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Southern California Wildfire; Deadly Attacks in Afghanistan; Caution Ahead for the Markets; Autism: A Growing Trend

Aired October 05, 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: Checking top stories now.

Five people are dead, after a suicide bomber hit a World Food Programme office in Pakistan's capital. Pakistani authorities say the bomber was dressed in a paramilitary uniform. We'll have more on this story coming up at top of the hour.

The death toll from devastating floods in southern India has risen to at least 271. About a million other people have been forced from their homes. The military has been able to rescue more than 1,300 people and has been dropping food packets in the affected regions.

And injured survivors off a boating accident off Long Island have been airlifted to hospitals. Authorities say a powerboat was navigating a channel with boggy salt marshes and ran aground. Three people, including the captain, were killed. Four others are seriously hurt.

President Obama putting the pressure on lawmakers today with a new push to complete health care reform this year. CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian is joining us now for more.

So Dan, foreign policy and also the Olympics taking a fair amount of the president's attention lately but today he is talking about domestic policy. What's going to happen at this event?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, health care reform again. You know, this has always been this administration's top priority. While the focus of the last week was overseas on Afghanistan, again, this administration wants to highlight health care reform and the president surrounding himself by 150 doctors from across the country.

I'm told by a White House aide not to expect any major health care policy initiatives at this event, but this is simply a chance for the president to talk about a lot of the issues that are out there, including a lot of the false information that has been circulated across the country. The president essentially wants to set the record straight.

But this aide also telling me that the president wants to surround himself with these doctors who, a, are on the front lines of the health care battle each day. Many of them seeing in their emergency rooms, people coming in who don't have insurance, but also they are the ones who know best about the inefficiency what they see as inefficiency of the system.

So the president wants to highlight those issues. But also this is a way for the White House to counter a lot of sort of the loud, negative voices who on the one hand might think that health care reform is necessary, but don't think that the government, big government, is the answer. Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, in fact, we know the Senate Finance committee is expected to vote this week on its version of health care reform. So the president must be directing some of his remarks to those lawmakers.

LOTHIAN: Well, in part, no doubt. You know, they do want those on Capitol Hill to hear the message, but a White House aide telling me that this event is not directed at Capitol Hill, at lawmakers but really a chance to clear things up with the American people and it's aimed not only at those who don't have health insurance but also those who do have health insurance but are concerned about a pre- existing condition or about the high cost of health care. Those are the kinds of people that the president wants to get the attention to today.

COLLINS: Yes. All right. Dan Lothian, in front of the White House this morning. Thank you, Dan.

And a reminder, CNN does have live coverage of the president's remarks on health care reform that's just over an hour from now.

To Southern California now. Strong winds have pushed a wildfire across the San Bernardino mountains. 7,500 acres have burned along with three homes. Hundreds more though are considered in danger. Local officials have ordered at least 4,000 residents to evacuate from the Wrightwood area. No injuries have been reported. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has freed up state resources to battle the fire by declaring a state of emergency for San Bernardino County.

So will today's weather help or hurt those firefighters in southern California? CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano joining us now to talk a little bit more about that. Hey there, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Heidi. I think it's going to help - that's the good news, for how long is the other question. Because things may get a little more interesting as we head towards Wednesday. The storm that gave kind of the backside winds yesterday is now moving further to the east. What we're strong north and for California, southern California northeast winds are beginning to slacken just a little bit today. So that's the good news for these folks.

As far as what kind of temperatures we're looking at today, much, much cooler with this - actually, in general, a very cold air mass that's been moving over the area. 60s, 50s along the coast there in San Diego. Right now it's about 45 degrees in Pasadena. So that's pretty chilly certainly for this time of year. And they will take that. As we get towards Wednesday, things may very well turn offshore again. We've got that storm that moves off to the east, another area of high pressure that builds into the west. As you know, Heidi, this is the time of year when Santa Ana winds kind of come and go almost on a daily basis. And they may be back on Wednesday. So get a handle on that fire quickly, hopefully.

COLLINS: Yes. No kidding. All right. We'll watch that closely. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COLLINS: Turning to a developing story that we've been following overseas this morning, a suicide bomber strikes a World Food Program office in Pakistan. At least five people are dead. The attack happened at the Islamabad office of the agency. Pakistani officials say the attacker was wearing the uniform of a paramilitary officer and asked to guard if he could go inside to use the bathroom. Police said the attacker detonated his explosives in the building's lobby. No one has yet claimed responsibility. Militants have carried out numerous suicide attacks in Pakistan over the last couple of years.

In southern Afghanistan, eight Americans are dead in one of the bloodiest battles of the year. The insurgents targeted two remote outposts in Nuristan province in a weekend of deadly violence.

The rising U.S. death toll adds even more urgency now to Washington's debate over Afghanistan. Should more American troops be dispatched to the war zone. Let's get details now from Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, the timing of all of this certainly, certainly, in the forefront.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. You know, there will be more meetings at the White House this week with the national security team about what to do in Afghanistan. But this firefight over the weekend underscores how tough it is for the U.S. troops out there.

Sunday, eight U.S. troops killed in action in Nuristan province. By all accounts what happened was a large number of militants on high ground, if you will, on mountain ridge lines, opened up with heavy machine gunfire, mortars, rockets, firing down on the U.S. troops in this valley. Eight killed, some 25 U.S. troops were wounded. And what it underscore is that these remote combat outposts, of course, very tough to defend. There aren't enough troops out there.

General McChrystal already making that point. And it was very significant at this - in this firefight which lasted for some 12 hours. We are now told that the militants actually did breach the outer security perimeter of the U.S. base. They didn't overrun the base, we are told but they did breach the outer security perimeter.

So all of this coming, as you say, at a time when the White House and the top security team is sitting down trying to figure out what to do next in Afghanistan. Everyone's staking out their positions. General McChrystal, clearly in the camp of wanting to see more troops in the region. The White House team clearly more cautious about it all -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, understood. Before I let you go, Barbara, maybe just talk a little bit more, if you could. I know you've been there several times, about these remote combat outposts and sort of how they're set up.

STARR: Well, many of CNN's correspondents and reporters obviously have been to these places. I was at one a couple of months ago, right on the Pakistani border, about a 7,000-foot mountain peak. We landed by helicopter and when we got out, there were about 40 U.S. troops sitting on top of this mountain. They had been there for many weeks. This was their remote combat post. Their only real security perimeter is concertina wire and some of those barriers you see filled with rocks or concrete or sand. Very easy for militants to fire upon these areas.

You can't possibly put enough troops there to protect them and that's one of the reasons General McChrystal is now looking at pulling U.S. troops back from these outposts. If you can't put enough troops there to protect them and there isn't a significant civilian population there - his thinking now is pull back, focus your limited number of troops where they're going to do the most good -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. All right. Well, that's certainly a lot to talk about with the strategy of all of it. Sure do appreciate it. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, thank you.

Now we are talking about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan on our blog today. We want to hear from you. President Obama oversees a review of the military strategy in Afghanistan, do the troops have time to wait for reinforcement? Just go to my blog at CNN.com/heidi, let me know what you think and we'll share some of those responses later on.

Meanwhile, prosecutors will lay out their case today against a 19-year-old from Jordan, accused in a Dallas bomb plot. A probably cause hearing being held for Hosam Smadi. Authorities say he drove a truck he thought had a live bomb in it, parked it in a garage under a 60-storey office billing and dialed a cell phone, intending to set off the blast. Smadi is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

We are checking with the big board in looking like today and what it could look like in the coming days. Right now, up 12 points or so. We'll explain a warning about stocks and what you should be doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking the big board real quickly right now, to the positive by about 10 or 11 points. You see the Dow Jones industrial average resting at about 9,497. But the Dow had dropped 300 points over the last two weeks after some pretty robust months. So what's next?

Our Christine Romans is joining us now from New York with a warning, caution ahead. That's why you're wearing red, right? CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORREPONDENT: Yes and you're wearing green. So I guess we cancel each other out, right? Talking about the yellow caution color that's been flashing the last couple of weeks in the Dow, you know, it's down some 300 points, over the past couple of weeks after seven straight months of advances. I mean, it's been a powerful monster rally. But you've got people, Heidi, starting to ask some serious questions about whether the market got ahead of itself, given those caution signs that have been flashing.

What are they? The jobless rate remains uncomfortably high. You heard Alan Greenspan say it will likely top 10 percent. Regional banks are still failing. I think we're up to 96. We had a handful of regional banks that fell and failed again over the weekend. The big banks are reeling in the credit. And what that means is that businesses that used to rely on borrowed money to invest and to grow and to buy new factories and hire new people, they can't get that credit quite as easily as before under the same terms.

And so they're not growing the way that they used to. And so there's this new normal out there that people are trying to gauge what it's going to look like. A couple of things about what you should be doing right now. If you are - I asked a couple of experts, Terry Savage. She's a personal finance expert. Diane Swank who is a noted economist, what should you do right now?

If you have your job, Terry Savage says you need to be investing in your 401(k), even if you're concerned about the future, your concern about things around you, especially if there's a company match, keep doing that, keep investing in the 529. You got to really think of the long term and try to be making investments for your future right now. You might look back someday and think that it was a great opportunity.

If you don't have your job, and Diane Swank, the economist, said you need to try to keep your job here, even if it means taking some concessions or really trying or even taking a pay cut. If you don't have your job, look for unemployment benefits to be extended again. The Senate is going to take this up, Heidi. And we've been talking about it. They haven't done it quite yet, but there are a couple of different drafts of a bill out there. They're probably going to do it again.

I mean, these Congress people, the number one call they're getting right now is where is my job? And oh my gosh, my unemployment benefits are going to expire. So we should expect them to do that again. So just a little bit of advice trying to get through what could be a rocky period going forward here.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely, for a while it sounds like. Hey listen, before we let you go, what is this news from Chrysler about Dodge? They're splitting things up a bit.

ROMANS: Chrysler's new Italian management, Heidi, says that they're going to split the Dodge name, the Dodge brand, into two groups. The Dodge Ram trucks division and there will be one person to run that, and then the cars and minivans division, and so the new - the Italian CEO of Chrysler saying that they want to really focus on brand-focused strategy, brand recognition strategy.

And so they're going to separate out the Dodge Ram trucks, which have a definite following and a definite image from the cars and minivans division with two different heads there. So change in the organizational structure a little bit of the Dodge family. So I don't know if consumers are going to see much of a difference of that, but definitely, it's a different way this company's going to be run.

COLLINS: OK. Understood. We'll be watching it. Thank you, Christine.

ROMANS: Sure. You're welcome.

COLLINS: Flash flood watches remain in effect in southern Texas after San Antonio and other areas were hit with more than five inches of rain this weekend. Authorities closed a number of local roads, as water began to collect Sunday morning. But several drivers and passengers got stranded in high water between midnight and noon on Sunday. San Antonio Fire Department responded to 39 high water rescue calls.

Rob Marciano joining us now. Say it again, Rob, don't drive through the water if -

MARCIANO: If you don't know how deep it is.

COLLINS: Very good. Help me out here.

MARCIANO: Or turn around, don't drown is the other thing we like to say.

COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: If you don't know. All right. Heidi, there is a lot of moisture on the ground, obviously, there in parts of south central Texas. They desperately needed it. Obviously, you don't like to get it all at one time. We've found that out in Atlanta that if it comes in a hurry, you certainly get some issues with it.

We're seeing some more rain across the southeast. Houston, you're not seeing rain right now. A slight chance of seeing a shower or thunderstorm later on today. With all that moisture from yesterday, there's some fog and that just went from an hour delay to 25-minute delays at Houston Intercontinental Airport. Visibility pretty low, about quarter mile and some serious fog at the moment.

We are looking at rain across south Georgia and the Carolinas today. Carolinas also still on a very weak drought at this point. It may be over by the time the week's done. Showers moving through Charlotte, heading towards Charleston, and Myrtle Beach as well. This will last probably for a good chunk of the day until things begin to taper off just a little bit.

New Orleans, you got some thunderstorms that are rolling through your area. There is the Superdome. Thank WVUE. Flash flooding actually for St. Taminy Parish at this hour with heavy rain moving across (INAUDIBLE) and moving off towards the east at about 15 miles an hour. Daytime highs today will be held down in spots where it's raining. Fifty-eight degrees expected for a high temperature in Atlanta. We might touch 60 but generally speaking rain cooled degrees for sure.

Hot and humid with that moisture in Houston with a high of 86 degrees. Cooler across southern California. That's the good news for them as they fight the fires. Really cool in Vegas, 70 degrees there. Unusually cool air mass hitting up parts of the inner mountain west and that will give us a little taste, I think, the eastern half of the country will see drastically colder temperatures this weekend. Talk more about that in the coming days -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Thank you. Plan the trip, let's go.

MARCIANO: All right.

COLLINS: All right. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you.

COLLINS: In Samoa, many packed churches over the weekend to mourn the victims of a devastating tsunami there. More than 165 people died in Samoa and American Samoa after an underwater earthquake sent tsunami waves roaring ashore six days ago. Families were burying loved ones who died in the disaster. Thirteen members of one family were killed, the oldest was 97, the youngest just nine months.

The rescue effort in Indonesia turning into a grim recovery operation now. Authorities concede there's little chance they'll find more survivors in the wreckage of two powerful earthquakes that hit Sumatra last Wednesday and Thursday. The government puts a number of those killed at 608. But thousands are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. Authorities are now turning their attention to recovering bodies and keeping survivors alive.

The man accused of videotaping a female reporter through a hotel room peephole will find out a judge's ruling on where he'll wind up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now. The Supreme Court begins its new term today. This also marks the debut of recently sworn in Justice Sonia Sotomayor. On its first day the court will hear a case concerning how long a suspect's request for a lawyer should stay in effect.

The immediate fate of a man accused of stalking ESPN reporter Erin Andrews is in the hands of a Chicago judge now. The judge is expected to decide today whether to release Michael David Barrett on bail or return him to California as a prisoner. Barrett is accused of secretly videotaping Andrews in the nude and trying to sell the videos to celebrity Web site tmz.com.

A new report focuses on the growing problem of premature births around the world. The March of Dimes says more than 1 million babies born prematurely die before they are one month old. The report also found nearly one in 10 global births are premature. That's an increase in preterm births in the U.S. as being attributed in part to more pregnancies after the age of 35 and the use of fertility treatments that can lead to multiple births.

A disturbing trend, a sudden jump in the number of children diagnosed with autism. The CDC now calls it an urgent public health concern. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now with the "Daily Dose" to talk more about this.

So Elizabeth, everybody wants to know why these rates continue, they're continuing to increase but people are talking more about it so it might be a good thing that these diagnoses are actually higher numbers because of the awareness? Could you look at it that way?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That would be sort of one way to look at it, is it just the people are more aware, doctors are more sort of ready to diagnose someone with autism? Before we get to the why. Let's take another look at the what, because these numbers are so stunning.

If you look back to 1990s, 1 in 166 U.S. children had autism. In 2002, 1 in 150 U.S. children were diagnosed with autism. In 2009, that number is now one in 91 children in the United States has autism. Now as Heidi mentioned, is this just a reporting issue? You know, back in the day, when doctors had a patient with autism they might just say, mentally retarded. They might just give that label.

But now they know enough to give the proper label. Maybe that's part of the reason why the numbers are going up. But the Centers for Disease Control can't rule out there might be an environmental issue. It might be something we're drinking, something we're eating, something that we're breathing in the air.

And Heidi, there is another possibility, this one's sort of interesting, people are having children older and older these days. There's actually been a study that shows that fathers over the age 40 are more likely to have a child with autism. Maybe that's part of it. They just don't know.

COLLINS: Yes, obviously still looking into all of this. But speaking of diagnosing, is it possible that doctors are over diagnosing kids today? Because symptoms could be cause for a variety of reasons as (INAUDIBLE).

COHEN: That is absolutely true. And I think it's important to point out that when a doctor diagnoses autism, there is no blood test, there's no CT scan. They diagnose it by the symptom. There was something interesting in the CDC report. Forty percent of the parents who had a child with autism said that their child used to have autism but then had recovered from it.

And I think that many doctors will tell you, you can't really recover from autism. It makes you wonder, did that child have autism in the first place? Did they have something else that you really can recover from? So, yes, there is a concern. And I think it's also important to point out, when we say autism, it's unclear whether the doctor is diagnosing something that truly is autism.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely, it's a tough one, no question about it. We'll keep our eye on it. Thanks so much. Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate it.

Some pretty heavy accusations leveled at USDA by hundreds of Latino farmers. They say the government is denying them their piece of the American dream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: The recession has caused widespread pain for millions of people but for those who still have a job, it could mean great deals. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange now with a look at buyer's guide and exactly where to look. Susan, is it like catalog shopping or what?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is anything you want is probably at a better price these days, Heidi, and that is the reverse side of recession. You know, it's not only international travelers who come here and say that America is on sale. We, the American consumer, can see that as well. Let's take you through it.

JD Power and Associates say that more than half of the car buyers are getting a cash rebate. When it comes to houses, Case-Shiller says home prices are down 30 percent from their 2006 peak. Smith Travel says the average hotel room is down 20 percent, just from last year. Grocery stores say, well, they used to cut prices to clear inventory, now cutting prices are the norm because we demand it.

America's research group says 80 percent of families are shopping less and when they do shop, they go to stores with low prices, which is one of the reasons why Wal-Mart has done so well in the recession, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. I know there's a lot of economists out there who say the economy is healing, at least to some degree. Does that mean an end to some of these bargains?

LISOVICZ: Another words, should we get out there now, Heidi, before all of the bargains go away? Well, you know, a lot of people say that this experience, this rate recession, has change their habits for good, perhaps maybe not like the depression, where people really of that generation learned to save for a rainy day and really never got into trouble again.

This generation says yes, we're starting to save. So studies show that people say that even when the economy really improves, they won't be spending more. What we have seen today in terms of economic reports, Heidi, the service sector grew in September, the first time in a year. And that is heavily dependent on consumer spending. Because it takes into account financial services, retail sector, you name it. And what we're seeing as a result is three major averages have held the rally that we saw at the open.

COLLINS: Yes. Understood. All right. Thank you, Susan. Check back later on.

It's been one year since President Bush signed off on the $700 billion federal bailout known as TARP. The program's top cop says not everything we heard at the time was true. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York. So, Poppy, what's this all about?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hindsight's twenty-twenty, but Heidi, a new report out this morning, pretty disturbing coming from the inspector general of TARP, Neil Barofsky, saying that the feds weren't entirely honest with the public when you look back at when the TARP program started.

The report finds the first nine banks that were lent $125 billion were not as healthy at the time as officials had indicated. The report says, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was even concerned that one of the banks might, quote, "outright fail."

We know that the driving force behind TARP was to get banks lending again to businesses, consumers, therefore stabilizing the entire financial system. Barofsky says in the report out today, they painted an overly rosy picture. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL BAROFSKY, INSPECTOR GENERAL, T.A.R.P.: It taised unrealistic expectations by saying these are healthy banks this money's going to help them lend. One of the main points, which we describe in detail, was to prevent a systemic collapse. To provide stability, provide confidence to the market.

And the TARP did help assist in doing all of those things. But restoring lending, it was just not a realistic expectation, and I think that the TARP, the credibility of the program, has suffers significantly because of those mis -- those representations and because of this sense that expectations were so high that this is going to be a fix-all to restore lending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: As we have heard from so many peoples and businesses, the lending just hasn't been there as expected. The Treasury Department in response said this, Heidi. And I quote, "While people may differ today on how the announcements should have been phrased, any review must be considered in light of unprecedented circumstances in which they were made." Certainly unprecedented times, Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, TARP was set up as a loan. It is one year later now. Are taxpayers are ever going to get their money back?

HARLOW: Not all of it, most likely. We've got about $450 billion out the door right now, not $700 billion as was set up. So, not as much. The government has gotten back $80 billion of that. We've still got a lot outstanding. AIG, for example. A lot of questions there. General Motors, just about 90 days out of bankruptcy. Citigroup, Bank of America, still trying to recover. Financial experts telling CNNmoney.com in this story, very interesting that taxpayers will likely be on the hook, stand to lose between $100 billion and $200 billion when all is said and done. Check out the story for more details. But $80 billion back, we've got a long ways to go.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. Poppy, thank you.

Discrimination and racism at the Department of Agriculture? Hundreds of Latino farmers say yes. They say the USDA is not only denying them their piece of the American Dream, it's also denying them their proper right to sue. Our Thelma Gutierrez has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, hundreds of Latino farmers say the US Department of Agriculture discriminated against them and forced many families out of business. Like John Carrillo, whose father built a thriving family farm in Salinas, California.

JOHN CARRILLO, LATINO FARMER: That's our logo here. Our American dream was to succeed as a Hispanic farming company.

GUTIERREZ: After the devastating floods of 1995, Carrillo asked for disaster relief.

CARRILLO: I was denied three times.

GUTIERREZ: He wasn't alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost our 300-acre ranch that we were leasing in Greenfield, California.

GUTIERREZ: What did you lose?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One hundred and fifty-one (ph) acres.

GUTIERREZ: What did you lose?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

GUTIERREZ: Latino farmers allege that over decades the USDA denied them loans and assistance that white farmers were able to get. They filed a complaint known as the Garcia case, charging the government with discrimination. The case is stalled for nearly a decade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Hill. How are you?

GUTIERREZ: Attorney Stephen Hill represents the Latino farmers. His Washington, DC law firm took their case pro bono. STEPHEN HILL, ATTORNEY FOR LATINO FARMERS: The original defendant in this case, Secretary Glickman, has admitted in testimony before Congress that good people lost their farmland not because of bad weather, not because of crops, but because of the color of their skin.

GUTIERREZ: Latino farmers, Native Americans, women and African- Americans all filed class-action lawsuits against the USDA claiming discrimination. But the government settled only with the black farmers.

HILL: And, to date, the government has paid out nearly a billion dollars to some 15,000 black farmers.

GUTIERREZ: And the allegations that the black farmers made were similar to the Hispanic farmers?

HILL: Not similar - identical.

GUTIERREZ: The only difference between the two cases, according to Hill, the black farmers were certified to fight as a group, whereas the court has not granted Latino farmers class-action status.

TOM VILSACK, USDA SECRETARY: The Garcia case is a little different because it wasn't certified as a class action.

GUTIERREZ: Tom Vilsack, the current agriculture secretary, acknowledged as much in a recent video posted on YouTube. A spokesman for the Justice Department, which represents the USDA, told CNN it could not comment on the case citing pending litigation.

How many of you are still farmers today? None of you? What are you doing now, Joe?

CARRILLO: I'm running (INAUDIBLE) for a company.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm working in Kmart.

GUTIERREZ: A bitter end to an American dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Our Thelma Gutierrez reporting.

And later this month, only on CNN, "LATINO IN AMERICA," a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America, reshaping politics, businesses, schools, churches and neighborhoods. "LATINO IN AMERICA," see it here on CNN.

Aid workers who only wanted to feed the hungry become the target of a suicide bomber. Now, more innocent people may become the victims of that attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In southern California, a fast-moving wildfire forces evacuation of at least 4,000 people near Wrightwood. The fire has burned 7,500 acres now, three homes have been lost, hundreds more are considered in danger. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County.

The mystery of autism deepens. A new government study shows autism disorders may be more common than previously thought. The new finding, about 1 in 91 children are affected. That's compared to the previous U.S. estimate of 1 in 150. Federal officials say some of then crease may be due to greater awareness and broader definitions.

And there's a probable cause hearing for a suspect accused of trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper. A 19-year-old Jordanian, Hosam Smadi, was arrested last month in an FBI sting operation. Authorities say he drove a truck he thought had a live bomb in it, parked it in a garage under a 60-story office building and dialed a cell phone, intending to set off the blast.

A suicide bomber targets a World Food Program office in Pakistan. At least five people are dead in the attack. It happened today inside the Islamabad office of the agency. CNN's Reza Sayah joining us live from the Pakistani capital.

So, Reza, again, pretty incredible they were able to get right past security in a building like this.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Heidi, this looks like an ugly security breach, and you can be sure someone's going to have a lot of explaining to do about what happened today in the federal captial of Islamabad.

First off, let's get you right to new video being aired on local Pakistani television. This is surveillance video that shows the suicide attack; the video shows a man wearing black clothing walk into the front door of the World Food Program. And then moments later you see a flash. That is the explosion, according to officials.

Now, how does a suicide attacker wearing explosives manage to get inside the heavily fortified offices of the World Food Program? Here's what's troubling. A government official says he was wearing a military uniform that belongs to the Front Tier Corps. The Front Tier Corps, a Pakistani paramilitary force that had assigned several people to keep watch outside of the World Food Program offices, and here's what's most troubling.

He got in, according to officials, by telling the private security officers he needed to use the bathroom. They said OK, and moments later in the reception area, he blew himself up, according to officials. Five people killed, all of them U.N. World Food Program employees for the Pakistani citizens. Two of them women, one an Iraqi national spokesperson for the U.N., telling CNN the U.N. has closed its offices in Islamabad and in (INAUDIBLE) as a precaution indefinitely, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Reza. Is there any claim for responsibility on this yet?

SAYAH: Not yet. But we should note that this attack coming 24 hours after the current head of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, met with reporters in the tribal region, and he vowed to take revenge against U.S. drone strikes and the recent killing of the former Pakistani Taliban leader by another U.S. drone strike. Certainly has the hallmarks of a Taliban attack, the attack today. But officials say it's too early to say if indeed there is a link, Heidi.

COLLINS: Reza Sayah, thanks so much. We know you're following this one. Thank you.

We are talking about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan on our blog today. As President Obama oversees this review of the military strategy there, do the troops have time to wait for reinforcements, if in fact that is the decision that's made to send in more troops? I want to take a moment to read some of your thoughts now. CNN.com/heidi is the blog. You can always write to us there.

Steve says, "I don't think we can win. It's Vietnam all over again. Get the troops out now, bring them to home. Put them to work protecting our borders instead of being world police."

And then this one here. "Our troops in Afghanistan do not have time to wait for reinforcements. They need to be removed from Afghanistan altogether. Now that the insurgents in Iraq know that we will be leaving soon, they will be turning their attention to Afghanistan in order to make sure that all of our insurgents are out of the Middle East."

And finally, Robert says, "As a nation, we committed taking out the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Just because the going is getting tough doesn't mean we should pack up and go home. It should mean we come up with a comprehensive plan to leave after we have eliminated the Taliban and al Qaeda as a force in the area."

So again, thanks for your responses. And you can always write to us, CNN.com/heidi.

A 75-year-old cross in the Mojave Desert, now a line in the sand between church and state. Why it's become an argument only the Supreme Court can settle.

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COLLINS: Rob Marciano watching all things weather across the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Let's talk about it now, Tropical Storm Grace. Not a big deal. National Hurricane Center named this thing last night, named it really with not a whole lot of tropical characteristics, over water that wasn't even close to 80 degrees. So, I'm still kind of scratching my head why they named it a tropical storm.

But nonetheless, it kind of looks like one, a small one. Tropical winds or winds at 70 miles an hour, that's certainly almost hurricane strength. Heading towards Great Britain right now. But it will likely be absorbed and weakened as it does so. That's interesting.

Interesting for us, not so much for folks in the Philippines, Tropical Storm Parma. Notice that the typhoon went north of Manila and now it's just kind of sitting and spinning here. That's not good news. Not sure where this is going to go. If it drifts south, that means Manila gets more in the way of rain, and they don't need more rain.

And then look at this. This is not an error in the imagery here, that is a nasty-looking storm, Heidi. Another supertyphoon heading, yes, towards the Philippines, but the forecast is to bring it more north, actually towards Japan. By the time that happens it will weaken. It's just a matter of how much and how close it gets to Japan. But nonetheless, nother supertyphoon in the Pacific. Certainly an impressive storm. Hopefully, it recurves completely and misses Japan. It's too close to call at this point with that particular storm.

COLLINS: Wow. Amazing. Never heard of those before. And now it's the second time around talking about it. All right, Rob. Thank you.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COLLINS: The nation's first Latina Supreme Court justice making her debut today on the Supreme Court bench. Justice Sonia Sotomayor took her place among the nine as the Supreme Court opened the doors to begin another session. They'll hear several key cases this session, including a major gun rights case.

Some Supreme Court trivia now. It was established by Article 3, Section 1 of the Constitution on September 24, 1789. The first Court assembled in New York City on February 2, 1790. And each of the judges oversees at least one of the 12 federal judicial circuit courts.

The Taliban, a tough opponent for U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan. In just a minute, we'll take you where militants are and into some of the most brutal countryside you've ever seen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In southern Afghanistan, eight Americans are dead in one of the bloodiest battles of the year. The insurgents targeted two remote outposts in Nuristan province in a weekend of deadly violence. CNN's Atia Abawi is joining us now from Kabul on the phone with more details. Atia, good morning to you.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning, Heidi. It was the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in over a year now. It happened at two combat outposts in eastern Afghanistan, in Nuristan province. It was joint outpost with the ANA (ph) Afghan national army and the U.S. forces in the area. These outposts surrounded by mountain ranges and ridges, and what the insurgency did, they positioned themselves on these ridges and launched their attacks with rockets, mortars and heavy-caliber machine guns. It was a such a strong attack that parts of the outpost burst into flames, and the engagement lasted around 12 hours. Thirty minutes into the attack, air support did come from the U.S. forces.

U.S. forces in Afghanistan stating that their enemies also sustained heavy casualties. But one thing that this definitely proves is that there are insurgent groups out there, there are Taliban groups out there that have the weaponry, that have the logistics to carry out such attacks.

And when we spoke to the Afghan Defense Ministry today, they say the majority of those fighters were actually foreign fighters that were able to come through that poorest border with Pakistan and able to actually coordinate such an attack. Heidi.

COLLINS: Atia Abawi setting the scene, and also of course, the aftermath from Kabul, Afghanistan on that attack. Atia, appreciate it.

The future of the Afghan war is being actually being waged in Washington. U.S. and NATO troops are engaged in the real thing. In a remote area of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, our Nic Robertson recently made his way into the Nuristan region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Every step, an effort; every breath, hard to draw in the thin mountain air.

Patrols rarely come harder than this for the soldiers of the 1st 158th Infantry Battalion -- just arrived in one of Afghanistan's most inaccessible provinces. To find it on a map, look in the far northeast of Afghanistan, next to Pakistan. The province is called Nuristan, which means land of enlightenment.

(on camera): Well this terrain here is really tough. Nuristan is so remote, it doesn't have any paved roads, doesn't have any hospitals, doesn't even have a proper center of government here. Doesn't even have a provincial capital, not a real one.

And as the commanders here like to say, where the roads end, that's where the bad guys begin.

(voice-over): If the rugged terrain looks familiar here, that's because the last time Osama bin Laden and his deputy were seen together on video, U.S. officials believe it was somewhere near here. That was 2002. The worry is, they could still be hiding here.

DAVID KATZ, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: It is an area that is little understood and little visited by outsiders. So it would be very possible that they could be living in some valley with -- in total security without outsiders being aware of their presence there. ROBERTSON: For the first time U.S. troops are moving in here in numbers strong enough to hunt down their enemies. While the exact numbers are classified, a tiny outpost is being beefed up.

The major part of the effort, a so-called provincial reconstruction team aimed at winning local support and intelligence on al Qaeda and the Taliban.

2ND LT. LONATHON REABE, 1ST 156TH INFANTRY BATTALION: Some of the villages that we've gone into kind of weren't too happy it seemed like when we first rolled into them. And now they're waving at us, they're smiling at us. The kids come out and we give them some candy and school supplies and all of that kind of stuff.

ROBERTSON: Others are harder to win over.

Just a few weeks ago, well within range of the base's huge 155 millimeter howitzers, a convoy was ambushed. No one was injured. The message these guns are designed to send, the U.S. military can help or it can fight.

(on camera): The highest mountains here are about 6,000 meters -- 18,000 feet. Over there where the snow-capped peeks are, that's the border with Pakistan and that's where these soldiers believe that al Qaeda and Taliban still have relatively free movement.

(voice-over): Afghan and U.S. troops are regularly attacked along this border with Pakistan. The fear is, without more U.S. troops, al Qaeda and the Taliban could get stronger.

REABE: I know that we're helping people out and I know that if we can help defeat the enemy here, I know that my friends and my family and everybody back home will be safe.

ROBERTSON: What plays in the favor of the soldiers is that the people here are culturally, linguistically and ethnically different from other Afghans. Only converted to Islam 140 years ago, they are less to side with the Taliban and al Qaeda. Building on that difference may be these soldiers' best chance of success.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Nuristan, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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