it's been three days now since the world thought a boy was trapped inside this runaway balloons. now authorities say they're about to file criminal charges in this case. hurricane rick picked up strength overnight and now is a very strong category 5 storm. where forecasters are predicting it will eventually make landfall. and fears are quickly growing about the spread of the swine flu, but the vaccines being used to fight the virus seem to be slow in coming. hey, thanks for spending much of your sunday with us here at hln. colorado authorities could soon file criminal charges in that balloon boy case. we expect to learn more during a news conference today.

on thursday, it was feared that 6-year-old falcon heene was in this homemade balloon that got loose. but since then, speculation has mounted that it was all a publicity stunt. >> we have made some significant progress in this investigation, obviously we are conducting interviews as we speak, interviews since noon. we've had investigators here as well as at the house. we're in the process of drafting and completing drafting and obtaining some search warrants, and we do anticipate at some point in the future there will be some criminal charges piled wi filed. >> sheriff's deputies were seen entering and leaving the heene home. they took boxes and a computer with them. investigators questioned the boys' parents for several hours yesterday. >> i was talking to the sheriff's department just now to further things along, and we're

doing well. >> richard heene and his wife there insist their fears that their son was in this balloon were with genuine and not part of a hoax. new this morning, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people in iran today including five senior commanders of the country's revolutionary guard. among the dead, the deputy head of the revolutionary guard's ground forces. a man wearing an explosive belt blew himself up during a conference between shia and sunni groups in southeastern iran. although no one has claimed responsibility, tehran is accusing june daul la of carrying out the attack. hurricane rick is now a strong category 5 hurricane. the national hurricane center has clocked the storm's winds at 180 miles an hour. forecasters expect rick to lose steam and turn toward baja california and mainland mexico later this week. right now rick is the secondest

strongest hurricane ever in the pacific. in 1997, winds from hurricane linda topped 185 miles per hour. more than 3,000 u.s. troops scheduled to go to iraq are staying home. a unit based in ft. drum, new york, was supposed to relieve another brigade in january, but officials say iraqi security sforss will be able to handle that patrol. one lingering challenge is to get iraq's political factions to compromise. >> reconciliation is a tough business. i mean, i've been in some of these meetings with people. they don't like each other. you have to get them to work together, get them to understand their futures are together. and then you've got a bombing which makes it even tougher. again, i think the iraqi people have really signaled that they are really sick and tired of this stuff. >> yesterday's iraq security forces were the targets of militant attacks. at least nine people were killed, four soldiers died in an assault against an iraqi army

convoy. a suicide bomber blew up a key highway bridge the u.s. military uses to transport equipment out of iraq. after spending nearly four month imprisons in iran, a "newsweek" reporter is free on bail. he holds both iranian and canadian citizenship. he was arrested in the aftermath in opposition demonstration protesting the reelection of ahmadinejad. owe was among more than 100 journal iflts and reformists put on trial and stands accused of making false accusations against the government. a third person has died after taking part in a sweat lodge ceremony in arizona. liz newman died yesterday, ten days ago she was among more than 50 people inside a sweat lodge run by self-help guru james arthur ray. authorities are treating the deaths as homicides but haven't filed charges yet. ray says he's hired his own team to investigate what went wrong.

his spokesman says that ray's team is cooperating with police. a justice of the peace who refused to marry an interracial couple says he has nothing to apologize for. the elected official in south louisiana has drawn widespread criticism. keith bardwell says he does not marry interracial couples because he's worried about the couple's future and he says he does not regret his recent decision. >> it's kind of hard to apologize for something that really, truly down in your heart you don't feel like you done wrong. >> the couple found another justice of the peace to marry them. bardwell has served as a justice of the peace for 34 years. his term ends in 5 years. he said he had decided earlier not to run again. an explosion that targeted a police station killed at least 11 people. the suicide bomb went off in pakistan's border city of peshiwar. security forces tried to stop the bomber when he drove through the gate, but seconds later the

vehicle exploded. two women and a child were among the dead. this was the latest in a string of deadly militant attack across pakistan in the last few days. deaths from the h1n1 virus are rising, especially among children. but as kitty pilgrim reports, only a small percentage of the vaccine needed to combat the outbreak has been shipped. >> reporter: it's week 41 of the swine flu epidemic and the delivery of vaccine is still uncertain in many parts of of the country. the injectable vaccine only shipped this week. >> initially we only had the nasal spray available but now it's about half and half that are available and will be coming out toward the states relatively soon. >> reporter: the cdc says they have now ordered enough to provide 251 million doses, but as of this past monday, only a fraction of that order, 9.8 million vaccines, were available to be shipped. only one maker of the spine flu

v vaccine is manufacturing all of its in the united states, the other three producers make their vaccines overseas. the public health department of suffolk county, new york, is the distribution center for 1.2 million people, and it only received 600 doses of of the injekdable vaccine today and 1,000 doses of the nasal spray last week. they say theyed need 300,000 to 400,000 doses. steven levy, county executive, says supplies are uncertain. >> we just got that shipment today of the 600 injectable form and we're hoping for thousands more to come. we think sporadically over the next several weeks and months. >> reporter: dr. david graham, chief deputy health commissioner of suffolk county, says he only finds out day to die what they will receive. >> we certainly could use more and sooner the better, but, you

know, for the doses that we do receive incrementally we'll administer them as soon as they come in. >> reporter: until them, the county is prioritizing high-risk people to receive the vaccine first. i've heard about this, but there's a massive storm will brewing in the pacific right now. is it going to affect the west coast? let's check in with meteorologist reynolds wolf with the latest. >> it is going to affect the west coast of mexico, baja, california, but the west coast of the u.s. right now it doesn't appear like it is. but it is a powerhouse of a storm. it's the way we like it, not affecting anyone at this point, moving away from ak pull co-winds at 180. we'll keep an eye on it. one thing you're watching very carefully and closely is the storm system that's been popping up in parts of the northeast, a true nor'easter, this area of pressure moving off the new england coastline. with that, we can expect coastal flooding, heavy rainfall, not

only that, but there's a chance we could see some snowfall, especially back towards places like pennsylvania, over in the mountains of massachusetts, back in the berkshires and heavy rainfall along the coast. something else we can expect is with the area of high pressure building up in the central plains and the low moving off new england, a lot of cold air will move into the ohio valley. very warm air moving into the desert southwest. take a look, we'll see highs today going up into 53 degrees for chicago, 48 in washington, d.c., 44 in new york and boston 57, atlanta, the cool side. warm side over in vegas and phoenix with highs in the 90s, 62 in san francisco, 77 in los angeles, and for seattle the emerald city, 60 degrees will be your high. that is awe look at your forecast. i'm renls wolf for hln. this morning we're following new developments in that balloon story from colorado. authorities there are going to have a news conference this afternoon. now, we're expecting them to tell us more about the charges that they plan to file in their

investigation. here is a quick look at what millions of us you watched last thursday as police and the military scrambled to save 6-year-old falcon heene. >> this is a very, very dangerous situation not only to the 6-year-old boy but the people on the ground because this thing is moving at a very fast velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to actually carry anybody. it was just a family project they were working on. >> he's going down. >> you know what? >> he's at 100 feet. this is ending, and it looks like -- >> he's coming down? >> yes, he is coming down. >> the balloon floated through the sky for 50 miles before finally hitting the ground. of course, the young boy was not inside this balloon. stay with hln for the very latest developments and for the sheriff's news conference this afternoon. only two helicopters were used in that balloon incident last thursday, but they cost the state of colorado a pretty penny. and you can expect to pay extra to fly away for the holidays. why last-minute deals will be hard to find this year.

p. >> in a few hours we could hear more about the criminal charges colorado authorities want to file in the balloon boy case. officials are expecting to hold a news conference around lunchtime today. police used a lot of manpower and money to search for 6-year-old falcon heene last thursday. colorado army national guard sent out two helicopters. the helicopter flights alone cost about $14,500. the black hawk was in the air for nearly three hours and costs about $4,600 an hour to fly. it costs 700 bucks for the other helicopter to be airborne for about an hour. here's a check of sports. you know the saying take the

money and run? i wonder if oklahoma sam bradford wishes he would have done that. he turned down millions from the flfl for one more season with the sooners. right now that move is not looking so good. in oklahoma's opener against byu, he was slammed to the turf, hurt his shoulder, misses the next three games. bradford returned last week and looked great, but yesterday the sooners' rivalry game, he is slammed to the turf again. who knows how long he'll be out and maybe how much money it will cost him. meantime, his replacement landry jones gets intercepted not once but twice. texas wins 16-13, the longhorns stay unbeaten. baseball game two of the american league championship series, yankees aink aelz, al. rodriguez on fire. home run to tie the game and keep his team alive. in the bottom of the 13th, yankees get the break, the throwing error allows the

winning run to score from second base. yankees lead the series two games to none. game ended 1:07 local time, raining near freezing temperatures in new york. what a finish. the driver of the 48 car, that much closer to winning another nascar championship. jj moved a big step closer to a fourth straight total by winning the race in charlotte. no one you has ever won four in a row. he's on his way. finally, if a soccer goalie doesn't have enough you trouble trying to stop one ball, how about two of them? liverpool against sutherland, a beach ball got out there and the goalie had no chance. that's a check of sports. october is breast cancer awareness month and breast cancer specialist dr. lynn baxter looks at some unexpected signs to watch for as we look at women's health "beyond the

surface." a lot of women think that the only way a breast cancer can present is with a lump they or their doctor can feel. that's not true. one with of the most important things to look for is a change in your breast, look for changes in the skin such as a dimpling or puckering of the skin, something pulling the skin inside the breast. or a rash or something that look like an infection or inflammation on the skin that doesn't go away after antibiotic treatment, changes in the nipple. there are different signs and symptoms we can see of breast cancer or feel on physical exam, but the most important thing i think is to try to find these breast cancers when they're early, smaller, most treatable.

criminal charges are on the way in the balloon boy case right now. authorities may give more details during a news conference later today. authorities were with seen entering and leaving the heene family home in colorado this morning. richard heene and his wife

insist that thursday's incident was not a hoax, but officials are skeptic al. >> as well as at the home. we're in the process of drafting, and completing drafting, and obtaining some search warrants, and we do anticipate at some point in the future there will be some criminal charges filed with regards to this incident. >> the sheriff also said if it's determined that the incident was a hoax, local authorities could only charge for making a false report. the economic downturn has been bad enough for many small businesses, but just imagine also trying to come back from a devastating flood. allan chernoff looks at one business finding ways to make that turnaround. >> reporter: baseball team shirts are back in production at this company, a minor miracle for this apparel company that

supplies souvenirs to major and minor league ballparks. floodwaters overwhelmed cedar rapids last year, including the factory. the floodwaters in the old factory rose 6 1/2 feet high, submerging all of the 1/2 feet submerging all of the equipment. two giant dryers were destroyed, as were the electronics in three of these printers. in all, $1 million of equipment was shot. it must have been devastating? >> it was -- it was very devastating. thank goodness for box wine. that was my salvation. >> reporter: gary ficken had no flood insurance and little federal aid was available. for six months, he ran bim ridder from the basement of his home while outsourcing production. everybody kind of just sat next to each other along this wall. ficken sought advice from apparel printer who is a decade earlier also had rebuilt after

flooding. >> who better than get advice from that's somebody that's already lived through something like this. >> the company relocated to this new factory on higher ground and invested heavily in new equipment. bim ridder now carries seven times the debt it had a year ago. ficken has a lean against his home to secure a $900,000 government loan and he's taken a 20% salary cut. while the floodwaters of cedar rapids have receded, gary ficken is still swimming upstream. >> the last thing you need is a leak on top of new equipment or on top of new inventory. >> reporter: but gary ficken plans to keep plugging leaks and complete bim ridder's turnaround so he and his 18 employees can keep their heads above water. allan chernoff, cnn, cedar rapids, iowa. if you think that restaurants go out of their way to treat preferred customers, well, you should see how they cater to restaurant critics.

that's if you can spot them in a crowd. and boy, do they try.

it's been three days now since the world thought a boy was trapped inside this runaway balloon, and now authorities say they're about to file criminal charges in this case. hurricane rick picked up strength overnight and now it's a very strong category 5 storm. where forecasters are predicting it may eventually make landfall. and fears are quickly growing about the spread of the swine flu, but the vaccine's being used to fight the virus seem to be slow in coming. hey, thanks for spending much of your sunday with us here at hln. i'm natasha curry. colorado authorities could soon file criminal charges in that balloon boy case. we expect to learn more during a

news conference today. now, on thursday, it was feared that 6-year-old falcon heene was in this homemade balloon that got loose. but since then, speculation has mounted that it was all a publicity stunt. >> we have made some significant progress in this investigation. obviously, we are conducting interviews as we speak. we have been conducting interviews since noon. we've had investigators here as well as at the house. we're in the process of drafting and completing drafting and obtaining some search warrants and we do anticipate, at some point in the future, there will be some criminal charges filed with regards to this incident. >> sheriffs deputies were seen entering and leaving the heene's family home early this morning. they took several boxes and a computer with them. investigators questioned the boy's parents for several hours yesterday. >> i was talking to the sheriff's department just now to

further things along and we're doing well. >> richard heene and his wife, there, they insist their fears that their son was in this balloon were genuine and not part of a hoax. new this morning, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people in iran today, including five senior commanders of the country's revolutionary guard. among this dead, the deputy head of the revolutionary guard's ground forces. state-run media says a man wearing an explosive belt blew himself up during a conference between shia and sunni groups in southeastern iran. although no one has claimed responsibility, tehran is accusing the minority sunni group jandalla of carrying out the attack. hurricane rick is now a strong category 5 hurricane. the national hurricane center has clocked the storm's winds at 180 miles per hour. forecasters expect rick to lose some steam and turn towards baja california and then towards mainland mexico later on this week. now, right now rick is the

second strongest hurricane ever in the eastern north pacific. in 1997, winds from hurricane linda topped 185 miles per hour. more than 3,000 u.s. troops scheduled to go to iraq are staying home. a unit based in ft. drum, new york was supposed to relieve another combat brigade unit in january, but military officials say that iraqi security forces will be able to handle that patrol. one lingering challenge is to get iraq's political factions to compromise. >> reconciliation is a stuff business. i mean, i've been in some of these meetings with people. you know, they don't like each other, you have to get them to work together, get them to understand their futures are together. and then you get a bombing, which makes it even tougher. again, i think the iraqi people have really signaled that they are really sick and tired of this stuff. >> yesterday's iraq security forces were the target of militant attacks. at least nine people were killed. four soldiers died in an assault

against an iraqi army convoy just outside of fallujah. and in ramadi, a suicide bomber blew up a key highway bridge. the u.s. military used the bridge to transport equipment out of iraq. after spending nearly four months imprisoned in iran, a "newsweek" reporter is free on bail. bahari holds both iranian and canadian citizenship. he was arrested in the aftermath of opposition demonstrations. bahari was among 100 journalists and reformists put on trial and stands accused of making false accusations against the government. a third person has died after taking part in a sweat lodge ceremony in arizona. liz newman died yesterday. ten days ago, she was among more than 50 people inside a sweat lodge run by self-help guru james arthur ray. authorities are treating the

deaths as homicides, but hasn't filed charges yet. ray has hired his own investigator to determine what went wrong. ray's team is cooperating with police. a justice of the peace that refused to marry an interracial couple says he has nothing to apologize for. the elected official in south louisiana has drawn widespread criticism. keith barbara says he doesn't marry interracial couple because he's worried about their children's future and he says he doesn't not regret his recent decision. >> it's hard to apologize for something that really, truly down in your heart, you don't feel like you done wrong. >> the couple found another justice of the peace to marry them. bardwell has served as a justice of the peace for 34 years. his term ends in five years. he said he had decided earlier not to run again. an explosion that targeted a police station killed at least 11 people. the suicide bomb went off in pakistan's border city of peshwa.

security forces tried to stop the bomber when he drove through the compound gate, but seconds later, the vehicle exploded. two women and a child were among the dead. this is the latest in a string of deadly militant attacks across pakistan in just the last few days. deaths from the h1n1 virus are rising, especially among children. but as kitty pilgrim reports, only a small percentage of the vaccine needed to combat the outbreak has been shipped. >> reporter: it's week 41 of the swine flu epidemic, and the delivery of vaccine is still uncertain in many parts of the country. the injectable vaccine, only shipped this week. >> initially, you know, we only had the nasal spray available, but now it's about half and half that are available and will be coming out towards the states relatively soon. >> reporter: the cdc says they have now ordered enough to provide 251 million doses. but as of this past monday, only a fraction of that order, 9.8 million vaccines, were available

to be shipped. only one maker of the swine flu vaccine, sanofi pasteur, is manufacturing all of its swine flu vaccine for the u.s. market in the united states, some 75 million doses. the other three producers, scl, med immune medimmune, noefrs, novartis, makes its vaccines overseas. 1,000 doses of the nasal spray were delivered last week. they say they will need 300 to 400,000 doses. steven levy, county executive, says supplies are uncertain. >> we just got that shipment today, of the 600 injectable form and we're hoping for thousands more to come, we think, sporadically, over the next several weeks and months. >> reporter: dr. david graham, chief deputy health commissioner of suffolk county, says he only finds out day to day, what they will receive. >> we certainly could use more

and the sooner the better. but, you know, for the doses that we do receive, incrementally, we're going to administer them as soon as they come in. >> reporter: until then, the county is prioritizing high-risk people to receive their shots first. kitty pilgrim, cnn. this morning, we're following new developments in that balloon story from colorado. authorities there are going to have a news conference this afternoon. now, we're expecting them to tell us more about the charges that they plan to file in their investigation. here's a quick look now at what millions of us watched last thursday as police and the military scrambled to save 6-year-old falcon heene. >> this is a very, very dangerous situation, not only to the 6-year-old boy, but to the people on the ground, because this thing is moving at a very fast velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to carry anybody. it's just a family project they were working on.

>> he's going down. he's at 100 feet. this is ending. >> the balloon floated through the sky for 50 miles before finally hitting the ground. and of course, the young boy was not inside this balloon. stay with hln for the very latest developments and for the sheriff's news conference this afternoon. only two helicopters were used in that balloon incident last thursday, but they cost the state of colorado a pretty penny. and you can expect to pay extra to fly away for the holidays. why last-minute deals will be hard to find this year.

hear more about the criminal charges that colorado authorities want to file in that balloon boy case. officials are expecting to hold a news conference around lunchtime today. now, police used a lot of

manpower and money to search for 6-year-old falcon heene last thursday. colorado army national guard sent out a kiowa helicopter and a black hawk. now, the helicopter flights alone cost about $14,500. the black hawk was in the air for nearly three hours and cost about $4,600 an hour to fly. now, it cost $700 for the kiowa to be airborne for about an hour. fighting between rival drug gangs turned into a gunfight here that lasted for hours in rio de janeiro yesterday. check it out. by the time this ended, a dozen people were dead, including two police officers. the police who died were on board this helicopter that caught fire when it was hit by gunfire. you see it there going down. the chopper eventually crashes into a soccer field. rio was recently selected as the host city for the 2016 summer olympics. hey, if you're traveling for thanksgiving or for christmas, don't plan on last-minute deals.

travel experts say unlike last year when airlines slashed fares after a sharp drop in travelers, this year, ticket prices are already on the rise. and not only will you pay more for a ticket, but airlines are also hitting you with a $10 peak travel charge. i'm bob fiscella. the new york yankees have the highest payroll in all of sports and it's paying off. $161 man, cc sabathia, winning game one of the american league championship on friday. alex rodriguez winning his part of the $275 million last night. yankees and angels and a-rod on fire. this home run in the bottom of the 11th inning tied the game. he's got three home runs in five playoff games this year. what a turnaround. and then bottom of the 13th inning, yankees catch a break, throwing error into the outfield. that allowed the winning run to score. yankees win the game, lead the series two games to nothing. oh, by the way, game ended at

1:07 a.m. local time. and how about that for a finish? all right. college football. flash back to oklahoma's first game of the season. heisman trophy winner sam bradford slammed to the turf. hurt his shoulder, mixed the next three games. he returned last week, looked great. but yesterday in the soorns rivalry game against texas, slammed to the turf again. who knows how long he will be out. and without him, sooners struggled. his replacement was picked off twice. texas wins 16-13. the long horns stay unbeaten. a classic finish between rivals notre dame and usc. irish trying to tie it up a. kyle rudolph, check out the great grab right here, but just out of bounds. notre dame now had one last shot. jimmy klausen, looking into the end zone, but nothing. southern cal holds on, beats notre dame for the eighth straight time. and finally, just how much do you love the philadelphia

phillies? enough to get the philliephilli tattooed on your body? a tattoo shop is doing them for free. normally runs about 60 bucks. the owner of the shop says he's booked until midan ex week. phillies and dodgers tonight. the game is this evening tied at one game a piece is the series. that's a check of sports. i'm bob fiscella. they've got jammers and blockers and helmet cammies, but one skater pushed and shoved her way into making a difference. she's today's breakthrough woman. >> my name is beth mcmaken, aka pink panther. i wanted to nominate tonya

vojtkofs vojtkofsky, aka minsk. she cofounded the first women's roller derby track league. a not for profit organization that has donated over $50,000 to local women children and charities. even though her main goal is community, it ended up being so much more. i don't think she really knows how much her vision has changed so many of her derby sister lives. when we put on our skates, we get to be whoever we want. from all your derby sisters, we love you, minsky, you are truly a breakthrough woman. hugs and slugs, pink panther. conservative talk show host rush limbaugh and the reverend al sharpton could not be farther apart politically, but they might be coming together very soon, in court.

criminal charges are on the way in the balloon boy case right now. and authorities may give more details on that during their news conference later today. authorities were seen entering and leaving the heene's family home in colorado this morning. richard heene and his wife insist that thursday's incident was not a hoax. but officials, they're skeptical. >> as well as at the house, we're in the process of drafting and completing drafting and obtaining some search warrants and we do anticipate, at some point in the future, there will be some criminal charges filed with regards to this incident. >> the sheriff also said if it's determined that the incident was a hoax, local authorities could only charge for making a false report. two weeks after the fact,

investigators still aren't sure about the sequence of events that ended with the death of a florida teen. police say officer geralda ard was chasing 17-year-old steen. they say that ard fired a stun gun from his car to try and stop steen. he missed, but accidentally ran over steen with his cruiser. steen's death has prompted community protests. >> we're troubled by the fact that an officer would use poor judgment and shoot a taser gun from a moving vehicle to subdue a suspect that ended up causing the untimely death. >> it is just saddened the entire community. >> my prayers are that the truth would come out. >> officer ard has been placed on paid leave while the investigation continues. reverend al sharpton is demanding an apology from rush

limbaugh, or he's going to sue him. the conservative radio host says that sharpton played a role in two new york race riots. limbaugh made the claim yesterday in a "wall street journal" op-ed piece, but sharpton was not involved in the incidents that limbaugh referenced. limbaugh also blamed sharpton for derailing his bid to co-own the st. louis rams. sharpton says he's going to sue limbaugh if he does not apologize. a spokesman for limbaugh has not responded to requests for a comment on the matter. nasa is beginning to stay tuned of the ice in antarctica. last week, the agency flew a modified dc-8 over the polar ice sheet. six more flights are planned. the flights are designed to gather information that satellites can't. ins a says that the six-year project can help predict how changes in the ice sheet will contribute to a potential global rise in sea levels. if you think that

restaurants go out of their way to treat preferred customers, well, you should see how they cater to restaurant critics. that's if they can spot them in a crowd, and boy do they try.

it's been three days now since the world thought a boy was trapped inside this runaway balloon, and now authorities say they're about to file criminal charges in this case. hurricane rick picked up strength overnight and now it's a very strong category 5 storm. where forecasters are predicting it may eventually make landfall. and fears are quickly growing about the spread of the swine flu, but the vaccine's being used to fight the virus seem to be slow in coming. hey, thanks for spending much of your sunday with us here at hln. i'm natasha curry. colorado authorities could soon file criminal charges in that balloon boy case. we expect to learn more during a news conference today.

now, on thursday, it was feared that 6-year-old falcon heene was in this homemade balloon that got loose. but since then, speculation has mounted that it was all a publicity stunt. >> we have made some significant progress in this investigation. obviously, we are conducting interviews as we speak. we have been conducting interviews since noon. we've had investigators here as well as at the house. we're in the process of drafting and completing drafting and obtaining some search warrants and we do anticipate, at some point in the future, there will be some criminal charges filed with regards to this incident. >> sheriffs deputies were seen entering and leaving the heene's family home early this morning. they took several boxes and a computer with them. investigators questioned the boy's parents for several hours yesterday. >> i was talking to the sheriff's department just now to

further things along and we're doing well. >> richard heene and his wife, there, they insist their fears that their son was in this balloon were genuine and not part of a hoax. new this morning, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people in iran today, including five senior commanders of the country's revolutionary guard. among this dead, the deputy head of the revolutionary guard's ground forces. state-run media says a man wearing an explosive belt blew himself up during a conference between shia and sunni groups in southeastern iran. although no one has claimed responsibility, tehran is accusing the minority sunni group jandala of carrying out the attack. hurricane rick is now a strong category 5 hurricane. the national hurricane center has clocked the storm's winds at 180 miles per hour. forecasters expect rick to lose some steam and turn towards baja california and then towards mainland mexico later on this week. now, right now rick is the second strongest hurricane ever

in the eastern north pacific. in 1997, winds from hurricane linda topped 185 miles per hour. more than 3,000 u.s. troops scheduled to go to iraq are staying home. a unit based in ft. drum, new york, was supposed to relieve another combat brigade unit in january, but military officials say that iraqi security forces will be able to handle that patrol. one lingering challenge is to get iraq's political factions to compromise. >> reconciliation is a tough business. i mean, i've been in some of these meetings with people. you know, they don't like each other, you have to get them to work together, get them to understand their futures are together. and then you get a bombing, which makes it even tougher. again, i think the iraqi people have really signaled that they are really sick and tired of this stuff. >> yesterday's iraq security forces were the target of militant attacks. at least nine people were killed. four soldiers died in an assault

against an iraqi army convoy just outside of fallujah. and in ramadi, a suicide bomber blew up a key highway bridge. the u.s. military used the bridge to transport equipment out of iraq. a third person has died after taking part in a sweat lodge ceremony in arizona. liz newman died yesterday. ten days ago, she was among more than 50 people inside a sweat lodge run by self-help guru james arthur ray. authorities are treating the deaths as homicides, but they haven't filed charges yet. ray has hired his own team to determine what went wrong. investigators say ray's team is cooperating with police. a justice of the peace that refused to marry an interracial couple says he has nothing to apologize for. the elected official in south louisiana has drawn widespread criticism. keith bardwell says he doesn't marry interracial couple because he's worried about their children's future and he says he

does not regret his recent decision. >> it's kind of hard to apologize for something that really, truly down in your heart, you don't feel like you done wrong. >> the couple found another justice of the peace to marry them. bardwell has served as a justice of the peace for 34 years. his term ends in five years. he said he had decided earlier not to run again. an explosion that targeted a police station killed at least 11 people. the suicide bomb went off in pakistan's border city of peshawar. security forces tried to stop the bomber when he drove through the compound gate, but seconds later, the vehicle exploded. two women and a child were among the dead. this is the latest in a string of deadly militant attacks across pakistan in just the last few days. deaths from the h1n1 virus are rising, especially among children. but as kitty pilgrim reports, only a small percentage of the vaccine needed to combat the outbreak has been shipped.

>> reporter: it's week 41 of the swine flu epidemic, and the delivery of vaccine is still uncertain in many parts of the country. the injectable vaccine, only shipped this week. >> initially, you know, we only had the nasal spray available, but now it's about half and half that are available and will be coming out towards the states relatively soon. >> reporter: the cdc says they have now ordered enough to provide 251 million doses. but as of this past monday, only a fraction of that order, 9.8 million vaccines, were available to be shipped. only one maker of the swine flu vaccine, sanofi pasteur, is manufacturing all of its swine flu vaccine for the u.s. market in the united states, some 75 million doses. the other three producers, scl, medimmune, noefrs, make their vaccines over overseas. the distribution center only

received 600 doses of the injectable vaccine today and 1,000 doses of the nasal spray last week. they say they will need 300,000 to 400,000 doses. steven levy, county executive, says supplies are uncertain. >> we just got that shipment today, of the 600 injectable form and we're hoping for thousands more to come, we think, sporadically, over the next several weeks and months. >> reporter: dr. david graham, chief deputy health commissioner of suffolk county, says he only finds out day to day, what they will receive. >> we certainly could use more and the sooner the better. but, you know, for the doses that we do receive, incrementally, we're going to administer them as soon as they come in. >> reporter: until then, the county is prioritizing high-risk people to receive their shots first. kitty pilgrim, cnn. i haven't heard about this, but there is a massive storm brewing in the pacific right now.

is it going to affect the west coast? that's what we want to know. let's check in with meteorologist reynolds wolf with the latest. reynolds? >> it is going to affect the west coast of mexico, baja california, but the west coast of the u.s., right now it doesn't appear that it is. right now, it's not affecting anyone. it is moving away from acapulco, still very strong winds of 180, gusting to 220 miles per hour. we'll keep a very sharp eye on it for you. one thing you're watching closely is the storm system that's been popping up in parts of the northeast. a true nestortheas nor nestor. there is a chance we could see some snowfall, especially back towards places like pennsylvania, a touch of it over in the massachusetts, back in the berkshires and some heavy rainfall along the coast. something else we can expect is with that area of high pressure building up in parts of the central plains, that low moving off new england, a lot of cold air will be movinging into the ohio valley. and very warm air movinging into

parts of the desert southwest. if you want proof, take a look, we'll see highs going up into 53 degrees for chicago, 48 in washington, d.c.. 44 in new york and boston, 57 in atlanta. that's the cool side. warm side over in vegas and phoenix with highs in the 90s. 77 in los angeles. and for seattle, the emerald city, 60 degrees will be your high. that is a look at your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. this morning, we're following new developments in that balloon story from colorado. authorities there are going to have a news conference this afternoon. now, we're expecting them to tell us more about the charges that they plan to file in their investigation. here's a quick look now at what millions of us watched last thursday as police and the military scrambled to save 6-year-old falcon heene. >> this is a very, very dangerous situation, not only to the 6-year-old boy, but to the people on the ground, because this thing is moving at a very fast velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to actually carry anybody.

it was just a family project they were working on. >> he's going down. he's at 100 feet. this is ending. >> he's coming down? >> yes, he is coming down. >> the balloon floated through the sky for 50 miles before finally hitting the ground. and of course, the young boy was not inside this balloon. stay with hln for the very latest developments and for the sheriff's news conference this afternoon. only two helicopters were used in that balloon incident last thursday, but they cost the state of colorado a pretty penny. and you can expect to pay extra to fly away for the holidays. why last-minute deals will be hard to find this year. holiday travel may be cheaper this year. >> first, there's less demand due to the ailing economy. and second, there's lower fuel costs for airlines, which helps them keep fares low. >> book your trip early. >> the best time to book christmas holiday trips is mid-october and really no later than that. >> to avoid delays, try to stay

away from hub airports. >> now that airlines are flying fewer planes and flying smaller planes, airport congestion is less of a problem. but at big hub airports like atlanta and new york, there's still serious congestion problems because airlines have beefed up flights at these airports. >> and it's more important than ever to get to the airport on time. >> don't be late for any flight this year, because if you do miss your flight, you could end up waiting a day or to for the next available seat.

in a few hours, we could hear more about the criminal charges that colorado authorities want to file in that balloon boy case.

officials are expecting to hold a news conference around lunchtime today. now, police used a lot of manpower and money to search for 6-year-old falcon heene last thursday. colorado army national guard sent out a kiowa helicopter and a black hawk. now, the helicopter flights alone cost about $14,500. the black hawk was in the air for nearly three hours and cost about $4,600 an hour to fly. now, it cost $700 for the kiowa to be airborne for about an hour. fighting between rival drug gangs turned into a gunfight here that lasted for hours in rio de janeiro yesterday. check it out. by the time this ended, a dozen people were dead, including two police officers. the police who died were on board this helicopter that caught fire when it was hit by gunfire. you see it there going down. the chopper eventually crashes into a soccer field. rio was recently selected as the host city for the 2016 summer olympics.

hey, if you're traveling for thanksgiving or for christmas, don't plan on last-minute deals. travel experts say unlike last year when airlines slashed fares after a sharp drop in travelers, this year, ticket prices are already on the rise. and not only will you pay more for a ticket, but many airlines are also hitting you with a $10 peak travel charge. i'm bob fiscella. you know the saying, "take the money and run." wonder if oklahoma's sam bradford wishes he would have done that. the iheisman trophy winner turnd down millions from the nfl for one more season with the sooners. right now, that move is not looking so good. in oklahoma's opener against byu, bam, he was slammed to the turf, hurt his shoulder, mixed the next three games. bradford returned last week, but yesterday he is slammed to the turf again. who knows how long he'll be out and maybe how much money it will

cost him. meantime, his replacement, landry jones gets intercepted not once but twice. texas wins 16-13. the longhorns stay unbeaten. all right, baseball, game two of the american league championship series. yankees, angels and that man, alex rodriguez. a home run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game and keep his team alive. and in the bottom of the 13th, the yankees get the break. the throwing error allows the winning run to score from second base. yankees lead the series two games to none. game ended at 1:07 local time last night. freezing temperatures in new york. what a finish, though. the driver of the 48 car, jimmie johnson, that much closer to winning another nascar championship. j.j. moved a big step closer to a fourth straight title by winning the race in charlotte. no one has ever won four in a row. he's on his way. only five races to go. and finally, in a soccer goalie doesn't have enough trouble to trying to stop one

ball, how about two of them? liverpool against sunderland, a beach boll got on the pitch and the goalie had no chance. take another look right there. that was the only goal of the match, by the way and sunderland's win. that's a check of sports. i'm bob fiscella. conservative talk show host rush limbaugh and the reverend al sharpton could not be farther apart politically. but they might be coming together very soon, in court.

criminal charges are on the way in the balloon boy case right now. and authorities may give more details on that during their news conference later today. authorities were seen entering and leaving the heene's family home in colorado this morning. richard heene and his wife insist that thursday's incident was not a hoax. but officials, they're skeptical. >> -- as well as at the house. we're in the process of drafting and completing drafting and obtaining some search warrants and we do anticipate, at some point in the future, there will be some criminal charges filed

with regard to this incident. >> the sheriff also said, if it's determined that the incident was a hoax, local authorities could only charge for making a false report. two weeks after the fact, investigators still aren't sure florida teen. police say officer gerald art was in his police cruiser chasing a 17-year-old on his bicycle. art wanted to question him because he was acting suspiciously around a construction site. they fired a stun gun at him but he missed and then he was run over. >> the fact that an officer would use poor judgment and shoot a taser from a moving vehicle at a suspect that caused the untimely death.

>> my prayers are that the truth will come out. >> officer art has been placed on paid leave while the investigation continues. reverend al sharpton is asking for an apology by rush limbaugh or he's going to sue him. he played a role in two u.s. new york riots, according to limbaugh. but sharpton was not involved in the incident that limbaugh referenced. sharpton says he will sue limbaugh if he does not apologize. there has been no comment on the matter. nasa is studying the ice at antarctica. they flew over the area and nasa will begin a six-year study. they say it can help predict how

changes in the ice sheet will continue to a potential global rise in sea levels. if you think that restaurants go out of their way to treat preferred customers, well, you should see how they cater to restaurant critics. and boy do they try. critics

book to go unnoticed so they will be treated like anyone else. frank just wrapped up five years writing arguably, the most south after reviews for the times, unmasking himself in a new book. >> is it possible for someone to remain anonymous? >> it's impossible for someone to remain anonymous night after night and restaurant after restaurant. >> reporter: restaurants keep he likes to wear pretty funky sneakers. >> he would use credit cards

using unisex credit cards. >> you could be robin parker, for that matter. >> we noticed that he used wilson, morgan, or farez to actually make reservations and then to use different names, like nicholas or kurt to pay the bill with. >> reporter: even if the restaurant staff doesn't recognize the critic, he or she may still not be anonymous, because the customer sitting at the next table might notice, take a picture, send it out over the internet instantly. the blog already has the picture released of sam. >> it was road kill and then it was on my head. >> reporter: former food critic famous for her disguise in the

'90s remembers what a waitress told her. >> there's a huge picture of you in my restaurant with reward written under my picture. anyone that spots you might get $500. >> at the end of the day, a menu that has a menu that can't change. >> reporter: but that won't stop them trying to find the critic in the crowd. happy hunting, susan candiotti, new york. one of madonna's neighbors says that she's making too much noise in her apartment. they say that the performer blares her music and stomps around for hours a day. they have already threatened to evict the singer. madonna's reps have not

commented. a surprise turn around in the balloon boy incident. now we are expecting criminal charges. details ahead.

ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by 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. >> announcer: now from his radio studio, money expert, clark howard. >> recently, people in several southern states suffered enormous heartbreaking damage from floods. the media coverage has been all about the flooded houses. but you know what else got flooded?

people's cars. we don't even know how many hundreds of thousands of cars are flooded. and just as what happens after any hurricane, a lot of those flooded cars end up being marketed as perfectly clean used cars. and if you buy one of them, you're buying junk. when you buy a used car, it doesn't matter what the salesperson says to you. all that matters is that on the window sticker it says, as is, no warranty. you can't rely upon anybody's words or promises, sadly. if you're going to buy a used car, how good the engine and transmission is, make any deal for the purchase of a used car subject to having it checked out by a mechanic prior to buying it. a lot of places won't let you have it checked out by a mechanic. my question for them? what do they have to hide? protect yourself. how can i help you protect your wallet?

what's your question for me? jim joins us. hi, jim. >> caller: hey, clark. how are you? >> great, thank you. you are in a fix that is high income and high debt. is that a fair statement? >> caller: that's pretty much on the money. >> lay out the background for me, if you could. >> caller: primarily what we're trying to deal with mere is credit card debt. we've got an excessive amount of probably close to $85,000. >> $85,000 in credit card debt versus an annual income of how much? >> caller: probably xwhien combined around 150. >> all right. you know you're above the danger zone. once you cross having 50% of your income in credit card debt, for most people, it's not going

to be -- it's going to be actually a pretty rocky road, getting that 85 down to zero. >> caller: i've been working the numbers and i have come up with a plan that seemed workable. we borrow from ourselves, our 401(k) $50,000. that's the limit which they will allow us to borrow from that. the other part of the scenario is to take $42,000 as a withdrawal. >> let me stoup you right there. based on your income, if you take federal and state tax plus penalties, you're going to lose 40 cents of each dollar of that $42,000. so i'm going to propose a compromise. >> caller: all right. >> let's say the $50,000 loan. you reduce the amount of credit card debt down to 35,000. that 35,000 becomes more manage able for you to you pay against. if you can see yourself paying off -- if you can come up with realistic numbers where you and

your wife could pay off that remaining $35,000 in 36 to 42 months, i would say that's a go. caution, partial green light for doing the loan from the 401(k), i can't believe i just said it. cheryl, you carry no debt in this world at all? >> caller: no. we own both our cars free and clear. we paid off our mortgage a few years ago, and we're well past school loans so we're all set. my question now is we need to do a lot of work to our house. everything had been redone when we moved in 15 years ago and we're looking at a roof and windows and flooring and a kitchen and just a money pit at the moment. and i'm wondering if we can get another first mortgage. >> if you were to take the cost of the roof, the flooring and the windows and the kitchen, what would you guess that would

all add up to? >> caller: 50. >> okay. all right. so if it's $50,000, $50,000 is not an amount that is usually a good amount due on a mortgage because the closing costs involved. >> caller: okay. >> so as an alternative, are you and your husband a member of a credit union yet? >> caller: we could be. i know that there are credit unions we could join. i've looked at that option. >> shop around for a credit union that is known as a five-year home equity loan. they carry extremely low rates from a credit union, and usually extremely low closing costs. >> caller: uh-huh. >> so, that would be the right loan product for five years because you get the fixed rate and for the right amount. and you get a very small mortgage, you avoid the costs on closing.

>> next on clark howard -- >> i think i'm at the point where i should started reducing the amount of risk slowly over each year, i suppose. >> is this one of those hotel ballroom type things? >> after talking to friends about it who have been to something like that, yeah. >> that is your money blowing to smithereens.

frederiki, you have a frederiki, you have a soon-to-be college child, is that true? >> caller: yes, i do. >> that's a very affordable four years, isn't it? >> caller: yes. and that's why we're looking at different options. we don't have too much to go

with, and i'm not sure how this particular company i'm calling you about got our phone number. it's possible that my son signed up something in school. and they called us and set up an appointment for a presentation, to which we went. >> is this one of those hotel ballroom kind of things? >> caller: after talking to some friends about it who had been to something like that, yeah. >> red, alert. red alert. >> that is your money blowing to smithereens. did you go yet, or are you going? >> caller: no, we went. >> please tell me you did not sign a contract. >> caller: no, we did not.

i wanted to find out more about it. and i told them i would like to get more information. >> this is a very, very sleazy underbelly of the college market. the sleazy part is doing the whole hotel ballroom thing about how we know all this secret money. pay us this money, and we'll help you. because what happens is, they don't. they may do the clerical stuff, but it is just an overpriced, glorified clerical service that you would be paying for. now there are some legitimate websites. at clarkhoward.com where you can get info legitimately on money that might be available for your child. one in particular i want you to look at, and you may have already been there, is financialaid.org. have you been there? >> caller: no, i have not. >> a very good clearinghouse site for money that might be available for your child for grants and scholarships.

>> do you have a question you'd like me to answer? well, all you do is go to my website. what's that? cnn.com/clarkhoward. and submit a video question to me. and who knows, maybe i'll answer your question, just like i'm doing for will. >> hi, my name is will and i need a money coach. i'm concerned about retirement. i have a 401(k) from my old job that i never rolled over. i have a 401(k) from my current job. i was putting in the maximum, which was right around that irs limit. and then i lowered that amount, temporarily, in order to pay off my credit card faster. now that the credit card is almost paid off, i'm going to have the money back to do something with. so do i put it back in the 401(k)? or are there other options so i can diversify my retirement? >> will, i know so often i sound like the man from roth. but if it were me, and you're now ready to beef up your savings again, i would look, instead of putting the money into a 401(k), put it into what's known as a roth account.

you're allowed to put up to $5,000 a year into a roth, which is a tax-free savings account. you're not going to get the tax deal upfront that you get with a regular ira, but all your money grows tax-free and it's spent tax-free. who should not do a roth? well, will obviously is a real disciplined guy. he took the money that was going towards the 401(k) and then he used it over time methodically to wipe out credit card debt. you should, instead, though do a 401(k) or the equivalent at your place of work. if you know you lack the discipline to get the money into the account every month. it's not like a 401(k) where they deduct it from your paycheck and it goes into the

plan. with a roth, you're the one who actively has to go through the process of putting the money into the account. >> next on clark howard -- >> it is sometimes difficult to be enthusiastic, especially when you don't have a job. but you have to keep going forward and moving and always keep open to learning new things. >> how much credit card debt are you carrying at this point? >> would it be bad if i told you i really didn't know? >> that would be really bad. >> catch that and a lot more, this sunday at 4:00 p.m. on "clark howard."

let me get you to complete this form right here. and your name and social right here. i need you to give this back to me. >> a lot of people are experiencing unemployment for the first time in their lives. and they don't know exactly how the process works. i'm at a state unemployment office.

we're going to hear what people experience when they walk in, plus, what unemployment has been like for them. how are you today? >> all right. let's put your advice to work. >> all right. we're here with elizabeth, who is a real brainiac. you have just completed a degree in -- >> physics. >> physics. >> from emory university, my masters, actually. >> your university where you just got your masters, are there services available to you there to help you network and look for opportunities? >> yes, there are. the career center at emory university is available for two years for any graduate. i came here just to expand my number of opportunities to look for jobs.

>> and you seem pretty energetic and enthusiastic about this. >> it is sometimes difficult to be enthusiastic, especially when you don't have a job, but you have to keep going forward and moving and always keep open to learning new things. >> how long have you been unemployed? >> six months. six months. >> has it been really hard? >> it's been hard. >> how have you been putting food on the table these six months? >> food stamps. >> have you ever been through a time of unemployment that went on for a long time like this? >> never, never. no. this is the first time i ever seen it like this. it's never been like this before -- never. and then there are saying that if you don't have good credit,

background checks and stuff like that, you can't work. so there's a lot of obstacles in the way. >> so speaking of that challenge, what do you say to somebody who is well-educated, never faced unemployment before and it has stretched into month after month, after month of unemployment with seemingly nobody hiring? >> you have to be flexible. look at your skill sets, but also be willing to seek additional training and education. if there are no jobs available, >> so knowing that the guillotine might fall on you, had you done things in advance to prepare for that? >> i had done everything i could. i laid out my resumé. got it updated. started networking with former colleagues. >> so in terms of the clerical side of this, you come in and you do what? >> they have all sorts of different positions in there. if you see something that is suited to you, then you put your name in for it. the website is laid out fairly well. i've actually had quite a few

interviews, not been the one they picked, but i'm optimistic. >> i got to tell you how impressed i've been with the people i've talked with who are faced with unemployment. we as a people are far more resilient than really most of us expect to be in this situation. and we're more versatile in what we're going to do next. evelyn is with us. evelyn, how are you? >> caller: i'm fine, clark. how are you? >> wonderful, thank you. you are cutting a deal with a friend or family member, is that right? >> caller: yes, we're in california. and we have a home to sell. and we have a family member who wants to buy it. and despite the falling housing market, we have a relatively agreed price on it that we're both pretty happy with. and because we've lost so much market value, we're trying to

save money and find it difficult to have someone actually sell this. we don't need a real estate agent to list the property. we don't want it on mls. >> if you're selling to a relative, you don't need to do any of that. let's talk about a couple of things. one, if you're selling to a relative, you are held to a higher standard in that the selling price needs to be considered to be an arms-length price. are you giving a real gift to the relative or are you selling it what would be considered by a stranger to be a fair price on your home? >> no, we're not completely giving it away. we've been trying to talk about the process for the whole year. so the price keeps slipping. >> all right. so as far as what i would normally recommend in this case, when you have an identified buyer, whether it's family friend or stranger, but you're doing your own deal -- is that i

recommend that what would be a relatively low cost, that you have a real estate lawyer draw up the paperwork. and that way, you would protect your interest, you would protect the interest of the relative buying the property. everything would be done properly. >> caller: right. actually i called two real estate lawyers to kind of get a sense of that. and they were quoting $250, to $350 an hour. >> how many hours of clock time, were they thinking it would be two hours? >> caller: they couldn't tell me. >> you need to nail that down. because just as in states where real estate lawyers do closings, they will state to you a price for them to do the closing. and it is a fixed price. you should have that same right in california, even though that's not normally the procedure that's followed. next on "clark howard" -- >> you're hiring somebody? >> caller: yes. >> well the big problem you're going to have is once you post almost anywhere, is how are you going to deal with the enormous numbers of applicants you're going to get right now?  they said it would never last.

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ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by 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. >> the other day i was in a discount store, and not one, but two people in front of me wrote checks. it seemed like i had not one, but two more birthdays while i waited for their checks to be approved and then it was my turn. well, you know what? not only is it a pain for me, but it's a pain for the

retailer, because they take that check from you. they don't know if it's going to be good. it's almost like they're making you a loan. well, whole foods is now experimenting in a handful of stores with refusing to take checks. that's right. you can pay with cash, debit or credit, period. and you know what? this is actually a good thing for you. because it is turbo dangerous for you to carry a checkbook. did you know that having your checkbook stolen is the worst form of identity theft? because a criminal steals your checkbook, you rush to your bank, you shut down the account. the criminal writes the checks. next thing that happens, the police might be at your door, arresting you for having written bad checks. that's a bad nightmare. so that checkbook? keep it at home and stay out of harm's way. and you won't hold people up in line behind you.

and now, let's see what's on your mind. what questions do you have for me? kevin, you're facing a financial crossrods in your life, aren't you? >> caller: yes. >> what's going on, kevin? >> caller: i'm trying to reach out to the mortgage company, but they're giving us a really hard time. so my question is, if i go into foreclosure, what are the implications in terms of, you know, i'm just responsible for? and do they go after like my savings and stuff like that? how does foreclosure work? >> let's go back a couple of steps. i mean, my first option was to sell the house and pay off the remaining balance. >> what you're referring to now is doing a short sale. you're upside-down in your

mortgage by how much would you guess, versus what the market would pay for your house? >> caller: right. >> how much? >> caller: about $50,000. >> versus a house that has a mortgage on it of how much? >> caller: about 270. if i were to sell it in this market, it would probably bring around 220 or 230. >> well that is potentially doable as a short sale. the loss the lender would suffer, allowing you to sell it at market, is so much less than what they would suffer in a foreclosure that it would be a win for them and a win for you if they allowed you to maintain the house, market it successfully and get it sold somewhere in that $220,000 to $230,000 range. >> caller: does a short sale affect your credit? >> short sale affects your credit much less than a foreclosure and much, much less than a bankruptcy. that's why it's much better to be persistent.

see if you can work something out and it could be any of the things. it could be where you work out a modification, where you're able to stay, if that's something you're interested in. it could be that they work with you on doing a short sale. who knows what it is they'll do with you. but i can tell you the one thing they don't want to do is to have to clean up after you have walked away and been foreclosed on. ray is with us. hello, ray. >> caller: hello, clark. thank you for taking my call. >> sure, you want to ask me a question about the conundrum about when you cash in retirement money, versus the tax rates you have to pay on it. >> caller: yes, clark, i've heard you say a couple of times

about that you expect the tax rates to go up, and i agree with you. i think it's almost a certainty that that will happen. i'm wondering, would it be better to cash in my retirement accounts and pay the penalty or -- >> oh, no way, no way. because the loss of sheltering the money over the years -- this is money that you have in iras? >> caller: yes. >> in the ira, there is a long-term benefit to allowing the money to grow, sheltered from tax. there is, though, a very exotic way for to you do something halfway in between what you're thinking of doing and what i just said. are you ready? there's something known as the actuarial method of withdrawal that allows you an exemption from the tax penalty. and you take money out year by year from your ira penalty-free, but you pay the tax. so you would have money that you can then invest in a taxable account however you want. spend as you wish, whatever. but you're never subject to penalty, as long as you do the actuarial method properly each year. it would be a method of hedging.

because you take some of your money and you'd move it over. or another alternative is you know next year, if you can afford to pay the tax next year, you are allowed to migrate all of your ira money, regardless of income, into a roth account. pay the tax, but no penalty. and then that money will never be taxed again. as i think of the alternatives, that would be the best thing of all, is just wait until the calendar turns to 2010. and then make that switch and you don't have any tax problems to consider. next on "clark howard" -- >> my financial situation is i've managed to save some money and put some money away in the bank, but it's just sitting there. >> caller: i can't bring myself to buy a new car. >> you said the word lease.

>> caller: is that a -- >> oh. it makes me choke!

we're speaking now with j.t. hello, j.t. how are you? >> caller: i'm well, sir. how are you? >> great, thank you. you're thinking of getting a

car? >> caller: yes, sir. i am in the market for a car and my question is, i'm all about margins and i wanted to see what's going to be more cost-effective? lease a car or to get a used car? i just couldn't -- i can't bring myself to buy a new car. >> you said the word lease. >> caller: is that a -- >> oh, it makes me choke! don't say the word lease in my presence, because i start having heart palpitations and have trouble breathing. i can't speak a clear sentence. leasing is poison to your pocketbook. >> caller: okay. >> it is really, really awful. compared -- buying a new car versus leasing a new car, almost

100% of the time, you're better off buying than you are leasing. the sweet spot in the market is buying a two, three or four-year-old used car that somebody may have been a return from a lease or it could have been a car that nobody liked anymore and somebody didn't like anymore and they got rid of it. that's where the real money is saved. because you know in the first three years of ownership, do you know typically a car loses from 40%, to 55% of its value in those first three years. >> caller: right. and that's why i can't bring myself to buy a new car. >> but except, you know, if you lease a car, you're the one paying that depreciation in that two or three-year lease. but my real bias is if you find a couple-year-old used car that has 25,000 to 45,000 miles on it, if you can buy one at a huge discount from what a new one would cost, i think from strictly dollars and cent dshs i know there's fun having a new car. but if you look at it just from money, j.t., it's a better deal to buy that used car almost always versus buying the new. it's time for money coach,

that's where you get to ask me your money question. right now we're going to visit with mike, who's got a question for me about how to make his wallet fatter and fatter and fatter. mike? >> caller: hi, my name is mike. i need a money coach. my financial situation is i've managed to save some money and put some money away in the bank. but it's just sitting there. i know it can be more valuable somewhere else. i think it would be a great thing to set up some retirement plan or some 401(k) plan and kind of prepare for my future as well as invest my money into something that i could potentially be very profitable for me. i believe that with some general direction, i can save money, learn to budget my money better. my question is, is what are the different avenues i can take in investing my money to make it profitable?

>> all right, mike, first, you need to congratulate yourself on something. you have virtually zero dollars of debt. so often when i'm talking to somebody who is younger, it's so hard to juggle the balls in the air, do you save for the future, do you pay off debt? because you essentially have no debt, you have the whole marketplace open to you. as far as saving for retirement, especially when you're young, my favorite way for you to do it, is an account called a roth account. a roth is where you can put five grand each year into a tax-free account that earns tax-free for as long as you want to leave the money in there. and you can use it for retirement all the money in the account, plus everything it earns, flows to you free of any income tax whatsoever. a great choice for you. now, the thing is, how do you open one of these things? you can open a roth most anywhere. company, you can do it at the bank. you already have your money sitting in earning like zip. but because you're so young, my

goal for you is to put the money either in stocks or my favorite, index funds, where you own a little tiny slice of hundreds of companies across american capitalism. now, the easiest, easiest answer for you is to go into a target retirement fund with that roth, where you put the money into an account based on your likely year to retire. and then as you get closer and closer to retirement, the money is invested more and more conservatively for you. next on "clark howard" -- >> caller: i have some preexisting medical issues. so there is risk for need of cash for either medical expenditures or even living expenses potentially. so i've got to plan for both, to live to 90 and to plunk it out here soon.

jackie joins us, hello, jackie, how are you? >> caller: i'm fine. how are you? >> great, thank you. >> caller: my question has to do

with a potential identity theft with a recently-deceased mother. >> first, let me tell you i'm sorry that you lost your mom recently. >> caller: well, thank you. i received a letter from a national bank asking me to contact them, because it was very brief. it just said, please contact us immediately if you have applied for a credit card recently. if not, then one has been applied for in this name. because i'm executor for her estate, as well as i had power of attorney before she died, i just open all mail. when i contacted the bank, they said, okay, we'll notify anybody in our bank that this person is deceased and no more applications will be received in that name. but i asked, what should i do? that means that information is out there. it could be used elsewhere. >> right.

>> caller: and they didn't really have any real concrete recommendations. >> there is a trick i have. and that is, what if you, as executrix went on the websites of all three credit bureau sites and froze her credit? because the credit bureaus must not know yet that your mom is deceased, you'll be able to freeze the credit, because you'll have the information. what that would do is that would prevent anybody from attempting to open accounts as if they were your late mom. >> caller: o okay. so i can do that online? >> yes essentially you're impersonating her, but you're legally allowed to, as her executrix. >> how can i be of service? >> caller: i am looking at two issues. i'm trying to secure my retirement at this time. i'm self employed. i have some preexisting medical issues.

so there is risk for need of cash for either medical expenditures or even living expenses, potentially. so i've got to plan for both. to live to 90 and to pluck it out here soon. >> that is a very, very difficult mix. that is a very hard mix. do you have medical problems of a nature that you can end up with medical bills that could potentially bankrupt you? >> caller: i'm self-employed, so i don't have good insurance. yes, it has a cap on it. >> what's the lifetime cap? >> caller: one mill. >> one million dollars sounds like a huge amount of money, but for serious medical conditions, it's not a lot at all. of the $1 million in lifetime cap, how much have you used? >> caller: not significant. a drop. >> all right. so it is a possibility, but a remote one, that you will

exhaust your medical benefits? >> caller: yes. >> so that switches the emphasis more to the long-term, socking money away for the future. and as a self-employed individual, have you been doing a s.e.p. plan? individual, have you been doing a sep plan? >> caller: no. >> is your business profitable at this point? >> caller: yes. >> it allows you to put up to $49,000 a year on this formula into a retirement account, which is the best vehicle available to the self-employed. the other thing you can look at is something you may have heard me talk about before which is a roth account. and a roth works differently. a sep reduces your current taxable income for your business. it is also taxed when you spend it in retirement and a roth works backwards. you can put 5 grand in it each

year and no tax benefit up front but all the money in the roth is tax free at time of retirement. how about santa coming with his sleigh ultraearly and having it packed with deals? i had already told you this is the most promotional christmas we can ever remember. promotional is retail ease meaning everything is going to be cheap. walmart stores is responding to the competitive threat that toys "r" us is posing with all its pop-up stores. temporary retail stores that they'll offer low, low prices on toys. walmart's response? 100 popular toys. these are brand name toys for ten bucks. now, i'll tell you, i would push up your christmas shopping for kids and get it done before october's over.

because these toys are so affordable compared to what they'd be otherwise and there are so many people who want to buy for kids for christmas, i would buy early, now. next on "clark howard". >> that is not going to be an issue. my girlfriend's family lives there. >> free housing? free? you beat me, didn't you? dddd