from cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning." it's october 29th. good morning. i'm ailelina cho. 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. >> 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. >> all right. we want to bring in our alexander 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. >> it's unbelievable. as you said, it's rare but not unprecedented because we have had it before. he made some good points. power outages will be the big story tomorrow. of course, new york, new england in full foliage. to all those leaves on the trees, heavy 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. on thursday, they had some flurries. measurable means one-tenth or more. let me show you how it will tran spire. wind and rain today. the snow forecast total expected, two to four inches. heading farther north 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 boston, you'll see a few inches. tomorrow morning you will see snow as well. and it won't wind down until a little later but then a fait accompli for tomorrow afternoon. philadelphia, we talked about, allentown, lancaster, pennsylvania, allentown, over a foot. yonkers even getting over seven inches. this is the computer model projection of the totals we could see in addition to ours. poughkeepsie, the hudson valley, the berkshires, the poconos, a foot in hartford even. some incredible amounts of snow and really for boston, the same scenario, 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. >> i was just thinking, pull my coats out of storage. >> that's right. but then you'll be able to put them back. >> 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. >> we got sold out. >> banks got bailed out. >> we got sold out. >> 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. >> 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. >> 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 ten 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. >> i cannot understand how it's possible that he got a three-hour infusion when the evidence didn't show the infusion setup. >> so you think it was a self-injection of propofol near the hour between 11:30 and 12:00 that did it? >> in my opinion, yes. >> closing arguments in the conrad murray manslaughter trial could come as early as tuesday. i juan 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. up with 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. >> reporter: it appears that a car bomb drove into a nalt toe convoy right here in the center of kabul, the afghanistan capital, killing we don't know how many isaf forces, they say several. we do know that four afghan civilians were killed, 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. >> tell us about some of the other attacks we've been hearing about this morning. there have been several, right? >> a slew this morning, absolutely, one in the northeast of the country, a young woman in a burqa, we understand, detonated a suicide bomb injuring some outside the headquarters of the afghan intelligence services. more significantly, two 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 does not confirm nationalities at this early hour. alina? >> nick paton walsh, thank you very much. the high tide rolling into thailand 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 seidner has this report from bangkok. >> reporter: 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. >> 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 ten 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 dempon straight demonstrators. it could be the weather. this weekend, kids begging for candy, we're talking about halloween. if you're worried for your kids' safety, we've got some peace of mind. and guess what? you can get it on your smartphone. we'll tell you. stomers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. get your cash back! oh, hi. which cash back booth looks better to you, chase freedom or the largest cashback card? oh, i'll try the largest. oh, that is too bad. apparently you don't know chase freedom guarantees you 1% cash back. 4 times more than the largest cash back card, which only gives you a quarter percent until you spend $3,000 every year. but have fun. bob and weave once you're in there. don't get short changed. get your cash back. chase freedom. 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. >> reporter: an unexpected wake-up call for occupy wall street protesters. >> 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. >> 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. >> reporter: michael bloomberg during an interview on the radio says the generators are fire hazards that are against the law. >> our first two concerns, first amend mtd and safety, this was safety. >> reporter: protesters say they've taken precautions including fire extinguishers and question why the city acted now. >> the timing is odd. 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 explanations we're given in this city is not what's really going on. >> reporter: 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. >> 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. >> reporter: 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? >> 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 start. it's not going to have a negative effect on us. >> reporter: 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. >> 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. welcome back. muffin mania may have been a bit overblown in wash waington. a report came out saying they paid 16 bucks apiece for muffins back at a conference 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 got continue 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 steinhouser. >> reporter: good morning, alina. we're just 66 days away from the first votes in the race for the white house, but republican presidential canned date herman cain won't be found in any of the states that vote first on the primary and caucus calendar. he finishes up two days of stumping in alabama which doesn't hold its contest till mid-march. he surged in polling over the last month says he's in it to win it. >> 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. >> reporter: cain's also bringing in the bucks. his campaign told cnn they pulled in more than $3 million in this month, more than he raised in the entire third quarter. two other candidates, ron paul and former senator rick santorum are in iowa for a straw poll in a state that votes first for the white house. texas governor rick perry's wife is there as well. yesterday he was asked if he'll be skipping any of the upcoming debates. >> i don't know if we're going to forgo any of the debates. shoot, i may get to be a good debater before this is all over with. >> reporter: perry made those comments yesterday in new hampshire where jon huntsman is today. he's spending about all of his time there. newt gingrich makes the round in south carolina, the first southern state to vote. alina? >> all right. paul steinhauser, thank you very much. 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 holl 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. 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. life insurance companies treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number. aviva is here to change all that. we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details. 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, pirate. 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. >> 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 sucmerets. they don't know. on your way out of the olive garden. you ever get the packets of chinese soy sauce? kids love those. tums. last year -- and this was a big hit -- i passed out lipitor. oh, my gosh. >> no kidding? >> 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." 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 man to break your tech addiction." do we really want to do that? he's also creator of the blog danielsieberg.com. good morning. nice to see you. we want to start with safety. what are some of those good apps to keep kids safe? >> 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