Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Eight More America Troops Killed in Afghanistan; Harry Reid's Health Proposal; Rocket Launch Countdown

Aired October 27, 2009 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, October 27th. And here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushing the public option in health care reform. It will be in the final Senate bill, but can he get the votes?

They were using their laptops and lost track of time. The explanation from two Northwest pilots who overshot their destination. The repercussions they're likely to face.

And conservative anti-tax, anti-Obama protesters off on a new nationwide tour. The TEA Party Express rides again.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we begin with breaking news out of Afghanistan. Eight more American troops killed by insurgents. That information coming just a short time ago from the U.S. military.

Let's get right to CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence. He is in Kabul.

And Chris, what are you learning?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, a U.S. military official is now telling us that these were two separate incidents in the southern part of Afghanistan. In one incident, seven American troops were killed, and in the other incident one American troop was killed. We're also told that all of these troops were in armored vehicles when these attacks took place.

We know that the Pentagon has been saying for months that IEDs are the number one threat to American lives here in Afghanistan. In fact, it was just last month when Defense Secretary Robert Gates authorized up to thousands more troops to come here to Afghanistan because he felt there were not enough to combat the threat of roadside bombs.

Those troops essentially would be used for clearing some of the routes. Some would be used for gathering intelligence in order to let troops avoid some of these roadside bombs. Others were medics who could treat the injuries of soldiers and Marines who would be hurt by these roadside bombs -- Tony. HARRIS: OK.

Chris Lawrence for us in Kabul, Afghanistan. We will get back to Chris in the next half hour with more on the mood in the country, the latest on this attack, and an update on the upcoming elections.

Today's deaths in Afghanistan follow helicopter crashes there that killed 14 Americans. The Pentagon has just released the names of four Marines who died when two choppers collided yesterday. They are identified as Corporal Gregory Fleury, Captain Eric Jones, Captain David Mitchell, and Captain Kyle Van De Giesen.

Ten other Americans died in a second crash. They included three drug enforcement agents.

Checking the wire now and the day's other top stories.

A group tied to al Qaeda in Iraq is claiming responsibility for twin bombings that killed at least 155 people. Officials have just released this surveillance video of Sunday's explosions in Baghdad.

A militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq posted a Web site statement claiming responsibility. The attack was the deadliest in Iraq in more than two years. It is raising more fears about Iraq's ability to protect itself.

In 48 hours, we should know if Iran will agree to an international proposal for its nuclear program. That is according to the country's state-run television. The U.N. plan calls for uranium produced in Iran to be sent out of the country for final processing. The aim is to limit Iran's ability to make nuclear weapons.

It is the voice of the opposition. Conservatives again riding the TEA Party Express, demonstrating against President Obama, demanding a voice on health care, taxes, spending and other issues. This time with a warning for lawmakers -- judgment day is coming in the form of midterm elections.

Thirty-six rallies are planned in 17 states from California to Florida. The TEA Party Express heads into Nevada today on a three- stop tour.

You know, it is one of the most contentious issues in the health care debate. We are talking about the public option, government-run health insurance, and it will be included in the Senate's health reform legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says it is the best way to improve the current system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system. It will protect consumers, keep insurers honest, and ensure competition. And that's why we intend to include it in the bill that will be submitted to the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Reid's proposal would allow states to opt out of the public option.

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill.

Dana, what else are you learning?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're trying to get information, Tony. What I heard this morning from a Democratic leadership source is that the way that states would be allowed to opt out would be that the state legislatures would have to pass a law explicitly saying that that's what they want to do and the governor would have to sign it.

So, basically, they would have to pass a law explicitly saying that a particular state does not want to be a part of this national government-run health insurance option, and that they could do that pretty much immediately after the so-called health insurance exchange would be set up.

It's very interesting, Tony. It is hard to get information about this, and not just this, but other parts of the proposal that the majority leader clearly has sent to the Congressional Budget Office. And here's an interesting reason why.

We are told that the reason is because the CBO has rules that once any senator or any lawmaker makes public their proposal when the Congressional Budget Office is done determining its cost, then they will make it public to us. If not, then they will give the information back to the lawmaker and it will remain private until the lawmaker decides we can have that information.

So, that's why it was very, very hard for us to get information, because the Democratic leadership in the Senate, they want to keep this under wraps until they get the information about how much the various proposals that they sent to the CBO will cost before we do. It's not just us in the press having problems, it's also apparently other Senate offices that are having a very hard time getting information.

HARRIS: OK. So, let's go back to the announcement from Senator Reid yesterday. And this is essentially suggesting, it seems to me, that Democrats are going to go forward with a final Senate bill that includes a public option.

Does the Senate majority leader have the votes to pass this?

BASH: Not on the record. Not at all. In fact, let's start with one Republican that we are pretty sure, at least in terms of the vote to get onto the bill, that he does not have is Olympia Snowe.

She is not going to support that, and she is not happy that her views have not been taken into consideration here. In fact, listen to what she said to reporters last night in the hallway here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R), MAINE: It's regrettable, because I certainly have worked in good faith all of these months on a bipartisan basis. And as you know, have been standing alone at this point as a Republican in order to do so because I believe in good public policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, now we have Olympia Snowe, the one Republican that they thought that they could rely on, off the table, at least in the initial stages. So, what that means, Tony, as you know, that Harry Reid needs to have all 60 Democrats. Actually, officially, 58 Democrats and two independents to support him.

But here's the problem. I'm going to put two photographs up to just illustrate his problem.

HARRIS: Blanche Lincoln. Yes. Yes.

BASH: Blanche Lincoln, there you see there, and Ben Nelson. I spoke to both of their offices just this morning. Both of them are still saying that they are absolutely not committed yet to supporting the Democratic leader in the Senate on this issue.

Both of them have been very public about their problems with the public option, and they're just not sure that this particular form of compromise, in the hopes of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is enough for them, the idea that this gives states the ability to opt out. In the case of Senator Ben Nelson, he has made pretty clear that he believes that that is still too much of a national program. He wants the states to have much more autonomy.

Whether or not they will support at least a procedural debate to start debate, that is the thing that the Senate majority leader is banking on, but they are not committed yet.

HARRIS: And you know we are trying to get one or both of those senators on the program this morning.

BASH: Good luck.

HARRIS: Exactly. It's good to hear that you were able to get some response, at least from their offices this morning.

Dana, appreciate it. Thank you.

BASH: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: Ready to launch. The largest rocket in the world -- I'm not sure if that's accurate. We're double checking that -- is expected to blast off soon if the weather doesn't get in the way.

And a break for buying a home. First-time homebuyers may get some extra time to claim the tax credit.

But let's take you to the New York Stock Exchange now for a look at the Big Board. As you can see, stocks are in positive territory after a pretty dramatic sell-off yesterday.

We're following these numbers throughout the morning for you, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're trying to launch that rocket, where John Zarrella is, standing by all morning long.

John, it's been a very frustrating go this morning, originally set to launch earlier. I guess around 8:00 or so. And weather's been the main issue, hasn't it?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question. The vehicle has been fine. No issues with the Ares 1-X test rocket, which will ultimately replace the space shuttle.

But as you can see right now, first it's the cloud cover, which is a problem. They don't want to launch through this cloud cover with this first test vehicle. Then the winds kicked up above 20 knots, up to about 22 knots, Rob. So that's out of limits.

Now they say the winds are back within the limits, but the cloud cover is still here. They've got about 50 minutes left in this launch window.

They were talking about trying to make it at about 11:19 a.m. here Eastern Time, coming up in about eight or nine minutes. But it doesn't look like these clouds are going to clear within that period of time.

If they can't make it today, they'll try again tomorrow. They've got the same four-hour launch window tomorrow -- Rob.

MARCIANO: You know, you used a really big word that I tried to write down -- triboelectro -- give me that one again.

ZARRELLA: Triboelectrification, static electricity that this vehicle could generate as it goes through those clouds. That's the new word of the day here, and the concern is that if they were to be forced to send a destruct command to the vehicle, if it should wobble off course -- they've got to be able to do that -- that that static electricity caused by going through clouds might interrupt their ability to send that destruct command. So that's why they're being extremely cautious and do not want to go if they've got to go through any kind of cloud cover -- Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. Triboelectrification. Our John Zarrella keeping an eye on that...

ZARRELLA: That's it.

MARCIANO: ... and this launch.

Thanks, John.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Want to get to Stephanie Elam on this next story. A popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers is set to expire at the end of November, but the Senate could vote this week to extend the program, or even expand it.

Let's get to Stephanie Elam of our CNN Money team, live from New York.

Stephanie, this is a really big deal. A lot of people are watching what the Senate is likely to do here.

What proposals are being considered?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, if you take a look at it, the basic idea here is extending it, but then also phasing it out. So, we're talking about that $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, and we've got one plan here that is from Senator Harry Reid, working with Max Baucus. Both of them Democrats in the Senate.

And they're saying that they would like to extend the first-time tax credit, that $8,000 tax credit, by looping it in with extension of unemployment benefits. This would apply for people who are buying their home for the first time and they close before April 1st. And they would get that full $8,000, and then it would be reduced by $2,000 every quarter after that until it expires at the end of the year. So that's one option.

But then you have a bipartisan option on the table as well. This one coming from Chris Dodd, who is a Democrat, and also Johnny Isakson, who's a Republican out of Georgia.

Their plan would be a bit more generous, and it would extend the $8,000 tax credit through next June. Here's the other difference. Instead of just looking at first-time homebuyers, it would be open to all couples making $300,000 or less. Not just those first-time homebuyers. So, that would be a bit of a difference.

Now, obviously, they have got to work out the different proposals here. They're hoping to vote on these maybe as soon as this week, but obviously a lot of people saying it's time to get something done since November 30th will be here before we know it.

HARRIS: And Stephanie, the program, as I understand it, is already under some fire here because of potentially fraudulent claims. Is that correct?

ELAM: That is true. Fraud seems to be an issue here.

We've got numbers from the IRS saying that it looks like they have identified 70,000 claims of potential fraud which costs about $480 million, they're saying here, as of October 9th. And there's a lot of little things that they are seeing with these claims that they're investigating, but one of them that they pointed out is just that people who were under the age of 18, teenagers, filing for these first-time tax credits.

HARRIS: To buy a home?

ELAM: So, obviously something is going on there, because I have a feeling not too many 12- year-olds are running around thinking about buying a home.

HARRIS: Twelve-year-olds are making some money, but not -- all right, Stephanie. Appreciate it.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: Thank you.

Iraqis fed up with they violence in their country, frustration boiling over. We're live in Baghdad, and that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, we're going to get John Zarrella up in a minute. It looks like the launch, today's scheduled launch for the rocket Ares, has been scrubbed. But we will talk to John in just a couple of minutes and find out exactly why and when NASA will try again.

Checking our other top stories today.

Eight more American troops killed by insurgents in Afghanistan. The military says they died today in two separate roadside bombings.

In Pakistan, another army officer is targeted for assassination by gunmen on motorcycles. He escaped injury, but it is the second such attack in less than a week in the escalating conflict between the Pakistani government and the Taliban.

Police in suburban San Francisco -- and this is really disturbing here -- are investigating the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old high school student outside a homecoming dance. Police say she was assaulted for more than two hours in front of a crowd and no one helped her. Two suspects have been arrested. A third is being questioned. Police are looking for at least one other attacker and as many as 15 onlookers.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, makes what some see as a risky gamble. He is including a public option in the Senate health reform bill. Part of the reason is pressure from liberal voters he needs to win re-election like the group behind this ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm watching to see if Harry Reid is strong and effective enough as a leader to pass a public health insurance option.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, right now sources say Reid does not have firm commitments for the 60 votes he needs, and the lone Republican who had supported the Senate bill says she is deeply disappointed. But Reid says he hopes Senator Olympia Snowe will come around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: We'll have to move forward on this, and there will come a time, I hope, where she sees the wisdom of supporting a health care bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What if Senator Reid can't hit the magic number? I asked that question of Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, the majority whip in charge of counting votes in the House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC), MAJORITY WHIP: I do believe that the time has come for us to make 50 the number. Reconciliation has been provided for in our budget resolution. It is time for us to stop the snail pace, stop running out the clock, and start getting done for the American people what they tell us that they would like to see done.

HARRIS: Well, that is a view that suggests at least you believe that -- and I don't want to put words in your mouth here -- that regardless of what is offered, Republicans won't support it.

CLYBURN: Well, that's a view that I have. And even if you only have one -- and I'm told the only chance is to get one Republican.

All of us would like to see things done in a bipartisan way. I would like to see that done on the House side. But I'll tell you what, I don't think there will be a single Republican vote for whatever we do on the House side. So, we're going to say 435 people (INAUDIBLE), and then we're going to say we are going to deny the will of 61 percent of the American public, because around 35, 40 percent of the Congress see it to the contrary.

I think that the president is right to pursue bipartisanship. I applaud him for that. But I think that it's much better for the president to deliver on behalf of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: House legislation has always included government-run health insurance. The most robust plan would pay doctors and hospitals five percent more than they are paid by Medicare. Under a second plan, the government would negotiate with doctors and hospitals and bring more people into Medicaid by raising the income limits for a family of four from 133 percent of the federal poverty level to 150 percent.

One last option might appeal to more conservative members of Congress while keeping liberals on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLYBURN: Now, the third option that is being talked about and seems to be favored by some in the White House is to have a negotiated rate with the increase in Medicaid eligibility with the so-called trigger. And that trigger will be pulled if you cannot get to the agreed upon savings in a certain period of time. Then that trigger will impose a Medicare rate reimbursement, Medicare Plus 5 percent reimbursement.

Now, even with that, the Senate seems to be saying they would like to have an opt-out provision added to that for states to use. I do believe that most people on the outside of the building will not oppose to states opting out. The only question is trying to get something for them to opt out of, and that's what the problem is right now, getting an appropriate vessel for them to opt out of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will pass a reform bill that includes a public option.

Some breaking news to share with you on the stabbing death of the University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard.

We're just learning that there has been one arrest made. John William Lomax (ph) of Bloomfield was arrested this morning. And he's arrested -- he was arrested in connection -- OK, with the fight that led to the fatal stabbing. He has not been charged or -- he's not been charged in the actual stabbing but, as you know, there was something of a huge fight outside of this college-sanctioned dance, and it looks like John William Lomax (ph) has been arrested in connection with the fight but not the stabbing death of Jasper Howard.

There is a 12:30 p.m. news conference scheduled at the university's police station where we will get more information on this. But there has finally been at least one arrest in this case, the stabbing death of Jasper Howard.

As you know, it happened on October 18th, once again, outside of a university-sanctioned dance. The funeral was just yesterday in Miami. John William Lomax (ph) has been arrested in connection with the fight that ultimately led to the stabbing death of Jasper Howard.

We will continue to follow developments on this very, very sad story, and we will bring you an update when we get it here, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. But first, a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama hopes to energize efforts to upgrade the country's power transmission system. He visits a solar power station in Florida next hour, and he will announce government grants to help develop a smart electric grid.

OK, White House correspondent Dan Lothian is in Arcadia, Florida with a preview. And I've got to tell you, that all sounds good, Dan, but members of our show team this morning were wondering why the president is talking energy recently when clearly Afghanistan and health care are clearly at the top of the agenda.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, that's a very good question. And the White House would make two point. First of all, that they believe that if you have a very good clean energy system, a good grid across the country that it will be more efficient, so consumers will benefit from this. It will also be very cost- efficient for utilities.

Secondly, they believe that if you really focus on investing in the energy of the future, in clean energy, it will also mean the creation of jobs. And that's what they're talking about today, when the White House is announcing an investment of over $3 billion in setting up this energy grid that you talked about. And the sense, at least from White House officials, is that these folks who are receiving this grant money, we're talking about private companies, utilities and others, they believe that all of this money will lead to the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

So, here's how it works. A hundred of these companies, utilities, private entities will be receiving this money. The grant money is anywhere between $400,000 to $2 million. And so, the president is here in Arcadia highlighting a specific solar energy facility of the future to make this announcement. And again, Tony, the belief here that this will create tens of thousands of jobs.

HARRIS: OK, so that makes a little more sense. So, it's in part kind of a jobs creation message as much as it is about an energy message today from the president.

LOTHIAN: It really is. And you know, as unemployment, which is, you know, getting close to double digits, this is something that the president has been talking a lot about, that he believes in clean energy is one of the answers to helping in the unemployment, bring down that unemployment rate, Tony. And so, that's really what they're focussed on here today, and this more than $3 billion coming from stimulus money, money that was set aside just for this purpose.

HARRIS: OK. All right. Dan Lothian for us. Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.

And we will bring you President Obama's remarks on energy and updating the electric grid. He is scheduled to speak during the noon hour Eastern time. Live coverage right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Iraqis fed up with the violence in their country, frustration boiling over. We're live in Baghdad, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The government, what is it doing for us? Nothing. What have they done? We have been widowed. We have orphans, car bombs, theft. What have they done for us? Elections are coming up and they want us to vote? Why would we?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, boy. Twin bombings in Baghdad raising new fears among Iraqis. More than 155 people were killed in Sunday's bombings in the heart of the capital. Let's go there live now and CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom in Baghdad.

Mohammed, that's a pretty powerful message from that woman. Maybe you can give us a broader sense of the mood of Iraqis in the wake of Sunday's attacks and bombings.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony. The mood in Baghdad has been one of anger. We went to the scene of the blast shortly after the bombings happened, and we saw the utter devastation at that scene. Twin suicide truck bombs targeting the heart of Baghdad's government district.

People were shocked. They were confused. They were shell- shocked. The next day we went, people were furious. You saw that woman there expressing rage toward her government -- why are people dying senselessly? We saw men asking, how can this be happening at the same site, virtually the same place, just down the road from where bombings happened August 19th that also targeted government installations?

Now, we're seeing also politicians here expressing anger today, but that seems to be more of a political game that's going on, people pointing fingers because this is an election season. Nonetheless, we went to hospitals, too. People there also angry, saying, why aren't government officials coming to visit us. We feel like we're giving everything we have to this country, to this city. We're not being taken care of -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Mohammed, the election, how about the election law that will guide the upcoming elections in January? Is it complete? Is it done? Is it written? Is it law?

JAMJOOM: It's amazing to try to talk about this and try to explain this, Tony. This election law that needs to be passed before the most crucial elections in Iraq's history can take place still hasn't been passed. Iraq's parliament has failed to vote on it over and over and over and over again over the past few weeks. We've had top U.S. officials, top Iraqi officials come out, say if this thing isn't passed, if elections are delayed, this really endangers Iraq. We could see a lot of political violence. The country could descend into chaos. Well, we now believe we've seen political violence. People are worried it's going to continue, and it's very bad news for the government here because Nouri al-Maliki has been campaigning on a platform of increased national security -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. All right. Mohammed Jamjoom for us in Baghdad. Mohammed, appreciate it. Thank you.

Anger rising in Afghanistan over what many there see as U.S. interference. Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is in Kabul witnessing the backlash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protesters in Kabul scream at Afghan police, calling them American slaves and sons of Obama. And the rising anger at American influence is not confined to the street.

SHAKRIA BARKZAI, AFGHANISTAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: They just want someone to be a good partner for them. (INAUDIBLE)

LAWRENCE: Shakria Barkzai is a member of the Afghan parliament.

(on camera): Do you think that American and European officials have been a help to Afghanistan's election?

BARKZAI: Technically, yes. Politically, no. They play the most dirty (ph) game in Afghan election unfortunately.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Flashback to Hamid Karzai as he agreed to a runoff election, flanked by a U.S. senator and U.N. official. To American eyes, a diplomatic triumph. But to Barkzai and others, just another symbol of outside pressure bending Afghanistan's president to their will.

BARKZAI: But we don't want any puppets.

SEN. GEORGE LEMIEUX (R-FL), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: America's interest here is that we have a fair process in this election.

LAWRENCE: Republican Senator George Lemieux flew to Afghanistan last weekend, meeting with both candidates for president. Lemieux says the U.S. and its allies had to step in. If Karzai would not accept that investigators found massive fraud, it could have discredited the entire government.

LEMIEUX: I think we were right to press for a second election to make sure that there was no doubt that the person who wins that election, either President Karzai or Dr. Abdullah, did so legitimately, because it's going to help further our efforts to make sure that Afghanistan succeeds.

LAWRENCE: But Barkzai says outside pressure has done the same damage as massive fraud.

BARKZAI: It's like Afghan decision is nothing, but foreign decision is important.

LAWRENCE: Guaranteed that Afghans won't see any winner as legitimately their own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And CNN's Chris Lawrence joining us once again from Kabul. And Chris, will the upcoming runoff election help Afghans feel like they're a bit more a part of the process?

LAWRENCE: From what we've been able to hear, Tony, only if it'S seen purely as an Afghan election, if the U.S. is seen as helping but not dominating the process.

HARRIS: And how much do American interests sort of split, diverge from what Afghans actually say they want?

LAWRENCE: Well, take a look at this one issue of cutting a deal with the Taliban, so to speak. A lot of U.S. politicians, a lot of military commanders are against that idea. But apparently, a lot of Afghan people are not.

There was a recent poll that interviewed more than 6,000 Afghans all over the country. It found that more than 70 percent support the government's effort to negotiate and reconcile with the insurgents. And the reason for that, more than half of them say they have some level of sympathy with the motivations of those insurgents -- Tony.

HARRIS: That's interesting. One more quick one, Chris, if you would. Circle back to the breaking news today. Tell us what you're learning about the militant attack on American troops.

LAWRENCE: We're hearing that it was two separate incidents. In one, seven American troops were killed in an IED attack. In another, one American troop was killed. We're told that all of them were in armored vehicles. And of course, this has been a rising problem here in Afghanistan. It is the number one killer for American troops, and Pentagon officials have called it the number one threat as well.

HARRIS: All right, Chris Lawrence in Kabul, Afghanistan for us. Chris, thank you.

Let's get you caught up on our top stories now. A group linked to al Qaeda claiming responsibility for twin bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad. The militant group makes the claim on a Web site. Officials have just released this surveillance video of Sunday's explosion.

The teen who was found in New York with apparent amnesia took none of her belongings with her, but she did empty her bank account before leaving her home in Washington state. That is according to police. Henry Peterson says his daughter Kacie has a history of memory loss. She had only been at her new school for a few weeks before she took off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN KNIGHT, PRINCIPAL, COLVILLE HIGH SCHOOL: She was a very bright girl, very intelligent, smart. We enjoyed having her here. She was a model student. She didn't act out against anything we did here. She was a good girl.

I hope that she gets her health. I hope that she gets safe and kind of gets her life straightened out in the (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Police say they don't know how Kacie traveled across the country.

And weather is keeping NASA's Aries rocket on the pad at the Kennedy Space Center today. NASA will try again tomorrow. The rocket is a first step in NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon.

What happened during the Northwest Airlines flight that missed its destination? New information on what went on in the cockpit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Susan Lisovicz time. You know, millions of people across the country have seen the value of their greatest asset take a big hit during this recession. But a new report today offers a glimmer of hope. Boy, we need those glimmers, some green shoots here. Home prices are inching higher.

Susan Lisovicz, there she is, at the -- are you at the -- no, you're at the Time Warner Center, correct?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am.

HARRIS: All right. Good to see you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: But I am on the job, Tony.

HARRIS: And we need this primary asset to grow. So, this feels like some positive news you have to share with us.

LISOVICZ: It is. We're talking baby steps. I mean, we're not talking great leaps. That would be unrealistic. But the headline is that home prices in the 20 biggest cities of the United States rose 1.2 percent in August from the month before. And, Tony Harris, it's the fourth straight monthly increase.

Now, the other side of the coin is that prices are still down nearly 11.5 percent year over year. But when you have four straight monthly declines -- increases, rather, it starts to chip away at the overall decline. So, we're seeing small steps forward, and that is good.

But no question about it, we are still worried because we got a separate report this morning on consumer confidence. And it showed a decline. It also -- a key measure of it, present situation, hit a 26- year low. Why is that? Because we're worried about the job market.

That's reflected in what's happening in the stock market unfortunately. We had a nice rally at the open. It faltered, sort of like consumer confidence. Dow's higher, half a percent. Nasdaq's taking a step backward -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, are we near session highs right now at 62 points? Is that...

LISOVICZ: Yes. Yes.

HARRIS: OK. OK. All right. We'll keep the positive going as much as possible. We all want to know, really, about the prices of homes in our own cities and how they're doing. So, which cities are doing the best here, Susan?

LISOVICZ: Well, so then we'll have to start with yours, Atlanta.

HARRIS: OK.

LISOVICZ: Atlanta month over month rose 1 percent.

HARRIS: I need this.

LISOVICZ: And overall -- exactly. Because you want to feel wealthier, right?

HARRIS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: Seventeen of the 20 cities measured showed month-over- month increases. The biggest one, Minneapolis, Minnesota, up more than 3 percent. San Francisco up nearly 3 percent. And in fact, three California cities, three biggest, were in the top five. And that's important because we know that California's been one of the epicenters of the housing crisis.

Detroit, one very quick mention here, up nearly 2 percent. And that's huge...

HARRIS: That is -- yes.

LISOVICZ: ... with the high unemployment rate. But remember, Detroit also has the cheapest housing prices in the nation. The median price of a house, Tony, median price, $65,000. Median means half of them are more expensive than $65,000, half of them are lower than that.

HARRIS: That's amazing. And Nevada, Florida, still struggling a bit?

LISOVICZ: They're still -- yes. But they did measure increases...

HARRIS: That's great. LISOVICZ: ... in month over month. Still, year over year they have a lot of ground to recover. No question about it.

HARRIS: Susan, appreciate it. Good to see you. Thank you. See you next hour.

LISOVICZ: Likewise.

HARRIS: Check out CNNmoney.com for the latest financial news. It is all part of the new CNN.com.

He turned it down twice. Now comedian Bill Cosby decided to accept a pretty big award. We will explain next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: We're up here in front of him.

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: We're supposed to be funny.

SEINFELD: Chris Rock.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCK: Jerry Seinfeld.

(LAUGHTER)

SEINFELD: I don't feel funny.

ROCK: Me neither.

SEINFELD: People are going to say, boy, I thought those two guys would be funny together.

ROCK: But we're not.

SEINFELD: No, we're not.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCK: Not compared to Bill Cosby.

SEINFELD: No, not compared to Dr. Bill Cosby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: He's been offered the award twice before, but finally last night, Bill Cosby accepted, receiving the Mark Twain prize at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The prize is awarded to individuals who use humor to influence social change. Among those in attendance, his TV son from "The Cosby Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER, ACTOR: It was definitely time for Mr. Cosby to be honored. He's been honored, you know, by so many organization for so many different things that I'm really glad that he (INAUDIBLE) got this Mark Twain award at the Kennedy Center. I think it's really (INAUDIBLE) time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Past recipients of the Mark Twain prize include George Carlin, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg.

You know, this might be bigger than a "Harry Potter" release. So, Michael Jackson back in the spotlight tonight. Expect lots of fans to line up when "This Is It" premiers worldwide. The movie is based on rehearsal footage leading up to Jackson's comeback tour. Jackson, as you know, died in June, just before the tour began.

All right. Let's get you to Rob Marciano in the severe weather center. And Rob, well, clouds and winds and so we get no launch of Aries today, huh?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, we'll give it another go tomorrow, Tony, but I don't think it looks any better weatherwise because this is a southeast thing. I mean, the whole southeast quadrant of the country under the gun with this storm, and Florida actually is just getting the fringes of it. But northern parts of Florida, the panhandle specifically, there is a tornado watch that's in effect until 6:00 this evening. So, we'll watch that carefully.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And here's what we're working on for our next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with an important guide for parents. Catching H1N1 before it's too late. If your kids get sick, how to know when to go get help?

Plus, President Obama is at a solar energy plant in Florida. We are waiting to hear him speak about the country's plans for renewable energy and new climate legislation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Federal authorities arrest two men in Chicago for alleged terrorism conspiracies overseas. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve tracking the story from Washington.

And Jeanne, good to see you. What are you learning?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Tony, you may remember in 2005, a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the prophet Mohammed which were met with outrage in the Muslim world. The allegations of the U.S. government in these charges is that there was a conspiracy to exact some price for that, that the conspirators allegedly gave it the inauspicious name of the Mickey Mouse project. And it involved two men from Chicago, both of whom have now been arrested. One of them identified as David Headley. He's 49, a U.S. citizen. He was arrested on October 3rd as he boarded a flight that would eventually take him back to Pakistan, the government alleges.

The other individual identified as Tahawwur Rana, 48. He's a native of Pakistan and a citizen of Canada, but he was living in the Chicago area. The allegations of the government are that Headley traveled to Denmark on several occasions, and Rana helped arrange that travel. Headley went to Denmark and allegedly cased two offices of that Danish newspaper, in addition, a Danish military barracks and also a synagogue.

And then he took that information and, according to the U.S. government, he sent it to individuals in Pakistan, one of whom's affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba. You remember that's the group responsible for the Mumbai attacks. And also to an individual call Ilias Kashmiri (ph), who is judged to be one of the most dangerous al Qaeda-linked Pakistani commanders and was at one point number four on the Pakistani interior ministry's most-wanted list.

The allegations are that he transmitted the information to them with the goal of eventually staging these attacks in Denmark. It did not involve any targets in the United States.

But the investigation is continuing, and officials say this is a very serious matter, that these people were in touch with very high- ranking people in Pakistan.

HARRIS: One more quick one, Jeanne. Are these arrests in any way -- maybe it's a reach here, but I'll try -- connected to the recent arrests in Colorado and Texas?

MESERVE: Officials say, no, they are not. This is a separate set of allegations against a separate set of people. No connection that we're aware of.

HARRIS: OK. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve for us in Washington. Jeanne, thank you.

MESERVE: You bet.