good morning. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade today. thanks for joining us. five young suspects face potential life sentences in connection with a gang rape of a 15-year-old girl, but people are still asking why did none of the witnesses do anything to stop it? also, the maker of louisville slugger baseball bats will have to pay a family $850,000. why a jury found the company responsible for a player's death. and if you know any bad drivers, don't hold it against them. some doctors actually say it's because of genetics. first, our top story, the bodies of at least 18 americans

killed in afghanistan are back in the u.s. this morning. president obama was there to see their flag-draped coffins arrive home. their deaths came in the deadliest month for u.s. forces since 2001 and at a time when the president is trying to decide whether or not to send more u.s. forces into harm's way. the 15 soldiers and three d.e.a. agents who arrived home this morning were killed monday and tuesday in afghanistan. they died in a helicopter crash and a roadside bombing. police have arrested five people in the gang rape of a 15-year-old california girl. three of the five are juveniles and police say they're looking for as many as five more suspects and ten or more people who watched the rape and did nothing. one of the victim's friends said there is plenty of blame to go around in this. >> at the dance there were four officers, none of them

patrolling the area. i looked outside of the gym and i saw 12 to 15 guys sitting there with no ids. the officers not only did they not check the ids of those students or men sitting outside of our campus, the security officers who were employed here did no job checking either. the assistant principal looked outside and actually saw those men and did nothing about it. >> the victim is a sophomore found semiconscious and in critical condition. she was released from the hospital yesterday after four days there. police say all the suspects will be charged as adults and could face life in prison if convicted. hundreds of schools are now closed due to the swine flu. a school official in kentucky says it's an incubator situation. they report at least 350 schools were closed last week affecting 126,000 students in 19 states. many school officials say they are afraid that the h1n1 flu virus could spread even faster

if their school stayed open. okay, the company that makes louisville slugger baseball bats was found liable for the death of a young man killed by a baseball. rafer weigel has that story and is taking your thoughts on this. rafer? yeah, natasha, this is a monumental decision. a montana jury sided with the family suing the maker of louisville slugger and awarded the victim's family $850,000. they argued that the company failed to warn about the dangers of using aluminum bats. brandon patch was tragically killed in 2003 when he was struck by a baseball hit by one of those bats. there he is right there. patch's mom, though, said this was not about money. >> we came into this not knowing -- we were just hoping to prevail is all for brandon. this is for brandon. and for the other kids on the field. >> so we want to know how you feel about this. did the family deserve to be

compensated in this manner or should baseball be played at your ownries snk we want to know your thoughts. go to cnn.com/robin, click on the facebook link, leave a comment and we will be reading them all morning long. after months of debate, house democrats are rolling out a new health care reform plan today. it's going to include a government-run insurance plan, the so-called public option. but doctors would be able to negotiate reimbursement rates with the government. democrats say that would create choice and hopefully appeal to moderates. the house is expected to debate on the bill next week. the faa admits air traffic controllers did not notify the military as quickly as they should have about that northwest plane that overshot the minneapolis airport. "the wall street journal" reported they waited about 40 minutes to do it. the head of the faa says the flight was on course but controllers should have told norad when pilots didn't respond. the pilots say they were using

their laptops and lost track of time. so those bad drivers you see on the road, it's not you, right, those drivers may not be able to help it. it could be in their genes. a researcher found people with a certain gene variant performed worse on a driving test than people without it. he says about 30% of americans have the variant so, you know, that's a lot of drivers. bad drivers. i'm a good driver, bob. >> yeah, me, too. that's because your license is in georgia. >> uh-oh. >> no offense, i live here, too. if your license says georgia, you're a bad driver. i'm with you on that. let me show you what it looks like now. natasha, a huge thing going on right now. about big area with low pressure with a lot of energy just plowing into the rocky mountains and falling out as snow. ahead that have it's so dynamic a system watching for some possibility of tornadoes this morning. we have a couple of watch boxes. one includes dallas.

the other one does include oklahoma city. so as we zoom on in to the area. more front lifting up out of the south. heavy rain arkansas, northern parts of mississippi but the severe weather we've been watching is west of ft. worth with one severe thunderstorm warning. that's it. it's not a tornado warning. but you're looking at gusty winds out of that. over 60 miles an hour. that squall line itself is very close to oklahoma city right now. you can see right there lots of flashing lightning going on here. it's all rolling over to the east and ahead of a cold front, something to watch. the heavy rain across northern mississippi, gets into arkansas, too, and then on the back side you watch the rain move into nebraska, stretching to north dakota, iowa getting heavy rain and falling to minneapolis shortly and then it goes off the slopes of the rockies and condenses out as snow and heavy at times. here is the denver radar. all the blue is all snow. it continues to fall. in fact, let me show you some video we got from yesterday. the last 24 hours reports of over 20 inches of snow just west and south of denver. denver metro itself right about 6 to 12 right at the airport as

of 11:30 last night their time. they had 10 inches on the ground reported. so the snow continues. the winter storm warnings are out there. they're going to last into the early part of the evening. we'll talk about that and a better look in half an hour. this is a pretty big snowstorm wrapping up for the rockies. >> it's a mess but it looks gorgeous. thanks, bob. so get this, another mysterious foot has washed up on canada's pacific coast. what police are saying after two years of bizarro occurrences. a woman's road to recovery after the swine flu could be incredibly long.

morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. we salute our troops every day. today's is from bethany king to her baby brother who joined in their father's footsteps and joined the army. >> my name is bethany king. i live in athens, georgia, saluting my brother andrew king.

i love you so much and there's no prouder sister in the world. you're doing such a great service for this country. we're all proud of you and can't wait for you to come home. i love you. >> if you have somebody in the service and want to salute them go to cnn.com/robin. nine minutes past the hour right now. more details on the alleged brutal gang rape outside a california high school dance. police arrested five people and they're looking for at least five more, but they say as many as ten people watched it all without calling 911. and correspondent richard lui, it's hard to understand how that could happen. >> no matter how many times we hear this, natasha, it's still shocking. the details also very shocking. one psychologist says this is a common phenomenon we've all heard before. >> everybody was looking to the other like, oh, is this -- i guess we're doing this. this is okay. no one's saying anything.

and had one person stood up, had one person jumped in or said this isn't okay, it would have shifted the dynamic of this group very quickly. >> other experts say potential bystanders may not have called 911 because they were scared of retaliation. that's part of the reason here police are offering a $20,000 reward for information about the attackers. they're hoping, natasha, that will be enough incentive to get people to come forward with more information on this. >> yeah, hopefully somebody will. and, richard, if the witnesses don't come forward, is there any way they could be charged, say, with a crime? >> well, listen to this. there is a law that makes it illegal not to report a crime against a child but they say it does not apply in this case. tang a listen. >> we have not been able to arrest and prosecute any people that just watched. i think that's one of the most disturbing aspects of the case. but in california and actually it's a national law that the victim of the crime has to be 14 or under and in this case our victim is 15. >> well, the detective says they

have figure out who instigated the rape and use that had information to get some of the people who committed lesser crimes to give up information about the ringleaders. so-called ringleaders. >> thank you very much, richard. disturbing. a mysterious foot -- a foot -- washed ashore in canada. you may remember this isn't the first time this has happened. canadian police say that it is the seventh time in the last two years. and it was in a nike running shoe just south of vancouver. forensic tests are being done and the other six found the only one identified belongs to a man believed to have killed himself. a fresh warning this morning about the swine flu. you might have heard about people trying to protect themselves from the h1n1 virus by deliberately exposing themselves to it. >> i think it's absolutely crazy. the safest way would be probably to get the vaccine. >> definitely not. i have a 9-month-old son and that's ridiculous. >> new for you in 20 minutes

what the cdc says could happen if you go to a swine flu party. it's hard to imagine. a swine flu party? some weird stories as halloween gets close. >> tell me about it. let's talk about the recession. it could be over. a new government report is expected to confirm that this morning. we're hoping so anyway but it's a little comfort to the millions of americans looking for jobs right now who are struggling to pay bills, jen. in a way i think this might be another one of the weird stories out there because you may say what? the recession is over. you may not believe it but the government is expected to report today that the economy has turned. that it's growing again after the worst recession since world war ii after four straight quarters of shrinking. forecasters say gdp probably grew more than 3% in the latest quarter. and you may be thinking, come on. well, unemployment hasn't been following it. we'll be watching it and it's also, natasha, it hasn't come

from traditional demand. it's not the normal growth. it's kind of government propped up growth so 0 this is kind of a theoretical number that i'm telling you about it. it's going to be in all the newspapers tomorrow but if you don't feel it, you're right. thousands of new jobs for south carolina, though. boeing is going to open a new assembly line in north charleston, building its 787 dreamliner, which of course is way behind schedule but, still, it's coming. it is a big loss for the seattle area, though. boeing has traditionally had its manufacturing there. boeing says the new plant should be up and running in about two years. natasha, back to you. >> all right, jen. thank you so much. appreciate it. so the new york jets' rookie quarterback caught a lot of flak for eating a hot dog during a game. well, be now he's turning an embarrassing moment into a good cause. plus, a chicago bar was accused of discriminating against african-american students. now they are working things out and even planning to join forces.

authorities are asking for help finding the killer of a 7-year-old somer thompson, the florida girl who disappeared on her way home from school and was found in a landfill. >> we have reason to believe that there are individuals who have information pertinent to this investigation who have yet to come forward. specifically we are referring to people who may know or associate with the offender in this case. >> he says that those in the area should look for people who have left unexpectedly, have unexplained injuries and have an unusual interest in the case. somer thompson's body was found about 50 miles from home. meanwhile, her mother wrote an emotional letter thanking people who donated money, time and services to her grieving family. the world series is

considered a classic and it got under way with prominent figures. >> we're not talking about kate hudson. >> not this time. >> she's prominent and all. natasha, nothing more american than the world series. it's one of our country's greatest traditions. the yankees were hosting philadelphia. giving gravity to the situation, first lady michelle obama giving derek jeter a kiss. she and joe biden with an iraq war veteran. cliff lee so cool. look at him just catch that. his manager digging that. and watch this behind the back here. this guy gave one of the greatest performances as he would lead the yankees to -- i'm sorry, the phillies to a win. the phillies take game one. in other news with the bay bridge closed down yesterday the houston rockets could not get from their hotel in san francisco to their game in oakland against golden state. now the nba requires teams to take buses for security reasons but they couldn't. they were going to take public transportation but police said

not a good idea. they took a ferry. planes, trains and rockets -- or planes, trains and rockets. they won by a point. mark sanchez made a doggone nice gesture. he was seen eating a hot dog on the sidelines. he apologized but then bought 500 dogs and burgers and donated them to a new jersey soup kitchen says the team's twitter page. for a guy who makes millions it was probably pocket change. hot dog gate over. a jury awards a family almost $1 million who sued louisville slugger after their son was killed with a baseball hit with one of their aluminum bats. brenda on our facebook page posted, i think it's stupid. everyone knows what a bat is used for. i feel terrible about what happened to the boy but it was an accident. meanwhile nicole also says i'm a 40-year-old mom of four. every sport you play is at your own risk. where will this go next? now if you agree or disagree, go

to cnn.com/robin. right now, natasha, the majority of the people are posting in agreement with those two posters. if you disagree, we encourage you to post. >> we'll see what else happens. appreciate it. so hundreds of thousands of people should expect another traffic nightmare today. rafer was just talking about it. the california d.o.t. says the damaged san francisco/oakland bay bridge will not open in time for today's morning rush. now workers are repairing a section where 5,000 pounds of metal broke off and fell into traffic tuesday. drivers are crowding alternate routes and using public transit in record numbers. the d.o.t. is not sure when the bridge will reopen. a mess there yesterday. ladies and gentlemen, behold megaton. a 10,000-pound ball of rubber bands. check it out. rippley's says it is the world's largest. it's nearly seven feet tall. jill is really proud.

>> i was thinking it got a little bit out of hand. it's great to me. >> how many rubber bands? >> that is about 730,000, something like that. >> wow. 70,000 rubber bands. rippley's believe it or not is picking up the ball today to put it in one of its museums. the thing is huge. how does he keep track of 730,000 rubber bands? that's what i want to know. >> i want to see him bounce that thing. lift it up once and bounce it. see how high it would go. >> it could hurt somebody. >> safer flight explorer, a big line of thunderstorms now just west of ft. worth. you can see it right now, dfw, that's the airport. look at that squal line all racing over to the ooe. so you're going to get delays first thing in the morning because of that and all snow when you get to the rockies including denver. here is what we have for the day, one hour or more delays. denver snow and then more showers, more rain. watching that around memphis and

st. louis, new york a gusty northeast wind this morning. kansas city and minneapolis more storms. more in just about a half hour. >> kind of everywhere delays. thanks, bob. a florida woman was hospitalized with a condition so severe the doctors thought she wouldn't make it through the night. the problem? @@@@@@@@@x

the bodies of 18 americans killed in afghanistan are back home this the u.s. president obama was at dover air force base when the coffins arrived early this morning. it is the first time a president has witnessed the transfer of remains since the afghanistan war began. five people have been arrested in the gang rape of a 15-year-old california girl. three of them are juveniles. police are looking for as many as five more suspects. officials say they also want to talk to several people who watched the rape and did nothing. secretary of state hillary clinton says pakistan needs to do more to fight off the taliban

within its borders. while talking to pakistani students today she compared the situation there to terrorists crossing the canadian border with the u.s. and taking montana and the dakotas. some unique michael jackson memorabilia are going up for auction. these are things he owned or gave to friends or fans over the years. they include jackson's handwritten lyrics to "beat it." one of his signature sequinned gloves and a mercedes-benz that he drove. the auction is november 21st in new york. those are some of the headlines we're following for you this thursday morning. welcome back. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade today. well, more information now on that alleged gang rape. it happened right outside a high school homecoming dance. police at richmond, california, have five people in custody right now but correspondent richard lui joining us now, many people want to know how something like this could happen in the first place. yeah, some folks still scratching their head on this. police say the girl, though, did leave the dance around 9:00 as they look at some of the details.

she left because her dad was supposed to pick her up but a friend asked her to walk with him and that's when they say she was attacked in a back alley on the other side of the school. police say the crowd would have had to jump a fence to get into the area and school officials admit no one was patrolling that. >> we had four uniformed police officers and a number of teachers and administrators who were both inside and outside. we didn't do a perimeter walk of the school. this is on the far side of the school at the perimeter. >> police say the attack lasted 2 1/2 hours. >> horrific to hear. did the school, richard, have any reason to think something like this could happen? there has been violence there in the past. >> when you look at the local details here, richmond, which is right outside of san francisco is considered one of the most dangerous cities in california. during a community meeting last night, one teacher said there's been gang violence in that exact same spot on campus before. she also said they've been asking for more officers and

security for months. >> we were laughed at last summer for asking for 13 security guards. we were laughed at when we said we need $80,000 worth of cameras. i went to the middle school myself to look at their camera systems to make sure those would be the best quality for richmond high. our school approved them. we never got them. >> the district says lights and security cameras had been ordered but not installed as of yet. >> wow, richard. it's quite something to hear from the students, too, that forcefully. thanks so much. a deadly gun battle broke out when fbi agents raided a group accused of trying to establish a separate islamic state within the u.s. the fbi says the group's leader was killed during one raid in michigan yesterday in a shoot-out with agents. confidential sources told authorities that he encouraged his followers to use guns to achieve their goals. eight other men were arrested and charged with criminal

conspiracy. after numerous weather delays nasa finally launched a new era in space flight. >> two, one, ignition. liftoff of ares i-x. testing concepts for the future. >> the ares rocket blasted off just 30 minutes before the launch window closed so just making it 25 miles high. look at this. then it fell harmlessly into the ocean. looks gorgeous. nasa hopes the rocket will replace the shuttle fleet carrying astronauts to the space station and some day back to the moon. president obama signed a groundbreaking law that expands hate crime protections to gays and lesbians. it is now a federal crime to assault someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. >> we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones but to break spirits. not only to inflict harm but to

instill fear. we understand that the rights afforded every citizen under our constitution mean nothing if we do not protect those rights both from unjust laws and violent acts. >> the law is named for matthew shepard, a gay wyoming teenager who was murdered in 1998 and james byrd jr. an african-american man dragged to death in texas the same year. people who deliberately expose themselves to the h1n1 virus at so-called swine flu parties could be gambling with their lives. the cdc posted that warning on its website. now the idea is that people infect each other now so that they have immunity later on when a stronger strain might appear. but health officials warn there's no way to know how sick you're going to get trying to do this. >> you can't control it. so in some individuals if they intentionally try to get themselves sick, they could get really, really sick. we have seen people that become severely ill, that end up

hospitalized. >> the cdc warns even though the virus has been mostly mild so far, it has proven fatal and you should avoid others if you're sick. the swine flu very serious but, i mean, bob, it's kind of weird to think of a party surrounding this kind of thing. people, come on, bring it on. sneeze on me. >> we don't even want to know how they're passing it to each other. >> strange. >> yeah. what's going on, natasha? a wild start if you live around the middle part of the country. look at this squall line directly overhead. real time lightning all ahead of a cold front and you're all within this watch box. that's a tornado box. no warnings right now. nothing spotted. good news here. look at that squall racing on through. it's not even a severe one but a lot of lightning now and heavy rain, gusty winds out of that, too. the southern part of this outside of ft. worth. you can see here another watch is included in this.

ft. worth/dallas and southern parts of oklahoma. another tornado watch. the big system is carrying a warm front with it, too. heavy rain in northern mississippi stretching into the lower parts of arkansas. up further, look at the rain coming in to nebraska and it's all snow for you once again right around denver. zoom on in to the denver metro. heavy snow is basically just east of town over the airport. you're going to get the latest over there. a look at that and heavy rain spots in just a couple of minutes. natasha? a lot of crazy weather going on this morning. thanks so much, bob. we have good news in a bad economy. oh, yeah. congress is offering new help to home buyers. also ahead, the fallout from andre agassi's upcoming book after admitting he took drugs.

a scientist charged with attempted espionage could learn today if he has to stay behind bars until his trial. stewart nozette is accused of trying to sell classified information. he had worked on the reagan-era star wars missile shield project. his lawyer says he is not a flight risk and does not have ties to foreign intelligence agencies. a former female writer for "late night with david letterman" is breaking her silence on what it was like to work there. in an exclusive interview she says she never slept with any staffers at the letterman show. she said she walked away from her dream job because of a hostile work environment and she also talked about how hard it is for women in late-night comedy. listen. >> to me it's like they never put a woman in late night and

all of the men are running late night and the comedy writers and the stars and there just isn't a shot. i'm very happy that wanda sykes is getting a late-night show. i wish her the boost. >> she's hilarious. >> it's very hard to break through that. >> yeah. i do think, you know, the funniest writers room i've ever personally been in was when i was at "murphy brown" and it was split half and half and it was not only the funniest room i've been in it was the crudest probably. >> you can catch "the joy behar show" at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. a deal is reached which could mean an extension of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. jennifer westhoven has more on that. jen, it wouldn't just be for first-time buyers, right? a lot more people could qualify for basically free money

under this new agreement struck by senate leaders that would be some good news in a bad economy. it might help the housing market. now if this is approved and it's just a senate agreement at this point, if you've lived in your home for five years and you want to move, you could get a $6,500 tax credit so that's a big new thing to tack on to this proposal. not just new, first-time home buyers, anyone in their home for five years. the first time buyers would keep that credit. it would run through april. the clock runs out at the end of november. all right. it's halloween. this is kind of spooky news from walmart. they're selling caskets online. did you hear about this? costco sells them, too, only online. they do not want you to see them in stores. >> wow. it would take up space, though, wouldn't they? >> i don't think they want to remind you of your own mortality. you can get them online and they get them to you within 48 hours. walmart prices range from about

$900 to about $3,000 and some of the analysts say that in general they are cheaper than at the funeral home. so far they're just testing it to gauge customer response. call it the i'm too fat defense. a man accused of killing his former son-in-law says he was too out of shape and too unhealthy to have committed the crime. what the prosecution says.

i'm rafer weigel with sports. more stunning revelations from tennis legend andre agassi plus fallout from his admission of drug use. now after ingagassi wrote in an upcoming autobiography he took crystal meth in his playing days the world anti-doping agency now wants authorities to look into how he was not suspended after he tested positive. "sports illustrated" got an advanced copy which is due out next month and in it he writes about his hatred for his father, that his dad was violent, even pulled out a hand dpun on a driver and wrote about making money hustling people on tennis

courts as a kid. in other news the nfl was on the defensive at a hearing on capitol hill. lawmakers' concern over head injuries with players asked if players are encouraged to play when they're hurt. former tampa bay bucs president gay culverhouse responded. >> this is a cutthroat business. the bottom line is making money. and if their player ain't playing and the team's losing, that's the bottom line. >> and a jury award add family almost a million bucks after their son was killed with a baseball hit by a louisville slugger bat. patch was killed by a baseball back in 2003. there's a picture of him right there. we are taking your thoughts on this. bradley wrote on our facebook page. so if i go for a run and get hit by a car, should i sue the shoe

company because they didn't tell me about the dangers of running? chris posted, i feel bad for the family but that's crazy. a bat isn't a toy. bad things can happen. meanwhile, tyler writes, it is tragic but it is not the company's fault. it is just a freak accident. so far most every post we are getting rules in favor of the bat company as opposed to the family. if you agree or disa i gre go to cnn.com/robin and click on the facebook link. have you heard about, you know this kid who made electronic copies of himself so he could sing harmonies? check out this hot viral video. ♪ you and i must make a pact ♪ we must bring salvation back ♪ where there is love ♪ i'll be there >> pretty cool, right? a couple million clicks on this

one on youtube. have you lost some of your most treasured possessions while trying to sell your home? hln money expert clark howard tells you how to protect yourself from open house robberies. okay. what's old is new again and this is one that was an oldie but bad. "the washington post" is reporting that as people are putting their homes for sale, many times without an agent now trying to save that commission, when they hold open houses they're getting robbed blind. there are criminal rings that come in and while one person is distracting you or your real estate agent asking about features of the home, the other person is rummaging through your drawers looking for jewelry. now this is an old rule that you may not have heard. if you are selling your home, get all your valuables out of the house prior to you putting your home up for sale.

the easiest thing to do is rent a safety deposit box at a bank or credit union and store your jewelry and other valuables there or if you have a relative you really trust, store those things with them until you've sold your house. i'm clark howard for more ways to protect yourself go to cnn.com/clark howard. >> and clark will teach you how to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays right here on hln. a man told a jury that he was too fat to commit murder. he is accused of climbing a staircase to kill his former son-in-law who was in a custody dispute with his daughter. prosecutors say that he cleaned up the crime scene and made a fast getaway before police arrived. the defense says at the time of the crime he weighed 285 pounds and was just too unhealthy. >> short of breath, sleep apnea,

diabetes, classic overweight guy and yet they say he fired a shot from four steps down, jumped up, fired five shots, all of which hit their target. >> i had no reason to want him dead. >> did >> did you care about him one way or the other? >> no, sir. >> did you murder paul? >> no, i did not. >> i have nothing further. thank you. >> prosecutors say he researched how to build gun silencers and did internet searches on how to commit the perfect murder. bob van dillen here with air travel update. >> good morning. same dynamic system. rain showers and behind it it's snow for the rockies in denver. we'll see delays come up shortly. here's what we have for the day. dallas, you'll see thundershowers go right through ft. worth into the city itself. watch for that to slow you down about an hour. later today heavy rain, thunderstorms for houston. hour or more. denver snowing at the airport. watch for snow delays.

half hour to hour delays for st. louis as the heavy rain pulls in toward your part of missouri. more on that in a bit. do the cash for clunkers program cost you big money? the automotive website says the taxpayers pay $24,000 per car. now, here's how they got that number. it says 690,000 cars were sold under program but only 125,000 cars would not have been sold any way. so the government spent about $24,000 for each additional sale. the transportation department says it's unfortunately that edmon edmonds.com says negative things about the wildly successful program. hundreds of thousands of people should expect another traffic nightmare today. the california d.o.t. says the damage to san francisco oakland bay bridge will not open in time for today's morning rush. workers are repairing a section where 5,000 pounds of metal broke off and fell right into traffic tuesday. drivers are crowding alternate outs and using public transit in

record numbers and d.o.t. says it's not sure when the bridge will reopen. we all hate it when the power goes out when we're watching tv. especially hln. but how about being on the other side of the camera during a blackout.