two sow side car bombings in baghdad have killed at least 74 people and wounded more than 265. one bomb went off outside the governor's building while the other one detonated near iraq's justice ministry. and as many as 20 people died after two trains crashed right into each other outside cairo, egypt, here last night. the wreck may have happened because the first train stopped after hitting a water buffalo. then a second train that was speeding plowed right into the back of the first train. and global warming protesters took to the streets of major cities across the world yesterday. the events with were organized

by a group called 350.org which is looking to reduce global carbon emissions to 350 parts per million. those are some of the stories we're following this morning. welcome back to hln. thanks for joining us. president obama hopes that his declaration of a national emergency will help deal with all the h1n1 cases that just keep popping up. he says that the rates of illness are rising rapidly in many communities in the u.s. and the pandemic could overburdenen health care resources. elaine quijano reports that the president's move is a just-in-case measure but shows how dangerous the virus is. >> reporter: president obama declared a national h1n1 emergency, an ominous sounding name for what officials insist is a purely preemptive move. in the declaring, the president said, the rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden

health care resources in some localities. the declaration is meant to lift that potential burden so if hospitals get overwhelmed with h1n1 patients, they'll be able to bypass bureaucratic requirements like making patients sign certain forms. the goal? to allow doctors and nurses in disaster mode to focus on patients, not paperwork. the declaration comes as millions of americans in 46 states have come down with h1n1. >> the pandemic in april and may we've seen more than 1,000 deaths from pandemic influenza and more than 20,000 hospitalizations in this country. >> reporter: in communities nationwide, including this line that stretched for hours in michigan -- >> two-hour wait for the swine flu shot. >> reporter: -- people are already flooding health care facilities, anxious to get their h1n1 vaccine. >> been trying not to be

paranoid about it, but, got to be aware, be kaushg, be safe, and take advantage of any opportunity that we can. >> but the government acknowledges officials have nowhere near the amount of h1n1 vaccine that manufacturers had predicted they'd have. the shortage is being blamed on problems growing the vaccine, but one top official predicts there will eventually be enough vaccine to meet demand. elaine quijano, cnn, the white house. singer more icy collapsed on stage last night and had to be taken to a hospital. it happened in london after the first song. all meadow officials would say is that morrisey is in stable condition. before his solo career, he was the frontman from the smiths. in 2002, the british magazine named the ban the most influential group ever aside the beatles. a young woman found wandering the streets of new york with no memory of who she

is has been identified. police aren't releasing her name, but her family is on the way from washington state to be united with her. this photo of her was circulated by police and aired on our sister network cnn. a viewer in maryland saw this picture and knew that she had been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. u.n. inspectors are preparing to take their first look into a key iranian fluke clear sight. they arrived in iran today to check the plant near qom. an iranian official says that they want to make sure it's used for peaceful purposes. iran also says it will have an answer next week concerning the nuclear program's proposal. it would have the fuel enriched abroad to ease fear that iran is developing nuclear weapons. check this out. here's one of those what in the world videos. this sheriff's deputy's car ended up dangling from power lines here. witnesses say that it was hit by another car while responding to a call in washington state

yesterday. the impact was so strong it sent the cruiser up a pole. grass fires started right beneath the car. the deputy was able to get out. fortunately, no one was injured. it's really that time of year where your weather can range from still summerlike to cold and snowy. so what can you expect today? meteorologist bonnie schneider joins us with the weekend forecast. >> october is a transitional month. we could get a little bit of everything. one thing we're going to see that we didn't see yesterday are much better conditions for the northeast. after the baseball game yesterday was postponed due to rain, i think it should be fine today in new york. good news for the yankees and ainge aelz. you can see high pressure is pushed in behind this cold front so the front is offshore. that's going to allow much more fair conditions and actually pretty comfortable temperature as well. you mentioned snow, there is know for parts of northern minnesota and northern wisconsin. it won't be long lasting.

temperatures are mostly mild. will we'll see more substantial snow across the west, montana, wyoming, utah, the higher elevations there could see some of the snow accumulating because it is kind of a vigorous storm system. the southwest, though, looking very mild and very, very nice. i want to show you high temperatures today because it may not feel like october everywhere. we have 80 degrees in los angeles but 90 in phoenix. that sounds good. a little cooler in salt lake at 54, 64 in kansas city and as we look toward the east, the forecast is looking good. 63 in washington, d.c., a high today of 58 in boston, and new york, sunny today and 61 kbres. finally, down in florida, still hot in the mooitd-80s for tampa and miami. that's a look at your forecast. have a great weekend. many of you are trying to cut your power bills with new energy saving appliances, but you may not save as much money as the manufacturers actually

claim. money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. hey, jen. >> so the energy star label is supposed to mean that a product saves energy, right the? kind of like a seal of approval from the government? that's why you get tax rebates on them. but there are reports that many of those appliances are not living up to their promises and maybe shouldn't even qualify for the sticker at all. here's "consumer reports" talking with cnn's mary snow. >> in our labs we found it used more energy than it claimed. >> can a manufacturer just put on an energy star sticker if it wants to? >> they're supposed to have the products tested and they do, but they themselves test it. >> they're supposed to have them tested so maybe the question is, can we really trust companies to do their own testing and to really give us not the best-case scenario but the real-case scenario on the sticker? the energy department plans to try and widen independent testing or find some other measures to make sure that companies are measuring

accurately so that sticker gives you a real sense of what that appliance will save you. in the meantime, be careful about paying top dollar for any energy star appliance. may not save you so much money after all. i'm jennifer westhoven looking out for you. >> thanks, jen. you can get more great advice from jennifer on "morning express with robin meade" from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. there is some precious jewelry sitting out there that nobody wants to claim. we're talking diamond rings here, platinum watches. so what happens to it if no one says, hey, that's mine?

this is a little hard to believe, but there are diamonds and jewelry that nobody wants to

claim as their own. they're among some 40,000 items the florida state government auctioned off yesterday. the stuff had been left behind in unclaimed safe deposit boxes and was turned over to the state. some people got themselves a bargain. >> these are early notes, some are fractional notes from the civil war, there are several confederate bills. i save these items for my grandsons for when they get older an they want to go to college. maybe this will be a good investment in their college education. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2,000, but i got it for $1,200. >> thinking about the grandkids. these items also included a 13-carat diamond ring, a platinum watch and other jewelry. a 32-year-old los angeles woman outpuzzled hundreds of people to claim the u.s. national sudoku championship. tammy mccloud solved an advanced puzzle in a little less than

eight minutes to claim the title in philadelphia yesterday. mccloud won 10,000 bucks and a spot on the u.s. world sudoku champion team. the world championship will be held next spring in philadelphia. san francisco city college held a garage sale yesterday to try to save many of its spring classes, as many as possible. california budget cuts forced the school to drop 800 courses. the school wants to raise $25,000, and each course costs the school about 6,000 bucks. here's a check of sports. baseball's world series is dubbed the fall classic, but this year's series may run into the start of winter. the yankees and the ainge aelz were hoping to play game similar of the american league championship series last night in new york, but mother nature was not on board with the game plan. rain and more rain falling in the bronx, putting the kibosh on the giame. it is rescheduled for tonight.

yankees lead 3-2, a win away from the world series. by the way, the series now certain to stretch into november for just the second time in history. pro basketball in the philippines getting violent. check out this player just going off on the guy right there, supposedly the man had been hurling verbal punches at him the entire game. the guy got hammered. he has already filed a lawsuit. meantime, the player was su espned for the rest of the basketball season. and the bad behavior extending to the ice. the carolina hurricanes rutu has been suspended for two games without pay for the vicious hit on colorado's darkcy tucker when sent darcy tucker to the hospital with a concussion. we're not sure when he will play again. r you utu will lose 56,000s in salary. a touching scene at mountaineer stadium in west virginia yesterday. the entire gathering paying tribute to visiting connecticut and the late jasper howard, the huskies star was stabbed to

death a week ago, police still don't know who did it. will west virginia won the game 28 huh-24. finally, the st. louis rams are winless will so their cheerleaders have found another team to root for, the u.s. marines, the ladies paying a visit to afghanistan to perk up the spirits of the guys. you know what? it work. that's a check of sports. atkins, south beach, the zone. you know these diets may help you shed pounds in a hurry, but we're going beyond the surface with dietician keri glassman about how to lose weight. >> people are often tempted by a fad diet but what i always tell people, if a diet sounds too good to be true it absolutely is too good to be true. >> avoid this common mistake. >> skipping meals does not help you lose weight. it can actually help you gain weight. when you skip a meal, you slow down your metabolism. >> and keri says use common

sense. >> even if you're eating nonfat foods there are lots of calories in nonfat foods. you can still easily overconsume those foodsment you still need to eat good portion control. >> here is a tip you might not know. >> sometimes people confuse hunger for thirst. so if you find yourself hungry an hour after you eat, you may just be thirsty. staying hydrated is a very important part to losing weight. who originally came up with hummus? are you wondering? some chefs put in an all-out effort to prove it's was their ancestors' idea.

check out the video here of the fires in puerto rico that an i-reporter sent us. he was flying into san juan last night, and he says that the passengers were really reacting to seeing the flames here in person after reading about the fire for the last couple of days.

he says that some of them were nervous about the flight being over the fire. look at those flames. keep it right here on had ln for the latest on the fire. israeli troops have arrested 12 people in clashes at jerusalem's holiest religious site. the troops used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of pill stinian protesters. police say that the protesters threw stones and a fire bomb at troops. they recently accused israel of digging under the site which israel denies. the site is considered holy by both jews and muslims. turns out senior white house officials were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles. that's a word from the white house, a spokesman who did not say if president obama was alerted. the wayward northwest airlines jet with 144 passengers flew past its minneapolis destination

and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. the faa is investigating this, and one of the pilots publicly denied speculation that the crew was asleep. hurricane katrina devastated new orleans in 2005. lives were lost, families separated, entire neighborhoods destroyed. also victimized were small businesses. and getting those businesses up an running again was vital to the recovery of new orleans. rock and bull, a new orleans institution that opened up in 1941 is one of those businesses. cnn's sean callebs has the story. >> reporter: it's a bowling alley, restaurant, and a place known for its live music. it's also a beacon of light in new orleans and proof that businesses can return and need to. >> my name is john blanchard.

this is my turnaround story. >> reporter: when hurricane katrina destroyed his business, blanchard did what he does best. he went back to work. >> what really helped me turn the thing around, i think was a combination of both my faith, my family, friends, and family, friends, and goodwill. a lot of people have wanted to help me and wanted rock 'n bowl to not die. >> reporter: blancher's family pitched in, so did idea village, a nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs. >> after katrina, we were tasked with going through the community, in the streets, through every single neighborhood to find the true change makers, those entrepreneurs that if we can get their business up and help them start, not only will they create jobs and revenue, but the social impact to what that can mean to our opportunity. >> reporter: blancher and rock 'n bowl fit bill the bill.

$50,000 later and only six weeks after katrina, rock 'n bowl was back in business. six weeks after the storm? >> that first night, 700 people showed up. >> reporter: that first night, john knew his business would make a turnaround. since reopening rock 'n bowl, revenue is up 50% according to blancher, enough to move to this new, more modern location. and while blancher's business has turned around, this hard work has taken a toll. let me see how you fare here. >> this is only the second ball i've thrown here in six months, but we'll see how i go. if i can even stay on my feet. you see? >> reporter: well, you got barack obama tied. sean callebs, cnn, new orleans. major league baseballs might look white, but before they're used, they're rubbed with mud. why the league dirties up the

ball and how the mysterious mud is produced.

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

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

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

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

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

is that they feel comfortable in using. >> thank you, colonel for joining me. >> donna thank you for helping us. >> thank you for watching comcast local edition. i am donna richason.

i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and having -- being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> as people across the country line up for swine flu shots, president obama ratchets up the country's threat level surrounding the virus. a raging fire is burning out of control two days after it started. look at this. people are evacuating by the hundreds while fire crews try to gain some ground. and talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. a sheriff's cruiser got stuck here dangling from power lines as a fire burned right

underneath it, and one deputy stuck inside this. hey, there. you're watching hln. can you believe it, it's already the last sunday of october today? i'm natasha curry. hope you're having a great weekend so far. we start in washington where president obama has declared a national emergency to deal with the swine flu outbreak. the move allows health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius to take action to more quickly help health care facilities deal with the pamd. in a statement, the president said that the rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many community in the nation and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care facilities in some localities. in declaring the emergency, the president was quick to point out that it was not a response to any new developments. he said it gives the federal government more power to help states. he also said declaring a national emergency helps free up doctors by reducing the paperwork that they have to deal with and that should reduce delays in treatment. even before president obama declared a national emergency,

there were long lines across the country as people lined up for the vaccine. now, this scene was outside a health department in salt lake city, utah, yesterday. demand was so great for swine flu shots that people here started lining up overnight on the friday. eventually, workers had to turn people away because the clinic ran out. in california, the lines were also long, but as shannon handy tells us, the health clinic there had more vaccine than they needed. >> yeah, and when you guys are all done, you get to get a lollipop. >> yay! >> reporter: with her 2-year-old brother looking on, isabel volt was one of the first kids in tulare county to receive the h1n1 vaccine. >> it wasn't that bad. >> reporter: isabel's mom, edith, who happens to be a registered nurse, also got vaccinated saturday. she's seen what the h1n1 virus

can do and says she doesn't want her kids to be at risk. >> i believe in vaccinations and evening that this is especially one that i don't want to take the small risk of her getting the h1n1 and having -- being one of those kids that has the severe complications. >> reporter: officials say there was a line about a half mile long when the clinic opened, but it's been a pretty seamless process. most people have only waited about ten minutes and health officials haven't turned anyone away. >> it's a little bit fewer than we expected, so we do have more vaccines. >> reporter: health officials reduced eligibility requirements for the nasal spray and even study on street corners to try to lure people in. the county had 1,200 nasal spray vaccines available, but only administered less than half that amount. and with another shipment of vaccines on the way, they're now planning for more free clinics, hoping people will take advantage of them. >> i feel confident and so does the cdc that this is a safe vaccine and it is effective. >> this is our best tool to

prevent this infection, so i really encourage people to get the vaccine. >> once again, that was shannon handy reporting for our affiliate, ksan in california. two suicide car bombings killed at least 74 people in central baghdad today. 265 were wound ed. the blasts happened 1,600 feet apart. one was outside the governor's building and one was near the justice ministry. now, iraq's national elections are scheduled for january 16th and iraqi and u.s. officials have warned there could be an increase in violence as that date gets closer. singer morrissey collapsed on stage last night and had to be taken to a hospital. it happened in london after the first song. all medical officials would say is that morrissey is in stable condition. before his solo career, he was the front man from the 1980s band the smiths. in 2002, a british magazine named the band the most influential artist ever ahead of

the beatles. an explosion at an oil storage facility in puerto rico touched off a fire on friday and despite all these clouds of smoke in the air, the air quality is still good. but all the commotion's been quite a pain for a lot of people. >> translator: it was horrible. we live nearby. it has affected us really bad. it's really hard for us to get from one place to another. >> translator: i don't live nearby, but it's definitely affecting traffic. it's something very weird, but i see that the authorities are taking measures and helping with traffic flow, so i have hope everything will go back to normal soon. >> the governor says that the fire's cost more than $6 million. and since the island is a u.s. territory, it will receive federal aid. but look at this! a young woman who was just found wandering the streets of new york with no memory of who she is has finally been identified. police aren't releasing her name, though, at this time, but they do say that her family is on the way from washington state to be reunited with her.

now, this photo of her was circulated by police and aired on our sister network, cnn. a viewer in maryland saw this picture and knew that she'd been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. a lawyer is upset that a mother's confession that she and her husband faked their son's disappearance in a balloon was made public. richard heene's attorney says that the affidavit should have stayed sealed unless arrests were made. he says the heenes haven't seen the document, which was used to get a search warrant for their home. but the sheriff says that releasing that kind of document is common if there's no order to keep it sealed. a janitor who worked at a catholic church for 17 years is the man police say stabbed a new jersey priest to death. >> this was a suspect that we had early on in the investigation. he was followed by law enforcement authorities throughout the entirety of the investigation. at no time was the community in any danger, as we were aware of his whereabouts pretty much from the inception of the

investigation throughout the time of the arrest. >> reporter: police say jose feliciano stabbed ed heinz 32 times. the two had gotten into an argument about feliciano's employment. investigators say feliciano confessed and they found what appeared to be bloody clothes in a garbage can near his home. they also found the suspected murder weapon in a nearby field. check this out. here's one of those what in the world video. this sheriff's deputy car ended up dangling from power lines here. witnesses say that it was hit by another car while responding to a call in washington state yesterday. the impact was so strong that it sent this cruiser right up the utility pole. power lines started a grass fire right underneath the car. you see the flames shooting up there. the deputy was able to get out. fortunately, no one was injured. you know, it's that the time of year when your weather can range from still summer like to cold and snowy. so what can you expect today?

meteorologist bonnie schneider joins us with your weekend forecast. hey, bonnie. >> hey, natasha. you're right, october is the transitional month and we could get a little bit of everything. one thing we are going to see is much better conditions for the northeast. after the baseball game yesterday was postponed due to rain, i think it should be fine today in new york. good news for the yankees and the angels. high pressure has now pushed in behind this cold front. so the front is offshore and that's going to allow much more fair conditions and actually pretty comfortable temperatures as well. you mentioned snow, there is snow in the forecast for parts of northern minnesota and northern wisconsin, but it won't be long lasting. mostly, temperatures are mild. we will see more substantial snow across parts of the west into montana, wyoming, utah. the higher elevations there could see some of the snow accumlace lathing because it is a vigorousing sto instorm syste. i want to show you high temperatures today, because it may not feel like october everywhere. we have 80 degrees in los angeles, but 90 in phoenix. that sounds pretty good.

a little bit cooler in salt lake at 64. as we look towards the east, the forecast is really looking good. 63 in washington, d.c., a high today of 58 in boston and new york, sunny today and 61 degrees. finally, down in florida, still hot in the mid-80s for tampa and miami. that is a look at your forecast. we're hln. hope you have a great weekend. there is some precious jewelry sitting out there that nobody wants to claim. we're talking diamond rings here, platinum watches. so what happens to it if no one says, hey, that's mine?

this is a little hard to believe, but there are diamonds and jewelry that nobody wants to claim as their own. they're among some 40,000 items the florida state government auctioned off yesterday. this stuff had been left behind in unclaimed safe deposit boxes and was turned over to the state. some people got themselves a bargain. >> these are early notes, some are fractional notes from the

civil war. there are several confederate bills. and i saved these items for my grandsons when they get older and they want to go to college. and maybe this will be a good investment in their college education. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2,000, but i got it for $1,200. >> thinking about the grandkids. and these items also included a 13 carat diamond ring, a platinum watch, and other jewelry. >> 32-year-old los angeles woman out-puzzled hundreds of people to claim the u.s. national soduku championship. she solve and advanced puzzle in a little less than eight minutes. mcleod won $10,000 and a spot on the world soduku champion team. san francisco city college held a garage sale yez to try to

save as many as its spring classes as possible. the school wants to raise $25,000 and each course costs the school about 6,000 bucks. i'm bob fiscella with a check of sports. baseball's world series is dub the fall classic, but this year's series may run into the start of winter. the yankees and the angels were hoping to play game six of the american league championship series last night in new york, but mother nature was not on board with the game plan. rain and more rain falling in the bronx, putting the kibosh on the game. it is rescheduled for tonight and there is no rain in the forecast. yankees lead the series three games to two, a win away from the world series. oh, by the way, the series now certain to stretch into november for just the second time in history. going to be cold. pro-basketball in the philippines getting violent.

check out the guy just going off on a guy. the guy has been hammered and already filed a lawsuit. and the bad behavior extending to the ice. the carolina hurricanes has been suspended for two games without pay for the vicious hit on colorado's darcy tucker which sent tucker to the hospital with a concussion. and we are still not sure when he'll play again. ruutu will lose $60,000 in salary. it was a touching scene at mounta mountaineer stadium in west virginia. paying tribute to jasper howard. west virginia, by the way, won the game 28-24. and finally, the st. louis rams are winless, so their cheerleaders have found another team to root for, the u.s. marines. the ladies paying a visit to afghanistan to perk up the spirits of the guys. you know what, it worked.

that's a check of sports. i'm bob fiscella. it's breast cancer awareness month and nothing raises awareness more than an unforgettable story. linds lindsay avner took a courageous stand against the disease before she became a statistic. robin meade has today's breakthrough women. >> reporter: at 23, lindsay avner took the extreme step of having both her healthy breasts removed. >> i have a very strong family history of both breast and ovarian cancer. when my mom was only 18, her mother and grandmother died a week apart, both from breast cancer. >> reporter: avner's mother was also later diagnosed with both breast and ovarian cancer. she carried a breast cancer gene and avner has it too. >> when someone looked you in the eyes and tell you you have an 87% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, it changes everything. i couldn't live like that. >> reporter: avner decided to fight back with drastic surgery.

>> i wasn't a survivor, i didn't have cancer, but i was living with this very, very increased risk. >> reporter: so she started bright pink. through it, avner has helped thousands of women just like her. >> she's kind of helped me find my voice and inspiring other young women to think about their bodies, to do self-breast examinations. >> there's nothing like having the opportunity to pay it forward and may a difference for somebody else. who originally came can up with hummus? you wondering? some chefs put in an all-out effort to prove it was their ancestors' idea.

check out the video here of the fires in puerto rico that an i-reporter sent us. he was flying into san juan last night and he says that the passengers were really reacting to seeing the flames here in person after reading about the

fire for the last couple of days. he says that some of them were nervous about the flight being over the fire. look at those flames. keep it right here on hln for the very latest on the fire. israeli troops have arrested 12 people in clashes at jerusalem's holiest religious site. the troops used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of palestinian protesters. israeli police say that the protesters threw stones and a fire bomb at troops. muslim leaders asked the crowd to respond to what they called jewish conquest. they recently accused israel of digging under the site, which israel denies. the site is considered holy by both jews and muslims. turns out that senior white house officials were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles. that's word from the white house. i spokesman there, who did not say if president obama was alerted, though. the wayward northwest airlines jet with 144 passengers flew past its minneapolis destination

and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. the faa is investigating this and one of the pilots publicly denied speculation that the crew was asleep. with gas prices going sharply higher in just the last few days, a fuel-efficient car really is your friend. and right now, an even better reason to buy one, too. hln money expert clark howard has the scoop for you. >> are you interested in buying a small car? well, not that many americans are right now. because what's selling right now are things that are the bigger, the better. big, honking trucks, huge sport utility vehicles, and the prices of those, especially used ones, has been going up and up and up. at the same time, what was so hot a year ago is so not now. small cars, used small cars aren't selling at all. the owners can't beg, borrow or steal a buyer.

so the prices of small cars are going down to the point that it is shocking how much cheaper they are. so if you zig while everybody else zags, buying a small, fuel-efficient car while nobody seems to care about the price of gas will get you a steal of a deal on that car and then when gas prices eventually do rise again, because you know they go up and down like this, you'll be sitting in the driver's seat. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to fatten your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> and you can get much more advice from clark today at noon eastern time. clark's going to help you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. one doctor is on a mission to help people see more clearly. >> if not for the doctor, i probably would have lost my vision in the not too distant future. >> and costly cataract surgery came at just the right price for people who had no job or no

insurance. 

two suicide car bombings in baghdad have killed at least 74 people and wounded more than 265. one was outside the governor's building and one was near the justice ministry. and as many as 20 people died after two trains crashed right into each other outside cairo, egypt last night. officials say the wreck may have happened because the first train stopped after hitting a water buffalo. then a second train that was speeding plowed right into the back of the first train. and global warming protesters took to the streets of major cities across the world yesterday. the events were organized by a

group called 350.org, which is looking to reduce global carbon emissions to 350 parts per million. and those are some of the stories that we're following on this sunday. welcome back to you, to hln here. i'm natasha curry, thanks for joining us. president obama hopes that his declaration of a national emergency will help deal with all the h1n1 cases that just keep popping up. he says that the rates of illness are rising rapidly in many communities in the u.s. and the pandemic could overburden health care resources. elaine quijano reports that the president's move is a "just in case" measure, but it shows how dangerous the virus is. >> reporter: president obama declared a national h1n1 emergency, an ominous-sounding name for what officials insist is a purely preemptive move. in the declaration, the president said, "the rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential

exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities." the declaration is meant to lift that potential burden, so if hospitals get overwhelmed with h1n1 patients, they'll be able to bypass bureaucratic requirements, like making patients sign certain forms. the goal, to allow doctors and nurses in disaster mode to focus on patients, not paperwork. the declaration comes as millions of americans in 46 states have come down with new hampshire h1n1. >> of the pandemic in april and may, we have seen more than 1,000 deaths and more than 20,000 hospitalizations in this country. >> reporter: in communities nationwide, including this line that stretched for hours in michigan -- >> two-hour wait for the swine flu shot. >> reporter: people are already flooding health care facilities, anxious to get their h1n1 vaccines.

>> been trying not to be paranoid about it, but be aware and be cautious, be safe. and take advantage of any opportunity that we can. >> reporter: but the government acknowledges officials have nowhere near the amount of h1n1 vaccine that manufacturers had predicted they'd have. the shortage is being blamed on problems growing the vaccine, but one top official predicts there will eventually be enough vaccine to meet demand. elaine quijano, cnn, the white house. >> singer morrissey collapsed on stage last night and had to be taken to a hospital. it happened in london after the first song. all medical officials would say is that morrissey is in stable condition. before his solo career, he was the front man from the 1980s band the smiths. in 2002, a british magazine named the band the most influential artist ever ahead of the beatles. a young woman who was just found wandering the streets of new york with no memory of who

she is has finally been identified. police aren't releasing her name, though, at this time, but they do say that her family is on the way from washington state. this photo of her was circulated by police and aired on our sister network, cnn. a viewer in maryland saw this picture and knew that she'd been missing from her family since the beginning of this month. u.n. inspectors are preparing to take their first look into a key iranian nuclear site. they arrived in iran today to check the uranium enrich plant plant near qom. an iranian official says they want to make sure that it's used for peaceful purposes. iran also says it will have an answer next week about a new proposal concerning its nuclear program. it would have iran's nuclear fuel enriched abroad to easy fear that iran is developing nuclear weapons. a lawyer is upset that a mother's confession that she and her husband faked their son's disappearance in a balloon was made public. richard heene's attorney says that the affidavit should have stayed sealed until arrests were

made. he says the heenes haven't seen the document, which was used to get a search warrant for their home, but the sheriff says that releasing that kind of document is common if there's no order to keep it sealed. a janitor who work withed at a catholic church for 17 years is the man police say stabbed a new jersey priest to death. >> this was a suspect that we had early on in the investigation. he was followed by law enforcement authorities throughout the entirety of the investigation. at no time was the community in any danger, as we were aware of his whereabouts, pretty much from the inception of the investigation throughout the time of the arrest. >> police say jose feliciano stabbed ed heinz 32 times. the two had gotten into an argument about feliciano's employment. investigators say feliciano confessed and they found what appeared to be bloody clothes in a garbage can near his home. they also found the suspected murder weapon in a nearby field. check this out. here's one of those what in the

world videos. this sheriff deputy's car ended up dangling from power lines here. witnesses say it was hit by another car while responding to a call in washington state yesterday. the impact was so strong that it sent this cruiser right up the utility pole. power lines started a grass fire right underneath the car. you see the flames shooting up. the deputy was able to get out. fortunately, in one was injured. many of you are trying to cut your power bills with new energy-saving appliances, but you may not save as much money as the manufacturers actually claim. money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. hey, jen. >> so the energy star label, it's supposed to mean that a product saves energy, right? kind of like a seal of approval from the government? that's why you can get tax rebates on them. but there are reports that many of those appliances, they are not living up to their promises and maybe shouldn't even qualify for the sticker at all. here's consumer reports talking

to cnn's mary snow. >> in our labs, we found it used a lot more energy than it claimed. >> so can a manufacturer just put on an energy star sticker if it wants to? >> well, they're supposed to have these products tested and they do, but they themselves test it. >> reporter: they're supposed to have them tested. so maybe the question is, can we really trust companies to do their own testing and to really give us not the best case scenario, but the real case scenario on the sticker? well, the energy department plans to try to widen infeint te independent testing or find some other way to measure if companies are accurate. be careful about paying top dollar any any energy star appliance. may not save you so much money after all. >> thanks, jen. you can get more great money advice from jennifer westhoven each weekday on "morning express with robin meade" from 6:00 a.m.

to 10:00 a.m. eastern. there is some precious jewelry sitting out there that nobody wants to claim. we're talking diamond rings here, platinum watches. so what happens to it if no one says, hey, that's mine? some americans are traveling great distances in an effort to save on health care costs. >> the most typical procedure people are going overseas for is cardiac surgeries, dental, and cosmet cosmetic. >> reporter: but there are risks. >> there are doctors abroad that are using medical instruments and devices and techniques that are invented in america, but not available in america because they're waiting for fda approval. >> reporter: for those looking abroad for medical care, experts caution, do your homework and communicate clearly with your doctors. they also advise thoroughly

researching doctors and hospital before making any commitment. and know the cost up-front. >> there are some insurance companies that will treat overseas medical care as an out of network benefit. >> reporter: finally, understand the international league issues if something goes wrong.

this is a little hard to believe, but there are diamonds and jewelry that nobody wants to claim as their own. they're among some 40,000 items the florida state government auctioned off yesterday. now, the stuff had been left behind in unclaimed safe deposit boxes and was turned over to the state. some people got themselves a bargain. >> these are early notes, some are fractional notes from the civil war. there are several confederate bills. and i saved these items for my

g gsts grandsons for when they get older and they want to go to college. and maybe this will be a good investment in their college education. i was expecting to pay more. i figured this would go for over $2,000, but i got it for $1,200. >> thinking about the grandkids. and these items also included a 13 carat diamond ring, a platinum watch, and other jewelry. >> 32-year-old los angeles woman out-puzzled hundreds of people to claim the u.s. national soduku championship. tammy mcleod solved an advanced puzzle in a little less than eight minutes to claim the title in philadelphia yesterday. mcleod won $10,000 and a spot on the u.s. world soduku championship team. the world championship will be held next spring in philadelphia. san francisco city college held a garage sale yesterday to try to save many of its spring classes, as many as possible. california budget cuts forced the school to drop 800 courses. the school wants to raise

$25,000 and each course costs the school about 6,000 bucks. i'm bob fiscella with a check of sports. baseball's world series is doubled the fall classic, but this year's series may run into the start of winter. the yankees and the angels were hoping to play game six of the american league championship series last night in new york, but mother nature was not on board with the game plan. rain and more rain falling in the bronx, putting the kibosh on the game. it is rescheduled for tonight and there is no rain in the forecast. yankees lead the series three games to two, a win away from the world series. oh, by the way, the series now certain to stretch into november for just the second time in history. going to be cold. pro-basketball in the philippines getting violent. check out nguyen ash letta, just going off on the guy right there. supposedly, the man had been hurled verbal punches at him the entire game. the guy got hammered, he has already filed a lawsuit.

meanwhile, arbletta was suspended for the rest of the season. and the bad behavior extending to the ice. the carolina hurricane's ruutu has been suspended for three games without pay for the vicious hit on colorado's darcy tucker, which sent tucker to the hospital with a concussion. and we are still not sure when he'll play again. ruutu will lose $60,000 in salary. it was a touching scene at mountaineer stadium in west virginia. the entire gathering paying tribute to visiting kentucky and the late jasper howard. the huskies star was stabbed to death a week ago. police still don't know who did it. west virginia, by the way, won the game 28-24. and finally, the st. louis rams are winless, so their cheerleaders have found another team to root for, the u.s. marines. the ladies paying a visit to afghanistan to perk up the spirits of the guys. you know what, it worked. that's a check of sports. i'm bob fiscella. it's breast cancer awareness who originally came up with hummus?

you wondering? some chefs put in an all-out effort to prove it was their ancestor's idea. hi, there, i'm robin meade. we salute the troops every weekday on "morning express" with me, robin meade. so let's do it on the weekends too. today's salute is for a marine that's going to turn 21 this week. corporal shane gruell has been in afghanistan since may, and to celebrate his 21st, his mom standa started a bike ride to raise money for a wounded military member. maybe you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them. go to cnn.com/robin and watch for the salutes every morning on "morning express with robin meade" from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. eastern.

check out the video here of the fires in puerto rico that an i-reporter sent us. he was flying into san juan last night and he said the passengers are really reacting here to seeing the flames in person after reading about the fire for the last couple of days. he said that some of them were nervous about the flight being

over the fire. look at those flames. keep it right here on hln for the latest on the fire. israeli troops have arrested 12 people in clashes at jerusalem's holiest religious site. the troops used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of palestinian protesters. israeli police say the protesters threw stones and a fire bomb at troops. muslim leaders asked the crowd to respond to what they called jewish conquest. they recently accused israel of digging under the site, which israel denies. the site is considered holy by both jews and muslims. turns out that senior white house officials were closely monitoring that passenger plane that missed the airport by 150 miles. that's word from the white house. a spokesman there did not say if president obama was alerted, though. the wayward northwest airlines jet with 144 passengers flew past its minneapolis destination and was out of touch with air traffic controllers for more than an hour.

the faa is investigating this and one of the pilots publicly denied speculation that the crew was asleep. this week, a new york woman was with charged with driving drunk with a car full of kids. it's something that happens, though, thousands of times a year, according to one group. and in this case, susan candiotti reports that things went terribly wrong. >> reporter: when kids are passengers in a car -- >> she was going a little fast, so it was like, kind of scary. >> reporter: it can be especially scary if the driver had too much to drink. these two girls are among six who survived a crash at the hands of an accused drunk mom. a seventh child, 11-year-old leander resotto was thrown out of the car and died. carl carl c she's indicted, will be arraigned next month, and could not be reached for comment.

mothers against drunk driving says it's bad enough that mothers are driving drunk, but what's worse is they're taking children with them. >> they're doing a form of child abuse if they drive equally as horrific is what she put seventh children through. >> repeatedly engaged in a guessing game, asking the children to raise their hands if they thought you'd make it hope without crashing. >> she said you're scared, raise your hand. she was cutting cars off and pulled over to the right like we were passing up to the thing and we hit the one tree. >> all i remember is she got the car going side to side to side and side and before that, she was looking at me. >> reporter: before the kids even got in the car, the father

of her son tried to stop her. he pulled out her toddler, but no one else. one of the girls who remained in the car is her daughter. >> i'm not going to only blame it on my mom because there was a lot of people that could have stopped her. >> it's heartbreaking that children have to plead for someone not to drive drunk. >> reporter: also to hear brave victims beg for advice. >> not to ever, ever get in a car with a drunk person. i don't care if that's your mother, anything. that's for your health and safety. >> reporter: advice that came too late for her. >> we've got all these kids lives that you know, you might take, you know. think about getting out the car. >> reporter: so kids don't have to make that choice. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. major league baseball's

might look white, but before they're used, they're rubbed with mud. how the mud is produced. they said it would never last.

but it's been two months, and you're still going strong. glade lasting impressions. two fragrances alternate to keep things... fresh and exciting day after day. - and not just for 30 days. - ( inhales deeply, sighs ) but for 60. it's the longest-lasting plugins ever. get freshness that won't fade away for 60 days. ahhh! with plugins lasting impressions. and yes, it's glade. s.c. johnson, a family company.

gold, it's all the rage. people are asking me, should i buy it? should i have it? i'm going to give you advice about that and other ways you can make more out of your dough. you give me this next half hour and you're going to smile all the way to the bank. ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money. making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i had earned enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money, so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. >> now from his radio studio,

your money expert, clark howard. >> the new stats on the housing market were atrocious. did you hear about this? for the third quarter of this year, foreclosures hit an all-time record. but wait, it gets worse. if you look in the pipeline for what's coming in terms of people already delinquent on their homes, wow, we're going to have a really, really rough time with the housing market in 2010. and it's really democratizing, because instead of it just being lower cost homes, it's home of all price levels. there is a good side to this. do you know what that is? there is great, great, great opportunity for you as a buyer, and it's only going to get better, especially through the winter. so i'm looking forward to seeing this first one. it looks really nice from the curb.

wow. these people beat the daylights out of this place. like right here where this formica is damaged. it makes a bad impression. it looks awful, but this would be so inexpensive to repair. small dining room, small living room, but we build so much more than most of us really need. so what do you think is going on here? people were taking containers of grease and just pouring them on the carpets? >> the carpets will probably need to be replaced. >> oh, i think we've got some water damage. sheetrock not well repaired, but i think an inspection would be really important. >> absolutely. >> i give this one an "a." how would grade it? >> it's a great price point, especially for a first-time home buyer, get moved in, not have to do a lot of work. and most of the work that needs to be done is user friendly. >> right. this is not a real handyman

special. this one is a good buy. this is a nice house. i can tell right from the curb, and in this case the bank is doing a good job of taking care of the property. i bet the family that was here spent all their time right in this area right here. i'd be right here with my big-screen tv sitting there watching the nfl. you know, when i lived in the north, i had a bedroom that was the size of this closet here. this house is in great shape. if you look at other distressed sales in the neighborhood, it's priced about right. but compared to non-distressed sales, this one is a deal.

good things can happen to bad neighborhoods. this neighborhood behind me very well maintained. this foreclosure, on the other hand -- well, it's not looking so hot. you look right here, it looks like termite damage here. over here this bay window, look at this. this is either termites, water damage or a combination of the two. well, actually, it's not as bad inside so far as it was outside. that play set's not looking so good back there. wow. i don't think you have a better representation of the heartbreak that the mortgage meltdown has than seeing that. ewww, that bathroom is not looking so good.

let's go up stairs, see what we got. uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. danger, will robinson. we've got some serious water damage here. let me see. yeah, there's been real water damage here and the tiles are just trying to cover it up, and then more water damage up above my head. this would be one that you would want to watch and wait for, and you have to be willing to use a lot of elbow grease to get this house in shape. this was somebody's self-help job doing this. if this was smellavision, what you would be experiencing right now is the absolute mold smell. in fact, my nose is itching from the mold of the dampness down here. hide the children. no! no!

no! what were they doing? what in the world is this? oh, look at the mold. see, i was telling the truth. this is something that would tell me this house is more trouble than i could handle. so as you've seen on my video tour, there is both tricks and treats. you really got to think through, when is something a real deal versus fair market value in a neighborhood and the cost it will take you to do the repairs that that house requires? and are you up to those repairs? i can tell you, i'm not. >> next on clark howard -- >> i'd like to learn a lot of things from the money coach, but the bottom line is responsibility. i want to learn how to be smart with my money, how to make it work for me. >> the best cd rate i can find is 2.2.

i'm considering buying $300,000 worth of gold. >> wow. that's a huge amount of gold to own.

bob is with us. bob, how you doing? >> caller: i'm doing fine, clark. how about yourself? >> great, thank you. i understand you want to buy some gold. >> caller: i'm thinking about it. to give you a brief outline, i'm 78 years old. i own five pieces of real estate, three of them are rental houses and i have eight cds at $100,000 each. i'm considering -- the best cd rate i can find is 2.2. i'm considering buying $300,000

worth of gold. >> wow! that's a huge amount of gold to own. generally, when people want to own gold or precious metals, owning somewhere 5% to 10% of your assets in gold is fine. but, i mean, like at a max, based on what you just told me, owning somewhere like 80,000 in gold would be appropriate. but owning $300,000 in gold would be too much of your assets tied up in something that's very volatile and has significant risk over time. >> caller: all right. >> but if you're going to buy gold, i would like you to buy something that's kind of like a mutual fund of gold known as an etf, exchange-traded fund, is the kind of gold you should buy.

research this term, gold etf fund. a gold etf allows you to own the underlying gold without you having to handle it, store it, or without you paying big fees to buy and sell it. but i would be careful taking too much of that low-earning cd money and throwing it into gold, because that would ultimately prove to be very risky. michael is with us. hello, michael. >> caller: hi, clark. how are you? >> great, thank you. i understand that you were ill recently. are you okay now? >> caller: much better. thanks for asking. last month i had to go to an emergency room locally for flu symptoms. and saw the doctor for a few moments, paid the bill, left. everything was fine. then i get -- about a month later, i receive another bill

for doctor services. is this normal? because i asked when i left the hospital what my total was, and they gave me a total amount, i paid it, and now i've received another bill. i didn't have any lab work or anything like that, it was basically just a doctor visit. >> so you will have -- in your case, they didn't do any culture or anything to try to confirm that you have this, that or the other? >> caller: no. they just asked me for symptoms, she wrote a prescription and i left. >> so if you got a bill from the hospital and a bill from the doctor, your surprises should be over. do you have insurance? >> caller: i didn't at the time because i just started a new job. >> all right. so when the hospital bills you, initially they bill you at full retail and then the attending physician bills you at full retail as well. did you know those charges are negotiable?

>> caller: no, i didn't. >> give me a for instance. like, what is this doctor's bill that you were charged? >> caller: $245. and initially i paid $200 at the hospital. >> the $245 is a full retail list price. and nobody pays full retail list. what you should do is you should contact the doctor and see -- you have insurance now. say, what would my doctor charge have been under your plan? and whatever that is, that would be a reasonable amount for you to pay. by now i hope everybody in america who has a toyota or lexus made between 2004 and 2010 has checked to see if your vehicle is one of the ones affected by one of the oddest recalls of all time. 4 million vehicles,

approximately, were recalled because the driver floor mat could cause you to be in an accident and possibly even cause a fatal wreck? it's weird, isn't it? and the remedy, so simple. you pull out the floor mat on the driver's side and you let your carpet get dirty in the car. but most recalls aren't so simple as that. the shocker, though, is that most of the time, even when there is a recall involving serious safety stuff, people don't respond, don't take their cars or trucks to the dealer. i want you to take care of it, especially if it's steering, braking, something like that. there is a website you can learn what's going on with your car, autosafety.org. check it out. >> next on clark howard -- >> is it a credit card that you already had or is it a brand-new one out of the blue that you heard from that somebody was pretending to be you? >> it's about ten of them so far. >> no!

really? >> really. >> catch that and a lot more this sunday at 4:00 p.m. on "clark howard."

do you have a question for me? it's so easy to ask. just go to my website, cnn.com/clarkhoward and click to do a video submission of your question. and who knows, you could be like ashley, asking your question of me. >> hi, i'm ashley, and i need a money coach. my biggest concern relating to finances would be that i am ill-prepared for the future, and the future meaning tomorrow and the next day. and i'm just afraid i'll keep making mistakes and continue on this cycle of destruction as far as finances go.

i want to start saving for retirement and saving for other big expenses. i've got a retirement account now. it only exists because i worked for a big company in my last job, and i automatically contributed, so since then, which was about five years ago, i haven't contributed anything. my question is, as a single 30-year-old, how do i start preparing for the future for things like family and retirement? >> ashley, ashley, ashley. five years you haven't been saving any money? don't break my heart that way. you got to get cooking with this. now, because you're self-employed, you have available to you a wonderful retirement plan very simple to set up known as a sep. simple fine employee pension. it's very simple how much money you contribute to it. very easy to do. you can do it with many companies that are no-commission companies and that will take care of one half what you need to do. the other thing was more ill-defined.

saving for a family. well, for that, simple savings will do. every month i want you to automatically deposit money into a savings account to start building up a cushion for whatever near-term needs you might have for dough. now, as for you, it's always a juggling act. trying to figure out what to do with limited resources, where your money should go. your first dollar of savings should go into tax advantage plans. you work at an employer with a 401(k) or something equivalent, that's where you start saving. next thing, you do the roth account. and then after that, you save for other things like, well, a kid's college education. danielle, how are you doing? >> caller: i'm good, how are you? >> good. now, danielle, when did you get this duplicate personality? >> caller: i found out about it this week. >> what we're talking about here

is somebody has flattered you in a way nobody wants to be flattered. >> caller: that is correct. >> they have become your clone. >> caller: they have. >> is it a credit card you already had, or is it a brand-new one out of the blue that you heard from that somebody was pretending to be you? >> caller: it's about ten of them so far. >> no! really? >> caller: really. they've got my social security number and birth and all that information, and they're opening up credit cards under my person. >> so this individual has been a human wrecking crew in that they have already -- think about all the effects here. they've opened ten credit cards as if they're you, they have trashed your credit score because suddenly you have all these new lines of credit that have been opened everywhere that you had nothing to do with. what solves the problem, and you're even allowed to do this

upfront in all 50 states to prevent what happened to you, is to freeze your credit files. the second you freeze your credit, which you can go online and you can freeze all three of your credit files, bam. >> caller: uh-huh. >> from that second forward, nobody will be able to apply for credit as if they're you. you stop them cold 100% in their tracks. you have, as an identity theft victim, you have access to copies of your credit reports for free, where normally people would be allowed only a single free copy of each report a year. so you have extra rights because you've already been wronged. and in most states, when you actually need legitimate access to credit, you'll be able to temporarily thaw your credit for free as well. >> caller: okay. >> so it gives you the peace of mind that you are not going to have right now until you do freeze your credit.

>> next on clark howard -- >> have you ever been to australia before? >> caller: i have not, no. >> it's a fun, fun, fun trip. are you going to drive? i don't mean to there, i mean once you get there. are you going to drive? they said it would never last.

but it's been two months, and you're still going strong. glade lasting impressions. two fragrances alternate to keep things... fresh and exciting day after day. - and not just for 30 days. - ( inhales deeply, sighs ) but for 60. it's the longest-lasting plugins ever. get freshness that won't fade away for 60 days. ahhh! with plugins lasting impressions. and yes, it's glade. s.c. johnson, a family company.

today on the "clark howard" show, you're going to learn how to stay out of harm's way of identity theft. but that's only one way to learn how to fatten your wallet. you give me this next half hour, and i'm going to show you how to be your own boss. ever since i can remember, i've been fascinated by money, making it, saving it, studying it. by the time i was 31, i made enough to retire. so i embarked on a new mission, helping you take care of your money so you can save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. >> now from his radio studio,

your money expert, clark howard. >> i'm not from the fbi, but i'm here to help you. there is a new warning from the fbi about a hot, hot scam working where you get an e-mail that pretends to be either from the fbi or the department of homeland security with a claim that there is information there that you might be interested in. what kind of information? well, there are several versions. one of them says that it's a confidential fbi report on new patterns in al qaeda financing. another one says weapons of mass destruction directory. just to give you an example of what kind of things are floating out there. and what happens if you open one of these e-mails? will you end up loading viruss on your computer? what are the criminals going to do with that? they're going to try to take over your bank accounts. they'll have access to all your passwords and all the rest. these are known as trojan and

key logger programs. the key thing for you to know is the fbi isn't sending these. you've got to be smart about any e-mail you receive and ever opening any attachment. now, how can i help you stay out of harm's way? what's your question for me? erin is with us. erin, hi. how are you? >> caller: hey. i'm hoping you can help me keep my sanity, clark, and then i'll be okay. >> tell me how i can be of service. >> caller: my husband and i are one of those unfortunate people that are upside down on their home now. and through listening to your show and advice through friends, we learned earlier in the year through possibly refinancing through our mortgage company or doing a loan modifications through our mortgage company. so in april we started a process with our then mortgage company, we got approved, and two days later, a new mortgage company called and said, we bought your loan. we thought, okay, it's coincidence.

so we started the process over, faxed in all the 60 pages of paperwork. we got approved and literally the next day, the mortgage company called and said, we can't continue with the loan modification even though you've been approved because we're selling your loan as of november 1st. >> are you fannie or freddie? behind the scenes is your loan owned by fannie mae or freddie mac? >> caller: no, sir. >> so your loan as a modification is done or a refi is done, it's up to the individual bank, not fannie or freddie, to say whether they'll do it or not, and amazingly twice -- this is an amazing story you're telling me -- twice you've been approved and each time the rug gets pulled out from under you. >> caller: yes, sir. >> here's what you do. i want to you go to the website nfcc.org. let me repeat that. nfcc.org.

you're going to put in your zip code and then it will take you to the closest national foundation for credit counseling office, where you will be able to make an appointment with a housing counselor. and with their help, hopefully you'll be able to get this thing moving for you and your family so that you can keep your home. steve, you are headed to retirement. congratulations to you! >> caller: well, i had things go right, clark. i appreciate that. i'm just laying it out right now. i guess my question is, i've been -- let me back up. i don't know if it's once a year or twice a year, you know, the social security sends you a statement saying you have so many credits based on -- shows your income over the years and shows if you retire at 62, it's approximately this or at 65, full retirement.

i want to know if you have any idea how accurate those numbers are. >> very. >> caller: okay. >> those are very accurate, because especially as you get close to retirement, they are almost right on the money. >> caller: that's good. i'm pleasantly surprised. >> so that's not something to worry about. by the way, your social security check is going to be fine if you're getting close to that stage. >> caller: in february i turn 62. >> you're going to be fine. >> caller: the trick is trying to figure out, of that check, if i keep working versus if i take something part time. my wife works part-time, i could get by on part-time -- >> do it. >> caller: but i'm just trying to figure out -- >> do it. sometimes i talk in absolutes and sometimes i hem and haw. i will tell you that you will smile so long through your retirement years if you defer

taking that social security check at 62, keep working part-time, build up more credit, and then ultimately take your social security benefit. you're perfectly capable of working now. it will generate a much larger check from social security the longer you wait to take it, and you will have earned money when you're capable rather than what happens to so many people that get older and they won't be able to work but they need the money. >> next on clark howard -- >> caller: when i logged in, the website asked for my bank name first, my routing number, and then my user i.d. and password to my bank account. and that's where i immediately stopped. >> if she knows about the money and she turns out not to be responsible -- >> caller: i hope not. >> -- you can't keep her from taking the money and blowing it. so kind of keep it quiet this money is there.

do you have a question for me? it's so easy to ask a question. just go to cnn.com/clarkhoward and post your online video question for me. if you do so, you could be right here with me on "money coach" where you get to ask me your question about your wallet. we're going to meet somebody right now who has a question for me about whether or not something i've talked about is really safe to do. it's time to meet tasha.

>> hi, i'm tasha and i need a money coach. i want help doing a budget, because i want to know where money is going. there's not any extra, and if we do need extra, it's put on a credit card. and that's what i'm trying to get away from. i heard about mint.com either on the clark howard show or in the paper. mint.com is a site you can go to prepare a personal budget. of course, you log in, use your i.d. and when i logged in, it asked for my bank name, my routing number and then it asked for my user i.d. and password to my bank account. that's where i immediately stopped and said, i can't do this. is mint.com a safe website to use when creating a personal budget? >> tasha, you're on to something. i use mint.com, but there is a risk because you are coughing up

your passwords. if you read their security briefing, they'll tell you all the things they do to try to make your information safe. but nowhere there does it say if they have a breach that they're going to cough up your dough if there is a problem. but they do, in fact, give you alerts that let you know later, hey, there is a big transaction going on in your account. is this okay? so that you are able, over time, to monitor what's going on. and speaking of monitoring, for you, if you were trying to track your dough, i want you to know i love mint.com. i love their competitor wesabi.com because with these sites, you can track all your income, all your outgoing, all your assets so you're able to see where you can trim expenses, where you need to beef up your savings and your retirement dough. >> collette is with us. i want to welcome you.

how are you doing? >> caller: fine. thank you, clark. thanks so much for taking my call. >> yes, ma'am. how can i be of service? >> caller: yes, please. i was calling to get advice from you. my 9-year-old daughter had an accident in 2006. >> oh, is she okay? >> caller: yes, she is. thank you. we just had a court settlement and just wanted to ask the best way to save this money for her. >> did the court specify a purpose for the money for your daughter? >> caller: no. it's just that it has to be for her. >> and how old is she now? >> caller: she's 9. >> 9. what would you like the purpose of this money to be? >> caller: to save it for her in an account to use it for school or maybe later in life for her wedding or something like that for her. >> so pretty far down the road. >> caller: yes. >> and the total amount after taxes?

>> caller: it's 17,250. >> most often what happens when someone gets a settlement like this, the lawyer who negotiated it for you will try to hook you up with an insurance person, who would then sell an annuity for your daughter. and what i prefer instead is that because your daughter is only 9 and the goal is longer term in nature is that you look at putting the money into a mutual fund for your daughter. in her case, there is one in particular that i would like you to look at that is what's known as a tax-managed portfolio. what that will do is put this money into a mix of stocks and bonds, and there will be no tax that she will owe in the years up till the point that she's an adult, and only at the time that

she would sell would she owe tax, but the way it's set up, the tax that she would owe is tiny, tiny, tiny, if any, at the time she would need access to the money. >> caller: okay. >> next on clark howard -- >> caller: we're looking at these self-directed iras that supposedly you can put real estate in them. >> that is something that just freaks me out. that is such a smart way to handle car buying because it means that you will never owe more on the car than what it's worth. and it means you will own it free and clear without any monthly payment for years and years and years.

ed is with us. ed, how are you? >> caller: good afternoon. very well. and you? >> wonderful, thank you. >> caller: i need advice on an area that is very confusing, and that is self-directed iras. my wife and i have accumulated a little bit of money in regular iras, not roths.

we've had them in cds, and as you know, they're not paying much right now. >> the money in the iras, is it money you'll need in the next few years or never? >> caller: we want to live off the iras. >> starting how soon? >> caller: we're starting to eat into the principle right now because of the low interest rate. we're looking at these self-directed iras that you can supposedly put real estate in them. >> that is something that just freaks me out. >> caller: they are scary. >> what are you thinking of doing in terms of real estate? are you thinking of owning real estate inside that ira? >> caller: yeah, buying a condo in a resort area that you can rent out. >> owning an investment property inside an ira really costs you in so many ways, because real estate is best owned in a taxable way, because there are so many tax advantages to owning

it. you know, in an ira -- and if you have somebody handle the self-directed aspect of you actually owning actively managed real estate in one, you pay a lot of fees for that. i mean, there is a way for you to diversify into real estate without having to actually own and manage, and that is in your self-directed ira, you can own a real estate mutual fund. if you look at the tax advantages to owning that as a taxable asset, you won't consider any further at all owning that inside an ira. and rodha is with us. how are you? >> caller: very good, clark. how are you? >> wonderful. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i love your show. >> thank you very much. >> caller: i do have a question. my husband and i are looking at buying a new car, and the manufacturer has incentives going on right now.

either you get cash back or you get 0% for 36 months. i'm trying to hear from you what is the better way to go. >> well, there is no one right answer on that because if you were to get the 0% financing versus what you might be able to get at a credit union -- are you a credit union member? >> caller: i'm not. but i got preapproved for a loan under 4%. >> you're already in the right territory. if you compare, and you have to run the numbers on this, you do an amortization schedule where you figure out which is actually going to be the cheaper for you. some of the easiest calculators, you'll find some available for cars on edmonds.com, and then

you'll be able to see exactly which of the two alternatives would be cheaper. normally on a short loan cycle like that, with you getting such a cheap, cheap rate from whatever lending source you ge cheap, cheap rate from whichever lending source you found at under 4%. you'll usually do better taking the $2,000 off and taking out the low cost loan. and did you know you're a genius? >> caller: i am? >> yes. for taking out a three-year loan. >> caller: oh. thank you. >> if you went back 40 years ago, the only loans people ever took out were three-year car loans. and we've gotten away from that, but that is such a smart way to handle car buying because it means that you will never owe more on the car than what it's worth. and it means you will own it free and clear without any monthly payment for years and years and years. good for you.

>> i've had so many calls from people who are just absolutely fit to be tied by the notices they're getting from their credit card companies. credit card companies are racing new legislation that takes full effect in february of next year that restricts when a credit card can raise interest rates on you and when they can change terms and conditions on you as well. now, they have to give you longer notices. that's already happened. but what kind of things are credit card companies doing in advance? well, number one, they're switching how your interest rate is calculated on your credit card, moving from fixed rate to variable rates. why is that significant to you? well, here's the deal. the rate that the variables work off of is something known as prime rate. prime rate is extra low right now. when the prime rate radss your interest rate will rise as well. how do you fight back against an

interest rate. pay off the balances. then they can't charge you. >> next on "clark howard" -- >> even if it means you have to finish before you save up money, pay with cash do. not under any condition take out private student loans pause they're the most miserable experience.