody. breaking news. chicago police are negotiate wg a man right now who barricaded himself in a hospital emergency room after firing a shot. a s.w.a.t. team has the area surrounded. so far, no one's been hurt. if you're looking for a way to get out of debt, be careful who you get to help you.

clark howard has a warning. >> are you overwhelmed by credit card debt? what if one call could do it all? that's the promise of tv and radio ads that are running all over if you go to the internet, you see one ad after another. if you put in anything like debt trouble or credit card problems, these ads pop up saying, call us, we'll negotiate for you. we'll wipe out your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar. what do you want in return? some companies want you to pay thousands of dollars up front for a promise you may not realize. complaints coming into me have been skyrockets about debt settlement firms. you need to be very, very wary and aware that you may pay out thousands of dollars and get zip

in return. i'm clark howard. for more ideas to protect yourself, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you how to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off, saturdays and sundays right here on hln. massive raid on a street gang in l.a. sounds scary. richard lui is working on this story that's new for you in the next har hour. >> that's right. next 15 minutes. imagine more than 1,000 officers descending on homes throughout the city trying to stop street violence. we'll have details on dozens of arrests. and do you remember actress mckenzie phillips? well, she says she had sex with her father. more details on that crazy story. and we'll be looking at new technology that helps you power up the cell phone with a spray. interesting stuff.

that's starting at 10:00 eastern. >> how can you turn away with all that, come on, richard. thanks so much. jay leno is teeing off on the new controversy surrounded john edwards. listen. >> according to to "the new york times," a man named andrew young has submitted a book proposal revealing he is the father. we have a copy. it's called "duh." >> edwards has denied he is the father, but we confirmed that "the new york times" says edwards is considering reversing course and declaring he is the father. cigarettes aren't a steal these days unless you're the thief caught in this video. what? ♪ palpapa

mu mar gadhafi has just

arrived at the u.n. it's his first time at the general assembly in his 40-year rule. he's going to be speaking this morning right after president barack obama. demonstrators are calling gadhafi a terrorist because of the pan am flight 103 bombing over lockerbie, scotland. 270 people were killed. police are looking for two suspects who smashed their way into a florida gas station. the men broke through a plate glass window and quickly filled a trash can with cigarettes and cash from the register. the owner says the thieves made off with about $2,000 worth of cigarettes and $250 in cash. >> that's when you know it's time to quit. when you're breaking windows. >> definitely after that stuff for sure. an nfl player has canceled his twitter account after offending fans. >> they're going to need to set

up a special division in the nfl, like the twitter police. this guy, washington redskin's linebacker closed his account down after he attacked his fans on his page when the fans booed the team. he's not even active on the team. here's what he tweeted -- you're lucky to be playing in the nfl. don't make fun of others how they make a living. he told reporters he understands how he offended fans. and now, pitching for the new york, judge sonia sotomayor. they became the first team to

get a playoff spot with the win over the angels. and the maker of jim beam said the company will no longer this coming after they will stop sponsoring the number seven car. jim bean says they will shift ad dollars outside of nascar. last lly, a man who could teach us something. he set a record for the most strikeouts ever in a season with 206 breaking the record he set last year. but he's still hitting pretty well, his 100th rbi and 43 home runs. the key is when he strikes out, he doesn't seem to hold on to. when asked about his record, he said so what, we won i got 100 rbis, that's a good day.@ that's sports. >> nothing wrong with that. >> you've got to look at the positive, right? >> exactly. hey, bob. >> same way when i was dating. i struck out a million times, big whoop, i'm married now.

here's what it looks like right now. so far so good.ñú low clouds are out there and you're getting light rain showers in and out of philly already. watch for delays around the new york city metro. about a half an hour, that's all you're going to get. currently a half hour delay in chicago, one also in atlanta, 45-minute delay currently in san francisco, that's going to last until about 1:00 their time. showers and thunderstorms coming in. houston more thunderstorms too and then showers in denver. that's going to be off and on in the mile-high city, watch for poor visibility there, natasha. more in just a bit. >> storms, storms, and more storms. thanks, bob. ♪ she loves you yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ >> do you feel it? there's a whole lot of love for the beatles. the group's newly remastered catalog has sold 2.25 million in five days. that break records for the charts. billboard says they they have 15

albums in the top 50. police responded to an unusual scene in a big meeting of world leaders at the u.n. they were in both. giant inflatable balls caused a bit of a scare, but the people inside the balls say they're just sending a message. paying $8 a day for lunch can add up fast. so i'm packing my own lunch now-- for less than $3. thanks to walmart. just two times a week saves my family over $500 a year. save money. live better. walmart.

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♪ welcome to comcast local edition. i am donna richardson and my guest this hour is colonel george f. johnson iv superintendent of the maryland natural resources police. colonel, thank you for joining me. >> great to be here with you. >> in addition to being with the maryland natural resources you are president of the maryland police chief association, and who in addition to chief are your members? and who is working with you? >> it is comprised mostly of chief of police from all over the state and state government and law enforcement chiefs and county and municipalities that

exist in all of the state of maryland. >> i know as a group i know there are several initiatives taking place. there is a new one. checkpoint strike force. >> yes, it is a research based-multi-state situation where we pick and we go out there and we look for drivers that are impaired and work to get them off of the road and we do that through our sobriarity checkpoints and our saturation patrols. >> and so, which jerse - jurisdiction, one specific area or all of the jurisdictions now involved? >> all throughout maryland, the chiefs of police have signed on. every jurisdiction signed on in some way shape or form to participate in the checkpoint strike force. >> and so do you find that the checkpoints are helpful in

hopefully lowering traffic fatalities? >> absolutely. fatalities have been reduced 20 percent in the areas where we are doing the checkpoints . it proves to be extremely beneficial to us in many different ways. >> and do you find that the residents are supporting the checkpoints and do you have partner necessary this effort? >> yes, we do. as you know, it is a powerful organization of mothers against drunk drivers. we work with them chosely in this endeavor and other organizations. their surveys indicate 85 to 90 percent of the people they talked to support the checkpoints. >> do you do these at specific times of year or are the checkpoints ongoing initiative. >> they are ongoing initiatives. they will be taking place every week and everywhere and where you think that it is the best

possible opportunity to deploy the work force and effective use knowledge of our people in this endeavor. >> as you are having the checkpoints and i know initially you are looking for impaired drivers, but are you finding other things when you are pulling over the impaired drivers? >> oh, yes. people are very surprised what we run into on the checkpoints. the main focus is to get the impaired drivers that use alcohol off of the streets and identify them. but we are running into people who have warrants on them. their licenses are suspended, some people have drugs in the vehicle this we were able to detect and find. there is a whole gamut of things and seat belt usage. it helps us with the seat belt initiatives and child safety seat. we are able to make different

observations and of course, we put a lot of emphasis on the seat belt usage and child safety seat as well >> i know some jurisdiction or most of the them, there is zero tolerance if you don't have your seat belt on, it is amazing that people are still driving without them. >> it is with the seat belt usage, if you are involved in an accident with the impaired drivers that use alcohol that gives you that much more of a chance to survive. >> how can citizens assist with the checkpoint strike force? >> we need them to be our eyes and ears out there. as with many thing necessary law enforcement and we ask citizens to do. if they see a person driving erratically or aggressively and feel they are under the influence of alcohol. pick up the cell phone and dial the number 911 or what ever it is that they feel comfortable in

using. >> thank you, colonel for joining me. >> donna thank you for helping us. >> thank you for watching comcast local edition. i am donna richason.