what's the big news in priority mail flat rate boxes and envelopes from the postal service?

right now on cnn, a vacation nightmare. a resort hotel blows up. people are dead. the pictures from the scene are really unbelievable. what caused this catastrophic explosion? a basketball great opens up about his fight with a deadly disease. it's already killed two members of his family. now he wants to make sure it

doesn't happen to you or your family. are you off this thanksgiving or christmas? if you aren't, you could blame your co-workers with kids. is that fair? it's parents versus the childless on the job. we're going to begin tonight with a developing story. a missing ohio teen has been found, found and gagged in the basement of her home in suburban columbus. the girl's mother, brother, and her family friend are still missing. early this morning a police s.w.a.t. team moved into the residential neighborhood of mt. vernon, ohio. a neighbor describes what he heard. a police officer tells us what they found. >> the s.w.a.t. team came and then the blast i heard, there was -- a blast at the door and went in and, you know, i heard the guy was sleeping on the couch and they found one of the girls that was missing tied up down in the basement. >> we have located and rescued 13-year-old sara maynard at approximately 8:00 a.m. this morning.

>> the girl was take on the hospital for evaluation. that man was taken into custody. an entire community has been frantically searching for the missing family and their friend since they went missing on wednesday. this story, as we said, is still developing. we have a reporter who's on the scene of this bizarre missing persons story. he is gather ing some details fr us and will join me soon here on cnn. near cancun, mexico, at least seven people including a child were killed today by a powerful blast at a caribbean resort. another 20 people were hurt including two americans. mexican authorities say the explosion appeared to be caused by a gas leak possibly a stove. the resort is the grand riviera princess on the yucatan peninsula. a british couple is savoring their freedom tonight after more than a year under the control of pirates. paul and rachel chandler landed in kenya today one year and three weeks after somali pirates kid named them from their yacht. the couple had just left the

island. the family will not speak about the details of how the chandlers were freed but somali elders tell cnn a $750,000 ransom was paid. the pirates initially demanded $7 million. , you know, there's no way to really sugar coat it. it is difficult. difficult decisions are on the horizon if the u.s. is going to deal with the national debt. this week president obama's bipartisan deficit commission released some draft recommend dags for doing it. it is not the final report, but there was something for everyone to disagree with. a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts. the battle extended to the sunday talk shows today with republican senator john cornyn only backing the proposed cuts and commission member senator kent conrad warning that won't be enough. >> a certain amount of this is shock therapy. you know, there are different options and of course what everybody has fastened out of most extreme of the options. but, look, the important thing for people to know is we are borrowing 40 cents of every

dollar we spend. that's utterly unsustainable. >> i don't think it's a question of are the american people taxed enough or should they be taxed more. we ought to be looking at spending cuts. i mean, the problem that most families and businesses have when there's only so much revenue coming in the door, they have to trim their expenditures. that's what the federal government ought to be doing rather than looking for ways to grow the government and grow the tax burden and discourage job creation. >> well, president barack obama gets to spend his first night in the white house in ten days. he returned home today after a lengthy tour through asia. now, in his absence, his predecessor, outbound, released his memoirs. we've been hear act it. it's got people talking about the leadership styles of both men. check out this exchange between bill maher and our joan jessica yellin on hbo. shoo when i look at obama, he looks like a broken man. i saw bush say you didn't apologize for t.a.r.p. he said, yeah, it was unpopular, it was the right thing to do.

>> but, you know, as much as it seems on the surface that bush and obama are very different, they have in some ways very similar leadership qualities. >> okay. very similar leadership qualities. let's bring in cnn's political editor mark preston. mark, jessica is not the only person to say that about this comparison between president bush and president obama. some might equate bush's push to war with obama's push for health care, mark. >> yeah, sure. but, look, when you're the president of the united states, you have to make tough decisions, you have to lead in a way that is not necessarily going to make everybody happy. we saw that during president bush's tenure, and we're seeing that right now with president obama. you know, don, a lot can be said about his leadership. when i say "his," president obama's leadership, over the past couple years. one thing you can say about him, he got pretty much everything through that he wanted to get through. >> mm-hmm. let's move on an talk about congress because congress is going to return tomorrow. we've been talking about it since the midterms. it's going to be a lame-duck session. what are the priorities here? and might the priorities here be

overshadowed by congressman rangel? >> sure. let's start off with congressman rangel first. we are going to have the ethics trial. we'll start tomorrow here in washington, d.c. and it all centers around 13 violations that are alleged against the congressman from new york, the very powerful congressman from new york, namely on whether he misused his office to raise money for a center that would bear his name at a university or college in new york city. in addition to that, not reporting tax income on a vacation rental property. interestingly enough, congressman rangel headed the main tax committee. so that will of course be front and senter tomorrow. but in addition to that, all of the policy things that need to be taken care of, congress -- >> can we stop and talk about the rangel thing? the interesting thing is rangel is saying he doesn't have the money to afford representation. that's a thing that people are concerned about here. >> sure. but also he's going to be representing himself in front of a body of his peers, so to speak. so, you know, i think charlie

rangel is bright enough and smart enough and savvy enough to be able to get himself through this trial. he doesn't seem to have the money to pay for a lawyer to be by his side, but you know something, i suspect there will be one with him. >> i digress. i interrupted you. you were talking about the priorities for next week. >> yeah. get out your pen and a piece of paper. it's unbelievable what you have to get done. freshmen who have just won, they're coming in town for their orientation. you have the leadership elections around the democratic caucus and whether nancy pelosi will or will not be the leader of the democratic party. she will be the leader even though there is some pushback. but policywise, they have to pass a spending bill that will keep the government running. right now a temporary measure expires at the beginning of december. so they need to do that. the bush tax cuts, will they compromise? we saw president obama on his way back talked about the need for compromise anyway from republicans. will there be a compromise on that? of course there's the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. will there be a way to try to

de-escalate a little bit op the nuclear weapons stockpiles between us and russia? a whole heck of a lot on the table, don. >> mark preston, thank you involve. we appreciate your reporting tonight from washington. our top story this hour, the missing persons case turned possible kidnapping. a little girl found bound and gagged in her basement. her mother, brother, and a family friend haven't been seen since wednesday. more answers coming up. that reporter who i told you is gathering information will join us. the parental divide in the office. should workers with kids get unspoken special privileges over those without kids? some say it happens, a lot. we're debating that issue. and we want you to be part of this show tonight, be a part of the conversation. look at your screen. that's how you can get in touch with us. some of your comments will make it on.

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more of this developing story we've been telling you about out of ohio, our lead story tonight. a missing teen has been found, bound and gagged in the basement of a home in suburban columbus. a police s.w.a.t. rescued 13-year-old sara maynard in an early morning raid. the girl's mother, her brother and a family friend still missing. police arrested 30-year-old matthew hoffman on kidnapping charges. we're going to find out more on this case. joining us now from howard, ohio, is reporter jason fraser. jason is with our affiliate there wbns. jason, what's the latest? there was a raid early this morning. do we know what brought police to this home? >> reporter: yeah. police are being tightlipped about what led them to this particular location right now. they do tell us that the man, mr. hoffman, does have a connection with the victim, sara maynard.

they did tell us that at at some point he entered in the maynard residence, but they're not telling us whether or not he was a boyfriend or had a relationship with the mother of that teen that was found here. >> okay. p the motivation here, we don't know was the motivation just for the teen, to get this young girl or was it -- did he have some beef with the family? do we know any of that? >> reporter: at this point, no. they're still investigating why she ended up at this location. >> okay. and what about family members? they're still missing. anyone have any idea -- i know you said they're being tightlipped, but to find her and have an entire family missing, one would come to the conclusion, i don't know for sure, that this man had something to do with the disappearance of this family as well. >> reporter: right. at this point, they are still interviewing him at the local jail. they have not told us whether or not he has given them any

information about where the other flee people are. at this point, they're not even sure he had anything to do with the other three people, but we're hoping to find out something tomorrow at a news conference at 2:00 p.m. >> they have been searching for them. jason fraser, thank you, with our affiliate wbns in ohio. we'll continue to follow this story. it is a 13-year-old girl, she went missing, found in the basement of a home this morning. the girl's mother, brother, and a family friend still missing at this hour. we'll continue to update this story on cnn. let's move on now. one police officer called the scene devastating. a deadly accident involving more than a dozen motorcyclists. the pictures are unbelievable. and it's a teacher, a therapist, eve an workout partner. it's also a robot. we'll introduce you to your instructor in the classroom of the future. ill sergeant make a terrible therapist? patient: and that's why yellow makes me sad. i tnk.

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severe weather thing and see the little snowflakes in there, you know jacqui jeras or one of our meteorologists is going to talk about snow. it's pretty to look at, jacqui, but not always good for everyone. >> i know. there are a lot of people suffering because of the snowstorm in minnesota. yesterday, even though it's wind do you think today. let's showing you some of the pictur pictures. the reason they're suffering, people without power. just checked xcel energy's website and there are about 5,000 people in the twin cities metro area that still need to get their power restored. you can see at the height of the storm about 60,000 people. so they've been making a lot of progress, still working on, that but with temperatures in the 30s, dipping down into the 20s tonight, not a lot of fun for you folks. so take it easy and try and stay warm and be really careful if you're trying to use generators or anything like that. now, the storm system is moving off to the east and there's not a lot of snow left with it. northern wisconsin, chicago, the u.p. of michigan, rain showers moving in, but as temperatures drop down tonight, moisture in

place after midnight, expect to see a little sleet mixed in. we have a cold front making its way across the eastern u.s. it's not doing too much, just light rain showers, a couple isolated thunderstorms. but on the tail end of this front, we're going to get an area of low pressure doping and that's going to be the big storm system as we head into the workweek ahead, especially for the southeast and eventually this whole thing is going to ride on up the coast. we don't think it's going to be a nor'easter right now. the best estimate is it will be an inland track so more of a rain event than anything else, maybe a little snow in the northeast on the backside of the storm system. this is actually good news unless you're traveling. it will be a headache in atlanta tomorrow, as well as nashville, memphis, maybe raleigh, into charlotte. but we've had some extreme drought conditions across the southeast. take a look at the drought monitor. there you can see in the red areas really, really extreme conditions. they need this rain, don so, a little good news for you. >> yep. we like good news. wrapping a little rainbow on that. thank you, jacqui jeras. appreciate it. listen, a robot, a teaching

robot, could be the next big thing in education. pay attention to this. it can act as an instructor or eve an therapist. researchers at the university of southern california are testing a robot that's already being used to help children with autism. cnn's rob marciano is on the edge of discovery. >> reporter: could this face inspire learning? researchers at usc think so. designed with kid friendly features like big eyes and the ability to blow bubbles, this robot named bandit is a magnet for children. >> kids get really excited and get very motivated. we can use it for motivating exercise, for motivating doing homework, for motivating studying, for learning social behavior. we hi of robots as social integrators. if you put a robot on a playground, a lot of kids flock to it and play with it. >> it's a guided by artificial intelligence software like

motion tracking and speech recognition. researchers believe fully autonomous robots might make ideal teachers one day, especially for subjects that require more memorization like foreign languages. >> teach them school material and get them to do jumping jacks. >> while that may be years away, the talent for patience and repetition is helping rehab stroke patients and providing a resource for children with autism. >> there are a lot of people, children, adults who need one-on-one care and attention and there are just not enough other people to provide that care. robots can step in and provide the care for which we don't have human care. >> rob marciano, cnn. >> wow. a high honor for a reluctant recipient. the medal of honor being presented this week to a service member who would prefer not to receive it. you'll meet him and hear his reasons why. and i have a question for you. what disease afflicts 6 million people who don't even though they have it? talking about diabetes. high blood pressure, arthritis. asthma. which one of those? the answer and the athlete who

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all right. here's the answer to what disease afflicts 6 million people who don't even know it, don't even know they have it. it's diabetes. right now there is serious communication, a communications gap, going on with the disease. one basketball hall of famer is doing what he can to close it. dominique wilkins is trying to help seniors get a jump on diabetes. at the rate we're going, the

disease will hit 1 in 3 of us by 2050. and yet most people over 65 done know that they can get a free screening for diabetes through medicare. wilkins, a type 2 diabetic himself, was just named georgia's diabetes ambassador. >> i found out when i turned 40 that i was diabetic. it was two years after i retired, actually. >> so you weren't on the court. you didn't have lethargy, no symptoms, nothing. you didn't know. >> at least i didn't think i did. i mean, because when you're in great shape, diabetes is very hard to detect. and once my life slowed down, i came mortal like everybody else. you find out you have the same problems that everybody else had. >> yeah. people don't -- you know, when you think about it, it's like, oh, cancer or hiv or this, but, i mean, diabetes is serious. would you say it's almost at a crisis level, especially for minorities in this country? >> it isn't almost at a crisis level. it is at a crisis level. you know the numbers in this country, the people who are diabetic in this country, their numbers are off the chart.

it's an epidemic now. we have to come together in some form or fashion to really combat this disease. >> most people don't realize that you can, one, you can survive it, but you don't have to be a victim of diabetes. >> well, you don't, but it comes down to educating yourself. and that's why i've teamed up with the medicare diabetes screening project to make sure we educate people the right way and give them options. and the great thing about what med scare is doing is giving seniors over 65 a chance to get free screening. it's great for us because atlanta hawks as well as others have partnered in this project and i see us making a lot of headway on really educating people on how to manage this chronic disease. >> when i heard about what you're doing, i was, like, wow, this is huge because my father died from complications of diabetes, your father -- >> my father and grandfather 37. >> and your grandfather. so it's personal for you. >> it's personal because now out of eight brothers and sisters i'm the only one to get diabetes and i'm in better shape than

most of them. but it goes to show it doesn't pick and choose the people that it attacks. diabetes is hereditary. it runs in my family. so someone in my family was bound to have it. >> do you worry about your kids? >> oh, yeah. absolutely. i constantly tell members of my family to get screened because i think that's the first thing you have to do as far as monitoring your health. get screened so you can see better how to manage your chronic disease. also i watch my son and my daughters and make sure that they get checked because, again, it's hed are tear and you don't want anything bad to happen. >> it is hereditary but it's also diet, right? >> yes. >> and exercise. >> type 2 diabetes is mostly diet related. and, you know, the thing that i preach to people is three things to keep you healthy -- diet, exercise, and medication. those three components working together that keeps you healthy. it's a very manageable disease if you're willing to make a lifestyle change. >> manageable but i'm sure you would rather not spend your days or whenever taking insulin. tell us what your regimen is

like. >> well, you know, i take -- put hit the way. i treat my diabetes very aggressively. i take medication twice a day for my diabetes. but it's -- it's become routine for me now. i don't really think about it. you know, when you're doing something to better your life and to really save your life, you don't really think about it. it's like anything else you do in life. if you have time, get up and brush your teeth, wash your car, you can take time to take medication, take care of yourself. on top of that, change your diet, eat right and do some type of physical activity. you have to have physical activity on the court. >> we miss you on the court. we wonder if you miss it. >> always miss it but your body just won't allow it. yeah. i still play with my son. we play a lot. and yeah i never let him win. >> having had so many people affected by it and die from it, give me a final message to people watching. >> get screened. that's the first thing. take advantage of the medicare, diabetes screening project.

that's the fist step in really monitoring your health. if you're having symptoms, having problems, you have to make regular doctors' visits and build better relationships with your physician. i think that's the biggest message i can give you. >> we're going to freak everybody out but stand up. i want everybody to still see you're the big man. look at that. >> how come you're taller when we sit down? >> thank you, sir. >> my pleasure. >> he's much taller. i had on cowboy boots which gave me a little bit of added height. my thanks to dominique wilkins, and for more information on this, go to screen for diabet diabetes .org. history will be made at the white house this week. for the first time since the vietnam war, a living serviceman is set to receive the medal of honor. tuesday sal giunta will be cited by president obama for bravery in afghanistan. it is a huge distinction but one that also comes with added emotional burden.

here's what general david petraeus, leader of the u.s. forces in afghanistan, said about it in this exclusive interview with cnn's barbara starr. >> he has written a chapter, a very, very extraordinary chapter in american history, and, again, he is -- he's going to have that with him the rest of his life. my sense is that he is exactly the kind of individual who can carry this in a sense burden because that's what it is, again, the hopes and dreams of a generation are now entrusted to him. >> cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr has a special report about staff sergeant sal giunta next hour on cnn. she joins me live from washington. i ran into some service members today who are doing a march here, barbara, and it is amazing to see those guys and great. i'm so glad we're getting the chance to honor them here and that the sergeant is getting an honor, as well. >> look at what general petraeus had to say, don. he is talking about a young man

who is just now 25 years old, three years ago in a terrible ambush firefight in afghanistan at the age of 22. on tuesday he will step into this nation's history, receiving this honor, the first living service member, as you said, since vietnam. i want you to listen just for a moment to staff sergeant sal giunta. >> it's very bittersweet. i mean, it's such a huge honor. it's a great thing. but it is a great thing that has come out of personal loss to myself and so many other families. >> and that is what you want people to know. >> absolutely. >> we sat down with him in italy to talk about all of this. we then went on to afghanistan to find the men that he served and fought with who were still there on duty, and at 7:00 we're going to bring you the story

about this courage, valor, and loss for sal giunta and the men he served with. don? >> barbara, looking forward to it. i can't wait to join you. thank you so much. see you again. as barbara said, she'll introduce us to the nation's newest recipient of the highest award. it's called "honor in the valley of death" coming up at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. , you know, the holidays are approaching and in many offices there is sometimes an unspoken anger over who should get off time -- get time off with their kids and who will get it who doesn't have kids. we're debating that issue. is it fair? many times people with kids get off and people without them won't. and how would you like to meet up with this beast? check it out pap record-breaking gator ught. wait till you hear how big this guy was.

the holidays are upon us, as a matter of fact, thanksgiving in a week or so. and that means that unspoken tension in the building, this building, i should say, and in this building, as well, that pits workers with kids against those without. you should get priority, time off, should you, because you have kids? the conflict between parents against nonparents was fodder for one of "the simpson"

episodes. >> good evening. i'm lindsey nagle and i'm the founder of single senior, childless couples and teenless gays against parasitic parents. >> that is funny stuff but it's a serious matter for many employers. katherine wrote about workplace wars for fiscal times. and richard levy is a research director who has no kids himself. thanks to both of you. listen, katherine, what did you find? is there a lot of resentment from workers without kids? >> i wouldn't say resentment is widespread, but for the people who are angry are an extremely vocal minority and they talk about not being asked but expected to work the holidays, being asked or expected to stay late without any compensation or return favor, and sometimes not even being thanked. >> so, rich, listen, i understand your experience has been much more subtle. if you need to leave early, you don't want to give a reason why

you need to leave, but people who have kids can leave and that's always a valid excuse. that makes it okay, as they say. >> well, i find that parents tend to be more vocal about why they might be leaving, that they might say, you know, i have someone to pick up at school or so on, a child to pick up at school, whereas if i have something going on in the evening, let's seau ga or a piano lesson, that i would probably not state it as openly because i guess there's a sense that if you're raising a child that you're doing it for somebody else and also that somehow child rearing is sacrosanct whereas outside interests are not considered as important. >> mm-hmm. and so, katherine, the article is pretty severe, "parental guidance: why your co-workers may hate you." some employers hire people who are single, who don't have children because they can work the holidays and may not cost as

much and definitely with health insurance as well. >> absolutely. it's a widespread american phenom no, ma'am exploiting the young and while there may always be some of that i think that workers also need to stand up for themselves. and if they have other interests outside of work, they could ask for the same flexibilities that parents receive. if you don't ask for it, nobody's going to know. and people who don't have parents have parents themselveses. they may have eldercare responsibilities, they may have volunteer obligations, they may have pets that they have to get to at the end of the day, and just because your employer doesn't ask you what you need time off for doesn't mean that you can't ask for the same kind of flexibility. >> and katherine, listen, i'm going to get rich to respond to this, but first katherine, employers need to address this because it's definitely not going to go away. there's a new study about how more women are not becoming mothers these days. >> absolutely. the pew research center found that the number of women who will never bear children is

almost double what it was in the '70s. and the other big phenomenon is that the millennial generation is delaying marriage and delaying childbearing, so whether or not they may eventually have children, they're going to be in the workplace longer, and so there's going to always be a mix of parents and nonparents, and employers need to unctiderstand they can't preferentially offer flexibility just to the parents and if it is a benefit it should be provided to everyone. >> rich, i'll give you the last word here. do you have thanksgiving off? are you going to get the holidays off? and what's your message to employers about, you know, parents and nonparents? >> yeah. well, thankfully i expect to have the holidays off. you know, i guess i've been lucky in my career that i've worked for good employers where they treat those with children by and large the same as those without children. i think that we just need to have a more open conversation about the sorts of benefits that are available to parents and to

nonparents, that i just actually started a new job at the census bureau, actually went back to my former employer, and they were very vocal about -- during the orientation about benefits that would be available to parents with children but they did not really mention that specifically what benefits other than benefits that are available to everybody might be available to people who may be single or have same-sex partners or so on. >> all right. so, listen, i'm going to tell you guys this -- we have to go -- but i just got an e-mail from a friend. great segment, don. as a single person, i feel that i always get, this is her language, screwed. where i work, all the mothers have monday through friday 9:00 to 5:00, 8:00 to 4:00 shifts and all the people who don't work nights and weekends. there you go. it's real. people feel it. thank you, rich. thank you, katherine. >> thank you. >> thank you. let's talk about politics. the newbies go to washington and the reunion of a famous movie cast. what can i get ya?

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a look at what the week ahead will bring from politics to business to hollywood. these are the stories that will grab the headlines this coming week. we begin tonight with what's on the horizon for the president. >> i'm ed henry in yokohama, japan, where president obama is wrapping up a nine-day tour of

asia. once he returns to washington, it's right back to domestic politics. he's hosting a meeting at the white house to try and work out thorny issues such as whether to extend all of the bush tax cuts. then he heads back overseas to lisbon, where he's going to a nato summit where afghanistan is front and center. >> i'm dana bash on capitol hill where congress returns this week for its lame-duck session. and there is a lot they're going to try to squeeze in on their agenda, everything from keeping the government running to food safety legislation to how to deal with that thorny issue of extending bush-era tax cuts. now, on monday two new democratic senators who won special elections will actually be sworn in. on the house side, about 100 newly elected members of the house are going to be descending on the capitol for orientation and get a glimpse of what life will be like as a member of congress. >> i'm paul steinhauser at the cnn political desk. counting of ballots in alaska goes into overtime between lisa

murkowski and joe miller. also this week, a possible republican presidential hopeful heads to iowa as newt gingrich goes to the state as part of a tour for his new book. and republican governors and governor elects will be in the political spotlight when they team up in san diego at an annual conference. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. wall street is gearing up for a pretty big week. starting on monday we'll get the latest retail sales followed by earnings from walmart and home depot on tuesday, also on tuesday the senate banking committee will hold a hearing on foreclosures. that will be a major focus for the big banks. and on wednesday, the latest housing starts and building perms report is released. we'll look for any signs of a rebound in the sector. and then this week wraps up with earnings from target, dell, and gap. we'll track it all for you on cnn money. >> i'm a.j. hammer. here's what we're watching this week. the stars of "the color purple" reuniting on oprah 25 years after the movie came out. that should be pretty cool. and barbra streisand gives a rare sitdown interview and halle

berry hel teles all to ellen. we are tv's most provacative entertainment news show. seven days a week at 11:00 a.m. eastern and pacific. >> guys, thanks very much. international desk editor, you have some interesting stories. the pictures from the hajj are always amazing. >> breathtaking, don. nearly 2.5 million muslims have gathered in mecca, saudi arabia, the holiest city, to partake in the largest pilgrimage. over the course of this week they'll follow in the footsteps believed to have been taken by -- >> we have some footsteps. they've gathered there. how many muslims in the world? >> 1.8 billion and growing. >> let's move on and auk about this incredible jewel to say the least and probably giant. >> huge. so one of -- it's one of the most -- it's the rarest gemstone ever to be auctioned off. it's going to happen on tuesday in geneva, switzerland. it's not just any kind of

diamond, don. it's 24.78 carat diamond. >> what? >> called the fancy pink diamond, as we can see right here. how much do you think it's going for or they're thinking it will? >> way more than i'm sure you or i could afford. how much? >> between $27 million and $38 million. >> wow. >> pocket change. right? >> wow. that's giant. is that the actual ring right there? >> that's it. >> when you talk about car ralts i'm thinking it would be as big as an iphone or blackberry or something. who would wear that around? would you? >> if i had the money, maybe. >> don't wear that on the subway. thank you. have a great week. >> you too. >> appreciate it. , you know, also coming up, at the white house this week, president barack obama on tuesday presents the nation's highest military honor to a soldier who served above and beyond the call of duty in afghanistan. our barbara starr is going to join us at the top of the hour with her special. it's called "honor in the valley of death." just ahead on cnn, a farmer from scotland is feeding over 400,000 children and he's doing it every single day.

singer ricky martin introduces us to this inspiring hero. but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists.

our all-star tribute to cnn heroes is coming up thank giving night and we have been calling on friends to tell us more about the nominees. today, the award winning recording artist ricky martin introduces us to a one-time farmer turned humanitarian who has dedicated his life to feeding children every day. >> hello, i am ricky martin. i had the honor of helping choose this year's top ten. i am committed to being an advocate for the well being of children around the world and

now, i am thrilled to help cnn introduce one of this year's top ten honorees. now more than ever the world needs heroes. >> i never expected my life to change in this way. my brother and i were having a pint in our local pub. we had seen a news report about bosnia and began saying, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do one small thing to help. i gave up my job and sold my house to try and help the people in bosnia. out of that has grown the organization that feeds around 412,000 children every day in 15 different countries. we buy the food locally, then ask the community to take responsibility for the cooking and serving of the foot. we began working in haiti in 2006. in addition to feeding children,

we've been feeding the elderly. since the earthquake, we've been involved in providing health care, helping with rebuilding of the schools. i've learned every small act of kindness helps make a difference. >> so, you've heard of is incredible story. you might as well meet the man himself. he joins me now from argyle, scotland. thanks for being here with us and congratulations on your great work. what was your reaction when you found out you were in the top ten? >> i was absolutely amazed. i never expected it for a minute, so it's incredible to get that news. >> has the news affected your work? has it helped? >> it certainly has in a very, very positive way. lots of new support from all over the world and just the film clip you just showed, we talked about feeding 412,000 children around the world at that point.

today, we're feeding about 460,000 children, so nearly an increase of 50,000. >> talk to me about haiti because we know they have the devastating earthquake then cholera now. tell us about your project in haiti? >> prior to earthquake, i described haiti as the worst poverty i had ever seen and we're working in some of the slums in port-au-prince and we're just doing mainly what we do all around the world, which is simply feeding children in schools so that we're doing two things, meeting the immediate need of the hungry child, but at the same time, we're tackling the underlying causes of poverty by throwing them into the classroom. that was the work we were doing in haiti prior to earthquake.

since then because the schools were destroyed and whole communities were devastated, we've been involved in some emergency relief work as well. >> best of luck to you and we look forward to seeing more of your work and having you on cnn again, okay? >> thank you very much. >> tell our audience, to meet the heroes and vote, go to cnnheroes.com. all ten will be honored at cnn heroes, an all-star tribute. it's on thanksgiving night hosted by our own anderson cooper. the world's largest emerald is now in the hands of a california sheriff. why this 840-wonder, 840 pounds, is at the heart of a court case.

every weekend, we like to bring you interesting news items. try slipping this on your ring finger. it is said to be the largest emerald in the world at 840 pounds. and right now, it is in the hands of the los angeles sheriff because there's a