why it could mean -- what it could mean, really, for patients with terminal illnesses. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for watching hln "news and views" on a monday. hope it's going well for you. a story has tha has a lot of people talking. felony charges may be filed as

early as today as richard and mayumi heene, you know, their son on that massive mylar balloon when it floated away from their yard last thursday. the sheriff jim alderden says the entire scheme was a stunt dreamed up by richard in hopes of landing a reality tv show. the families were interviewed separately and they say they have no evidence to determine this was hoax. the couple's attorney david lane says his clients took a polygraph test but claims those results don't really matter. >> yeah. the sheriff put both of them on a box, and they have not shared with us whether or not they passed or failed. i have said that polygraph evidence is inadmissible in colorado roomt courtrooms for a reason. it's generally unreliableable under the law. >> officials searched their home for computer, phone records and

other evidence. lane says his clients are upset about the investigation but willing to voluntarily turn themselves in, if necessary. >> his state of mind is what would you expect someone's state of mind to are after law enforcement has searched your house, seized your property, held a press conference announcing you're about to be charged with felony criminal charges. you would be ratherer upset and under siege, which is exactly how the feel feels at this point. >> the share ef says they are certain concerned about the safety of those children. responding to a 911 call from the home earlier this year that detected some type of domestic violence. authorities talking to richard heene's former research assistant, robert thomas. the gossip website, docker.com, paid him for this interview about a two-month stint with heene. if you read it, he said richard was working on a publicity stunt on a weather balloon in the

hopes of landing a reality tv show. ed original proposal did not involve the children. you can imagine, a lot of mixed reaction among richard heene's neighbors. some are expressing shock the whole thing was a publicity stunt. others are not surprised at all. as kevin torres from kusa reports, this whole balloon saga, really a hot topic in the heene neighborhood. >> the whole thing feels like a tabloid come to life in our own neighborhood. >> reporter: the latest story took a bizarre turn. >> rates a 10 on the bizarre meter. >> reporter: when sheriff aldermen says what many said all along. >> this was a hoax. a publicity stunt. >> reporter: and investigation conducted over the last 24 to 48 hours determined it was for fame. >> done with the hopes of marketing themselves or better marketing themselves for a reality television show. >> reporter: the folks who live in the heene neighborhood weren't entirely shocked. >> i don't -- i think they

weren't telling the truth about it's a hoax, but i think it is a hoax. >> reporter: after all, when you live by the family, they say you're in for interesting entertainment whether you like it or not, the family is not -- they're not bad neighbors, they're just zany. a little cookkooky. >> they didn't stick around before leaving to meet way lawyer and took the three boys with him. >> the thing that surprises me that, you know, this is a publicity stunt. you've got your children involved in this, and, i mean, that to me is a little shocking. >> reporter: the heene's critics are happy with the twists in the story. if it was up for them it would certainly be over. >> wrap this up and go back to normal in our neighborhood. >> some neighbors and perhaps you as well really thought 6-year-old falcon was in that mylar balloon once they learned he wasn't there, they searched everywhere for him in that neighborhood. i want to thank kevin torres from kusa noor report.

sad story out of connecticut. the university of connecticut community really shaken by this first homicide in decades. a star football player and soon to be dad stabbed to death here. 20-year-old jasper howard had just phoned his mother to say he'd been given the game-winning ball over the victory saturday night. it happened after a fire alarm went off at a dance just after midnight. hundreds spilled out into the street and this fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school and get an education. and he was doing what i asked him to do. i nerve her no problems with him. none.

>> this is so hard. you know, he -- before early this morning, people might have looked at him as a teammate, as friend, but ever since he set foot on this campus, he was our brother. >> awful. police say the stabbing was not a random act, but no suspect has been named yet. autopsies are scheduled today on the bodies of those three half marathoners who collapse and died during that detroit marathon over the weekend. 36-year-old daniel langdon collapsed just after 9:00 a.m. local time yesterday and 15 minutes later, 65-year-old rick brown went down and a win the after that, 26-year-old jon finlon collapsed just after finishing the 13.1 mile course, race officials say every single run hear to sign a medical release form and participants are encouraged to talk to their doctors. the last death happened in 1994.

a third person died after spending nim a sweat lodge in arizona. the 49-year-old woman had damaged to multiple organs reportedly in a coma. it was put up as retreat run by self-help author james arthur ray. ray says he has hired his own investigators to find out what happened. a huge shift in the way government polices marijuana. the justice department is just now telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients who use medical marijuana as long as it is legal in that particular state. the same, they say, goes for their suppliers. in a three-page memo, the justice department says it is not a good use of federal manpower. total of 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes. larry birkhead is back on the witness stand today, but it may be one of anna nicole smith's doctors in the hot seat here. dannielynn's dad said dr. sandy kippur dismissed the ex-playmate

was taking too many drugs. she took more medications than i have ever seen anyone take. under cross-examination, birkhead admitted smith had a laundry list of ailments from air breast implants, migraines, seizures. she died of an accidental overdose, and depending on the outcome of the hearing, howard stern and the doctor may be charged with giving her controlled substances. time to turn little angels into ghosts and goblins. a popular costume, maybe not so scary, making a lot of people very mad.

hard to believe we're talking hurricanes mid-october, but hurricane rick getting weaker but could still slam into mexico's coast. the storm now considered category 3 hurricane, hurricane watches issued for southern baja, california, and

forecasters predict it will keep losing strength as it gets closer to western mexico. still, they warn it can be a dangerous storm. afghanistan facing a crisis that could impact whether or not more u.s. troops could get sent there. two officials told the associated press enough ballots were thrown out to trigger this runoff in afghanistan's august presidential election. they say they have seen the results of the ballot fraud investigation. white house coming forward saying it cannot decide on troops until that whole thing gets worked out. >> the question comes, not home troops to send but do you have a credible afghan partner to provide the security and the type of services the afghan people need? >> hamid karzai is on that ballot and his spokesman says he will not commit to accepting the fraud report until it is made public. his main challenger says karzai is influntsing the process. karzai denies that. so what do you americans think about the recent events in

afghanistan? see you new numbers today. some are calling it president obama's personal vietnam war. take a look here. according to a new cnn opinion research corporation poll, 52% of americans say afghanistan has turned into another vietnam. 46% still disagree. another hot topic, sending more troops to afghanistan. nearly 60% of people polled are against that idea. recently the head of u.s. operations in afghanistan asked for 40,000 more troops. some immigrant rights activists don't want you to buy two popular halloween costume. have you seen them in stores here? take a look. a group are asking stores and website to stop selling illegal alien costumes. one includes an alien mask, an organize prison jump suit and green card, and the mustache and baseball cap. calling it mean offensive, others say they're funny. >> i reckon it's pretty

ruthless. especially the one with the mustache. a bit over the top. >> for a big corporation to put that out, i don't -- i think that's kind of not so much -- it's not good. >> plenty of halloween costumes. it's a little bit of bad taste. >> i like this one. the alien. the green card. >> loobs like cheech and chong but an alien. that's what it looks like. >> cheech and chong for sure. this is beat. that's where you go. >> looked like an alien locked up. >> that's racist. >> who cares. that's so funny. who cares? >> all right. target removed the costumes from its website after the complaints. the leader of a group that opposes illegal immigration says the only people getting upset are being overly sensitive and politically correct. are you glued to your tv, last thursday, like half the world, it seems, when a homemade balloon hit the ground? now colorado police say were the ones who were taken for a ride.

your views on what should happen to the heenes.

we've really been talking all day long about the balloon boy saga that turned out to be a hoax, and we want to hear your views on this. some of the questions we're asking what do you think should happen to the heene family out in colorado? and do you think kids are becoming victims of america's obsession with reality tv? a couple questions. good ones. hopefully we'll get good responses. go to the phones. let's talk to chris in north carolina. did you watch this whole thing unfold and what do you think now? >> caller: yes. i did watch the whole thing unfold. as a matter of fact, i work in law enforcement for many years and have seen the situation many times where people call police and just looking for a hoax or to you know, be on tv or whatnot. it's a shame. these people should be prosecuted. they should -- i don't think they should go to jail but definitely pay back the money, and you know, sad to say, but i think it father's mainly the person behind it.

looking at the tape, the wife never talks. it's always him talking. she seemed very controlled. controlling of the situation what's going on. doing all the talking. when the wife tried to talk, he basically overpowered her, talked before she did. >> you say it's a shame and it is mr. heene who perhaps is more at fault here. >> caller: yes. >> moving on to andrea in ithaca. what do you think about the kids and the fact he was doing this perhaps for reality tv stardom? >> caller: that could be the worst crime here, and out of so many. the child's honesty to cnn which formally began the hoax meltdown and didn't publicly manifest until he vomited on the two next day's morning shows, only him, and his family's reaction to it. that is a known symptom of fear

of repeated child abuse. and that would be the worst crime here. hopefully child protective services will be diligent and immediate in their investigation, too. >> right. they have been called, from what i understand, andrea. thank you. sam in mississippi, do you agree? what do you think about the children as part of this? >> caller: well, i think that the media plays a greater role in putting these things on, and going after the bucks, but america as society should pay more attention to a hoax that causes lives, like the hoax that the former president george bush and dick cheney pulled about weapons of mass destruction. we've lost thousands of lives in iraq and still no weapons of mass destruction and billions of dollars. so if law enmothersments going after the heenes, go after dick

cheney and george bush. >> got to move on. thank you for your opinions there. we want to hear your views throughout the day. the questions we're asking, what do you think should happen to the heene family, and have children in general become victims of america's obsession with reality tv? e-mail or call. you know it's text, grab your cell phone text the word views plus your comments and name to hln tv. standard text rates apply and we will air some responses throughout the day. in other news here, people with incurable cancer in stage multiple sclerosis could be denied access to florida hospitals if there is a massive flu outbreak, from a draft plan that a nonprofit news agency got from the state and gave to the "sun sent natural" newspaper. also says doctors may take people off ventilators if others with a chance of survival needs them. the state hasn't released details yet and nothing, they say, is definite. take your reusable shopping bags to target and they'll give

you a five cent discount for each one of use. good news in a bad economy. target said in a pilot program shoppers used 58 fewer bags according to "usa today." also, cvs started giving bonuses for people who don't take a plastic bag. one environmental researchers says the two programs have a potential to keep billions of plastic bags out of landfills and out of the oceans. a new online music service coming here from europe. hln money expert clark howard tells us why this website claims to be different from all the other competition. >> do you know someone who's a thief? could it be you? do you steal music? so many people, young, old and in between, who would never, ever steal from a store, would never shoplift, would never hold somebody up think nothing of stealing music. let me tell you something, it's just as wrong as any other kind of theft, but it's clear in the marketplace that people are

not going to pay for music, even if it's legal, because they've gotten so used to getting music illegally. so now there's something that is coming to the united states and i can't wait until they launch it. it's called spotify. it's been a big hit in europe from when it launched last year. already 5 million people have signed up for it, and with it, in return for dealing with ads, you get unlimited music for free. now, how about that? free and legal. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to stay on the right side of your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. and you can get more great consumer advice from clark howard every saturday and sunday at plan to and 4:00 p.m. eastern time right here on hln "news and views." clark, as always, will help you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. a man refusing to marry

biracial marriage. he explains.

colorado police now say that colorado couple made up that story about their son floating away on a homemade balloon all for a shot at reality tv stardom. now, richard and mayumi heene could be facing criminal charges. nicole collins joins us now outside the family home in fort collins, colorado. i imagine, a massive line of reporters with you trying to get a glimpse of the heenes. have you seen them at all today? >> reporter: actually, you're right, brooke. there is a long line of reporters here. we've noticed it turn a lot towards, a lot of entertainment networks are coming out later as the day goes on. yet we have seen richard heene. came out of the house briefly, went back in without answering questions. there's a note on the door that says they're no longer granting interviews. while the heenes aren't granting interviews, their attorney is and expects his clients to be

charged by tonight or tomorrow morning. >> absolutely no hoax. >> reporter: richard heene, the father who claims he believed his 6-year-old son falcon was floating away in a homemade balloon thursday stuck to his story this weekend, but authorities in laramie county, colorado say they have evidence the elaborate ordeal was a hoax and a publicity stunt. >> they put on a very good show for us and we bought it. >> reporter: authorities interviewed family members again over the weekend after suspicions arose when, hmm, we did this for a show. >> reporter: authorities say they were able to gather enough probable cause to execute search warrants at the home. >> we believe, we have evidence, at this point, to ind dhat it was a publicity stunt done with seems when it rketi came to richard heene. >> the education level is only high school. he's not what you would think, the nutty professor.

he may be nutty, but he's not a professor. >> reporter: the attorney for richard and mayumi heene says his clients are cooperating with local authorities. >> absent compelling evidence of child abuse, they just need to back off and leave this family alone. >> reporter: the heenes could face a series of felony charges including conspiracy and contributing to the drink kwaens delinquency of a minor. brooke? >> nicole, a couple more questions. i'm sure were you at the briefing yesterday with the sheriff. theoretically, could that ban >> reporter: you know, brooke, that was a big question when the balloon itself was actually up in the air, and authorities here sent the parameters given to them by richard heene to an expert at time and they determined it would have been able to carry little falcon who weighs 37 pounds, but since that balloon has come down and they've recovered it, they've sent the parameters back to that expert and found tout wasn't what richard heene had given them. that balloons actually weighs 18

pounds more than reported to authorities, and it wasn't capable of carrying falcon. one thing we discovered that was announced yesterday by the sheriff here in ft. collins. >> what a story. we'll stay in touch. if you hear any more about the felony charges let us know. nicole collins in ft. collins, colorado. thank you. so we want to hear your views on this. what do you think should happen to the heene family? and have children just in general become victims of america's obsession with reality tv? give us a call at 1-877-tell-hln, send and e-mail or text us. really simple. text the word views plus your comments. don't forget your name. send it to hln tv. standard text rates do apply moo and we'll be reading and listening to your responses here throughout the day. another big story we're following out of connecticut, the university of connecticut is mourning a star football player and soon to be dad. just released, autopsy results

find that 20-year-old jasper howard here, he died of a single stab wound in the stomach. it happened saturday after a fire alarm went off at a dance in the student center just after midnight. hundreds of people spimmed out into the streets, some kind of fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. >> he was a good kid. i nerve her no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school and get an education. and he was doing what i asked him to do. i never had no problems with him. none. >> this is hard. you know, he -- before this morning people might have looked at him as a teammate, as friend

but ever since he set foot on this campus, he was our brother. >> just before he was killed, howard phoned his mother to say he had been given the game-winning ball for the school's victory over louisville. police say the stabs was not a random act, but no suss spent named so far. authorities are scheduled today on the bodies of three half marathoners who collapsed and died during this half marathon there in detroit. 36-year-old langdon collapsed just after 9:00 a.m. local time yesterday and 15 minutes later, 65-year-old rick brown went down and a minute after that, 26-year-old jon fenlon collapsed just after finishing the course. every run hear to sign medical release forms and participanting are encouraged to talk to their doctors before they run. prior to this whole thing, last death at the event happened way back in 1994. and a third person now has died after spending time in that sweat lodge out in arizona.

that 49-year-old woman had damage to multiple organs and was in a coma. the sweat lodge was put up as spiritual retreat run by self-help author james arthur ray. authorities are investigating the deaths as homicides. meanwhile, ray says he hired his own investigators to find out what exactly happened. a huge shift in the way government polices marijuana. the justice department is telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients who use med marijuana as long as it's legal in their state. the same, by the way, goes for the suppliers. in this three-page memo, the justice department says it is not a good use of federal manpower. total of 14 states allow use of marijuana for medical purposes. and larry birkhead is back on the witness stand today. it might be one of anna nicole smith's doctors really in the hot seat. dannielynn's dad told the court friday that doctor sandy kippur dismissed the idea that the ex-playboy playmate was taking too many drugs. birkhead said of smith, took more medications than i have

ever seen anyone take. under cross-examination, birkhead admitted that smith had a laundry ailments including back problems from breast implants, migraines, seizures. smith died back in 2007 of an accidental overdose and depending on the outcome of this hearing, kippur, howard k. stern and another doctor could be tried for conspiring to give smith controlled substances. almost october 31st, halloween. time once again for your little angels to turn into ghosts and goblins. one popular -- actually two costumes this halloween might not be so scary. in fact, making people very angry instead.

we are just now getting

pictures. take a look with me. a massive fire burning there in downtown in colorado forced a closure of several roads and the evacuation of multiple businesses. a whole lot of smoke. you can barely see the flames through it all and some of the -- used to put it out. officials say the two-alarm fire is burning at the park theater mall. at least four fire departments responded to this. we do not know yet of anyone injured by the flames. when we get more information we'll bring it to you live right here on hln. hurricane rick is getting wacker, but forecasters say it could still slam into mexico's pacific coast. the storm now a category 3 hurricane. hurricane watch has been issued for southern baja, california. forecasters predict it will keep losing strength as it gets closer to western mexico but still warn it could still be a dangerous storm. afghanistan is facing a crisis that really could impact whether more u.s. troops get sent there. two officials told the

associated fleas enough ballots were thrown out to trigger a runoff in afghanistan's august presidential election. they say they have seen the results of this ballot fraud investigation. the white house is also coming forward and they say they not decide on troops until that investigation actually gets worked out. >> the question does not come how many troops you send but do you haved credible afghan partner for this process that can providee will not commit to accepting the fraud report until it's made public, but his main challenger says karzai is influencing the process. karzai denies that claim. so what do you -- what do americans really think about the recent events in afghanistan? some are calling it president obama's personal vietnam war. according to a new cnn opinion research corporation poll, 52% of americans say afghanistan has turned into another vietnam. 46% still disagree. another hot topic, sending more

troops into afghanistan. nearly 60% of people polled are against that idea. recently the head of u.s. operations, general stanley mckrifrtdal in afghanistan is asking for 40,000 more troops. some immigrant rights activists do not want to you buy two popular halloween costume. take a look at this. what do you think? a group is asking stores and websites to stop selling illegal alien costumes. one includes an alien mask, an orange prison jumpsuit and green card, and the mustache and baseball cap. calling it mean offensive, other people, they think they're just funny. >> i reckon it's pretty ruthless. especially the one with the mustache. a bit over the top. >> for a big corporation to put that out, i don't -- i think that's kind of not so much -- it's not good. >> plenty of other halloween costumes. it's a little bit of bad taste. >> i like this one. the alien. the green card.

>> that looks like cheech and chong but an alien. alien cheech and chong. that's what it looks like. >> cheech and chong for sure. that one's beat. that's where you go. >> looks like an alien locked up. >> that's racist. >> who cares. that's so funny. who cares? >> target removed the costumes from its website after the complaints. the leader of a group that opposes illegal immigration says the only people getting upset are being overly sensitive and politically correct. imagine this. being kicked out of the hospital because someone else with a better chance of survival needs a bed. a new report this morning, that that could happen this flu season. we will tell you where.

all right. now that it's looking like this whole balloon boy incident might just be this massive elaborate hoax, there is no shortage of opinions coming from you the public, including an i-reporter from jason in brooklyn, new york. >> i am outraged. outraged. and you should be, too.

were you there with me, like watching for hours, like pulling for this kid, oh, my god. is he up in the air? is he going to be jock did he land all right? and then he's not in the balloon. we're thinking to ourselves, oh, my god, did he fall out? what's going on? and then i went through the emotion of thinking, watching him on tv and thinking, oh, my god. what's happening with this family? why is this kid so afraid of his father? and why in these little video clips i'm seeing online, his father looks like crazy man. and i think we need to get a class action together and say, hey, you have, like, torn at our heartstrings watching this balloon, thinking, oh, my god. is your son in there? and is he going to be alive? going to be jock and you did this for publicity? and you played on the emotions of the people of this country! you are -- you are such a jerk, and reckless in how you're using your family. quite frankly, i've had -- i've

had enough with people running around from jon and diet nkate,w richard heene using the kids and family, exploiting them. what kind of parenting is this? enough. i think the media should ignore them completely. >> got to love that enthusiasm. i report with a view. thank you to jason lalanne for that. if you'd like to slayer your view, breaking news wherever you are in the world, go to ireport.com and click on the upload now link. a louisiana justice of the peace says he has no regrets about refusing to marry an interracial couple. the governor and the national urban league say keith bardwell should be dismissed from his job, but he -- he's standing by his decision. >> i have one problem with marrying mixed race marriages, and that is the offspring. >> if someone would ask you, if they said are you racist, what

would you say to that? >> absolutely not. my definition of a race it is to hate black people or treat black people different than anybody else. >> the couple got their marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish and have hired an attorney to try to get bardwell fired. >> everyone has, is entitled to their own opinions, but he's absolutely wrong on all aspects of this, you know, of his stance. he's saying that you know, the only reason he doesn't marry interracial couples is dealing, because of the offspring of the marriages, but if it wasn't for interracial couples today, we wouldn't have our president. so for him to take that outlook, that's still like 1800s or something. >> checking the law here, the supreme court tossed out bans on interracial marriage back in 1967. it's just about flu season and guess what? people with incurable cancer or

in stage multiple sclerosis could be denied to florida hospitals if there is a massive flu outbreak. from a draft plan which nonprofit news agency received here from the state. gave it to the newspaper "the sun signal "and says doctors may take people off ventilators if om people with a better chance need them. no details released. nothing is definite. and back on health care reform, lawmakers. trying to nail down this final bill, goal here, that the bill will get to the full goal the b the full senate this week. there's a lot of work to do. lawmakers have to turn five different versions into one bill that can then make it through congress. a 16-year-old girl -- yeah a 16-year-old girl in serious condition after beaten in a street fight in chicago that might have involved 25 people here. four people have so far been e d charged in the attack. witnesses say the fight started

after people started insulting one another. >> at least 35, 40. >> it's golf clubs, baseball bats, 2 x 4s, they jump at the car. >> i can't say what is going on but i see so much brutal, so much, you know, just meanness and hatred. it's just -- these little kids. >> we've been talking a lot about chicago violence. this, the latest in the string of violence involving kids in the chicago area. since january 47 school aged children have been killed most dies of gunshots, after a boy was beaten to death weeks ago president obama sent members of his cabinet to push for an end to violence. seven people dead after gunmen opened fire in a crowded grocery store and bar. the shooting is likely a turf battle between drug gangs in northern puerto rico. 20 other people hurt in the ma lei, including a 9-year-old and pregnant woman who lost her

unborne child. the host city of the 2016 olympics turned into a virtual war zone over the weekend. pictures out of rio, 14 people killed, a police helicopter shot out of the sky in brazil. two policemen died in bloody clashes between rival street gangs. police said heavy machine guns br brought down the chopper. thousands of police officers are patrolling the streets. police say a mother was drunk when she crashed her car killing one of her seven children inside. but her story just one example of what authorities say is an alarming trend.

were you duped? colorado sheriff is calling the whole balloon boy episode a sham, criminal charges are expected. what did the heenes have to say for themselves now? on the front lines of ending dog fighting with authorities

who shut down a massive operation in georgia. new rules for medical marijuana. what it means for a pot-smoking patient and their suppliers. here's the latest from hln "news and views." i'm richelle carey. felony charges may be filed as early as today against richard and mayumi heene for claiming their 6-year-old son on board a mylar balloon when it floated thursday. you watched all of that happen. . now the lair mar sheriff says it a publicity stunt dreamed up by richard because he wanted a reality tv show. the couple's attorney, david lane, says his clients took a polygraph test. doesn't know the results. still the heenes are willing to turn themselves in, if necessary. >> they are my clients. i've heard a lot from them. yeah, i mean, at this point, and

obviously, this is something the public rolls their eyes at, unfortunately, but the presumption of innocence should be given to them and the sheriff, having a press conference, saying they're guilty, does not make them so. >> the parents are denying that this was a hoax. but they still could face a series of felony charges. talking things like conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and also attempting to influence a public servant. authorities are also planning to seek restitution for leading law enforcement on this wild goose chase. it went on for hours but one defense attorney observing this case says the heenes probably won't be convicted on criminal counts. >> the sheriff is really trumped this into a major felony case. look back on the history of hoaxes and publicity stunts, very rarely are people prosecuted for this. pt barnum would have spent his career in prison, okay?

so when the heat, you know, when the publicity and the media move as way i think what you're probably left with is a misdemeanor charge, filing a false police report. >> authorities are also talking to richard heene's former research assistant. his name is robert thomas. the gossip website gawker.com paid thomas for an interview about the two months he spent working with heene. in this interview, thomas said heene had been working on a publicity stunt involving a weather balloon because he wanted a reality tv show. well, thomas said the original proposal did not involve the children. everybody the heene's neighborhood a media shot zone for past few days. some neighbors feel betrade by this turn of events. >> i hugged this woman. i was there after the press conference, you know, like, she seemed like, like genuinely frightened, you know, and relieved that her son had been found. then watching the news today and

hearing it's a hoax, like i -- everyone is angry over that, everyone is angry. >> so what do you feel now that the entire balloon boy incident may have been a hoax? we'll be hearing your views later in the newscast. listen to this story. a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition after beaten in a street fight in chicago that may have involved as many as 25 people. four people have been charged in the attack. they will be in court next month. witnesses say think fight started after people started insulting each other. >> at least 35, 40. >> golf clubs, baseball bats, 2 x 4s, they jump out of the car. >> i can't say what all is going on but i see so much brutal, so much, you know, just meanness and hatred. and these are kids. >> yeah, again, 16-year-old girl in serious condition. this is the latest in a string of violence involving kids in

the chicago area. since january, at least 47 school aged kids have been killed, most died from gunshots after a boy was beat tonight death several weeks ago, president obama sent members of his cabinet to chicago to push for solutions to the violence. university of connecticut is mourning a star football player, soon to be dad. just released autopsy results find 20-year-old jasper howard died of a single stab wound to the stomach. it happened saturday after a fire alarm went off, at a dance, on the student center after midnight. hundreds of people ran out into the streets and then a fight broke out and howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him do was go to school and get an education, and he was doing what i asked him to do. and i never had no problems by

him. none. >> it's hard. you know, he -- before, earlier this morning, people might have looked at him as a teammate, as a friend, but ever since he stepped foot on this campus he was our brother. >> just before he was killed, howard called his mom to say he had been given the game-winning ball from the school's victory over louisville. police say the stabbing was not a random act. no suspect has been named. tune in to "nancy grace" for complete coverage for a search for a killer on the run. autopsies scheduled today on the bodies of three half marathoners who collapsed and died during a detroit marathon.

36-year-old daniel langdon collapsed between the 11 and 12-mile markers yesterday and 15 minutes later 65-year-old rick brown went down, and a minute after that, 26-year-old john fenlan chanced after finishing 13.1 mile course. race officials say every runner must sign a medical release form and they also encourage participants to talk to a doctor before they start that race. prior to this death, the last death that this event was in 1994. afghanistan is facing a crisis that could impact whether more u.s. troops get sent there. two officials told the associated press enough ballots were thrown out to trigger a run-off in the august election. they've seen results of the ballot fraud investigation. the white house is saying it can't decide on troops until that gets worked out first. >> the question does not come how many troops you send, but dow you have a credible afghan

partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services the afghan people need. >> president hamid karzai is on the ballot. his spokesperson says he won't commit to accepting the fraud report until it's made public. his main challenger says karzai is influencing the process. karzai denies that. what do you think about the recent events in afghanistan? some people are calling it president obama's personal vietnam war. according to the new cnn research poll, 52% of americans say afghanistan has turned into another vietnam. 46% disagree. also nearly 60% of people polled are against sending more troops to afghanistan and of course, recently, the head of u.s. operations in afghanistan asked for 40,000 more troops. a south georgia man is accused of animal cruelty, after a massive dog fighting raid. we have the exclusive video of this rescue operation.

ray private investigation firm wrapped up its largest dog fighting raid ever and gave cnn exclusive access to the video. you know video and stories like this, it can really be difficult it can be disturbing to watch but we always have a reason why we show you thing like this. how long has this raid been in the works? >> can you believe it's been in the works for a year, this planning process. an entire year, orchestrating it and the huge issue is they don't want the information not to leak. but it's been going on for a year. they got this tip about this guy, monty lloyd, charged with felony animal cruelty and terrorist act but heard about him, heard about his dogs so they went in. we went along with them, our cnn crew, last week. in the woods back behind his house they counted 97 dogs. you're looking at video of some of the dogs. some of them mostly pit bull

terriers cowering in cages, some on chains. there are a number of investigators herer this whole thing led by a private investigation firm out of atlanta and they led this, along with the lawrence county sheriff's department. we talked to chuck simmons, leading one of the teams, talking about the effort and also talking about why these dogs, why this guy, was suspicious. >> who has 40 to 60 pit bulls chained up out in the woods on chains with barrels for houses and calls them pets? no nobody. anybody that believes that, they're either an idiot or i got a bridge i'll sell them. >> there you go. the concern is that these dogs, and a lot are puppies, are bred for dogfighting. how did this -- he was clearly affected by what he saw. how did this affect you, as a journalist and other investigators who went along on this raid? >> these guy have been doing it,

it's their 16th raid. for me it was my first one. i'm a dog lover, so it was tough. i had my reporter cap on during the day but i went home, it affected me. interesting as a reporter, and our crew covering this, we knew there was a dog raid, we've been in touch with the private firm, but we didn't know where we are going until the night before because they're worried about the location and this information might leak. we didn't know the actual location where the property where all of the dogs were until the morning of. so it was to top secret. it was a challenge, you know, how are we going to get there, logistically speaking. but you see the video. we're able to get there and show the video, we'll have this entire story airing more or less calling it kind of the anatomy, taking the viewer on a journey how the dog raid works 8:00 p.m. on cnn. >> good work, brooke. we warned you about pictures. >> it's tough. >> we always have a reason and a context for why we show these things. thank you.

>> well, time again for your angels to turn into ghosts and goblins. one of the popular costumes may not be very scary. it might make some people angry.

i've been telling you all day about the balloon boy saga that authorities now say was a hoax. we've been asking for your views on this. what do you think should happen to the heene family? what do you think about kids that seem to be becoming victims of america's obsession with reality tv? let's get to the phones. john calling us ohio. john, what's your take. >> caller: i don't think anything should be done to the heene family except -- >> john, hold on one second. one of our other callers on hold is talking. if you can be listening to john. sorry. >> caller: okay. i think the heene family should

get misdemeanemisdemeaners. i believe they did something serious but i don't believe they shared sole blame. the media ran with it. four, five people were glued to the tv sets and two were freaked out. it was a local event. i know it was sensational but i don't think they should be dragged tuf jail. they should have to pay money back that was spent, you know, chasing down this errant balloon. i do not believe they should go to jail. >> john, thank you very much. west palm beach where larry has been holding. what do you think? jail time, if found guilty? no jail time? what do you think about the kids an an avenue to get fame? >> caller: i think it's completely wrong, i was listening to the last caller, they said no jail time. if people do hoaxes like this, they get no jail time it's a roadway for people to do ridiculous stunts like that. putting up two helicopters in the air, man pow, hundreds of

thousand dollars what if a helicopter went down and got killed for smog and they get a slap on the wrist? no, they need to pay every dime back and go to jail. >> you think it's a serious offense. you did make good point there's. lots of comments on facebook page as well. alex wrote, he said the children involved with reality tv are being exploited by the networks. look at jon and kate, look at the baby borrowers show that nbc had a year ago. i wonder what those kids will end up like. rebecca says i feel they should be charged with also pay back costs incurred during the rescue of their son. this is horrible, and someone needs to look into putting those kids in a safe, stable home. irene feels this way, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. kids are victim if they're used by paints to gain fame and fortune with no regard to the negative consequences the tv show might have. we brought up the raeltd tv show

angle because the sheriff said that they did all of this, the family bz heene, allegedly, because they wanted to get on reality show tv. we'll see if that happens. we want to continue to hear your views on this. what do you think should happen to the heene family? have children become victims of america's obsession with reality tv? everyone seems to want to be on tv. call us 1-877-tell-hln. get in on the discussion. if you're in facebook, search for richelle carrey at hln. hln tv, we'll air some of your responses throughout the day. president obama made an unannounced visit to a school in silver spring, maryland. he stopped by veersmill school. third and fourth graders. the school receives federal poverty aid and it's been recognizing for closing

achievement gap between minority children and other students. the president told the kids and teachers he came to the school because it's a great example of how much the improvement a school can make. immigrant rights activists don't want you buy two popular halloween costumes, groups are asking stores and websites to stop selling them altogether. these illegal alien costumes. one includes an alien mask, orange prison jumpsuit, and a green card. the other shows alien with a droopy handle bar mustache and a baseball cap. critics call them mean and offensive. others say their funny. >> i recognize it's pretty ruthless, especially the one with the mustache, over the top. >> for a big corporation to put that out, i think it's kind of not so -- not so much, not good. plenty of other halloween costumes. it's a little bit of bad taste. >> i like the illegal alien, the

green card. >> that looks like cheech and chong but alien. >> cheech and chong for sure. that one's beat. >> the green card. >> that looks like alien locked up. >> what? >> that's racestiist. >> that's so funny, who cares? >> target removed the costumes from its website, after it got complaints. the leader of a group that opposes illegal immigration says the only people getting upset are people who are overly sensitive and politically correct. all-male college is stelite students not to wear dresses. part of a controversy dress code at morehouse college in atlanta. the school is cracking down on inappropriate attire. other no 4 of -nos, mouth grill 'do rags and pajamas in public. >> this is about the morehouse

lega legacy, tradition, young men preparing themselves to be leaders that they are. >> i understand where they're coming from. at the same time some things are restricting us from being ourselves. >> the school's rep says cross dressing ban is aimed at only a handful of students. colorado police say the heene family is full of hot air, but how did authorities come to that conclusion. a closer look at the home made balloon that caused last week's high drama. @@@@@@@ they said it would never last.

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afternoon. the sheriff of larimer county says the entire ins dint was a publicity stunt dream up by richard because he wanted very badly to land a reality tv show. the couple's attorney, david lane, says his clients did take a polygraph test. he says he doesn't know the results. still, the heenes are willing to turn themselves in if that's what's necessary. >> they are my clients, so i've heard a lot from them. and, yeah, at this point, and obviously this is something the public rolls their eyes at, unfortunately, but the presumption of innocence should be given to them and the sheriff, having a press conference saying they're guilty does not make them so. the parents say think was not a hoax. they could be facing a series of felony charges, including conspiracy, contribute together delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public servant. one defense attorney, who has

been watching this case says, the heenes probably will not be convicted on any criminal counts. authorities plan to seek restitution for leading law enforcement on a wild goose chase. and the sheriff says, authorities are concerned as well about the safety and well-being of the three heene children. he says officers responded to a 911 call from that home earlier this year that suggested some type of domestic violence. the welfare of the kids was discussed today on our sister network, cnn. >> i think there may be something pathological going on with this particular family. look the bottom line is that this family seems to be driven, led by the father, to do anything to get fame, even if it means putting the mental health of their children at risk, and that to me is very, very, very bad sign. >> the thing that i would look at from a standpoint of charges,

is it endangering these kids to involve them in a crime? i mean, did he sit down with the kids and say lie to the police about this? if you involve your kids in the commission of a crime, that is a form of child abuse? now i think child protective services in colorado will be looking at that. >> the heenes' neighborhood, as you can imagine, has been a media hot zone for the past few days. some of the neighbors say they feel betrayed by this turn of events. >> i feel extremely betrayed. i'm angry for my kids. you don't upset children and you don't use your own child to try and benefit yourself. >> so what do you think about this whole balloon boy story? we've got i-reports we pulled for you. we're going to share those with you later in the newscast. update on a story that's happening in chicago. a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition after she was beaten in a street fight in chicago that may have involved at least 25 people.

four people have been charged in this attack. they'll appear in court next month. witnesses say the whole thing started because people were insulting each other. >> at least 35, 40. >> golf clubs, baseball bats, 2 x 4s, they jump at the car. >> i can't say what all is going on but i see so much brutal, so much, you know, just meanness and hatred. it's just -- and these are kids. >> she seems very frustrated. this is the late nest a string of violence involving kids in the chicago area. since january, at least 47 school age kids have been killed, most died from gunshots. after a boy was beaten to death several weeks ago president obama sent members of his cabinet to chicago to push for solutions to all of the violence. university of connecticut is mourning a star football player and soon-to-be dad. we just got in autopsy are you

and find 20-year-old jasper howard died i've single stab wound to thelarm went off at a dance. hundreds spilled into the street and a night broke out. howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school and get an education, and he was doing what i asked him to do. i never had no problems about him. none. >> it's hard -- you know, before this morning, people may have looked at him as a teammate, as

a friend. but ever since he stepped foot on this campus he was our brother. >> just before he was killed, howard called his mom to say he had been given the game-winning ball from his school's victory over louisville. the stabbing was not a random ability. they have not named a suspect yet. autopsies are scheduled today on the bodies of three half marathoners who collapsed and died during the detroit marathon. 36-year-old daniel langdon collapsed between the 11-and 12-mile markers yesterday. 15 minutes later 65-year-old rick brown went down and a minute after that, 26-year-old john finland collapsed just after finishing the 13.1 mile course. race officials say every runner must sign a medical release form and they also encourage participants to talk to their doctor before they run this race. prior to this, the last death of the event happened in 1994.

afghanistan is facing a crisis that could impact whether more u.s. troops are sent there. two officials told the associated press enough ballots were thrown out to trigger a run-off in afghanistan's august presidential election. they say they've seen the results of the ballot fraud election. the white house says it can't decide on troops until this thing gets worked out. >> the question does not come how many troops you send but do you have a credible afghan partner to provide the type of services the afghan people need. >> president karzai is on the ballot. he won't commit to accepting the fraud report until it's made public. his challenger says karzai is influencing the process. karzai denies that. what do americans think about the recent events in afghanistan? some people are calling it president obama's personal vietnam war. according to a new cnn research corporation poll, 52% of americans say afghanistan has

turned into another vietnam. 46% disagree. also nearly 60% of people polled are against sending more troops to afghanistan. recently, the head of u.s. operations there asked for 40,000 more troops. millions of us watched it as it zipped through the colorado sky. the mysterious balloon, perhaps, we thought, carrying a 6-year-old boy, now we have a peek inside that balloon.

it looked like a spaceship, kind of, you know it did. we thought there was a boy trapped inside.

from far away, it looks sophisticated, complex. turns out none of this was true about the balloon that everybody was fixated on last thursday. so what is this thing? let's go cnn.com melissa long who has an upclose look inside and around this contraption. >> what is this thing? darn good question. we have an upclose look, as you mentioned and what a difference a few days make when it comes to figuring out exactly what it was you can see scotch tape on the exterior of the mylar balloon. it was supposed to be this futuristic weather contraption but it was anything but. we take you right there up close to this balloon that never could have taken off with the 6-year-old inside. again, never could have taken off with the 6-year-old inside. here's tour in larime county. that's one of our colleagues there. bottom line, it's shoddy. it's a shoddy contraption. that's jim spellman, one of our colleagues, who says the

material appears like aluminum foil in addition to scotch tape and patched up with duct tape. one of the biggest surprises inside the balloon's high-tech electronics consists of three nine volt batteries. officials filled the bucket with 37 pounds of sand to simulate falcon's weight and he never could have been in there bouz because it never could have gotten off the ground with this wait. >> looks like something i could have built perhaps. >> possibly. possibly. >> let's move tonight something else. what do you build across the street from the world's largest shopping fall, melissa? apparent lit world's tallest building? >> but how tall, right? >> how tall? >> the empire state building on top of the empire state building in new york. >> wow. >> that's how tall the tower is in dubai. it's set to open by the end of the year, stretches more than a half mile into the sky. that means it's more than 1,000 feet taller than the current tallest building which you will

find in taiwan. it's taipei 101 tower, including condo units the world's fastest elevator. biggerer has been the philosophy in dubai. they're not immune from the recession. 13 surrounding buildings that were in the works but the report's indicating they have been scrapped for now as demand drops. burj dubai open funs november 2nd if you find yourself into the region. >> if we decide to jet over there. >> exactly. >> good stuff. thank you. listen to this a huge shift in the way the government polices marijuana. the justice department is now telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients using medical marijuana as long as, this is the key, as long as it's legal in their state. the same goes for their suppliers. the justice department says it's not a good use of federal man

power. 14 state as how some use of marijuana for medical purposes. people with incurable cancer or end stage multiple sclerosis could be denied access to florida hospitals if there's a massive flu outbreak coming from a draft plan which a nonprofit news agency got from the state and gave to the sun sentinel newspaper. it says doctors may take people off ventilator if others have a better chance of survival need them. the state has not released any details yet and nothing is definite. the power of social networking shows the results of a twitter campaign to beat cancer. organizers set out to raise one penny for every tweet sent with the identifying mark known as hash tag followed by the words beat cancer. more than 209,000 tweets were sent at a 24-hour period. ebay, paypal and sponsors will cover the $70,000 raised. beat cancer is still a trending topic on twitter.

how about that? justice of the peace who refused to marianne interracial couple says he's not racist. hear him explain why he did it and a new response from the couple at center of the controversy.

police in texas believe a missing 3-year-old boy may be in grave danger. his maim is mitchell romero. they want you to keep an eye out for him. they believe he was abducted by his father, mario romero right there, both pictures on the screen. please take a look. they think the two of them may be on the way to mexico in a red or maroon gmc yukon, 2004. the father's 33 years old, mario romero, wanted for questioning and the killing of mitchell's mother. all right. police in denver city, texas, issued this amber alert on friday and they just want to get this information out there again for people to keep an eye out for richle and mario romero.

now that it looks like the whole balloon boy -- not really balloon boy -- but they're going to call it balloon boy incident may have turned out to be an elaborate hoax. roer jason verlane rants about richard heene and jason gives us his naked boy news perspective. got your attention now? naked boy news perspective on the whole thing. >> we need to get a class action together and say, hey, you have, like, torn at our heartstrings watching this balloon thinking, my god, is your son in there? his he going to be alive? his he going to be okay? you played on the emotions of the people of this country. you are -- you are such a jerk. and reckless in how you're using your family. >> i believe that the children should be removed from that

household because with parents that irresponsible, that's just a detriment to their health. it's not a good place for those children to be. i think the whole situation needs to be evaluated by child service people and i hope they make the right decision for those children. secondly, the parents involved, wow, not only do they need to make an apology to the entire country, who was nervous for their child, but they also need to pay back the money that it cost for the national guard, the fire departments, the police departments, everybody involved new york matter how much it was. and i hope it was a lot of money like $500,000 or more. they need to pay all of that money back. >> thanks to jason and jason for their expressive i-reports. fired up about something or have breaking news in your part of the world go to ireport.com and click on the upload now link. we always appreciate it. a louisiana justice of the peace say his has no regrets

about refusing to marianne interracial couple. the governor and the national urban league say keith bardwell should be dismissed from his job but he is stanting by his decision. >> i have one problem with marrying mixed race marriages and that is the offspring. >> what if someone asked are you racist, what would you say to that? >> absolutely not. my definition of racist is the hate black people or treat black people different than anybody else. people different than anybody else. >> the couple got their marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish. they have hired an attorney to try to get bardwell fired. >> everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but he's absolutely wrong on all aspects of his stance. he is saying that, you know, the only reason he assistant marry

interracial couples is because of the offspring of the marriages. and -- but if it wasn't for interracial couples today, we wouldn't have our president. so for him to take that outlook, that's still like 1800s or something. >> the supreme court tossed out bans on interracial marriage in 1967. hurricane rick is getting weaker, but it could still slam into mexico's pacific coast. the storm is now a category three hurricane. a hurricane watch has been issued for southern baja, california. forecasters predict it will keep losing strength as it gets closer to western mexico, but warn it could still be a dangerous storm. a third person has died after spending time in that sweat lodge in this arizona. 49-year-old woman had had damage to multiple organs and was in a coma. the sweat lodge was in a retreat by self-help author arthur ray.

authorities are investigating deaths as homicide. he has hired his own investigators to find out what happened. we have some incredible video of a bus smashing into an suv. the bus couldn't stop in time when the suv went through a light. seven different cameras inside the bus show the bus driver is not at fault. it took two hours to get the suv's driver out, and unbelievab unbelievably, he doesn't have any life-threatening injuries. wow. a college is hoping its new dreft code has an uplifting effect on its students. it's taking a stand against sagging pants, public pjs and other types of attire.

felony charges might be filed as early as today against richard heene for claiming his 6-year-old son was on that board that mylar balloon when it floated away from their backyard thursday afternoon. the county sheriff now says the entire incident was a publicity

stunt dreamed up by the dad, richard, in hopes of landing a reality tv show. so this past weekend, authorities interviewed the family separately, and say they gathered even more evidence to prove it was a hoax. the couple's attorney, david lane, says his clients did take a polygraph test, but claims the results don't really matter. >> yeah, the sheriff put both of them on a box, and they have not shared with us whether or not they passed or failed. i have said that polygraph evidence is inadmissible in colorado courtrooms for a reason, and that is that it's generally unreliable. >> authorities searched the home over the weekend for computer and phone records and other potential evidence here in the case. lane says his clients are upset by the investigation, but would voluntarily turf turn themselves in it if necessary. >> his state of mind is what you would expect someone's state of mind to be after law enforcement has searched your house, seized your property, held a press

conference announcing you're about to be charged with felony criminal charges. your state of mind would be rather upset and you would feel somewhat under siege, which is exactly how the family feels at this point. >> so one concern here, those children, the three kids. the sheriff says authorities are concerned about that. he says officers responded to a 911 call from the home earlier this year, that suggested some type of domestic violence. no charges were filed then. but i'm sure you have been talking about it over the weekend. there is all kinds of reaction among richard heene's neighbors. some are expressing shock, that the whole thing that this thing was a publicity stunt. but others are not surprised at all. as kevin torres reports, this balloon saga is a hot topic in the heene neighborhood. >> the whole thing feels a little like a tabloid come to life in our own neighborhood. >> reporter: the latest episode in the balloon boy series took a bizarre turn when lar i mer county sheriff says what many

have said all along. >> this was a hoax. >> reporter: an investigation conducted over the last 24 to 48 hours determined the apparent stunt was for fame. >> done with the hopes of marketing themselves or better marketing themselves for a reality television show. >> reporter: the folks who live in the heene neighborhood weren't entirely shocked. . >> i don't -- i think they weren't telling the truth about it's a hoax. but i think it is a hoax. >> reporter: after all, when you live by the family, they say you're in for some interesting entertainment, whether you like it or not. >> the family is not -- they're not bad neighbors, they're just zany, a little kooky. >> reporter: the mean heenes met with a lawyer. >> the thing that surprises me the most, that this is a publicity stunt, that you got your children involved in this, and -- i mean, that to me is a little shocking. >> reporter: the heenes' critics

aren't happy with the twists and turns, and if it was up to them, this bizarre series would be over. >> maybe we could wrap this up and go back to normal in our enabled. >> reporter: neighbors say they thought 6-year-old falcon was in the balloon and once they were aware he wasn't, began looking through the neighborhood. we want to talk to you about this. want to hear your views. here's a question. what action should authorities take here? should the heenes be prosecuted and if proven to be a hoax, should the couple have to pay the rescue efforts. call 1-877-tell-hln. send us an e-mail at cnn.com/hln. text the words views and your comments and don't forget your name to hlntv, standard text rates do apply. i look forward to talk to you in a couple minutes here. the university of connecticut is mourning a star football player and soon to be dad. just released autopsy results find 20-year-old jasper howard died of a single stab wound in

the stomach. here's what happened. saturday, there was a fire alarm that went off at a dance in the student center just after midnight. hundreds of people spilled out into the street, and this fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed, howard died. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school and get an education. and he was doing what i asked him to do. and i never had any problems from him. none. >> you know, he -- before this morning, people might have looked at him as a teammate, as a friend. but ever since he stepped foot

on this campus, he was our brother. >> as teammates and friends are reeling over this tragedy, we have learned that just before he was killed, howard phoned his mother to see he had been given the game-winning ball from the school's victory over louisville. the police say the stabbing was not a random act, but no suspect has been named. there is an all-male college telling students not to wear dresses on campus. and this is just part here of a controversial new dress code at moorehouse college in atlanta. the private, traditionally african-american school cracking down on what it calls inappropriate attire. other no-nos, other than dresses, they say no sagging pants, no mouth grills, no do-rags and no pjs in public. >> this is, again, about the moorehouse legacy, and about the tradition and our young men preparing themselves to be the leaders they are. >> i understand where they're coming from. at the same time, some things are restricting us from just, you know, being ourselves. >> why is the school doing this? the rep says the cross dressing

ban is aimed at only a handful of students. students found breaking the code have to change before going back to class. next week, 20 inmates serving life sentences are scheduled to be released. an inmate argued a state law and says the lifetime is 80 years. one victim who found out the man who raped her could go free. she cannot believe this. take a listen. >> what would i say to him? it's not what would i say to him. it's what would i do to him. because i feel like he shouldn't be living on this earth. >> well, the state has argued the 80-year figure was likely meant to determine parole eligibility. lawmakers are talking health care reform again this week. democrats, they're behind closed doors right now trying to nail down this final bill. the goal is to get the final bill to the full senate this week, but there is still a lot of work to be done here. lawmakers, they have to turn

five different house and senate committee versions into one bill that can then make it through congress. a huge shift in the way government polices marijuana. the justice department is telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients who use medical marijuana, as long as it's legal in their state. the same goes true for suppliers. this is all coming from this three-page memo. the justice department says it is not exactly a good use here of federal manpower, but there are 14 states here in the u.s. that allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes. in the world of weather, let's take a look at hurricane rick there. getting weaker, but it could still slam into mexico's pacific coast. the storm now downgraded to a category 2 hurricane. the hurricane watch has been issued for southern baja, california, and forecasters predict it will keep losing strengthening as it gets closer to western mexico. but they still say it could be pretty dangerous. a justice of a peace who refused to marry an interracial

couple claims he is not racist. the couple at the center of the controversy.

a louisiana justice of the peace says he has no regrets about refusing to mariary an interracial couple of. the governor and the international urban league say keith bardwell should be dismissed from his job, but he is standing by his decision. >> i have one problem with marrying mixed race marriages, and that is the offspring. >> if someone asked you, are you racist, what would you say to that? absolutely not. my definition of a racist is to hate black people, or treat black people different than anybody else. >> well, his opinion didn't stop that couple. they did get their marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish, and they have hired an attorney,

trying to get bardwell fired. >> everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but he's absolutely wrong on all aspects of this -- you know, of his stance. he is saying that, you know, the only reason he doesn't marry interracial couples is because of the offspring of the marriages. but if it wasn't for interracial couples today, we wouldn't have our president. so for him to take that outlook, that's still, like, 1800s or something. >> the supreme court tossed out bans on interracial marriage back in 1967. making homes more energy-efficient and creating jobs at the same time, that is the goal of the obama administration, and it's taking that goal one step further today. allison cosick joins us from new york with the details. allison, energy efficiency is a great idea, but it's not cheap. >> it's really not cheap, brook.

energy efficient upgrades can cost a lot. and many americans don't have the cash to pay for the expensive changes. but the obama administration wants to make it easier. it says making these improvements can reduce home energy use by 40%, and cut $21 billion a year from our energy bills. the problem, of course, homeowners lack access to information, financing, and skilled workers. this new report emphasizes ways the government can help people overcome those barriers, and boost our economy at the same time. >> the report we're releasing today called the recovery through retrofit is a blueprint for creating jobs, while also building the economy for tomorrow. the work is there, 130 homes in the united states, generating more than 21% of our nation's carbon dioxide emissions. there is plenty of work to go around. >> of course, the challenge, brook, is to reduce the high, up front costs of energy

improvements so more people feel good about making these changes, brook. >> sounds good. but given the challenge, allison, how do you do that? >> well, this report goes ahead and makes a number of recommendations and one is to support municipal financing. and that would allow homeowners to put the cost of energy improvements into their property taxes so they can make monthly payments and not be saddled with those big, upfront costs. another recommendation, increase the use of energy-efficient mortgages. and what this would do is roll the cost of energy-efficient improvements into the borrowing cost for the home itself. the report also recommends establishing uniform national standards for training and certifying workers in the energy efficiency business, and the idea with this is so people will feel more confident about the work that it's being done right. but brook, ultimately we'll see how these recommendations are being implemented, and whether they inspire more people to go ahead and make these improvemen improvements, brook. >> make the energy-efficient improvements. allison cosick, cnnmoney.com.

thank you. this could be cool if you're in the third or fourth grade. president obama made an announced visit, and met with some pretty excited third and fourth grade students during their lunch period. the school receives poverty aid and has been celebrated for closing the achievement gap between minority and other students. he came to this school because he says it's a great example of how much improvement a school can hit. "cougar town" and several high profile relationships between an older woman and younger men, there are calls to scratch out the word cougar all together. what gives? a.j. hammer coming up next.

with the success of courtney cox's new show, have you heard of this, it's called "cougartown," the term cougar has officially gone mainstream. but now there may be backlash

with some people taking exception to how older women with younger men are being described as predatory. a.j. hammer is joining us with the latest on the cougar uproar. >> you remember when people first started using the word cougar, and it was gaining traction. everyone was having a good time with it, describing the idea of an older woman, for instance the one getting a lot of attention, did he demi moore dating ashton kutcher, 15 years her junior. a lot of people saying older men with younger women don't get as much attention as someone like madonna, and her current boyfriend, who is 23. they look like a happy couple, don't they? it caught my eye. make the pitiful cougar extinction saying all it took to ruin the fantasies was the

coinage of a single word. cougars, the very word turned generations overnight from sex objects into the butt of jokes and turned smoldering lust to something scan key. now women don't step into bars alone for fear of being branded predators. and it's not just andrea who has taken exception to this, brook. we have seen a lot of comments on our facebook page. i've been hearing from other celebrities who say you know what, now that i stop to think about it, cougar is basically saying if you're a little older, you're a predator if you're going after younger men. and i'm curious, from a woman's perspective, brook. >> uh-huh? >> some people say this is much ado about nothing. but in all seriousness, with the new show from courtney cox, the word cougar is on everybody's hips these days. >> it's not a walk of shame if someone doesn't lick you. >> call me.

>> so, you know, a.j., i'm sorry, i thought we were listening to a clip. >> no, i like listening to that clip. >> two things. one, i think the word cougar has gone mainstream. my 60-year-old mother, god bless her, said the word cougar, asking me if i knew what it means, which i thought was historical. so it's really mainstream. number two, i'm not a fan, to be honest. it doesn't bother me as much as this predatory idea. i think it's just kind of objectifying, the idea of labelling a woman. and it's so funny, i googled cougar, and the first thing that comes up isn't like the animal. it's the urban dictionary definition. so -- >> yeah. which is not a flattering description of an older woman who may be interested in dating a younger man. and as i mentioned, the standard has been called out for the idea that men certainly don't give this kind of attention. there is really not a name for it. so we have a great debate to get into tonight on "showbiz tonight." it's going to be intriguing, and quite frankly, a lot of fun. we'll have that, plus hot air

hoax. an explosive new turn in the case of the run-away balloon. were they really just trying to get their own reality tv show? we'll see you back here at 11:00 a.m. eastern and pacific for the cougarlicious news. >> you are all about this, a.j. hammer. an interesting discussion. i will tune in for that. thank you. >> see you later. >> all right. let's move on from cougars and talk about halloween. some immigrant rights activists do not want you to buy two popular halloween costumes. the groups are asking stores and websites to stop selling illegal alien costumes. one is an orange prison jumpsuit and a green card. and the other with a mustache and a baseball cap. critics call these costumes mean and offensive, but others say they're just funny. >> i reckon it's pretty ruthless, especially along with the mustache, a bit over the top. >> for a big corporation to put that out, i think that's kind of not so much. it's not good.

>> plenty of halloween costumes, it's a little bit of bad taste. >> i like this one, the illegal alien. the green card. >> that looks like cheech and chong, but an alien. alien cheech and chong, that's what it looks like. >> cheech and chong, for sure. that one is beat. this is where you go. >> that looks like an alien locked up. >> that's racist. >> who cares? that's so funny. that's so funny, who cares? >> target removed the costumes from the website after the complaints. authorities say it was all a hoax and now you have something to say about what should happen to the parents of so-called balloon boy. we're going to hear from you, coming up next on hln. @@@@@ not long ago, this man had limited mobility.

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scooter and your claim isn't approved, the scooter store will give you your power chair or scooter free. that's our guarantee. they were so helpful and nice. they filed all the paperwork, and medicare and my insurance covered the cost. we can work directly with medicare or with your insurance company. we can even help with financing. if there's a way, we'll find it! so don't wait any longer, call the scooter store today. sad story coming out of university of connecticut. they are mourning a star football player and soon to be dad. just released autopsy results indicate the 20-year-old, jasper howard, died of a single stab wound to the stomach. this all happened saturday of after a fire alarm went off at a dance at the student center just

after midnight. students spilled into the street and a fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed and howard later died. >> he was a good kid. i never had any problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school, and get an education. and he was doing what i asked him to do. and i never had any problems out of him. none. >> this is so hard. you know, he -- before this morning, a lot of people may have looked at him as a teammate, as a friend. but ever since he stepped foot on this campus, he was our brother. >> just before he was killed, howard apparently phoned his mom to say he had been given the

game-winning ball from the school's victory over louisville. police say the stabbing was not a random act, but no suspect has been named so far. a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition after she was beaten in a street fight in chicago that might have involved as many as 25 people. four people are charged so far in this attack. they will appear in court next month. witnesses say the fight started after people started insulting one another. >> at least 35, 40. >> golf clubs, baseball bats, two by fours. they jump out of the daughter. >> i can't say what all is going on. but i see so much brutality, you know, just meanness and hatred. and these are kids. >> this is just the latest in the string of violence involving kids in the chicago area. bev within reporting on this really since january here. at least 47 school-age kids have been killed. most of them died from gunshots. remember this story about a boy, he was beaten to death at a bus stop several weeks ago. after that happened, the

president sent members of the c cabinet to chicago. autopsies scheduled in the bodies of three half marathoners who collapsed and died during the detroit half marathon. 36-year-old daniel langdon collapsed between the 11 and 12-mile markers, and then 65-year-old rick brown went down, and then john finishland collapsed after finishing the 13.1 mile course. race officials say every runner signs a medical release forms and participants are encouraged to talk to their doctors before they race. prior to these deaths, the last death of this half marathon happened in 1994. felony charges may be filed today against richard heene for claiming their 6-year-old son falcon was on board a home made mylar balloon when it floated away from their backyard last thursday afternoon. larimer county sheriff now says the entire incident was a publicity student stunt dreamed

up by richard heene. this past weekend, authorities interviewed the family separately and gathered more evidence to prove the whole thing was a hoax. the couple's attorney, david lane, says his clients did take a polygraph test, but he claims the result of that test don't really matter. >> yeah. the sheriff put both of them on a box, and they have not shared with us whether or not they passed or failed. i have said that polygraph evidence is inadmissible in colorado courtrooms for a reason, and that is it's generally unreliable under the law. >> over the weekend, officials searched heene's home for computer, phone records, and other potential evidence, and lane, that attorney says his clients are upset by the investigation, and that they would voluntarily turn themselves in, if necessary. >> his state of mind is what you would expect someone's state of mind to be after law enforcement has searched your house, seized your property, held a press conference announcing you're

about to be charged with felony criminal charges. your state of mind would be rather upset, and you would feel somewhat under siege. which is exactly how the family feels at this point. >> well, the sheriff says authorities are also concerned about the safety of the heenes' three children. he says officers responded to a 911 call from the home earlier this year that suggested some type of domestic violence. but in that case, no charges were filed. and we want to hear your views on this. here's some of the questions we're asking. what actions should authorities take in this case. should the heenes be prosecuted and if this is proven to be a hoax, should the couple have to pay the costs for all those rescue efforts from last thursday. give us a call, 1-877-tell hln. send us an e-mail, cnn.com/hln. text your views and comments and your name to hlntv. standard text rates do apply. the white house says it has a new plan to keep thousands of people from becoming homeless. the details are still coming out, but here's what we know so

far. it has two parts. first, a bond purchase program that would reduce mortgage lending that could help some people buy a home. and for those who cannot afford to buy, a temporary credit and liquidity program could help fund housing agencies. lawmakers back at work on health care reform today, back on the hill. democrats behind closed doors trying to nail down this final bill. the goal is that the bill will get to the full senate this week, but there is still a lot of work to do, they say. lawmakers have to turn five separate versions into one bill that will then make it through congress. a 17-year-old pilot walked away, virtually unharmed, from a fiery plane crash over the weekend, and just in time, too. witnesses say the plane burst into flames. there's the aftermath. burst into flames, seconds after this pilot crawled out of there. the teen reportedly had trouble just after takeoff. his plane snapped a power pole and slammed into the road. >> absolutely amazing.

never seen anything like that before. and immediately, my mother yells out, call 911! so we saw a number people running over to the the plane, and i began to yell at them, saying get away, because you know it's going to explode! and about 15 seconds later, it exploded. >> amazingly, the pilot who by the way is just a senior in high school, walked away, minor injuries. hurricane rick getting weaker, but it could still slam into mexico's pacific coast. the storm now a category 2 hurricane. been downgraded today. hurricane watch still issued for baja, california, and forecasters predict it will keep losing strength as it gets closer to western mexico, but still say the storm could be dangerous. if medical marijuana is legal in their state, soon pot-smoking patients won't have to worry about the feds coming after them.

want to take you back out to colorado, and look at some of these pictures here. this was this fire burning in downtown estes park. a lot of smoke and fire. flames shot through the roof of a building that was a small shopping mallment at least four departments responded to this. it was not clear how it started, but fortunately, no one was hurt. president obama made a visit to a silver spring, maryland school today. he stopped by meresville elementary and met with some excited students during their lunch period. wonder if he stopped and ate their square pizza. the school has been celebrated for closing the achievement gap. he chose that school because it is a great example of how much

improvement a school can make. a huge shift in the way the government produces marijuana. the justice department is saying not to go after people who use medical medical marijuana, as long as it's legal in their state. the same for the suppliers. the justice department, though, says it is not a good use of federal manpower. in total, 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes. we heard it was supposed to conduct scientific experiments, and now we know it could not have carried the little boy, the balloon boy that everyone is calling him that we thought was trapped inside. so what exactly was that balloon that captured everyone's attention last thursday? let's go to cnn.com/live, reggie akey who has this upclose look around and inside of it. i'm curious. i've heard about the video. haven't seen it. it's jim spellman, right, reggie? >> yeah, jim spellman is the journalist who but this together. let me break it down for you,

brook. it's a piece of junk, okay? >> oh, no. >> can you say scotch tape? because that's what jim fallon as he was looking at this thing -- we'll roll the video. when you're watching live on hln or cnn.com/live, it looked impressive from a distance. it doesn't up close. as you can see jim pointing to it, it could not have taken off with the weight of a 6-year-old boy, all right? we got a tour of this balloon as the county officials put it out for inspection. and it's shoddy, okay? the material appears to look like aluminum foil. in addition to the scotch tape, it's also patched up with duct tape. now, when you go inside of it, and then you can see inside, it's only a couple of -- actually three nine-volt batteries, so no high-tech electronic equipment. officials filled up a bucket of 37 pounds of sand to see if it could carrie the weight of of the boy, falcon, and it couldn't. to see the whole video, go to cnn.com/video and is look it up. and as you can see, it just

looks like the inside of a giant jiffy pop. >> all smoke, mirrors and scotch tape. let's go to dubai -- i would really like to go to dubai, but what do you build across from the world's largest shopping mall? the world's tallest building, naturally. >> i'll go with you. this thing is enormous many how enormous, you ask? well, it's like putting the statue -- sorry, it's like putting the empire state building on top of the empire state building. you could have several statue of liberties fail this space. it will be the world's largest building, and called the burge dubay, set to open in december. we're talking 167 floors, 1,000 feet higher than the current world's tallest building, which is in taiwan, the thai pai 101 tower. it's going to include a 12,000 room hotel, and condo unit. can you believe that? >> no. >> and the world's fastest elevator. you know, of course, as you mention, dubai has been doing a

lot of things big recently. home of the biggest mall as you say, hotel, bridge, home of the biggest fountain, biggest candy shop. it's basically a guinness book of world records all in one city. however, dubai is not immune to the recession. 13 surrounding buildings plans have been scrapped as demand drops. i guess you would need the world's fastest elevator. >> it totally makes sense. i'm not afraid of heights, but that makes my stomach squirm a little. >> i'm a little afraid of heights so i'm with you in the gift shop. >> we'll go, just not to the top. thanks, reggie, good to see you. >> you're welcome. let's look at amazing video of this bus smashing into an suv in new mexico. look at this. the bus couldn't stop inside when the suv went through a light to make a turn. so, yeah, that's the suv and bus. partially, at least. officials say video from seven different cameras inside the bus show the bus driver is not at fault. but it did take two hours to get the suv's driver out. wow. the shockingly, he does not have

any life-threatening injuries. the president of the mal deafs went to great depths held a cabinet meeting under water. it's a group of islands in the indian ocean. look at them. its president says global warming may leave his country submerged. ministers signed a document calling for all countries to reduce carbon emissions. it is time yet again for your little angels to turn into ghosts and goblins. but one of the costumes popular this halloween might not be very scary at all. in fact, it's making a lot of people down ride mad.

a third person now has died after spending time in that sweat lodge in arizona. a 49-year-old woman apparently had damage to multiple organs. the sweat lodge was at a retreat run by self-help author james arthur ray. authorities are investigating the deaths, three as homicides. ray says he has hired his own investigators to find out what happened. afghanistan facing a crisis that really could impact whether

we send in more u.s. troops there. two officials told the "associated press" that enough ballots were thrown out to trigger a runoff in afghanistan's august presidential election. they say they have seen the results of the ballot fraud investigation. the white house says it cannot decide on troops until that investigation gets worked out. >> the question does not come, how many troops you send, but do you have a credible afghan partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services the afghan people need? >> afghan president hamid karzai is on the ballot and will not accept the report made public, but his main challenger says karzai is influencing the process. karzai denies that. so americans, what do we think about the recent events in afghanistan? some people are calling it president obama's personal vietnam war, and we're seeing some new numbers here. take a look. according to a new cnn opinion research corporation poll, 52% of americans say afghanistan has

turned into another vietnam. 46% disagree. another big topic, sending more troops into afghanistan. nearly 60% there of people polled are against that idea. recently, the head of u.s. operations in afghanistan was talking about sending in 10 to as many as 40,000 u.s. troops. take your reusable shopping bastion to target and they will give you a 5 cent discount for every one you use. that is good news in a bad economy. target said in a pilot program, shoppers use 58% fewer bastion, according to "usa today", cbs giving bonuses to people who do not take a plastic bag. the programs have the potential to keep billions of plastic bags out of landfills and oceans. all right. this is a little morbid, but one industry being hurt by the recession, cemeteries. this is on the front page of "usa today" here.

big reason they say, more people are opting for cremation, because it is cheaper, about $3,000. a full funeral can cost you more than twice that. a new online music service coming here from europe. hln money expert clark howard tells you why this free website claims to be different than the competition. >> do you know someone who is a thief? could it be you? do you steal music? so many people, young old and in between, who would never, ever steal from a store, would never shoplift, would never hold somebody a store, would never shoplift, never hold somebody up, think nothing of stealing music. it's just as wrong as any other kind of theft. but it's clear in the marketplace that people are not going to pay for music even if it's legal because they've gotten so used to getting music illegally. so, no there's something that is coming to the united states, and i can't wait until they launch here.

it's been a big hit in europe. from when it launched last year already 5 million people have signed up for it. and with it in return for a dealing with ads, you get unlimited music for free. how about that? free and legal. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to stay on the right side of your wallet go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> you can get great consumer advice. spend more, save less, and avoid getting ripped off. immigrant rights activists do not want you to buy two popular halloween costumes this year. the groups are asking stores and websites to stop selling illegal alien costumes. one includes a mask, a prison jump suit and a green card. the other shows one with a

handlebar mustache and baseball cap. target has removed the costumes after some of the complaints have come forward at the leader of a group that opposes illegal immigration says the only people getting upset are being overly sensitive. a justice of the peace who refused to marry an interracial couple says he's no racist. the new response from the couple at the center of the controversy. and a college is hoping the new dress code will be uplifting, so to speak. the policy bans saggy pants and pajamas. but does it promote homophobia. 

were your duped? a colorado sheriff is calling the whole balloon boy episode a sham. criminal charges are expected. so, what do the heenes have to say for themselves now? on the front lines of ending

dogfighting right along with authorities who shut down a massive operation in georgia. and new rules for medical marijuana. what it means for pot smoking patients and their suppliers. here's the latest from hln news and views. i'm richelle carey. hope you're having a good day. got some news for you. the felon charges are expected to be filed against richard heene some time this week. this is for claiming their 6-year-old son was on board a homemade mylar balloon you saw floating around colorado it started off in the backyard thursday afternoon. larimer county sheriff jim aldermen says the entire incident was a publicity stunt dreamed up by richard in hopes of landing a reality tv show. the couple's attorney says his clients took a polygraph test. he says he doesn't know the results. still he says the heenes are willing to turn themselves in if that's what is nels.

>> they're may clients. i've heard a lot from them. yeah, at this point -- and obviously this is something the public rolls their eyes at, but the presumption of innocence should be given to them. the sheriff having a press conference saying they're guilty does not make them so. >> reporter: the parents say this was not a hoek. they could face charges including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and attempting to influence a public servant. authorities also plan to seek restitution. payback for all the costs of this wild goose chase. one defense attorney says the heenes probably won't be convicted on any of these criminal counts. >> if you look back on the history of hoaxes and publicity stunts, very rarely are people prosecuted. p.t. barnum would have spent his entire career in prison. when the publicity and the media

moves away i think you'll be left with a misdemeanor charge here filing a false police report. >> they're also talking to heene's former research assistance. they paid thomas for an interview to talk about the two months he worked with heene. he said he had been working on a publicity stunt involving a weather balloon because he wanted a reality tv show. he says the original proposal did not involve the children. the heene's neighborhood has been a hot zone for a lot of media attention. some neighbors feel betrayed by the turn of events. >> i hugged woman. i was there after the press conference. she seemed generally frightened and relieved her son had been found. then watching the news today -- and hearing it's a hoax.

everyone is angry over that. everyone is angry. >> we'll share some of your views on this story in a few minutes. police in texas believe a missing 3-year-old boy is in grave danger. they want the public to keep an eye out for him. this is mitchell romero. he's believed the to have been abducted by their father. they think they're in a red or maroon 2004 gmc yukon. that's the father. 34-year-old mario romero. he's wanted for questioning in the killing of mitchell's mother. beverly hills doctor who gave fertility treatment drugs to octo-mom nadya suleman has been kicked out of a group. they expelled the doctor for several violations, not just one patient.

the doctor implantsics semibree o -- implanted six embryos in suleman. the doctor hasn't commented so far. a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition after she was beaten in a street fight in chicago. this street fight may have involved up to 25 people. four people have been been charged in the attack and will appear next monday. witnesses say all the fighting started because people were talking trash, insulting each other. this is the late nest a string of violence involving kids in the chicago area. since january, 47 school-aged kids have been killed. university of connecticut is mourning a star football player and soon to be dad. an autopsy says 20-year-old jasper howard died from a single stab wound to the stomach. this happened after a fire alarm went off at a dance. just after midnight.

hundreds of people spilled out into the street, then a fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. he had just called his mom to say he was given the game winning ball for the victory over louisville. >> he was a good kid. i never had problems with him. he was going what i asked him to do. i never had no problems from him. none. >> police say the stabbing was not a random act. they have not name ad suspect so far. autopsies scheduled on the bodies of three half marathoners who drapsed and died.

then 65-year-old rick brown went down. a minute after that 26-year-old john finland collapsed just after finishing the 13.1 mile course. race officials say every runner signs one of those million release forms. they encourage anyone who wants to run the race to talk to a doctor first. before this. the last death, this event was in 1994. a south georgia man is accused of animal cruelty after a massive dogfighting raid. we have the exclusive video.

a private investigation firm wrapped up the largest dogfighting raid ever. it give us exclusive access to the video. the video is very tough to watch. going to tell you that up front. let's check in with brooke baldwin. she joins us with the details.

how did this come to be that a private investigative firm got involved with this? >> really michael vick. two years ago after the michael vick story broke this guy who runs a private investigation firm says i want to think of something to do to help dogs who might be involved in possibly fighting or bred to fight. that's how it came about. they've been planning this raid in south georgia for the last year they told me. we were able to go along with them ahead of time. this is video of some of the dogs. they counted and tagged 97 dogs. they thought it would be maybe 45 dogs. that was a surprise to them. a lot of them were puppies they found if the woods. they are being bred to fight. take a listen. >> who has 40 to 60 pit bulls chained up out in the woods on chains with barrels for houses

and calls them pets? nobody. anybody who believes that they're either an idiot or i got a bridge i'll sell them. >> tough talking. the guy, monte lloyd, he's the property owner. he he had been arrested. he was charged with felon animal cruelty. he's posted bond. >> this is incredibly top secret. they went to extremes to keep this top secret for a long, long time. explain how they finally let you in on it. >> they did. we got the call. you've got to go. going on this dog raid. i didn't know where in georgia i was going. couldn't make the hotel reservations until the night before. it was that top secret. the fear is the information could leak out even by telling cnn. we had to be so careful not to show our gear. we are not in a marked car.

the guy who owns the land is a big guy in the county. the fear is he could move the dogs. they told us where the property was. it was top, top secret for a good reason. >> they've moved the dogs before. >> serious stuff. >> these people are professionals. >> where can people see the full story? >> 8:00 tonight on cnn. campbell brown. thank you for sharing that with us. a fight in pennsylvania, 150 miles northwest of philadelphia, left a man dead last year. prosecutors say he was an undocumented mexican immigrant walking with his fiancee who is white. they say it proves hatred towards latinos exist still in communities. >> two days after being attacked by high school football players,

luis died. >> do you think about the way he died? >> every day. >> crystal was his fiancee. >> i think about seeing him in the hospital bed. and i mean -- i don't wish that on my worst enemy. i've never been so scared in my life. >> this town has a reputation for being a melting pot. when you look at all the different people who marched on heritage day. the irish, germans. >> for years and years and years people have come here from other countries. lately if you come from countries more down south like mexico and that, they seem to target you more. i don't understand why. . it's only been ten years since the hispanics started moving up here. >> you know, i've been called a

speck, a brown -- they throw the nasty words at you. you know. >> carlos is from puerto rico. an american citizen. >> to them you're considered a mexican. it don't matter. you're a mexican. >> there were multiple eyewitnesss the to the attack on luis ramirez. they knew and could identify the attackers. still, it would take authorities nearly two weeks to announce charges against four local teenagers. brandon was an honor student. another derrick, the former high school quarterback. collin ran attack and got straight a's. all considered good kids. two were charged with murder. all four with assault. and ethnic intimidation. a hate crime. they faced decades in prison.

>> they'll take a closer look at how latinos are changing and reshaping politics, businesses, schools and churches.

we've been telling you about the balloon boy saga. the sheriff of larimer county, colorado, says now it was a hoax. we want to hear your views on this. you've been responding. a lot of responses. what action do you think authorities should take? let's get to the phones. cory is calling us from north carolina. let her rip, corey. >> how is it going? >> great. how are you? >> caller: not bad.

i absolutely agree they should be punished. we need to look at the whys of how this happened. they were only caring about fame. not taking into consideration the long-term effects. they already appeared on "wife swap" once. they're really not considering long term effects of what that would have on not only the family dynamic but the psyche to the children themselves. they should be punished. but we should also take a closer look at tlc and what they're casting and calling entertainment, following people like jon and kate. >> you're talking about the reality show machine that people want to do anything to be a part of. >> okay, corey. >> caller: we need to reassess what they say. >> corey, appreciate your thoughts. got to move on. thanks for your passion. get to connecticut.

david is calling from connecticut. david, go for hit. >> caller: what i first think should happen to the heene family is counseling. the people need hip definitely as far as they have to be responsible for their actions and have to understand that let's try to get the right counseling people. let the media know these people are getting the counseling. there's criminal charges that should happen. at least get some help first. >> thank you for your phone call. got a lot of facebook comments as well. if you're ever on facebook. search richelle carey, hln. the heenes should pay a fine and seek professional help. like what our last caller, david, in connecticut said. he said the kids are the innocent ones. and marie says this --

and sharon feels this way -- do we have time for our last caller? okay. sorry about that. plenty of time. though. keep calling. sending your texts and facebook comments. let's move on right now. what do americans think about the recent events in afghanistan? some people are calling this president obama's personal vietnam. according to a new cnn opinion research poll 52% of americans say afghanistan has turned into another vietnam. 60% of people polled are against sending more troops to afghanistan. recently the head of u.s. operations in afghanistan asked

for 40,000 more troops. afghanistan is facing a crisis that could impact whether more u.s. troops get sent there. two officials told the associated press enough ballots were thrown out to trigger a runoff in afghanistan's august presidential election. they say they've seen the results of the ballot fraud investigation. the white house says it can't decide on troops until that gets worked out. >> the question does not come how many troops you send. but do you have a credible afghan partner for the process to provide the security and the type of services that the afghan people need? >> president karzai is on the ballot. his spokesperson says he won't commit to accepting the fraud report until it's made public. a huge shift in the way the government polices marijuana. the justice department is telling federal prosecutors not to go over patient who is use medical marijuana as long as it's legal in their state. the same goes for their

suppliers. in a three-page amendment the justice department says it's not a good use of federal manpower. 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes. people with ij stage multiple sclerosis could be denied access to florida hospitals if there's a massive flu outbreak. it also says doctors may take people off ventilators if others who have a better chance of survival need them. colorado police say the heene family is full of hot air.

the university of connecticut is mourning a star football player and soon to be dad. an autopsy finds 20-year-old jasper howard died from a single stab wound in the stomach. this all happened after a fire alarm went off at a dance at the

student center just after midnight. the student center. this was on campus. hundreds of people spilled out into the street. then a fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. he had just called his mother to say he was given the game winning ball from the school's victory over louisville. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school and get an education. and he was going what i asked him to do. i never had no problems out of him. none. >> police say the stabbing was not a random act. they have not named any suspects so far. we have this just in from chicago. prosecutors have dropped the first-degree murder charge against one of the teens accused of beating an honor student to death. after school last month. 18-year-old eugene bailey has been released from custody.

three other teens are facing charge miss the attack on derrion albert. also another vicious attack. a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition after she was beaten in a street fight that may have involved at least 25 people. witnesses say the fight started after people were trash talking each other. >> golf clubs, baseball bats 2x4s. >> i see so much maneness. and these little kids. >> since january at least 47 school-aged kids have been killed in chicago. most have died from gunshots.

autopsies scheduled on the bodies of three half marathonerses. 15 minutes later 65-year-old rik brown went down. a minute after that 26-year-old john finland collapsed after finishing the 13 pbt 1 mile course. race officials say every runner must sign a medical release form and encourage participants to talk to a doctor before entering a race. police in texas believe a missing 3-year-old boy is in serious or even grave danger. they want the public to keep an eye out. mitchell romero is believed to have been abducted by his father. they're believed to be in a red or maroon 2004 gmc yukon. both pictures on the screen. 34-year-old mario romero is wanting for questioning in if

death of mitchell's mother. >> felon charges expected to be filed against richard heene this week for claiming their 6-year-old son was on board a homemade mylar balloon when it floated away from their backyard. still can't believe that when you say it. larimer county sheriff now says the entire incident was a publicity stunt dreamed up by richard because he want ad reality tv show. this weekend authorities interviewed the families separately and gathered more evidence it was a hoehoax. they say the results of the polygraph doesn't really matter. >> the sheriff put both of them on a box. they have not shared with us whether or not they passed or failed. i have said that polygraph evidence is inadmissible in colorado courtrooms for a

reason. that is it's generally unreliable under the law. >> officials searched the home looking for computer records, phone records and other potential evidence. he says his clients are upset by the investigation but would voluntarily turn yourself in. >> his state of mind is what you would expect someone's state of mind to be f. your state of mind would be rather upset and ud feel under siege. he says officers responded to a 911 call earlier this year that suggested domestic violence. no clarjs were ever filed. tonight get joy behar's take on what authorities say was a hoax.

it starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific time tonight on hln news and views. the white house says it has a new plan to keep thousands of people from becoming homeless. it has two parts. a bond purchase program to boost mortgage lending. that could help people, some of them, buy a home. for those who can't afford to buy a temporary credit and liquidity program could help. democrats are behind doors to try to fail down a final bill. the the goal is to get it to the full senate this week. there's still a lot of work to do. lawmakers have to turn five different versions from house and senate committees into one bill that can make it through congress. there's a lot of work to do. a 17-year-old pilot walked away basically unharmed from a fiery crash. the small plane burst into flames seconds after he crawled

out. the teen was having trouble after fake taking off. >> absolutely amazing. never seen anything like that before. midly my mother yells out call 911. we saw a number of people running over to the plane. i began to yell at them. say get away. you know it's going to explode in about 15 seconds later it exploded. this pilot s just a senior in high school and has only minor injuries. hurricane rick is getting weaker. the storm is now a category 2 hurricane. a hurricane watch has been issued for southern baja, california. forecasters predict it will keep losing strength but warn it could still be a dangerous storm. many medical marijuana is legal in their states, soon they won't have to worry about the feds coming after them.

police are talking about a virginia tech student, she was last seen on october 17th at a concert with her friends. let's listen right now. >> she's a junior majoring in education. she went to james madison university. john paul jones arena for the concert. that was the last seen of her. if anyone has seen morgan or a young lady matching this description, after october 17th, which was saturday night, should report it to the police.

she most likely will not have any identification or cell phone with her. in addition to that, please from the media, honor whatever wishes the family has of you. whether on camera or off camera. our job is not only to locate morgan but also to provide support for the family. she was reported missing yesterday at 12:30 by her father, dan herrington. that's when law enforcement became involved in the investigation. currently the investigation is a missing person investigation only. i will allow them to step up and say whatever they want to. they will entertain questions within the parameters that i have given you.

>> we freesht the help of the police. we've really been very impressed by their thoroughness and professionalism and kindness they have shown us since this all started. i would like to say if morgan is out there and hears us, please come home. and if someone has morgan, please let her go. come home safely. morgan is a great kid. this is very atypical behavior. she's a wonderful person. i was expecting her to come home yesterday afternoon to study with her for a math test she has tomorrow. we want to show you -- this is the picture of morgan that is most typical of what she looks like. relative to what you've seen on the website.

here's another picture of morgan. the third picture. again, if anyone has seen morgan, either in a store or by the road after the concert, anyone that looks like morgan, please notify the police. that would be helpful to all of us. >> hi, i'm morgan herrington's mom. she's as beautiful inside as she is outside. she has family and friends that love her and miss her. if there's any information that anyone can offer, we would appreciate you contacting police. we're pretty distraught with her absence and want her back home as soon as we can. in time to take the math test

would be fine. we miss our baby. she's our precious daughter. we hope that this attention can help bring her back to our home. thank you very much. >> what's your first name? >> jill. >> are there any follow-up questions that you from the media might have that i may be able to answer? [ inaudible question ] >> since yesterday we've been holding numerous interviews with those who saw morgan the night of the concert. a follow-up is they've asked for our assistance. because we have an abundance of resources beyond just personnel. part of the resources are that we did bring a helicopter in toda today. >> you've been listening to a press conference from clearly distraught parents and

university of virginia police. this is about the young lady there. morgan dana herrington. she was last seen saturday night. she was at a concert with her friends. john paul jones arena at a metallica concert. she got somehow separated by her friends. by sunday her father called to report her missing. this is being considered a missing persons case right now. her father came armed with more pictures of his daughter who he had been planning to study a for a math test with. she is a virginia tech student. 20 years old. she's missing. justice of the peace who refused to marry an interracial couple says he's no racist. more of his explanation and the new response from the couple at the center of the controversy.

a third person has died after spending time in that sweat lodge in arizona.

the 49-year-old woman had damage to multiple organs and was in a coma. the sweat lodge was put up at a retreat run by self help author james arthur ray. authorities are investigating the death as homicides. ray has hired his own investigators to find out what happened. a louisiana justice of the peace says he has no regrets about refusing to marry an interracial couple. the governor and the national urban league say he should be fired from his job. he is standing by his decision. >> i have one problem with marrying mixed race marriages. and that is the offspring. >> if someone would ask you if you were racist, what would you say to that? >> absolutely not. my definition -- of a racist is to hate black people. >> the couple did get their

marriage license in the same parish. now they've hired an attorney to try to get him fired. >> everybody is entitled to their own opinions. he's absolutely wrong on all aspects of his stance. he's saying the only reason he doesn't marry interracial couples is because of the offspring of the marriages. but if it wasn't for interracial couples today. we won have our president. so for him to take that outlook, that's so like 1800s. >> the supreme court tossed out bans on interracial marriages in 1967. making homes more energy efficient and creating times is the goal. alison kosik joins us from the cnnmoney.com newsroom. >> hi, alison.

>> energy first upgrades can cost a lot. with money tight right now, many americans just don't have the extra cash to pay for expensive changes. but the obama administration wants to make it easier. it says making these improvements can reduce home energy use by 40% and cut $21 billion a year from our energy bills. the problem, though, homeowners lack access to information, financing and skilled workers. this new report show at the same time. >> report we're recovery through ret troy fit is a blueprint for creating jobs while also building the economy for tomorrow. the work is there with 130 million homes in the united states generating more than 20% as nancy said of our nation's carbon dioxide emissions, there's plenty of work to go around. >> the challenge with this, richelle, is reducing the high up front costs of energy improvements so more people want to go ahead and make these

changes to their homes. >> so how in the world do you do that, alison? >> well, richelle, this report winds up making a number of recommendations, and one idea is to support municipal financing, and that would allow homeowners to put the cost of energy improvements into their property taxes so they can make monthly payments and not be saddled with those big upfront costs. another recommendation, increase the use of emergennergy efficie mortgages. this rolls the cost of energy efficient improvements into the borrowing cost for the home itself. the report also recommends establishing uniform national standards for training and certifying workers in the energy efficiency business and this is so people will feel more confident the work will be done right. richelle, of course, we'll see how quickly these recommendations are imple ammed and whether they inspire more people to make improvements. >> we will see. alison, thank you so much. you can get much more of today's business news. it's all on cnnmoney.com. check it out.

wall street has been riding the wave of mostly positive quarterly reports lately. investors seem upbeat as they wait for numbers from apple, and also texas instruments. that's going to be later today. so let's check out the big board while we have it up there. up 102 points at 10,099. we'll keep checking that for you. police say a mother was drunk when she crashed her car killing one of seven children inside. an example of what authorities say is an alarming trend.

felony charges are expected to be filed against richard and my ewe mi heene this week. why? for claiming their 6-year-old son falcon was on a homemade mylar balloon when it floated away from their backyard. jim alderdan now says the entire

incident was a publicity stunt dreamed up by richard in the hopes of landing a reality show. the heenes are willing to turn themselves in if necessary. >> they are my clients. i have heard a lot from them, and, yeah, at this point it is something the public rolls their eyes at unfortunately, but the presumption should be given to them, and the sheriff having a press conference saying they're guilty does not make them so. >> the parents deny the balloon flight was a hoax. they could face a series of felony charges including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and attempting to influence a public servant. one defense attorney observing the case says the heenes probably will not be convicted on the criminal counts. authorities do plan to seek restitution for leading law enforcement on what turned out to be a wild goose chase. now, the heenes neighborhood

has really turned into this media hot zone for the past few days. some neighbors say they feel betrayed by this whole turn of events. >> i feel extremely betrayed. i am angry for my kids. you don't upset children, and you don't use your own child to try and benefit yourself. >> the sheriff says authorities are now concerned about the safety and well-being of the three heene children. he says officers responded to a 911 call from the heenes home earlier this year that suggested some type of domestic violence. the welfare of the kids was discussed earlier today on our sister network cnn. >> i think that maybe something pathological going on with this particular family. look, the bottom line is that this family seems to be driven, led by the father, to do anything to get fame, even if it means putting the mental health of their children at risk, and that to me is very, very -- a very bad sign.

>> the thing that i would look at from a standpoint of charges, is it endangering these kids to involve them in a crime? did he sit down with the kids and say, lie to the police about this? and if you involve your kids in the commission of a crime, is that a form of child abuse? i think child protective services in colorado will be looking at that. >> so we just heard from the experts. now it is your turn. here is what we want to know from you. what action should authorities take? should the heenes be prosecuted and if this is actually proven to be a hoax, should the couple have to pay the costs of all those rescue efforts from last thursday? we'll talk to you in just a couple minutes here. meantime, a virginia tech student is missing and police are asking the public for any information that may lead them to her. take a good look here at this picture. this is 20-year-old morgan dana harrington. she was last seen saturday night in charlottesville, virginia, outside a concert at the john paul jones arena. her parents spoke just moments ago.

>> i'd like to say if morgan is out there and hears us, please come home. if someone has morgan, please let her come home safely. morgan is a great kid, and this is a very atypical behavior, and she's a wonderful person and i was expecting her to come home yesterday afternoon after the concert, so she and i could study for a math test that she has tomorrow. >> she is as beautiful inside as she is outside. she has family and friends that love her and miss her. if there's any information that anyone can offer that would help us find her, we would appreciate you contacting the police because as you can tell, we're pretty distraught with her absence and want her back home

as soon as we can. in time to take that math test would be fine because we miss our little baby. she is our precious daughter. we hope that this attention can help bring her back to our home. >> so we are trying to help get the word out here. here is what the police say she was last seen wearing. a black t-shirt with the word pen tara, a black miniskirt, and black knee-high boots. this is a scene we first brought to you two weeks ago has just today led to charges against the driver. police in suburban atlanta say ira strong lied to them about how he drove into a sinkhole after a day of heavy rain. he claimed the area wasn't properly marked because the orange barrels blocking the sinkhole were too far apart. but a witness who saw the story on tv called police to say he saw strong drive up on a curb and the sidewalk, get around the barrels before the car fell into the sinkhole. strong is now charged with obstruction and tampering with

evidence and failure to drive in a single lane. the beverly hills doctor who gave drugs to octo mom has been kicked out of a professional group. they expelled her doctor for several violations. he implanted six embryos. that is more than the national guidelines specify. the doctor has not yet commented. prosecutors in chicago have now dropped the first-degree murder charge against one of the four teenagers accused of this beating of an honor student at that bus stop to death after school last month. 18-year-old eugene bailey has now been released from custody, but still three other teenagers are facing charges in this attack on dareon albert that was caught on cell phone. meanwhile, in another incident in chicago a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition after she was beaten in a street fight

that might have involved at the minimum here they say 25 people. four people have been charged in that attack. they will appear in court next month. witnesses say the fight started after people started hurling insults at one another. >> at least 35, 40. >> golf clubs, baseball bats, they jump at the car. >> i can't say what all is going on, but i see so much, you know, just meanness and hatred. and these are kids. >> kids happening again in chicago. since last january at least 47 school-age kids have been killed in chicago, most of them died from gunshots. the university of connecticut mourning a star, a star football player, and soon to be dad. an autopsy says 20-year-old jasper howard here died from a single stab wound to the stomach. this all happened saturday night after this fire alarm went off at a dance in the student center.

hundreds of people spilled into the street. some kind of fight broke out. howard and another student were stabbed. howard died. apparently he had just phoned his mom to tell her he was given the game-winning ball from the school's victory over louisville. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was go to school and get an education, and he was doing what i asked him to do. never had no problems out of him. none. >> police say the stabbing was not a random act, but still no suspect has been named. and authorities are scheduled to talk today more and perform these autopsies on the bodies of three half marathoners who collapsed and died during the half marathon there in detroit. 36-year-old daniel langdon collapsed between the 11 and 12 mile markers and then 15 minutes later 65-year-old rick brown went down.

a minute after that 26-year-old jon fenlon collapsed just after finishing the course. race officials say every runner has to sign a medical release form, participants are encouraged to talk to their doctors before the race. prior to these three deaths, the last death happened in 1994. a college is hoping its new dress code has an uplifting effect on its students, as in lifting those pants up. taking a stand against saggy pants, public pajamas, and other even more surprising types of attire.

we have been talking all day long about the balloon boy saga that the sheriff of larimer county, colorado, is now calling a hoax. we have been wanting to hear from you, your views on this. what action do you think authorities should take. let's go to the phones and start with bonnie in colorado where this whole thing happened last thursday. bonnie, what do you think? >> caller: well, i definitely think that the parents should have to pay for any of the

charges that they accrued from the rescue attempt of this little boy. our local news is reporting that this could be upwards of $100,000, and i also think that the children -- if they find that the parents should go to prison, i think they should, and maybe the children would be better off being raised by another family member who knows -- who knows what the dad did to traumatize falcon. >> child protective services from what i understand have been called in. bonnie, thank you. want to go to cindy in las vegas. cindy, did you watch this? and what do you think? >> caller: yes, i did watch it, and regardless of charges or future charges or no charges at all, i think they should be banned from future television shows reality or otherwise because they would still be getting media coverage. the whole point of the stunt was to get airtime. unless they're stopped from going on television, ultimately they still win. >> that was apparently his goal

as he explained, to perhaps be in a reality tv show. cindy, thank you. andy in north carolina. andy, a lot of questions about the kids and whether or not richard and his wife should be paying for the rescue efforts. >> caller: well, not only, too, do i think they should be responsible for paying. also as a survivor, a victim of childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, i see some real signs that are obvious and with the father and especially the young son that when he got sick, like bonnie just mentioned, and i think they really need to look -- delve into this a lot deeper. i'm appalled and as a survivor and this is something as a country we need to take more note of. >> unbelievable. andy, thank you for calling and speaking up. also getting a lot of comments on richelle carey's hln facebook page on the subject. let's look at what some of the posts say. we have one from damon who wrote, their neighbors should build a helium balloon big

enough to put the parents down, tie them down in it, and let it go. when it gets to 10,000 feet, pop a hole in it while their kids watch. wow. lynn writes in and says i hope they throw the book of a these people to deter others from doing the same. to think of the money, resources, and energy used to rescue this boy and then find him makes me very angry. let's go with a little poetry. there once was a family named heene whose behavior was remember obsceny. their focus is fame but it's rather inane and i feel rather duped by their scheme. thank you all for writing in, calling, appreciate it. as always, we want to hear from you. "prime news" starts at the top of the hour with more topics you can comment on. check them out at cnn.com/primenews. tonight get joy behar's take on what authorities say was all a hoax. we're still talking about this. could the entire bizarre about loon boy incident be staged by

the heene family? the joy behar show starts at 9:00 eastern and pacific time on hln "news and views." louisiana justice of the peace says he has zero regrets after refusing to marry an interracial couple. the governor and the national urban league say this man, keith bardwell, should be dismissed from his job. but he is standing by his decision. >> i have one problem with marrying mixed race marriages, and that is the offspring. >> if someone would ask you, if they said are you racist, what would you say to that? >> absolutely not. my definition of a racist is to hate black people or treat black people different than anybody else. >> bardwell, you heard him, worries that children of interracial couples could face hardship and would not be accepted by either whites or blacks. he said he, quote, didn't want

to put the children in that position. the couple got their license from another justice of the peace. >> everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but he's absolutely wrong on all aspects of his stance. he's saying that, you know, the only reason he doesn't marry interracial couples is dealing with the -- because of the offspring of the marriages. but if it wasn't for interracial couples today, we wouldn't have our president. so for him to take that outlook, that's still like 1800s or something. >> the u.s. supreme court tossed out bans on interracial marriage back in 1967. and an all-male college is telling students not to wear dresses on comp puce. this

the historically black private school in atlanta cracking down on what it calls inappropriate attire. other no-nos include sagging pants, no mouth grills, no do-rags, and no pajamas in public. >> this is again about the morehouse legacy and about the morehouse tradition and our young men preparing themselves to be the leaders they are. >> i understand where they're coming from. at the same time some things are restricting us from just being ourselves. >> so what is the school saying? the rep says the cross dressing ban is aimed only at a handful of students and those students found breaking the code have to change their clothes before going back to class. some morehouse alumni include martin luther king, jr., spike lee, and sam sul uel l. jackson. imagine being kicked out of the hospital because someone else may need the bed.

how about this? a huge shift in the way the government polices marijuana. the justice department is

telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients who use medical marijuana as long as it's legal in their state. and the same holds true for the suppliers. but the justice department says it is not good use of federal manpower. 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes. some people with incurable cancer or instage muflt approximately sclerosis could be denied access to florida hospitals if there's a massive flu outbreak. that is from a draft plan that a nonprofit news agency got their hands on from the state and gave to the "sun sentinel." it also says doctors may take people off ventilators if others who have a better chance of surveyal needs them. the power of social networking shows in the ruts of a twitter campaign to beat cancer. they set out to raise a penny for every tweet sent with the identifying mark known as a hash tag followed by the words beat

cancer. 209,000 tweets were sent in a 24-hour period. $70,000 was raised. it's still a trending topic on twitter. and stocks kicked off an earnings-filled week with a pretty nice rally good. alison kosik is at the business desk in new york with a wrap of the trading day and the news of a freebie that one company is offering during the holiday season. good to see you. >> good to see you, brooke. stocks built on last week's gains as investors were optimistic. earns have topped forecasts around 79% of the time and investors are expecting more of the same. more than 130 of the s&p 500 companies are scheduled to report this week. taking a look at the numbers now, the dow industrials adding 96 points to close at 10,092. the nasdaq composite and the s&p 500 both gaining almost 1%. and those gains and a weaker dollar push oil prices higher

for the eighth straight day. crude settled above $79 a barrel, the highest level in a year. earnings are expected to set the tone on wall street tomorrow with caterpillar, coca-cola, dupont, and pfizer all set to police report. and just in time for the holidays. virgin america is partnering with google to offer free inflight wi-fi from november 15th through january 11th. in may virgin started offering inflight internet access on every flight. the airline estimates that 12% to 15% of its guests use the service and it's normally available for $12.95 for flights of more than three hours and $5.95 for flights less than 90 minutes.

want to begin this half hour with more on the search for a missing virginia tech student and a tearful plea from parents to the public for any information that might lead police to her. take a good look with me at this young lady. there's a picture, her dad is holding it. 20-year-old morgan dana

harrington was last seen saturday night in charlottesville, virginia, outside of a concert. her parents spoke out a short time ago. >> i'd like to say if morgan is out there and hears us, please come home. if someone has morgan please let her come home safely. morgan is a great kid, and this is a very atypical behavior, and she's a wonderful person and i was expecting her to come home yesterday afternoon after the concert so she and coy stui couy for a math test that she has tomorrow. >> she is as beautiful inside as she is outside. she has family and friends that love her and miss her. if there's any information that anyone can offer that would help us find her, we would appreciate

you contacting the police because as you can tell we're pretty distraught with her absence and want her back home as soon as we can. in time to take that bath test would be fine because we miss our little baby. she is our precious daughter, and we hope that this attention can help bring her back to our home. >> you see her picture. police say she was last seen wearing a black t-shirt with the word pantera across the front. she had on a black miniskirt and black knee-ni boots. the university of krath is mou mourning a star football player. autopsy results find 20-year-old jasper howard died of a single stab wound to his stomach. saturday night after a fire alarm went off at a dance at the student center just after midnight, there was a fight that broke out. a bunch of people, hundreds of people spilled out into the streets. howard and another uconn football player were stand.

howard died. >> he was a good kid. i never had no problems with him. all i wanted him to do was to go to school and get an education, and he was doing what i asked him to do. i never had no problems out of him. none. >> you know, before this morning a lot of people might have looked at him as a teammate, as a friend, but ever since he stepped foot on this campus, he were our brother. >> just before he was killed, howard phoned his mom to say he had been given the game-winning ball from the school's victory over louisville. police say the stabbing was not random, but no suspect has been named. prosecutors have dropped the

first-degree murder charge against one of those four teens accused of the beating of an honor student, beating to death of a student after school last month. 18-year-old eugene bailey has been released from police custody, but three other teens are still facing charges here in the attack of derion albert. it was caught on tape on a cell phone camera. in another incident a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition today after she was beaten in a street fight that might have involved as many as 25 people. four people have been charged in that attack. they will appear in court next month. witnesses say the fight started after people started insulting one another. >> at least 35, 40. >> golf clubs, baseball bats, they jump at the car. >> i can't say what all is going on, but i see so much brutal, so much, you know, just meanness and hatred. and these are kids. >> unbelievable. we're talking about chicago. since january 47 school-age kids

have been killed in chicago. most of them died of gunshots. felony charges will -- actually i should say may be filed this week against richard and may ey mayumi heene. the cliff says the entire incident was a publicity stunt dreamed up by the dad in hopes of landing a reality tv show. over the weekend authorities interviewed the family all separately and say they gathered more evidence that it was a hoax. the couple's attorney, david lane, says his clients took a polygraph test but he claims the results don't matter. >> yeah, the sheriff put both of them on a box and they have not shared with us whether or not they passed or failed. i have said that polygraph evidence is inadmissible in colorado courtrooms for a reason, and that is it's just generally unreliable under the law. >> officials did search the

heenes' home over the weekend looking for computer records, phone records, other potential evidence here. the attorney says his clients are upset by the investigation but that they would voluntarily turn themselves in if necessary. >> his state of mind is what you would expect someone's state of mind to be afthas law enforceme has searched your house, seized your property, and held a press conference saying you were about to be charged. >> the sheriff says authorities are concerned about the safety of the heenes three children. he says officers responded to a 911 call from the heenes' home earlier this year. it suggested some type of domestic violence. in that case no charges were filed. coming up tonight, get joy behar's take on what authorities say was all a big hoax. could the entire balloon boy incident been staged by the heene family. "the joy behar show" starts it's

a a 9:00 eastern and pacific. autopsy results are pending on the bodies of those three half marathoners who collapsed and died during the detroit half marathon. a 36-year-old daniel langdon collapsed between the 11 and 12-mile markers yesterday. and then 15 minutes later 65-year-old rick brown went down. and a minute after that, 26-year-old jon fenlon collapsed just after finishing the 13.1 mile course. race officials say every runner has to sign a medical release form. participants are encouraged to talk to their doctors before they race. prior to this the last death in that event happened back in 1994. and lawmakers back on capitol hill, busy, busy. working out health care reform. democrats are now behind closed doors to try to nail down a final bill. the goal is to get the final bill to the full senate this week, but there is still a lot of work to do they say. lawmakers have to turn five different house and senate committee versions into one bill

that will then make it through congress. the white house has this new plan to help thousands of potential home buyers out there. the federal program has two different parts. first, a bond purchase program is designed to boost mortgage lending to help some people buy a home. the program also establishes temporary credit and liquidity sources for local housing agencies. and if medical marijuana is legal in their state, why pot smoking patients soon will not have to worry about the feds coming after them.

currently afghanistan is facing a crisis that could impact whether we send in more u.s. troops there. two officials told the associate the press that enough ballots

were thrown out to trigger a runoff in afghanistan's august presidential election. they say they have seen the results of the ballot fraud investigation. now, the white house says it can't decide on sending in possibly more troops until that investigation gets ironed out. >> the question does not come how many troops you send, but do you have a credible afghan partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services that the afghan people need. >> president hamid karzai is on the ballot and his spokesman says he will not commit to accepting the fraud report until it's actually made public. his main challenger says karzai is influencing the whole process. karzai denies that accusation. hurricane rick getting a little weaker, but he could still slam into mexico's pacific coast. the storm now downgraded to a category 2 hurricane, a hurricane watch has been issued for southern baja california. forecasters predicting it will keep losing strength as it gets

closer to western mexico, but they warn it could be still a dangerous storm. and a huge shift in the way government polices marijuana. the justice department is telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients who use medical marijuana as long as it's legal in their particular state. the same they say is true tor suppliers. in a three-page memo, the justice department says it is not a good use of federal man power. in total 14 states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes. and, surprise, it's the president. president obama made an unannounce the visit to a silver spring, maryland, school. he met with some excited third and fourth grade students during lunchtime. shaking hands a little bit. the school receives federal poverty aid and has been celebrated for closing the achievement gap between minority children and other students. president obama said he came to the school because it's a great example of how much improvement a school can actually make.

and we heard it was supposed to conduct scientific experiments. now we know it could not have carried the little boy who was trapped inside. what exactly was that balloon that captured everybody attention last thursday afternoon? let's go to cnn.com live's catherine callaway. i know there was some scotch tape and duct tape. not a good balloon does that make. >> that's it. that's all you need to know. scotch tape and duct tape. supposedly carrying a child around in the sky combined with what looks like aluminum file. on our website you can get an up close personal look at the balloon. i wish we knew it at the time when we were all following it floating through the sky. laramie officials, county officials, put it out there for the media to inspect, and our jim spellman took an up close and personal look at it. indeed, there is scotch tape visible, duct tape, and in

addition to that, it is on the inside the so-called -- well, high-tech electronics that were supposedly on the inside amounted to about nine -- three nine volt batteries. but officials also filled it up with 37 pounds of sand to simulate the weight of the young boy that was supposedly inside this balloon. 37 pounds of sand which there was no way the balloon could have lifted off with that. information, it broke apart, but it's interesting to take a look at the video and just see how shoddy the construction was on this thing. >> so awful. >> none of us knew that, did we? >> no, we had no idea. it's interesting to see what it actually is. whole lot of nothing, i guess. >> yes. >> also, catherine, we're talking about a story out of dubai. i hope you don't have a fear of heights because this is looking like a pretty tall building. >> and you better hope there's no shoddy construction on this one because it is amazing. we'll take you to dubai to show you this. we have a full report on t it is

the size of the empire state building stacked on top of the empire state building. you can go to cnn.com and look at the burj dubai. stretches about a half mile into the sky, and that means that it's more than 1,000 feet taller than the current tallest building, which is taiwan's taipei 101 tower. this is a beautiful building, but i don't know about you, brooke, that's frightening to me. i mean, i know you've probably been to the empire state building. imagine two times that. >> i can't imagine. >> and it's a 12,000 hotel and condo units will be there. the world's tallest -- i'm sorry, the world's fastest elevator as well. this area is really known for trying to have the biggest of everything. they have supposedly the world's biggest mall, hotel, bridge, fountain, even the biggest candy shop. it's become very popular there, but this place is phenomenal.

$4 billion to build. >> i was wondering how much. >> took five years. >> wow. >> it's worth seeing, i think. >> great pictures. i love kind of how we go through the time lapse. you can see just how high it gets. great stuff. cnn.com live's catherine callaway. thank you. it is time once again for your little ones to turn into ghouls and goblins. one of the popular costumes this halloween, not so scary. making a lot of people downright mad.

news just minutes away. mike, you're talking more balloon boy drama. >> yes, indeed. >> was it a hoax? >> no big surprise. they're saying they're innocent. still claiming their innocence. no big surprise that a 6-year-old could have uttered the truth with wolf blitzer. remember that interview? did it for the show. we'll hash all this out for you. get the latest on that investigation. talk about the charges that the heene family could face. we'll also talk about family dynamics. how damaging could it be for three little boys who look up to a father to be this kind of hoax. you're teaching them to lie if all this is true. want to hear from you,

1-877-tell-hln. also continue to follow this story, a third death in the sweat lodge tragedy. three people have now died. james ray, self-help guru. is he responsible? what things are investigators looking at? they're ruling these deaths a homicide. you have to look how it was constructed. was there or should there have been medical personnel on hand. more than one nurse for 55 to 60 people? taking your calls on that. also this, i'll give you the headline and want to hear from you. convicted murderers and rapists released early in north carolina. i mean, it's just infuriating just to hear that, brooke, when we have stories like obviously j jaycee lee dugard. love hearing from you. the number 1-877-tell-hln.

e-mail us at cnn.com/primenews or text us. coming your way in ten minutes. >> mike galanos, thank you. the beverly hill doctor who gave fertility treatment drugs to octo mom nadya suleman has been kick out of the american society for reproductive medicine. they expelled the doctor for several violations, not just one patient. the doctor implanted six embryos in suleman, seen here in this video from radar online. that is more they say than the national guidelines specify. the radaron-line. >> it is almost halloween. some immigrant rights activists do not want you to buy two popular halloween costumes. stores are selling illegal alien costumes. one is with an orange prison

guard uniform another has a droopy mustache. >> i reckon it is pretty ruthless, especially along with the mustache. it is over the top. >> for a big corporation to put that out, i think it is not so much. not good. >> there are plenty of halloween costumes. it is bad taste. >> i like this one. the illegal alien. the green card. >> that looks like cheech and chong but an alien. >> that one is beat. the green card. >> that looks like an alien locked up. >> who cares. that is so funny. who cares. >> target removed those costumes from its website. target at the same time will give you a five cent discount for each recycled plastic bag you use.

shoppers use 58% fewer bags. cvs getting in on the action. giving bonuses for people who do not take a plastic bag. the two programs have the potential to keep billions of plastic bags out of oceans. a justice of the peace says he is no racist. a college is hoping its new dress code will be uplifting, so to speak. the policy bans saggy pants and pajamas. critics says one section sends a wrong message. they said it would never last.

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