president obama addressed the largest gay rights group in the country last night. >> i support ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married cup until this country. i believe strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away and passing laws that extend equal rights to gay couples. >> but some in the gay community say the president isn't moving fast enough. they say he needs to be quicker about ending the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, and to repeal the defense of marriage act. gay rights supporters will be marching in washington today. people in colorado seeing winter weather way ahead of time.

it was hit with a mix of ice and snow yesterday. two inches of snow fell in denver, forcing a baseball playoff game between the rockies and the phillies to be postponed. and pope benedict xvi is recognized five new saints including a priest who worked with lepers. the pope says the five new saints achieved sainthood by going against the flow of society. that's a look at your headlines here on hln this sunday. i'm holly firfer. president obama is in the process of deciding whether or not to send more troops to afghanistan, but there's more to winning the war than strategy. christiane amanpour tells us about one man's efforts to educate pakistani children. >> reporter: greg mortenson's career has been all about war and peace. how are you? we met him surrounded by guns and guards. he's been kidnapped by the taliban and frequently receives death threats.

yet despite the danger, greg mortenson remains undaunted. he's committed to giving an education to children in both afghanistan and pakistan, to give them an alternative to violence and extremism. >> we don't need guns. we don't need bombs, but what we need is education. >> reporter: his mission began 15 years ago, when he tempted to scale the world's second highest peak, pakistan's treacherous k2. mortenson failed and he nearly died. he was nursed back to health in a remote pakistani village. >> just saw 84 children sitting in the dirt doing school lessons. they asked for help to build a school. >> reporter: and did you? >> i built a school, and then 78 more and still doing it today. >> bob and jane are old friends. >> reporter: mortenson's schools now educate about 30,000 students, mostly girls.

13-year-old saeda is one of them. saeda, do you like learning? are you glad you're being educated? >> translator: yes, i'm happy to tern so i can have a good future. >> reporter: not only does this improve the lives of their families and their communities, but greg mortenson has also found that educated women can be a firewall against extremism. >> when someone goes on jihad they first should get permission and blessings from their mother. if they don't, it's very shameful or disgraceful, and i saw that happen after 9/11, they're primarily targeting illiterate, impoverished society because many educated women refusing to allow their sons to join the taliban. >> reporter: mortenson's philosophy has attracted the attention of the pentagon. >> i thought his approach was exactly right. he's at the heart of the right example for all of us. >> you're welcome again. >> reporter: the people he's helped agree.

when greg mortenson arrives at the schools he's helped build, he receives a hero's welcome. guys, what does dr. greg mean to you? what has he done for you? >> translator: now, we will be educated and our future will be good. >> reporter: christiane amanpour, cnn, new york. we have dramatic new video of a shootout caught on tape. take a close look at this unbelievable surveillance video. [ gunfire ] fight turned into an all-out gun battle at a bar in toledo, ohio. people had already scrambled out the door. [ gunfire ] and a few minutes later, a second camera captured several people outside firing into the bar. amazingly, no one was struck,

as many as 20 shots were fired. police are trying to identify the gunmen and figure out what started the shootout. pakistan says it's ended a hostage standoff in its army headquarters. a military spokesman says four militants and three hostages are dead after troops launched a rescue operation this morning. but an alleged militant's leader was captured. the militants somehow got into the headquarters yesterday and held dozens of people hostage for 18 hours. terrorist strikes in pakistan seem to be picking up, with at least three attacks in the past seven days. one person tide and more than a dozen were injured in the bus crash in idaho last night. the bus was carrying members of a high school marching band from utah. it crashed and rolled onto its side in a ditch near the utah/idaho border. idaho state police say the bus driver, who survived, may have had a medical condition that caused that crash. 49 tons of food intended for people who can't afford it was lost in a florida fire. it broke out at a warehouse

where a food bank kept its inventory. the flames never got to the food, but they still ruined it for consumption. one volunteer says up to 60,000 people who depend on this bank won't get any food until after the weekend. people in eastern kentucky are cleaning up after a tornado. this is what a twister did after it struck near liberty on friday. it destroyed at least two mobile homes and took down trees and power lines. thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. northern alabama has some cleaning up to do as well. some power lines were toppled and trees came crashing down on homes when another storm hit friday afternoon. a woman took police on a wild and dangerous high-speed chase. look at this. there was a child in the back seat. find out what police had to do to stop her, even after she crashed her van.

a woman took florida deputies on a wild, high-speed chase with a 7-year-old girl in the back seat. she was clocked at speeds topping 110 miles an hour, and at one point was driving the wrong way, weaving through traffic. she finally crashed into a guardrail after deputies laid black strips on the interstate to punctucture her tires. and even after getting out of her car, police say she refused to respond to their commands and they had to taser her. the child was handed over to protective services. an arizona dog is vying for the title of the world's tallest dog. this is george, a great dane that stands 42" tall. he can tower over adults when he stands on his hind legs.

his owner hopes to get him into the "guinness book of world records." by the way, feeding george isn't cheap. reportedly, he eats about 100 pounds of food every month. lovers of the macabre are gathering in baltimore for a funeral that's coming 160 years late. the city is holding a proper burial for famed writer edgar allen poe today. there was no announcement for his original funeral so few people came and his obituary was written by a man who hated him and then get, this a runaway train eventually destroyed his tombstone. i'm larry smith. he is arguably the most talked about player in college football history so when this happened, tim tebow motionless after suffering a concussion during play two weeks ago you had imagine the media frenz yy that ensued.

the florida quarterback was cleared to play at number four lsu and top-ranked gators. 'voids the rush here, managed to turn an impossible loss of an eight-yard gain. tebow touchdown pass and a 13-3 win over lsu and they remain undefeated and still in the hunt for a repeat national championship. a great finish in the arizona/washington game. watch this, in the final minutes, watch the ball here off the arizona quarterback, off the wide receiver's foot and then into the hands of mason foster. takes the interception in for the game-winning touchdown, one more look at it off the foot. thank shoe very much. huskies the impossible victory at home >> it is early october and yes, that is snow in denver. overnight temperatures dropping into the teens. postponed game three of the phillies/rookies series in the baseball playoffs. they'll get out the heaters and try dean again today, temperatures in the 40s. the dodgers are feeling

bubbly completing the sweep of the cardinals in st. louis last night. they move on to the national championship series versus the phillies or the rockies. who says you can't go home again? dario franchitti won in 2007 but the stock car circuit wasn't friendly, nascar. stock cars weren't friendly to him. a broken ankle in april began a disastrous season so he returned to open wheel season and there he is celebrating with wife, ashley judd, clinching his second indy car championship. kiss from acstress wife ashley judd, saying just the way he thought it would go, he said, of course, that's sports. beyond the surface, let's start at the beginning of the day and get the real breakfast breakdown from nutritionist and author, dr. rovenia brock.

>> you get nutrition to get you through the day. for the parents who think it's only important for your kid and not for you, think again and the doughnut and coffee not your best option. if you want the healthiest breakfast possible, start with egg whites, throw in some veggies, so that you have an egg white omelet. if you don't want that, have oatmeal with berries, strawberries, blueberries, just go crazy. what i want you to do is throw out that old brown and beige, boring meat and potatoes american way of eating, get color into your diet, eat copious amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, for breakfast and every meal of the day. your body will show thaw you've made the right decision.

the defense department posted an online account of a massive firefight in afghanistan. this battle took place on october 3rd and is told by u.s. service members who fought it. >> probably 90 seconds into the fight they ended up hitting one

of our generators. we lost all power. at that point, i made a call up to faubaustic, and basically said we're taking heavy, heavy contact. at that point, i knew that this was something bigger than normal. >> immediately we found out that our mortar systems were unable to fire at that time, so we started working on other assets with nearby o.p.s and cops to see exactly what fire assets we could use. >> i think the numbers were so more significant than 25 to 30 that we got -- they got 25 to 30 with that initial push. but because we were basically surrounded 360 degrees, i think there was significant numbers that allowed them to continue to fight throughout the day. >> my initial impressions were unfortunately we came over the hill, first tried to call them, and we got no response, that everybody was gone. we could tell that everything around them was going to hell. we could hear it in their microphones. we could hear the guns going off.

we knew that there was a pretty intense situation they were facing. >> after the aftermath, keating was completely changed. like he said, almost all of the buildings had burned down. there were trees that were cut down, trying to save other buildings from catching fire. and then just remnants of a mass attack afterwards. >> eight u.s. troops died in the fighting and more than 100 militants were killed. a wildfire that broke out near a popular resort outside of l.a. last saturday is finally under control. it had burned through more than 11 square miles of brush and destroyed several structures. people living nearby were forced to evacuate, but they have since returned home, but being kept away from the burned area. the cause of the wildfire is being investigated. a member of the irish boy band boyzone has died. the band's website says stephen

gately died while he was on vacation in spain yesterday. he is on the far left in this picture. however, it's still unclear how he died. the band had a series of number one hits and albums in britain before breaking up in 2000. they reunited last year. some new york muslims say they're being singled out in a terrorist investigation. they held a protest yesterday as investigators look into nagibullah zazi. they accuse law enforcement of racial profiling and claim their neighborhood has been disrupted by police raids. >> people are scared to go to mosque. i was yesterday in the mosque for friday prayer. we are missing about two, three lines, and plus the racial profiling, that everybody has been questioned by the color of their skin, by the way they look, and especially in our building. >> that man also says he can't find a job because he was under

police surveillance. zazi is expected of planning a terrorist attack in new york. he pleaded not guilty. a well-established heating and air conditioning company found its sales sagging, but what they did next did not only save the business, but should save money for their customers, and help the environment. christine romans has a green overhaul in today's edition of "the turnaround." >> reporter: scott needham has a degree in architecture but rather than designing homes or skyscrapers for a living, he's rebuilding his family's 38-year-old heating and air conditioning business. >> it was march, '08, we first noticed that something was awry. we weren't hitting our sales plan. we were typically at that point starting to gear up for our busy summer season and we said something seems a little strange. >> reporter: calls weren't coming in. business dropped off, and scott

and his father, joe, were forced to lay off 10% of their staff. then the needhams started hearing about a push from the state of new jersey to weatherize homes and tax incentives and rebates for business owners and consumers that went along consumers that went along with it. needham saw an opportunity, took a gamble, and launched a new division of princeton air. >> it was weird to have this dynamic of laying people off in other divisions, building a new division. all of a sudden, things have exploded. we are out, work wise or leads why, for about a month and a half. >> reporter: need hamm has added eight jobs to his payroll of 48 and expects that number to rise, largely because of the obama administration's push for green job creation. $5 billion of stimulus cash going to low income home weatherization projects, $4.5 billion to retrofit federal buildings, $600 million in green job retraining programs. >> the amount of money that's being wasted in houses all across america is immense. i, honestly, believe that this

is one of the single largest areas for job creation, and these are permanent jobs. this isn't a temporary blip on the screen. >> reporter: scott needham hopes that's the case. >> i think there is a huge opportunity to get the country fixed, if you will. i mean, to tighten up all the existing housing stock. and i really believe now, that my eyes have been opened. i think it makes a lot of sense to do what we're doing. >> reporter: christine romans, cnn, new york. one woman is proving that age shouldn't keep you from doing what you want to do. that's how she's reaching new heights and teaching others how to live it up too. they said it would never last.

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it's the longest-lasting plugins ever. get freshness that won't fade away for 60 days. ahhh! with plugins lasting impressions. and yes, it's glade. s.c. johnson, a family company. i will end don't ask, don't tell. that's my commitment to you. >> president obama is once again promising to let gays serve openly in the military. but some activists say a promise is not enough. [ gunfire ] a bar fight turns into a dramatic shootout caught on tape. what you don't see is what happened outside the bar. spinouts, accidents, and i don't have my snow tires on yet, so i was a nervous wreck. >> she's talking about snow that caused a lot of car crashes. find out how people are coping with cold weather that came early. good sunday morning.

this is "hln news and views." i'm holly firfer in for natasha curry. president obama addressed the largest gay rights group in the country last night. during a rousing speech, he once again promised to pursue an agenda that would bring an end to discrimination against gays, he specifically pointed out the need to end the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, and he called for antidiscrimination law for the workplace. >> we know there's far more work to do. we're pushing hard to pass an inclusive employee nondiscrimination bill. [ cheers and applause ] for the first time ever, an administration official testified in congress in favor of this law. nobody in america should be fired because they're gay, despite doing a great job and meeting their responsibilities. it's not fair. it's not right. we're going to put a stop to it. >> despite his well-received speech, some in the gay community remain skeptical of president obama's agenda.

yesterday, dozens of gay rights advocates gathered at the washington monument. they spoke out about what they say is the president's foot dragging on gay issues. >> i don't think that president obama has done enough. i think that we need action, we need real action and we need it now. so, we are setting up to demand our equal, basic human rights. that's what this is about. >> during last night's speech, the president said he will sign a hate crimes bill. it recently passed out of the house. it expands the definition of hate crimes to include attacks based on sexual orientation and gender identity. people in eastern kentucky are cleaning up after a tornado. this is what a twister did after it struck near liberty on friday. it destroyed at least two mobile homes and took down trees and power lines. thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. northern alabama has some cleaning up to do as well. some power lines were toppled and trees came crashing down on

homes when another storm hit friday afternoon. folks in colorado are getting more than their share of cold. the temperatures already dropping into the teens at night and snow is everywhere. but dave delosure from affiliate kusa shows us how people are coping with it. >> we weren't expecting this much show. >> reporter: expected or not, what residents of wellington got out of this storm measured just under a foot of snow. >> you blink and the weather changes. >> reporter: robert iford wasn't planning on shoveling snow this soon. >> i had to go buy this one, actually. >> reporter: like his neighbors, he woke up this morning to something he wasn't planning on. >> was i expecting it? not really. i was expecting a skiff, but it's all good. >> it looks nice. i like the snow. except that now it's getting heavy. >> reporter: there's a difference between this and this. >> i like snow. i don't like to drive in it. >> reporter: and neither did people in the metro area.

>> spinouts, accidents and i don't have my snow tires on yet. i was a nervous wreck. >> reporter: the snow that started around 4:00 a.m. left highways slick and the results were predictable. along i-25 in colorado springs, the ice led to this, a pile-up involving between 20 and 30 vehicles. >> it was really a bad drive. >> reporter: and while today might not have been a good day for baseball -- >> just came down to hit a couple golf balls. >> reporter: for beau park, being all alone here on the driving range doesn't mean he's the only golfer who thought about doing this. >> probably not. most coloradoans are used to playing in this kind of weather. >> reporter: sure, there are other things he could be doing. >> i should be up skiing. >> reporter: but on october 10th in colorado, you have choices. >> both right now. i'm -- i want to go get my skis out, but i think i'll wait a couple more weeks. it's not time to put the clubs away, though. >> again, that was dave delosure of denver affiliate kusa. and by the way, that snowy

weather also caused the postponement of yesterday's playoff baseball game in denver. we'll have more on that coming up in sports in a few minutes. two people aren't breathing with no pulse. >> not breathing? >> yes. >> okay. is this the result of a shooting or something? >> no, it's a sweat lodge. >> are you there by yourself? >> no, there's a lot of people here. >> okay. get them out of the sweat lodge for one thing. >> yeah, we are. >> police in arizona have released the 911 tapes from a purification ritual that turned deadly. two people died after sitting in a so-called sweat lodge on thursday. 19 other people were hospitalized for a range of problems, including dehydration, burns, kidney failure and respiratory arrest. the people who participated in the sweat lodge were attending a program by self-help guru james ray. >> everybody has the right to believe and practice the way they wish to, but when it endangers the lives of others,

or when you have to pay for it, that's not a spiritual belief. >> there's nothing evil or wrong about money. that's one of the things that we're taught, more and more in this society that money is evil. it really isn't. it provides wonderful things if you have the ability, you can help many, many people. >> of the 19 people who were taken to the hospital, one is still in critical condition. pakistan says it's ended a hostage standoff in its army headquarters. a military spokesman says four militants and three hostages are dead after troops launched a rescue operation this morning. but an alleged militants leader was captured. the militants somehow got into the headquarters yesterday and held dozens of people hostage for 18 hours. terror strikes in pakistan seem to be picking up with at least three attacks in the past seven days. we have dramatic new video of a shootout caught on tape. take a close look at this unbelievable surveillance video.

[ gunfire ] this was the scene after a fistfight turned into an all-out gun battle at a bar in toledo, ohio. people had already scrambled out the door. [ gunfire ] and a few minutes later, a second camera captured several people outside firing into the bar. amazingly, no one was struck, even though as many as 20 shots were fired. police are trying to identify the gunmen and figure out what started the shootout. one person died and more than a dozen were injured in the bus crash in idaho last night. the bus was carrying members of a high school marching band from utah. it crashed and rolled onto its side in a ditch near the utah/idaho border. idaho state police say the bus driver, who survived, may have had a medical condition that caused that crash. i'm reynolds wolf for hln

with a look at your forecast. we'll get things started with what you can expect around the country in terms of rain and possibility of snowfall too. could see some snow forming, especially in parts of the north and central rockies and then also into parts of the great plains. in the high elevations, you could see up to a foot of snowfall between now and you might say by tomorrow afternoon. but look for some snow along parts of i-70, perhaps, maybe even into the dakotas, some places around half a foot, at most. in terms of rainfall, looks like most of that is going to be limited to parts of texas, along the gulf coast, perhaps into central florida, even the outer banks of north carolina. relatively dry into the ohio valley, into the great lakes, and very breezy for you in parts of northern michigan. in terms of temperatures, that's a whole different story. in parts of florida, it's still summertime. take a look at that. we've got 90s we can expect for both tampa and miami. when you get back up into the northern plains and big sky country, billings, montana, look at 19 for your high today. 44 in minneapolis, 52 in kansas city. 70 in dallas. 74 in houston. 88 in phoenix.

some upper 50s in parts of san francisco. mid-60s for l.a. and then as we make our way back out to the east, new york and boston, mainly in the 60s and 70 degrees at our nation's capital. that is a wrap on your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. a woman took police on a wild and dangerous and dangerous high-speed chase. take a look at this, there was a child in the backseat. take a look at what police had to do to stop her even after he crash canned her van.

a woman took florida deputies on a wild, high-speed chase with a 7-year-old girl in the backseat. she was clocked at speeds topping 110 miles an hour. and at one point was driving the wrong way, weaving through traffic. she finally crashed into a guardrail after deputies laid black strips on the interstate to puncture her tires. and even after getting out of her car, police say she refused to respond to their commands so they finally tasered her. the child was not hurt in the wreck and was turned over to child protective services.

an arizona dog is vying for the title of the world's tallest dog. this is george, a great dane that stands 42" tall. he can tower over adults when he stands on his hind legs. his owner hopes to get him into the "guinness book of world records." by the way, feeding george isn't cheap. reportedly, he eats about 100 pounds of food every month. lovers of the macabre are gathering in baltimore for a funeral that's coming 160 years late. the city is holding a proper burial for famed writer edgar allen poe today. there was no announcement for poe's original funeral, so few people came, and his obituary was written by a man who hated them. and then, get this, a runaway train eventually destroyed him tombstone. i'm larry smith.

this is why they didn't play baseball in denver yesterday. snow and subfreezing temperatures don't make for good baseball. so after saturday's postponem t postponement, the rockies and phillies will try again tonight, despite an early forecast of drizzle and temperatures reaching only the high 40s. that's almost as cold as the champagne that was sprayed in st. louis last night by the visiting los angeles dodgers. they beat the cardinals 5-1, there they go. sweeping the series three games to none. the dodgers will shower up and move on to the national league championship series. that stuff gets stinky and stickingy after a while. college football, two weeks after suffering a concussion, tim tebow cleared the play for the dodgers and did that. looking at him avoid the tigers, seven, eight white shirts can't get him. finally goes after an eight-yard completion. that's what he does. heisman trophy winner, national championship winner, and a touchdown pass here. the gators remain undefeated. did you see the wild ending to the army/vanderbilt game, up at

west point. the final minute of regulation, ryan fouler's field goal hits the upright, but bounces in. ties the game and we go to overtime. at the same end zone, the same goalpost, the same wind, clearly, army's alex carton also banks one home. the game winner and the cadets get the victory in lt. unblooefelievabl unbelievable. the second straight year of an outdoor mba exhibition game went off much better with temperatures in the 70s. golden state beating the phoenix suns. last year, high winds affected the shooting and the fans and players alike complained they just couldn't get warm. but, imagine, if they tried this in denver with the snow? not happening. that's sports. there are women in every community who motivate, innovate, and inspire. and hln's own robin meade has the story of one breakthrough woman who's literally providing others a moving experience.

>> reporter: their joy, their love. their accomplishments. >> well, you did a great job. i'm very proud of you. >> that's what drives mickey casella to get up early on saturday mornings and dance. ♪ you're doing the hokey pokey and turning yourself around. >> reporter: casella is director of physical therapy at children's hospital, boston. she's been there for more than 40 years. >> when you work with children that have special needs, there's not a whole lot out there for them as far as extracurricular activity. i thought if we could find some kind of activity they could participate in together, we all like to be with our peers. >> reporter: she's also with the boston ballet. she performed a dance program for children with down syndrome seven years ago. professional dancers teach kids and moves while casella lends a helping hand.

68-year-old casella decided to be a physical therapist while in high school. she was inspired bay child who learned to walk despite having a crippling disease. >> and i thought, geez, that would be a wonderful thing to do, to help children that have some type of a disadvantage, to learn how to function in society. >> reporter: and now she hopes to inspire others to do what they can to help. >> you can't just play lip service to something, you have to live it. surrounded by taliban fighters and outnumbered, a battle on october 3rd lasted 12 hours. now the u.s. troops who fought on the front lines in afghanistan are reliving that attack.

the defense department posted an online account of a massive firefight in afghanistan. this battle took place on october 3rd and is told by u.s. service members who fought it. >> probably 90 seconds into the fight they ended up hitting one of our generators. so we lost all power. at that point, i made a call up to faubaustic, and basically said we're taking heavy, heavy contact. at that point, i knew that this was something bigger than normal. >> immediately we found out that mortar systems were unable to fire at that time, so we started working on other assets to see

exactly what fire assets we could use. >> i think the numbers were so more significant than 25 to 30 that we got -- they got 25 to 30 with that initial push. because we were basically surrounded 360 degrees, i think there was significant numbers that allowed them to continue to fight throughout the day. >> my initial impressions were unfortunately we came over the hill, first tried to call them, and we got no response, that everybody was gone. we could tell that everything around them was going to hell. we could hear it in their microphones. we could hear the guns going off. we knew that there was a pretty intense situation they were facing. >> after the aftermath, keating was completely changed. like he said, almost all of the buildings had burned down. there were trees that were cut down, trying to save other buildings from catching fire.

and then just remnants of a mass attack afterwards. >> eight u.s. troops died in the fighting and more than 100 militants were killed. a wildfire that broke out near a popular resort outside of l.a. last saturday is finally under control. it had burned through more than 11 square miles of brush and destroyed several structures. people living nearby were forced to evacuate, but they have since returned home, but being kept away from the burned area. the cause of the wildfire is being investigated. a member of the irish boy band boyzone has died. the band's website says stephen gately died while he was on vacation in spain yesterday. he is on the far left in this picture. however, it's still unclear how he died. the band had a series of number one hits and albums in britain before breaking up in 2000. they reunited last year. a ucla professor says he was worried enough about a stabbing suspect's mental health to inform the school about it.

professor steven frank says 10 months ago, he told a university administrator about 20-year-old damon thompson after thompson accused frank of taunting him. thompson is accused of stabbing another student in the throat in a chemistry lab. some new york muslims say they're being singled out in a terrorist investigation. they held a protest yesterday as investigators look into najibullah zazi. they accuse law enforcement of racial profiling and claim their neighborhood has been disrupted by police raids. >> people are scared to go to mosque. i was yesterday in the mosque for friday prayer. we are missing about two, three lines, and plus the racial profiling, that everybody has been questioned by the color of their skin, by the way they look, and especially in our building. >> that man also says he can't find a job because he was under police surveillance.

zazi is suspected of planning a terrorist attack in new york. he pleaded not guilty. one woman is proving that age shouldn't keep you from doing what you want to do. that's how she's reaching new heights and teaching others how to live it up too.

president obama addressed the largest gay rights group in the country last night. >> i support ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married cup until this country. i believe strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away and passing laws that extend equal rights to gay couples. >> but some in the gay community say the president isn't moving fast enough. they say he needs to be quicker about ending the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, and to repeal the defense of marriage act. gay rights supporters will be marching in washington today. people in colorado seeing winter weather way ahead of time.

it was hit with a mix of ice and snow yesterday. two inches of snow fell in denver, forcing a baseball playoff game between the rockies and the phillies to be postponed. and pope benedict xvi is recognized five new saints including a priest who worked with lepers. the pope says the five new saints achieved sainthood by going against the flow of society. that's a look at your headlines here on hln this sunday. i'm holly firfer. president obama is in the process of deciding whether or not to send more troops to afghanistan, but there's more to winning the war than strategy. christiane amanpour tells us about one man's efforts to ing educate afghan and pakistani children. >> reporter: greg mortenson's career has been all about war and peace. how are you? we met him surrounded by guns and guards. he's been kidnapped by the taliban and frequently receives death threats.

yet despite the danger, greg mortenson remains undaunted. he's committed to giving an education to children in both afghanistan and pakistan, to give them an alternative to violence and extremism. >> we don't need guns. we don't need bombs, but what we need is education. >> reporter: his mission began 15 years ago when he attempted to scale the world's second highest peak, pakistan's treacherous k2. mortenson failed and he nearly died. he was nursed back to health in a remote pakistani village. >> just saw 84 children sitting in the dirt doing school lessons. they asked for help to build a school. >> reporter: and did you? >> i built a school, and then 78 more and still doing it today. >> bob and jane are old friends. >> reporter: mortenson's schools now educate about 30,000 students, mostly girls.

13-year-old saeda is one of them. saeda, do you like learning? are you glad you're being educated? >> translator: yes, i'm happy to learn so i can have a good future. >> reporter: not only does this improve the lives of their families and their communities, but greg mortenson has also found that educated women can be a firewall against extremism. >> when someone goes on jihad they first should get permission and blessings from their mother. if they don't, it's very shameful or disgraceful, and i saw that happen after 9/11, they're primarily targeting illiterate, impoverished society because many educated women refusing to allow their sons to join the taliban. >> reporter: mortenson's philosophy has attracted the attention of the pentagon. >> i thought his approach was exactly right. he's at the heart of the right example for all of us. >> reporter: the people he's helped agree. when greg mortenson arrives at

the schools he's helped build, he receives a hero's welcome. guys, what does dr. greg mean to you? what has he done for you? >> translator: now, we will be educated and our future will be good. >> reporter: christiane amanpour, cnn, new york. we have dramatic new video of a shootout caught on tape. take a look at this unbelievable surveillance video. [ gunfire ] this was the scene after a fistfight turned into an all-out gun battle at a bar in toledo, ohio. people had already scrambled out the door. [ gunfire ] and a few minutes later, a second camera captured several people outside firing into the bar. amazingly, no one was struck, even though as many as 20 shots were fired. police are trying to identify

the gunmen and figure out what started the shootout. pakistan says it's ended a hostage standoff in its army headquarters. a military spokesman says four militants and three hostages are dead after troops launched a rescue operation this morning. but an alleged militant's leader was captured. the militants somehow got into the headquarters yesterday and held dozens of people hostage for 18 hours. terrorist strikes in pakistan seem to be picking up, with at least three attacks in the past seven days. one person died and more than a dozen were injured in the bus crash in idaho last night. the bus was carrying members of a high school marching band from utah. it crashed and rolled onto its side in a ditch near the utah/idaho border. idaho state police say the bus driver, who survived, may have had a medical condition that caused that crash. 49 tons of food intended for people who can't afford it was lost in a florida fire. it broke out at a warehouse

where a food bank kept its inventory. the flames never got to the food, but they still ruined it for consumption. one volunteer says up to 60,000 people who depend on this bank won't get any food until after the weekend. people in eastern kentucky are cleaning up after a tornado. this is what a twister did after it struck near liberty on friday. it destroyed at least two mobile homes and took down trees and power lines. thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. northern alabama has some cleaning up to do as well. some power lines were toppled and trees came crashing down on homes when another storm hit friday afternoon. hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by people allegedly made sick by the drywall in their house. our money expert, jennifer west

ho westhoeven is looking out for you this weekend. >> "the new york times" is reporting hundreds of lawsuits have been filed and a class action suit is shaping up too in louisiana. made in china drywall, it's already been recalled after more than 1,000 complaints that it was ruining the wires, even the electrical compliances, and making some people sick and this could be just the start. there's a lawyer that says up to 100,000 homes may have to be torn down as a result of the drywall. and this is not like toothpicks or toys where you can take it back to the store. many homes have to be gutted and that can cost $100,000 sometimes. and insurance companies are turning their backs. they've largely refused to cover this. so what can you do if you have this in your house? one possibility is ask your homebuilder, it never hurts to ask. lennar has reportedly set aside millions to try to help clean up. some lawmakers are also pushing for federal help, asking the president to bring this up with

china and some communities that are affected may even give you a break on your local taxes to try and help. broward county, florida, cutting property assessments in affected areas. a final thing you can do, talk to a lawyer. maybe see if you can get in on that class action suit. i'm jennifer westhoven, looking out for you. >> thank you, jen. and you can get more great money advice from jennifer westhoven each day on "morning express" with robin meade from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern ooh. a woman took police on a wild and dangerous high-speed chase. look at this. there was a child in the back seat. find out what police had to do to stop her, even after she crashed her van.

a woman took florida

deputies on a wild, high-speed chase with a 7-year-old girl in the back seat. she was clocked at speeds topping 110 miles an hour, and at one point was driving the wrong way, weaving through traffic. she finally crashed into a guardrail after deputies laid black strips on the interstate to puncture her tires. and even after getting out of her car, police say she refused to respond to their commands, so they finally tasered her. the child was not hurt in the wreck and was turned over to child protective services. an arizona dog is vying for the title of the world's tallest dog. this is george, a great dane that stands 42" tall. he can tower over adults when he stands on his hind legs. his owner hopes to get him into the "guinness book of world records." by the way, feeding george isn't cheap. reportedly, he eats about 100 pounds of food every month. lovers of the macabre are gathering in baltimore for a

funeral that's coming 160 years late. the city is holding a proper burial for famed writer edgar alan poe today. there was no public announcement for poe's original funeral, so few people came, and his obituary was written by a man who hated him, and then, get this, a runaway train eventually destroyed his tombstone. i'm larry smith. he is arguably the most talked about player in college football history so when this happened, tim tebow motionless after suffering a concussion during play two weeks ago you had imagine the media frenzy that ensued. last night, the former heisman trophy winner was back. the florida quarterback was cleared by doctors to play at number four lsu and the top-ranked gators. glad he was in the game. managed to turn a possible loss of an eight-yard gain. tebow also with a touchdown pass

in the 13-3 win over lsu as they remain undefeated and still in the hunt for the repeat national championship. a great finish in the arizona/washington game. watch this, in the final minutes, watch the ball here off the arizona quarterback, off the wide receiver's foot and then into the hands of mason foster. takes the interception in for the game-winning touchdown, one more look at it off the foot. thank shoe very much. huskies get the improbable victory at home. it is early october, and yes, that is snow in denver. enough of that, and overnight temperatures dropping into the teens postponed game three of the phillies/rockies series in the baseball playoffs. they'll get out the heaters and try again today. temperatures in the 40s. the dodgers are feeling bubbly completing the sweep of the cardinals in st. louis last night. they move on to the national league championship series versus the phillies or the rockies. who says you can't go home again? dario franchitti won in 2007 but

decided to jump over to nascar. stock cars weren't friendly to him. a broken ankle in april began a disastrous season so he returned to open wheel racing this year and tonight, a kiss from actress wife, ashley judd, and he said this went just the way i thought it would. that's sports. forget the nightclubs. some adults are ditching that scene for adult play dates and they're rediscovering their love of childhood games.

the defense department posted an online account of a massive firefight in afghanistan. this battle took place on october 3rd and is told by u.s. service members who fought it. >> probably 90 seconds into the fight they ended up hitting one of our generators. so we lost all power. at that point, i made a call up to faubaustic, and basically said we're taking heavy, heavy contact. at that point, i knew that this was something bigger than normal. >> immediately we found out that mortar systems were unable to fire at that time, so we started

working on other assets to see exactly what fire support assets we could use. >> i think the numbers were so more significant than 25 to 30 that we got -- they got 25 to 30 with that initial push. because we were basically surrounded 360 degrees, i think there was significant numbers that allowed them to continue to fight throughout the day. >> my initial impressions were unfortunately we came over the hill, first tried to call them, and we got no response, that everybody was gone. we could tell that everything around them was going to hell. we could hear it in their microphones. we could hear the guns going off. we knew that there was a pretty intense situation they were facing. >> after the aftermath, keating was completely changed. like he said, almost all of the buildings had burned down. there were trees that were cut down, trying to save other

buildings from catching fire. and then just remnants of a mass attack afterwards. >> eight u.s. troops died in the fighting and more than 100 militants were killed. a wildfire that broke out near a popular resort outside of l.a. last saturday is finally under control. it had burned through more than 11 square miles of brush and destroyed several structures. people living nearby were forced to evacuate, but they have since returned home, but being kept away from the burned area. the cause of the wildfire is being investigated. a member of the irish boy band boyzone has died. the band's website says stephen gately died while he was on vacation in spain yesterday. he is on the far left in this picture. however, it's still unclear how he died. the band had a series of number one hits and albums in britain before breaking up in 2000. they reunited last year.

some new york muslims say they're being singled out in a terrorist investigation. they held a protest yesterday as investigators look into najibullah zazi. they accuse law enforcement of racial profiling and claim their neighborhood has disrupted by police raids. >> people are scared to go to mosque. i was yesterday in the mosque for friday prayer. we are missing about two, three lines, and plus the racial profiling, that everybody has been questioned by the color of their skin, by the way they look, and especially in our building. >> that man also says he can't find a job because he was under police surveillance. zazi is expected of planning a terrorist attack in new york. he pleaded not guilty. some grown-ups are rediscovering their inner child and learning how to have fund and laugh out loud. fredricka whitfield shows us how

play dates are catching on with adults. >> reporter: play dates aren't just for children these days. in a slumping economy, one company is bigger kids at heart. >> back in the day games. you know, it feels good to play it again. >> play that really gives adults an opportunity to put their adult problems on the shelf for a moment and play like they're a kid again. >> reporter: an atlanta company has create aid unique formula for an alternative to adult nightlife. playdate started a few years ago, and organizers say they went from 85 attendees to more than 400. they attribute the success partly to people looking for low-cost entertainment during tough times. and venues have now popped up in nearly 20 states with signature games like monopoly, scrabble, jenga, to name a few. >> times are tough right now, and people are looking for outlets to say, hey, i don't want to worry about things that

are happening monday through friday. >> no, you didn't do that! that's not fair! >> yeah! >> reporter: at a playdate event, organizers say gamers get a chance to enjoy the coziness of having close friends in a comfortable environment and still have the high energy you find in a nightclub. but not at club prices. >> across the country, playdate is only a $10 event. >> it was really inexpensive, if you consider it to a club or going out. >> normally you use this and you see the hand, the foot and nice colors. at playdate in atlanta we do that. >> clubs are very expensive to get into, then you pay for food and you have to pay for drinks. it gets really up there, plus the parking outside, too, and that, right now, it's like not feasible for many people, including me. >> reporter: across the board, people here are finding an adult playdate a more affordable way to find their inner child.

fredricka whitfield, cnn, atlanta. one woman is proving that age shouldn't keep you from doing what you want to do. that's how she's reaching new heights and teaching others how to live it up, too.

what would you do if you suddenly had money falling out of the sky into your life? would you know how to handle it? how would you be able to preserve that dough and make it grow over the lifetime? well, believe it or not, that's the challenge a lot of professional athletes face. wait till you watch their stories in this half hour. ever since i can remember, i've been fascinating with making money. making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i had earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money. so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off.

>> now from his radio studio, your money expert, clark howard. >> are you happy? i mean it. are you really happy? are you really happy? have you heard of the wellbeing index? this is an organization that tracks how happy or unhappy, how well we're living in all different categories. well, they just surveyed over 100,000 people to see what makes you the most happy at work. and i've got to tell you, i'm jazzed about what does make people the happiest. it's about being your own boss, being an entrepreneur. and i know the economists are starting to say we are not in a recession but they should look at the number of people looking for work. many of times you're just meeting a closed door. but maybe you should open a door and start your own business. doesn't seem to matter what your level of education is, what your training, what your background, working for yourself as an entrepreneur tends to make you

the happiest. you know what, if nobody wants to hire you, maybe it's time for you to hire yourself. and now it's time to talk about your wallet. what questions do you have for me? brad, you're moving? >> caller: possibly. possibly. my wife is being offered a position in a new city and her company is asking us to come to them with basically a proposition as to what would make it work. and i just wanted to ask what kind of relocation package is typical, should we ask for. and realize we'll probably be losing a good chunk of change on our house sale here. >> all right. well, let's take those things in reverse order, then. >> caller: okay. >> because the greatest lost you could suffer is not the cost of either hiring a truck or moving your own things or hiring a

moving company and moving the greatest loss could you suffer is on your home. >> caller: right. >> so in my book, although if we were back prerecession, i should talk about how relocation packages work but today, because the housing stuff, asking for what's known as a stop loss on the sale of your home is the one simple thing i would ask for. and you would say to them, okay, we owe x number of dollars on our house. current market value, how close are you -- would you guess the current market value your mortgage is? >> caller: probably 180, 190. >> and how much do you owe? >> caller: we owe right around 180. so we could walk away even. >> so what you could ask for,

because they are not going to want an open-ended risk. they could say, would you share a loss for us on the sale of our home up to $10,000? if you don't lose money on the sale of your home, then it doesn't cost them anything. but the max it would cost for new and potential employer would be 10 grand. let's say you end up not being able to sell your house for $40,000 less than the mortgage. let's say it was the worst possible scenario. >> caller: sure. >> then they're out ten, but you're out 30. >> tom is with us. >> caller: i have called because we have let ourselves get our credit cards a little out of hand. >> how out of hand is a little? >> caller: well, i guess a lot out of hand, like $40,000 of credit card debt. >> and you're laughing. that sounds like a lot.

what kind of income do you have? >> caller: we have about $100,000 of income. >> did this debt occur because of one particular incident in your life, like a medical problem or a business failure or something like that? or was it just steady as you go, it just kept building? >> caller: it's mainly due to a daughter that is in her last -- well, now she's in her last year of college. >> okay. >> caller: yeah. >> so, it was a one-time event in this case, not a disaster but actually something that you'll have a return on an investment, we hope. >> caller: we hope. >> and that's a college degree? >> caller: we hope, yeah. >> so in this category it means that it's more like a student loan than it is a traditional credit card debt. >> caller: right. >> it makes it easier for you to

tackle and that you and your wife don't have a problem with how you handle money. >> caller: that's correct. >> and you were actually making an investment in the future. what i would recommend in this case, i think you're an ideal candidate to go sit down with the consumer credit counseling service, whatever it's called in your area, sit down with a counselor for free. they will help you come up with a budget that you on your own can take this from 40 to zero. and i bet, based on your income, that you can do that over four or five years without any intervention from anybody except help from budgeting. but if they disagree, they can potentially negotiate with a debt management plan for you with the credit card companies. next on clark howard -- >> i hoped to retire around 60,

62, but looks like i'm going to be doing it until 75. >> what is your current on the six-year loan? >> it's 22%. >> it's what? 22%? >> yeah, that's why 6% is great.

you have a question about an outstanding loan on a car? >> caller: yes, i bought a car and got a loan on it, obviously. it's a six-year loan. >> a six-year loan? >> caller: yeah, six years. >> diego! okay. the first conversation that we need to have, the longest car loan that makes financial sense in terms of what happens with your wallet over time is 42 months.

so, in the next car, much shorter loan. if the payment is outrageous, it means you need to buy a cheaper car. but any way, i digress because now, you're two years in and you have a question for me about it. >> caller: yes. i got a credit union account. >> okay. good job. >> caller: and i've had it for about six months now and, just out of curiosity, i went in there to see if they would refinanced the vehicle and they said they would at 6%, but they will only finance for the blue book value of the car. >> right, they don't want to be upside down so they want you to come up with the money. and would they give you a better rate? >> caller: you know, i'm not sure. >> i would ask that question because i don't want you to then

take a six-year loan and then through the refi make it a seven year. i would like if you make it six and maybe if you did the refi for three and a half. what is your current interest rate on the six-year loan? >> caller: it's 22%. >> it's what? 22%! >> caller: 22%. >> caller: yes, that's why 6% is great. >> 22%? >> caller: yeah. >> do you realize how you got ripped off on that loan? diego, see what they will write you on a four-year but i would understand why you're thrilled with 6%. wow, you're going to save a fortune. do you have a question about your wallet for me? it's so easy to ask. just go to cnn.com/clarkhoward

and click on video submission and let me know what you need to know about your wallet just like kirk has done. >> hi, i'm kirk and i need a money coach. what has happened with my 401(k) makes me sick. i've lost one-third of my proceeds that i worked to put in there. i'm definitely concerned about not having enough for my retirement, because i see the way that the economy is going, and i don't think social security is going to be there. my contributions to my 401(k) is about $3,000 a year. i don't think that's going to suffice me in my retirement. i hope to retire around 60, 62, but it looks like i'll be doing it until 70, maybe 75. do i continue to put money into the 401(k) or do i diversify and put it into something else? gold, platinum, real estate? >> kirk, i feel your pain because just about all of us saw our 401(k)s get eaten up by the stock market decline.

now, on the good side of the ledger, there has been some recovery and, second, you've got to go all the way back to the 1930s to find a drop this fast and this rotten in the stock market. i still believe in stock market investing. you are approaching a point, though, that if you do intend to retire, you're going to have to do something. and that is, you are going to have to increase the money that you save, in gold, whatever, the amount of savings you generate has got to go up so you can boost the amount you have to live on later in life. now, to the question i'm asked a lot, if you're burnt out by the stock market, you really feel like it ate you up, what is it that you can do? gold? if you want to do gold or precious metals, that can be a small amount of what you do, but

don't be dazzled by the run-up gold had recently. second, real estate, a great opportunity. very different than stock market investing. but i do believe in real estate for the long haul as an investor of rental properties. if you want to diversify, fine. the most important thing, though, is save, save, save. next on "clark howard" -- >> we definitely tried to save and we definitely never lived out of our means. i think you have to be prepared for the worst. >> they then purposely messed up your computer and then held your computer hostage and wanted you to buy your computer back from them. >> caller: right. >> they kidnapped your computer. >> catch that and a lot more this sunday at 4:00 p.m. on clark howard.

dave, how can i be of service to you? >> caller: i'm in the market for a home and in the particular area we're searching, there's no shortage of properties. i'm very familiar with the area. as a result, never felt the need for the services of an agent at this point. i'm wondering if it's possible if there's a gap in the asking price, if agents would make a deal with the seller to come down on a commission after the

fact. >> well, not after the fact but as part of negotiations. let's say the listing agent has a listing at 6%. you are coming there with no agent that they have to co-op with. where normally they would get somewhere -- depending on the real estate market, it's not quite 3-3, but it would be a share of the commission. >> caller: right. >> it would be completely customary that there would be some sharing in the savings by you and the seller, but what you're asking is correct, because that agent is likely to make a higher commission than he or she would have if you were represented and you, as a buyer, get a little bit better deal, the seller gets more money at the closing table. it is really a win on all three parties' parts. i would call somebody who you

might think of using as your representative as an agent and say, convince me, why is it that it would be worth me hiring you? and the advantage, you know the area, but the gotchas could involve things you might not normally be aware of. what's the frequency of termites being a problem. who usually pays for this expense or that expense. what things should you be asking for that you might not think of that are usually the seller to provide. and maybe they'll convince you that uh-uh do need them or maybe you'll say you feel much more comfortable, i can go as lone ranger and do this on my own. professional athletes make more than the rest of us. but you know, they didn't start out that way. what's it like for an athlete to go from making, well, every day people money and the challenges

that they've faced. i talked with three players of the braves to find out what kind of challenges they faced. >> it's a tough -- i was married and so my wife was dean's list student, working odd jobs, cash registers with high school girls, wherever we're playing in the minor leagues, just to make ends meet. >> must be so weird to scrimping every dollar to now you're making a big, big bank every week. >> we had disposable razors, these blue cruddy things that would knick your face. we were at walmart and i wanted to buy some mach 3 raiser blades and we didn't have any money in our account. and i got called up to the big leagues and there are mach 3 razors all over the counters in the big leagues. i did keep some home that week. >> how do you keep from blowing every last dollar? >> all the years in the minor leagues prepared us for that.

we have very financially responsible parents and they taught us to save, no matter what you make, live under it. >> most players, as you know, they get these big checks and somehow they all evaporate. i hear from you -- i see it, you're not going to do any of that. >> i'm saving one day for my kids and grandkids and, you know, that's the part of life that's going to thrill me the most, is down the road. >> isn't that cool? >> awesome. >> how many kids do you have? >> i don't have any of that. i'm planning for the future. >> i don't care what profession you're in. if you get a raise or pay increase, people like to go buy things instead of saving. we have two kids now and the most important thing is their future. we've never lived out of our means. you've always got to be prepared for the worst. being up and down, i'm always prepared, if i get sent down tomorrow, i've got to be prepared for that. in the next half hour, what

these players know about their own money and what kind of questions they have. you'll be amazed. you're going to be able to relate to some of them in your own life. okay. i've got a special warning for you. if you own your own business, criminals have been frustrated a lot trying to crack the computers at big companies. why? usually big companies have their own i.t. department, security personnel on staff. in a small business, you're thinly staffed. but you might have a lot of money running through your accounts, especially on payroll dates. so what criminals are doing is attacking the computers of small businesses with programs called trojan programs they load on to your computer. they're able to access your bank passwords and then at key moments, when you tend to have high balances, they go and swoop in, take over your account and run off with the money. "usa today" had a great

suggestion for small businesses. buy a new computer you use only for banking and financial websites that you never use for anything else. next on "clark howard" -- >> what you're describing is the first time i ever recall a call where somebody said there's a windshield chip here and they charge you for a new one. that is new territory.

citizens. if you have parents, i want you to protect them. in this half hour, you're going to learn about ways people might try to rip them off. you give me this half hour, you're going to be so much smarter about your wallet, you can't stand it. ever since i can remember i've been fascinated by money, making it, saving it and studying it. by the time i was 31, i made now have retire. so i embarked on a new mission. helping you take care of your money so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting

ripped off. >> i've had people trying to steal my identity and a process known as freezing my credit, where even if somebody steals my information, they can't do much with it. there are some hassles with freezing credit. a real question, how much risk are you actually under for somebody stealing your identity? you know, for a lot of us, we don't have big risk factors. how would you know, though, whether you are at great risk or not? well, there's a new website you can go to, to figure out what your risk is, your risk assessment. you put in personal information and, by choice, you can include your social security number or not. then you get a number one to 999. mine was nearly 500, which put me in a fairly low risk

category, but you want to know where you rank. how do you do this? go to myidscore.com. pop in your information and you'll instantly have your answer. answers, that's my game. you have a question for me? fire away. tell me how i can be of service to you, jarod. >> caller: i sold my house about two years ago and i sold the house upside down where normally it was a requested short sale. but they didn't short sale it to me. it was about $25,000 upside down. they said we're not going to short sale it to you, but we will finance that money to you. i'm trying to negotiate, an unsecured amount of money, and i'm trying to negotiate myself a cash settlement with them and it's $24,000 now. i've offered them an $8,000 cash settlement and they came back and said we'll knock off 25% and take an $18,000 cash settlement. and i'm not too terribly satisfied with that. >> well, it is a horse trading

mode you're in now. and they're looking at under one prospect getting monthly payments that they may or may not ever get for years down the road, or they can get a certain amount of cash upfront. so you made an offer to pay 33 cents on the dollar. they came back and said they want 75 cents on the dollar. now you come back with another counter. >> caller: my question is, when i talked to her, it sounded like she wasn't willing to take another counter. my question is, i thought i was -- i'd be willing to go down, take a credit hit and not make a payment for a koumt of months if i thought that would save myself 5 or $6,000. >> it might, if they're facing

the point of write-off. you know you'll owe tax on whatever they agree to write off. >> i'm willing to make that sacrifice, absolutely. >> make another offer and see, just because you've been told it's 18 or nothing, you say, well, then how about nothing, i'll just stop paying. this is a situation where you can choose to flex your muscles as much or as little as you want, but just as in any game of chicken, be careful how far you push this thing. amy, i have not heard from someone who took out an hsa and probably more than a year. >> caller: uh-oh. >> are you self employed? >> caller: my husband is. >> and that is such a wonderful choice for a self-employed individual or couple or family. >> caller: that's great to hear. i feel like, from what i've heard from you and from what i'm hearing, it is a good thing. i'm also feeling i need a better understanding of how to manage

it and use it. >> hit me with some questions and see how well or poorly i can answer them. >> okay one of the main things i need to figure out is really how much should we be contributing each year to it? >> a ton to your tax-free savings account. first, a quick explanation for people. hsa is a combination of a high deductible health insurance plan, coupled with a tax-free savings account to pay for medical. but even better than the fact that it's tax free, your husband, because he's self employed, gets a triple tax benefit from doing an hsa. and, wait, there's more. >> caller: okay. >> if your husband is making, and you combined with him are making big money, then it is to your advantage to allow the hsa money to continue to grow tax free, if you can afford to pay

for routine visits and all that, that you would normally draw from your savings account to pay them out of money you just have. >> caller: really? so don't use it if you don't have to? >> right. >> caller: so, if you never -- if you don't have anything catastrophic or any major need for that money down the road, what happens to it? >> well, that is a great question. what happens is it can transition into money that, when you're in retirement, you're going to have more medical expenses. and then it becomes for the portion of medical bills that are yours, if we have a medicare system by the time you would retire or whatever it is at that time, it then transitions to be money to pay what would be your out-of-pocket at that time of your life. again, tax free. next on "clark howard" -- >> the main disagreement point is that, overall, sarah's a

spender and i'm a saver. we want to make sure we strike the right balance. >> what is it that this investment adviser is recommending to your mom? >> caller: variable annuity. >> what? what? are you serious? >> caller: yes. >> no, no, no, no, no, no!

arthur is with us. high, arthur. how are you doing? >> caller: i'm doing well. thanks, clark. >> you're watching out for your mom. >> caller: i'm trying to. >> that's a good son, watching

out for her. >> caller: thank you. i'm trying to. she has, subsequent to the death of my father, is taking care of her financial matters. >> first, i'm sorry about the loss of your dad. >> caller: well, thank you. and an investment adviser recommended an investment product to her that i am somewhat skeptical of. >> did you tell me how old your mom is? >> caller: she's 72. >> what is this that this investment adviser is recommending to your mom? >> caller: a variable annuity. >> what? what? are you serious? >> caller: yes. >> no, no, no, no, no! that is wrong. i don't know if that individual investment adviser is just misguided or is a dishonest individual, but there is

absolutely never a circumstance, never, where a variable annuity would be proper for someone in her 70s. a variable annuity is a type of insurance product that has massive commissions and massive ongoing expenses and huge, what is known as, surrender charges. the idea at 72 is that normally your mom is not looking for something that might generate an income for her at 100. your mom is looking for something that will cover her needs for the remainder of her lifetime. >> caller: this advice so egregiously bad -- >> yes. >> caller: to take our business elsewhere? >> i would consider that. there's not even a reasonable difference of opinion on this. flat out, bad, rotten, terrible, crooked advice.

it's time for money coach. that's where you get to pose your financial situation to me and find out what i think is best for you to do. and right now we're going to visit with ben and sarah and hear their story and get their question. >> hi, my name is sarah. >> and my name is ben. >> and we need a money coach. in the last year we got married, bought a house. sarah started school. i got done with school and started a new job. >> since we got married, we've sort of been in supersave mode. everything we can put away, we have put away and now, we're not sure of what we should be doing. we track all our expenses going out and all the additional things we want to do or know are coming up. >> i want to get to the point so we're making our money work for us and making sure we're doing everything as efficiently as possible to make sure that we're living comfortable in the future. our question, how much should we be saving and where should we be investing that money?

>> first, i've got to tell you how neat it is that you're already in a mode that you're tracking all your spending, you're watching where your money goes. that's the first step to really getting to your goals. enormous amounts of student loans, many carrying a significant interest rate. so normally, i would be having you pound away at putting money aside for retirement. in your case, your first priority is to pay those student loans. now, how do you do that? what i recommend is you pay as much as you can toward the highest interest rate student loan and pay -- well, just minimums against the others. for the retirement thing, you still want to start saving some for retirement. so, i have a solution i think works for you and works for others.

you know, in this dilemma you have, where you have debt in your life, but at the same time you know you need to save for retirement, my best answer is the 50/50 solution. and that is for every dollar that you can put aside, take 50 cents of it and put it towards the outstanding debt. the other 50 cents toward retirement. especially if you have an offer of a 401(k) plan at work where there's a company match, you always want to put in at least to the company match because that's free money. next on "clark howard" -- >> the key is what are you paying right now as an interest rate? that's really what makes the decision. >> we're in the high sixes, i think. >> hi sixes? here is something about the hybrid. the math, for the first time and forever shows that buying a hybrid actually will pay off.

hi, mary, how are you? >> caller: hi. i'm doing good, clark. how are you? >> great, thank you. you have just the nicest banks

that you have your credit cards with. >> caller: yes, one of your favorite giant monster mega bank. >> what has this giant monster mega bank done to you? >> caller: well, they increased the interest on my credit card. >> from what to what? >> caller: i believe it was 11.99 to now 15.99. >> are you running a balance on this 16% card? >> caller: yes. i'm definitely trying to pay it off. it's about $5,000. and what i'm wondering is that now they've increased my interest rates, i see that about $60 of everything i pay is going to finance charges. >> all right. now, here's a question for you. were you given an option to reject the interest rate increase? >> caller: i do not recall seeing that. >> how long has it been? >> caller: i just noticed it on the statement that i received. >> oh, so they may have given

you notice the prior month or two months ago and you just noticed the rate was higher? >> caller: they might have, yeah. >> so, this $5,000 balance, do you have funds in savings or is there any -- do you have any source of cash that you could use just to tell them to get lost? >> caller: about $2,000. >> well, then, at the very least, wipe out your savings account. and i know that sounds weird, but on your savings, you're earning maybe 1%, if, versus paying interest of 16%. >> caller: right. >> i would take that two grand and put it towards the credit card. and then the same payment will have much bigger impact. are you a member of a credit union? >> caller: yes, i am. >> see if they offer a credit card that you could move it from the giant monster mega bank credit union. that seems to be working very well for you right now. no matter how much money you

make, knowing what to do with it is key and even if you make huge bucks, you might not know. well, i recently visited with members of the atlanta brave baseball team and they had questions for me as their money coach. you know the stories of all of the big-time athletes who finish their career and end up bankrupt. that's not going to happen to you, sf? >> it's a big stat, and it looms. it's weird. i made more money than i ever thought i would make in this game. it looms in your head. and wait a minute, when i made $1 million i thought i'd be set for life and you look in your bank account and there's a lot less there than you think. that's why we have people out there to ask questions to. >> do you have some for me? >> obviously at 31, you never know what's going to happen next year. so i'm not guaranteed a job next year. we have enough money to pay off our house, but we don't know whether to pay it off and have no house payment the rest of our lives, basically, obviously property taxes, or to stay liquid.

or a combination there of and just get a very manageable mortgage payment. >> well, the key is, what are you paying right now as an interest rate? because that really makes the decision. >> high sixes. >> high sixes?sixes, i think. >> high sixes! >> it was just an interest-only loan -- we had to either refinance -- >> pay it off. pay it off. pay it off. >> okay. >> wow. see, if you told me you were sitting in a 4 1/2, 4 3/4, the really great rates people got earlier this year, you would be in the catbird seat. but at 6 point whatever, bail out. >> okay. thank you very much. >> sure. >> appreciate it. >> what's going on with your wallet? >> everything's good. i got a question about investing in this rough economy. what are some things that i can do to -- for the long run as far as save money? >> the thing is that, you know, you're young.

you're going to have a playing career that will end much younger than most people's, their work lives. what you do right now. so you have to invest far more money every year than other people, you do the same kind of portfolio as someone else, but the amount of your pay that has to go in has to be a much, much higher percent, where a typical person would be 10% of their pay through their working lifetime. believe it or not, what percent do you think you should be saving? >> wow. right now, it's -- that's a good question. a lot. >> believe it or not, it should be half of your take-home. more specifically, i would take half of your save ugs and put them in fax-free municipal bonds, intermediate length. intermediate is 7 to 11 years. and the other half i would diversify international -- and this is something that scares a lot of people. i would do as much as half of your stock-based portfolio

overseas. >> okay. >> and the other half domestic. >> wow, okay. good deal. next on "clark howard" -- >> it's not just players in a ballpark. they have money questions for me, so do the fans.