oh, my goodness. it's so early. look at you sitting there in the bed. you know you need to get up right now but you're like, i'm going to hit the snooze button. don't do it. morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. some concerns are being raised as the first batch of swine flu vaccine are being given. find out why you should still get the swine flu vaccine. last night david letterman apologized to his wife for having sexual relationships with some of his staffers. that supposedly happened before they got married, but find out how it still directly affects her. and then this happened at the show, so you'll see that. plus, a balloon came down

fast and hit the ground really hard. the pilot actually did it on purpose. that's an incredible piece of tape. first, though, our top story. you and the h1n1 vaccines. well, they've kicked often the v vaccinations have. they get the first vaccines because they're on the frontline, so to speak. in a couple of weeks you should be able to get the vaccine and dr. oz tells our sister network he strongly recommends that you get it. >> there is no question it would be dishonest to say we know for sure the vaccine is safe for everybody. there are going to be problems. we won't even know if the problems are connected to the vacci vaccine. we think they're going to be exceedingly rare. >> and just to point out there, what are they doing with their nose? they're not giving a shot in the

nose. it's one of those breathable types of vaccines. you'll hear more about the h1n1 vaccinations and why pregnant women may face a higher risk of getting the virus. correspondent richard lui will delve more. new this morning a public apology from david letterman. now originally the late night host said that he would only talk about his sexual relationships with staffers one time. last night he apologized on air to his co-workers and to his wife. letterman's production company says that the affairs happened before he married regina lasko in march. they've been a couple since 1986. >> the other thing is my wife, regina, she has been horribly hurt by my behavior. and when something happens like that, if you've hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it. and at that point there's only two things that can happen. either you're going to make some progress and get it fixed or you're going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed.

so let me tell you, folks, i've got my work cut out for me. >> and that was kind of the reaction from the audience. the sex skndal broke after an alleged $2 million extortion plot. the suspect cbs producer joe halderman is suspended from his job. he pled not guilty friday. his lawyer tells nbc "today" that letterman's story isn't the only version of events. >> david letterman didn't give his side of the story. david letterman gave what he wanted the public to know. he wanted to get out ahead of the story. that's what he did. he's a master at manipulating audiences. that's what he does for a living. to think david letterman gave the entire story and there's nothing more to be said is simply wrong. >> letterman did give his audience some self-deprecating humor. you'll hear the jokes he cracked about himself later on in this hour. new this morning three scientists share the nobel prize in physics, honored for breakthroughs involving the

transmission of light and fiber optics. all three have american citizenship. one is also a british citizen and another canadian. they will share a $1.4 million prize. will president obama send more troops in harm's way in afghanistan? he meets with congressional leaders today to talk about what has become a major debate. top military lead eers want as many as 40,000 more troops. they say the taliban is gaining strength, but others say the u.s. can fight the war with more unmanned droned aircraft and special forces teams. >> you have to start where you are not where you wish you were. and the reality is that because of our inability and the inability of our allies to put enough troops into afghanistan, the taliban do have the momentum right now, it seems. >> well, several hundred people protested the war yesterday outside the white house. it was a peaceful demonstration but park police said 61 people

were arrested when they refused to move back from the sidewalk. they were given tickets and released. firefighters are gaining ground against a wildfire outside l.a. thanks to some cooler weather. the more than 7,800 fire is 30% contained. a spokeswoman says it's not expected to spread unless strong winds develop. most of the people who live in the area have evacuated. officials still don't know what the cause of the fire was. a man who fell out of a hot air balloon is in serious condition this morning. this is the video. it happened in albuquerque, new mexico, yesterday. did you see that? the balloon's gondola hit a tent and the man fell out and smacked the ground. the 70-year-old has a dislocated hip. >> and we saw the man cartwheel out at about 30, 35 feet. he didn't hit the tent. what he did was he landed, it looks like, right on the

asphalt. >> the balloon then rose quickly with a passenger out of the basket they calibrate the weights and then the pilot brought it down fast to check on her passenger. she was a little banged up, too, from that hard landing. that's frightening all the way around. >> wow. >> at least it didn't happen higher up. have you ever ridden in one of those? >> no, did you? >> i gave it to my husband as a present. i had to go with him. >> it's crazy. >> morning, bob. >> good morning, robin. a big, active morning right now. lots of showers developing and some thunderstorm lines down to the south across the midwest. here is what it looks like. a brand-new watch box. it doesn't include oklahoma city. parts of the red river over to the arkansas line so, yeah, rough weather beginning to develop mainly between dallas and oklahoma city. look at all the flashing going on right now. what's happening is this, cold front dropping down out of the south into a low-level jet stream with more humid air so

it's unstable. here is the thunderstorm line. a couple of warnings right there. hail the size of about a quarter this morning. winds gusting to about 60 miles an hour within these thunderstorms. another squall line developing on the northern end of that cold front as it gets on into central missouri but not into st. louis. notice where it's headed, though, coming in your direction. st. louis will, in fact, get some thunderstorms this morning and the rain goes all the way up to the north. hey, this thing was a snow maker across the plains. right around wyoming in the northern rockies, too, over a foot of snow in some areas started on sunday night and ended yesterday. this is northern parts of wyoming, southern montana. some areas got about 20 inches of snow. now it's falling apart and moving to the east. more on that in about a half hour. >> i know it's too early to talk about it but after i saw snow pictures, why not? are you ready to get great holiday deals this coming season? the retailers will pull out all the stops to get you in the store spending. that's good news in a bad economy, don't you think?

all right. it is time right now to salute our troops and today's salute is to army specialist phil lumpkin who has deployed to afghanistan. it is from his heartbroken fiancee. >> hi, robin. i want to salute my fiance. i want to tell him i love him and miss him more than words can say. i'm so proud of him for serving the country. it won't be the same without you. i want you to know not a second goes by that i don't think about you. keep your head down, your spirits high, and hurry home to your wife. i love you. >> oh, my gosh. that is so heartbreaking. thank you so much for letting us give you the time to salute your

fiance and we are thinking of you. if you have somebody in the service go to cnn.com/robin. loo you might be wondering whether you should get the h1n1 flu vaccine for yourself, for your family. well, the national campaign to inoculate tens of millions of americans has now started. correspondent richard lui has more. now it's not like we're going to go to the pharmacy and there's going to be someone standing there with the stuff. not everybody can get it right now. >> that's right, robin. and that's because you and i are healthy and between the ages of 25 and 54, so we are not considered necessarily high risk in this particular situation, the h1n1 virus, but here are other groups who will be vaccinated first. first of all, health care workers, pregnant women, people ages 6 months to 24 years old, and people with health risks. here's a map showing the spread of the h1n1 flu. as we were showing this to our viewers about a month or two ago, again, when you take a look at the south, that is where you

have widespread concerns about the h1n1 cases, as you go further north, less of a concern there, robin. richard, many pregnant women are worried about whether they should be getting the vaccine. why are they more vulnerable to getting the virus? what do they need to know? >> it has to do with their immune systems. they may be compromised even a little bit and that could affect their ability to fight off common illnesses such as the flu. that is from a doctor at ucla. vaccines given to pregnant women give immunity to a newborn for at least a few months because antibodies cross the placenta and reach the fetus. the national institutes of health has vaccinated dozens of pregnant women. so far no reports of serious side effects. good thing. >> richard, thank you. a 14-year-old stole his mom's credit card number to book a cross-country flight, 14 years old. new for you in the next 30 minutes, how he managed to get through security, board the plane with a ticket that had her name on it.

somebody's grounded. all right. get ready for some big-time discounts at the mall this holiday season when it comes anyway. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here. i think that's good news. the stores are slashing prices because some of us aren't even going in there. yeah, and a lot of people are just starting to think about the holidays. it can be overwhelming at a time people are having a hard time saving. one analyst says even this early out, not even halloween yet, and he's seeing 5% more discounts than last year. that's something that could be good news in a bad economy for a lot of people worried about their jobs, worried about spending, maybe we'll see a lot of sales so if you want you can still put a big pile of stuff under the tree. so the forecast is just starting to shape up and what a lot of experts are saying, some of the polls are pointing to, is the christmas shopping is going to be about flat with last year. one of the worst we've seen for the malls and department stores. a lot of analysts say this year

you'll see a big focus on practical gifts and that means all the unpractical stuff could go on sale before thanksgiving. jewelry, sports equipment, vacations, you might see a lot of sales for those, too, even before we get to the holiday season. now this could be a great deal if you fly a lot. especially if you have small children. instead of paying -- getting hit $30 toed $50 to second luggage, you could pay unite add flat fee of about $250 and then for one year they will cover up to two bags every time you fly. the family part is -- the reason i'm saying it's good if you're a family, you see the moms with strollers and car seats and all this stuff, it's a nightmare so it does cover up to eight more people in your party so that would certainly help. >> so for $250 if i had eight people in my family i could still check two bags per person or per family? >> eight people but what's the likelihood of that?

if you don't -- the next time you fly you'll keep thinking i should fly united because i already paid for it. that's the likelihood they're betting on. >> got you. all right, jen, thank you. brett favre going against the green bay packers. it was strange to see but it turned into a night to remember. it was a game. plus, health care reform can make it a requirement for you to get insurance so what would happen if you do not get insurance?

the vh-1 reality tv contestant accused of killing his wife and hanging himself left a suicide note. police say it was on ryan jenkins' laptop. he says jasmine fiore was the love of his life but he thought she was cheating. she was found in a suitcase, her teeth and part of her fingers were missing. california senator barbara boxer wants the epa to say what it's going to do about reports of toxic drinking water at schools. now we've told you an associated press investigation found that water at some schools in all 50 states had unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and other toxins. boxer wants the epa to tell how and when it's going to address this. the epa has not commented. i couldn't sleep very well last night so i got up and watched the game, the "monday

night football." it was a packers legend playing against the packers. larry smith has more on a great night for brett favre. he looked like his old self. >> he really did. one interception through four games. if you follow football, that's really good for brett favre. he takes a lot of chances. he turns 40 on saturday. he admitted later he was about as nervous as he had ever been in his career entering a game. he's playing great football. keep in mind he's played in two super bowls. it was like a super bowl atmosphere in metrodome last night. his new team the vikings versus the packers. leading them to the 30-23 win in a game that wasn't that close. green bay getting a couple of touchdowns late in the game. favre pumped up. three touchdown passes in all for brett favre. after the game going over and hugging some of his former teammates in a show of class. his vikings are 4-0 now. lebron james calls another cleveland athlete childish. the label the nba's reigning

most valuable player has put on cleveland browns wide receiver braylon edwards who allegedly punched james' friend at a nightclub early monday morning. edwards hasn't commented on the allegations. he faces possible punishment from the nfl for this, the late nest a long list of off-fieldish be use since he entered in 2005. >> but james is in the nba. >> yes. they're both from cleveland. there's been talk they could be -- that edwards is jealous of lebron. >> they know each other. >> exactly. this is really good. a girl who caught a milestone home run ball three months ago finally owns the ball. she felt pressured to give up howard's 200th home run ball which made him the youngest ever to reach the milestone. her family contacted an attorney who threatened to file a lawsuit. that's when the ball was returned by howard's team, the philadelphia phillies. the ball is worth $10,000 to $15,000. look at this video, extreme kayaking in austria this

weekend. robin, do you want to try this? not for the weak of heart nor for the weak nor for people who want to stay dry. look at that. >> wow. no one to depend on but yourself. >> you'd better hope you're good. >> thank you. "the joy behar show" airs every night here on hln. here is a taste of what you'll get. her not for nothing commentary. you know, i have to be honest here, i never thought of david letterman as a sexual being. he was always a kind of witty, mr. rogers to me, so when he married his longtime girlfriend, it seemed sweet really. not only had they been dating for 23 years but the kid was almost in high school by the time he married her. so you can imagine my surprise to find out dave turns out to be hugh hefner without the pajamas. now i wasn't born yesterday, and i know that powerful men like to screw around.

clinton had lewinsky, be jfk had marilyn, thomas ovjefferson had sex with a slave. there's even talk -- listen to this -- there's even talk that the great emancipator abe lincoln may have found sexual freedom outside of marriage in the arms of a man to which i say it's so long ago, so what, who cares and good for her. i don't think this letterman think would be such a cause celeb if the women involved weren't his employees like oprah or ellen -- i don't see that happening at all. women shubt have to sleep to get ahead. they should have the right to advance their careers like everyone else by stabbing other people in the back. so i say if you're going to be with someone in the office don't do it with a subordinate. do it with an equal. okay? by the way, is regis philbin

still around? i saw him in the greenroom looking really hot. but that's just me. >> you can catch joy behar at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. new details on a mom who police say was stabbed and her baby kidnapped. after the reunion the state took the baby away.

all right. president obama meets with congressional leaders today to talk about whether to send more troops to afghanistan. top generals say that more troops are needed because the taliban is getting stronger. others say the war can be fought with unmanned drones and special forces. the supreme court is hearing arguments today on whether to make videos of dog fights illegal. the white house wants them banned but a lower court struck down an earlier ban and the conviction of a man sentenced to three years in prison for making a video about pit bull fights. the teen accused of plotting to blow up a dallas building made a videotaped message for osama bin laden. yesterday in court an fbi agent

testified that undercover operatives helped hosam smadi record the video. he is being held without bail. it's fall here in new york city, and i spent the whole weekend raking my hate mail. >> david letterman used his own sex scandal as material for his monologue last night but also apologized on air to his wife and co-workers. letterman thanked his staff for being supportive and said that he would try to repair his relation shship with his wife. those are some of the headlines we're following this morning. want to see how you're feeling today other than tired on a tuesday. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. are you ready for a flu vaccination? the h1n1 flu vaccinations are now under way. many mothers and fathers, you might be wondering, hey, should i get my kid vaccinated for the h1n1? correspondent richard lui joins us now. what do parents need to know about making this important decision? do you do it? do you not? >> one source i've been relying

on is the cdc and they're saying kids like other high priority kids may be more likely to have serious complications if they get swine flu. now last week the cdc said it had reports of 60 deaths related to the h1n1 flu since april. 11 of those deaths were repo reporteded last week. the first from h1n1 vaccine trials in children revealed positive news last month that showed so far the h1n1 vaccine reacts in children just like those for seasonal flu, robin. >> some people don't want the h1n1 vaccine no matter what they're hearing about safety. so tell us more about the people who say, you know what, not for me? >> several studies. a well known doctor telling cnn's campbell brown he'll get vaccinated himself but there's a split within his own home. >> my wife is not going to immunize our kids. i have four of them. i'm not dr. oz when i go home. there are going to be two extremes of the population. i'm going to do this, it's right

for all of us. some of us are going to say i don't like the government being involved. i feel pressured. >> all right. some data, harvard school told one in two or 51% of parents are certain to get their kids vaccinated. one in two will not. >> it is now under way, folks. so, richard, thank you so much for the info. a lab technician accused of killing a yale university grad student will be in court today. he has not entered a plea yet. he worked in the same building as annie le. the motive is not known but police are treating it as work place violence. some scientists claim that the cloth that supposedly covered jesus after his death is man made. it is believed to bare jesus' image. they say they reproduce it had using techniques from the 14th

century. some say the shroud was forged around that time. you've got to give credit to former house majority leader tom delay, the dancing machine. ♪ >> dancing the samba is hard enough but he was injured and still was shaking his groove thing on "dancing with the stars" last night. he had stress fractures in both feet. you know what cracks me up? he's not afraid to shake the booty. it's when he points, it makes me uncomfortable for sol reason. he performed against the advice of his doctors and danced away with a score of 15 out of 30. not bad for an injured guy. i think i'm becoming less uncomfortable the more i see it week after week. >> i like the garish red pants. nice touch. all right. we have surveillance video of a

suicide bombing at the u.n. food agency's compound in pakistan. watch this tape. watch the red circle. it shows the suspected bomber walking in dressed as a security officer. he got inside by asking the guards to use the restroom. then you can see the blast. yeah. five u.n. workers were killed yesterday. the taliban claims responsibility and threatens more attacks. you can't blame some iowa convenience store workers for being a little jumpy. they've been robbed twice in the past few months. so when a guy walked in with his hands in his pocket and started rambling, the clerks put money in a bag and threw it at him. he walked out without the cash. he wasn't a robber. he was just drunk. the same thing happened to him at a white castle, at a waffle house. this guy just wants some service, people. >> can i get some burnt toast. >> good morning, bob.

how are you? a cold front dropping down through the plains. big thunderstorms ahead of this. they've formed in the last two hours or so as they continue to push over to the south. one new watch, a severe thunderstorm watch lasts until noon central time to the afternoon. showers and thunderstorms out ahead of that and a heavy rain shield stretching to northern illinois. lower parts of wisconsin, michigan and turning back into snow for parts of north and south dakota. the real active stuff to the south, a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings south of oklahoma city. golf ball sized hail a possibility plus gusty winds of over 60 miles an hour. everything is moving to the east at 45 to 65 miles an hour and one line forming that's getting in towards central missouri stretching all the way in to st. louis. here is the line. you see it originates by springfield, too, and turns into heavier downpours just outside of when you get to chicago. the back side of that, all rain. down to the south, severe weather from the morning into the afternoon. areas in red, texas up to tennessee. watch for powerful thunderstorms out there today.

rain showers back over to snow. when you get to north dakota, to south dakota as well, robin. more details on that in about a half hour. >> i thank you. so what's going viral on the internet? a german invasion of her country in this video. some people are so talented. more than 1 million views on this one. we dug it up for you on youtube. a mom reported her 14-year-old son missing only to find out he was on a cross-country flight. you have to hear the high-tech way police tracked him down.

♪ on a nice day ♪ on a nice day so what a story here. a 14-year-old boy made it through airport security with a ticket with his mom's name on it. his mom says that he used her credit card to book an airport shuttle and a one-way flight to chicago. when security questioned him he said his name was virginia and let him pass. other passengers were surprised. >> i think there needs to be more security. >> i think there should probably be some type of i.d. required for that. if you don't have that proof, how can they prove it's you? >> people under 18 do not the need an i.d. to board a plane. there is the catch. so the tsa says its agents followed policy the police tracked the boy to the chicago airport using the gps on his cell phone.

check your credit card statement. has your minimum payment suddenly shot up recently? our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. some say the credit card companies are not playing fair. what's going on? >> there's a lot of criticism. people tell stories and it seems like the banks are trying to get their last licks in before the new rules go into effect. this is chuck and gene lane. they said even though they didn't miss a payment, they jacked up their monthly payment from $370 to more than $900. that's a lot of money to suddenly have to come up with every month. >> this is the worst economic times in history practically. i work for a small company. we've laid off 30% of our workforce. i just took a 10% pay cut this morning. and this is what you're going to do to us? >> and that's the story we're hearing across america. it's happening to many people.

jpmorgan chase, the bank in this story, they confirmed that they doubled minimum payments for a million card holders and the bank said, hey, we want to make sure we get our money paid back in a reasonable period of time is their side of it. so it's still very hard for a lot of people to -- that they didn't miss a payment and to suddenly see the monthly payment go up to something that may not be affordable. tough. >> yeah. >> all right. if you've been saving into a 401(k) it's hard enough to do that and then came last year, right? ooh. your money took a beating. you know that one. stocks plunged. a new study is putting it in dollar terms. you can really see it. last year the average 401(k) saver lost $20,000 of your hard-earned money. that can be depressing knocking the balance down to $45,000. look, here is the good news. that was for 2008. since 2009 the stock market has rebounded so you recouped quite a lot of that plus if it keeps going up, if, if, you could end up buying low, right? >> well, yeah.

you're getting more for your money that's going into it. and if your employer matches, i mean, that's free money basically. >> yep. >> i sound like my dad. that's the advice he always gave me. >> gives good advice. "the joy behar show" airs every night here on hln. last night she chatted about regis philbin about who wants to be a millionaire. >> do you think you actually saved the network like they said? >> i absolute ly did. in the year that millionaire show came on abc was desperate, more desperate than they are today, and that's saying a lot. and so, anyway, yes, i went on there and, bang, the show was an enormous hit. >> yes. kathie or kelly -- >> it was kathie lee and then kathy -- i mean kelly. >> so now you like kelly the best? >> do i like kelly the best? >> i love them all. they're all my girls, you know? >> he had to dodge that one,

didn't he? catch "the joy behar show" at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. you might be able to turn the thermostat up a couple degrees this winter and not have to take out a loan to pay for it. investing in women to improve their economic well-being despite the tough economic times.

there will be a somber ceremony for at least four u.s. troops killed in afghanistan. the military says their coffins will arrive at the dover air force pace this morning and then their bodies will be handed over to their families. they are among eight u.s. troops killed when the taliban attacked their outposts last weekend. the military is still investigating what happened. it may cost you less to stay warm this winter if you heat with natural gas. inventories are at all-time highs according to the american gas association and the prices have dropped because of the recession. the government releases its forecast today and a sharp price drop is also expected for

propane. if you use electric heat you'll see a slight decrease. a decrease all the way around. plus a mild winter. el nino. that will help out, too. >> is that what you think? >> absolutely. >> okay, all right. i'll take that for sure. bobby is here for our travelers. >> it's going to be a tough go in or out of the big city of the atlanta airport. a lot of fog, low clouds and drizzle, too. the live tower cam. this is the way it looks. heading out to the airport, this is the way it goes right now. not a good scenario to catch a flight on time. some delays the first part of the day and more thunderstorms developing late this afternoon into this evening. for the day, though, one hour or more in chicago. it's going to be rain followed up by wind. watch for that to develop late they are morning. a half hour to hour long delays through atlanta, st. louis, looking at showers and some storms. the same with cleveland. cleveland will get some rain. full details on that coming up in half an hour. happy birthday.

the man accused of shooting a popular high school football coach in iowa this summer will stand trial. larry will bring us up to date on the case. good morning to you. this sent shock waves around the state of iowa and in the sports world in general. ed thomas was a high school coaching legend named coach of the year in the nation back in 2005. he was allegedly gunned down in the school's weight room back in june by 24-year-old mark becker, a former player who a judge has ruled is mentally competent to stand trial. he can recall events pertinent to his defense including the events of june 24th, the day of the shooting. perhaps the biggest regular season game of brett favre's hall of fame career, pink everywhere. the shoes part of the breast cancer awareness month. brett's wife a breast cancer survivor. boy, did he really come up big for the occasion against his former team, the green bay packers, the team for whom he starred for 16 seasons.

three touchdown passes. the vikings get the win. the three-time league mvp and former super bowl winner admitted to having butterflies. >> i was about as nervous as i've ever been before a game. going into this one, i didn't think i would be. as the week progressed, i felt fine but when i got to the hotel yesterday, it kind of donned on me. >> brett favre, you can see his former teammates. they certainly still love him. even divided the dogs, though. at a local park vikings dogs outnumbered packers canines 2-1. the doggies were dressed accordingly. packers fans will retort favre has gone to the dogs. oh, boy. it's early, yeah. >> that was in vikings territory? >> in indianapolis. absolutely. it was in the twin cities. >> thank you. four people went fishing off the coast and came back with a shark. they spotted it circling a dead

swordfish. after they hooked the shark it took three hours to haul it onto the boat. but now they have enough shark steaks to last them a while. i'd say so. stakeaks to last a while. i'd say so. some beaches are letting you sun as much as you wanted, but there is a catch. it would cost you way more than your willing to pay. >> a lot of people because they've been burned by credit cards have switched in recent years to deb ilt cards. it has the visa or mastercard logo on it but it takes it right out of your account. do you know most banks will allow you to use your debit card even when it will cause you to overdraw your account? why would they do that? because they want you to overdraw your account so they can hit you with massive overage charges. what should you do?

ask your bank or credit union not to permit overages where you can't get hit if you should overdraw your account. if you can't track your balance, do everything with cash instead. i'm clark howard. with more ways to keep your quality ship-shape, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> so he's the guy to learn how to save more and spend less. clark howard on the weekends on hln. fans in china will get to see the michael jackson documentary. china only allows 20 imported movies each year. the movie got the approval from government sensor. it premiers around the world on october 28. it features footage from michael jackson's final concert rehearsal before he died. he's ripped on celebrities

and politicians in sex scandals and now he's had the chance to make fun of himself.