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CNN Saturday Morning News
Northeast Expecting Scary Snowstorm Over Halloween Weekend; Deadly Suicide Bomber 13 U.S. Troops Killed in Attack on NATO Convoy in Afghanistan; NYC Trying to Dissuade Protestors; Herman Cain: 'In It to Win It'; Tech Solutions to Keep Kids Safe During Halloween; Billion Dollar Empty Home; Most Energy-Efficient States; One-Armed Wonder; Cardinals Win World Series; Global Population to Hit 7 Billion
Aired October 29, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's October 29th. Good morning everybody. I'm Alina Cho. T.J. Holmes is off.
And we begin with the crazy, snowy weather that's headed to the northeast, a classic nor'easter in October. We'll tell you how bad it will get and where.
And breaking news out of Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacks a NATO convoy in Kabul. We'll get a live report from the region in just a moment.
But first, cities throughout the northeast are getting ready for a major snowstorm. An October nor'easter is rare, not unprecedented, but rare. Here's a look at New York City right now. The rain is coming down. Three to five inches of snow is expected when it's all over.
The city is among those preparing for the early snow, and the Big Apple isn't alone. Snow is expected from Baltimore all the way to Boston. And here's what the radar looks right now. One of the biggest problems besides the snow is what happens next? And that's potential power outages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH GROSS, CONNECTICUT LIGHT & POWER: The trees. Still plenty of leaves on them. You have forecasters saying heavy, wet snow, high winds. Those are all the perfect ingredients for potentially a large problem with the electric grid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. We want to bring in our Alexandra Steele with a closer look at what we're expecting in the northeast. And boy, oh, boy, I just can't believe it. I can't wrap my head around this, Alexandra.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. It's unbelievable. As you said though, it is rare but it is not unprecedented because we have had it before. He made some really good points. Power outages will really be the big story tomorrow. Of course, New York, New England in full foliage. So all those leaves on the trees, heavy wet snow coming down coupled with 30 to 40-mile-per-hour winds, certainly that will be our story tomorrow.
So how rare is it? Well, it is certainly rare. You know, it's about a month and a half ahead of schedule in places like New York and Philadelphia. It's only snowed three times in October in New York City. And if it snows, which it will, today will be the first time since 1959, first snow since 1952 rather.
Boston, it's only snowed four times in October. We're talking measurable snow and in Boston on Thursday, there were some flakes., but (INAUDIBLE) flakes don't count. Measurable means a tenth or an inch more and we'll certainly see that.
Look at this blow by blow and show you the big cities and kind of how it will transpire. Wind and rain today, but it will mix with snow tonight. The snow forecast total expected, two to four inches. Heading farther north now to New York City, wind and rain today. It will mix with snow this evening, maybe about 5:00 or so, will taper off late tonight. No snow tomorrow.
Snow forecast, three to five. But as we head farther north and east in places like Boston, you'll see a few inches. But tomorrow morning you will see snow as well. And it won't wind down until a little later but then a fait accompli for everyone by tomorrow afternoon.
And here's the total, look at this, to give you a little perspective Philadelphia, we talked about, Allentown. So north and west of the big cities, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Allentown, over a foot. Yonkers even getting over seven inches. This is the computer model projection of the totals that we could see in addition to ours. Poughkeepsie, the Hudson Valley, the Berkshires, the Poconos, a foot in Hartford even.
So some incredible amounts of snow and really for Boston, the same scenario. Again, we will see snow tomorrow morning. So rare, no question about it. It is unbelievable in October. We've only seen measurable snow three or four times in places like Boston and New York.
CHO: I was just thinking, I got to pull my coats out of storage.
STEELE: That's right. But then you'll be able to put them back.
CHO: Alexandra, thank you very much.
Also in the path of the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters, they're camped out in parks in New York and elsewhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: We got sold out. Banks got bailed out. We got sold out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Protesters are vowing to ride out the storm and stay put no matter what the weather brings. Here's how Michael Moore described it to our Anderson Cooper last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: The snow and the winter is not going to stop the collective anger of tens of millions of Americans who have suffered as a result of the economic policies of corporate America. If you think of a little bit of snow or cold weather, I mean, I think it will only harden people's resolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: One problem facing the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators is the fact that police have removed power generators in New York that they said were unsafe. So what's that all about? We will have more on that story in 10 minutes.
Michael Jackson caused his own death. That's according to defense attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray. Their theory, that Jackson injected himself with the powerful drug Propofol while Dr. Murray wasn't around. On the stand, the key expert for the defense testified about the theory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PAUL WHITE, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: I cannot understand how it's possible that he got a three-hour infusion when the evidence didn't show the infusion setup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you think it was a self-injection of Propofol near the hour between 11:30 and 12:00 that did it?
WHITE: In my opinion, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Closing arguments in the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial could come as early as Tuesday.
I want to tell you more about that breaking news we told you about at the top of the hour from Afghanistan. We have seen a slew of attacks targeting international troops in the country. One of those was a suicide bomber in the center of the capital city of Kabul.
Our Nick Payton Walsh is live for us in Kabul right now.
Nick, tell us what happened.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It appears that a car bomb drove into a NATO convoy right here in the center of Kabul, the Afghanistan capital, killing we don't really know how many ISAF service members at this particular point. That's NATO troops. ISAF will only say several.
We do know from Afghan officials that four Afghan civilians were killed. That's two schoolchildren, a policeman and somebody on a motorbike simply passing by. But clearly here a very accurate, pinpointed attack on a NATO convoy on what's supposed to be one of the more secure parts of Afghanistan, Alina.
CHO: Nick, tell us about some of the other attacks that we've been hearing about this morning. There have been several, right?
WALSH: A slew of violence this morning, absolutely, one in the northeast of the country in Kunar (ph) province, a young woman in a burqa, we understand, detonated a suicide bomb attached, injuring some outside the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence services in Kunar.
But more significantly, two ISAF service members, that's NATO troops also killed in the south of the country today where, as we understand it from an Afghan army commander, a man in an Afghan army uniform turned his gun on these two NATO soldiers who were apparently training him, shooting two of them dead and injuring seven. Now, we understand from this Afghan army commander these two men were Australian, but ISAF while confirming these two deaths, don't discuss nationalities at this early stage -- Alina.
CHO: Nick Paton Walsh watching it all for us from Kabul, Nick, thank you very much.
The high tide rolling into Thailand right now could mean even more flooding and more damage in the capital city of Bangkok. Residents were urged to leave, but many of them stayed put. Many areas around the city are already under water. Nearly 400 people have died. Millions more forced from their homes.
Our Sara Sidner has this report from Bangkok.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This lady has told us that she has run out of money. She is afraid for the safety of her animals. These are her dogs. She's got a few rabbits there. And she's just trying to get them to higher ground. She's starting to become very, very worried. That's what's happening in a lot of this area. We are seeing some of the elderly people also getting into trucks that the army has brought and jumping in there because their homes are inundated with water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: This has been the worst flooding in Thailand in more than six decades.
Health officials in North Carolina suspect this year's state fair in Raleigh may have been the source of an e. Coli outbreak. There are 10 confirmed cases, another 16 under investigation. Four of the confirmed infections are children. Three of them had to be hospitalized. A spokesman for the fair say they are cooperating with health officials.
If you were among those who didn't stay up late last night, here's how it ended up. The St. Louis Cardinals are the World Series champions. They won game seven last night over the Texas Rangers, 6-2, to clinch their 11th title. The Cards got into the playoffs as a wild card team on the last day of the regular season. It definitely was the improbable. And as expected, there you see the fans celebrating, partying in the streets. The city will hold an official victory parade for the team tomorrow afternoon. As you can see, the fans aren't waiting, and hometown boy David Freese was named World Series MVP.
A big problem for "Occupy Wall Street" protesters, and this time the police may not be the biggest problem for the demonstrators. It could be the weather. We'll have details.
Plus kids are taking to the streets this weekend, begging for candy. We're talking about Halloween of course. But if you're worried for your kids' safety, we've got you some peace of mind. And guess what? You can get it on your smartphone. We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: We're six weeks into the "Occupy" protests that have sprung up across the United States and in some cities it's clear the protesters have overstayed their welcome. Take San Diego, for example. Yesterday police in riot gear cleared the protesters' tent city which was deemed an unlawful assembly. As many as 50 people were taken into custody.
A similar story in Nashville, Tennessee, where 26 people were arrested last night on charges of lacking required permits. We're told those charges were quickly dropped by a magistrate in night court.
And right here in Atlanta, protesters are playing a version of cat and mouse with police. They moved their encampment from the city's Woodruff park to the Martin Luther King Jr. national historic site after police began enforcing the park's hours of operation.
To where it all started, New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there are no plans to move the protesters out. But as our Mary Snow reports, police are cracking down in a different way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An unexpected wake-up call for "Occupy Wall Street" protesters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The city does not allow for the storage and use of generators and fuel in a manner that threatens public safety.
Reporter: New York City firefighters accompanied by police showed up to inspect and remove generators and fuel containers the city says are a fire hazard sitting among the hundreds of protesters camped out in New York's Zuccotti Park. Both the city and protesters say there was no resistance. But among people like Nicholas Isabella who shot this video, it's raised suspicions.
NICHOLAS ISABELLA, OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTER: I think that the city, while they publicly say that we are allowed to be here, internally they're trying to find ways to weed us out slowly and this is their way of doing that.
SNOW: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during an interview on WOR radio said the generators and containers are fire hazards that are against the law.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Our first two concerns, First Amendment and safety and this was safety.
SNOW: Protesters say they've taken precautions including fire extinguishers and question why the city acted now.
BILL DOBBS, OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTER: The timing is a little odd because it's the first cold day. It comes after a terrible, violent attack by law enforcement on "Occupy Oakland." Of course we're concerned, legitimately concerned because sometimes the explanation we're given in this city is not what's really going on.
SNOW: The move follows violence against demonstrators this week in Oakland, California. The mayor there has since apologized. In New York, the mayor says there's no plans to move protesters.
BLOOMBERG: The property is not city property. And so far Brookfield hasn't complained to us and asked us to remove people, so that's not a consideration.
SNOW: And then there's the weather factor. Protesters like Nicholas Isabella are bracing for cold weather and snow, vowing to stick through it. You don't see the cold weather affecting this at all?
ISABELLA: It will turn some people away. I'm not going to say everybody will still be here. But for the most part, we're not going to stop. It's not going to have a negative effect on us.
SNOW: And in another development here in New York, one union of the NYPD, the Sergeant Benevolence Association, pointed to recent violence at other "Occupy Wall Street" movements across the country, saying it will sue protesters if officers here get hurt.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: All right, Mary, thank you.
We've got more on the occupy protests coming up in just about 15 minutes. I'm going to talk with a member of the occupy Atlanta movement about their message.
Heading out on the campaign trail, it's a critical day in Iowa, but that's not where you'll find the front-runners, so where will they be? We'll tell you next.
And a puppy gets a brand-new lease on life. It's a story of survival you just won't want to miss. We'll have it for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHO: Welcome back.
Muffin mania may have been a bit overblown in Washington. The Department of Justice was blasted recently when a report came out - remember this -- saying they paid 16 bucks apiece for muffins at a conference back in 2009. It was seen as a major example of out-of- control spending. Now the inspector who did the report says they may have gotten it wrong.
The hotel provided new documents showing that the word "muffins" was used to describe the entire food spread. But they didn't say just how much the actual muffins cost. We're investigating.
Politics now. It's a big weekend for the Republican presidential candidates who are trying to get a foothold in those key early voting states. At least some of them are.
We get more now from CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Alina.
We're just 66 days away from the first votes in the race for the White House, but Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain won't be found this weekend in any of the states that vote first on the primary and caucus calendar.
Today, Cain finishes up two days of stumping in Alabama, which doesn't hold its contest till mid-March. The businessman and former Godfathers pizza CEO, he's surged in national and state polling over the past month, he says he's in it to win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not supposed to be running. I'm not supposed to win. And I'm not supposed to be standing up here with this hat on, but I'm doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Cain's also bringing in the bucks. His campaign told CNN they pulled in more than $3 million in fundraising this month. That's more than Cain raised in the entire third quarter.
Two other Republican candidates, Congressman Ron Paul and former Senator Rick Santorum are in Iowa today for a GOP straw poll in a state that votes first in the race for the White House. Texas Governor Rick Perry's wife is there as well. Yesterday the Texas governor was asked if he'll be skipping any of the upcoming debates as he's hinted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know whether or not we're going to forgo any of the debates or not. There's going to be a lot of debates and shoot, I may get to be a good debater before this is all over with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Perry made those comments yesterday in New Hampshire. That's where Jon Huntsman is today. He's spending just about all of his time in the first of nation primary state. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich makes the rounds in South Carolina today, the first southern state to vote -- Alina.
CHO: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much.
And checking stories making news across the country, a Coast Guard ship pulled into a Florida harbor with, guess what, seven tons of extra cargo on board. That would be cocaine. Found in a self-propelled sub off the coast of Honduras. The street value, about $180 million. Officials say it's the third such vessel they've intercepted since July.
It took firefighters in Orange County, California, 90 minutes to free a man who was stuck in a tree. Deputies found him in a hollowed-out trunk after hearing his screams for help. Officials say he climbed into a narrow hole near the base of the tree and managed to get his arms and head out. They say they don't know why he climbed into the tree in the first place, and neither do we.
And a beagle mix in New Jersey has a second chance at life. Daniel was scheduled to be euthanized with 17 other dogs. But when the workers opened the door, there he stood wagging his tail. And isn't he cute? He's now at a shelter waiting for the chance to be adopted.
Keeping kids safe this Halloween, there's an app for that. We're going to show you what's out there.
But first for some, it's all about getting the candy. But for others, cue the music, dressing up is the best part of Halloween. So which costumes are the most popular this year? Here are the top five for adults according to the National Retail Federation.
At number five, Batman. Four, zombie. Three, vampire. Two, pirate. And the number one costume for adults, witch.
After the break, we'll have the top five costumes for children.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Before the break, we showed you this year's five most popular Halloween costumes for adults. Well, now we have the top five costumes for kids. Again, according to the National Retail Federation, at number five, pumpkin. I was a pumpkin when I was 12.
Four, pirates. Three, Spider-Man. Two, witch. And number one, princess.
What the kids are wearing to what the comedians are saying, you know each time Halloween rolls around, the comedians come up with new material. Here's a couple of funny ones from late night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": The worst is when you run out of the candies.
But I've learned over the years, here's what you do, one year I gave out Sucrets. Kids don't know. They don't care.
When you have dinner at the Olive Garden, get a handful of those breath mints. You ever get the Chinese delivery, packets of soy sauce? Kids love those.
Tums. Last year -- and this was a big hit -- I passed out Lipitor. Oh, my gosh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": They had a survey of the scariest Halloween movies in the paper. Number one scariest movie, "The Exorcist." "Exorcist" was the scariest movie for women.
Scariest movie for men, "Eat, Pray, Love."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Many parents are looking for ways to make this scary holiday fun and safe, let's not forget safety for their children. The answer may be as close as your smartphone.
Technology analyst Daniel Sieberg has been a correspondent for CNN and CBS. Daniel, we miss you. He's the author of "The Digital Diet: The Four-Step Plan to Break Your Tech Addiction."
Do we really want to do that? He's also creator of the blog danielsieberg.com. All right Daniel, good morning. It's nice to see you. We want to start with safety. What are some of those good apps out there to keep kids safe?
DANIEL SIEBERG, AUTHOR, "THE DIGITAL DIET": Sure. It's all about balance, Alina, when we're talking about a digital diet, by the way.
Let's talk first about New York state, which has a Facebook app that allows you to look up registered sex offenders by typing in your zip code. This is a relatively new product that they've put out. But not the first time you can do this sort of thing.
On a national level, you can actually go to nsopw.gov. That's the national sex offender public website and do a similar thing, type in your zip code and find out who might be living in your neighborhood.
Now, the information varies depending on your jurisdiction. Not every state releases the same type of information. It may not be as up to date as you would like, but at least it's an option for parents knowing you're going to be in a particular neighborhood.
And an interesting app here, this is called Trick or Tracker, and this is for Android phones. The idea is you've got two Android phones, one for your child and one for the adult. Use a PIN code to sort of connect those phones so only those two phones can talk to each other. And you can track where your child goes in a particular neighborhood and see it on a map in real time.
CHO: I love this app.
SIEBERG: You can even set a particular neighborhood. You can set, a particular area where they can't go out of, and it will send you a text message to tell you they've wandered off somewhere. You can even get it to send you a text every 15 minutes just to watch where they are.
A lot of kids these days do have smartphones, especially teenagers, maybe the parents aren't with them. This is just a little bit of peace of mind. It's about $5, but it is free through Halloween.
CHO: That's nice. That's a nice little promotion. Probably worth it for Trick or Tracker.
Let's talk about the fun. There are lots of good apps out there to help you with costumes, with pumpkin design. What have you got there?
SIEBERG: Yes. There's all sorts of things, themes, wallpapers for your smartphones. This one in particular is all about finding the best costume for your child. This is a dilemma from my wife and I at the moment. We still don't know what our daughter's going to wear. She's not quite a year. You can see a whole list of different costumes here.
Once you decide maybe you want to check one out, you can e-mail the choice to a friend or family member maybe to get their opinion on it. You can even order it right there on the website.
They do say that it's guaranteed delivery by Monday which would be critical to have your Halloween costume. But lots of choices there, just a fun way to sort of see what might work for your child.
CHO: Daniel, the breaking news is that you guys had a daughter. I did not know that. Congratulations.
SIEBERG: Well, not quite breaking news, but yes. That's definitely news for some people.
CHO: Breaking news for me. Congratulations. You know what? She doesn't care. She doesn't know.
SIEBERG: Exactly. Parents have fun with it.
CHO: That's right. That's right. All right. Daniel, good to see you.
Massive snowstorm set to slam much of the U.S. northeast. The headaches and early nor'easter like this can bring just ahead in our top stories.
Plus, a volatile week for the occupy protests across the country. I'm going to talk with a member of the "Occupy Atlanta" movement about their message and what they're going to do next when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back. I'm Alina Cho. T.J. Holmes is off today. And thanks for starting your day with us.
Checking our "Top Stories" now.
The northeast is getting ready for an early, big dose of snow with a rare October Nor'easter heading that way. Utility companies are preparing for possible outages. As many as 60 million people could be impacted.
Another bloody day already in Afghanistan. A suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy leaving four coalition soldiers dead. The interior ministry also says a gunman disguised in an Afghan army uniform shot and killed two coalition service members today.
And attorneys defending Dr. Conrad Murray get their star witness to suggest that Michael Jackson likely died quickly after injecting himself with the drug Propofol. Closing arguments in the trial are expected early next week.
Want to get more on the big snowstorm that's set to slam the northeast, as she said. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is tracking it all in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Snow is already falling near Washington.
STEELE: Absolutely. West of town, so the storm is a coming. You know, it's certainly rare, but we certainly have seen it before. So it is not unprecedented. So where did this nor'easter come from? Certainly more indicative of winter than fall.
Well, here's a look at the current forecast map just to give you a little perspective. Here's this area of low pressure we're watching. This is the nor'easter moving.
But you know this storm has had a lot of history of snow. It brought snow to Texas, and then before that, remember you've got snow and brought all that snow to Colorado. So it's kind of zoomed across the southern tier of the country. And garnered energy moved up the coast counter-clockwise winds around it now bringing in colder air. The moisture is there, the cold air is getting there. For some it's there with snow not yet for some. That's why we're still seeing some rain.
But here's the computer model look. You can see a little perspective of where we are. Here's Washington. Of course there's the north east. And it this purply color is all 10-plus inches. So it's really north and west of all the big cities. That's where the greatest accumulation totals will be.
You could see 12 inches in Allentown. Philadelphia, we'll talk about your forecast and time it out. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, New York, even Yonkers getting some snow, maybe up to seven inches. But really the balance of the snow, who will see the greatest accumulations, Poughkeepsie, over a foot'; Hartford and Springfield, so those interior areas.
Let me time it out for you New York City, windy and rainy today, but it will mix with some snow this evening. Snow tapers off late tonight, a fait accompli tomorrow. You'll see two to four inches by the time (INAUDIBLE) 7:00 down tomorrow morning.
Boston: windy and rainy today. It will turn to snow tonight, a little later than New York City. It will snow early tomorrow morning. Forecast for you, two to four inches as well.
So kind of the keys on this, the 411 of this storm, heavy, wet snow, 30 to 40-mile-per-hour winds that is the recipe for power outages aplenty. And we will certainly see that tonight. The strongest winds will be right along the coast. And again, 60 million impacted in one way or another with winds, rain or snow.
So we've got a big 36 to 48 hours ahead -- Alina.
CHO: Oh, boy. You'll be watching it all for us, Alexandra, thank you very much.
STEELE: Sure, yes.
CHO: Now to our other top story. Police have been removing Occupy protesters from public spaces in several cities this week. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: There you see the scene in Oakland, California. Police fired tear gas at protesters after authorities say the crowd threw paint and other objects at officers.
And in Atlanta, police arrested more than four dozen protesters after they refused to leave a downtown park.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was asked on CNN to respond to critics who say he was too harsh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASIM REED, MAYOR ATLANTA: I respond that we kept everyone safe, and that was my number one priority. We had protests for three weeks. And we have not had any injuries in the city of Atlanta. We've not used tear gas. We've not used mace. We've not used overly aggressive tactics. We arrested 52 individuals. None of them were harmed. And they were released on signature bonds under 30 hours.
So I think that we've acted in a manner that's consistent with our best values. With regard to criticism, it comes with the job. So it probably means we got it as close to as right as we could.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHO: I'm joined now by someone who has been speaking for the Occupy Atlanta Movement. Jim Nichols, we talked to you when the protests first started in Atlanta. You heard the mayor of Atlanta speaking there. What's your response to him -- to what he said?
JIM NICHOLS, OCCUPY ATLANTA: Well, I think that -- that the Occupy Movement at large is really more than just what's going on in Atlanta and some of the other occupations that have had these issues. I think Occupy is about the Wall Street crimes. And so when the top one percent has seen the increase in their income from 1979 to 2000 go up 275 percent and then we watch, you know, everyday working people see their incomes fall, people are losing jobs. Here in Atlanta, we've led the nation in job loss last year.
Occupy is about people all across this country speaking out and saying that our political system is broken, and the Wall Street crimes are unacceptable and that our political leaders have failed to do anything, and we're speaking out about it.
CHO: That's a -- yes. And I hear you saying that and talking about that. And -- and what that says to me is yes, it all sounds good.
It's pretty general. You know, we've been hearing so much about the 99 percent of the protesters being so mad at the one percent at the top. But what's the solution, then?
NICHOLS: Well, I mean, it's pretty general. This is a democratic movement. I mean, there are no spokespeople. I'm not a spokesperson. I'm just a person involved. And all across --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: But what got you so mad that you wanted to get involved?
NICHOLS: There is a great need for everyday citizens to get back involved in the political process. So at a number of the protest events here in Atlanta, I mean every day people are coming together, they're meeting, they're networking, they're building skill sets and -- and learning to engage others and start -- start that discussion about how we begin to reform this.
CHO: You are a high school dropout who recently decided to further your education at the age of 30, you said?
NICHOLS: Thirty-one.
CHO: Thirty-one. So you're back in college. You're also loading trucks for UPS when you can to make some money. What is it about your -- your personal situation, or is there something about your personal situation that really inspired you to get out there? NICHOLS: Well, I mean, I look at some of my co-workers who are getting up at 4:00 in the morning loading trucks for a few hours and then they go to their second job. And they're playing by the rules. They're working hard, and they're struggling.
I've been privileged with an opportunity to go back to school. I've been privileged with good benefits because I'm in a union. And the fact that, you know, some of my cohorts at school are -- are being swallowed whole by debt at 19, 20 years old and have no jobs to go out to.
So I think that, you know, those of us who are privileged to get involved and have some extra time to try to engage everyday people are -- are able to give something back. Because everyday working-class Americans don't have the time to go out and protest and don't have the time to stay as engaged in -- in many of the complex issues that are going on that politicians can just give talking points and platitudes to.
CHO: And we've got to go but just very quickly I want to ask you. You know they've spread to nearly 100 countries, so many cities across the globe. Has that surprised you?
NICHOLS: Not at all. People -- human beings want dignity and respect, and they want to be able to govern themselves. And being participants rather than just spectators is something that is common to all human beings.
CHO: Well, we aren't going to forget those pictures of Occupy protesters around the world for a very long time. So Jim Nichols, I thank you so much for coming in, waking up early and joining us.
NICHOLS: Not a problem.
CHO: Thanks so much.
Life imitating art in India; he's now got a million reasons to celebrate. We'll tell you how a popular rags-to-riches story on the big screen just became a real-life story.
And how can a house in Mumbai that cost $1 billion to build -- yes, that's it there -- have no one sleeping in it because of the lighting? We're going to go to India next in our "Morning Passport."
CHO: And waiting for the world to change, we are counting down until Monday when the global population is expected to reach a new high. Just how high? We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Perhaps the most expensive house in the world is empty because of lighting? Nadia Bilchik is here to tell us about that in just a minute.
But first, you know I saw the movie "Slum dog Millionaire." Of course we both loved it. But of course, it's much better when it happens in real life, and it did.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: In real life, isn't it, Alina?
CHO: Amazing.
BILCHIK: Yes. To Sushil Kumar this week in India, he won $1 million in the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"
CHO: That's incredible, he must be smart.
BILCHIK: And this is a guy who's mid-20s who's a clerk.
CHO: Wow.
BILCHIK: He's an administrative assistant earning very little, and he now has $1 million. There he is. And you're going to see him shortly with one of India's most famous actor Amitabh Bachchan. So there they are and suddenly famous and very rich. But I wanted to tell you that -- there doesn't he look happy, smiling away.
But another story in India that really caught our attention was, as you said, this billion-dollar home which is empty. And it is owned by a petrochemical billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
CHO: I've read about this. Apparently they throw parties there, though, every now and then.
BILCHIK: Correct.
CHO: But there's nobody living in it, right?
BILCHIK: They are not living there because, reportedly, the Vastu Shastra which is the Hindu version of Feng Shui is not correct. The idea is -- and there you are looking at the 27-story building. Now, it's much more complete than some of these pictures. These were taken a few months ago.
CHO: I mean with all due respect, it cost $1 billion and that's what it looks like?
BILCHIK: Well, it doesn't look like that now. You're seeing it in construction.
CHO: Ok, all right.
BILCHIK: But a couple of things that they're saying about Vastu or the Vastu Shastra not being correct is it's supposed to face the sunrise, and there are not enough windows on the east side.
CHO: Yes.
BILCHIK: And the whole idea of Vastu is to have directional alignment, how the laws of nature affect a human dwelling. And you have to capitalize on the air flow.
CHO: They didn't figure that out beforehand?
BILCHIK: Exactly, Alina. Come on he's a billionaire. He's on "Forbes" nine or ten richest list. You would have they would have -- but here's the scoop, here's the real story. The real story is his father died, leaving the fortune to Mukesh Ambani and his brother. And apparently he won't move into the 27-story home until his mother does. And his mother's not going to move in until both her sons reconcile.
CHO: Yes, there's been a fight about the money, right?
BILCHIK: That's the real story, correct. But right now I want to tell you they're living in a 14-story, much more modest home.
CHO: Of course.
BILCHIK: Because the 27-story is going to have three helicopter pads, floating gardens, endless ballrooms so --
CHO: We all need three helicopter pads.
BILCHIK: Exactly.
CHO: You never know.
BILCHIK: So that's happening in Mumbai; so when they do move in, hopefully we'll get some of pictures of the gold fittings and the marble staircases. I mean, how do you spend billion --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside. Nadia Bilchik, thank you very much.
A new way to fly that grew out of a seed of an idea. It could become a valuable tool for troops at war. We'll tell you how it works next.
But first, traditionally California has been on the cutting edge of being green. But did you know it's no longer the country's most energy-efficient state? After four years, there's a new number one in energy efficiency. So can you guess which state is at the top of the list? It may surprise you. It did me. We'll tell you next.
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CHO: Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
Before the break, we asked you what state replaced California as the most energy-efficient state this year? Well, guess what; it's Massachusetts; this according to the American Council for an Energy- Efficient Economy. California dropped to number two followed by New York and Oregon.
Well, as leaves begin to fall, many of us look for our rakes. But the robotics lab -- yes the robotics lab of Lockheed Martin found an engineering marvel in this fall chore. Our Reynolds Wolf has this story in this week's "Start Small, Think Big."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill Borgia finds inspiration from above.
BILL BORGIA, LOCKHEED MARTIN: You think of maple seeds, how they fall from the tree every year. They start to generate lift as they spin and as they come down from the tree.
WOLF: It's a natural way to fly that's being used in a new way. A single-bladed copter called samurai.
BORGIA: It has a propeller to provide power. It has a flap for control.
WOLF: Tiny sensors and software algorithm give Samurai the ability maintain flight by itself. The operator just tells it where to go.
BORGIA: All the complexity of the system resides within the software that's implemented to control samurai. We can build these very small, or we can build these very large. And we can adapt to those users' needs.
WOLF: But the main use is surveillance.
BORGIA: Think of a soldier operating in an urban environment or a police officer who wants to follow a criminal. Or they could be used in disaster relief to get a bird's-eye view of the situation.
WOLF: Bill sees this as the future.
BORGIA: If we can learn how to control mechanically simple devices like Samurai, we can leverage that technology to provide a whole new level of intelligence to robotic systems.
WOLF: It all started with just a seed of an idea.
Reynolds Wolf, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And we have this breaking news just in to CNN from our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon who has just confirmed from U.S. military officials that at least 13 U.S. troops were killed in Kabul, Afghanistan today when a suicide bomber struck a vehicle in a military convoy. It's one of several attacks.
This official emphasized to Barbara that these are first reports of the incident, and details are continuing to unfold. We will have much more in a live report from Kabul at the top of the hour.
Meanwhile, coming up, it was quite a journey getting there. This is a big story. But the St. Louis Cardinals are now the World Series champs. We'll have much more when we come back.
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CHO: Welcome back.
Joe Carter from HLN sports joining me to break down this weekend's sports highlights.
And the St. Louis cardinals, boy, two games ago, we didn't think it was going to happen. And then all of the sudden they pulled it out. I have to say, I was rooting for the Texas Rangers. They had never won a World Series before.
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Yes. Yes, I think a lot of people out there like -- I think a lot of people out there felt the same way. But great choice, by the way, audio person on the music because it is time to celebrate if you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan because really this was one of the most remarkable turnaround seasons in baseball history.
If you watched the Cardinals who, in late August, essentially left for dead; they were 10 and a half games out of the wild card. They were given a less than 5 percent chance of making the playoffs. Then they got hot. Good pitching and good hitting in October. Made the playoffs on the very final day of the season and as the underdogs in the playoffs, they beat the favored Phillies, they beat the favored Brewers and then, of course, they beat the favored Rangers.
You spoke of Thursday night. This team was down to their final strike twice, twice in Game six. 24 hours later, they pull of one of the most improbable runs in baseball history. It is the franchise's 11th World Series title. Only the Yankees have more World Series wins.
And then you've got great backstories like David Freese, third baseman, named series MVP. He went to high school in St. Louis 20 miles away from Busch Stadium.
CHO: He's a hometown boy, right.
CARTER: Now hometown hero. So a great story.
And a not-so-great story is what's going in the National Basketball Association.
CHO: This is unbelievable.
CARTER: Players and owners still fighting, still locked out, still can't figure how to get this deal done. The commissioner, David Stern, said Friday they are going to cancel the first four weeks of the season. They are gone. That means all games in the month of November are gone. These guys have met 11 times for a lot of hours and still no deal. And there's no new meetings set.
CHO: What is the biggest sticking point?
CARTER: The contention is split over revenue. The owners want 50/50; the players 52/48, they want more revenue.
CHO: All right. Joe Carter, thank you so much.
We're continuing to get more information on our breaking news story. Thirteen U.S. troops killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. We will go live to Kabul. We will also get our Barbara Starr from the Pentagon on the phone for us for the latest on this story when we come back.
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CHO: We are following breaking news here at CNN. Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed in an attack in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacked a convoy in Kabul. We are working on this story with all of our global resources and our Nick Paton Walsh will be live from Kabul at the top of the hour.
On Monday, the global population is expected to hit 7 billion people, 7 billion. But what does it mean to have 7 billion people on the planet? A CNN iReporter tries to put it all in perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY GONZALES, IREPORTER: How much is 7 billion? They said that we need eight glasses of water each day for optimal health. In a year, we consume about 2,920 glasses of water. Therefore we need to live about 2.4 million years to consume 7 billion glasses of water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The rise in global population means at least 7 billion people are all sharing the world's resources. And as you can imagine, that puts a lot of pressure and strain on the planet. CNN's Jim Clancy has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: October 31st, 2011. That's the date the U.N. says the 7 billionth person will be born on earth, 7 billion. That's a crowded planet.
JEFFREY SACHS, DIRECTOR OF EARTH INSTITUTE: It took only 12 years to go from 6 billion to 7 billion. And it's expected to take maybe another 14 years to go to 8 billion. So the trajectory is still rising quickly.
CLANCY: Sachs says all those people mean more demands for food, more stresses on the land and more loss of water. But that's not the biggest problem.
SACHS: The big problem is that in the poorest countries, families are still having six, seven or eight children. That's what's putting this tremendous growth of population continuing because in the high-income countries, fertility rates have come down to two children on average, or even less.
CLANCY: This map shows you birth rates across the world. Multiple births above five are centered in Africa. Most lower birth rates are in developed countries. Dr. Sachs says rapid population growth in poor countries often creates conflict and political stress at borders.
And on top of that, cultural values and available health care in developing countries creates a barrier to proper birth control.
Jim Clancy, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: Dr. Sachs also as an in-depth article on the 7 billion mark and what it could mean for the planet. You can check it out at CNN.com/opinion.
