let's go back to atia abawi in kabul right now. atia, as far as violence around, outside of kabul, what have you seen outside of this, here, just a short time ago in the run-up to the election? >> reporter: natalie, a very, very bloody month in afghanistan, the southern regions of afghanistan, an area where we've seen thousands of u.s. marines and coalition forces flood lg into hoping to secure village areas under strict taliban control. we have seen deaths and bloodshed in those areas. we've seen it outside of the kabul province area. not necessarily kabul city. kabul province, a province called logar next door. we have seen violence. we have seen insurgents infiltrated government institutions trying to target government officials. but we have not seen it this summer in the capital city. we've seen people try. we haven't seen a success like today. today it was a very large explosion. it shook the city. it shook our bureau. we know there will be casualties. the last time i felt an explosion like this in the capital city, there were

>> atia abawi, correspondent in kabul. thank you for your reporting, atia. we appreciate it. to recap our top story, less than an hour ago, a huge, large explosion rocked the capital of kabul, afghanistan. a defense ministry spokesman told the associated press it was a suicide car bombing. the attack happened near the headquarters of nato and the u.s. embassy. there have been injuries. we don't know the extent of injuries or if anyone was killed. no confirmation on who was behind this. we'll continue to follow the story and bring you developments as we get them. our cnn usa viewers will return to their regular programming. >> at the town halls, and expanded government on health care, specifically. probably the same people we may have seen a year ago at mccain and palin rallies. also, i mean, i think certainly there is vulnerability into the 2010 election. in they get something passed with health care and it works they'll be less vulnerable going into 2010. >> interesting, that's what bill clinton was saying that, you know, there will be a lot of anger and stuff. once they get

atia abawi live from kabul, afghanistan. good morning to you, atia. >> reporter: good morning, heidi, it has been a very, very bloody summer for both u.s. and coalition forces here in afghanistan. but it was expected when we saw thousands pouring in to help secure and hold areas. and we are seeing the number reaching up to what it reached last month. last month being the deadliest month for u.s. troops, four days is left in august right now, we're waiting to see if it's going to get deadlier. the taliban and insurgents having a successful summer when it comes to roadside bombs. though coalition troops are feeling a strong blow. but when i spoke to a top international force in afghanistan, he told me that the taliban have lost hundreds of their soldiers this summer. and although they will not release it, the taliban also dealing with a very, very heavy blow this summer. heidi? >> no question about that. live from kabul, afghanistan this morning. thanks, atia. >>> a man protesting against protestors find you shouldn't protest

atia joins us now live from kabul. >> that's right, don.want to try to see what the election preparations were. we were turned away from four polling stations. we have independent electoral cards to allow us to go in. unfortunately, we can't report to you how well the preparations are going, but violence is increasing throughout the country, including here in the capital of kabul where we saw two suicide car bombers in the span of four days and increased rocket attacks into the capital, including one that hit the presidential compound yesterday injuring a staffer and now we're also hearing from the foreign ministry that journalists are banned from reporting about any violence tomorrow from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. they're in fear if the afghan people hear about the violence they won't head out to the polls but many media organizations, particularly afghan organizations refuse to go along with this ban. they say it's unconstitutional and they want the afghan people to know if they're at risk. the foreign ministry has threatened journalists and

atia abawi for us in the afghan capital of kabul.imal lovers. yeah! a canadian news anchor takes a licking, a tongue licking, from a pit bull on live television, and we can't see it enough. cnn's jeanne moos has the tape. >> reporter: we've all taken our licks, some at a very young age. >> her hair is standing on end. it's all wet >> reporter: but licked to death on live television. >> get off. this is crazy. this is ginger. >> reporter: ginger the "up for adopti adoption" pit bull. make that kiss bull. >> ginger just mobs people. >> i love ginger. >> you don't have any makeup left! >> okay. okay. >> reporter: ginger is removing the makeup from randy neil who co-anchors "global bc noon news" in british columbia, canada. >> they need a wee bit of train zplg you think? >> is she spayed? >> she's spayed. >> ouch! >> be nice. >> i'm really tired. >> stop that. stop nipping, that's so not good. >> no, don't jump. don't jump. okay. down, ginger, down. >> reporter: better to be kissed by a pit bull than clawed by a cat as this fox 8 news re

>> atia, thank you.afghan people are about to make, just two days from now. thanks, atia. >>> well, hurricane bill is 300 miles wide. the newest computer model shows it may be headed to the u.s. after all. i cannot be one of the 61 million americans who do not refill their prescriptions on time. readyfill at cvs pharmacy automatically refills my prescriptions and reminds me to pick them up. you mean, reminds me to pick them up. [ chuckles ] stop by your local cvs pharmacy to ask if readyfill is right for you, and get a $25 coupon book. readyfill, only at cvs pharmacy. >>> and i'm meteorologist chad myers taking a look at bill. 100-mile-per-hour storm and it's still here. that's puerto rico, the u.s. virgin islands, the spanish virgin islands, back towards st. martin, so it's quite a distance away from any land fall whatsoever. we do not expect a west indies land fall. large waves could be possible there. i'll draw up and bring up stormpulse.com. we can do a couple of things with it and you can go online

sapna atia, hyderabad, india. >> paul: monday,ur commentator says washington can't fithe economalone,it needs the private sector to do some heavy lifting. >> susie: investors are bailg out of cerberus capital management's two core dge funds. the wall street jourl reports the coany has been swamped with redemption requests: investors are asng for the turn of $5.5 billion or 71% those assets. cerberus began a rtructuring last monthhat opened a window for clients to pull money t of the fund. but it figured redemptionsould total less an half the funds' assets. >> paul: the governmenis suing u.p., for limiting its workers' ability to take medal leave. the case involves a u.p.s. worker, th multiple sclerosis who was fired for exeding the compans 12-month sick leave policy. the u.s. equal employmen opportunity commission say u.p.s. failed to accommote her condition, in viol

>> atia abawi for us in kabul, afghanistan. atia, good to see you. you know, it is their biggest monthly drop in ten years. the national association of realtors say existing home sales shot up 7.2% in july. sales spurred by a tax credit for first-time buyers that expires in the fall and more unabashed optimism here from fed chairman ben bernanke. he says, "the prospects for a return for growth in the near term appear good." bernanke spoke today at an annual federal reserve conference in wyoming. >>> time and money running out for the government's popular cash for clunkers program. this is your last weekend to get in on the rebate incentives. monday night, deal over. the program has generated nearly 500,000 vehicle sales, but many dealers complain they've had to wait too long to get their money back from uncle sam. i will discuss the program's successes, difficulties, later this hour with jeffrey pohanko, who operates dealerships in the washington area and automotive analyst lauren fix. >>> the president is headed off for vacation. the fight for healt

cnn's atia abawi joins us from kabul. first thing here is tell us when might we hear results of the elections? >> well, we do expect to see results trickling as you said because in some areas, they're coming in by donkeys, we certainly expect to hear some -- from some provinces on august 25th, preliminary results announced september 5th and final results in the end september 17th. you mentioned taliban brutality as well. many afghans did not head to the polls on thursday because they were afraid through the taliban intimidation did work and they attacked polling stations. they killed 26 afghans in all, the lowest voter turnout since the fall of the taliban regime, actually. but today, we're hearing that the taliban are still making good on their threats, including chopping off index fingers. in afghanistan when a person goes to vote they have to dip their finger in ink and they said if they saw any ink on any fingers they would chop those out. this occurred in a district in kandahar province, only via occurrences that we'

>> atia, thanks very much. atia abawi from kabul. >>> we're digging deeper into the situation in afghanistan. as part of our reporting, our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour traveled to a remote corner of the country to visit an american woman trying to prevent some of afghanistan's 1 million orphans from falling prey to the taliban. >> reporter: in the mountains of afghanistan, a young boy is cast out. and this is how the battle begins. >> translator: my mother was beating me a lot, and then she forced me to leave the house. >> reporter: naseem was just 10 years old when he fled the beatings and the abuse at home. you're just a little boy. it must have been so hard. >> translator: yes, it was very difficult. i was spending my days and nights here and there. >> reporter: for months, naseem wandered from village to village in search of food and shelter. he became a virtual slave to the townspeople. >> translator: i collected firewood from the mountains or building materials for their homes. >

. >>> among the acting to the violence, "worldfocus" contributing blogger feisal c atia, a writer and entrepreneur based in karachi. he says, "i am ashamed. we're always worried out our image these days and the image of our country. we tut the fact that islam is a religion of pce. we ream to the raptors when a hate incident against musli tas anyplace in the wor. are we going t stay silent when ou own countryre slaughted in the name of iam? let us unite and stand with the chriian community in cued ra and other minorities who face persecutn for what is their right to prey tohomever they wi." >>> from china tonigh we want to bring you something you wn't see eve day. a look side the people's liberationrmy, that's the biggest army in t world th well ov 2 miion soldiers. er the weekend, the army's official nspaper marked the 82nd anniversav thatorce, by saying that needed to maintain stability ashe gap widens between rich and poor and as china deals with hnic unrest. western-style offensive ayou are about see in this rert fr tony cheng of al jazra english. >> reporter: a rar chance to see t

consideración, y 7 dormitorios con capacidad para 200 internoss destrozados para los familiareses una atiaía comenzado entre bandas rivales de afroamericano e hispanos el pasado sábado en la noche, y para controlar los desordenes intervinieron varios departamentos de bomberos y policía. vidrios rotos habían, el doble de su capacidad hoy si informó que 1100 internoss fueron ubicados en las cárceles. >>> muchos no deben estar porque no más tienen lugar para tantosn suspendido. >>> un hombre en winiscousin enó a robar en un bar con una máscara y no sospechó que habían agentes fuera de servicio, él alegó que su intención no era prer pe tpr asaltar a nadie. >>> el video de seguridad se aprecia a los presuntos mal he choroes vestidos con impecables trajes antes de sacar relojes, anillos y colares uno de ellos fue detenido. y la cámara de una patrulla reacción t registró una persecución policial con un sorprendente final texas como muestra el video, el auto echó a correr hacia el edificio, aparentemente no logró entrar y fue detenido con una descarga eléctrica. >>> atroz fue el crimen cometido en

>> atia, we'll continue to follow it.id karzai has led afghanistan since the taliban regime was ousted, but corruption now is plaguing his government. among those making the allegations, abdullah abdullah. he was also a spokesperson for the northern alliance, which helped the u.s. topple the taliban. also in the running, ashraf ghani, who broke were w karzai in 2004. he is western educated and james carville is among his campaign advisers, by the way. and the last contender, lawmaker and former cabinet member bashardost. his campaign office is a tent pitched outside parliament. the voice of the afghan people is being heard louder than ever here in the u.s., especially with the build-up of u.s. forces in afghanistan. we're hoping for election results by early september. officials results might not come until mid-september or later. >>> dozens of needy kids depending on a scholarship program to get through school, but now they're still in need and their parents want to know why. we're going to talk to one mom who took her c

atia is in kabul. does this reflect increased efforts by u.s. more of a push from the taliban? >> a little bit of both, tony. whenever you have thousands of u.s. troops and coalition troops coming into an area you'll have the enemy try to prove that they can face them and take them. you sthau taliban stepping up their efforts, as well, being very successful when it comes to roadside bombs. a very effective tactic. they can just leave the bomb on the road and dig up a hole and it has killed many of these coalition troops this summer, but it hasn't killed the taliban. but on that note, when you talk to the coalition forces, they will not give you figures of taliban deaths because they say that their mission is to secure afghanistan for the afghan people and it's not to necessarily gloat about fighting against the taliban and killing the taliban and killing the insurgen insurgents. but when i talked to a top taliban official here in afghanistan he told me, in fact, the taliban has been taking a very strong blow, as well. hundreds of their fighters

. >> our atia is with us. i want to ask you about the story we've been reading about that's shocking. the taliban making good on its threats of violence. there's reports it has cut off the index fingers, which are used to vote, of two women in afghanistan. is that correct? >> reporter: well, what i can tell you is that two people in kandahar province, their index fingers were chop off. we're not sure if it was a man or women. those fingers were cut off because they had ink on the finger. every time afghans go out to vote, they dip their finger in ink so they can't revote, to make sure it's a fair election, that it's not fraudulent. but, again, the taliban, yes, making good on their threats. they have been making good on their threatsor for the past two weeks now. it was a very bloody week leading up to election day. that's why we saw the lowest voter turnout in all three electrics since the taliban regime has fallen. in 2004 we saw a big turnout for the presidential elections, 2005 a very large turnout. now in

>> one more quick one for you atia, we heard the drug trade is funding the taliban. what are coalition forces doing to dismantle the drug economy in the country? >> reporter: the coalition forces have been working for years right now to dismantle this drug profit. afghanistan provides over 90% of the world's opium venues to produce heroin. the majority of that comes from helmand province. we're seeing several dozens of civilian casualties, last month being the deadliest month, not only for u.s. soldiers but coalition troops. they are still fighting that battle. cnn obtained a copy on the drug trade in afghanistan and they are stating that the drug money, over 7500 million dollars goes to the insurgency, they have 50 major drug traffickers in their kill or capture list. in the coming months will be if they can actually capture the drug bear rons, some of them are related to the afghan government. >> atia, thank you. >>> iraq reeling from the string of coordinated bombing, killing 48 people, wounding more than 24$240 others. most of the blast were in baghdad. but the d

atia abawi, cnn, kabul. >>> the battle zone ends when the soldiers come home.pushing forward on the stress and strain of service in iraq and afghanistan and the toll it takes on military families. dr. sanjay gupta reports next hour. >>> and this mayor doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. and saturday night he paid the price. well update the case and the condition of milwaukee mayor, turned hero, tom baret. >>> well, first, they said that he was poisoned. then it was syphilis and maybe blood letting and even a bad pork dinner. mozart's been dead for more than 200 years, and since then there have been that many theories as to what killed him at 35. here's the least dramatic yet. and researchers think that strep throat silenced the composer. they went beyond the symptoms and looked at the death patterns are circa vienna 1991. >>> the gang problem, one man was doing something about it and it was working. turning gangsters into legit and successful citizens. now his program is in big, big trouble. ( car door closes ) ooooch! hot seat! hot! hot! hot! time t

atia is in kabul. what do we know about these attacks? can you take us through them as best you can? >> reporter: well, what i can tell you, rick, that it is intimidation. intimidation from the insurgency here in afghanistan. targeting internationals, coalition troops as well as afghans. and today's car bomb in the capital city of kabul, seven afghans killed and 53 injured. among those are two u.n. employees, u.n. local nationals, also hearing from the coalition troops that they had deaths, as well. we don't know the nationalitien. two days before the second ever afghan presidential election. it's a form of intimidation. we saw another car bomb here in the capital city on saturday, killing seven afghans, as well, and injuring more than 90. and when i spoke to a 21-year-old girl who told me she had a voting card, she been wanted to go out and vote in thursday's election, but that blast made up her mind for her and she will not go out and vote. rick? >> any time you have these elections, we saw the same thing in iraq and also in different p

at atia abawi is there. what are they hoping to get from this? >> reporter: absolutely right, t.j. it is not the deadliest attack but it did strike in the heart of afghanistan in the capital of kabul. homes rattling, windows shattering and people dying and many, many more injured. this doesn't still appear with the afghan people, particularly when you see it in the capital of afghanistan. an area where we have seen attacks in the past. we have seen very tithe security with the run-up to the elections. when afghan people see that the capital, itself, isn't secure. many throughout the country will not go out and vote because they know these polling stations are targets. the taliban obviously sending out a very brutal but successful message this morning when we spoke to a 21-year-old girl who had a voter registration card who wanted to go out and vote. she told me today that the suicide bomb made that decision for her. she will not go out and vote. neither will her mother or grandmother. that is three generations that refuse to vote five days from now. t.j.? >> that's just one story.

atia? >> hi, kiran.as been low, particularly at the polling station we're at. we've seen officials, ana members of the after afghanistan national army. but the most part, the fear has set in the afghan people, particularly in the capital. the capital usually considered one of the safest parts in afghanistan. been a bloody week. the taliban making good on their threat and very much with afghans throughout. there has been a turnout in the northern and western parts of the country. those are areas considered safer. those are areas considered not controlled by the taliban. but, again, the afghanistan people falling for the taliban intimidation at the same time realizing it's not worth their life to go out and vote for a government they don't believe in. kiran? >> the american audience watching this morning. explain what's at stake here for us? >> the truth is that we can't give up on afghanistan at the moment. this is a country that we did pretty much leave after the soviets withdrew. we did not pay much att

atia abawi, cnn, kabul. >>> and jack cafferty is in new york with "the cafferty file." incredible story. >> absolutely. >> just watching that report. it makes you appreciate how we manage to do these elections here in this country, doesn't it? >> certainly does. >> president obama and the democrats may wind up going it alone when it comes to health care reform. the democrats now say they see little chance of getting any republican support and point to lawmakers like senator charles grassley, who they say are not serious about making a deal. the administration says it had hoped to get bipartisan backing but now it's looking less likely. inste instead, they would have to get moderate and conservative democrats on board. that's not guaranteed either. party leaders in the senate could wind up using a tactic where they only need 51 votes to pass a health care bill instead of 60. one republican warns if the democrats go this route it would be, quote, like a declaration of war, unquote, as opposed to the spirit of cooperation that we have now. going it alone has pros and cons

atia, thank you for that. >>> and to really understand what is going on in afghanistan and why where we're over there, we invite you to watch christiane amanpour's documentary are tonight. it starts at 8:00 eastern. >>> betty, thank you. reynolds keeping an eye on this smings, dry conditions out there are, a few fires out in california right now. we've got two main ones. i'll tell you and show you one fire up in santa cruz. this one is called the lockheed fire. eight square miles we're told. this is some of the newest fire video we have are gotten. you can see overnight video here, the fire burning eight square miles burned so far. not sure how much this is contained, anywhere from zero to 15% possibly. a lot of firefighters on the scene. this is some other video we can show you now that i believe we got the day before ar. we're told about 1500 firefighters trying to work this thing out. what kind of help or hurt is the weather putting on? >> unfortunately, the mediterranean-style climate you have in this part of the world is not helpful. wildfire have been happening in this part of

let's get straight to atia. here we are monitoring or watching the election process, already called about corruption and more troops have been sent into afghanistan and now we are seeing a kickup in violence. can we put it all together? >> reporter: well, absolutely. it all fits together. it is a circle right now. the taliban not happy with the afghan government, not happy with the elections. they intimidated many afghans, particularly in the south, particularly where this attack occurred not to go to the polls. now, they are attacking an area that does have many government buildings. we are also hearing it was also near a private construction firm owned by the japanese but the workers were primarily afghan and pakistani workers. in the end, what they do, what the taliban with the insurgency in afghanistan do, they target the coalition troop, the afghan government. in the end, they kill more civilians, more muslims, their fight is a fight for a warped version of islam that they think is the right version. in the

from what you're seeing and hearing atia, is it as bad as what admiral mullen is saying? >> reporter: it depends on where you go, kyra. in the south they have thousands of marines trying to secure and hold areas for the election. we know that it was south and east of the country where many afghans did not come out to vote in fear of the taliban threats and intimidation. that being said, there were districts in helmand where they did go out to the polls. the afghan that were afraid to before but still the turnout was lower than the 2004 elections and 2005 parliamentary elections. there are certain parts of the war going well and there are other parts. you have to also remember the afghan government, they don't necessarily trust at the moment. they didn't necessarily not go to the poll because of safety reasons but because they didn't trust their government. accusing president karzai of stealing the elections of fraud. >> the afghan people view the community as they get into the credibility of the process. they feel in their mission it will have consequences for afghanistan

you're there and reporting and atia is reporting there. you do not report any violence until this election is over? >> well, the afghan government has effectively thrown down the gauntlet here, drew. i mean, the rationale behind it the afghan foreign ministry is trying to protect the elections and trying to protect afghan citizens and we know that the taliban are trying to carry out spectacular sensations to try to intimidate people. that said, do we have a responsibility in the event of major loss of life, loss of american troops perhaps? can we be asked to not speak and comment on something like that taking place? i think this is raising probably a lot of eyebrows in capitals that have been donating millions and billions of dollars to fund the afghan government what they are arguing is a democratic government to operate on the ground. of course, the afghan foreign ministry is arguing that it is within the afghan constitution to take such drastic measures in order to protect the afghan people. we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow,

thehoo- cst of "the vi" ge av iasa to her second son, ih timothy, atia a new york city spital yesterdayfternoon. hasselbeck is married to former redskins quarterback tim h hasselbe hasselbeck. >> inmates used to die trying to escape from alcatraz prison, of course, but on its 75th anniversary, lots of folks lined up to get in. tickets sold out weeks ago. alcatraz was a foort, then an army disciplinary barracks before the prison took over until 1963. during that time, alcatraz housed p.m. notorious murderers and other criminals. yesterday, ex-cons, prison guards and their children all returned to alcatraz to talk about life on the rock. >> much more still ahead on "news 4 today" including more bad news for metro. >> reporter: a metro worker was killed on the tracks late last night. i'm megan mcgrath. i'll have the latest on that investigation coming up in a live report. >> plus, what's happening in our area today that could prove to be critical in the fight against the swine flu. >> and if you thought yesterday was hot, you haven't seen anything yet. tom will be back with details of anot

let's get to atia who is joining us from kabul, afghanistan. what is this all about? what we're hearing now, heidi, 17% of those votes have been counted from various provinces and so far president karzai, the incumbent in the lead with taking around 442,000 out of a million votes. his rival, dr. abdullah below him with less, with more than 100,000 less votes than president karzai. yesterday we only saw a 10,000 gap between the two and as the days go by, we expect that gap to increase and the provinces that have been counted when you look deep in the numbers, the provinces we expected president karzai to get, those ballots haven't been counted yet and the areas that have been counted these are areas that support dr. abdullah well over 60% of those votes counted. again, the afghan president here meeting at least 50% of the total votes and it looks like it's going in president karzai's way. heidi? >> very, very interesting. we'll continue to follow that story very closely here on cnn. appreciate that live from kabul, afghanistan, this morning. >>> meanwhile, good news se

cnn's atia abawi reports. >> reporter: intimidation, violence, and ballot stuffing.ghanistan's elections were marred from the start, and now allegations of fraud are flying. presidential candidate alleges that karzai's campaign is blatantly stealing the election in front of the world's eyes and the repercussions will be severe. >> i think the survival of afghanistan is at stake. and i don't see a future for this country. the level of disappointment of the people that reached a stage you cannot reverse it. >> reporter: already hundreds of complaints have poured into the electoral complaint commissions as several hundred as high priorities. it says they will delay results announcements until they have investigated each complaint. dr. abdullah warns it's not just democracy that will fail if fraud is not addressed. but the international mission in afghanistan itself will be at stake. here at a pre-election rally, the energy and excitement was overwhelming as thousands showed up in support of dr. abdullah. the fear now among officials that this positive energy will turn i

atia is joining us with the latest on this story. she's in kabul. what's going on? >> reporter: well, rick, it's definitely a bolder approach than the approaches they've taken in the past, which was to just destroy poppy crops. and what we've seen in the past are provinces in afghanistan that have gone completely drug-free. but then the next year have seen a 200% increase. so now the bolder approach is to actually go after these drug traffickers, a target list of kill and capture for at least 367, 50 of those with ties to the drugs and the taliban, but what's also interesting about a report that we at cnn have obtained a copy of yet released report by the u.s. foreign relations committee, another surprise shows that al qaeda doesn't necessarily rely on the drug money here, but the taliban, they are getting money, but it's less than what we have expected in the past. rick? >> no wonder who have the prices of that drug are being seen cheaper all over the country, including here in the united states. that story in maine the other day would reflect. thanks so much for t

but cnn's atia abawi reported outside one poll that workers had already closed the poll. some incidents of violence were reported, but no word on any civilian casualties. observers in kabul province said voting was fairly smooth, but in other areas of the country, especially the south, many afghans may have been too afraid to leave their homes to vote. we're going live to afghanistan later this hour. cnn's ivan watson will join us from the province with a look at how the voting went there. >>> fierce storms pound the midwest, a lot of damage. this is central illinois that you're looking at. and cnn's rob marciano is keeping an eye on where storms will be popping up today. >> still rolling through the midwest. that same line that did all of the damage in illinois and parts of minnesota is heading towards ohio. details on where those storms are rolling. plus hurricane bill, still a major storm is heading toward the general vicinity of the u.s. will it make landfall here? we'll discuss those possibilities when the "cnn newsroom" comes right back. ( revving, siren blares ) th

live to kabul and atia abawi. good to see you.fy these voting locations? >> well, what they're doing, tony, they're trying to secure hold areas and they're going after the taliban and mostly they're trying to secure the area for the afghan people when they meet resistance, they fight. but their main tactic right now is to secure afghans to help them go out and vote, to make sure that they feel comfortable enough to vote. but afghanistan is only eight days away from a second ever presidential election and, yes, the picture that you saw from the district of helmand province and eight days will not be enough for afghan villagers to feel confident enough and we might see the fighting continue in that area because the taliban are ready, they had time to prepare and the coalition forces and the u.s. marines they caught them off guard last month when thousands of u.s. marines flooded into southern afghanistan, but the taliban knew that the fighting was going to go on and it was going to come to them, so they had time to prepare and now t

>> all right, atia. thanks very much.f veterans next week. just a short time ago, the white house announced the president will speak at the veterans of foreign wars convention in phoenix on monday. he's expected to discuss the nation's responsibility to former combat troops. that's coming up. >>> president obama wants to clear up some of the misinformation about health care reform, but now one key group, the aarp, says the president may have added some of the misinformation of his own. >>> also, we're finding out more about former white house adviser karl rove's involvement in the firing of a federal attorney. should will there be a formal investigation? >>> and allegations of murder for ratings. shocking details of a brazilian crime show host. ♪ wellbeing. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nuture it in your cat... with a full family of excellent nutrition... and helpful resources. ♪ purina cat chow. share a better life. ( car door closes ) ooooch! hot seat! hot! hot! hot! time to check your air conditi