a massive suicide bombing in the heart of the capital of afghanistan just days before the country's presidential election a correspondents for our sister network cnn was nearby. hear what he says the situation on the ground was like moments after the blast. the first named storm of the atlantic season is here, forecasters say tropical storm ana could pick up steam. >> i believe that when you give, it will given back to you. god has really watched over me. >> a woman drops her winning lottery ticket into a church offering plate on purpose. why she gave up her windfall and what it's worth to the church.

here's what we're following for you the taliban claims responsibilities for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main game of nato headquarters in kabul, afghanistan. kabul police say at least seven people died in the attack and at least 91 more were wounded. the bombsite is next to the u.s. embassy on the same street as the country's presidential palace. peter bergen was in kabul at the time of the explosion. >> reporter: seemed to be much larger than anything i've experienced before and also given the fact several miles north it was loud everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean, clearly there is a great deal of concern but you can travel around most of these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routinely traffic jams every day.

it's not -- there is no lockdown right now. you know, that may change on election day. but, you know, i -- to be honest with you, you know, just on the surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does in any other trip i've been here. >> our thanks to peter for that. meanwhile the attack comes five days before afghanistan's presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country for thursday's election. meanwhile president obama is calling that election the most important event in afghanistan all year. continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend, one in the pacific is expect topped weaken. the storm though to really keep an eye on in the atlantic, forecasters say the first named storm of the season is about a thousand miles away from the leeward islands, tropical storm ana expected to get stronger the next couple of days. right now winds are at 40 miles an hour. meter oliast reynolds wolf is keeping a close eye on what's

happening in the tropics. we'll have his report in just a few minutes. strong winds push wildfires in northern california. state authorities say firefighters have contained about 5% of a fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to about 4100 acres since it started wednesday night. two structures have been completely destroyed but no injuries have been reported. now, thousands of people who live in that area, they have been told to get out, to evacuate. also, another fire north of sacramento tell you about. it destroyed one home yesterday. but 60 homes were evacuated and power was knocked out in that area. a tv station in nevada reported the smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. president obama faced more skeptics of his health care plan in in montana yesterday and one of the toughest questions was about how the government will pay. what obama will do to cover for 46 million uninsured americans.

as ed henry reports, the president admitted it won't be easy. >> reporter: sure, montana is a nice place to visit this time of year but the president had more on his mind than just fly fishing. he also came for urgent business. buttering up the state senior's senior and chairman of the finance committee max baucus who could hold the fate of health reform in his hands. >> first of all, the man who is working tirelessly to make sure that the american people get a fair deal when it comes to health care in america, please give max baucus a big round of applause. >> reporter: in private, top presidential advisers acknowledge the fight has reached a critical stage because the opposition has gained some steam. capitalizing on anger over federal bailouts and debt at many congressional town hall meetings. >> -- the government has these powers to take over health care? >> reporter: by comparison the president's town hall here was pretty tame, though he did get

one pointed question that reflected the strong opposition he's facing. >> we keep getting the bull, that's all we get is bull. you can't tell us how you're going to pay for it. the only way you're going to get that money is to raise our taxes. you said you wouldn't. >> look, you are absolutely right that i can't cover another 46 million people for free. >> reporter: but the president did not shrink from the challenge. and vowed again he will not raise taxes on the middle class to pay for the difference. >> when i was campaigning, i made a promise that i would not raise your taxes if you made $250,000 a year or less. that's what i said. but, i said that for people like myself who make more than that, there's nothing wrong with me paying a little bit more in order to help people who have's got a little bit less. >> reporter: but many agree that's easier said than done and leaves it to him to figure the pesky details how to pay for

reform. white house aides privately acknowledge his panel is the last best hope of getting a bipartisan deal. the weeks of negotiations in washington have thus far come up empty. and white house aides acknowledge when congress returns to work in september, the window on reaching a deal will be closing fast. if they hope to meet the president's deadline of the end of the year. ed henry, cnn, big sky, montana. so many questions surroundsing this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how reforms could affect you and your family, just check out the special health care in america website on -- dot com for a great deal of information, the latest on town hall debates, fact checks and ireports, just go to cnn.com/health care. talking about the economy now, bought the troubled colonial bank group yesterday, the largest bank failure so far this year. bb & t is taking on their $22 billion in assets as well as

deposits and branches. the fdic handle the rest. most of colonial's customers should be okay. the fdic as you may know, guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. cash for clunkers is causing a cash flow problem for several auto dealers. they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for their trade-in deals and that has put them in a cash crunch some. rebate requests submitted nearly three weeks ago haven't even been paid yet. that lag time may cause some dealers to opt out of the popular program. meanwhile ford motor company says cash for clunkers has created such a demand it had to boost production at three of its plants. an illinois judge is taking preliminary steps to get the trial of former police officer drew peterson under way. yesterday, hundreds of potential jurors filled out questionnaires. the judge also heard arguments on whether peterson's trial should be moved to another

venue. >> if we can't pick a fair jury in will county, then it's the government's job to find a place, a county that we can pick an impartial and unbiased jury. >> the judge said se proceeding under the assumption the trial won't be moved to another county. so far, no trial date has been set, though. peterson, a former police officer, is charged with murder in the death of his third wife and a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. as i mentioned we are keeping a close eye on the first named storm of this season in the atlantic. for more on that and your forecast where you are we check with meteorologist reynolds wolf. certainly a busy day weather-wise. >> absolutely. susan, a fairly quiet season so far in the atlantic basin but thinks are cranking up a bit. let me show you what i'm talking about. enlarging this picture to show you a couple of things we are keeping a sharp on first and foremost this system right here and another disturbance forming

along the intertropical convergence zone. the one we are watching for the time being as you can imagine would be ana. let's expand this view giving you an idea where it is expected to government you'll notice the storm expected to go with winds of 40, gusting to 50 with 50-mile-per-hour sustained winds sunday, fast forward to monday and tuesday, tuesday moving north of the dominican republic into haiti, wednesday. winds of 70 miles per hour as a tropical storm. then as we get into thursday, winds of 70 and just off florida's southeast coast. remember, though, a lot of things can happen between now and sunday and tuesday, even into thursday. so, the storm may die out, could strengthen, move a bit farther north ou maybe even south so bears watching. quickly, one other thing to watch, the chance of storms forming across parts of the nation's midsection into the midwest, very dry for you in portions of the southeast until you get to florida, scattered showers possible, hot in texas, very dry and a chance of wildfires again moving out and

possibly spreading in parts of central california and near the bay area. that is the latest on your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. what's a winning lottery ticket doing in a church offering plate? well, wait until you hear just how much this generosity is worth and what the church may do with the windfall. this is hln.

a small michigan church is counting its blessings after someone dropped a winning lottery ticket in the offering plate, on purpose. it's worth $70,000. and jason culpeper from our affiliate went looking for the generous donor. >> wild. >> reporter: that's how pastor marilyn describes holding a check worth $70,000. >> so, they called me in the

morning. so, i danced my jig in the morning and they were shouting hallelujah, praise the lord, are you kidding me. >> reporter: -- that much richer after a member of the congregation dropped a winning lottery ticket in the collection. >> people just don't do that and i don't care how well you know someone. i said, you know, i'm not sure i would have done that. god would have talked to me really loud. >> reporter: lottery tickets are unheard of in the collection basket. about five in the last nine years but this was different a $10 lucky 7s ralph ticket a guaranteed winner for $70,000. >> i didn't sleep that night, yeah. >> reporter: donated by this woman, a member of the church who knew the ticket was a winner. she wants to remain anonymous but she did talk to news10 about why she made this huge donation. >> i was in a car accident about a little over four years ago and i got a closed-head injury and

even though we're a small church, the people at my church have just been so wonderful to me, um, i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> reporter: she is in the process of moving to florida where she, herself, plans to enter the ministry. a donation like this is simply ensuring good karma on her ever defers meaning she'll get paid back and then some. >> i believe that when you give, it will be given back to you. god has really watched over me over the last four years. i won't say it's been easy. it's been a very learning experience. but, he's taken care of me. the congregation has not decided what to do with the money yet but, get this, they have been praying for a way to support a mission in africa. because the ticket went to a nonprofit, it's tax-free.

this alligator, sort of a tug-of-war with kids. it has been caught. the kids were crab fishing monday when their rope undered up around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids trying to pull it out of the water and called 911. they cut the rope and the gator got away until yesterday. >> this alligator is probably 275, maybe 300 pounds. you have a kid that's 100 pounds. you get into a tug-of-war, the alligator is not going to lose. there's a lot of potential there. we're kind of lucky that this is where it stopped. >> yes, very lucky. the agent was able to spot the gator because it still had the kids' rope wrapped around its mouth. thinking about buying a new car, using the cash for clunkers program but the dealer just doesn't seem to have the one you want in stock? don't give up just yet our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you.

>> hi. i hope you've got some fun plans lined up for this summer weekend. if you still want to get in on cash for clunkers, the government has a new on-the-fly fit, vouchers. the program's been so popular you may have heard some of the most popular models are gone but you can still take advantage of the program even if the dealer has none left. go ahead, order the car at the dealership. you'll get a vin number and voucher and can pick up later when it's ready. as this catches on, it could make car buying a lot less stressful. a lot of people want a new car but hate the idea of haggling at the dealership. you are going in wonder should go i dress up, shy dress down? then the salesperson is doing that thing where they go in the back and check with the manager and leave you waiting there forever. look, you probably don't buy cars enough to really master that. well now, many new gm vehicles are going on sale on ebay. the trial is starting in california and it could go nationwide. you could buy it now for one

price, you could haggle by clicking make an offer but would be haggling by the comfort of your own home. sounds like you would get one up on the dealer. i'm jennifer westhoven looking out for you. >> thanks, jen. you can get more great money advice each day on "morning express with robin meade" from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. tiger woods is winning another tournament. bob joins us. nothing new here, right? >> i tell you what, susan, they say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. well, throw in tiger winning especially when leading after 36 holes in a major. that is the story at the pga championship in minnesota, holding a commanding four-stroke leading heading into today's third round. get this, tiger has never lost a major leading after 36 holes. he is a perfect 8-0. so, you got to love his chances this weekend. watch it just drop in there like

that. i'm betting broncos wide receiver brandon marshall finally got a good night's sleep. yesterday marshall found not guilty of misdemeanor batting stemming from an incident last year accused of roughing up his then girled friends. marshall had faced up to two years in jail. hard to question the toughness of u.s. soccer star landon donovan, a day after he played the full 90 minutes in the u.s. owes 2-1 loss to mexico, he found out he had swine flu, testing positive for h1n1. said he felt real bad during the match but never considered pulling himself out. his team has a match tonight. we still don't know if he'll play. and this was the scene yesterday for tonight's strike force showdown in san jose between gina corano, she is right there taking on cri cris cyborg trying to prove she's not just a pretty face. aren't we are?

and that's a check of sports.

the son of a civil rights pioneer says he is going to ask the state of alabama to pardon his late father. the reverend ralph david be a ber natty was arrested numerous times during the montgomery bus boycott and against protests against segregation. now his son ralph david be a ber natty iii will apply for pardons on his behalf. back in 2006, alabama passed a law that provides a mechanism

for granting pardons to people arrested during civil rights protests. search crews will try again today to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. kristy cornwell vanished tuesday taking a walk along a north georgia road. tuesday night, that is. searchers found her cell phone about three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend said he was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up and then she screamed. personal items on the scene indicate ad struggle. police in wisconsin looking for a teenager who had a very close call on a draw bridge. check it out. take a look at her car if you can imagine what she's thinking inside of it. the bridge in sturgeon bay was raised prematurely thursday night and other drivers say the young woman behind the wheel was trapped at that 45-degree angle for about two minutes. police say the girl just drove off the bridge after it came

back down and are now looking to talk to her about the incidents. we're going to show you an event with nascar mixed in with a whole lot of demolition derby. there it is, how a group of people got plenty of crash for clunkers. 8

a massive suicide bombing in the heart of the capital of afghanistan, just days before the country's presidential election. a correspondent for our sister network cnn was nearby. hear what he says the situation on the ground was like moments after the blast. the first named storm of the atlantic season is here. forcecasters say tropical storm ana could pick up steam. >> i believe that when you give, it will be given back to you. god has really watched over me. a woman drops her winning lottery ticket into a church offering plate on purpose. why she gave up her windfall and what it's worth to the church. good saturday to you.

you're watching hln "news & views" so glad you are, i'm susan hendricks. her's what remember' following for you, the taliban claims response responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main gate of nato headquarters in kabul afghanistan. kabul police say at least seven people died in the attack and at least 91 more were wounded. the bomb site is next to the u.s. embassy on the same street as the country's presidential palace. peter bergen, a national security analyst for our sister network cnn was in kabul at the time of the explosion. >> reporter: there seemed to be much larger than anything i've experienced before and certainly given the fact i'm several miles north it was loud enough that that everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean, clearly there is a great deal of concern but you can travel around most of these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routinely traffic jams every day.

it's not -- there is no lockdown right now, you know, that may change on election day. but, you know, i, to be honest with you, you know, just on the surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does in any other trip i've been here. >> our thanks to peter for that. meanwhile the attack comes five days before afghanistan's presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country for thursday's election. meanwhile, president obama's calling that election the most important event in afghanistan all year. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend, guieremmo in the spafk is expected to weaken but the storm to keep an eye on is in the atlantic. forecasters say it is about a thousand miles away from the leeward islands and expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now its winds are at 40 miles an hour. meteorologist reynolds wolf is keeping a close eye what's

happening in the tropics. we'll have his report in just a few minutes. strong winds are pushing wildfires in northern california. state authorities there say that firefighters have contained about 15% of a fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far. no injuries have been reported, though. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated. also, another fire to tell you about north of sacramento. it destroyed one home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated and power was knocked out in that area, as well. a tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. president obama faced more skeptics of his health care plan in montana yesterday and one of the toughest questions was about how the government will pay. what obama will do to cover 46 million uninsured americans. as ed henry reports, the

president admitted it won't be easy. >> reporter: sure, montana is a nice place to visit this time of year. but, the president had more on his mind than just fly fishing. he also came for urgent business. buttering up the state's senior senator and chairman of the finance committee, max baucus, who could hold the fate of health reform in his hands. >> first of all, the man who is working tirelessly to make sure that the american people get a fair deal when it comes to health care in america, please give max baucus a big round of applause. >> reporter: in private, top presidential advisers acknowledge the fight has reached a critical stage, because the opposition has gained some steam. capitalizing on gain ger over federal bailouts and debt at many congressional town hall meetings. >> where does that state the government has these powers to take over health care? >> reporter: by comparison, the president's town hall here was pretty tame, though he depend get one pointed question that

reflected the strong opposition he's facing. >> we keep getting the bull. that's all we get is bull. you can't tell us how you're going to pay for it. the only you're going to get that money is to raise our taxes. you said you wouldn't. >> look. you are absolutely right that i can't cover another 46 million people for free. >> reporter: but, the president did not shrink from the challenge and vowed again he will not raise taxes on the middle class to pay for the difference. >> when i was campaigning, i made a promise that i would not raise your taxes if you made $250,000 a year or less. that's what i said. but, i said that for people like myself, who may more than that, there's nothing wrong with me paying a little bit more in order to help people who have's got a little bit less. >> reporter: but many agree that's easier said than done and so that leaves it to baucus to figure out the pesky details to pay for reform. white house aides privately

acknowledge his panel is the last best hope of getting a bipartisan deal. the weeks of negotiations in washington have thus far come up empty. and white house aides acknowledge that when congress returns to work in september, the window on reaching a deal will be closing fast, if they hope to meet the president's deadline of the ed of the year. ed henry, cnn, big sky, montana. there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family just check out the special health care in america website on -- dot com po for the latest information. just go to cnn.com/health care. talking about the economy now, bb & t brought the troubled colonial bank group yesterday, the largest bank failure this year. bb & tt taking on its 22 billion in assets as well as deposits

and branches. the fdic will handle the rest. most of colonial's customers should be okay. the fdic, as you may know, guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. cash for clunkers is causing a cash flow problems for auto dealers. they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for their trade-in deals and put them in a cash crunch. some requests submitted nearly three weeks ago haven't been paid yet and may cause some dealers to opt out of the popular program. meanwhile ford motor company says the program has created such a demand it had to boost production at three of its plants. as i mentioned we are keeping a first eye on the first named storm of this season in the atlantic. for more on that and your forecast where you are we check with meteorologist reynolds wolf. a busy day weather-wise. >> absolutely. it's been a fairly quiet season in the atlantic basin but things

are cranking up a bichlt let me show what i'm talking about. we'll enlarge this picture and show you a couple of things we are keeping a sharp eye on first and foremost ana, this system here and another falling back on along the intertropical convergence zone. let's expand this view giving you an idea where the storm is expected to government the latest from the national hurricane center. you will notice the storm is expected to go with winds of 40 gusting to 50 with 50-mile-per-hour sustained winds. fast forward to monday and us it day moving north of the dominican republic and haiti. wednesday, winds of 70 miles an hour as a tropical storm and thursday winds of 70 and of aflorida's southeast coast. remember a lot of things can happen between now and sunday and tuesday even thursday so the storm may die out, could strengthen, move farther north or farther south so bears watching. quickly one other thing we'll watch, the chance of storms

forming across parts of the nation's midsection and into the midwest. very dry for you in portions of the southeast until you get to florida, scattered showers possible there. wildfires moving out and possibly spreading in parts of central california in the bay area. that's your forecast. what's a winning lottery ticket doing in a church offering plate? well, wait until you hear just how much this generosity is worth and what the church may do with the windfall. this is hln.

a small michigan church got

a lottery windfall after someone dropped a winning lotto ticket in the offering plate, on purpose. it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says the ticket is her way of thanking the church for supporting her after a serious car accident. it has left the pastor in shock. >> just don't do that. i don't care how well you know someone. i said, you know, i'm not sure i would have done that. god would have talked to me really loud. >> people at my church have just been so wonderful to me, i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse for several months. she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa. police in wisconsin are looking for a teenager who had a very close call on a draw bridge. check it out. take a look at her car, if you

can imagine what she's thinking inside of it. the bridge in sturgeon bay was raised prematurely thursday night and other i drivers say the young woman behind the wheel was trapped at that 45-degree angle for about two minutes. police say the girl just drove off the brinch after it came back down and they are now looking to talk to her about the incident. it is time for sports. bob, we're talking about michael vick, who can now concentrate on playing football, that's his goal, what he wants. >> he will still have to put up with the protestors who seemingly have no interest forgiving him doing all those unconscionable things to dog running that dog-fighting ring but he's back in the nfl signed by the philadelphia eagles. at the news conference yesterday the former pro-ball quarterback who spent 18 months in prison said he is a changed man. >> as we all know in the past, i made some mistakes, i have done some terrible things, made a

horrible mistake. and now, i want to be part of the solution and not the problem. >> there's no third chances. and we know that. and that's -- that's the thing. if there's a -- if it isn't fulfilled the way we expect it to be, then that will be the end. >> more trouble for olympic hero michael phelps. he was behind the wheel in a car crash thursday night in baltimore. the good news police say the accident was not his fault. however, he was cited for driving without a valid license. he did tell police he had a beer about an hour or so before the accident but that was not an issue. back in '04, phelps pleaded guilty to drunken driving charges. the economy taking its toll on college football. listen to this, the budget-conscious new mexico state football staff sending out an e-mail asking fans to donate after practice and late-night snacks for hungry players. the aggies say hold off on the

cheeto-s but bring on trail mix and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. finally one thing kids learn in little league. something adrian beltre didn't have a cup on when he was nailed bay ball in a game against the white sox. he will next the next 15 days and, ah, that's a check of sports.

the son of a civil rights pioneer says he's going to ask the state of alabama to pardon his late father. the reverend ralph david be a ber natty was arrested fume rouse times durpg the montgomery bus boycott and also during protests against segregation. now his son, ralph david abernathy iii says he will apply for pardons on his behalf. back in 2006 alabama provides a law that provides mechanisms to provide pardons for people arrested during civil rights protests. this alligator got into some sort of tug-of-war with kids. it has been caught. the kids were crab fishing monday when their rope ended up

around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids trying to pull it out of the water and dialed 9116789 a cop cut the rope and t got away until yesterday. >> this alligator's probably 275, maybe 300 pounds. you have a kid that's 100 pounds. you get in a tug-of-war, the alligator's not going to luls. there's a lot of potential there. we're kind of lucky that this is where it stopped. >> yes, very lucky. the agent was able to spot the gator because it still had the kid's rope wrapped around its mouth. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fi-le there last year a manager asked a customer to cover up after others complained. the woman said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome with like, oh, my gosh, i didn't know what to do, i was so shocked.

are you kidding me? you want me to cover up my child with a towel? i -- nobody else eats dinner with a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they just wanted to make people aware of a state law that allows mothers to breast feed in public. the restaurant manager has apologized to that woman. when it comes to the environment, the car you drive to the grocery store may not have nearly as big an impact as what you buy once you get there. it sounds odd. well, we explain why in today's "eco solutions". >> here's a riddle for you, who is more green a vegan who drives an suiv or meat eater who drives a hybrid? let's take a closer look at the debate. the main issue in question is the environmental impact of producing meat.

recently, former beatle sir paul mccartney launched a campaign encouraging the public to ignore their cravings one day a week called meat-free mondays. the campaign says cutting down your red meat intact is an important step tackling climate change. >> fto encourage people to not eat meat one day a week, monday when they've overdone it over the weekend possibly and the idea it is very beneficial for the environment. >> cows produce high levels of methane gas through belching. according to the u.s. environmental protection agency, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. it's actually 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide a. booming demand for beef means at a star getting gerring 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock, according to the u.n. the entire transport sectors, cars, trucks, airplanes combined only makes up 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

another issue is the water, land and food resources needed to raise livestock. so, how much good does it good to cut meat out of your diet only once a week? biologists for the environmental group greenpace says going meat-free one day a week would cut greenhouse gas emissions 10 to 20%. now to answer a question, according to a study by the university of chicago a vegan driving an su have i is actually more green than a meat eater who drives a hybrid. changes to your eating habits will have a bigger impact on the environment than the car you drive. >> pretty interesting fact there for you. for more green surprises and other important news about the environment, just go to our webpage, that's cnn.com/ecosolutions. we're going to show you an event that has a little bit of mass car mixed in with a whole lot of demolition derby.

there it is, how a group of people got plenty of "crash" for clunkers.

a suicide car bombing in kabul today killed seven people. 91 people were also injured. it happened near the main gate at nato's international assistance force headquarters of the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. afghanistan's presidential election is just five days away. president obama takes on more health care questions today, this time in grand junction, colorado. thousands of protesters are expected outside the town hall meeting. obama held a similar meeting on his health care reform plan in montana yesterday. 19 people were killed during a two-hour prison riot in northern mexico yesterday.

local officials say 26 people were wounded. no prison guards were killed or injured. it is believed the riot involved prisoners on organized crime charges. that is a check of your saturday morning headlines. good to see you. i'm susan hendricks. typhoon morakot dumped more than 100 inches of rain on parts of taiwan and as shawn vause tells us, rescue officials are still trying to reach parts of the island cut off by raging floodwaters. >> reporter: even before typhoon morakot hit, getting to taiwan's remote mountain villages was tough but now it's nearly impossible. major roads are blocked by mudslides and debris. some have partly washed away. and then there's this bridge. it's simply gone, brought down during the storm, completely cutting off the village. the river below is still swollen and rapid. a few wo tried to cross there were swept away, plucked to safety by rescue crews.

so, the only way in and out is by this harness. so far, more than 100 people. so, they say it's pretty safe. but, it's still a long way down. probably about a 200-foot drop straight down onto the rocks down there. this water is moving pretty quickly. all that really holding me right now is this one hook there, which is connected to these three cletes. okay. oh. okay. the sign reads s.o.s., 32 people died here and a local official coming out says bodies have been left rotting for days. walking into the village, the road has collapsed in places, power lines are down, no electricity or running water for a week but there is mud, lots of it. just getting across is not easy. it really is just like walking

through quicksand. this village has been all but abandoned except for one family, refusing to leave. everyone else, almost 300 people, have made their perilous journey to safety. >> i'm not sure i'll go back says this young man. we'll rate until the roads are clear and try and clean up. but, by day's end getting out was no so easy. basically they said the people are not safe. so the safest way, they said, was across the river, the same river where others had earlier been swept away. they said the road was dangerous and if we tried it, both cables could snap. i realize i had no choice. it seemed worse from up there than it did down here. this is now life here, for so

many cut off by mudslides and debris. it will be a long time before the people will ever be able to go home again. john vause, cnn. we're talking about the economy now. bb & t brought the troubled colonial bank group yesterday, the largest bank failure so far this year. bb & t is taking on colonial's $22 billion in assets, as well as its deposits and branches. the fc will handle the rest. most of colonial's customers should be okay. the fdic, as you may know, guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend guillermo in the pacific is expected to weaken. the storm, though, to really keep an eye on is in the atlantic, forecasters say the first named storm of the atlantic season is about 1,000 miles away from the leeward islands. tropical storm ana expected to get stronger over the next couple of days.

right now its winds are at 40 miles an hour. strong winds are pushing wildfires in northern california. state authorities there say firefighters have contained about 15% of a fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far. no injuries have been reported, though. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated. also, another fire to tell you about north of sacramento. it destroyed one home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated and power was knocked out in that area, as well a. tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. an illinois judge is taking preliminary steps to get the trial of former police officer drew peterson under way. yesterday hundreds of potential jurors filled out questionnaires. the judge also heard arguments on whether peterson's trial should be moved to another venue. >> if we can't pick a fair jury

in will county, then it's the government's job to find a place, a county that we can pick an impartial and unbiased jury. they'll have to go out and do whatever work needs to be done in order to do that. >> the judge said se proceeding under the assumption the trial won't be moved to another county so. far, no trial date has been set, though. peterson, a former police officer, is charged with murder in the death of his third wife and is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. cash for clunkers is causing a cash flow problem for auto dealers. they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for their trade-in deals and that has put them in a cash crunch. some rebate requests submitted nearly three weeks ago haven't been paid yet. now, that lag time may cause some dealers to opt out of the popular program. meanwhile, ford motor company is saying cash for clunkers has created such a demand, it had to boost production at three of its plants. what's a winning lottery

ticket doing in a church offering plate? well, wait until you hear just how much this generosity is worth and what the church may do with the windfall. this is hln.

a small michigan church got a lottery winfall after someone dropped a winning lotto ticket in the offering plate, on purpose. it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says the gift is her way for thanking the church for supporting her after a serious car accident. it has left the pastor in shock. -- just don't do that. i don't care how well you know someone. i said, you know, i'm not sure i would do that. i mean, god would have to talk to me really loud. >> people at my church have just been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse for several months.

she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa. this alligator, got into some sort of tug-of-war with some kids. well, it has been caught. the kids were crab fishing monday when their rope ended around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids trying to pull it out of the water and dialed 911. a cop cut the rope and the gator got away, until yesterday. >> this alligator's probably 275, maybe 300 pounds. you have a kid that's 100 pounds. you get in a tug-of-war, the alligator's not going to lose. there's a lot of potential there. we're kind of lucky that this is where it stopped. >> yes, very lucky. the agent was able to spot the gator because it still had the kids' rope wrapped around its mouth. time to check sports and tiger woods is winning another golf tournament. bob joins us and nothing new here, right? >> i tell you what, susan they say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes.

well, throw in tiger winning, especially when leading after 36 holes in a major. that is the story at the pga championship in minnesota, tigering holding a commanding four-stroke lead as he heads into today's third round. get, this tiger has never lost a major when leading after 36 holes. he is a perfect 8-0. so, you got to love his chances this weekend. watch it just drop in there like that. i'm betting that broncos wide receiver brandon marshall finally got a good night's sleep. yesterday, marshall found not guilty of misdemeanor battery stemming from an incident last year accused of roughing up his then girlfriend marshall had faced up to two years in jail. hard to question the toughness of u.s. soccer star landon donovan a day after he played the full 90 minutes in the u.s. 2-1 loss to mexico. donovan found out that he had swine flu, testing positive for h1n1. he said he felt real bad during

the match but never considered pulling himself out. this was the scene yesterday for tonight's strike force showdown in san jose between gina corano. she is right there. taking on kris cyborg tans to. mixed martial arts. she's trying to prove she's not just another pretty face. aren't we all? and that's a check of sports. more visitors go there each year ton the grand canyon, yellowstone angiosem tee parks combined. the national mall in washington, d.c. it is a great learning experience and, also, a great weekend getaway. >> reporter: washington, d.c. is a bonanza for the budget minded. >> everyone knows that washington, d.c. is full of our nation's history.

in fact, the capitol is a great place for a free tour to see the intimate details of our government. >> reporter: whether the monument, museums, even the national zoo there, are dozen of places to visit for free including the smithsonian american art museum . >> what you can expect to see is the largest and most compressive american art collection anywhere in the world. this building displays 4,000 works of art by some of america's most prominent and most beloved artists from all periods. >> reporter: during the busy summer season be prepared for crowds and maybe some surprises. >> you what don't expect about washington, d.c., it is full of modern pleasures such as cutting-edge restaurants and really exceptional people watching.

the son of a civil rights pioneer says he's going to ask the state of bam nato pardon his late father. the reverend ralph david abernathy was arrested numerous times during the montgomery bus boycott and also during protests against segregation. now his son, ralph david

abernathy iii says he will apply for pardons on his father's behalf. back in 2006 alabama passed a law providing a mechanism for granting pardons for people arrested during civil rights protests. search crews will try again to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. kristy cornwell vanished tuesday while taking a walk along a north georgia road, tuesday night, a that is. searchers found her cell phone last night about three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend says he was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up. then he heard screams. personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fil-a last week a manager asked a nursing mom to cover up there after other customers complained. the woman said she was

embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome with like, oh, my gosh, you know, i didn't know what to do. i was so shocked. are you kidding me? you want me to cover up my child with a towel? nobody else eats dinner with that a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they just wanted to make people aware of the state law that allow thems to breast feed in public. the restaurant manager has apologized to that woman. we are learning more about the people who died in that horrible mid air crash in new york last saturday susan candiotti also with details about an air traffic controller was doing at the time of the crash. >> reporter: as investigators study this amateur video -- in italy, a family mourns among the five italian tourists killed, a father and son. their family share as bond with

the altmans outside philadelphia, steven, his brother, daniel and teen-aged son douglas were killed in a small plane that collided with the helicopter. both families are searching for answers among new disturbing allegations. an air traffic controller handling the piperr airplane was on the phone at the time of the crash according it a source with knowledge of the investigation. what the faa in a statement calls inproemt conversations. and there's more. the faa says the air traffic controller's supervisor was not in the building at the time, as required. our source says the air traffic controller had already cleared the plane for takeoff from teterboro airport in new jersey before talking with his girlfriend. the ntsb says the plane had been handed off electronically to the next tower down the line in newark and then the plane disappeared from radar. the faa calls the conduct of the controller and his boss unacceptable but says, quote, we have no reason to believe at

this time that these actions contributed to the accident. >> we have somebody missing in action. we have someone else who's not doing their job spochlt, the negligence is there. the only question is is whether that negligence had a role in this accident. >> reporter: the faa says the two employees are now on administrative leave. the investigation's not over. ultimately, the two could be fired. >> that was susan candiotti reporting. meanwhile the air traffic control union is facing off with fed sz as they investigate the crash. union leaders argue the controller could not have prevented the crash. the open disagreement actually violates normal protocol of the ntsb investigations. a new york-based chemistry teacher spends his spare time picking up tossed out computers and is making a difference. he sends them to schools in kenya, planting the seeds of learning but the students there

have to plant something, too. he's today's cnn hero. >> i was coming from college last night and i see these computer thrown out. i found everything was perfect. computers are thrown out and so much are needed in kenya so i decided, i must do something. my name is jude ndambuki. i send them to ken yeah. the children in kenya have very few resources. any part that is in play to make their life better is great. then, we label the name on the school on each box and then we ship it. the computers are saved from poisoning the environment and they're going to be used for 20 years by some schools.

every school is going to planta1 tree for a computer. yet plant a seed teaching kids to conserve the environment and be engines of change. it's like giving the kids a new life. computers are getting new life and trees are being planted for a new life, too. it's all connected. >> he's really done some amazing things to find out more of jude or any of our cnn heroes, just go to our website. now, you can see exclusive heroes footage and get updates on facebook. just go to: we're going to show you an event that has a little bit of nascar mixed in with a whole lot of demolition derby. there it, is how a group of people got plenty of "crash" for clunkers.

a massive suicide bombing in the heart of the capital of afghanistan, just days before the country's presidential election. a correspondents for our sister network cnn was nearby. hear what he says the situation on the ground was like moments after the blast. the first named storm of the atlantic season is here. forecasters say tropical storm ana could pick up steam. >> i believe that when you give it will be given back to you. god has really watched over me. >> a woman drops her winning lottery ticket into a church offering plate on purpose. why she gave up her windfall and what it's worth to the church. good saturday to you, you are

watching hln "news & views" vo glad you are. i'm susan hendricks. the taliban claims responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main gate of nato's headquarters in kabul, afghanistan. kabul police say at least seven people died in the attack and at least 91 more were wounded. the bomb site is next to the u.s. embassy on the same street as the country's presidential palace. peter bergen a national security analyst for our sister network, cnn, was this kabul at the time of the explosion. >> reporter: seemed to be much larger than anything i've ever experienced before and certainly given the fact that i'm several miles north, it was loud enough so that everybody in the place that i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean, clearly there is a great deal of concern but you can travel around most of these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routinely

traffic jams every day. there is no lockdown right now. you know, that may change on election day. but, you know, i, to be honest with you, you know, just on the surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does on any other trip i've been here. >> our thanks to peter for that. meanwhile the attack comes five days before afghan's presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country for thursday's election. meanwhile, president obama is calling that election the most important event in afghanistan all year. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend, guillermo in the pacific is expected to weaken. the storm, though, to really keep an eye on is in the atlantic. forecasters say the first named storm of the atlantic season is about a thousand miles from the leeward idz. tropical storm ana, expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now its winds are at 40 miles an hour. meteorologist reynolds wolf is

keeping a close eye what is happening in the tropics. we'll have hit report in just a few minutes. strong winds push wildfires in northern california. state authorities there say that firefighters have contained about 15% of a fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far. no injuries have been reported, though. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated. also, another fire to tell you about north of sacramento. it destroyed one home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated. and power was knocked out in that area, as well. a tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. president obama faced more skeptics of his health care plan in montana yesterday and one of the toughest questions was about how the government will pay. what obama will do to cover 46 million uninsured americans. as ed henry reports, as the

president admitted, it won't be easy. >> reporter: sure, montana is a nice place to visit this time of year but the president had more on his mind than just fly fishing. he also came for urgent business, buttering up the state's senior senator and chairman of the finance committee, max baucus, who could hold the fate of health reform in his hands. >> first of all, the man who is working tirelessly to make sure that the american people get a fair deal when it comes to health care in america, please give max baucus a big round of applause. >> reporter: in private, top presidential advisers acknowledge the fight has reached a critical stage because the opposition has gained some steam. capitalizing on anger over federal bailouts and debt at many congressional town hall meetings. >> where does that state that the government has these powers to take over health care? >> reporter: by comparison, the president's town hall here was pretty tame, though he depend get one pointed question that

reflected the strong opposition he's facing. >> we keep getting the bull. that's all we get, is bull. you can't tell us how you're going to pay for this. the only way you're going to get that money is to raise our taxes. you said you wouldn't. >> look, you are absolutely right, that i can't cover another 46 million people for free. >> reporter: but, the president did not shrink from the challenge and vowed again he will not raise taxes on the middle class to pay for the difference. >> when i was campaigning, i made a promise that i would not raise your taxes if you made $250,000 a year or less. that's what i said. but, i said that for people, like myself, who make more than that, there's nothing wrong with me paying a little bit more in order to help people who have's got a little bit less. >> reporter: but many agree that's easier said than done so that leaves it to baucus to figure out the pesky details of

reform. white house aides privately acknowledge his page is the last best hope getting a bipartisan deal. the weeks of negotiations in washington have thus far come up empty. white house aides acknowledge when congress works in september the window on reaching a deal will be closing fast if if they hope to meet the president's deadline of the end of the year. ed henry, cnn, big sky, montana. >> there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family just check out the health care in america website on -- for a great deal of information the latest on town hall debates, fact checks, ireports and other news, as well. just go to: we're talking about the economy now. bb & t brought the troubled colonial bank group yesterday, the largest bank failure so far this year. bb & t is taking on colonial's $22 billion in assets, as well as its deposits and branches.

the fdic will handle the rest. now, most of colonial's customers should be okay. the fdic, as you may know, guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. cash for clunkers is causing a cash flow problem for auto dealers. they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for their tradein deals and that has put them in a cash crunch. some rebate requests submitted nearly three weeks ago haven't been paid yet. now, that lag time may cause some dealers to opt out of the popular program. meanwhile ford motor companies is saying cash for clunkers has created such a demand it had to boost production at three plants. an illinois judge is taking preliminary steps to get the trial of former police officer drew peterson under way. yesterday hundreds of potential jurors filled out questionnaires. the judge also heard arguments on whether peterson's trial should be moved to another venue. >> if we can't pick a fair jury

in will county, then it's the government's job to find a place, a county that we can pick an impartial and unbiased jury and they'll have to go out and do whatever work needs to be done to do that. >> the judge said se proceeding under the assumption the trial won't be moved to another county. so far, no trial date has been set, though. peterson, a former police officer, is charged with murder in the death of his third wife and is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. as i mentioned we are keeping a close eye on the first named storm of this season in the atlantic. for more on that and a look at your forecast where you are we check with meteorologist reynolds wolf. certainly a busy day weather-wise. >> absolutely. you know, susan, a fairly quiet season so far in the atlantic basin buff things are cracking up a bit. let me show you a couple of things we are keeping a close eye on, first and foremost this system here, an sa.

the one we are watching for the time being as you can imagine would be ana. let's expand this view giving you an idea where it is expected to go, the latest from the national hurricane center you notice the storm expected to go with winds of 40 gusting to 50 with 50-mile-per-hour sustained winds sunday, fast forward to monday, tuesday moving north of the dominican republic to haiti. wednesday winds of 70 miles per hour as a tropical storm. as we get into thursday, winds of 70 and just off florida's southeast coast. remember, though, a lot of things can happen between now and sunday and tuesday, even into thursday. so, the storm may die out, could strengthen, could mover a bit farther to the north or maybe even farther to the south so it just bears watching. very quickly one other thing we'll watch the chance of storms forming across parts of the nation's midsection into the midwest. very dry for you for the southeast, until na fellow. scattered showers there, hot in texas and very dry, a chance of wildfires and moving out and

possibly spreading in central california and north in the bay area. that's your forecast. for hln, i'm reynolds wolf. -- wait until you hear how much this generosity is worth and what the church may do with the windfall. this is hln.

a small michigan church got a lottery winfall after someone dropped a winning lotto ticket in the offering plate, on purpose. it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says the gift is her way of thanking the church for supporting her after a serious car accidents. it has left the pastor in shock. >> -- don't just do that and i

don't care how well you know someone. i said, you know, i'm not sure i would have done that. i mean, god would have to talk to me really loud. >> people at my church have just been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse for several months. she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa. this alligator got into some sort of a tug-of-war with some kids. well, it has been caught. the kids were crab fishing monday when their rope ended up around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids trying to pull it out of the water and dialed 191. a cop cut the rope and the gator got away until yesterday. >> this alligator is probably 275, maybe 300 pounds. you have a kids that's 100 pounds. you get in a tug-of-war, the alligator's not going to lose. there's a lot of potential

there. we're kind of lucky that this is where it stopped. >> yes, very lucky. the agent was able to spot the gator because it still ht kids' rope wrapped around its mouth. we all know it is tough putting money away in savings especially when there are so many other demands but hln money expert clark howard says it's important to look ahead and he's got a simple formula to help you and your future. >> do you know the first time i retired, i was 31. shall i retire today? i don't know. but the thing is i have set up the finances in my life that i can ask myself that question. most of us can't. what's the key? there are actually two keys. one, through your working lifetime, you have got to live on substantially less than what you make. everybody thinks the big payday's going to come from somebody coming and buying out your business or whatever,

winning the lottery, or somebody dies and you inherit. huh-uh. most people make it to a comfortable retirement by a simple thing, living life without too much flash, keeping the cash, and spending substantially less than what you make, at least 25% saved of every dollar you make. that's how you get to the finish line extra early. i'm clark howard. for more ideas i have about you being smart with your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. and for a lot more ways to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off, stay with us "the clark howard show" at noon eastern right here on hln. it is time for sports, bob is here. bob, talking about michael vick, he can now concentrate playing football, at least, his goal, that's what he wants. >> he is still gk to have to put up with the protestors who seemingly have no interest in

forgiving him for doing all those unconscionable things to dog running that dog-fighting ring but he is back in the fflz signed by the philadelphia eagles. at the news conference yesterday, the former pro ball quarterback who spent 18 months in prison said he is a changed man. >> as we all know in the past, i made some mistakes, i have done some terrible things, made a horrible mistake. and now, i want to be part of the solution and not the problem. >> there's no third chances. and we know that. and that's -- else that the thing. if there's a -- if it isn't fulfilled the way we expect it to be, then that will be the end. >> more trouble for olympic hero michael phelps. he was behind the wheel at a car crash thursday night in baltimore. the good news say the accidents was not his fault however he was cited for driving without a valid license. detell police he had a beer

about an hour or so before the accident but that was not an issue. back in '04, phelps pleaded guilty to drunken driving charges. the economy taking its toll on college football. listen to, this the budget-cons she new mexico state football staff sending out an e-mail asking fans to donate after-practice and late-night snacks for hungry players. the aggies say hold off on the cheeto-s but bring the trail mix and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. -- someone better tell that to the mariners aid yaen beltre, didn't have a cup on when he was nailed by a ground ball against the white sox. he now will miss at least the next 15 days and, ah, that's a check of sports.

arrested during the civil rights protests. search crews will try today to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. christie cornwell vanished on tuesday, taking a walk along a north georgia road. searchers found her cell found last night three hours away. cornwell's boyfriend said she was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up. then he heard screams. personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. fourth mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida in breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest at a chick-fil

chick-fil-a. last wake a manager asked a nursing mother to cover up after customers complained. the mother said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was overcome with -- oh my gosh. i didn't know what to do. i was so shocked. are you kidding me? you want me to cover up my child with a towel? nobody else eats dinner with a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they just wanted to make people aware of a state law that allows people to breast feed in public. the restaurant manager apologized to that woman. police in wisconsin are looking for a teenager who had a very close call on a draw bridge. check it out. take a look at her car. if you can imagine what she's thinking inside of it. the bridge was raised prematurely on thursday night. and other drivers say the young woman behind the wheel was trapped at that 45-degree angle for two minutes. police say the girl just drove off the bridge after it came back down.

they're looking to talk to her about the incident. we'll show you an event that has a little bit of nascar mixed in with a whole lot of demolition derby. there it is. how a group of people got plenty of crash for clunkers. @@@@@@@@@@

a suicide car bombing in kabul killed seven people. 91 people were injured. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. afghanistan's presidential election is just five days away. president obama takes on your health care questions today. this time in grand junction, colorado. thousands of protesters are expected outside the town hall meeting. obama held a similar meeting on his health care reform plan in montana yesterday. 19 people were killed during a two-hour prison riot in northern mexico yesterday.

local officials say 26 people were wounded. no prison guards were killed or injured. it is believed the riot involved prisoners jailed on drug or organized crime charges. that is a check of your saturday morning headlines. good to see you. you're watching hln news and views. i'm susan hendricks. typhoon morakot dumped more than 100 inches of rain on parts of taiwan. rescue officials are still trying to reach some parts of the island cut off by raging floodwaters. >> reporter: even before typhoon morakot hit, getting to taiwan's remote villages were tough. now it's impossible. roads blocked by mud slides and debris. then there is this bridge, it's gone. brought down during the storm, completely cutting off this village. the river below is swollen and rapid. a few who tried to cross were swept away, plucked to safety by

rescue crews. the only way in and out is by this. so far more than 100 people here. they say it's pretty safe. but it's still a long way down. probably about a 200-foot drop straight down on to the rocks down there. this water is moving pretty quickly. all that's really holding me right now is this one hook there, which is connected to these three. okay. okay. the sign reads s.o.s. 32 people died here. and a local official coming out of the village said bodies had been left rotting for days. walking into the village, the road has collapsed in places. power lines are down. there has been no electricity or running water for a week. but there is mud, lots of it. just getting across is not easy. it really is just like walking

through quicksand. this village has been all but abandoned except for one family refusing to leave. everybody else, almost 300 people, have made the perilous journey to safety. i'm on not sure i'll go back, says this young man. we'll wait until the roads are clear and try to clean up. but by day's end, getting out was not so easy. >> okay. basically they said that the -- >> reporter: so the safest way, they said, was across the river. the same river where others had earlier been swept away. thank you. they said that the road was starting to sag. and if we tried it, both cables could snap. that's when i realized, i had no choice but to do this. it seemed worse up there than it did from down here. and this is now life here for so

many, villages and houses cut off by mud slides and debris. it will be a long time before the people will ever be able to go home again. . >> we're talking about the economy now. colonial bank group was bought yesterday, the largest bank failure so far this year. bb&t is talking on colonial's assets as well as its deposits and branches. most of colonial customers should be okay. the fdic, as you may know, guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend. guillermo is expected to weaken. the storm to keep an eye on is in the atlantic. the first-named storm of the season is 1,000 miles away from the leeward islands. tropical storm ana is expected

to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now it's winds are at 40 miles per hour. strong winds pushing wildfires in southern california. firefighters have contained 15% of the fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far. no injuries have been reported though. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated. also, another fire to tell you about north of sacramento. it destroyed one home and 60 homes were evacuated. a tv station in nevada reported smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. an illinois judge is taking preliminary steps to get the trial of former police officer drew peterson under way. yesterday, hundreds of potential jurors filled out questionnaires. the judge also heard arguments on whether peterson's trial should be moved to another venue.

>> if we can't pick a fair injury in will county, then it's the government's job to find a place, a county we can pick an sbas impartial and unbiased jury. >> the judge said he is proceeding under the assumption that the trial won't be moved to another county. peterson is charged with the murder of his third wife and a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. carb flow a problem for auto dealers. they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for trade-in deals. that has put them in a cash crunch. some rebate questions submitted three weeks ago haven't been paid yet. that lag time may cause dealers to opt out of the popular program. meanwhile, ford motor company is saying that cash for clunkers created such a demand it had to

boost production at three of its plants. what's a winning lottery ticket doing in a church offering plate? wait until you hear how much this generosity is worth and what the church may do with the windfall. this is hln. i'm robin meade. we celebrate the troops every weekday on morning express with robin meade. our salute is to sergeant zach melda from his wife. she and their 1-month-old old can't wait until he gets home. >> caller: good morning, robin. i'm saluting my husband, zach, in afghanistan. i want to tell him how very proud i am of him. i think it takes an unbelievable amount of courage. and definitely sacrifice on his part to fight for our country. i can't wait for him to come home and meet our adorable son. don't be, baby, adam is still staying awake all night. i love you and miss you. >> i love that message.

if you have somebody in the service, go to cnn.com/robin.

a small michigan church is counting its blessings after someone dropped a winning lottery ticket in the offering plate on purpose. it's worth $70,000. jason calder of affiliate wiax went looking for the generous donor. >> wild. >> reporter: that's how the pastor describes holding a check worth $70,000. >> so they called me in the morning. i danced my jig in the morning. they were all shouting, hallelujah, praise the lord. are you kidding me? >> reporter: a winner of the congregation dropped a winning lottery ticket in the collection made. >> people don't do that. i'm not sure i would have done that. god would have to talk to me

really loud. >> reporter: lottery tickets are unheard of in the collection basket. there have been nine in the last ten years. but this one was different. it was a guaranteed winner worth $70,000. >> and i didn't sleep that night, yeah. >> reporter: donated by this woman, a member of the church, who knew the ticket was a winner. she wants to remain anonymous but did talk to news 10 about why she made this huge donation. >> i was in a car accident about a little over four years ago. and i got a closed-head injury. even though we're a small church, the people at my church have just been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> reporter: she is in the process of moving to florida, where she herself plans to enter the ministry. a donation like this is simply ensuring good karma on her

endeavors, meaning she'll get paid back and then some. >> she's giving it to another ministry so people will will give into hers. a reap what you sew thing. >> god has really watched over me over the last four years. i won't say it's been easy. it's been a learning experience, but he's taken care of me. >> that was jason colthorp reporting. the congregation has not decided what to do with the money yet. get this, they have been praying for a way to support a mission in africa. because the ticket went to a nonprcht profit, it's tax free. >> this alligator got into a tug-of-war with some kids. the rope they had ended up around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids and called 911. a cop cut the rope and the gator got away until yesterday. >> this alligator is 275, maybe 300 pounds.

you have a kid that's 100 pounds. you get in a tug-of-war, the alligator is not going to lose. there was a lot of potential there. we're kind of lucky this is where it stopped. >> yes, very lucky. the agent was able to spot the gator. it had the kid's rope wrapped around its mouth. police in wisconsin are looking for a teenager who had a close call on a draw bridge. check it out. take a look at her car, if you can imagine what she's thinking inside of it. the bridge was raised prematurely on thursday night, and other drivers say the young woman behind the wheel was trapped at that 45-degree angle for about two minutes. police say the girl just drove off the bridge after it came back down. they're now looking to talk to her about the incident. time to check sports. tiger woods is winning another golf tournament. bob joins us. nothing new here, right? >> the only two certainties in life are death and taxes.

well, throw in tiger winning. especially when leading after 36 holes in a major. that is the story at the pga championship in minnesota. tiger holding a commanding four-stroke lead as he heads into today's third round. get this. tiger has never lost a major when leading after 36 holes. he is a perfect 8-0. you've got to love his chances this weekend. why don't you just drop in there like that. i'm betting that broncos' wide receiver brand an marshall finally got a good night's sleep. yesterday, he was found not guilty of misdemeanor battery stemming from an incident last year. accused of roughing up his then-girlfriend. he had faced up to two years in jail. hard to question the toughness of u.s. soccer star landon donovan. a day after he played the full 90 minutes in the u.s.' 2-1 loss to mexico. he found out he had swine flu. testing positive for h1n1. said he felt bad during the

match but never considered pulling himself out. his l.a. galaxy team has a match tonight. we don't know if he'll play. this was the scene yesterday for tonight's strike force showdown in san jose between gina carano. she is right there. taking on kris "cyborg" santos. trying to move she's not just another face. aren't we all. that's a check of sports. new details emerging from the investigation into last saturday's mid-air crash in new york. it is raising tensions between air traffic controllers and federal officials. details just ahead.

the son of a civil rights pioneer says he's going to ask the state of alabama to pardon his late father. the reverend ralph david abernathy was arrested numerous times during the montgomery bus boycott and protests against segregation. now his son says he will apply for pardons on his father's behalf. back in 2006, alabama passed a law that provides a mechanism for granting pardons to people arrested during civil rights protests.

search crews will try again today to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. christie cornwell vanished on tuesday while taking a walk along a north georgia road. searchers found her cell phone last night three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend says he was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up. then he heard screams, personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fil-a there. last week, a manager asked a nursing mom to cover up at that store after other customers complained. the woman said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome with like -- oh my gosh. i didn't know what to do. i was so shocked. are you kidding me?

you want me to cover up my child with a towel? nobody else eats dinner with a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they just wanted to make people aware of a state law that allows mothers to breast feed in public. the restaurant manager apologized to that woman. we are learning miles per hour about the people who died in that horrible mid-air crash in new york last saturday. susan candiotti has new details about what an air traffic controller was doing at the time of the crash. >> reporter: as investigators study this amateur video to find out what led to the terrifying mid-air crash over the hudson, in italy, a family mourns. among those killed, a father and son. their family shares a bond with the altmans outside philadelphia. steven, his brother daniel and his teenage son, douglas, were killed in a small plane that collided with the helicopter.

both families are searching for answers among some new disturbing allegations. an air traffic controller was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time of the crash. according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. what the faa in a statement calls, quote, inappropriate conversations. and there's more. the faa says the air traffic controller's supervisor was not in the building at the time as required. our source says the air traffic controller had already cleared the plane for takeoff from teterboro airport in new jersey before talking with his girlfriend. the ntsb says the plane had been hundred handed off electronically. the faa calls the conduct unacceptable but says we have no reason to believe at this time this contributed to the cause of the accident. >> somebody not doing their job.

the negligent is there. the only question is whether that negligence had a role in this accident? >> the faa says the two employees are now on administrative leave. the investigation is not over. ultimately, the two could be fired. >> that was susan candiotti reporting. meanwhile, the air traffic controller union is facing off with feds as they investigate the crash. union leaders argue the controller could not have prevented the crash. the open disagreement violates normal protocol of the ntsb investigation. check out this military invasion in kansas city. it's kind of one. it's a mini one. those are g.i. joes parachuting into town. g. i. joe turns 45 this year. action figures and fans of them will be at the convention this

weekend. we'll show you an event that has a little bit of nascar mixed in with a whole lot of demolition derby. >> oh! >> there it is. how a group of people got plenty of crash for clunkers.

a massive suicide bombing in the heart of the capital of afghanistan, just days before the country's presidential election. a correspondent for our sister network cnn was nearby. hear what he says the situation on the ground was like moments after the blast. the first named storm of the atlantic season is here. forcecasters say tropical storm ana could pick up steam. >> i believe that when you give, it will be given back to you. god has really watched over me. a woman drops her winning lottery ticket into a church offering plate on purpose. why she gave up her windfall and what it's worth to the church. good saturday to you. you're watching hln "news &

views" so glad you are, i'm susan hendricks. here's what we're following for you. the taliban claims responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main gate of nato hurricanes in kabul, afghanistan. kabul police say at least seven people died in the attack and at least 91 more were wounded. the bomb site is next to the u.s. embassy on the same street as the country's presidential palace. peter bergen, a national security analyst for our sister network cnn was in kabul at the time of the explosion. >> reporter: there seemed to be much larger than anything i've experienced before and certainly given the fact i'm several miles north it was loud enough that that everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean, clearly there is a great deal of concern but you can travel around most of these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routinely traffic jams every day. it's not -- there is no lockdown

right now, you know, that may change on election day. but, you know, i, to be honest with you, you know, just on the surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does in any other trip i've been here. >> our thanks to peter for that. meanwhile the attack comes five days before afghanistan's presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country for thursday's election. meanwhile, president bottom is calling that election the most important event in afghanistan all year. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend, guillermo in the pacific is expected to weaken. the storm to keep an eye on is in the atlantic. forecasters say it is about a thousand miles away from the leeward islands and expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now its winds are at 40 miles an hour. meteorologist reynolds wolf is

keeping a close eye on what's happening in the tropics. we'll have his report in just a few minutes. strong winds are pushing wildfires in northern california. state authorities there say that firefighters have contained about 15% of a fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far. no injuries have been reported, though. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated. also, another fire to tell you about north of sacramento. it destroyed one home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated and power was knocked out in that area, as well. a tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. president obama faced more skeptics of his health care plan in montana yesterday and one of the toughest questions was about how the government will pay. what obama will do to cover 46 million uninsured americans. as ed henry reports, the president admitted it won't be easy.

>> reporter: sure, montana is a nice place to visit this time of year. but, the president had more on his mind than just fly fishing. he also came for urgent business. buttering up the state's senior senator and chairman of the finance committee, max baucus, who could hold the fate of health reform in his hands. >> first of all, the man who is working tirelessly to make sure that the american people get a fair deal when it comes to health care in america, please give max baucus a big round of applause. >> reporter: in private, top presidential advisers acknowledge the fight has reached a critical stage, because the opposition has gained some steam. capitalizing on anger over federal bailouts and debt at many congressional town hall meetings. >> where does that state the government has these powers to take over health care? >> reporter: by comparison, the president's town hall here was

pretty time, now he did get one pointed question that reflected the strong opposition he's facing. >> we keep getting the bull. that's all we get is bull. you can't tell us how you're going to pay for it. the only you're going to get that money is to raise our taxes. you said you wouldn't. >> look. you are absolutely right that i can't cover another 46 million people for free. >> reporter: but, the president did not shrink from the challenge and vowed again he will not raise taxes on the middle class to pay for the difference. >> when i was campaigning, i made a promise that i would not raise your taxes if you made $250,000 a year or less. that's what i said. but, i said that for people like myself, who make more than that, there's nothing wrong with me paying a little bit more in order to help people who have a little bit less. >> reporter: but many agree that's easier said than done and so that leaves it to baucus to figure out the pesky details to pay for reform. white house aides privately

acknowledge his panel is the last best hope of getting a bipartisan deal. the weeks of negotiations in washington have thus far come up empty. and white house aides acknowledge that when congress returns to work in september, the window on reaching a deal will be closing fast, if they hope to meet the president's deadline of the end of the year. ed henry, cnn, big sky, montana. there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family just check out the special health care in america website on cnn.com. you can get a great deal of information. the latest on health care debates, fact checks and other news as well. go to cnn.com/healthcare. talking about the economy now, bb & t brought the troubled colonial bank group yesterday, the largest bank failure this year.

bb&t taking on its 22 billion in assets as well as deposits and branches. the fdic will handle the rest. most of colonial's customers should be okay. cash for clunkers is causing a cash flow problems for auto dealers. they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for their trade-in deals and put them in a cash crunch. some rebate requests submitted nearly three weeks ago haven't been paid yet. that lag time may cause dealers to opt-out of the program. meanwhile, ford motor company says carb for clunkers created such demand it had to boost production at three of its plants. the trial of drew peterson expected to get under way. the judge heard motions about whether peterson's trial should

be moved to another venue. >> if we can't pick a fair jury in will cocoununty, it's the government's job to pick a venue. >> the judge is proceeding under the assumption that the trial won't be moved to another county. so far no trial date has been set. peterson is charged with murder in the death of his third wife and a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. as i mentioned, we are keeping a close eye on the first-named storm of this season in the atlantic. for more on that, we check in with meteorologist reynolds wolf. >> you know, susan, it's been a fairly quiet season so far in the atlantic basin. thanks are cranking up a little bit. i want to enlarge this picture. first and foremost, is ana. another disturbance farther

back. we may have trouble with both systems. the one we're watching for the time being is ana. let's expand this view, giving you an idea where the storm is expected to go. the latest from the national hurricane center. you'll notice that the storm is expected to go with winds of 40, gusting to 50 to 50-mile-per-hour sustained winds. as we get into thursday, winds of 70. just off florida's southeast coast. remember though, a lot of things can happen between nouw and sunday and tuesday. the storm could die off or strengther and move farther to the north or the south. it bears watching. one other thing we want to watch, the chance of storms forming across part of the nation's mid-section. dry in portions of the southeast until you get to florida. hot in texas. very dry with a chance of wildfires, again, moving out and possibly spreading in parts of

central california and near the bay area. that is the latest on your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. what's a winning lottery ticket doing in a church offering plate? wait till you hear how much this generosity is worth and what the church may do with the windfall. this is hln.

a small michigan church got a lottery windfall after someone dropped a wing lotto ticket in the plate on purpose. it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she said it's her way for thanking the church after supporting her after a serious car accident. it left the pastor in church.

>> people don't do that. i'm not sure i would have done that. god would have to talk to me really loud. >> people at my church have been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse for several months. she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa. this alligator got into a tug-of-war with some kids. it has been caught. the kids were crab fishing monday when their rope ended up around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids trying to pull it out of the water and dialed 911. a cop cut the rope and the gator got away until yesterday. >> this alligator's probably 275, maybe 300 mounpounds. you have a kid that's 100 pound. you get in a tug-of-war, the alligator's not going to lose.

there was a lot of potential there. we're lucky this is where it stopped. >> yes, very lucky. the agent was able to spot the gator because it still had the kids' rope wrapped around its mouth. it is time for sports. bob is here. we're talking about michael vick. he can concentrate on playing football. that's his goal. >> he'll still have to put up with the protesters who seemingly have no interest in forgiving him for doing those unconscionable things to dogs. but vick is back in the nfl. signed by the philadelphia eagles. at the news conference yesterday, the former pro bowl quarterback who spent 18 months in prison said he is a changed man. >> we all know in the past i made some mistakes. i have done some terrible things, made a horrible mistake. and now i want to be part of the solution and not the problem. >> there are no third chances and we know that. that's the thing.

if there's -- if it isn't fulfilled the way we expect it to be, then that will be the end. >> more trouble for olympic hero michael phelps. he was behind the wheel in a car crash thursday night in baltimore. the good news, police say the accident was not his fault. however, he was cited for driving without a valid license. he did tell police he had a beer an hour or so before the accident. that was not know issue. back in 2004, phelps pleaded guilty to drunken driving charges. the economy taking its toll on college football. listen to this. the budget conscious new mexico state football staff sending out an e-mail asking fans to donate after-practice and late night snacks for hungry players. the aggies say, hey, hold off on the cheatos but bring on the trail mix and peanut butter and gel sandwiches. one of the first things boys learn in little league is you

have to wear a cup. somebody better tell that to the mariners' adrian beltre. didn't have a cup on when he was nailed by a ball from the white sox. he will miss the next six to eight days. that's a check of sports. are you thinking about buying a new car, using the cash for clunkers program such the dealer doesn't seem to which the one you want in stock. our money expert, jennifer westhoven, is looking out for you. >> hi. i hope you've got fun plans for this summer weekend. if you want to get in on cash for clunkers, the government has a new on the fly fix. vouchers. the program has been so popular you may have heard some of the most popular models are gone. you can still take advantage of the programs, even if the dealer has none left. go ahead, order the car at the

dealership. you'll get a vin number and voucher and you can pick it up later. if this catches on, it could make car buying a lot less stressful. a lot of people want a new car but hate the idea of haggling at the dealership. should i dress up, should i dress down such then the salesperson is doing that thing where they go in the back and check with the manager and leave you waiting forever. you probably don't buy cars enough to master that. now gm cars are going on sale at ebay. it's starting in california and could go nationwide. you could haggle by clicking make an offer. you'd be haggling from the comfort of your own home. that sounds like maybe you would get one up on the dealer. i'm jennifer westhoven looking out for you. >> thanks, jen. you can get more great money advice from jennifer each weekday on "morning express with rob robin meade." .

the son of a civil rights pioneer says he's going to ask the state of alabama to pardon his late father. the reverend ralph david abernathy was arrested numerous times during the montgomery bus

bicot and also during protests against segregation. now his son says he will apply for pardons on his father's behalf. back in 2006, alabama passed a law that provides a mechanism p law that provides a mechanism for granting pardons for people arrested during civil right pros tests. search crews will try today to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. christie cornwell vanished on tuesday while taking a walk. searchers found her cell phone about three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend says he was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up. then she heard screams. personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fill-a there.

a worker asked her to cover up after other customers complained. >> i didn't know what to do. i was so shocked. you want me to cover up my child with a towel, you know? i said nobody else eats dinner with a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they just want to make people aware of a state law that allows mothers to breast feetd in public. the restaurant manager has apologized to that woman. police in wisconsin are looking for a teenagerer who had a very close call on a drawbridge. check it out. take a look at her car. if you can imagine what she's thinking inside of it. the bridge was raised preprematurely on turz night and the woman was trapped at that 45 degrees angle for about two

minutes. police say the girl just drove off the bridge after it came down. they now looking to talk to her about that incident. how a group of people got plenty of crash for clunkers.

cnn, headlines news, or msnbc are locked on your favorites? if they are i've got the gift for you. i'm gonna richardson and my next guest is ken pullson. a pleasure to have you here. >> good to be with you >> what is the museum. most people know. >> sometimes there you an a museum in articling ton, virginia called the museum. it was an effort to remind

americans of the value of news gathering in america and a nod to the first amendment. we did so well there so we decided to take it where the action is. we have a brand new museum called a the museum on pennsylvania avenue. it's a -- it's a 45 word sign out front with the words of the first amendment 'em blazed there. we think it's healthy for them to read that says congress shall make no law. we're attempting to put it in neon. >> it is flashing? >> it's not a tribute to journalists. we had a blogger say i'm not going to set foot in that museum until they do an extra special to copy editors. it is not about you. it is a museum of history but a

different kind that reports what happened over the last several centuries through the eyes of journalists. so you get contemporary coverage of the assassination of kennedy and arrival of the beatles and the civil war and fascinating >> exactly. what have the visitors reactions been for the first year? exciting. we see the full range of course. tremendous amount of school groups and a lot of tourists visiting washingt washingto was. we bill ourselves as the world's most interactive museum. young people can play the part of a reporter or an editor or a journalist. we can even stand up in front of what you and your business called blue screen, to tape a broadcast announcement for their friends and family and then send it out to friends at home. amazing exhibits there.

i well tell you, i can say this with some degree of humility. i just joined the museum in february, i've been the editor of u.s. a. today for the last five years. we have the largest piece of the berlin wall in north america. you can go there and see that and the guard tower in collaboration and partnership with the f.b. i.we celebrate their 100th anniversary and we have phenomenal artifacts. we have the unibomber's cabin believe it or not. and depending on your age, some of your viewers probably remember patty hurst and her tenure with the liberation army. we have the gun she used in the bank robbery and the leather jacket she wore. we have can coverage including

dillinger's death mask and the bullet pruf vest he zn wear on that night >> with you have so many different exhibits. what do you have planned for us your second year? >> one of the great things about working for a museum where news is in the title we're updating and reflect the headlines in the museum. not long ago when there was an uproar in iran we covered the social network and the twittering. when newspapers have collapsed and some markets we quickly reported that. upcoming exhibits include: throughout the next year you'll be able to see manhunt exhibit about the assassination of abraham lincoln and barack ob a obama. >> i'm so sorry. we've run out of time but

everyone has got and go and see the museum. >> thank you very much >> my guest has been ken pullson president ofóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóó

the first named storm of the season is brewing over the atlantic. look how soon it could take land fall. and singer bob dylan got stopped by a new jersey cop who had no idea who he was. neither did the person calling police thinking the rock legend was a prowler. looks like fun, doesn't it? folks in wisconsin got to watch some clunkers come crashing down. wait till you see the two big stars of the show hit the dirt. you're watching hln on this saturday. so glad you're with us. i'm susan hendricks. thousands of protestors are expected outside president obama's second town hall meeting

on health care in colorado today. he took his push for reform to montana yesterday where he faced a largely supportive crowd, but some voiced their concern about where he would get the money to cover the 46 million uninsured in the u.s. the president urged them not to panic. >> because we're getting close, the fight is getting fierce. and the history is clear. every time we're in sight of health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got. they use their influence, they run their ads. and their political allies try to scare the heck out of everybody. it happened in '93, it's happening now. >> the president and his family will also do some sightseeing while they are out west. they plan to visit yellowstone national park today and the grand canyon tomorrow. there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms cowl affect you and your family, just check out the special health care america

website on cnn.com. you can get information, the latest from town hall debates, fact checks and other health care reform news. we have breaking news. an american sentenced to seven years hard labor in myanmar will be released. a u.s. senator has spent to days talking to officials and was able to secure his release. he yettaw will fly to thailand tomorrow. we're continuing to follow a of storms. the storm to keep an eye on in the atlantic. it's about 1,000 mile ace way from the leeward islands. tropical storm an sa expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now its winds are 40 miles an hour. we'll have ron wolf's

report in just a few minutes. strong winds are pushing wildfires in northern california. state authorities say firefighters have contained about 15% of a fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far. but no injuries have been reported. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated, but some are choosing to stay behind. >> there's nothing more we could do about it. we could turn our backs and leave, but we're not going to do that. just keep watching the weather. go by that. and good communication with all of this. >> also another fire north of sacramento destroyed a home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated there and power was knocked out in the area as well. a tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. we're talking about the economy now.

bb & t bought the troubled clonian bank group yesterday. it is the largest bank failure this year. bb&t is fwak taiking on cloelian's $20 billion in assets as well as its deposits and branches. the fdic will handle the rest most of its customers should be okay. the fdic guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. two people's jobs are now on the line after that deadly midair crash over the hudson river last saturday and video has surfaced that shows the small plane and helicopter running into each other. a source tells us an air traffic controller handling the small plane was on the phone with his girlfriend when the accident happened and his supervisor was apparently out of the building. the faa, though, doesn't think those factors contributed to the accident. meanwhile, that video of the accident that shows the moment of impact between the two aircraft was taken by a man practicing with a new camera while on a boat tour.

the taliban is claiming responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main gate of nato's headquarters in kabul, afghanistan. police say at least seven people died in that attack. at least 91 more were wounded. the bomb site is next to the u.s. embassy and is on the same street as the country's presidential palace. now, a national security analyst for our sister network cnn was in kabul at the time of the explosion. here he is. >> reporter: it seems to be much larger than anything i've experienced before, and certainly given the fact that i'm several miles north, it was loud enough that everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. i wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean, clearly there's a great deal of concern that you can travel around these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routine traffic jams every day. there was no lockdown right now. that may change on election day,

but, you know, to be honest with you, you know, on a surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does on any other trip being here. >> the attack comes five days before the afghan presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country for thursday's election. now, president obama is calling that election the most important event in afghanistan all year. rescuers in taiwan are trying to reach more than 1,300 people who are trapped following last weekend's devastating typhoon. typhoon mora knock eed out more than 100 inches of rain in the country, causing mud slides and washing out bridges completely. now, the situation is worse in the remote southern part of the island which saw its worst flooding in 50 years. authorities in taiwan are blaming the storm for the death of 121 people. >> i'm reynolds wolf with a look

at forecast. we're going to look at the tropics. let's take a look at this. as we put this in motion take a look at the latest path we have, showing the storm is expected to strengthen. winds at 50 miles an hour sunday. fast forwarding into tuesday into wednesday, the path continues to bring it back into parts of the bahamas eventually into, say, wednesday, and thursday, becoming a very strong tropical storm. possibly hurricane as we get into thursday. and right now on this course, it would have it move into parts of southeast florida as we get towards the end of the week. but a lot can change. we're going to keep a very sharp eye on it. the storm could weaken, strengthen and move north or south. there's a lot that can happen between now and as we get into the middle of next week. there will be a chance of severe storms, especially in parts of the northern plains and back into the midwest. late afternoon hour, we could be dealing with strong storms, maybe some large hail, damaging winds, toernsds possible and of course some flash flooding. meanwhile, scattered showers

across parts of the southeast and back into the west coast, still very dry for parts of california where they're battling these fires near the bay area and of course back in parts of santa barbara county. in terms of high temperatures for the day, 88 degrees in washington. 89 in atlanta, 98 degrees in dallas. 83 degrees in denver, 98 in las vegas and 87 in new york. that is a look at your forecast across the nation. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. when a new jersey cop stopped rock legend bob dylan, it wasn't to get his autograph. last month, the singer took a walk in long branch and someone called police about a suspicious person roaming the neighborhood. well, the officer who responded didn't know the artist and asked him for id which he didn't have. the officer finally believed dylan when he took her to where his tour bus was parked. dylan is on a national tour with willie nelson and john mellencamp. some daring kids took on a ten-foot alligator in a dangerous game of tug of war.

what they were up to before cops had to step in. and one restaurants got moms so upset they show up by the dozens to stage an informal protest.

david abernathy was arrested numerous time during the montgomery busboy cot and during protests against segregation. now his son raffl david abernathy iii said he will apply for bard pardons on his father's behalf. back in 2006, alabama passed a law for a mechanism to grant pardons for people arrested during the civil war protests. . some kids were fishing when

their rope got caught around the gator's mouth. a mailman saw it and called police. the policeman cut the rope. >> you have a kid that's 100 pounds. you get in a tug of war, the alligator is not going to lose. there's a lot of potential there. we're kind of lucky this is where it stopped. ca dolors say the government hasn't reimbursed them for deals. that lag time may cause dealers to opt out of the program. meanwhile, ford motor programs saying cash for clumpgers has created such a demand it had to boost production at three of its plants. an illinois judge is taking preliminary steps to get the trial of former police officer

drew peterson under way. yesterday hundreds of potential jurors filled out questionnaires. the judge also heard arguments on whether peterson's trial should be moved to another venue. if we can't pick a fair jury, we they'll have to go out and do whatever work needs to be done in order to do that. so far no trial tate has been set, though. peterson is charged with the murder in the death of his third wife and is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. time to talk sports. michael vick is finally back on the football field again. the details in a huge day for him. >> absolutely a huge day. his first practice since his

release from federal prison on a dog fighting conviction. vick, of course, signed by the eagles. introduced at a news conference yesterday. and while he looks for a fresh start, protestors in philly with little interest in giving him a second chance. nonetheless, vick says he's genuinely sorry for his past and that he's a changed man. >> we all know in the past i made some mistakes. i've done some terrible things. made a horrible mistake. and now want to be part of the solution and not the problem. >> olympic hero michael phelps has got some problems. he keeps making headlines and not always for the right reason. now police say the accident was not his fault. however, he was cited for driving without a valid license. the budget conscious new mexico state football staff sending out an e-mail blast asking fans to

donate after practice and late night snacks for hungry players. yeah, scrap for money. and finally, many of us wake up and say what day is this. kw quentin richardson wakes up and says who am i playing for? he's been traded from the knicks to the grizzlies to the clippers, to the minnesota timberwolves, and this week from the timberwolves to the miami heat. hopefully he has time to unpack in miami. and that's a check of sports. and of course, jimi hendrix was one of the dozens of musicians to play woodstock 40 years ago today. it inspired charles shultz to name one of his peanuts characters after it. woodstock has inspired every

music festival that came after it. here's a question, if you had a winning lottery ticket, would you give it away? >> i believe that hen you give, it will be given back to you. god has really watched over me. >> why that woman gave up her wind fall and what it is worth to the church.

a small church got a lottery wind fall after someone dropped a winning lottery ticket in the offering plate on purpose. the woman who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says the gift is her way for thanking the church for supporting her after a significant car accident. it's left the pastor in shock. >> you just don't do that. i'm not sure i would have done that. god would have talked to me really loud. >> people at my church have just been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> well, the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse

for several months. she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa. officers on the ground and in the air hunted for a missing woman. zeshlgers found christie cornwell's cell phone about three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend said he was on the phone with her. she mentioned a car pulling up, then he heard screams and items at the scene indicated there was a struggle. there was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fil-a store. a worker asked a nursing mom to cover up after other customers complained. the woman said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome with, like, oh, my gosh, i didn't know

what to do. i was so shocked. i said you want me to cover up my child with a towel, you know? i said nobody else eats dinner with a towel on their head? >> the nursing moms say they just want to make people aware of a state law that allows mothers to breast feed in public. the restaurant's manager has apologized to that woman. >> we salute the troops every weekend on "morning express" with robin meade. our salute today is from sagt zach milda from his wife. >> good morning, robin. i'm saluting my husband zach in afghanistan. i want to tell him how very proud i am of him. i think it takes an unbelievable amount of courage and definitely sacrifice on his part to fight for our country. i can't wait for him to come home and meet our adorable son.

don't worry, baby, adam is staying awake all night so he'll be on your time zone when he comes home. love you and misyou. nasa may look to the sky but the space agency could stay firmly grounded. a presidential panel looked over nasa's human space program. it found that due to budget cuts, nasa's plan to return to the moon by 2020 and eventually to mars is just not feasible right now. and that has some scientists worried. >> well, there is a perception, and it's not just among the public, but also some degree the science community that the moon is sort of after been there-done that world. icn't disagree more. the moon is is a fascinating world and in many ways it's the key to understanding the solar system. so by studying the moon, one of the big reason to go back is it tells you what the nature of the

primordial earth was like. >> the panel recommends involving a private sector to build a new fleet. they don't have health care coverage or money, but thousands of people got a visit to a doctor for free. they didn't have to pay a dime. @

>> another first named storm of the season is brewing over the atlantic. we'll tell you just how soon it could make land fall. and singer date of birth bob dylan got stopped by a new jersey cop who had no idea who he was, neither did the person calling police thinking the rock legend was a prowler. folks in wisconsin got to see some clunkers come crashing down. wait till you see the two stars of the show hit the dirt. so glad you're with us. we'll have much more on those stories just ahead. but first, thousands of protestors are expected out front of the president obama's

town hall meeting in colorado today. yesterday he faced a largely supportive crowd, but as some voiced their concern about where he would get the money to cover the 46 million people uninsured in the u.s., the president urged them not to panic. >> because we're getting close, the fight is getting fierce. and the history is clear, every time we're in sight of health care reform, the special interests fight back with everything they got. they use their influence, they run their ads. it happened in '93, it's happening now. >> the president and his family will also do some sightseeing while they're out west. they plan to visit yellowstone national park today and the grand canyon tomorrow. there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how reforms affect you and your family, just check out the

special health care in america website. you can get the latest information, the latest from town hall debates, fact checks, ireports. just go to cnn.com/healthcare. an american who was sentenced to seven years hard labor in myanmar will be released. john yettaw was sentenced tuesday for swimming secretly to the home of the opposition leader. a senator has spent two days talking to myanmar officials and was able to secure his release. yettaw will fly to thailand tomorrow. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms this weekend. the storm to really keep an eye on is in the atlantic. forecasters say the first named storm of the atlantic season is about 1,000 miles away from the leeward islands. tropical storm ana is expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now its winds are at 40 miles an hour. strong winds are pushing

wildfires in northern california. state authorities say firefighters have contained about 15% of the fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far, but no injuries have been reported. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated, but some are choosing to stay behind. >> there's nothing more we could do about it. we could turn our backs and leave, but we're not going to do that. just keep watching the weather. and good communication with all of us. >> also another fire north of sacramento destroyed a home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated there and power was knocked out in the area as well. a tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. we're talking about the economy now. bb&t brought the bankrupt colonial yesterday. it is the largest bank failure so far this year.

bb&t is take on colonial's $22 billion in assets as well as its deposits and branchs. the fdic will handle the rest. now, most of colonial's customers should be okay. the fdic, as you may know, guarantees to protect bank account balances up to $250,000. two people's jobs are now on the line after that deadly midair crash over the hudson river last saurd. and video has surfaced that shows the small plane and helicopter run into each other. a source tells us an air traffic controller who was handling the small plane was on the phone with his girlfriend when the accident happened. and his supervisor was apparently out of the building. the faa, though, doesn't think those factors contributed to the accident. meanwhile, that video of the accident that shows the moment of impact between the two aircraft was taken by a man practicing with a new camera while on a boat tour. the taliban is claiming responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main gate of nato's headquarters in kabul,

afghanistan. police say at least seven people died in that attack. at least 90 more were wounded. the bomb site is on the same street as the country's presidential palace. now peter bergen, a national security analyst for our sister network cnn was in kabul at the time of the explosion. here he is. >> it seemed to be much larger than anything i experienced before, and certainly given the fact that i'm several miles north, it was loud enough so that everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. i wouldn't sate security is outrageously tying. there's some concern you can travel around the streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routine traffic jams every day. there was no lockdown right now. that may change on election day,

but, you know, to be honest with you, you know, on a surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does on any other trip being here. >> the attack comes five days before the afghan presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country for thursday's election. now, president obama is calling that election the most important event in afghanistan all year. rescuers in taiwan are trying to reach more than 1,300 people who are trapped following last weekend's devastating typhoon. typhoon mora knocked out more than 100 inches of rain in the country, causing mud slides and washing out bridges completely. now, the situation is worse in the remote southern part of the island which saw its worst flooding in 50 years. authorities in taiwan are blaming the storm for the death of 121 people. >> i'm reynolds wolf with a look at forecast. we're going to look at the tropics. let's take a look at tropical storm ana.

as we put this in motion take a look at the latest path we have, showing the storm is expected to strengthen. winds at 50 miles an hour sunday. fast forwarding into tuesday into wednesday, the path continues to bring it back into parts of the bahamas eventually into, say, wednesday, and thursday, becoming a very strong tropical storm. possibly hurricane as we get into thursday. and right now on this course, it would have it move into parts of southeast florida as we get towards the end of the week. but a lot can change. we're going to keep a very sharp eye on it. the storm could weaken, strengthen and move north or south. there's a lot that can happen between now and as we get into the middle of next week. watching around the nation today, there will be a chance of severe storms, especially in parts of the northwestern plains and back into the midwest. late afternoon hour, we could be dealing with strong storms, maybe some large hail, damaging

winds, tornadoes, and of course some flash flooding. meanwhile, scattered showers across parts of the southeast and back into the west coast, still very dry for parts of california where they're battling these fires near the bay area and of course back in parts of santa barbara county. in terms of high temperatures for the day, 88 degrees in washington. 89 in atlanta, 98 degrees in dallas. 83 degrees in denver, 98 in las vegas and 87 in new york. that is a look at your forecast across the nation. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. when a new jersey cop stopped rock legend bob dylan, it wasn't to get his autograph. last month, the singer took a walk in long branch and someone called police about a suspicious person roaming the neighborhood. well, the officer who responded didn't know the artist and asked him for id which he didn't have. the officer finally believed dylan when he took her to where his tour bus was parked. dylan is on a national tour with willie nelson and john mellencamp. some daring kids took on a ten-foot alligator in a dangerous game of tug of war. what they were up to before cops had to step in. and one restaurants got moms so upset they show up by the dozens to stage an informal protest.

the son of a civil rights pioneer says he's going to ask the state to pardon his father for arresting during the civil rights protests. back in 2006, alabama passed a law that provides a mechanism for granting pardons to people arrested during civil rights protests. this alligator got into some sort of tug of war with kids. they were crab fishing when the

rope ended up around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw them trying to pull it out of the water and dialled 911. a cop cut the rope and the alligator got away until yesterday. >> you have a kid that's 100 pounds and you get in a tug of war, the alligator is not going to lose. we're kind of lucky this is where it staped. >> yes, very lucky the agent was able to spot the gator because it still had the kids' rope wrapped around its mouth. if you plan on booking a flying today, don't be surprised if you're asked a few extra questions. many air travelers will be asked their birthdays, even their underer when making reservations. the program transfers responsibilities for checking identities from the airlines to the federal government.

jimi hendrix is one of the musicians that played the woodstock festival 40 years ago. today. it's inspired pretty much every music fest call that came after it. it was the same summer as the manson family murders and also the first walk on the moon. so are you thinking of buying a new car using the cash for clunkers program but the dealer doesn't seem to have the one you want in stock? don't give up just yet. .we're looking out for you. hope you have plans lined up this weekend..

the government has a an on-the-fly fix. vouchers. you may have heard some of the most popular models are gone, but you can still take advantage of the program, even if the dealer has none yet. go ahead, order the car at a dealership. you'll get a v.i.n. number and a voucher and pick it up when it's ready. if this catches on it could make car buying a lot less stressful. a lot of people want a new car but hate the idea of haggling in the dealership. should i dress snup should i dress down? then the sales person goes and check with the manager and leaves you waiting forever. now many new gm vehicles are going on sale on ebay. the trial is starting in california and it could go nationwide. you could click buy it now for one price. you could haggle by clicking make an offer, but i would be haggling from the comfort of your own home. that sounds like maybe you would get one up on the dealer.

>>. >> you can get more great money advice from jennifer from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> here's a question. if you had a winning lottery tick would you give it away? >> i believe when you give it comes back to you.

a small michigan church got a lottery windfall after someone dropped a winning lotto ticket in the offering plate on purpose opinion it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says the gift is her way of thanking the church for supporting her after a serious car accident. it has left the pastor in shock. >> people just don't do that. i'm not sure i would have done that. god would have to talk to me really loud. >> people at my church have just been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if

it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> the church may use the money for a mission in africa. search crews define a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air join the hunt yesterday. christie cornwell vanished on tuesday while taking a walk on a north georgia road tuesday night. searchers found her cell phone about three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend said he was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up. then he heard screams, personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fil-a there. last week a worker asked the woman to cover up after other

customers complained. the woman said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome, like, oh, my gosh. i didn't know what to do. i was so shocked. do you want me to cover up my child with a towel? nobody else eats dinner with a towel over their head. the restaurant manager has apologized to that woman. nasa looks to the sky but the state agency could stay firmly grounded. due to budget cuts, nasa's plan to return to the moon by 2020 and eventually to mars is just not feasible right now. and that has some scientists worried. >> well, there is this perception, and it's not just among the public, but also some degree the science community that the moon is sort of a been there-done that world. i couldn't disagree more. in many ways it's the key to

understanding the solar system. by studying the moon, one of the big reasons to go back and probe the moon is it tells you what the nature of the primordial earth was like. >> nasa plans to retire the aging schayes replace it they p to involve the private sector to help develop a new fleet. time for sports and we're talking about tiger woods. he's apparently saving the best for last. really his last chance this year. >> yeah a, he is. he's taking advantage of it now. susan, first three major championships of the year. no major wins for tiger, zero, but he's halfway through the pga championship in minnesota and good luck to the guys trying to track him down. tiger tees off at 1:40 central time today. he tries holds a commanding four-stroke lead. how commanding is it? he's never lost a major one. he's a perfect 8-0. when the putter is working like this, there's not much you can

do about it. quarterback kyle orton getting pumped up. talk about coming back down to earth, it wu a crash landing. the much maligned orton throwing interception. a loss to the san francisco 49ers. it was not pretty. got to love the toughness of u.s. soccer star brandon donovon. he found out he had tested positive for the swine flu. said he felt real bad during the stretch but he never considered pulling himself out and he has yet to rule himself out playing tonight for the l.a. galaxy. and finally strike a pose. this was the weigh-in tonight's mixed martial arts strike for throwdown between the lovely gina carano and chris cyborg.

they've taken the top billing, pushing the men to packground. that is a check of sports. >> they don't have health care coverage or money. but thousands of people got a visit to a doctor for free. they didn't have to pay a dime. b

the first named storm of the season is brewing over the atlantic. we'll tell you just how soon it could make landfall. and singer bob dylan got stopped by a new jersey cop who had no idea who he was. neither did the person who called police thinking the rock legend was a prowler. looks like fun, doesn't it? well, folks in wisconsin got to watch some clunkers come crashing down. wait until you see the two big stars of the show hit the dirt. you're watching hln on this saturday. so glad you're with us.

i i'm susan hendricks. first, president obama holding a town hall meeting in colorado today. yesterday he faced a largely supportive crowd but as some wondered how he was going to get the money, the president urged them not to panic. >> because we're getting close, the fight is getting fierce, and the history is clear. every time we're in sight of health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got. they use their influence, run their ads, and their political allies try to scare the heck out of everybody. it happened in '93. it's happening now. >> the president and his family will do some sightseeing while they're out west. there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the health care reform could affect you and your family, check out the special health

careweb site on cnn.com. you can get the latest information, fact checks, i-reports and other news as well. go to cnn.com/healthcare. we have breaking news this morning. an american sentenced to seven years hard labor in myanmar will be released. john yettaw will be released. senator webb was able to secure yettaw's release. yettaw will fly to thailand a tomorrow. we're continuing follow a couple of storms this weekend. guillermo in the pacific is expected to weaken. the storm to keep an eye on is in the atlantic. the first named storm is about a thousand miles away from the leeward islands. tropical storm ana is expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now its winds are at 40

miles an hour. meteorologist reynolds wolf is keeps a close eye. we'll have his report in a few minutes. strong winds are pushing wildfires in northern california. state authorities say firefighters have contained about 15% of the fires in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far, but no injuries have been reported. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated, but some are choosing to stay behind. >> there's nothing more we can do about it. we could turn our backs and leave, but we're not going to do that. just keep watching the weather and go by that. and good communication with all of us. also another fire north of sack men toe destroyed a home yesterday. about 60 homes were evacuated there and power was knocked out as well. a tv station reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. we're talking about the economy now.

they bought the troubled colonial bank group yesterday. it is the largest bank failure this year. bb & t is taking on the bank's 20 billion dollars in assets ads well as deposits and branches. most of colonial's customers should be okay. the fdic guarantees bank account blals up to # $50,000. two people's jobs are now on the line after the deadly midair crash over the hudson river last thursday and video surfaced that shows the small plane and helicopter running into each other. a source tells us an air traffic controller who was handling the small plane was on the phone with his girlfriend when the accident happened, and his supervisor was apparently out of the billing. the faa, though, doesn't think those factors contributed to the accident. meanwhile that video of the accident that shows the moment of impact between the two aircrafts was taken by a man prak a it issing with a new camera while on a boat tour.

the taliban is claiming responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb attack outside the main gate of nato's headquarters in kabul, afghanistan. kabul police say at least seven people died in that attack. at least 91 more were wounded. the bach site is next to the u.s. embassy and is on the same street as the country's presidential palace. peter burgen, national security analyst for the sister network cnn was in kabul at the time of the explosion very i'm several miles north. it was loud enough so that everybody in the place i was staying in ran out to so what was happening. i would say the security is sort of outrageously tight. clearly there is a great deal of concern but you can travel around these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, there are routinely traffic jams every day. it's not -- there is no lockdown right now. you know, that may change on election day, but, you know,

i -- to be honest with you, you know, on the surface level, the security in kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does than any other trip i've about been here. >> the attack comes five days before afghanistan's presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to find security. now president obama is calling they're lekz the most important event in afghanistan all year. rescuers in taiwan are trying to reach more than 1300 people who are trapped following last weekend's devastating typhoon. typhoon morakot knocked up more than 500 inches of rain. it's worse than the most southernmost part of the island, the worst flooding in 50 years. they're blaming the storm for the deaths of at least 121 people. i'm reynolds wolf for hln with a look at your forecast.

we're going to get things started with a look at the tropics. tropical storm ana. let's take a look at this. take a look at the latest pact we have from the national hurricane center showing the storm is expected to strengthen with winds 50 miles an hour into sunday, fastforwarding in tuesday and wednesday, the path continues to bring it back into the parts of the bahamas. becoming a very strong top call storm, possibly a hurricane as we get into thursday. right now on this course it would have it moving into parts of southeast florida as we get toward tend of the week, but a lot can change. we're going to keep a sharp eye on it. it could weaken, strengthen, move well to the north or south. a lot could happen as we get into the middle of next week. what we're going to watch around the nation is a chance for severe storms especially in the northern plains and back in the midwest. later we could be dealing with strong storm, maybe some large hail, damaging winds, tornado possible. of course, flash flooding.

meanwhile scattered showers across parts of the southeast and back to the west coast. still very dry through parts of california where they're battling the fires through the bay areand a into parts of santa barbara county. in terms of high temp, there you go. 88 in washington, 98 in dallas. 87 in new york. that is a look at your forecast across the nation. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. when a new jersey cop stopped bob dylan, it wasn't to get an autograph. a person called about a suspicious person roaming the neighborhood. the officer who responded didn't know the artist and asked him for i.d., which he didn't have. he took him to his bus where they were having a national tour. some daring kids took on a 10-foot alligator in a dangerous game of tug-of-war. what they were up to before the cops had to step in.

and one restaurant got some moms so upset they show up by the dozens to stage an informal protest.

the son of a civil rights pioneer is going to ask for a pardon. he was arrested numerous times during protests against segregati segregation. now his son, ralph david abernathy iii says he'll apply for pardons on his behalf. alabama passed a law that provides pardons for people arested during civil rights protests. this alligator got into some sort of tug-of-war with kids. it was caught. the kids were crab fishing when the rope ended up around the gator's mouth. a mail carrier saw the kids

trying to pull it out of the water. the cop cut the rope and the gator got away until yesterday shoo he was 275, 300 pounds. have a kid that's 100 pounds. you get in a tug-of-war. the alligator is not going to loot. there's a lot of potential there. we're kind of lucky this is where it stopped. >> the agent was able to spot the gator because it still had the kids' rope wrapped around its mouth. >> they say the federal government hasn't reimbursed them for their trade-in deals. some requests submitted nearly three weeks ago haven't been paid yet. that may cause some dealers to opt out of the program. meanwhile ford motor is saying cash for clurngers has created such a demand it had to boost production at some of its

plants. a judge is trying to get the trial of drew peterson under way. the judge heard arguments on whether pet peterson's trial should be moved to another venue. >> if we can't pick a fair jury here, then it's the government's job to find a place, a county where we can pick an impartial and unbuy assed jury. they'll have to go out and do whatever needs to be done. >> the judge said he's proceeding under the assumption the trial won't be moved to another county. peterson, a former police officer, is charged with murder in the death of his third wife and is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. time to talk sports and michael vick is finally back on the football field again.

today bob fiscella has the details. vick, of course, signed by the eagles, introduced aet a news conference yesterday, and while he looks for a fresh start, protesters in philly with little interest in giving him a second chance. nonetheless vick says he's genuinely sorry for his past and is that he's a changed man. >> we know in the past i've made some mistakes, done terrible things, made a horrible mistake, and now i want to be part of the solution and not the problem. >> olympic hero michael phelps has got some problems. he was behind the wheel involved in a car crash thursday night. now, police say the accident was not his fault, however, he was cited for driving without a valid license. the economy taking its toll on college football. listen to this. the budget conscious in mexican state football staff sending out an e-mail blast asking fans to

donate after practice and late night snacks for hungry players. yeah, they're strapped for money. and finally, many of us wake up and say, what day is this? nba player quinton richardson says, who am i playing for? so far this summer richardson has been traded from the new york knicks to the memphis grizzly, from the grizzlies to the l.a. clippers, from the clippers to the minnesota tip ber wolveses, and this week from the timberwolves to the miami heat. hopefully he has time to unpack in miami. and that's a check on sports. if you plan on booking a flight today, don't be surprised if you're asked a few extra questions. starting today, many air travelers will be asked their birth dates, even their gender when making reservations. it is the latest publicly visible expansion of the flight program. the program transfers responsibility for checking passengers' identities from the airlines to the federal government.

that, of course, the legendary jimi hendrix. he was one of a dozens of musician whose played the woodstock music festival 40 years ago today. it not only changed the climate of the music industry. it also a inspired cartoonist charles schultz to name one of his characters after it. it closed what was a turbulent summer that included so-called manson family murders and also the walk on the moon. here's a question. if you had a winning lottery ticket? would you give it away. believe when you give it will be given back to you. god has really watched over me. >> why that woman gabe up her windfall and what it is worth to the church.

a small michigan church got a lottery windfall after someone dropped a winning lot toe ticket in the offering plate on purpose. it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says this is her way of thanking the church for supporting her after a serious car accident. it has left the pastor in shock. >> people just don't do that. i don't care how well you know someone. i said, you know, i'm not sure i would do that. god would have to talk to me really loud. >> people at my church have just been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made it through the last four years if

it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't even be here. >> well, the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse for several months. she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa. search crews will try again today to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. christy cornwell vanished on tuesday while taking a walk along a north georgia road. tuesday night, that is. searchers found her cell phone last night about three miles away. cornwell's boyfriend said he was on the phone with her and she mentioned a car pulling up. then he heard screams, personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fil-a there. last week a manager asked a nursing mom to cover up at that chick-fil-a after other

customers complained. the woman said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome with, like, oh, my gosh, you know, i didn't know what to do. i wu so shocked. i said, are you kidding me? you want me to cover up my child with a tow el? nobody else eats din were a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they want to make people aware of the law that allows mothers to breast feed their babies in public. the restaurant manager has apologized to that woman. it's that time of year again when parents bring their kids to the peed ya trishen for back-to-school checkups. well this year parents of 11 and 12-year-old girls have a choice to make. do they want therm to get a shot against guaardasilgardasil. cnn talked to a lot of parents and a lot of pediatricians and

there seems to be reluctance on the parts of many parents to get their children's's shots. they say they red about things that happen to women and girls that happen after getting gardasil. it's on cdc's website and there's a link to it. here's some things that have happened to girls and women after getting garl sill. neurological disorders, blood clots, and death. now, these bad things weren't necessarily caused by the shot. it may have been a coincidence, but pediatricians say when parents hear about it it's enough to make them not want to get the shots. so to read more information about whether or not you want gardasil for your young children, take a look at my column, cnnhealth.com. and there you can see what pediatricians have to say. for empowered patients, i'm elizabeth cohen. they don't have health care coverage or money. thousands of people got a visit

to a doctor for free. they didn't have to pay a dime. 8

the first named storm of the season is brewing over the atlantic. we'll tell you just how soon it could make landfall. and singer bob dylan got stopped by a new jersey cop who had no idea who he was. neither did the person who called the police thinking that the rock legend was a prowler. looks like fun, doesn't it? folks in wisconsin got to watch some clunkers come crashing down. wait till you see two big star of the show hit the dirt. you're watching hln on this saturday. so glad you're with us. i'm susan hendricks. we'll have much more on those stories just ahead, but first thousands of protesters are

expected outside president obama's second town hall meeting in colorado today. he held a meeting yesterday where he faced a largely supportive crowd but as some voiced their concern about where he'd get the money to insure the people in the u.s., the president urged them not to panic. >> because we're getting close, the fight is getting fierce. and the history is clear. every time we're in sight of health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got. they use their influence, run their ads, and their political allies try to scare the heck out of everybody. it happened in '93. it's happening now. >> the president and his family will also do some sightseeing while they're out west. they plan to visit yellowstone national park today and the grand canyon tomorrow. there's so many questions surrounding this. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family, just check out this special health care in america

website at cnn.com. you can get a great deal of information, latest on town hall debates, fact checks and health care reports. go to cnn.com/healthcare. we have breaking news on this saturday morning. an american who was sentenced to seven years hard labor in myanmar will be released. john yettaw was sentenced tuesday for swimming secretly to hope of opposition leader aung san suu kyi. webb was able to secure his release. they'll fly to thailand tomorrow. we're continuing to follow a couple of storms that weekend. guillermo in the pacific is expected to weaken. the storm, though, to really keep an eye on is in the atlantic. forecasters say the first named storm of the atlantic season is about a thousand miles away from the leeward islands. tropical storm ana is expected to get stronger over the next couple of days. right now the winds are at 40 miles an hour. strong winds are pushing

wildfires in northern california. state authorities say fire fighters have contained about 15% of the fire in the santa cruz area. it has grown to more than 5,000 acres since it started on wednesday night. two structures have been destroyed so far, but no injuries have been reported. thousands of people who live in that area have evacuated but some are choosing to stay behind. >> there's nothing more we can do about it. we could turn our backs and leave, but wu we're not going to do that. just keep watching the weather and go by that and good communication with all of us. >> also another fire north of sacramentk ra meramento destroy yesterday. a tv station in nevada reported that smoke from that fire could be seen as far away as reno. we're talking about the economy now. the bb & t bought the colonial bank yesterday. it's the biggest bank failure so

far this year. they're taking on 2 # $2 billion in assets as well as deposits and branches. fdic will handle the rest. the fdic, as you know, guarantees to cover bank account balances up to $250,000. two people's jobs are now on the line after the deadly midair crash ore the hudson river last saturday, and video has surfaced that shows the small plane and helicopter running into each other. a source tells us an air traffic controller who was handling the small plane was on the phone with his girlfriend when the accident happened and his supervisor was apercentagely out of the building. the faa, though, doesn't think those factors contributed to the accident. meanwhile that video of the accident that shows the moment of impact between the two aircraft was taken by a man practicing with a new camera while on a boat tour. the taliban is claiming responsibility for a massive suicide attack outside the main

gates of the nato headquarters. the bomb site is next to the u.s. embassy and is on the same street as the country's presidential palace. now, peter burgen, a national security analyst for sister network cnn was in kabul at the time of the explosion. here he is. >> reporter: this seemed to be much larger than anything i ever experienced before and given the fact that i'm several miles north it was loud enough so that everybody in the place i'm staying in ran out to see what was happening. i wouldn't say the security is sort of outrageously tight. i mean clearly there is a great deal of concern, but you can travel around most of these streets of kabul with no problem. you know, it's e not -- there's no lockdown right now. you know, that may change on election day. but, you know, to be honest with you, you know, on the surface level, the security level in

kabul doesn't look a great deal different than it does on any other trip i've been to here. >> the attack comes five days before the afghanistan presidential election. u.s. troops will be trying to provide security throughout the country throughout they're lekz. the president is calling that the most important event in afghanistan all year. rescuers in taiwan are trying to reach more than 1,300 people who are trapped following last weekend's devastating typhoon. typhoon morakot knocked up more than 100 inches of rain on the island causing mudslides and washing up bridges completely. the situation is worse in the southernmost parts of the island. worse than 50 years. they're blaming the storm for the deaths of at least 121 people. i'm reynolds wolf for hln with a look at your forecast. we're going to get things started with a look at the tropics, mainly tropical storm ana. let's look at the latest path we

have showing that the storm is expected to strengthen. it was going 50 miles an hour. fast foofting tuesday to wednesday the path brings it back into parts of the bahamas, eventually say wednesday and thursday. winds increasing to near 60 to 70 miles an hour, so picking a very strong troch call storm. possibly a hurricane as we get into thursday. right now on this course it would have it moving into parts of southeast florida as we get toward the end of the week, but a lot can change. the storm could weaken, strengthen, could move well to the north and south. there's a lot that can help now and as we get into the middle of next week. something else we're going to watch around the nation. there are be a chance of severe storms in the northern plains and back to the northwest. late afternoon hours we could be dealing with strong storm, maybe large hail, damaging winds, tornados if possible and of course flash flooding. scattered showers to parts of the northeast and back into the west coast. still very dry to parts of

california where they're battling fires. now, in terms of high temperatures for the day, here you go. 88 degrees in washington, 89 in atlanta, 98 in las vegas and 87 in new york. that's a look at your fast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. when a new jersey cop stopped legendary bob dylan it wasn't to get an autograph. he was taking a walk and someone called about a suspicious person roaming the nabt. the cop who stopped him asked for an i.d., which he didn't have. he finally believed him when he took him to where his tour bus was parked. he's on a national tour with willy nelson and john mellencamp. some kids took on a dangerous game with an alligator. what they were up to when cops had to step in. one restaurant got moms so upset they showed up by the dozens to stage an informal protest.

pioneer says he's going to ask the consolidate of alabama to pardon his late father. the reverend ralph david abernathy was arrested numerous times during the montgomery boycott and during protests of se fwregation. he said he will apply for pardons on his father's behalf. back in 2006 alabama pass add law that provides a mechanism for granting pardons during civil rights protests. this alligator got into some sort of tug-of-war with kids. the kids were crab fishing

monday when their rope ended up around the gator's mouth. they saw him pulling it out of the water and dialed 911. the cop cut the rope and gator got away until yesterday. >> the alligator is probably 275, 300 pounds. you very a kid that's 300 pounds. you get into a tug-of-war, the alligator is not going to lose. time for sports. we're talking about tiger woods. bob fiscella tells us about this. first three major championships of the year, no wins for tiger, zero, but he's halfway through the pga championship in minnesota and good luck to the guys trying to track him down. tiger tees off at 1:40 central

time today. he starts holding a kmabld four-stroke league. just how commanding is it, you ask? tiger has never lost a major one leading 36 holes. 's a perfect 8-0, and when the putter is working like this, there's really not much you can do about this. all right. quarterback kyle orton all pumping up, getting traded to the denver broncos. talk about coming back down to earth it was a crash landing. the much maligned orton throwing three interception in a 17-16 los to the san francisco 49ers. it was not pretty. got to love the toughness of a u.s. soccer star, brandon donovon. he found out he had tested positive for the swine flu. said he felt real bad during the match but he never considered pulling himself out and he has yet to rule himself out playing tonight for the l.a. galaxy. and finally strike a pose.

this was the wag-in for tonight's mixed martial arts strike force showdown in san jose between the lovely gina carano and chris cyborg. that's the first time they've pushed the men's background thaflt is a check of sports. that, of course, the legendary jimi hendrix. he was just one of the dozens of musicians who played the woodstock festival 40 years ago today. it not only changed the music industry but inspired cartoonist charles schultz to name one of his peanuts characters after it. woodstock inspired every music festival that's come after it. it also closed tush lent sum their included the manson family murders and also the first walk

on the moon. here's the question. if you had a winning lottery ticket, would you give it away? . believe when you give, it will be gimp back to you. god ha really watched over me. >> why she gave up her windfall and what it is worth to the church.

a lottery windfall after someone drops a winning lottery ticket on the plate on purpose. it's worth $70,000. the member who donated it wants to remain anonymous. she says this is her way of thanking the church after supporting her after a serious car accident. it has left the pastor in shock. >> people just don't do that. i don't care how well you know someone. i thought, you know, i don't know i'm sure i would do that. god would have to talk to me really loud. >> people at the church have been so wonderful to me. i really couldn't have made tliet the last four years if it wasn't for them. i probably wouldn't have even be here. >> well, the unchecked lottery ticket was in the woman's purse for several months. she discovered it as she prepared to move to florida. the church may use the money for a mission in africa.

search crews will try to find a missing georgia woman. more than 100 officers on the ground and in the air took part in a hunt yesterday. christy cornwell vanished on tuesday while taking a walk along a north georgia road. tuesday night, that is. searchers found her cell phone last night about three miles away. corn well's boyfriend says she was on the phone with him and she mention add car pulling up and he heard screams. personal items found at the scene indicate a struggle. about 40 mothers showed up at a restaurant in florida to breast feed their babies. it was an informal protest of sorts at a chick-fil-a there. a manager asked a nursing mom to cover up at a chick-fil-a after customers complained. the woman said she was embarrassed by what happened. >> i was just overcome with, oh, my gosh, didn't know what to do. i was so shocked. i said, are you kidding me?

you want me to cover up my child with a towel? nobody else eats diner with a towel on their head. >> the nursing moms say they want to make people aware of a state law that allows mothers to breast field in public. the restaurant manager has apologized to that woman. when it comes to the environment, the car you drive to the grocery store may not nearly impact as what you buy when you get there. it sounds odd. it's explained why in today's "eco-solutions." >> here's a riddle for you a vegan who drives an suv or a meat eater that drives a hybrid? it's being highly debated so let's take a closer look at the debate. the main issue in question is the environmental impact of producing meat. recently former bebeatles paul

mccartney launched a new campaign which calls on the public to ignore their carnivorous desires on mondays. it's an important step in tackling to encourage people to eat meat for one day of the week, monday, when they've overdone it over the weekend possibly and the idea is that it's very beneficial for the environment. >> let's take a closer look at the numbers. cows produce high levels of methane gas through belching. according to the epa methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, actually 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. a booming demand for beef means a staggering 18% of all gre greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock according to the u.n. while the entire transport sector, car, trucks, airplanes combined only makes up 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions. another issue is the water, land and food resources need to raise

livestock. so how much good does it do to cut meat out of your diet only once a week? biologists for the environmental group greenpeace says doing it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10% to 20%. and now to answer a question, according to a study by the university of chicago a vegan driving an suv is actually more green than a meat eater who drives a hybrid. according to their research based on a typical american diet and car usage changes to your eating habits will have a bigger impact on the environment than the car you drive. >> pretty interesting fact there for you. well, for more green surprises and other important news about the environment go to our website cnn.com/ecosolutions. they don't have health care coverage or money. but thousands of people got a visit to a doctor for free. they didn't have to pay a dime.