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Pakistan Under Attack; Battling the Taliban; Dow Starts Above 10,000; Just Floated Away?

Aired October 16, 2009 - 08:59   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A new attack in Pakistan. Militants target a police station, but most of the dead are civilians.

No peace for a justice of the peace. Calls for him to resign after he refuses to marry an interracial couple.

Plus, been there and back. Near-death experiences happen more often than you think. One woman tells us what she saw on the other side.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. It is Friday, October 16th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. This morning, we are hitting security concerns for both the United States as well as for your money.

First off this morning, CNN's Reza Sayah, who you see is covering the very latest on a string of brazen and deadly attacks in Pakistan. We'll get to him.

Also, what impact could that Pakistan violence actually have on U.S. strategy in the Afghanistan war? Our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon is looking into that story.

And also, Stephanie Elam is watching Wall Street. The Dow may be at 10,000, but individual investors still aren't jumping in.

We begin this morning in Pakistan where 13 people are dead in another militant attack. This one targeted at a police station in the volatile northwest frontier. The bombing is just one of several we've seen this month. Many targeting the Pakistani government. More than 150 people are dead.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani military is stepping up its own bombings in Taliban strongholds near the border with Afghanistan. That air campaign is designed to soften up the area for a major ground offensive.

And just yesterday, President Obama signed legislation approving $7.5 billion in new aid to Pakistan to promote democracy and combat extremism.

Now let's get back to these latest attacks. Thirteen people dead in a suicide blast. It happened near Peshawar, the largest city in the volatile northwest frontier province.

CNN's Reza Sayah is joining us now live from Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

Reza, good morning to you. Is there any talk about how Pakistan can actually start trying to stop these attacks?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, that's the big question here. And it's the same question that U.S. and NATO forces are facing across the border in Afghanistan. This is a dilemma that no one's been able to figure out in this region.

What we're watching unfold is violent jihad. These are young militants who actually welcome death. They believe that dying for their cause is a surefire way of getting some kind of reward in the afterlife and the Pakistani government simply has not been able to stop them.

Another suicide car bomb today targeting a police station. This time, 13 people were killed. And what's most tragic is, once again, civilians part of the fatalities. A child was also killed.

There's two keys to stopping these sorts of attacks for the Pakistani government. First off, they need a better police force. They need better intelligence gathering to find out when these attacks happen before they happen. And perhaps the biggest challenge for this government is to somehow extract this conviction from these young minds that jihad is the way to go.

How do they do that? Over and over again, we've seen in Pakistan that bombs and bullets have not been the answer for these gee jihadists, for these young militants. They actually use that as motivation. It hasn't deterred them so far. Heidi?

COLLINS: Boy, that's the truth. All right, our Reza Sayah watching the situation from Islamabad, Pakistan. Reza, thank you.

The new attacks come just as President Obama and his national security team work on their strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more on Taliban tactics and the effects on U.S. efforts in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nearly daily chaos is raising more questions about the ability of Pakistan's security forces to maintain control.

The last two weeks of attacks are largely the work of an increasingly powerful Taliban organization. It's all impacting the White House discussion about how to proceed with the war.

BRUCE RIDEL, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: One should have no doubt about the relationship between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.

STARR: Experts say as the White House struggles to decide whether the priority is fighting al Qaeda or the Taliban, it must first understand it's facing a web of interconnected networks in Pakistan.

JOHN NAGL, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: It's impossible, I think, to separate the Taliban in Afghanistan from the Taliban in Pakistan. They're both gaining strength and they present a real threat to the security of this entire region, this nuclear armed region. So it's enormously worrying.

STARR: Remember Mullah Omar? The one-eyed Taliban leader who fled the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for Pakistan? He's back, big time.

RIDEL: Mullah Omar has presided over one of the most remarkable military recoveries in our time. An organization which was thoroughly defeated and discredited at the end of 2001 is now, in its mind, on the eve of victory.

STARR: Another Taliban faction known as the TTP also growing in strength. One senior U.S. official says recent intelligence suggests the group aims to launch attacks beyond Pakistan. Perhaps even sending suicide bombers abroad.

The Taliban factions are benefiting from al Qaeda's inability to launch significant attacks. Financial backers are seeing a surging Taliban and an al Qaeda on the run.

RIDEL: Donors, particularly those rich donors in the Persian Gulf states, have been sending their money to those who have been successful in the business of terrorism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Barbara Starr joining us now live from the Pentagon. Barbara, good morning to you. What kind of assistance can the U.S. really give Pakistan? We know that the United States has given a lot of money.

STARR: A lot of money, Heidi. But what Pakistan says they want are high-tech weapons, drones, fighter aircraft, that sort of thing. The U.S. says no, you must focus first on the streets, on improving your police forces, as Reza just said, your counterinsurgency forces, your counterterrorism forces.

And so far, Pakistan has been willing to accept very little help in that arena, just a handful of U.S. military trainers for those security forces. That's the real focus of what the Pentagon would like to see happen now. Heidi?

COLLINS: And what about intelligence, Barbara? Reza was also talking about that as well. Are the U.S. forces teaching or talking to Pakistanis about getting better intelligence?

STARR: Well, yes. I mean, certainly, they are working with them. There is a great deal of intelligence sharing going on. That's really been stepped up over the last several years. But, you know, there's a big elephant in the room here, because while intelligence sharing has improved, there's still a lot of concern that the jihadists and the fundamentalist movement in Pakistan still has infiltrated Pakistani security forces, so there's always a lot of concern about that.

COLLINS: That's right. That is a very big concern.

All right, Barbara Starr, making all the points for us this morning. Appreciate that.

I want to let everybody know, coming up a little bit later on this hour, I'm going to be talking with General Richard Myers, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff, will weigh in on the future of the war in Afghanistan and whether he thinks President Obama should be sending in more troops.

Topping 10,000 for the second straight day, the Dow closed above the symbolic mark. Can rally keep going, though, when the markets reopen in about 20 minutes from now?

CNN's Stephanie Elam is joining us now live from New York. You got your crystal ball out, Stephanie?

(LAUGHTER)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, right now, Heidi, my crystal ball is telling me that we're looking for a lower opening. And part of that has to do with the fact that we've got some earnings today that are not as spectacular as we would like to see them.

General Electric, lower-than-expected revenue. Then you have Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, actually reporting worse than expected loss as well there.

COLLINS: Yes.

ELAM: So that's part of the issue that's going to lead to a lower open. But let's take a look at the big stock comeback. You see that graphic right there in front of you. Remember way back to October of 2007, that's when we hit our all-time high of 14,164.

Two years later and things have changed a bit. But there you go at the high. That's when we hit the high for the Dow and S&P. Then March 9th of this year, that's when we hit the low of this bear market that we talk about. Since then, you've got such a nice run-up.

The Dow up 54 percent. You've got NASDAQ up 71 percent. The S&P 500, up 62 percent. All based on yesterday's numbers of 10062. So, obviously, we've come back, but still, at the same time, Heidi, there's still a lot to go. That all-time high of 14164...

COLLINS: Oh yes.

ELAM: ... which was in October of 2007.

COLLINS: I remember that.

ELAM: You remember that? Remember we had like a big party, like, how high can it go?

COLLINS: Yes, yes, yes.

ELAM: And then it just started going back down the other way. Well, if you take a look at those numbers, the S&P still down 30 percent from that all-time high. The Dow is down nearly 30 percent as well.

Now for the NASDAQ, it's a little different because their all- time high was back in the tech boom days. That was in 2000. But if we just use the same barometer of looking at two years ago, they're down about 22.5 percent.

So all of this says we've come far and we may do a little bit of a dip. You know, yesterday we were in the red for most of the day and in the last couple of hours, we saw a change. We closed to the plus side. It may be something like that again today. Because we also did get some better numbers from IBM and Google.

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: Their earnings. We like to check out the Goog. But yes, it's true, if you take a look at these numbers, you can see there's some good and some bad coming out of earnings season. But right now we should be looking for a lower open when you get to chat with our friend, Susan Lisovicz.

COLLINS: Yes. The Bank of America loss that you mentioned a moment ago, why is that a big deal?

ELAM: Well, we care about it, first of all, because Bank of America is the largest bank. Also there's so much discussion about, you know, bonuses and the fact that Ken Lewis is leaving at the end of the year and he's taking no bonus, he's going to take no salary. In fact, he's paying back more than $1 million from money he got this year.

But if you take a look at the numbers there, and we care because we want to see what this means. Also it gives us the pulse of the consumer out there. A lot of times you just want to be -- you know, a lot of people are mad at the big banks, but keep in mind, they hold a lot of our credit card debt.

COLLINS: Yes.

ELAM: They're the people who we're getting our credit cards from. So what we did learn from Bank of America is that the consumer business has been still a large thorn in their side, but they are seeing delinquencies on people paying their credit card bills back starting to level off. So showing the consumer may be getting a little bit stronger here.

COLLINS: Yes.

ELAM: So that's a little bit of hope that we see there. But still, we're probably in for a weaker opening today, Heidi? COLLINS: Yes. OK. All right. Well, we'll be watching real closely. Thanks so much, Stephanie Elam.

ELAM: Sure.

COLLINS: In fact, we are talking about the markets on the blog this morning. Our question for you, are you jumping back into the market? Now, as an individual investor, or are you still staying on the sidelines and being cautious?

You can go to CNN.com/heidi. That's our blog and let us know how you're feeling about things.

People glued to their TVs and computers. You know the story. A helium balloon floating thousands of miles aboveground. A 6-year-old boy feared trapped inside. Well, now something he said raising questions about the whole thing.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Strange things floating in the air in Denver, strange things floating in the air in Pittsburgh or near Pittsburgh, near Jersey, Connecticut, early snow is happening right now in a one-two punch.

We'll talk weather when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A Colorado family is speaking out this morning about a story that really caught everyone's attention. It all played out on national TV yesterday. For a while, we all thought a 6-year-old boy was floating inside of that thing, thousands of feet above the ground. A homemade helium balloon that drifted off from the family home.

The balloon finally landed in an open field, a very dramatic landing. It had been traveling so fast and then all of a sudden just floated gently down. But rescue teams, once they reached the balloon, found that no one was on board.

It turns out the boy, Falcon Heene, was at home the whole time, hiding in the rafters of the family's garage. As you can imagine, his family was relieved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD HEENE, FALCON HEENE'S DAD: We were sitting on the couch and there were some other folks in the room trying to help us calm our nerves, and my wife, I heard her scream and Falcon came around the corner.

And, you know, I dropped to my knees. You know, I screamed as well. You know, here he is, he's safe. He -- you know -- and he's alive. So it was a great moment. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Later, on an exchange on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE," which was hosted last night by Wolf Blitzer, raised questions of whether all of this was true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FALCON HEENE, BOY THOUGHT TO BE IN BALLOON: (INAUDIBLE) says that we did this for a show.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I heard what he said -- I'm sure I'm not -- it wasn't really clear. What was his reasoning, why -- he heard you screaming, Falcon, Falcon, and I'm sure he heard his mom screaming Falcon, Falcon, but why didn't he come out of the garage at that point?

R. HEENE: Well, you know, wherever he -- wherever we tell him things like, you know, it's a bad thing to do, he does go and hide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The local sheriff there says it is not a hoax, but investigators will be talking to the family again.

Rob Marciano standing by now from the Severe Weather Center to talk about early winter storm in the northeast. How early? Really?

MARCIANO: Yes, well, listen, it's the middle of October, right, we do get snow from time to time when the leaves are still on the trees, but the amount of snow that's coming is certainly remarkable.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes, gross.

MARCIANO: Welcome to fall.

COLLINS: Yes, well, hopefully it will improve a tad and we can just talk about beautiful leaves changing colors.

MARCIANO: Yes. 98 degrees in Phoenix, by the way.

COLLINS: That's random. All right, Rob, we'll check back later on. Thank you.

MARCIANO: See you.

COLLINS: Buildings swayed and people ran into the streets as yet another earthquake hit Indonesia. So far, no injuries and only minor damage reported. It did have a magnitude of 6.1. It was centered west of the island of Java.

Now that's the same general area as the more powerful quake that hit September 30th. One day after that, a less damaging quake hit again. It's believed more than 1,000 people were killed in both of those quakes on Sumatra Island.

The war in Afghanistan. President Obama weighs a new strategy, including whether to send more troops. A U.S. general, a former Joint Chief of Staff, will be weighing in here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Also, a woman who once appeared dead. She says she merely went to the other side. And she tells our Dr. Sanjay Gupta all about her near-death experience.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time to check some of the top stories that we're following this morning.

Coast Guard crews are searching for a missing Air Force fighter pilot lost off the coast near Charleston, South Carolina. Two F-16s collided late last night during a training exercise. The other pilot managed to land safely. The planes are based at Shaw Air Force Base.

President Obama heads to Texas today to join former president George H.W. Bush on stage. Mr. Bush is hosting a presidential forum on community service at Texas A&M. The event honors the 20th anniversary of the former president's "Thousand Points of Light" speech on volunteer service.

The FDA warning against buying H1N1 flu drugs online. They say the online drugs are -- that they tested are not approved for sale in the United States and may not be safe. The FDA also says the drugs probably wouldn't arrive in time to help people who are already exposed to the virus.

Is there such a thing as life after death? We've heard people talk about their out-of-body experiences and doctors trying to explain exactly what happened. Today, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks with a woman who believes she cheated death.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'll tell you, Heidi, these near-death experiences probably happen a lot more than we realize. Some studies that I've read said up to 800 times a day.

What exactly happens when someone is dead, sort of goes to the other side, so to speak, and then comes back to talk about it?

As a doctor, I've been really fascinated by this and I wanted to hear her first-hand account. Here's what Laura Geraghty told me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): For Geraghty, who's a grandmother and school bus drive from North Attleboro, Massachusetts, that day started like any other. She was on her final morning run to Newton South High School when the trouble began.

LAURA GERAGHTY, HAD NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE: My stomach hurt really bad. A really sharp pain I'd never had and I thought it was heartburn.

GUPTA: She was able to park the bus, but then something happened.

GERAGHTY: Pain went right up my arm and right into my chest. So at that point I said, uh-oh, I'm having a heart attack.

GUPTA: Newton South nurse and the CPR trainer came running with the school's new automated external defibrillator. The next 30 seconds went fast. She felt weak and then she couldn't catch her breath.

(on camera): And then like that, she was unconscious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was definitely gone.

GUPTA: As far as onlookers could tell, Laura was dead. Flat on her back, right there, not 50 feet from the doors of the school. But Geraghty says, in fact, she was somewhere else.

GERAGHTY: I floated right out of my body. It just -- my body was here and I just floated away.

GUPTA (on camera): What did you see?

GERAGHTY: What did I see? I seen white -- it was very peaceful.

GUPTA: When you looked at your body, were there people working on you?

GERAGHTY: I seen people, but I kept going. I went to see my mom and I seen my ex-husband and they both came and it was very peaceful. And so peaceful and it was white and it was beautiful.

I remember trying to reach out to my ex-husband and he would not take my hand and then they floated away. And then I was just there. And then this massive energy, just this powerful -- very powerful energy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: I'll tell you, Heidi, a lot of things Laura described could be explained away by what's happening in the brain. For example, diminished blood flow to the retina might make you lose your peripheral vision, and as a result, you start to see those tunnels, the bright light, sort of explained the same way. Even that out-of- body experience.

There's an area of the brain that's responsible for your spatial relationships. If it's not getting enough blood flow, you might have an out-of-body experience. But still, you know, after talking to lots of people like Laura, I do believe this is sort of that perfect intersection between science and spirituality. Worth exploring.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: All right, Sanjay, thanks. And don't miss the primetime debut of Sanjay's special series, "ANOTHER DAY, CHEATING DEATH." It's coming your way Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

Talk of 40,000, even 60,000 new troops needed in Afghanistan. Will that win the war? Or will it deplete army forces? We'll talk about it with the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There he is. General Richard Myers, in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On Wall Street, the Dow has managed to stay above 10,000 for two -- count them -- two straight days. And as the opening bell rings right now, for a look at whether the blue chips can actually end the week above the mark, let's get to Susan Lisovicz standing by at the New York Stock Exchange.

Good morning, Susan.

You know, the whole team was telling me, where's your hat, where's your hat? I didn't bring it today. I thought we would -- to have that would be really special.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a hot commodity, Heidi. You have no idea how many people want one of those.

COLLINS: Really?

LISOVICZ: Yes.

Once again, very impressed with the fact that you wore it yesterday, maybe gave The Bulls some impetus. As you remember, we had a soft open on Thursday, but eventually we did rally enough to keep the Dow above 10,000. Same thing could play out again today. Same thing is playing out in terms of worries.

Bank earnings, let's go to Bank of America. It lost more than $2 billion in the last quarter as its loan losses skyrocketed to nearly $10 billion. B of A expects credit problems to continue. This comes a day after B of A's CEO, Ken Lewis, agreed to forego his salary. A salary that usually is the $1.5 million range. This came at the suggestion of pay czar Ken Feinberg. He will also, by the way, pay back -- repay Bank of America the more than $1 million he has already earned in his final year on the job. By the way, he's retiring at the end of the year. His total payout is going to be something around $69 million.

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: General electric, another similar story here, posted a 44 percent drop in third quarter profits. You don't normally think of this with GE, but it has a huge financial unit. GE Capital, it makes credit card and commercial real estate loans, problems that GE Capital indicates that consumer and businesses are having problems paying their bills.

Quickly, not every sector getting hit. Last night, both Google and IBM posted earnings that beat estimates. And both of those shares, well, Google shares are up nearly three percent, but IBM, B of A, and GE shares are down and that's why we're seeing a triple digit loss at the open. Nasdaq is down about half percent - Heidi. COLLINS: All right. We're going to talk more about this a little bit later on in the show, definitely about who's actually investing right now. A very interesting discussion coming up.

Susan Lisovicz, we sure do appreciate that.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: In fact, we are also blogging about that question this morning. Our exact question for you, are you jumping back into the market now, as an individual investor, or are you still staying on the sidelines and being cautious? You can go to CNN.com/Heidi and let us know.

Afghan voters will soon find out if they'll be heading back to the polls for a pivotal runoff election. A U.N.-backed panel investigating fraud charges in the country's presidential election is wrapping up its work right now, and Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S. says it is likely officials will throw out enough disputed votes to force President Hamid Karzai into a runoff. That announcement could come as early as tonight. A runoff would most likely be held earlier this month or in late November with results expected a couple of weeks later.

There is word of more U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan this morning. The military says four Americans are dead after a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan yesterday. Two were killed in the attack, two died later from their wounds.

The rising death tolls and a political crisis brought on by a fraud-plagued election. That's the backdrop as President Obama reviews his Afghanistan war strategy and considers whether to send more troops.

Let's talk more about all of it with General Richard Myers. He is the author of "Eyes on the Horizon" and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

General Myers, thanks for being with us today. There is so very much to talk about on the heels of some of these attacks. The one we just talked about that happened yesterday. Four service members killed, and also so much debate between the White House and the Pentagon about what they're going to do next to create a stable Afghanistan.

Do you think as a former Joint Chiefs chairman, that there should be more troops sent in and when?

RICHARD MYERS, FORMER CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Well, good morning, Heidi.

You know, I guess my opinion is, I would listen very closely to General McChrystal, the field commander, but you also have to take into account, General Petraeus, who has responsibility more broadly for the region. And then, of course, the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are looking, sort of at the worldwide security picture. All those voices have to be heard. I'm sure they've been heard by President Obama and his National Security Council folks.

And I think generally, that they're going to require more troops. Whether it's the number that General McChrystal wants or some other number, I don't know. Whether it's all U.S. or we're going to get more contributions from NATO and other allies, I don't think anybody knows at this point. But I do think if we want to stabilize Afghanistan, with this recent surge in Taliban aggressiveness, I think we do need more forces, as a matter of fact.

COLLINS: How much time do we have to make that decision?

MYERS: Well, I think part of that is how people look at the United States conviction on whether or not we're going to try to be successful or try to help the Afghan people be successful in thwarting the Taliban in developing some sort of legitimate government in that country and then some sort of prosperity for the Afghan people.

So I think it's important to kind of get on with it. Although, this is a very important decision for this president, for any president, when you're deciding whether to send more of America's blood and treasure into a difficult circumstance.

Having said that, I think they need to get on with this decision here fairly quickly.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, it can't be ignored or it can't be forgotten, of course. The troops that are already there and what dangers they are facing while the decision is being made.

MYERS: Those and the Afghan people and the people in Pakistan, because this, of course, has some impact on them as well and their security. So I think people are looking to the United States. Are we -- do we have the conviction that we think this is really important for not only their security, but our security.

COLLINS: Well, you mentioned Pakistan. What about them in all of this? We just talked, just a few minutes ago, with our correspondent in Islamabad, talking about more of the violence there. We've got 11 people that were killed today in Peshawar. A series of bombings there yesterday. Three, at least, people -- 30 people were killed in that. And then we talk about this aid. This is not the first administration that has sent aid.

Look at this, on the screen now, as people may remember, more than $6 billion in military aid went to this country in 2001 and 2008. And now $1.5 billion every year for the next five years sent by the Obama administration. What is this money doing?

MYERS: Well, I think, you know, it can be used for a myriad of purposes, but I think it's really important, for whatever aid we spend, it's really important to think about stability and a stable Democratic government in Pakistan, given that they have a fairly good nuclear arsenal. And a lot of extremists that have -- in Pakistan that have stayed in the shadows, primarily, but recently have taken on government forces. And, you know, they've been fairly close to Islamabad, within 70 miles. People can go back to the early part of this decade when a lot of the al Qaeda leadership was found in the Pakistani cities with the help of Pakistani officials. So there's always that threat to the Pakistani leadership from these violent extremists. And I think it's something that needs to be addressed and hopefully the aid will help them address that.

COLLINS: And speaking of aid, obviously, that's the financial aid, but you mentioned NATO as well.

Would more help from NATO make things better? I mean, we got another commitment from Great Britain yesterday, 5 troops. They've got 9,000 there already.

What is the interest level of the other countries in NATO of securing a stable Afghanistan.

MYERS: Well, I can tell you what I think their interest level is. I think it probably differs from what their real interest level is. But then, NATO decided some time back and the heads of state decided that they would be responsible for security and stability in Afghanistan. That it was a NATO mission. So one of General McChrystal's hats is as the NATO commander in Afghanistan. So NATO has committed to this at the highest political levels...

COLLINS: But where are they?

MYERS: But they have not fulfilled all their pledges or they come to Afghanistan with such restrictive rules of engagement that they can't be very effective, leaving, you know, the real fighting to the Americans, the Canadians, the British, the French often are out there on the forefront of that as well, to some of the nations, but not all of them pull their own weight. And so I think that's part of President Obama's challenge is to try to convince NATO that they need to do more.

COLLINS: Yes. And those rules of engagement are at the crux of that issue.

MYERS: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Absolutely, as to what they can and cannot do, because of the ROEs.

Obviously, you were Joint Chiefs Chairman October 2001 to 2005. When you look back, it's eight years now, obviously, that we have been in Afghanistan, what do you see as the different troubling issues? The challenges.

Anything different now, or the same story?

MYERS: I think there's a lot different now. As I was leaving office, Afghanistan had essentially just adopted a constitution, elected a parliament. We had a president, President Karzai. All that was seen as legitimate. And the Taliban weren't very active. They weren't very aggressive.

What has changed between now and then is the Taliban has had a resurgence, and they're very aggressive as we know and very active in Afghanistan. And the Karzai government has, it seems, lost some credibility at least in perceptions through all of this. And so you mentioned at the head of this that they're going to probably go to have a runoff election for the presidency.

COLLINS: Right. It's a big deal.

MYERS: It's a big deal, and it's really important to do this right this time. So whatever president emerges, that that central government will look to have legitimacy because you can't be training Afghan forces that aren't connected with some kind of line right to a central government that gives them their mission and tells them why they're doing what they're doing.

COLLINS: And they believe in it.

MYERS: And they have to believe in it. Absolutely.

COLLINS: All right. Well, Richard Myers, as always we sure do appreciate your time. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

MYERS: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: Also the author of "Eyes on the Horizon." Thank you.

MYERS: Thank you.

COLLINS: One in every 136 American homes in foreclosure. Did you know that? Well, at this point, we can't just blame bad loans either.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking some of our top stories now.

Japan is being urged to sign the Hague convention on international child abduction. The treaty seeks to ensure custody decisions are upheld, no matter the country. Christopher Savoie, an American, was released yesterday after being accused of snatching his children from his ex-wife, who is Japanese. He was in a Japanese jail. She took them back to her homeland in January after the couple divorced.

President Obama wants his supporters to be patient and trust him. He's been accused, lately, of not fulfilling his campaign promises fast enough. At Democratic fund-raisers in California last night, the president said his critics seem to have forgotten the problems he inherited. He also pushed for health care legislation, saying reform will help millions of uninsured Americans.

Despite a loan modification program designed to keep people in their homes, foreclosure filings are at a record high.

As CNN's Casey Wian reports, there's a new key to homeowner delinquency. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another 937,000 homeowners were the target of foreclosure filings in the third quarter of this year, a 23 percent increase from the same period last year, and the highest quarterly number on record. Adjustable mortgages and other risky loans continue to be a concern, but rising unemployment among homeowners is quickly becoming the biggest problem.

RICK SHARGA, REALTY TRAK: We think sometime in 2010, the dynamic will shift and those types of foreclosure problems will actually be the primary reason for foreclosures. And as unemployment continues to increase, you're going to see a subsequent increase in the number of homes in foreclosure.

WIAN: California leads the way with more than a quarter of a million foreclosures. Nearly two-thirds of the national total were in six states, California, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan and Florida. In March the Obama administration launched a $75 billion program to encourage lenders to modify the terms of loans facing foreclosure. This month, officials announced the making home affordable program has helped more than half a million homeowners enroll in trial loan modifications.

But as of the end of September, only 16 percent of the more than 3 million eligible loans were participating in the government's program. Low-income housing advocates say the program needs more teeth.

TRAM NGUYEN, CALIFORNIA REINVESTMENT CONDITION: Ordinary Americans, ordinary homeowners they are really struggling. And meanwhile, the banks are already projecting this profitability. Yet they're not -- they're not turning around and helping, you know -- and doing what they said they would do in terms of participating in the government's modification program and helping the borrowers.

WIAN: Among the lenders with the largest number of customers facing foreclosure, CitiMortgage leads with 33 percent of loans undergoing trial modification, followed by JPMorgan Chase at 27 percent, Wells Fargo at 20 percent and Bank of America at just 11 percent.

The Mortgage Banker's Association defended its members, saying the government's program is just one tool lenders are using to help borrowers stay in their homes.

The Obama administration's Housing and Urban Development Secretary said last week, "We believe we are absolutely moving in the right direction, but we are nowhere near the finish line yet."

Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: It's open enrollment time at your job and as you go over the health plan options available to you, you're thinking, high deductible or low deductible? We could help you make up your mind, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's a time when many of you are going over your health care plan options for next year. Your employer may be pushing a high deductible plan, but is that really right for you?

Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is here now with some tips. So Gerri, as we're thinking about all this health care reform that's going to come way later, right now the question is what plan I'm going to pick for my open enrollment. Why are people drawn to these plans in the first place?

GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well to start with, these plans have bargain basement low monthly premiums. And again, we're talking about a specific kind of plan that a single person would contribute $438 annually to a high-deductible health insurance premium through their employer.

But a single person not using one of those plans would pay almost double that in a more conventional plan, $801; that's according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

So for young people who don't go to the doctor's office, you see why they would be attracted to these high deductible plans and employers love them because it shifts more of the health care cost burden onto consumers. About 75 percent now of companies have a high deductible health care option.

COLLINS: All right. Well, how does the high deductible plan actually work then?

WILLIS: Well, typically they have a high annual deductible as advertised...

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLINS: ... of 1,000 bucks. It could be $10,000 for family coverage; the higher the deductible the lower the monthly premium. Once you're deductible is reached, your plan kicks in and covers a percentage of your medical cost. It's usually paired with the health savings account. You put in those pretax dollars into the account asking your employer to offset the high deductible.

The money isn't taxed when you take it out for qualified medical -- expenses that is and next year as a single person you can contribute $3,050 to that and $6,150 for families.

If you leave your job you can usually just take this pot of money with you.

COLLINS: So does history show -- and I guess feedback from people who use these plans -- that it's a good idea?

WILLIS: Well, young people in particular are attracted to these plans as I said because they don't yet have chronic medical conditions and they probably don't even use their health insurance that much. You may want to take advantage of these plans if your employer contributes to the health savings account or you're self-employed and can benefit from the tax advantages of the HSA and certainly if it's the only plan you're offered you want to take advantage of it.

On the other hand if you have a chronic condition, you take a lot of medications, a high deductible plan won't be your ideal choice. If you're considering one of these plans, watch out for exclusions of pre-existing conditions...

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: ... in the policy because that is a very big problem. But for a lot of folks, I've got to tell you Heidi, this is probably not the right choice because you could be one illness or one visit to the emergency room away...

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: ... from really big costs.

COLLINS: Yes, scary.

All right. Gerri, I sure do appreciate that. Thanks for laying it out for us.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

COLLINS: There is an awful a lot going on this morning. We have crews in place to bring it all to you. We want to get a quick preview now. First to Pakistan and CNN's Reza Sayah -- Reza, good morning.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Pakistan sinks deeper into crises with another deadly suicide attack targeting a police station. Washington calls this country it's most important ally in the fight against extremism but does Pakistan have any answer for the militants? Heidi, we'll have that for you at the top of the hour.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where we watch to see if the DOW can end the week above 10,000. There's a big roadblock though. New earnings show people are having problems paying their bills. Heidi, more on that in the next hour.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. In the next hour I'll be tackling your H1N1 flu questions and concerns especially questions about the vaccine. Who needs it and do you want it? I'll be talking about that at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: All right great. Thank you guys.

Plus, who is behind the Dow's climb. Investors like you and me. Money expert Peter Morici has a few ideas of his own.

We'll talk with him here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMERICA FERRERA, ACTRESS: I'm America Ferrera. Don't miss "LATINO IN AMERICA" on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Civil rights advocates in Louisiana are calling for a white justice of the peace to step down because he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. The prospective groom is African-American and the bride to be is white. Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell told a local newspaper he has quote, "Concern for any children they may have" and he told the paper that quote, "Most interracial marriages don't last."

The groom has this reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERENCE MCKAY, GROOM: He's saying 99 percent of it wind up in divorce, but how many people get married and wind up in divorce, white or black.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Bardwell says he is not a racist, telling the Associated Press that he has quote, "piles of black friends." They come to his home and even use his bathroom.

Latinos, a minority population in America but one that's expected to nearly triple by the year 2050. Next week CNN takes an in-depth look at how Latinos will likely change this country and how the country has changed them.

Part of that special: Soledad O'Brien's compelling story of a Puerto Rican man who is pursuing the American dream and facing significant challenges along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Logs used as wheels

MEN: Logs used as wheels.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carlos Robles seems like the typical American until he opens his mouth.

CARLOS ROBLES, PUERTO RICAN: A horse drawn chariot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chariots.

O'BRIEN: This 29-year-old is taking English pronunciation classes at Valencia Community College in Orlando. He's hoping to reduce his Spanish accent.

When you came to Orlando, how did you think your English was?

ROBLES: Worse. Really worse.

O'BRIEN: Did you feel, did you know you couldn't speak English well?

ROBLES: Yes. I also cry in my bed because I can't have a conversation with the people so it was really bad.

This place like...

O'BRIEN: Carlos was born in Puerto Rico, an American territory whose residents are U.S. citizens. Spanish is the main language.

ROBLES: It's hard to understand the English.

O'BRIEN: In Puerto Rico he was a decorated police officer. Now he dreams of a job in Florida law enforcement but first he has to pass the sheriff's exam.

ROBLES: I failed the first one. But I don't think it's so hard the test. I can do it. Really I can.

O'BRIEN: Would knowing English better help you on the exam?

ROBLES: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Academy requirements, criminal justice chain of command, officer safety and response, community relations, intervention services...

ROBLES: Yes.

O'BRIEN: This looks hard. How many questions is it over how long?

ROBLES: 250 in four hours. I'm only more comfortable to the test now.

O'BRIEN: This time?

ROBLES: A little nervous, but I think I am ready.

O'BRIEN: When is the test?

ROBLES: Next week.

O'BRIEN: You've got a lot of pressure on you and basically a week to go.

ROBLES: That's right. I have to look forward.

O'BRIEN: Adding to that pressure, fatherhood. Carlos met Kayla a year ago. Now they're engaged and expecting a baby. Carlos Robles is unemployed, uninsured and still struggling with his English.

His future and now his family's future is in his hands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We're five days away from "LATINO IN AMERICA" a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America. CNN's two- night event takes place Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 p.m. Eastern. It will also be simulcast in Spanish on CNN Espanol.