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Corporate Earnings From Wal-Mart Mixed Result; Ex-Cons at the Back of the Unemployment Line; Wisconsin Plant Rolls Out Massive Armored Truck; What Google Dashboard Knows About You

Aired November 12, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, checking stories happening right now. A new development in the case of a Colorado balloon boy believed to have flown away in that balloon last month in what was later admitted to be a hoax. An attorney for his parents say, the couple will plead guilty in court tomorrow. The attorney also says the prosecutor has recommended probation instead of jail time.

Japanese authorities have dropped all charges against a Tennessee father who tried to snatch his kids back from his Japanese ex-wife. Christopher Savoie was released from jail last month after he promised not to forcefully take his two children back to the United States. U.S. courts gave custody to Savoie but Japan does not recognize that decision.

The investigation goes on into the Fort Hood shooting spree with a focus on whether red flags about the suspect were missed. Friends are describing Major Nidal Hasan as a loner who may have become withdrawn after his mother's death in 2001.

One criminal profiler suggests the suspect fits the profile of a mass murderer rather than a terrorist.

This morning, we are following the president's agenda and two of his biggest challenges just a few minutes ago the president addressed the economy and the nation's highest unemployment rate in 26 years. This morning, a new approach.

The president is also grappling with the war strategy in Afghanistan. There is word that he is not pleased with any of the options on the table.

To begin this hour with the economy as we said just a few minutes ago president Obama announced a White House jobs forum.

He'll have it in December in order to fight the highest unemployment rate in 26 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In December, we'll be holding a forum at the White House on jobs and economic growth. We'll gather CEOs and small business owners, economists and financial experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again. It's important that we don't make any ill considered decisions even with the best of intentions particularly at a time when our resources are so limited. But it's just as important that we are open to any demonstrably good idea to supplement the steps we've already taken to put America back to work. That's what it this forum is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And just about an hour before the president spoke, new unemployment numbers came and the news appears to be a little bit encouraging. New claims for unemployment benefits have fallen to 502,000. That's better than expected and lowest level since January. The four-week average is now the lowest in nearly a year.

After a brutal year on Wall Street, the DOW is now at its highest point in 13 months and where might it be headed today? Let's take a peek for you. Live look at the big board shows DOW Jones industrial averages up by 21 points resting now at 10,300 or so. We'll continue to watch those numbers for you as always.

Rising unemployment, dropping tax revenue and huge budget gaps. They are adding up to huge problems for states from Arizona to Wisconsin and how state leaders deal with their fiscal crises could go across the nation. Christine Romans of CNN (Money team) is joining us now to take a closer look at this. Christine, some of these states really, really in poor shape.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're actually right, Heidi. It's tough choices and some impossible math for lawmakers and governors around the country. The PEW center just released its really exhaustive analysis of what's happening here to so many different states.

California we know is in a budget crisis and has been, but there are other states that are also facing some pretty daunting statistics. These are the ten most troubled states according to PEW. Following California, Arizona, Rhode Island, Michigan, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin. Tax revenue has collapsed in many of these places. I mean, simply the money they are taking in because of the rise in foreclosures, the huge increase in joblessness is not keeping up with what they have to pay to keep their states going.

You look at the huge budget gaps from some of these states, California is obviously the leader. Right behind there, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada, all of these numbers here show the difference between what's coming in and what's going out. So how is this going to play out? This is going to mean that for these ten states representing a third of the American population, a third of the economic output quite frankly, hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on the growth from these states.

Frankly, what this is going to mean is probably higher taxes. It's already happening in a lot of places. Reduced services, crowded classrooms, closing of parks maybe more expensive admission to parks and pools, and the things that we use every day. States are going to have to figure out how to come up with money. Stimulus money has helped. It's cushioned a bit, but what this study from PEW shows us is that things are far worse for many of these states than they were earlier at the beginning of the year. Heidi --

COLLINS: Yes, unfortunately. Hey, Christine, we haven't talked about this in advance so I don't want to put you on the spot, but President Obama just talking a minute ago. Wondering your feeling on that as far as this jobs forum that they're talking about having in December. When we look at all of the states that you mentioned job creation, certainly a topic that he clearly wants to have a serious discussion about.

ROMANS: And Heidi, he said something that I thought was really interesting. He said, we need to talk about ways to create jobs and get this economy moving again. One of the big concerns is that we're going to get the economy moving again but it's going to come without jobs and that's a real fear from people. A fear among labor economists who think that companies might expand and add jobs overseas and small businesses are going to wait a very long time before they're going to be able to add any workers, but there will not be a recovery without small business.

It's really a complicated problem talking about it is important, but we haven't seen much movement yet. Even when we talk about that so-called good news in the unemployment claims, that's still half a million people every week filing for the first time for a jobless check. It's incredible.

COLLINS: Yes, sure is, it's a big number. All right, Christine, just wanted your thought on that. Sure do appreciate it.

Meanwhile, President Obama is tabling any decision about troop levels in Afghanistan. Instructing his war council to give revisions on four options under consideration. Besides his national security team, the president is receiving advice from the US Ambassador in Kabul. Media reports say, Karl Ikenberry has reservations about a troop buildup. CNN Chris Lawrence is joining us live from Kabul with a little bit more on this.

Chris, good morning to you. What are Ambassador Ikenberry and his staff saying about these reports that are out there?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Of all the (INAUDIBLE), the staff here got caught by surprise by these reports. Ambassador Ikenberry were out at an event today and very much kept the press separated. Did not want him answering questions about this alleged memos. They would not confirm the nature of the memos that that was his recommendation.

They did say of course, there are correspondents between the ambassador and the president, but a senior state department official did tell me that there is a lot of concern about whether President Karzai can be a reliable partner. He said some of the statements that he's made recently, you know, very indifferent to the UN and condemning western governance may raise some alarms, I think among some diplomatic officials about, you know, whether President Karzai was going to be a reliable partner going forward.

COLLINS: Yes, Chris, being one of our Pentagon correspondents, I mean obviously, you cover the military. There seemed to some concern that sending in more troops is going to possibly give Afghans a lot of leeway from taking responsibility for their own security. Update us on how ready the Afghan forces are in securing their own country.

LAWRENCE: Well, that depends on how you define the Afghan forces and it's a lot of different components. If you look at the Afghan National Army, which is the first unit that NATO really funded and tried to buildup, they look much more accomplished.

From everything I've seen here, they seemed well funded. They seem organized. They seem fairly capable. On the other hand, if you look at the Afghan police and the Afghan border police, they don't have the funds and they don't seem as organized. You've got people who show up to one shift and don't show up again. So very, very big difference between these forces here in Afghanistan.

COLLINS: Yes, understood. All right, Chris Lawrence, Pentagon Correspondent coming to us from Kabul this morning. Thank you, Chris.

We want to know what you think the president's military strategy should be in Afghanistan. We know you aren't military experts, but curious of your thoughts anyway. It's been going on for eight years and want your comments. Go ahead and send them to us, ccn.com/heidi and we'll share them during the show today.

President Obama leaving this morning on his eight-day trip to Asia. En route he'll stop in Alaska to speak with troops at Elmendorf Air Force base and from there he's going to fly to Tokyo for a meeting with Japan's new prime minister. They are expected to agree on a need to resume six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.

The president then will travel to Singapore for the APEC summit. Twenty-one nations make up the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Next stop, Shanghai. The first of two Chinese cities on the president's trip. He will also go to Beijing, have trade talks with the Chinese President and visit the Great Wall. Seoul is the last stop of the eight-day trip. The president will meet with South Korean counterpart and give a speech to US troops at an air base there.

Now, thinking of Capitol Hill, a Democratic source tells CNN, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering raising taxes on the wealthy to help pay for health care reform. Here's what we know. The source says, Reid is evaluating a proposal to increase the medicare payroll tax for people with income above $250,000 a year. Reid is trying to blend two bills that have cleared committees to come up with a Senate bill. He's expected to introduce whatever bill emerges to the full Senate before Thanksgiving.

The TEA Party Express makes its last stop in Orlando today. A rally is happening there at 6:00 tonight. The national bus tour has traveled to 36 cities with organizers calling for an end to what they call out of control spending and saying they don't government run health care. The remnants of tropical storm Ida are now drenching much of the Atlantic seaboard. Flood warnings and watches are out from North Carolina to Long Island. Virginia's governor has declared a state of emergency. The officials in Virginia Beach are most worried about inland waterways and this afternoon's high tide.

We've been talking about it with Rob Marciano. He joins us once again. Unbelievable amounts of rain. We keep getting these pictures in.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the pictures are amazing. A lot of those coming with a storm surge and just as you were coming into me a new flood warning just came into central North Carolina for flash flood warning for Randolph, Davidson, Gilford and (inaudible) counties there.

A lot of heavy rain on the radar scope and a lot of wind and waves pushing more in the way of rain across parts of the Carolinas and Inland. Here's the radar scope with area of low pressure right about there, area of high pressure there. The problem with this is that we get the difference in pressure and that really gets the winds cranking so we've got this three-fold problem. Rain, wind, and waves and the combination of the wind and waves is really producing a storm surge that I think or I fear will be historic.

I checked this morning at Chesapeake Bay bridge, they were the third highest tide ever and I think this afternoon's high tide will be worse than that. They've got about 30,000 people in North Carolina and Virginia that are without power from this storm. A number of bridges and roadways and tunnels are shut down especially in Norfolk and this is just getting going as it slowly makes its way up towards east.

All right, I think we've got a tower cam somewhere in the storm zone. Let's take a look at it. Thanks to our affiliate out there, Wavy. The camera certainly waving around in that breeze. Temperatures are pretty chilly, in the 40s and 50s in spots and wind is the other issue.

Check out some of these numbers as far as wind. Virginia Beach seeing winds 45, 50 miles an hour. You go up the coastline into Jersey and it's a little bit less, but Atlantic City seeing 41-mile- an-hour winds at this hour. So, you get an idea of how potent this storm is. Remnants of Ida turning into (inaudible) easter. Far worse effects right now than when Ida came onshore as a tropical storm just a couple of days ago.

COLLINS: Yes, no doubt. All right, Rob, we'll check back with you later on. Thanks.

Fort Hood, Texas, and new descriptions of the accused gunman before the rampage. The warning signs appear more ominous.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

The shooting rampage at Fort Hood. A witness describes the chaos and terror when the shooter opened fire. Here's the bone chilling account from one soldier who was wounded in the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard the shooter continue to move in the opposite side of the building as he continued to fire. Very, very quick reloader on that weapon. He's very swift. Very tactical with what he was doing. As he moved, me and two others soldiers in the cubicle, I wish I could remember their names, decided it was time for us to get out of that building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Burnette said as he crawled to the exit, the gunman began hunting him. He was shot and had nearly bled to death by the time he reached the hospital. Burnette has had two surgeries on his arm and leg, and faces even more.

Now, let's look at the suspected gunman and the growing number of concerns that he raised among colleagues. Did the system fail to recognize a troubled man and a possible threat to others? There's a growing chorus demanding answers. CNN's Elaine Quijano takes a closer look.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shooting, lawmakers including Senator John McCain are asking, did government officials fail to raise red flags about Major Nidal Hasan?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: One thing is pretty obvious and that is that there were signs that this individual had some very disturbing behavior patterns which should have been alerted to the proper authorities and action should have been taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Top officials say US terrorism investigators monitored up to 20 communications between Hasan and the Radical Imam (inaudible) Alaki overseas. A joint terrorism task force that had defense department representation ultimately decided those contacts were consistent with research Hasan was conducting in his position as psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

A federal law enforcement official tells CNN the decision not to pursue further investigation was made by one of the defense officials. Still, those communications should have triggered a further look by the military says CNN National Security contributor, Fran Townsend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Even if the FBI made the correct decision in the joint terrorism task force not to pursue it as a criminal matter, the next question becomes what did the military do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: A senior defense official says the military never knew about the Hasan contacts. Telling CNN that under the ground rules for the joint terrorism task force, no member of the task force may unilaterally go back to their agency and share the information gathered by the task force.

There are dozens of joint terrorism task forces spread throughout the country. They include members from a host of government agencies including the department of homeland security, the defense department, and US immigration and customs enforcement. HLN Law Enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks sat on one of those task forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I find it hard to believe that they would just say, okay, we're not going to share any of this information with the military. That's why you have a person from the military from different military branches on the task force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: A former counterterrorism official tells CNN the information about Hasan's contacts with the radical imam should have been shared with the military unless there was a specific FBI instruction not to. Elaine Quijano, CNN, The Pentagon.

COLLINS: Say you're sick or injured, and you go to the hospital to make things right instead staffers perform the wrong procedure and mess things up. Tips on how to keep this from happening to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Checking our top stories now, former heavy weight boxing champ, Mike Tyson has been released from a Los Angeles police station. He was booked yesterday on suspicion of battery after he allegedly punched a photographer who was following him at LAX airport. (Inaudible) was treated for a cut to his forehead. Police say both men want to press charges for misdemeanor battery.

In Arkansas, a Little Rock jury weighs the death penalty or life in prison without parole in the murder of a TV anchorwoman. Yesterday, the jury found Curtis Vance guilty in the beating death of KATV host, Anne Presley. Presley was attacked last year in her home. Vance was also convicted of rape and burglary. It took the jury only about two hours to reach that verdict.

A new way of crunching the numbers in the swine flu pandemic. Federal health officials now estimats 4,000 or more Americans have likely died from H1N1. That's about four times the estimate they've been previously using. Until now, the CDC has put the death count at more than 1,000. The higher number includes death caused by complications related to swine flu like pneumonia. Imagine going to the hospital for one procedure and getting treatment meant for someone else. It's a scenario that happens more often than you think. The consequences can be devastating. In this week's "Empowered Patient Segment," Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen is taking a look at this troubling issue.

We've talked about it a lot. We're talking about medical error here overall. This happens 40 times a week? There was a study done.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, 40 times a week that's according to the joint commission which is the group that accredits hospitals. They say, there 40 surgeries a week in the United States that are done on the wrong patient. That are done on the wrong side like operating on the left knee instead of the right or that are done completely on the wrong site. It's a pretty (inaudible) numbers.

COLLINS: And I know that you talked to someone who went through a terrible mix-up like this.

COHEN: That's right, there's a woman named, Carey Hagara, we'll going to see pictures of her in a minute. She was 13 weeks pregnant so about three months pregnant and she started bleeding. She was concerned that she was having a miscarriage. So, she went to the emergency room which seemed like the prudent thing to do and a nurse poked her head and said Carey, and she said, yes, and she said, come with me. She then led her to a room where she gave her a CAT scan on her abdomen.

What had happened -- I wish you could see Heidi's face right now. What happened was that there was another Carey in the hospital who really did need a CAT scan to her abdomen and so they confused the two Careys.

COLLINS: They didn't even ask the last name?

COHEN: No, they just said Carey and she said, yes, and they said we're giving you a CAT scan on your abdomen and she said, really I need that? And they said, yes, you do. It says right her in the chart.

COLLINS: Is that okay for the baby to have a CAT scan?

COHEN: Well, it's unknown what the effects is going to be on the baby. The baby is now 15 months old and he's showing possibly some signs of developmental problems. The pediatrician thinks that perhaps his head is not growing at the right rate.

His speaking and walking hasn't happened as quickly as you might think. It's unclear if that's from the radiation or not, but still you can imagine this family is quite worried. We contacted the hospital. They said they couldn't comment on this because she has hired a lawyer. She's not filed a lawsuit but she has hired a lawyer.

COLLINS: So, how do you keep things like this from happening to you? I mean, there are quite a few things you can do. One of them I know is don't be shy. Keep asking the questions.

COHEN: Absolutely and that's exactly what Carey Hagara says. She say, I was too shy. I should have put my foot down. I should have said abdominal scan really? Does that make sense? I mean, she said, I wish made more of a fuss, but she was kind of embarrassed. She thought, well they know what they're doing.

So, that's the first rule is don't be shy. Let's talk about a couple of other rules. A couple other things you can do. First of all, say your name, your date of birth and the procedure you're having over and over again to everyone who enters your room. My name is Elizabeth Cohen. I was born January 1st, 1985, not my real birth date, and I'm here for an appendectomy. I have done that when I brought my children to the hospital. I say it over and over again.

I want to make sure they have the right chart in their hands. Also, ask the staff to check your ID bracelet. They're supposed to every time they give you a medicine or give you a CAT scan or whatever. They're suppose to check the bracelet. Make sure they do that because that doesn't always happen.

Also, if you're having surgery, mark that site with the surgeon there. Put yes on the right knee or whatever they want you to do. Do it with the surgeon there. If you'll do it just with the nurse there, well that nurse isn't going into the OR with you. Do it with the surgeon. He or she is the one who's actually slice you, they should see you make that mark.

COLLIN: Yes, no question. There are a lot of tips like this that we're sharing with people. We talked about a few of them last time around too. Where can they go?

COHEN: You can go to cnnhealth.com and you can see my story about Carey Hagara. Again, ccnhealth.com, how to avoid hospital mistakes. So, this is interesting to me, when I used to call hospitals, Heide and ask them these questions, they would be, like, everything is fine. You know what we want patients to engage with us because we know there are problems.

COLLINS: Yes, I want to talk to you about an updated (inaudible) medicine report too. There was one report that came out several years ago...

COHEN: 1999, yes.

COLLINS: Yes, and the number was huge, but clearly there was an update and I would love to know it.

We'll talk about that some time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: We have an update on the nation's housing crisis and encouraging signs that fewer Americans are on the brink of losing their homes. According to the online real estate company, RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings fell 3 percent in October. That's the third straight month of declines. The bad news, though, foreclosure filings are up 19 percent from one year ago.

The foreclosure crisis is one of the reasons that so many Americans have tightened their purse strings. But if there's one place that people have been spending money, it's Wal-Mart. But even the world's biggest retailer seems to be scuffling a bit. Alison Kostic is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with more details. Good morning to you, Allison.

ALISON KOSTIC, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. We got corporate earnings from Wal-Mart, and we kind of got a mixed result here. On one hand, we heard from Wal-Mart that profit edged higher. That was mostly because of cost cutting and inventory controls. But on the other hand, we also learned that sales dipped not by much, but less than half a percent.

But the thing that everybody could be focusing on at this point is that it's the second quarter in a row that there's been a decline in sales. This is a kind big deal because investors want to see that companies are bringing in money, that people are spending money and that these companies aren't just meeting their bottom line by cutting costs and controlling inventory.

Wal-Mart does admit, however, it is a difficult spending environment. Think about it. Wal-Mart sells those necessities, and people are really just focusing in on those necessities at this point. Wal-Mart also looking to the future, looking at the fourth quarter, saying that it expects its bottom line to come in flat. And that, of courrse, includes the all-important holiday sales season. Not great news because many retailers make half of their annual sales just during the holiday shopping season.

COLLINS: Yes. Sure. Wal-Mart is one of the few winners this recession because we're all doing this bargain-hunting, obviously. What does it mean -- the sales decline -- for other retailers then?

KOSTIC: Wal-Mart -- Wall Street, rather -- looks to Wal-Mart to get a good indicator on how the holiday shopping season is going to go as far as sales go.

And here's why Wall Street focuses in on Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the world. It brought in $400 billion in sales last year. It sells those necessities, like I said earlier, like food and health care items, those things that people really need. People aren't spending on those extras right now.

The big worry is that if people aren't spending on those necessities, where are they spending money? The issue, of course, is that spending patterns are really dictated by employment. If people feel secure in their jobs and if people are employed in the first place, they'll spend, right?

Today we actually got some news of improvement. We learned that initial jobless claims fell more than expected. That's really good news. But the number you have to look at in the big picture is still above a half million, and that's likely to keep consumer spending tight, especially during that crucial holiday shopping season.

Let's see how numbers are reacting right now. Let's go to the Big Board. The Dow right now down a fraction. Same with NASDAQ. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, Alison. We'll keep watching those numbers. Thank you.

Other numbers to watch, too. Despite better-than- expected jobless numbers, unemployment still tops 10 percent. Tough time for anybody to find a job. Now imagine what it's like for an ex- con. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York this morning. How tough is it for former prisoners to go out there and get work?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: We can't even imagine it, Heidi. Ex-cons at the back of the line, and look at the unemployment lines these days. It's abysmal. A lot of employers, they take a look at the rap sheet and say, we're not looking further. You have been in prison. Forget it.

But the CNNmoney team, one of our producers, Ian (INAUDIBLE) and Aaron Smith (ph) did some great reporting. They hit the streets with an ex-con here in Harlem who's out of prison after serving 32 months for sale of a firearm. Greg Headly now has a temporary job. He makes 40 bucks a day. He helped get that from a nonprofit organization called the Center for Employment Opportunities. They spent the morning with him. Take a look at what they found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREGORY HEADLY, CONVICT RETURNING TO WORKFORCE: My name is Greg Headly. I just came home from upstate New York from serving a prison sentence of two to four. This is how I get my life back on track.

I'm on my way to work. Every day I wake up at 5:30. I'm out the door by 6:00, you know? So starts my day.

Oh, my biggest fear -- is being asked that question, what crime did you commit? How can you sugarcoat criminal sale of a firearm?

You know, $40 a day hardly seems like enough but, you know what? I'll take working, making minimum wage any day now as opposed to prison or death.

It's almost 9:00 a.m. A little rough commute, whatever. I'm at my work site now. Basically, anything that's going to pay the bills right now, you know, help me get on my feet. So, right now I'm the trash man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: He may be a trash man, but he wants to do bigger things. Eventually, Heidi, he wants to go to college and he wants to work at the nonprofit that helped put him in that job. These are folks we don't think about a lot, but they're a big party of the society, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, definitely. So many people looking for work who haven't been to prison in the past. Caring about ex-cons when they too are out of work seems like it would be pretty hard for some people.

HARLOW: Yes. I mean, why should we care? What did they do to contribute to society? I wouldn't blame a lot of folks for thinking about that. But you have hundreds of thousands of prisoners released every year. There's a big temptation, especially in a recession, to return to crime and make more money, but overall that hurts society as a whole. And what Greg Headly told us is he used to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in his criminal path, and now he's making 40 bucks a day.

There are no numbers that track unemployment rates among ex-cons, but there was an independent study done in New York, and what it found that 60 percent of former prison workers were still -- prisoners, rather -- were still out of work a year, Heidi, after they were released. Therefore, they're not contributing to society in that meaningful way. The temptation to fall back into crime is larger.

I want people to check out this story if they can. Some amazing reporting by our team. Now, I have to say, you can also follow us on Twitter. It's twitter.com/CNNmoney. A great video. More of what we showed you on here, and a long report about Greg and his struggles and what he's doing now. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Poppy, very good. Thank you.

Still no decision on troop levels in Afghanistan. Here's what we know on the story. President Obama asked his war council yesterday to give him revisions on four options being considered. In Kabul, Afghan president Hamid Karzai's office contacted the U.S. ambassador there about a reported cable he sent to the president. Media reports say Karl Eikenberry told the president about his reservations on a troop buildup. Eikenberry has previously expressed concern about corruption in the Afghan government.

All right. We've been wanting to know a little bit more about what you thought about the president's strategy in Afghanistan, when the decision should be made, how it should be made and perhaps even a little about maybe what that decision should be.

Let's head over here. We'll take some of these comments for you coming into us again. CNN.com/heidi is the address.

This is from Private Aaron. "As a DEP recruit, about to head to basic training, I hope that President Obama agrees to send more troops over."

And also this one coming in from Private Aaron. "It not only means that we will be going over, but that several of the troops there will get to come home."

Also this one from Kevin Lefter (ph). He says this, "Obama is absolutely doing the right thing in taking considerable time to weigh options. He also writes this: "Unfortunately, saving face may be the real issue as he pronounced Afghanistan as a war on necessity and probably realizes that winning in Afghanistan is an impossibility."

And finally, this one from Brad. He says, "I personally think that we should get out of Afghanistan. We are basically looking at another war we can't win, just like Vietnam. People are dying for no reason. Plus, we don't truly know who we are fighting against."

Once again, always appreciate your comments. CNN.com/heidi is the address. And thanks for weighing in.

Saving the lives of troops in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is touring an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, plant that's rolling out a new vehicle designed to handle rugged terrain and roadside bombs. CNN's Barbara Starr went to the plant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle, the MATV. A mouthful of words for this massive new armored truck with a life-saving mission.

STARR (on camera): This both lets you go off-road and into remote areas and be more survivable against IEDs?

KEN JUERGENS, SENIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR, OSHKOSH DEFENSE: Exactly. That's what this is designed for.

STARR (voice-over): Improvised roadside explosives -- IEDs -- are now the number one killer of US troops in Afghanistan.

We came to Oshkosh Defense who builds the trucks to see how the MATV can go off-road, charging through rough terrain, away from where bombs may be lying in wait. When a bomb hits this truck, the troops are protected. Unlike other armored vehicles, on the MATV, only the passenger cab is armored.

JUERGENS: We're finding that the tires blow away, the engine compartment blows away, but everything here in the crew capsule is protected.

STARR (on camera): This is pretty light weight.

JUERGENS: Right. And during a blast you don't want to have a lot of heavy objects that's keeping the weight down. You want this stuff to fly away. So during an explosion, this stuff all goes away.

STARR (voice-over): The MATV is still massive, 6 feet wide, 12 feet tall. The tires alone have a four-foot diameter, but lightweight. Unlike its 40,000-pound predecessor, this is only 25,000 pounds. So it can maneuver steep, rough terrain.

Here on the shop floor at Oshkosh Defense, an economic boon for the company and its workers.

(on camera): The Pentagon orders for 5,200 MATVs for Afghanistan has resulted in more than 1,000 additional jobs here. This shop floor now runs 20 hours a day.

(voice-over): 56-year-old Ron Shirkey was laid off from another job after 15 years on the assembly line.

RON SHIRKEY, OSHKOSH DEFENSE EMPLOYEE: I was really depressed. I didn't know what I was going to do.

STARR: And then he joined the MATV assembly line at Oshkosh.

SHIRKEY: If I can build those and help keep our -- the people that are protecting us safer with these vehicles, that would be very motivating job. And it has turned out to be just that.

STARR (on camera): Troops in Afghanistan are already being trained on how to operate these vehicles. They will start using them on combat missions in the coming weeks.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: From Missouri, horrific allegations involving sex crimes against children by five adults, all from one family. Today, authorities hunt for clues and a possible body.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Here's a look at top stories making news just about an hour ago. President Obama announced he'll host a jobs forum next month at the White House. The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 26-year high. The jobs forum will focus on creating jobs, and it will include representatives from business, organized labor, academia and other sectors.

Investigators have identified the remains from a suspected serial killer's home in Ohio. Police in Cleveland say the latest identified victim is a 25-year-old woman missing since August of 2008. Yesterday, police searched the house next door to the home of Anthony Sowell for more bodies. The remains of 11 women were found at Sowell's home. One victim remains unidentified. Sowell is charged with five counts of murder.

Fake marriages. Raping children. And bestiality. Some of the horrible charges facing five members of one Missouri family. Authorities are digging again on property in Lexington, Missouri, about 30 miles east of St. Louis. It was once owned by two of the suspects. Michael (INAUDIBLE) with affiliate KMBC has more on what they hope to find. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children were told at a very young age that if they had bad things happen to them or bad memories to write them down and put them in a jar and bury them, and those bad memories would go away. Obviously, they didn't.

MICHAEL MAHONE (PH), KMBC-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): That's why heavy equipment was chewing up this property near Bates City, which was once owned by Burrell Edward Mohler Sr. and then his son, Junior. The charges of repeated rape of the children are included in a graphic probable cause statement from the sheriff's department. It's like a spider web, one cop said, how Burrell Mohler Sr. and his four sons raped one son's children, boys and girls, for years. Sometimes, an animal or objects were used. A daughter cited in the statement may be the source for this story about those "bad dream jars."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Makes the story more believable and makes the victim's statement more believable.

MAHONE: But the sheriff says they haven't found them yet. The other unexpected reason for the earth moving is that investigators fear that the Mohler probably may hide another gruesome fact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There have been indications that an individual was killed.

MAHONE: It's not known how long the digging at the Mohler property near Bates City will continue. (INAUDIBLE) says, "We have 20 years in the dirt. It's going to be hard to find."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The father and two of his sons are lay ministers with the Community of Christ Church. A spokeswoman for the church says the men are not in leadership roles or involved with the youth of the church.

Google keeps information about millions of users, and now you can find out what it knows about you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida are drenching much of the Atlantic seaboard.

First, a view of where the storm has been. You're looking at water-logged Atlanta. The area is still trying to recover from historic flooding back in September. Flood warnings and watches now stretch from North Carolina to Long Island. Virginia's governor, in fact, has declared a state of emergency. Officials in Virginia Beach are most worried about inland waterways and this afternoon's high tide.

Rob Marciano has been watching all of it and is here with an update now. Things changing at all or getting better by any chance?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Very good. Rob, thank you.

Google and your privacy. The Internet giant collects a lot of information from users, as I'm sure you know. That has some privacy advocates a little bit upset. Now, Google introduced a new tool showing you what it knows about you. Our Josh Levs is here to tell us all about it. Hi, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Interesting one. It's called Google Dashboard.

Here's the basic idea. When people sign in to Google, and that's what you have to do, you have to sign in in order for them to have this information, Google then tracks a lot of what you do. If you use Gmail, for example, the Google email service, it keeps record. Also, Google owns YouTube, and many people sign into that. Google can then keep records of where you go on YouTube. Google Dashboard shows you what records Google has kept.

I don't personally sign into Google. But check this out. At our story here, CNN.com, we carry a story from a reporter with ITN who does sign into Google. Check out what he found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN COHEN, REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) like a diary. It charts me booking holidays, finding builders to repair my house and even spraining my ankle. My whole online and offline life is being cataloged, including YouTube searches, so if I had a particular liking of something really quite embarrassing, like the Eurovision Song Contest (ph), there it is all there in black and white.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Haha! He's being playful. Now, part of what Dashboard does is let you erase some things. Here's a video from Google's official blog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For example, if you click on manage chat history, you can go directly to our personal settings page for chat history and change the option from save chat history to never save chat history. All from one central location.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So, Dashboard lets you get rid of some information on there. Google says part of the goal here is to stop the theory about what Google knows and doesn't know about you, to provide transparency. But there are some privacy advocates who say this is still this is not enough. For example, one group called Consumer Watchdog put out this statement saying, "If Google really wanted to give users control of their privacy, it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and advertisers in crucial areas like search data and online behavior." And you can see the statement right there.

Heidi, that gets at some of these issues surrounding Google and privacy. They offer, for example, interest-based ads. You can see ads based on what you search. Google says Dashboard is its latest effort to give people control over what information gets stored, and you can read more.

Let's show it from the graphic and end on that. We have a lot more for you. You can weigh in. CNN.com/josh. Also Facebook and Twitter. Josh LevsCNN, and we're curious to hear from you if this is working for you.

COLLINS: OK. Josh, we sure do appreciate that. I'm never logging on to anything ever again.

LEVS: Oh, boy!

COLLINS: All right, Josh. Thanks so much.

It's Thursday. You know what that means. A new set of questions on the CNN Challenge. All you have to do is go to CNNchallenge.com and start playing. Are you ready for your first question? All right.

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. We talked about it a lot here in the CNN NEWSROOM. When was it built, though? Was it '45, '53, '61 and '63? We'll be back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Every Thursday, a CNN Challenge comes out with its new questions for the week. Just before the break, we showed you an example. Here is one more time. "The week marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When was the wall built? Was it '45, '53, '61 or '63?"

OK. Here's the answer. Ready? 1961.

Run, do not walk to your computer. Go to CNNchallenge.com and take this week's full quiz.

It was a big night for country music singer Taylor Swift.

(SINGING)

COLLINS: Swift was named Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. She also won Best Female Vocalist, Album of the Year and Video of the Year. That's a whole lot of hardware and an exciting night for a 19-year-old. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, CMA ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR: I'll never forget this moment, because in this moment, everything that I have ever wanted has just happened to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Darius Rucker was named best new artist. It's only the second time an African-American has won a major individual award.

I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.