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650,000 Jobs Created or Saved; Strategy Session; House Health Care Bill

Aired October 30, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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


T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, guys. You didn't have to Photoshop Larry like that. That was just wrong.

But hello to you both. Thank you so much. And hello to all of our viewers out there as well. We're talking about this stimulus, all that money, all those jobs. We've got the numbers for you. Our Christine Romans is going to be taking a look. She's standing by to give us those numbers as she does so well, so often.

Also this morning we're talking about this middle-aged couple. You heard about this. These folks here, kidnapped by pirates on the high seas. You're going to hear their story and you're going to actually hear it from them.

Also this morning, a major situation, we are watching that played out on live television. Take a look at that. We warn people all the time, you're not supposed to drive through that water. Well good thing that a Good Samaritan was standing by and had to swim out and save the driver of a submerged vehicle.

Good morning to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Heidi Collins. It's Friday, October 30th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We are all joining the chorus with Jerry Maguire this morning. Show me the money! That could be the cry of taxpayers wanting to know what that $787 billion stimulus package has actually accomplished.

Today, the White House coming out with new numbers on jobs being created or saved. Our Christine Romans in New York with the story.

It's tough to make this tally, create it or save. But what is the White House telling us?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: T.J., you had me at hello. The White House is saying that they have saved or created 650,000 jobs through the stimulus so far. This is a new analysis from the White House recovery office. The people who are -- independent office, really, who are looking over how that -- that money has been spent, 650,000 jobs saved or created.

These are education jobs, teachers, highway construction jobs. And this is based on an analysis of $150 billion worth of contracts. So if you extrapolate -- and the White House does. If you extrapolate out to some $339 billion in contracts that are really out there, they say they have exceed the million-dollar or million job forecast that they think have been created or saved by the stimulus.

This number, 650,000 does not count the money being spent on tax cuts that will have a more indirect, perhaps, effect and create jobs. Direct payments to people and grants for under $25,000.

Now, T.J., you're going to be able to look at Recovery.gov. Recovery.gov. It's a Web site. Later this afternoon and all of the people who have received stimulus funds have to report how they've spent it. That's where these forecasts come from or these estimates come from. All of that will be on Recovery.gov later this afternoon.

HOLMES: OK. But, again, the White House, these are the early numbers maybe we're getting, but overall said we were -- should expect some three million jobs created or saved from this stimulus. So are we on track? Do they think we are on track to get to that number that they say the stimulus is going to give us?

ROMANS: Well, you remember a couple of claims that the White House made when it was really pushing for the stimulus. They said 3 to 4 million jobs would be created over a couple of years. They also said that if we pass the stimulus, it would prevent -- that we would see the jobless rate peek at 8 percent if we pass the stimulus.

Well, on one of those counts so far they were wrong. I mean the jobless rate is already well above 8 percent. But Jared Bernstein, one of the economists at the White House, this is what he said about that claim that we would have 3 to 4 million jobs eventually.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED BERNSTEIN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, POLICY ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: We're silently on track to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the time this program winds down. Now, as you correctly noted, we're looking at the job impact of the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

There is no conceivable stimulus package that could fully offset that. But the recovery act is absolutely working, both in GDP terms and in terms of offsetting some of that labor market pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You know, T.J., counting these stimulus jobs gets pretty political. I mean supporters of the stimulus will say every time they count one of these jobs, that it shows that the stimulus is working, and the president's policies are working, skeptics will say, how in the world will you ever be able to count all of these? And there are not enough jobs to offset how many have been lost.

So either way you look at it there's a lot of politics that gets mixes up with the economics of all this, T.J.

HOLMES: That's always the deal. Before I let you go real quickly, people are all wondering, this phrase, "created or saved." Yes, that there's no breakdown like that, saying, all right, this is how many were actually created. ROMANS: Right.

HOLMES: This is how many were actually saved. And it's kind of confusing and kind of difficult to actually prove that a job was saved anyway.

ROMANS: It absolutely is, T.J. And I'm going to tell you that, you know, I've talked to economists, I've looked over these numbers. We will never know exactly how many jobs have been created or saved. I've talked to teachers whose jobs have been saved. They're being paid by the stimulus money. They're counted as one job, but they had that job last year.

There are also people who had jobs who are maybe five weeks long, a few months long, on construction. That's counted as one job even though they may not be working anymore. So it's very difficult to really get a good, solid number.

HOLMES: Difficult and political, like you say. Christine Romans, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: Sure.

HOLMES: I'm going to turn now to a key strategy session that's happening at the White House today. President Obama talking to the top military brass about the way forward in Afghanistan. The Joint Chiefs of Staff going to weigh in on plans that could include as many as 40,000 new troops.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us live now.

Barbara, good morning to you. And it seems like we've been seeing a lot of these meetings lately.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, T.J., and one more today. This one maybe, though, just a bit different. The president meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff this afternoon and their concerns are very particular. It all goes to really who are the Joint Chiefs of Staff? These are the men, and they are all men right now, who head up the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps.

They don't have any combat responsibilities for the war, but their job as the joint chiefs is to provide trained and equipped troops to General McChrystal. And that goes to the very heart of this meeting. Their responsibility, to provide the protective gear, the equipment, the training, all the things that so many thousands of military families are worried about when they send their loved ones off to war.

The Joint Chiefs also very concerned about strain on the force. They have been saying that if they have to send a large number of additional forces to the war in Afghanistan, their worry is that they might have to break the promise to the troops that they're going to get plenty of time at home with their families in between their combat tours. It's a numbers game. There's a lot of stress and strain on the force and this whole issue of sending thousands of additional troops falls right in the chief's laps, because they're the ones that might have to give the troops the bad news about not getting that time at home. T.J.?

HOLMES: And you talk about the numbers, but no matter what the number is, how many possibly could be sent, what are these troops -- do we understand what they're going to be used for?

STARR: Right. That's item number two on the list today, if you will. Where are the troops going to go? Depending on how many troops the decision will be made to be sent to the war in Afghanistan. Somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000 is what we understand is really on the table.

General McChrystal's main effort, we are told by a number of military sources, will be the south. You just have to look at the map to see what's on the table here. Southern Afghanistan, Helmand Province, Kandahar Province. This is still the real heartland of the Taliban insurgency.

He wants to send as many combat counterinsurgency forces down this to help protect local Afghan citizens fight against the Taliban and also still have a number of forces in reserve that he can use to help train Afghan forces, so they can take over as soon as possible. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. We appreciate you, as always.

And on the subject of Afghanistan, news now that nine Afghan civilians are dead this morning in a roadside bomb attack. This happened in Nangahar. This is a province in the eastern part of that country. Police say the people were in a taxi headed for a market when the car hit a bomb that was buried on the road.

Well, the Pakistani army says it see a passport with a name of a suspect linked to the 9/11 attacks. The German passport was in the name of Said Bahaji. It was found with other documents in South Waziristan. That's a region where the Pakistani army has been fighting the Taliban.

It contained a Pakistani visa showing entry into the country one week before the 9/11 attacks. CNN has not confirmed that passport's authenticity. Bahaji alleged to have been a member of the Hamburg, Germany cell that funded the hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks. He was in Germany in Spain or wanted in Germany and Spain, I have to say, on terrorism charges.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton challenging Pakistan to do more to hunt down members of al Qaeda in its own country. Speaking to Pakistani journalist, Secretary Clinton said she finds it hard to believe no one in the Pakistani government knows where al Qaeda members are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to. Before leaving Pakistan today, Clinton addressed another global security issue, Iran's nuclear ambitions. She talked about the country's counterproposal to an international draft agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are working with the IAEA, with France, Russia, the other members of the P5-plus-1 who are all united and showing resolve in responding to the Iranian response and seeking clarification. So, you know, I'm going to let the process play out, but clearly we are, you know, working to determine what exactly they are willing to do, whether this was an initial response that is an end response or whether it's the beginning of getting to where we expect them to end up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Iran says it does not want to ship low enriched uranium for refinement to Russia as agreed during talks last week. Instead, Iran now wants its uranium enriched on Iranian soil by a third country under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Well, off the coast of California this morning, a search is going on for nine people. Crews looking for the nine that are missing after a marine helicopter collided with a Coast Guard plane. Moments ago, the Coast Guard said the families have been notified. That helicopter was on a training mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JOSH NELSON, U.S. COAST GUARD: We are operating throughout the night in a search-and-rescue mode. We are out there with our assets in the U.S. Navy coordinating, looking for survivors.

I can tell you, there's four Navy ships, multiple Navy helicopters. Like I said, multiple Coast Guard cutters and Coast Guard aircraft on scene. So we're throwing everything we can at this right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The water in the search area out there is about 65 degrees, so hypothermia now a pretty big concern. The Coast Guard says the survivability is about 20 hours in those waters.

And on to a story in northern California now that really caused a lot of outrage and just shock. The alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl. Well, another suspect has been arrested. The name is Jose Carlos Montano. He is the sixth suspect now in custody. He's 18 years old. His bond has been set at over $1 million.

You know the story here. Police say as many as 10 people were involved in the assault on school property there in northern California. And it lasted over two hours, they say. Another 10 people stood by and watched. The victim in this case is now out of the hospital, we're told. Want to turn to a weather-related story now and one that played out on live television. It was a scary scene and a daring rescue all caught on live TV in Little Rock when somebody did what we're always telling them, Rob, not to do when you see the floodwaters, don't drive through it.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Turn around, don't drown. You're right about that, T.J. And they didn't turn around there and got it caught on live TV. Luckily, the rescue was successful. That's the flood side of this storm. The cold side of this storm, over three feet of snow and still snowing with blizzard warnings in some spots all of it heading east. We'll run it down. Weather is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, some record rain, strong winds, even tornadoes. Seeing a lot of damages across Arkansas as well as Louisiana. This is, as you can see, a fire facility. It's actually a fire training facility in Camden, Arkansas. A lot of trees, power lines down. Also word that one person is dead. Several others injured. But nobody was hurt when a tree smashed into this house, if you can believe that, in Haughton, Louisiana.

Well, back to Arkansas now. Specifically, let's talk about Little Rock. Heavy rains drenched parts overnight, leaving an SUV submerged on a washed out street. Now, affiliate KARK had its cameras rolling as all of this unfolded. Now take a listen to the report as they were reporting live as this was playing out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SONSEEAHRAY TONSALL, KARK-TV CORRESPONDENT: We were just on the air from this location. Firefighters had just left from one side of this huge flooded area, seeing nothing, and then literally, right after we stopped talking, somebody decided that they were going to risk it and now you see all of these people running into the water to try to figure out what's going on with this truck.

It's just been, literally, a matter of one or two minutes and this car, we can see the hood at least and now it's fully submerged. A perfect example of why we always say, turn around, don't drown. Everybody thinks that you may be able to beat the water and it's just not the case. It's just not the case. You always -- your best bet is to turn around and not get into this situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it looks like they just got one person out of that car. And now they've got to get in there and see if there's anyone else in there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. And I'm sure for some folks this may be very difficult to watch. Certainly, we apologize. This is live television. Sonseeahray was there on the scene, telling us about how the water has been rising, and within just minutes, we saw what turned in to be a vehicle, now submerged, under water and we're hoping for the best as we watch this now. There was just an onlooker who was courageous enough to go out there in the water, help this passenger and then firefighters arrived on the scene as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This person who appeared pulled up and didn't really stop, was looking over her shoulder, and just kept driving right into the water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And perhaps it is deceiving when you are in a vehicle. It's hard to gauge how deep that water is. And then it just leads to this unfortunate situation here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like there they're carrying the person who was in the vehicle out. They appear to be standing up on their own. This person, very, very lucky. This was a real life and death situation here with this car in this water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That driver, thank goodness, was pulled from the vehicle. It was a woman. She was the only one had to be pulled from there. Nobody else was hurt, thank goodness. But, Rob, this makes no sense. We have to preach this every single time. If you can't use common sense, it's one thing, but it's not like you can't remember the phrase, it rhymes. Turn around, don't drown. Everybody knows that. But people keep attempting these things.

MARCIANO: I know. You know, it's just human nature. You know you've got to get somewhere, you don't always think about the consequences or the cliches, for that matter. In this case, that particular motto, as you mentioned, it rhymes and it works. So, there's proof in the pudding there, do not do what that particular driver did.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: And as you know, T.J., it's Halloween weekend. So we'll have that coveted forecast coming up for you in about half an hour.

HOLMES: Coveted forecast. They're all coveted.

MARCIANO: Well, this one, I mean, graphically, it's award winning.

HOLMES: OK.

MARCIANO: I can't take credit for that, but I'll show it to you.

HOLMES: We appreciate you. We'll talk to you again here shortly, my man.

MARCIANO: Yes.

HOLMES: It's nearly 2,000 pages long, and now let the debate begin about the health care reform plan. What could this thing mean for you? We're going to break it down, every single page. Not really. But stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're just getting word that this man has now been caught. This is according to the Associated Press. Also, local affiliates out of Atlanta reporting that the man, a father who had run over his daughter, allegedly, they are Iraqi Americans, run over his daughter, mowed her down with his own vehicle, saying she had become too westernized. He has now been caught.

He's been on the run since this happened about October 20th. But there he is. His name is Faleh Almaleki, but his daughter still in serious condition. AP reporting that he has now been caught. Local affiliates here in Atlanta reporting that he was actually caught in the Atlanta area.

The incident actually happened out in Arizona where the family lived but have been here for many years, Iraqi Americans, thought his daughter had become too westernized and mowed her down with the vehicle. Still in serious condition. But word that he had been caught according to the AP. We'll keep an eye on that story that certainly got a lot of attention when it did happen.

Another story we'll turn to now still getting a whole lot of attention. Three bills rolled into one. That's got to be a big deal. Leaders in the House call it the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen in Boston for us, looking at what's in this thing. All right. 2,000 pages, is that right? So there's a lot in this thing. So how exactly are those 2,000 pages going to change our lives?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J. It will change our lives if it's passed. It will vastly change the insurance landscape. It won't look, for many people, like it looks right now. So we went through those 2,000 pages to try to decipher what it means.

I also got on the phone with Representative Rob Andrews from New Jersey, a co-author. He helped me figure some of this out.

So, let's take a look at what it means for three different families in three different situations. Let's start with the Smiths. The Smiths are doing pretty well. Dad has a job in high-tech, they just had brand-new babies, mom's staying home with them. He makes $40,000 a year. Aren't they cute?

He makes $40,000 a year and that's a pretty good living. But they say that when they went to go price out insurance, health insurance would cost them almost half their salary. He does not get insurance through his employer. So, what does this House bill do for them?

What it does for the Smiths is it requires Mr. Smith's employer to give the family insurance. So that's a really important part of this bill. It puts a lot of the burden on employers. And we'll talk about that a little bit more later.

But let's get to our second person. We call him Heart Attack Harry. Harry had a heart attack last year.

HOLMES: My goodness.

COHEN: He is...

(LAUGHTER)

He is self-employed and he can't get insurance. He tried and everyone said, are you kidding, Harry? We're not going to insure you. You had a heart attack last year. You are a huge financial risk to us. So Harry is really stuck.

What this bill does, like all the other health care reform bills, is it requires insurance companies to take to insure people who have pre-existing conditions. It makes them do it. So Harry is obviously going to be a bit happier after this insurance.

Now let's take a look at a third person. We call her Young Yasmin. You can see Yasmin is strong, she's 25, she has no health problems and she -- her problem is that she looked around for insurance and she said, I don't want to spend money on insurance. I -- you know, I'd rather spend that money on a trip to Hawaii.

Yasmin is kind of hopping from job to job, she's trying to find herself. The last thing she wants to do is spend money on insurance. So what this bill, this new House bill does for her is it tells her that she can stay on her parent's insurance until she's 27. A lot of times kids are kicked off now at like 22, 23.

This makes insurance companies keep kids on insurance until they're 27. Now after she turns 27, she will be required to buy insurance on her own. She can't take that trip to Hawaii.

So T.J., those are three families, three different situations. That's what this bill does for them.

HOLMES: I love it. And Young Yasmin with the gun show there. I love it. Tell me, we only have time for one follow-up, so I'll let you pick which one is most pertinent. That we should hit on. The one asking about people and their insurance, not going through their jobs for it, bill going to help them, or you want to take the question about whether or not -- or how much different this new bill is from the Baucus bill? So you pick and give us the answer.

COHEN: Let's take the first one.

HOLMES: All right.

COHEN: So we've got the first question that you referred to is when these folks go to get insurance on their own, as some of them will have to do, what this bill does is this bill tells companies, look, if your payroll is bigger than $500,000, you have to offer your employees insurance. That is not the case right now. That is a gigantic difference. Again, it puts a huge burden on the employers. If you've got a payroll of more than $500,000, you have to give insurance. That's come under some criticism. Plus some people think, why should we be putting that burden on employers? It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

HOLMES: All right. Elizabeth Cohen from Boston for us, as always, we appreciate your breaking this stuff down. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you again soon.

COHEN: Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, T.J. Holmes.

HOLMES: All right. Wall Street got a bit of a treat yesterday. The Dow going up 2 percent on word that the economy grew for the first time in a year. Today, we have new economic reports coming out on Halloween eve.

Susan Lisovicz, should we be scared?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I wouldn't say we should be totally spooked. I mean, T.J., we had such a treat for investors on Thursday. The Dow's best day, in fact, in three months. And on this final trading day of the month, we used to call it mischief night where I grew up.

We can say October has been a treat for the Dow. The blue chip average up 2.5 percent. It topped $10,000, of course, earlier this month. But the NASDAQ and S&P 500 are mixed, heading into the final session of the month.

On the earnings front, Sony posted its fourth straight quarterly loss, nearly $300 million. But that's better than Wall Street expected. Like other companies, Sony benefited from cost cuts and strong demand for Michael Jackson albums, but that was not enough to offset the company's lackluster sales. In fact, Sony cut the price of its PlayStation by $100 to spur sales.

But even in the toughest of times, T.J., it seems women still have money for beauty products. That's why sometimes it's been called the lipstick recession. Estee Lauder's quarterly profit more than doubled as the company cut expenses and its skin care products sold well. Estee Lauder shares are up over 7.5 percent. Thank you.

Overall, well, it looks like investors are a little bit spooked in the first seconds of trading. We have a new report showing consumer spending fell in September. The first month after the Cash for Clunkers Program ended. The decline was the biggest this year. And that's why there was so much concern, even with that spectacular GDP report out yesterday, T.J. So much of it was fueled by programs like Cash for Clunkers. So we're seeing a little bit of pullback. The three major averages down about a quarter of a percent, T.J. We'll keep it following for you. HOLMES: Yes. What's going to happen now that those programs are gone away? At least we know that some things women are not going to ever cut back on. Makeup being one of them, Susan. Thank you so much. As always, we'll see you again soon.

LISOVICZ: You got it.

HOLMES: Well, more than two dozen people arrested, accused of taking part in an international crime ring. Where is it headquartered?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The FBI says it's cracked an international crime ring that handed out hundreds of illegal drivers -- or handed them, illegal drivers, licenses and also phony visas. Agents say the ring charged Ukrainian foreign nationals $12,000 for a fake visa, another $3,000 for an Ohio driver's license. One of the suspects worked at Ohio's driver's license bureau. This is outside of Cleveland. The FBI says the scheme could have led to more crimes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK FIGLIUZZI, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Even if those national security repercussions aren't present, you've got the whole issue of identity theft. You've got the ability once you've got that Ohio driver's license to parlay that into more false I.D.s, social security cards, credit cards and just keep on going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, the FBI arrested 25 people for that alleged scheme, including three in that Cleveland area.

We'll turn now to the fight against the Taliban, happening in Pakistan. Pakistani military officials say their forces are closing in on a prominent guerrilla stronghold in the mountains of South Waziristan. The offensive has now been going underway for some two weeks.

CNN's Reza Sayah reports from this rugged and remote region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You are looking at a place very few people ever visit. Some call it one of the most dangerous spots in the world. This is South Waziristan. One of seven districts in Pakistan's volatile tribal region right along the Afghan border, widely believed to be the headquarters of the Taliban's safe haven for al Qaeda.

It was here when earlier this month the Pakistani army began its all-important offensive targeting the Taliban. Up until now, the army had not allowed journalists to enter the battle zone, but now they are. It's very unlikely that we're going to get a complete picture of how this battle is going, but we did get a chance to see where this fight is happening.

Some of the most severe, rugged terrain in the world. The army also showing us some of the items that they've seized, some heavy weaponry, ammunition, computers used by militants, fake passports used by suspected militants. The military strategy is to encircle the Taliban and move in from three fronts.

We saw the southwestern front, the army showing us the village of Kanigoram which they are approaching. The village of Kanigoram, a stronghold of the Uzbeks fighters. An estimated 1,000 Uzbeks fighters of the army says is here.

We also saw the village of Kotkai, which the army captured a few days ago. Kotkai has symbolic meaning, because it's the hometown of the Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

How is this battle going to unfold? When is it going to find? What's going to be the aftermath? Many analysts agree it is much too early to tell. This is going to be a very difficult fight with militants who are very familiar with this terrain. The winter months are setting in. Analysts say it may be months before we find out how this battle is going to conclude, and what the impact is going to be. Not just on the Pakistani Taliban, but on al Qaeda in the tribal region and militancy in Pakistan.

Reza Sayah in South Waziristan, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And caught in the middle of the fighting, thousands of Pakistani residents. They are leaving their homes in South Waziristan, where you just saw Reza reporting. They're heading to refugee camps and Dera Ismail Khan.

CNN's Ivan Watson caught up with some of the refugees and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How did you leave? In a car? In a bus?

AMANULLAH: In a foot.

WATSON: On foot?

AMANULLAH: On foot. Four days we travel on foot.

WATSON: Walking?

AMANULLAH: Walking.

WATSON (voice-over): The men here say there's no real system of government in South Waziristan, just civilians caught between two armed enemies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taliban, army.

WATSON (on camera): That's it? Police? No police?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No police. Police out! Two men. Taliban and Pak army.

WATSON: Oh.

(voice-over): Many people are too terrified to talk about the Taliban.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taliban, no talk.

WATSON (on camera): You can't talk about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. About Taliban, no talk.

WATSON: Why? It's dangerous?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

WATSON (voice-over): The military estimates more than half the population of South Waziristan, more than 160,000 people are now displaced, homeless and traumatized, they line up waiting for food and tents and cash handouts from the government. Nadeem Ahmed is the general in charge here.

(on camera): And these people are coming in, they are fleeing war, and they are surrounded with men in uniforms with guns.

GEN. NADEEM AHMED, PAKISTANI MILITARY: But you must remember that the Pakistani military has a history of undertaking relief operations since its inception. And if you look at this boy, this army, guy is just pushing. So, you know, they are seeing the good face of the military as well.

WATSON: Displaced families leave the stadium, some clutching donated buckets and sleeping mats. For many of these people, this is the third time in five years they've fled battles between Pakistani soldiers and the militants. The burden of being homeless does not get easier with time.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, hidden fees are creeping into your bills and busting a lot of budgets. You can find out now how to avoid being nickeled and dimed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We want to check our top stories now. First, the U.S. seeking clarification from Iran on its counteroffer to an international draft reached last week. That proposal, tentatively accepted by Iran, with have Iran send its low enriched uranium to Russia for refinement. Iran now calling for its uranium to be enriched on Iranian soil by a third country under U.N. nuclear watchdog supervision.

To Los Angeles now where police are pushing ahead with their search for a synagogue shooting suspect. Two people were shot in the legs in the parking lot of the synagogue yesterday morning. Both hospitalized, in good condition. Police briefly detained a teenager thought to look like the suspect.

And the White House saying stimulus funds have created or saved at least 650,000 jobs. That just-released number is taken from tens of thousands of reports from state and local recipients as well as private companies. Stimulus critics say it's impossible, essentially, to quantify the number of saved jobs.

Well, hidden fees. You're getting hit with a lot of them, more than you even realize, more than likely. So what are these budget- busting charges and what can you do about them?

Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with that for us.

Gerri, good morning to you. And this is something -- we don't even know it is happening to us.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: We don't even know it's happening.

Hi, there, T.J. It's the gotcha fees, the hidden fees, the ones that you don't know about that come to your attention after you've received a service or product, those are the once that hurt most. They're everywhere, and they're growing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): From cell phones to cable service, to credit cards and banks, to airline travel and hotel stays. Experts say the average American is spending close to $1,000 a year extra on hidden fees and surcharges. A nickel here, a dime there.

BOB SULLIVAN, AUTHOR, "RED TAPE CHRONICLES": That's real money. Married couples we're talking about $2,000. That's a nice chunk of change to stock a healthy retirement, pay for a nice vacation, get a head start on school costs.

WILLIS: Bob Sullivan is the author of "The Red Tape Chronicles."

SULLIVAN: With almost every transaction now, if you're buying a car, buying a house, getting a cell phone, the company knows far much more than you do, including they know what the real cost is. And when there's all this confusion over what things cost, well, consumers lose.

WILLIS: And they're losing in a big way. The average fee ranges from less than $1 to $10. While that may not seem like a lot of money, it adds up. Cell phone fees average $9.04 per month, more than $116 a year. Cable and satellite TV fees on average run $9.52 a month, totaling $114 a year. Every time you fly, $33.44 with a national average of three and a half tickets a year, that totals $102 a year.

Credit card fees average $7.72 a month, bringing the annual cost to $92. And the average advisory fee incurred for a hotel stay is close to $25, roughly $95 a year per person.

Bjorn Hanson is a professor at NYU's Tisch Center for Hospitality. Hansen says hotels have become more creative in what he calls the surprise fee.

PROF. BJORN HANSON, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY TISCH CENTER: The hotel industry in 2008 collected about $1.75 billion on fees and surcharges. Some of the fees that surprise guests the most would be an early departure fee, a cancellation fee, mini bar restocking charges, luggage or baggage holding fees.

WILLIS: Some hotels go as far as charging resort amenity fees for towels, and some urban hotels even charge a daily fee for receiving faxes.

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WILLIS: Experts say the best way to avoid being surprised by hidden fees or surcharges is to ask up front before every transaction, what is the final cost I'm going to pay?

According to the national survey cited in our report, consumers had the most success in resolving fee complaints with credit card companies and hotel companies -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, for the most part, though, can you do anything about it? You say ask up front, you won't be surprised, but still you get the fee at the end of the day, don't you?

WILLIS: You've got to negotiate. You've got to be...

HOLMES: Right.

WILLIS: ... unafraid to say, "Hey, I don't want to pay that, give me a lower cost, get rid of the fee." At the end of the day, a lot of these companies are in a lot of financial distress, they need your business and they may be willing to work with you -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Gerri Willis, always a pleasure, always good advice. We thank you so much.

WILLIS: Thank you.

HOLMES: All right, that graphic means something's going on. Rob, what's happening? A stormy map you've got behind you today.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a big storm, T.J. We spoke about this earlier in the hour; A lot of flooding out ahead of it. Severe weather as well, tornado damage yesterday across parts of Louisiana. The backside of this thing, that it's got some blizzard conditions and cold air sinking into the desert southwest. You felt that yesterday, you'll feel it again today. But it should be sunny.

A series of storms moving into the Pacific Northwest and warm weather continues across the East Coast. But smack dab in the middle is this area of low pressure. There you see the white and out ahead of it is where you're starting to see some of this moisture.

Some of it, heavy at times and even rolling into Memphis. Here's a live shot for you. Temperatures there are in the mid-60s. Memphis, one of the many cities along the Mississippi under a flash flood warning for the next several hours.

More rain on the way here. Obviously, looking fairly wet there. And the radar is just starting to get cranked and starting to slowly make its way east of the Mississippi River.

Flood watches, as you mentioned and some flood warnings: Houston all the way up to Chicago with this particular system. And it will be cool, 44 in Denver. So some of that snow will eventually melt, but right now it's 22. 60s across parts of D.C.

So let's talk Halloween, shall we?

I'm scared too. I mean, you've got to be scared. Not only because it's raining heavily -- it will in St. Louis -- but if you have that guy looming overhead, I mean, that's enough to get the kids running inside for sure.

Temps will be in the 60s across parts of the southwestern tier, 50s elsewhere. But those dicey spots will be the Pacific Northwest and the Appalachian Mountains, but kind of getting into the New York City area, but I think most of that will stay west of you until that time. And also, T.J.

HOLMES: Yes.

MARCIANO: I lost my concentration with that scary music.

HOLMES: That could to do it to you.

MARCIANO: I think this weekend is turn your clocks back.

HOLMES: You think it is? You want to confirm that for us?

MARCIANO: I was hoping you could -- it is, yes.

HOLMES: You are right.

MARCIANO: Somebody told me that. All right. Good.

We're a team, here, T.J.

HOLMES: You're going to have the whole country late or early or whatever it is this weekend. All right, Rob, we appreciate you as always.

The iPhone, everybody, a lot of you got them. There's now something that's called the guy phone, but I need to explain this and I guess the video will help do so.

Check this out. These are Halloween costumes. Two guys dress up as their favorite gadget, the iPhone.

Now, don't just think this is thrown together. This is serious here. They modified their 42-inch flat screen TVs, hooked them up to car batteries for power. Cost them about $1,000 a piece to do this. And again, this is heavy stuff, we're talking about a battery and you're carrying around a 42 inch flat screen TV, $1,000. Who says the economy is in a downturn? You've got 1,000 bucks to spend on your costume.

Well, brings us to our question. You know how we do it here on the blog. Asking the question, you know -- it's the day before Halloween, why not. A lot of stuff is going on. But a lot of you going to parties. You're going to be dressing up. You're going to be having a good weekend, and having a fun weekend.

So are you able to top that? Let us know what you are going to be for Halloween?

A lot of people saying the Bernie Madoffs are out there, a lot of Michael Jackson probably as well, but what are you going to be? Nobody seems to just be a goose, a ghost or a goblin anymore. You have to do something cute, essentially.

So please go to the blog, at CNN.com/newsroom/T.J. Also Twitter account, also Facebook. You know where to find us.

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HOLMES: Look at that group there; crews standing by to bring all of the news to you. Want to check in with our correspondents; want to begin with you, Poppy Harlow, in New York.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Good to see you, T.J. We're looking at gas prices up for 17 straight days now; a lot of folks scratching their head. They want to know what's going on. We're going to tell you and bring you the numbers at the top of the hour.

LISOVICZ: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where we're keeping track of your money. The White House says your stimulus dollars are hard at work and have saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. Well T.J. we'll check those numbers the next hour.

MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center where we received double confirmation that this is the weekend you turn your clocks back. That, plus a storm and it's Halloween; lots going on. Weather is coming up at the top of the hour -- T.J.

HOLMES: That's why Rob checks the facts over and over again. Not just one, two sources. We appreciate you as always, guys. We'll see you all here very soon.

We're also going to be looking at the high stakes of high school sports; the author of "Friday Night Lights" talking about the dangers that young athletes face.

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HOLMES: Take a look here, folks. This couple here in a bit of trouble. Somali pirates are holding them apparently; a British couple. They have moved the pair to a different location, the pirates have now.

It's Paul and Rachel Chandler. They were taken from their yacht last week and are being held off the Somali Coast. A pirate source we're getting says the Chandlers were moved to a hijacked Spanish ship after Somali elders refused the pirates' request to move them ashore. He says they are in good physical condition. Paul Chandler was actually able to detail his harrowing abduction during a phone interview with British television.

Our Phil Black has the story.

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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A floating mystery. The yacht (INAUDIBLE) under sail in the Indian Ocean with no one on board; it was found by a British warship. A tantalizing clue but there was no sign of its owners, Paul and Rachel Chandler, missing for almost a week.

The retired British couple were sailing between the Seychelles and Tanzania when their yacht's emergency beacon activated and then silence. In these dangerous waters, Somalian pirates were always the obvious suspect but that was only confirmed when CNN's British affiliate ITV made contact by phone with the couple's captors.

They were allowed to speak directly with Paul Chandler.

PAUL CHANDLER, KIDNAPPED: We were in the waters 60 miles from Victoria in the Seychelles. Three, four boats came alongside. I was off watch. I was asleep and men with guns came aboard.

Then we were forced to sail 6 days, sail and motor towards Somalia.

BLACK: It was a brief conversation but Chandler said he and his wife were now being held upon this Singapore flagged container ship hijacked by the same pirates two weeks ago. He said it is anchored just off the Somali Coast.

For the Chandlers' relatives in Britain, hearing this conversation was difficult but also encouraging.

STEPHEN COLLETT, RACHEL CHANDLER'S BROTHER: They're both very tough people. They've been used to long times traveling on the ocean. BLACK: Tough people but not wealthy. And security experts believe that's where the pirates have miscalculated. They are used to negotiating and getting millions of dollars in ransoms with big companies that own ocean-going cargo ships.

CRISPIAN CUSS, DEFENSE CONSULTANT: It depends on the value of the cargo, the value of the vessel and the number of crew. In this case though, two middle-aged British couple without a vessel, the pirates will be lucky to get anything at all.

BLACK: The British government has demanded the couple's freedom. Experts say it's likely a military operation. To rescue them will at least be considered but it is risky. The French assault on pirates in April resulted in the rescue of four hostages but another died.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

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