hello, hello. there goes the alarm clock, butd it's friday. i hope that means it's almost the start of your weekend. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on, sunshine. >> i'm really sorry i yelled at him. scared the heck out of us. >> that is a dad who thought for hours that his little boy vanished into thin air on a balloon. meanwhile the world was glued to the tv. how would the balloon and the boy get down? had he fallen out? it turns out reality was much more down to earth.

plus, these men didn't just fight city hall, they fought at city hall. what started the smackdown? it was started as a fever turned into a struggle just to walk again. a girl's inspiring victory over a swine flu horror story. i hope that you are doing well today. let's go to news in the fast lane, that's what we're good at. our top story. there are new details on a heart-stopping story that maybe had you glued to the tv. a missing boy and a runaway balloon. for two hours, no one knew if six-year-old falcon heene was on board this balloon or if he had fallen out of it when it took off. it turned out he was higtd in the attic the whole time. his dad told cnn how they finally found falcon. >> we were sitting on the couch and there were some of the folks in the room trying to help us calm our nerves. and my wife, i heard her scream,

and falcon came around the corn corner, so i dropped to my knees. i screamed as well. here he is. he's safe, and he's alive. so it was a great moment, you know? >> i bet. so why was the little boy hiding, other than the fact he's a six-year-old little boy? ror reporters talked to falcon himself shortly after he was found. >> falcon, can you tell us, please, why you were hiding and why you stayed hidden so long? >> he scared me because he yelled at me, and that's why i went in the attic. i heard shouting. i didn't come out really soon because i thought i'd get in trouble. >> this all started when the boy's brother said he had seen the six-year-old climb inside the balloon before it took off

yesterday morning. police and military helicopters tracked the balloon for 50 miles. look how fast it was moving. can you imagine? the cameras were rolling, the balloon finally came down. watch as that one rescuer runs toward it, i imagine, trying to catch it because they thought the little boy was inside. falcon was not inside. about two hours later, to everyone's relief, because they were like, oh, my gosh, did he fall out, he came out of his hiding place. guess what, this is not the first time this family has been in the spot. richard lui has more on who they are in about ten minutes. go ahead, join the conversation. we are blogging about it if you want to on cnn.com/robin. if you're a facebooker, we're all over that as well. maybe you want to say your reactions now or maybe you want to tell me how you were feeling as you were watching it yesterday afternoon. that's fine, too. happening today, defense attorneys for casey anthony will be in court asking the judge to

throw out the murder charges against her. they claim investigators destroyed the crime scene when they recovered the body, preventing defense experts from reviewing it. prosecutors say evidence taken from the scene was preserved and there are hundreds of photographs available to the defense. we need to tell you about a new h1n1 warning this morning. the fda says absolutely do not buy any treatments you see for sale on line. the agency says it is testing products found on the internet that claim that they can help, and so far none of them has been approved in the united states. bottom line, talk to your doctor. the president was in new orleans yesterday and he praised critics that conditions from hurricane katrina have not improved. >> i appreciate the bush administration, but why are we still being nickel and dimed

from hurricane katrina? >> we are working as hard as we can and as quickly as we can to process through some of these issues. >> protestors agreed with president obama. at a fundraiser in san francisco yesterday, there were some anti-war protestors in code pink, there were also other protestors for and against, and about 1,000 other people showed up. a man faces charges in a 19-year-old rape and abduction case. dennis bradford was charged yesterday in an attempt for capital murder. he is accused of kidnapping jennifer shchuett from her bed when she was only eight and assaulted in a field. sparkle here was trapped in a hole in blazing heat for more than two hours. this is in southwest phoenix. vets showed up and gave her medicine to keep her calm and firefighters even sprayed her to

keep her cool until finally sparkle was pulled out. >> sparkles. >> a five-year-old girl had to have named that horse. >> sparkles. >> and it's probably a boy. it's a hot day today in phoenix. 98 in phoenix so there's your heat right there. we're watching a line of thunderstorms drive down the gulf coast into the gulf of mexico but getting hung up in northern florida. moving to the tallahassee radar, it shows most of the action breezing past you. this thing is moving quickly, about 45 to 50 miles per hour. tampa, orlando, jacksonville later today, something you haven't seen in quite a long time. offshore from charleston, might get a couple showers this afternoon, but another impulse right across the upper midwest, generating some snow in northern north dakota. that will turn into a coastal

storm over the weekend, but we already had one going over cape cod, new jersey, too. in binghamton, getting in toward scranton. you are having a tough go this morning. rain and a little bit of wind out of the east today. it's going to be soggy the entire weekend and yankees play tonight against the angels. that will be a tough game to get in. breezy and rain showers off and on. just yesterday, keep in mind, il it's still snowing. snowstorm yesterday, 4 inches. yesterday was the 15th, they only had a tenth of an inch then, so a massive amount of snow early in the svn aeason an continues to fall, robin. more a that in half an hour. >> it's fun the first time. >> we're talking october,

though. the white house says the stimulus is working and it has the numbers to back it up but the critics say the numbers are proof the thing is a major flop. and so many people are wondering what the boy at the center of the balloon chase meant by a comment he made on "larry king live." let's hear those. you will.

good morning, everybody. i'm meteorologist bob van dillen. if you're traveling by air today, a couple areas really going to get hit hard by weather. rain coming out of new england, getting back in towards new york city. a 70-minute delay in pennsylvania. probably built up by an hour in areas like new york.

boston, cleveland, we're going to have some showers, 30 minutes to one-hour delays. charlotte, ground stop because of low clouds until 7:30. speaking of morning fog, it looks like in atlanta, low clouds are hanging in there. we'll have more details on that. so richard lui is here. our big story today? a family that was on "wife swap" should have been on "kid swap." >> you're talking about the balloon story. >> yes, i am. >> you were called in for that? >> i was called in for that. >> people a krocross the countr watching and holding their breath to see if a six-year-old boy was on a homemade hot air balloon. this is not the first time the heene family was in the spotlight.

according to their my space page, they are known for conducting science experiments together, so he said the boy was never put in harm's way. this is video of them a on the 100th episode of abc's "wife swap" in march. the woman who did the swap talks about the balloon. >> i think he might have been scared of how his father would react to it. he may have been responsible for the flying of the balloon to go up. >> she swapped and she definitely knows the kid somewhat. the heenes have even submitted ireports like this one. you've been typing in and we appreciate it. blogger dave says, as a parent, i would have searched the house if someone was following the

balloon. dave is saying parents are responsible for taking care of and keeping track of their children. when my son lived with me, i knew where he was at all times. this one is from shannon. anyone with children knows how unpredictable they are. no, the parents should not be punished. the two hours of terror they went through was enough. we'll share more comments with you later. >> richard, thank you so much. and thanks to our viewers who are really commenting about this story. yeah, thank goodness the boy was okay. a lot of people wonder what the boy at the center of that tape meant, though, by comments he made on "larry king live." >> did you hear us call your name at any time? >> yeah. >> you did? >> yeah. >> why didn't you come out? >> he says we did this for a show. >> okay, so when asked what falcon meant, his dad responded that he was appalled by the

question and that his son was probably talking about all the media coverage. authorities say they do not think it was any kind of hoax or stunt. miss jen is off today. how about i talk money for you. the government stimulus plan has created or saved about 30,000 jobs so far. it is the first tally we're getting from the white house on this. critics say 30,000 is a far cry from the more than 3 million jobs that were promised when that stimulus package was passed in february. the white house says at least contracts are just a sliver of the spending so far. walmart and amazon are battling it out to win over you book lovers. walmart cutting pre-order prices on some of these big newha newhardbacks to just $10. amazon fell to $9, walmart matched that. the highest price is $35 on

amazon and on walmart, it's just $9. huge! why they are playing the season for mitch. and is there any rule that says you can't fight in city hall?

we always salute our troops. let's do it today. this time it's from karen unger to her son, private first class joshua unger. he and his wife recently celebrated the birth of their second child. >> my name is karen unger. i'm from indiana. i'd like to salute our son, private first class joshua unger. our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers and families. we wish they have a successful mission and return home safely.

to all, we appreciate the sacrifices these families make every day for our country and for those of us to live in a free world. >> exactly. 17 minutes past the hour. if you have somebody you want to salute, go to cnn.com/robin. the death of two people in an arizona sweat lodge is now a homicide investigation. a sweat lodge is used for cleansing exercises. this is at a retreat led by self-help expert james arthur ray. the sheriff says they're looking into how the sweat lodge was built. a spokesperson says authorities do not have all the facts and the word homicide is inflammatory. children in connecticut lined up for their free h1n1 vaccinations. few cried about it, though, because it was a nasal vaccination. look at the look on her face. the sheer number of kids getting vaccinated brought relief to some parents. >> i was surprised, because a lot of my friends are not able

to get it, kind of in the outskirts, but to see so many parents and children here opting to get it helped me be reassured. >> the health director in charge says he hopes to get vaccine shipments each week. this was not your usually boring, old city council meeting. whoa! these guys were fighting about a decision to privatize a sidewalk. a city sidewalk in st. peerltsbupeerlt petersburg, florida. they're fighting over a sidewalk. one of them is 76 years old and the brother of one of the council men. now, the other is 51. both, by the way, were arrested for disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor. i like to listen in on the natural sound here. >> do not move that way. stop it! >> they're both now free on

bond. >> what an important issue, like a sidewalk. >> they were fighting over a sidewalk. i'm sure there's more to it, but it just sounded funny. one college football team keeps winning the season and it says a 12-year-old cancer survivor is inspiring them. here's more on that story. >> the cincinnati bearcats had been one of the big surprises this year. the team says it's no secret. they told the new york times they're being inspired by this young man, 12-year-old mitch stone. they contributed to a charity called friends of jackson, who teams up sports fans with teams. mitch says he's been inspired by the team winning and it has boosted his spirits to win his battle against cancer. lebron james has been treated for the flu. doctors are treating it as though he had the h1n1 virus. his teammates tested positive for a similar strain.

they we he was sick for days. he seems okay now, though. >> you know, but it's a good group of guys. >> are you contagious? >> no, i think i'm over it now. if you get sick, then i was contagious. >> he's not contagious. now it's time for our true champion. this week is former ucla coach john wooden who turned 99 last wednesday. he's considered the greatest coach of all time for his leadership and for molding his players to be good people. one of his famous quotes, "failure to prepare is preparing to fail." >> 99 years old. >> 99. so a little boy alone on a runaway balloon for hours when we thought we were watching live tv. there's the balloon. the reality was equally as

scary, but i'm going to say it, it was bizarre.

a heart-stoppingstory had so many of us glued to the tv yesterday. everyone thought this six-year-old went alone on a runaway balloon. it turns out he was hiding in the attic at home, but the whole thing played out on live tv. we were glued watching it. the family said the episode was not a stunt. a woman blew herself up during a coordinated suicide attack that killed 11 people. the associated press reports that the blast hit part of a police station and a mosque in north pakistan near the afghanistan border. taliban presence is strong there.

this is the latest in a wave of deadly militant attacks. a judge says he wants to avoid a circus side show in a hearing from the three people accused of illegally giving prescription drugs to anna nicole smith. yesterday, he barred prosecutors from asking her doctor if there was a sexual relationship between smith and her doctor. smith died of a drug overdose in 2007. those are some of our headlines. hello. it's friday, so hopefully that makes it a little bit better. back to this balloon story. it had so many people glued to the tv. maybe you were among them. a boy believed to be on a runaway weird-looking balloon was later found at home and safe. correspondent richard lui. let's talk about -- i said it was weird-looking, this kind of spacecraft-looking thing, apparently homemade, flying sauce saucer, basically.

>> it's about 20 feet in diameter, about five feet tall, and authorities say it reached as high as 7,000 feet. dad referred to this balloon as a 3-d low-altitude vehicle. he wanted something that would hover above the ground. we hear about what this balloon might be used for. >> it could be used to put scientific instruments into the air, it could be used as a center piece for a party. it's basically a small mylar kit that you can get off the internet. >> he also says it's possible the balloon could have lifted the boy about as high as the treetops. we're also blogging about that at cnn.com/robin. >> what kind of reaction are we getting from our viewers here? >> terry saying, omg -- oh, my god -- are you people stupid?

it's a hoax. the father is clearly determined to be famous. this one from joann. how does a six-year-old think to do this? i am relieved he is okay but what a mess it caused. >> and cnn thinks it was not a hoax or a stunt. three people were trapped on a ledge above a waterfall. they were stuck there for three days. people were searching here, at california king's national park. king's canyon national park. a rescue helicopter finally spotted them. they lit a fire so they would be soon. they lived by rationing what little food they had. we hear of a new deadly attack on afghanistan forces in afghanistan. the violence has gotten much worse recently there. 25 american troops have been killed in afghanistan this month. u.s. commanders are asking for more troops to stamp out the

comeback. president obama will be speaking at a forum about community service. it marks the 20th anniversary of president george w. bush's volunteer service movement. the former president invited president obama to speak. some republican and anti-tax groups said they will be there protesting. you need to see this frightening video at a train station in australia. the train hit a baby stroller. the baby, thankfully, only had minor injuries. you see the stroller just roll off the platform. the distracted mom raced after it as the train rolled in. experts say the baby was strapped in the stroller and that is what saved its life. thank goodness. >> another good outcome. >> exactly. so be thankful for maybe thinking your life is boring. at least you're not on national tv because you think your kid is

floating away on a balloon or your baby went under a train. >> if he was really in there, you could see he would be tumbling around like crazy. that's what they were all worried about. >> right, that's what i was thinking, how could he survive that? >> the next time you see the thing where it lands, watch the guy chasing after the balloon. he doesn't quite get there. next time just watch. >> it's classic. this weather brought to you by green giant. what's going on across the region? it's heavy snow. it continues to fall in new york state, northern parts of pennsylvania, too, but within the last hour or so, look at this begin to diminish a little bit. good news if you're trying to get in and out, but the rain is there in new york city and long island. boston, too, that's why heavy rain is located. you have it right there and it

will pick back up again later today as some energy from the great lakes rotates and get into a coastal storm situation again off the carolinas overnight tonight through tomorrow. so we still have winter warnings out there. look across boston, it's light. a little bit heavy as you get across cape cod. you can see the leafy shapes right here, indications of snow. most of it is above 1,000 feet, so that's what it looks like right there. areas shaded in red, all the way to maryland, parts of virginia. you get in there and it's real windy for you in cape cod. take a look in atlanta, here's what it looks like. east wind for the last couple days kept the temperatures cool. we'll have the same thing today, a little bit of sunshine, and finally sunshine for us. low 40s the low tonight. >> those clouds look like cold air to me. >> it looks a little rough. it looks like november but we're not going there.

>> many times on stories when i can't say what i'm thinking, i'm like, oh, bobby will do it. >> i'm a regular guy. bring up banning smoking at your local restaurant or bar, and you're likely to get into a very heated argument. we've got new information that could be important no matter what side of that discussion you're on.

smoking bans in restaurants, bars and other places may be protecting the hearts of

non-smokers. that's from a new study by the institute of medicine which advises the government. i'll use pueblo, colorado as an example saying that hospitalizations for heart attacks there dropped 41% in three years after workplace smoking was banned. but many businesses have been against the ban, saying it's bad for business. all right. since jennifer is off, let me talk money for you. ken lewis, who is stepping down at the end of the year, will get no salary or bonus this year. the bank said he agreed to forgo his $1.5 million salary. lewis still gets about 69d million in benefits when he leaves. microsoft says they have recovered most, if not all, of that data from the sidekick cell phones last weekend. you might remember t mobile said the data might be gone, but the

subsidiary who makes the phones for t mobile said they found the data and will restore it soon. if you wait to book your tickets for holiday travel this year, expect to pay more. prices are rising almost daily with the fares for holiday travel up 60% in just the last week. last week people who booked last minute got some great deals because the airlines were kault off guard by a big drop in demand. ireporter bev mckayman introduced us to a real mover and shaker in today's breakthrough women. >> my name is bev mcmaken, aka pink panther. when i first heard robin meade announce the segment on breakthrough women, i knew

immediately i wanted to be to do minx. she is a non-profit corporation that has donated more than $50,000 to local women's which children's charities. i don't think she knows how much she has changed the derby sisters' lives. from all your derby sisters, we love you, minxie. you're a real inspiration. thanks for making this a reality. hu hugs and slugs, pink panther. >> maybe you know a woman who has inspired you. "morning express" is looking for women like that. you can nominate someone, or yourself -- go ahead -- and go to our web site.

now we know the so-called balloon boy -- let's just call him that -- is fine. in fact, he wasn't in the balloon at all when it was pitching and rolling. plus, one of the biggest movies comes alive on the big screen.

this is a very, very dangerous situation not only to the six-year-old boy but to the people on the ground, because this thing is moving at a very fast velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to actually carry anybody, it was just a family project they were working on. >> he's going down. he's at 100 feet. this is ending and it looks like -- >> it's coming down? >> yes, he is coming down. >> watch as the rescuer runs toward that balloon. we don't have it now. trying to catch it because you think that little boy is inside, right? at this moment, there was such a mix of excitement and fear. was the little six-year-old boy

inside? would he be okay? after all, the balloon had flown about 50 miles, was wobbling, spinning and pitching all the way. the faa even cleared air space. we now know little falcon heene was safe and sound back home, hiding in the family's attic! more on your thoughts. maybe as you were either watching yesterday or what you think about the story today. on our facebook page or web page. democrats were fighting over health care reform. yesterday they could not agree if a new plan should include an option for government-sponsored insurance. nancy pelosi insists that a public option would help the uninsured and keep costs down. critics argue that it would drive away private insurance, paving the way for a government takeover. dems pick up the debate on monday. a simple gesture at a high school football game is causing a whole lot of commotion at a small town. here's rafer with more on that story.

>> yeah, robin, i think they're going a little bit too far on this one. 17-year-old arlynn davis from georgia says he's a religious young man. after he scored, he pointed to the sky. he says he was giving thanks to god. well, the refs didn't think so. they penlized him for unsportsmanlike conduct. he said he would do it again the next time he scores. maybe he held it a little too long. he was kept out of buying an nfl team. >> of course, the two race hus lerz, the reverend al sharpton and jesse jackson got involved. and i got a call saying, i'm sorry, i have to ask you to withdraw.

this is the seahawks fullback that did this stupid thing to his head. he told the seattle times, i'm not going to do it anymore. presumably the coaching staff told him not to or maybe a doctor. he also did a similar thing in college in west virginia. it's for your own good, fellow. a crazy ending to a high school football game. john glen high is trailing by one. the field goal is blocked by plymouth. they celebrate. they think the game is over, only it didn't cross the line of scrimmage. look at the coach going, go, go, go, run it in. so the guy runs in, the refuse rees confer, they call it a touchdown, but plymouth is protesting. they won't put the score on their web site. want to get away?

maybe you want to get away on a getaway day friday. >> more coaching on the other side. that's all there is to it. you can have a tie, donovan, remember last year? robin doesn't know what we're talking about. >> i'm bored of the football talk. let's move. >> sorry about that. 70-minute delays philadelphia. new york city metro, you're going to get an hour delay shorltly here and we're looking at delays around d.c. metros and that's with some showers. san francisco looking at morning fog delay. watch for delays here as well. more on that in just a bit, rob. >> fair is fair. when i'm talking about something you can go, okay, we're bored. >> it's that kind of atmosphere. >> in this tough economy, we could all use our own money coach. hln money sperexpert clark howas here. take a look at ben and sara's

story and the advice clark has for them. >> hi, my name is sara. >> and my name is ben. >> and we need a money coach. the last year we got married, got a house, sara started school and i started a new job. we're sorlt of starting over ways. >> we've sort of been in super save mode. everything that we can put away we have. we're not sure what we should do. we track all of our expenses and the additional things that are coming up. >> i want to get to the point where we're making our money work for us and making sure we're doing everything as efficiently sz as possible to make sure we're living comfortable in the future. our question is how much should we be saving and where should we be investing that money? >> i think it's wonderful that you're trying to meet all of these goals. something i know about that you didn't mention in your video, that is all your student loans. those are a very high priority for you.

you need to pour every dollar forward you can towards paying down that student loan debt. you want to tackle your high-interest rate debts first. for the rest ofs us, thinking about setting up priorities. if you owe money and it's at pretty high interest rates and you don't have any money saved, i'd like for you to do a half and half solution. i want you to take 50 cents of every dollar, put it towards savings, the other 50 cents towards debt. >> so clark can be your money coach, too. the clark howard show airs saturdayss and sundays at noon right here on had hln. in this struggling economy, lark will help you to save more, spend less and avoid getting rip off. most of us may have been on edge had we thought a little boy was floating away in a helium balloon, but that didn't stop the late-night comedians from pouncing on the story.

pets may neefr see their owners again. time is running out on possible reunions.

all right. rise and shine, would you you? it's 8:00 straight p up on a tired friday morning. but it's friday. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on. i'm really sorry i yelled at h him. >> we've got him. >> scared the heck out of us. >> that dad spent a nervous afternoon thinking that his little boy was sky-high in a balloon with no way to get down and so did a lot of people near any tv. well, the truth may be stranger than fiction. plus --

these men didn't just fight city hall. they fought at city hall. what started the smack-down. what started as a fever turned into a struggle to walk again. a little girl's inspiring victory over a swine flu horror story. so the top story this morning is one that had many people, maybe you, glued to a tv yesterday. the missing boy and a runaway balloon. was he on that balloon? for two hours, no one knew if 6-year-old falcon hen ne was really alone onboard that balloon or if he had fallen out after it took off. turns out he wasn't anywhere near it. he was hiding in the attic the whole time. he was afraid that he might be in trouble, apparently. just a fie few minutes ago his dad told our sister network kcn that he understands why his son was scared. >> earlier in the day we had told him several times not to play inside of it, and finally i end up raising my voice telling

him not to play in it. and i seemed to have gotten him pretty upset. but bradford told us that he was inside so we had no other reason to not first look into it, search the house. >> a lot of people are wondering what the boy at the center of the chase, though, meant by these comments that he made on "larry king live" last night. >> did you hear us kacalling yo name at any time? >> uh-huh. >> you did? why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for a show. >> so when asked what did the little boy mean by that, his dad said that he was appalled by that question and his son was probably talking about all the media coverage. authorities say that they do not think it was a kind of hoax or

stunt at all. a lot of people are talking about the story on our facebook page. jody writes, how did anyone think that the child was in that balloon? from the size, clearly there was not enough lift to carry a passenger. stephanie writes, there was a positive outcome. that's all anyone hoped for. when did people start pointing fingers about payment for attempted rescues? situations can happen to anyone. kids will be kids. send your comments to our facebook page or go to cnn.com/robin and e-mail us by hitting the contact us button. this is not the first time the same family has been in the spotlight. they've been on reality tv and richard lui has more in about ten minutes. happening today, defense attorneys for casey anthony will be in court asking the judge to throw out the murder charges against her. they claim that investigators destroyed the crime scene when they recovered the body, preventing defense experts from reviewing it. prosecutors say that evidence taken from the scene was

preserved and there are hundreds of photographs available to the defense. you know, we need to tell you about a new h 1 n 1 warning this morning. the fda says absolutely do not buy any treatments that you see for sale online. the agency says that it's testing products found on the internet that claim they can help. so far none of them has been approved for the united states, or in the united states. bottom line is you have to talk to your doctor. the president was in new orleans yesterday and he faced critics who said that federal help for people recovering from hurricane katrina hasn't improved since he took office. >> i expected as much from the bush administration. but why are wre still being nickelled and dimed in our recovery? >> well, look, we are working as hard as we can as quickly as we can to process through many of these issues. >> protesters greeted president obama at a democratic fundraiser in san francisco yesterday. some were anti-war protesters

from code pink. there were also health care reform protesters both for and against. in all, about 1,000 people showed up. the deaths of two people in an arizona sweat lodge is now a homicide investigation. a sweat lodge is used for cleansing exercises. this was a retreat led by self-health expert james arthur ray. the sheriff is looking into how the sweat lodge was built. they say the authorities do not have all the facts. a man now faces charges in a 19-year-old rape and abduction case. or affiliate in houston tells us that dennis bradford was charged yesterday with attempted capital murder. he's accused of kidnapping jennifer schuett from her bedroom when she was only 8, taking her to a field, raping her and slit slitting her throat. investigators say they found dna evidence on clothing left at the scene. five minutes after the hour. we have to talk about snow.

when the leaves are still on the trees and bob's going to show you who's getting that. >> that's a bad situation, rob. the reason why is the leaves on the trees, it's a heavy, wet snow, above 1,000 feet in peb pen and new york state you're just getting slammed with snow. over the last couple of hours beginning to dissipate a bit. but there's more energy across the great lake states. it will drop down off the carolina coastline and work its way back up the shore. the wind, the rain, snow all going to be out there for at least i'd say the next two days. look at the snowfall already being reported. haenyville around pennsylvania, 4.4 inches, state college yesterday 2.5 inches of snow, the earliest snowfall on seasonal on record. the last time we saw snow this early was 1901, only 0.01 inch. very rare this time of year. look at the snow coming across lower p.a., lower new york

state, connecticut, rhode island, in towards massachusetts. boston radar picture picking up the rain pretty well. most of the heavy stuff offshore. northern pennsylvania, watching the radar picture out of binghamton, light stuff across the poconos, parts of the alleghenys as well. more develops tonight above 1,000 foot elevation. almost a foot by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. more on that in a bit. live to d.c., if you're traveling, you'll be affected by the storm as well. windy conditions, you'll get delays at the airport. you can see the fog is out there right now, not great visibility. that will be the case for you offed and on all day. more details in about a half hour. >> thank you very much. the white house says, speaking of that picture, that the stimulus is working and it has the numbers to back it up. but the critics say those numbers are proof that the thing is a major flop.

i'm really sorry i yelled at him. >> we got him. >> scared the heck out of us. >> the father of that 6-year-old boy found safe and highing in the attic. for hours it was feared that that little boy he was holding was trapped on a runaway balloon. we watched this live unfold yesterday afternoon, maybe you did, too. correspondent richard lui joins us now. who is the family? it's not the first time that we've seen them on national television. do divulge. >> richard heene is a meteorologist and former tv weather guy. they're known for storm chasing and conducting extreme science experiments together, though he says his family is never put in harm's way. now, the family has even been on reality tv. this is video of them appearing on the 100th episode abc's "wife

swap" in march. the woman who swapped with the heene family talked about the balloon ordeal. >> i think that he was scared because he's -- the flying thing went up. i think he might have been scared of how his father would react, you know, to it. so he may have been responsible for the flying balloon to go up. >> the heenes have even submitted i-reports to cnn including this one where they are chasing hurricane gustav. >> it's fascinating. so many people watched yesterday because it was something that once you saw it you could not turn away. listen as the story unfolded. what are our viewers saying about how they felt then or now? >> grabbing a lot of attention. blogger beth saying, big stunt. the child told it all. 6-year-olds really cannot lie. this from thomas, a a comment on the buy and balloon story, happy

endings rule. >> my heart was aching for my parents. then we learned he was okay and just hiding. well being i viewed it as a learning experience for my children. thank you all for blogging and writing into us. cnn.com/robin to comment on this. keep the conversation going. we share your comments. >> you know what bob said to his son who's about the same age? don't you ever go and hide if you think you're in trouble. don't ever do it. >> lest you may end up on tv. next half hour, we'll have more about this balloon and why the family had it and what exactly it is. democrats are fighting with each other over health care reform. yesterday they could not agree if the new plan should include an option for government-sponsored insurance. nancy pelosi insists the public option would keep costs down and help uninsured. critics argue it would drive away private insurers. democrats will pick up the

debate monday. we saulz salute the troops. today's salute is from karen to her son army private first class joshua unger. he and his wife recently celebrated the birth of their second child. >> my name is karen unger from munsey, indiana. i'd like to salute our son joshua unger. our thoughts and prayers are with the soerltds and their families from the 216th. we wish that they have a successful mission and return home safely. for all those who support and appreciate the sacrifices these soldiers and their families make every day for our country and for those of us blessed to mrli in a free world. >> it's always our honor to help you salute the troops. go to krn.com/robin. new this morning, bank of america says that it lost more than $2 billion in the most recent quarter. as it continued to lose money on loans. that news could be a drag on the stocks today on top of that, general electric reported some

disappointing earnings. stock futures are down you. after the dow closed yesterday above the 10,000 mark at 10,062. a new high for the year. the government stimulus plan has created or saved about 30,000 jobs so far. this is the first tally we're getting from the white house about this. the critics say 30,000 is a far cry from the more than 3 million jobs that were promised when the stimulus package was passed in february. the white house says these contracts are just a sliver of the spending so far. walmart and amazon apparently are duking it out to win over book lovers. walmart struck first cutting online preorders to just 10 bucks. amazon matched that. then walmart went to 9 bucks. amazon matched that. former alaska governor sarah palin's book, list price is $29. at walmart and amazon it's 9

bucks. the mascot for cincinnati university is the bearcat. but a little boy is proving to be a very powerful team mascot. why they are playing this season for him. is there any rule that says that you can't fight in city hall?

anytime now survivor winner richard hatch could be released from a massachusetts jail. remember he won $1 million in the first season of the reality show? he was imprisoned in 2006 for

not paying taxgs on his winnings. he was released earlier this year to home confinement, but went back to jail after giving unauthorized tv interviews. this was not your usual boring city council meeting, i'll say that. >> hey, hey, hey. that's enough. >> what in the world? these guys were fighting about a decision to privatize a city sidewalk. they were fighting about a sidewalk in st. petersburg, florida. >> come on! >> no! >> knock it off! >> one of them is 76 years old and the brother of one of the councilmen. the other is 51. both were arrested for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. i like listening to the natural sound here. >> ah! >> stop it. >> don't tase me, bro. >> that's what it feel like. they are now free on bond.

>> just glad it was something important like a sidewalk. you should see health care when they start going after that. holy cow. one college football team keeps winning this season and they say that a 12-year-old cancer survivor is the inspiration for them. here's rafer. >> robin, i've got to tell you nobody thought we would be talking about the cincinnati bearcats and a national championship this year. they've been a huge surprise an they've made no secret about who's been inspiring them. they told the "new york times" that it comes from a 12-year-old boy named mitch stone battling a brain tumor. they have adopted him through a charity. last night they beat the eighth ranked bearcats beat south florida to stay undefeated. mitch says they've been inspiring him by winning and that's boosted his spirits to

win his battle. lebron james has been treated for the h1n1 virus. they don't know if it's the swine flu, but he seems okay now. >> you know, you come back around and you've got the kootties, don't want to be around you no more. it's just a good group of guys that we have here. >> are you contagious? >> no. i think i'm over it now. if you get sick, then i was contagious. >> i hope he's not. usc running back stefon johnson surprised to see teammates after showing up for practice. check this out. they all go nuts. he is recovering after dropping a 270-pound weight on his throat. >> he seems in great spirits. he can't talk yet, right? >> he has to communicate through writing. more surmgry coming. look at his spirits. lastly, our true champion this week is former ucla coach john wooden, the wizard of westwood, turned 99 on wednesday. >> he looks good! >> considered the greatest coach of all-time not just because of

his ten national championships and his leadership and molding his young people to be good people as well as players. the man has an endless array of famous quotes, ability may get you you to the top but it takes character to keep you there. >> good words to live by. thank you. hi, bob. getaway day friday. i hope it's better for flying than yesterday. >> i think it will be worse because now we have that storm right off of cape cod bringing the wind out of east and a lot of moisture. live to new york city, here's what looks like, no delays yet here, but you see the rain drops on the lens. usually bringing poor visibility. add to it a gusty east wind, you see problems up in ny. so far flight explorer showing rain inland by new jersey and pennsylvania. the blue is the snow. let me show you what we have for the day. currently the only delay due to weather is a 70-minute delay in philadelphia. new york city metros, watch for the hour to creep up.

boston, cleveland, chicago, seattle, the rest of them showers and wind. more in a half hour. back to the story that everyone is talking about. a little boy alone, we thought, on a runaway balloon for hours when we were seeing this on live tv. the reality is a lot less scary, but equally bizarre, see how the drama played out in realtime.

a heart stopping story had so many of us glued to the tv yesterday. everyone thought that this 6-year-old was alone on a runaway balloon. well, it turns out that he was hiding in the attic at home, but it all played out on live tv. the family insists the episode was not any kind of stunt and authorities agree. a woman blew herself up during a coordinated suicide attack that killed at least 11 people. the associated press reports that the blast destroyed part of a police station and a mosque in northwest pakistan. near the afghanistan border. taliban presence is strong there. this is the latest in a wave of

deadly militant attacks. a judge says that he wants to avoid a circus sideshow in a hearing for three people accused of illegally giving prescription drugs to anna nicole smith. yesterday he barred prosecutors from asking a witness if there was a sexual relationship between smith and her female psychiatrist. smith died of a drug overdose in 2007. those are just some of our stories. i want to ask you how you're doing this morning. morning, sunshine. it's friday. you're doing better all of a sudden, right? i'm robin immediate. back to the big story that maybe had you you glued to the the tv yesterday. a little boy was believed to be on a runaway balloon but was later found safe at home. correspondent richard lui joins us to talk about this mylar looking balloon. what is that thing? >> it looked kind of strange, the saucer-like thing. the giant balloon is about 20 feet in diameter, about 5 feet high. while it was airborne, authorities say it reached as high as 7,000 feet.

the dad referred to the balloon as a 3d low-altitude vehicle he said he wanted to build a balloon that someone could operate from inside hovering as much as 100 feet above the ground. well, it did better than that. a balloon expert talked to our sister network cnn about what this balloon might be used for. >> well, this type of balloon could be used for several different things. it could be used to put scientific instruments into the air. it could be used as a centerpiece for a party. it's basically a small mylar kit you can get off the internet. >> sense of humor there. he says by the way it's possible for a balloon that size to have lifted the boy about as high as the trees. we saw it again as high as 7,000 feet some are saying. >> i've been really interesting in our viewers' expressions this morning about what they were watching and how they feel about it this morning. for example, this person says, all i know is if i was balloon boy my hieny would be sort sore this morning. what are our viewers saying

about this ordeal in. >> >>. >> so you're telling me the little boy hid in the attic for hours? kids usually hide out for about 15 minutes. i'm questioning this whole entire stunt. blogger patricia says, consider the happy ending the only important issue here. the balloon certainly checked the emergency response systems, even planned practices could not have given a truer reading of how well your system is working at any given time. cnn.com/robin for blogging and your comments. robin? >> i have one more comment i have to share. pat on facebook says, i took a nap and woke up to what i thought was a disney movie from the '60s. i was waiting for herby the love bug to save them. different opinions here. we welcome all of them. just your thoughts today about what you saw yesterday. new this morning, a strong earthquake rattled parts of indonesia. the u.s. geological survey says

this one has a magnitude of 6.1. a local meteorological agency says the quake wasn't strong enough to cause a tsunami. no reports of damage so far. three missing hikers were with stranded on a ledge above a waterfall and said they were with stuck there for three days. people were searching here at california's kings canyon national park. a rescue helicopter finally spotted them. affiliate kfsn reports that they lit a fire so they could be seen. they survived by rationing what little food they had. children from five towns in connecticut lined up for their free h1n1 flu vaccination yesterday. but few cried because it was the nasal vaccination, not the shot. the sheer number of kids getting vaccinated brought relief to some parents. >> i was surprised because a lot of my friends are opting to not get it, and so i was kind of on the outskirts. but to see so many parents and children here opting to get it, i was happy and it made me feel

reassured. >> the health director in charge says he hopes to get vaccine shipments each week. crews are searching the atlantic this morning for an f-16 that collided with another jet during training exercises. they hit each other near the south carolina coast last night. 1 of the jets landed safely, but the location of the pilot and other plane is still unknown. the air force has been doing some tests at night so that pilots can train with the night vision equipment. you know, check out this frightening video from a security camera in an australian train station. a train hits a baby stroller. now, before you see this, the baby ended up with just minor injuries, thankfully. you see the stroller just roll off the platform. the mom raced after it, but the train rolled on. rescuers say the baby was strapped into the stroller and that's probably what saved his life. how awful. so frightening. so glad that baby is okay. i can't imagine the horror between the time that the baby

rolledor under there until the time that the train had gone. >> just, oh, man. >> the seconds that seemed like days, right? >> it's unspeakable. i can't imagine. >> what do you think about the facebookers talking about the little boy in the balloon? >> most of them are really clever. >> most of them are obviously relieved that the little boy is okay. >> i think we all are. >> julian said, you can't name a kid falcon and not expect him to take off. >> i know. his family just love the drama, it would seem. going on that "wife swap" show? low pressure region is off the coastline of cape cod. the green and blue is all rain, the white all snow. it continues to come down across central p.a., northern p.a. toward lower new york state. state college, 2 1/2 inches of snow on the ground, earliest snow of the year. the warnings are located in roughly the same spot as yesterday. here's what it looks like, the areas shaded in red, a total of

about four to ten inches of snow, mainly above 1,000 feet, including i-80. the white counties are winter storm watch. the bluer the advisory, less snow. . the snow will continue and taper off and pick back up overnight tonight as more energy approaches you from the south. here's what it looks like across the region by boston, little travel problems up here. the rain heavy at times around the region for the last couple of hours. it's going to shuttle in off and on all day. winds gusting out of the east. light snow out there for northern pennsylvania and lower new york state. but the wind advisories for cape cod are up there. martha's vineyard for a wind warning, winds gusting for about 60 miles an hour. coastal flood warnings watches up and down the eastern seaboard because of the wind out of the east. down south it's showers and thunderstorms rolling on in. the you can see them right there. the about ready to approach towards orlando and tampa. tallahassee showing most of it moving to the east. more in about a half hour. you bring up banning smoking at the local restaurant or bar

and you're liable to get into a heated argument. we have new information that could be important to you no matter which side of the discussion you're on.

he's saying 99% of them wind up in divorce. how many people get married and wind up in divorce?

white or black. >> well, the couple ended up going to another justice of the peace where they were finally married. smoking bans in restaurants, bars and other places may be protecting the hearts of nonsmokers. the that's from a new study by the institute of medicine which advises the government. it used teb pueblo, colorado, for an example. hospitalizations for heart attacks dropped after workplace smoking was banned. many businesses have been against the ban, saying they're bad for business. bank of america ceo ken lewis who by the way is stepping down at the end of the year will get no salary or bonus this year. the bank says that he agreed to forgo his $1.5 million salary at the urging of the treasury's par pay czar. lewis will still get about $69 million in benefits from the company when he leaves. microsoft says it has recovered most if not all of the data that disappeared from the t-mobile

sidekick cell phones last weekend. earlier this week t-mobile said that the photoeds, phone numbers, data was probably gone for good. but microsoft, who makes the phones for t-mobile says it has found the data and will restore it soon. joy behar talked to richard bell czar about his new novel last night and touched on other issues like discrimination. >> people do skirt the racist issue i think quite a bit. they like to think it's not still racist country but in a way it is, isn't it? >> in a big way it is. they're still red-lining in banks. you still see health problems among the blacks and hispanics and poor people that people of means don't have the same problems. we put pa pollution next to poor neighborhoods. the there's so much discrimination that's just built into the fabric of america. >> catch the "the joy behar show" 9:00 p.m. eastern. now we know a so-called

balloon boy is fine. in fact, he wasn't in a runaway balloon at all while it flew across colorado. but the story had our full attention yesterday and i'll bet yours, too. plus, one of the most popular children's books of all time comes alive on the big screen. >> we're going to try to find the biggest pieces. >> you didn't see that coming! smoo .

this a very, very dangerous situation not only to the 6-year-old boy but the people on the ground because this thing is moving at a very fast velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to actually carry anybody. it was just a family project they were working on. >> he's going down he's at 100 feet. >> he's coming down? >> yes, he is coming down. >> at that moment, it was a mix of excitement and fear. was the 6-year-old boy in there? was he okay? after all, the balloon had flown about 50 miles. it was kind of pitching and rolling all the way. the faa even cleared airspace. now we know little falcon heene there in his dad's arms was safe and sound at home hiding in his family's attic.

what an aincredible story. some of you have continued to comment this morning. if you haven't, you're welcome to. for example, knowing how curious and fearless their boys are, i don't understand how they could have a helium balloon fully accessible to them. i hope they've learned a very big lesson. listen on facebook said. if that was my child and he pulled a prank like that, his butt would be red. then i'd probably hug him for being safe. he would definitely be grounded for the month. bonnie said that on facebook. we give you the news, but it's all about your views. go to cnn.com/robin. there's a little contact us button. you can do it that way to e-mail or go to facebook. we're learning about a new deadly attack on u.s. forces in afghanistan. the pentagon said four gis were with killed in a bombing yesterday. the violence has gotten much worse recently, 25 you american troops killed in afghanistan this month. u.s. you commanders are asking for more troops to stamp out the taliban's comeback.

we have a horse rescue on tape. little sparkles, little my foot, was trapped in a hole in the blazing heat for more than two hours. it happens southeast of phoenix. vets showed up to give her medicine and keep her calm. the fire crew spraid her to keep her cool until finally sparkles was pulled out. >> poor elsparkles. why was there a large hole near sparkles' home? >> good point. what was sparkles doing? a simple gesture at a high school football game is causing some commotion in a small town. see if you disagree with this story here. here's rafer. not the story but the decision. >> the decision. the you know, right now referees are trying to crack down on celebration, college, high school. i think they're going a little too far on this one, robin. 17 dwreer-year-old r.j. davis from georgia says he's a religious man. after he scored on friday, he pointed to the the sky, saying he was giving thanks to god. the referees gave him thanks by

penalizing him and his team 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. the rules say the player can't celebrate in an excessive way. the referee was not available for comment. davis says he will do it again the next time he scores. they play again tonight. >> i do think it was excessive. >> you do? >> no, no, no. i think their decision was excessive. when you look at the tape, watch. he only has it up for a few seconds, if even that. then it's back down again. >> i agree with you. >> i'm sorry. i don't think that he was being excessive. i think their decision is. >> i agree with you. rush limbaugh blasted al sharpton and jesse jackson and the nfl player union on his radio show on being kept out of buying an nfl team. >> then of course the two race hustlers got involved and i got a call on tuesday you night from dave checkities. i'm sorry, i have to ask you to withdraw. moving on, no more head-banging for this crazy guy,

owen schmitt, the seattle seahawks fullback. he did it on sunday. he told the seattle times he won't do that anymore. presumably the coaching staff told him, would you stop? he also did the same thing in college at west virginia. owen, it's for your own good. this is a crazy ending to a high school football game. john glenn high trailing by one with eight seconds has a field goal blocked by plymouth. plymouth celebrates. the they think the game is over. it wasn't over. the ball didn't cross the line of scrimmage. it's skill live. they're telling their kids, run it in. it's still alive. >> wow! >> they do. glenn runs it in. the refs confer. they say it's a touchdown. they are plymouth. they are protesting, won't put the score on their website. >> great sports stories today. thank you. toyota has had two massive recalls in the past month. one involved faulty cruise control devices and another one has a very simple fix you can do

at home. hln money expert clark howard has some tips that could keep you safe on the road. >> by now i hope everybody in america who has hey toyota or a lexus made between 2004 an and 0 has checked to see if your vehicle is one of the ones affected by one of the oddest recalls of all time. 4 million vehicles approximately recalled because the driver f r floor mat could cause you to be in an accident and possibly a fatal wreck. it is weird, isn't it? and the remedy, so simple. you pull out the floor mat on the driver's side and you let your carpet get dirty in the car. most recalls aren't so simple as that. the shocker, though, is that most of the time, even when there is a recall involving serious stuff, people don't respond, don't take their cars or trucks to the dealer. i want you to take care of it, especially if it is steering,

braking, something like that. there is a website you can learn what is going on with your car, autosafety.org. check it out. i'm clark howard. check me out at cnn.com/clarkhoward. clark, easy to save more and spend less. catch him at noon and 4:00 eastern on saturdays and sundays here on "hln." getaway day friday, not such a hot day. here's bob. >> pretty rough, robin. so far, a 70-minute delay in philadelphia. that's probably going to grow. laguardia, 65-minute delays. an hour or more delay already beginning to pop up around new york city metro, including newark across the river. philadelphia, 70-minute delay that will continue through the morning with the low clouds and the wind. d.c. metro including baltimore, shorter dollars, same thing, wind and rain. san francisco, yesterday about an hour delay because of low clouds. today, roughly the same thing. that gets out by about noon pacific time.

more on that in a half an hour. most of us were on the edge when we thought a little boy may have been floating away in some crazy looking helium balloon. that didn't stop the late night comedians from pouncing on it. 

good morning. just when you go, oh, i'm just too tired to get up, let me tell you it is friday, maybe that will make you feel better, at least. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. deputies want to take a closer look at the balloon chase that gripped the country on live tv. why they're focusing on what a little boy at the center of the drama said to cnn. the case of the woman accused of killing her daughter takes another turn. what huge request her attorneys are expected to ask the judge in about half an hour. and you don't expect the city council meeting to end up this exciting.

what these guys were fighting over anyway. my word. the first, more on our top story this morning, there are new details on a heart stopping story that had so many, maybe you, glued to the tv. a missing little boy and a runaway balloon. for two hours no one knew if 6-year-old falcon heene was alone on board that balloon. into one knew he was actually hiding in the attic the whole time. this morning his dad tells our sister network cnn what he thought when the balloon came down and falcon was not on board. >> earlier in the day we had told him -- several times not to play inside of it. and finally i ended up raising my voice telling him not to play in it. and that seemed to have gotten him pretty upset, but bradford told us that he was inside, so we had no other reason to not

first look into it, search the house. >> well, a lot of people are wondering what the boy at center of the case, though, meant by comments he made on "larry king live" last night. >> did you hear us calling your name at any time? >> mm-hmm. >> you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for the show. >> so when asked about what did falcon mean by that his dad said he was appalled by the question and his son was probably talking about all the media coverage. authorities say that after seeing that interview, they do want to talk with the family again. this is not the first time that you've seen that family. they have even been on reality tv before. correspondent richard lui has more on that ang untle in 15 minutes. happening today, attorneys for casey anthony will be in

course asking the judge to throw out the murder charges against her. they claim that investigators destroyed the crime scene when they recovered the body, preventing defense experts from reviewing it. but prosecutors say that evidence taken from the scene was preserved, and there are hundreds of photographs available to the defense. we're hearing about a new deadly attack on u.s. forces in afghanistan. the pentagon says that four gis were killed in a bombing yesterday. the violence has gotten much worse recently there. 25 american troops have been killed in afghanistan this month. u.s. commanders are asking for more troops to stamp out the taliban's comeback. the president was in new orleans yesterday and faced critics who said federal help for people recovering from hurricane katrina hasn't improved since he took office. >> i expected as much from the bush administration, but why are we still being nickelled and dimed in our recovery? >> well, look, we are working as

hard as we can, as quickly as we can to process through many of these issues. >> protesters greeted president obama at a democratic fund-raiser in san francisco yesterday. some were anti-war protesters from code pink. there were also health care reform protesters, both for and against, and all about 1,000 people showed up. we need to tell you about a new h1n1 warning this morning. the fda says absolutely do not buy any treatments that you see for sale online. the agency says it is testing products found on the internet that claim they can help. so far none of them has been approved in the united states. bottom line, they say talk to your doctor. this was not your usual kind of boring city council meeting. >> enough, enough! >> what in the world? these guys were fighting about a decision to privatize a sidewalk in st. petersburg, florida. >> come on.

>> no. >> no! >> knock it off! >> this is over a sidewalk. one of them is 76 years old and the brother of one of the council men. the other is 51, poeth arrested for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. they're now free on bond. >> stop it. you're going to break his shoulder? >> at least those shorts aren't any shorter. rolling around there pretty well there. >> i never covered any city council meetings like that earlier in my career. mine were like -- >> trying to rezone vista park phase three, you'll get some resistance. >> deep southeast, the storms are out there. here is the way it looks. doing any kind of traveling today, especially around tampa towards orlando now. look at that wave of thundershowers off the gulf of mexico and dropping down through the peninsula of florida. that's going to train in there later today. it is going to be a morning

event, a little bit of a lull, and then more activity popping up this afternoon. here is the radar picture coming near tampa. big thunderstorm complex over the region, but not toward st. pete yet. it will get there and then the rain goes to orlando as well. ocala getting light rain shower activity as well. that rain will go to the south, set up shop there and be off and on for most of the day. rain to hilton head, buford, charleston too. still searching for the downed f-16. could see thunderstorms around that region later this morning so far, most of it is off coast. back to the west we go, a little snow falling across north dakota. not very heavy, but the energy is out there and it is driving down towards the south. it is going to form into another coastal type storm overnight tonight and then move up to the northeast where we already have one sitting in place. look at this low, just off the coast of cape cod, all the white is all snow. it is coming down pretty well, also, you talk about central parts of pennsylvania, lower parts of new york state too, beginning to thin out a little bit right now. a little lull in the activity

beginning to develop. more energy coming in, more rain, more snow on the way and we have the warnings and watches out there with mostly rain for the coast from boston all the way down through new york in towards philadelphia too. philly, all liquid, no snow today. more on that coming up in half an hour. >> if you didn't -- if the whole balloon boy thing wasn't embarrassing enough, are we going to show this? >> we have to. this is like the icing on the cake. >> he had some upsetting moments on live tv already this morning. >> have to stick around to see it. >> there is a full scale price war going on between two top retailers for books. and it could be good news for your wallet.

time to cut through all the clutter about what's really good for your heart. the biggest key, says registered dietitian paige love, is reducing the levels of inflammatory compounds in your body. >> inflammation is the body's response when disease is cultivating and often there are foods that can actually help do the opposite of that in the body. >> reporter: so what are these superfoods? >> eating red really helps to decrease inflammation. for example, cherries, tart cherries, red grapes, tomatoes. >> reporter: blueberries and strawberries also top the list, as do leafy greens like spinach. even oatmeal. >> there is quite a bit of evidence showing the fiber in oatmeal helps to lower cholesterol. it is one of those key disease-fighting breakfast foods. >> reporter: if you look for a good snack food, try a can of nuts. >> nuts are a good protein source, a good healthy vegetable fat source. >> reporter: avocados full of healthy unsaturated fats that can help boost good cholesterol.

oily fish like salmon are rich in cholesterol-lowering omega 3 s which can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of clotting. then, of course, as everybody's favorite, chocolate. >> the cocoa is full of compounds called flaf noles and it improves blood flow. >> reporter: despite again fits of chowing down on chocolate -- >> key sweets or sort of extra foods to about 10% of your calories per day. >> reporter: here is to your heart health. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. since the whole balloon story unfolded yesterday, falcon heene, that's his name, has been on countless tv programs and this morning, maybe just it jus to be too much for him. >> uh-oh. >> okay. he had to walk out of an interview with abc and let's say, he got sick off camera, poor little thing, during a live interview with nbc, he got sick

while the camera was on him. poor thing. i wonder if it got to be too upsetting for him or if he's got the flu bug. when i was watching "larry king live" last night, what cracked me up was the three little boys, they're just so little boys. they were sitting there and their parents are trying to give the interview, they can't hear what is being said and they're picking on each other and slapping each other's bell lies and everything else. the florida mom charged with killing her 2-year-old little girl may be in court any minute. new for you in 20 minutes, we're taking you live to that hearing. time for our salute to the troops. he and his wife celebrated the birth of their second child. >> my name is karen ungere from

san diego. i would like to salute joshua ungere. our thoughts and prayer are with the soldiers and families of the 216. we hope they have a successful mission and return home safely. we support the sacrifices these soldiers and their families make every day for our country and those of us who are blessed to live in a free world. >> maybe you have somebody in the service and want to salute them. go cnn.com/robin. bank of america says it lost more than $2 billion in the most recent quarter. partly because of some bad loans. that news could be a drag on the stocks as could disappointing earnings from general electric. the stocks are set to open lower after the dow closed at 10,062, a new high for the year, 10,000 above it. if you wait to book your airline tickets for the holidays this year, expect to pay more. the "new york times" reports that prices are rising almost on

a daily base witness fares up 6% from last week alone. last year people at the last minute got some good deals because the airlines were cut off guard by a drop in demand. walmart and amazon battling it out for book readers here. walmart struck first cutting online preorder prices on books for new hardbacks, the hardback books, to $10, hard covers. amazon watched that and walmart went to 9 bucks and amazon matched that. steven king's new novel, the list price is 35 bucks. at walmart and amazon, it is 9 bucks. a little boy believed to be trapped on a runaway balloon, turns out he was safe at home, he was hiding. what some of you are now saying about that dramatic ordeal and how it ended.

i'm really sorry i yelled at him. >> we got him. >> scared the heck out of us. >> the father of that 6-year-old boy found safe and hiding in the attic. for hours it was feared that that little boy he was holding was trapped on a runaway balloon. we watched this live unfold yesterday afternoon, maybe you did too. correspondent richard joins us now. so who is the family? not the first time that we have seen them on national attention. so do divulge. >> you are right here, robin. richard heene is a meteorologist and former tv weather guy. according to his myspace page, they're known for storm chasing and conducting extreme science

experiments together. though he says his family is never put in harm's way. the family's even been on reality tv, which you were talking about there, robin. this is video of them appearing on the 100th episode of abc's "wife swap" in march. the woman who swapped with the heene family on the show talked about this balloon ordeal. >> i think that he was scared because the flying thing went up. i think he might have been scared of how his father would react, you know, to it. so he may have been responsible for this ship, the flying balloon to go up. >> the heenes have been even submitted i-reports to cnn including this one here where, robin, they're chasing hurricane gustav. >> it is fascinating piece of tape there too. so many people watched yesterday because it was something that once you saw it, you could not turn away. and listen as the story unfolded. what are our viewer saying about how they felt then or now?

>> grabbing a lot of attention. beth saying big stunt. the child told it all. 6-year-olds really cannot lie. all right, thank you, all for blogging and writing into us. cnn.com/robin to comment on this. keep the great conversation going. we share your comments. one college football team keeps winning and it says that a 12-year-old cancer survivor is the reason. hi, rafer. >> robin, the cincinnati bearcats are not a team that people expected to be talked about in the national championship conversation. well, they have told the "new york times," their inspired play, because they're good this year, has come from 12-year-old mitch stone, a young man who is battling a brain tumor. they adopted mitch through the charity friends of jaclyn, a

great charity which pairs kids with sports teams. last night they kept on rolling, the bearcats beat south florida 34-17, to stay unbeaten and mitch says that the team has inspired him by their winning and it boosted his spirits to win his battle against cancer. and lebron james has been treated as if he has the h1n1 virus. he and two other teammates tested positive for a similar flu strain, influenza a. he seems okay now. >> you come back around like you got cooties, they don't want to be around you no more. but it is a good group of guys that we have. >> are you contagious? >> no, i think i'm over it now. if you get sick, it is contagious. >> he said cooties. he actually said cooties. stephan johnson surprised his teammates by showing up at practice on thursday after he left the hospital. look at the reaction from his teammates. if you don't note story, johnson

was recovering from a crushed lair next after dropping a 270 pound weight bar on his throat. look at his spirits. >> he can't speak. that's why he's being so demonstrative. >> he cannot speak. has to communicate through writing now. a lot more surgery to go. he is expected to make a full recovery. and now our true champion, this week, former ucla coach john wooden, the wizard of west wood, turned 99 on wednesday. a lot of famous quotes linked to him like sports do not build character, they reveal it. one of my favorite quotes by him. that's a look at sports, robin. >> thanks so much. 99, looking good. now is your chance to get on the simpsons. starting today, producers will take entries for a contest to create a character for an upcoming show. you get to make up the character's name, the traits, and even the catch phrases. the winner will get to work with the producers and the animators. top entry will be announced next

month. >> you, as a character. >> i hate to see myself as a character. oh, gosh. the florida mom charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter might be back in court any minute. so we're watching for that. and state whether the case against casey anthony should be thrown out. ddddddddddd

so the new york stock exchange is now open for business. it has been a big week. the dow is now over 10,000. will it stay there? we're going get a preview in about five minutes. a heart stopping story had so many people glued to the tv yesterday. everybody thought this little 6-year-old was alone on board a runaway balloon. turns out he was hiding in the attic at home. the whole thing, though, played out on live tv. the family insists the episode was not a stunt. a woman blew herself up during a coordinated suicide attack that killed at least 13

people. the associated press reports that the blast destroyed part of a police station and a mosque in northwest pakistan near the afghanistan border. taliban presence is strong there. this is the latest in a wave of deadly militant attacks. a judge says he wants to avoid a circus side show in a hearing for three people accused of illegally giving prescription drugs to anna nicole smith. yesterday, he barred prosecutors from asking a witness if there was a sexual relationship between smith and her female psychiatrist. smith died of a drug overdose in 2007. those are just a few of the stories we're working on. you're working on the oatmeal now. good morning. i'm robin meade. let's go to the story, casey anthony's lawyers are about to ask a judge to throw out the murder charges against her. remember, she is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee. beth sessions is joining us live from orlando. is anthony at the hearing there

yet? >> yes. good morning, robin. casey anthony has just entered the courtroom. the hearing is about to get under way. but we have received word that big issue, dismissing all the charges, is not going to be heard today. a couple of other motions are that were originally scheduled as well. but this big motion to dismiss because the crime scene was basically destroyed from the defense point of view, so by the time their experts got there, it was just a plot of land, no bushes and any evidentiary value was taken by the police, that will not be heard today. they want to review more photos and put more witnesses on for that part of the hearing. that will be reskethd forfew mo >> what are things are they going to go ahead and ask for what other things should we expect to really see in the news then later on this afternoon? >> well, they're asking the judge to amend his order from january of this year, which really severely restricts the

defense's ability to look at the hundreds of crime scene photos taken at every stage as law enforcement was going through this wooded area where the skeletal remains were found in a garbage bag. they have access to these photos right now on a secure server. but they're not allowed to photocopy them, reproduce them in any way. this was the judge's order to prevent any leak or dissemination into the public domain. that is what they need to rely on to prepare their defenses. they don't have a plot of land they can look at. they're hoping the judge will amend this order, let them have better access to the photos, still keeping them private, and in a few months they'll tell the judge if that's enough. that request to amend the order will be heard. also they have a motion to dismiss counts one and two, the murder and aggravated child abuse saying, look, you can't tell how she died. you can't -- how can you charge her with first degree murder. you don't know how she died?

>> beth karroas, thank you from "in session". a man faces charges in a 19-year-old rape and abduction case. dennis bradford was charged yesterday with attempted capital murder. he's accused of kidnapping jennifer schuett from her bedroom when she was 8, taking her to a field, raping her and slitting her throat. investigators say they found dna evidence on the clothing left at the scene. new this morning, a strong earthquake rattled parts of indonesia. the u.s. geological survey says this one is a magnitude 6.1. in t the agency says it was not enough to cause a tsunami. no reports of damage so far. a train hit a baby stroller. the baby inside, thankfully, r only had minor injuries.

the distracted mother raced after it as the train rolled in. they say the baby was strapped into the stroller and that's what saved its life. between children, you know, rolling underneath trains, and getting on helium balloons, so we thought, aren't you so glad your life is a little bit more -- you can look at that and go, you know what, my light is calmer than that, right? i like boring. >> boring is good a lot of times. we're still watching the early snowfall on record around central pennsylvania for some areas and the earliest measurable snowfall in state college about a tenth of an inch, that was october 18th, 1901. yesterday, you start seeing the snow come down, 2 1/2 inches of snow on the ground. joepa's front yard looking white now. the snow just continues. how about the warnings? we have areas shaded in red, under winter storm warnings, that's what it looks like. that will last all night tonight as a new round of energy rides up the eastern seaboard, watch for an additional 1 to 3 inches

of snow tonight, mainly above a thousand feet elevation for a grand total of 4 to 10 inches. that's going to be over the highest terrain. the white counties under a winter storm watch. the blue is a winter storm advisory. the snow is out there. it continues. but look at it, it is all rain when it gets to boston. warmer around the coastline. temperatures in the 40s here. boston getting showers to the south part of the city. all snow northern pennsylvania, lower parts of new york state, and that's where it is going to be for most of the day. do down to the south, a squallline and then rocketing through orlando and tampa. a nice line of thundershowers here, not severe but gusty winds are a possibility. a lot of lightning in that short period of time and lightning for most of the day. what about the rest of the region? let me take you to the beltway. want to see nice pictures? look at that. leaves starting to change there in d.c. rough day weatherwise. winds gusting, low clouds get

delays at the airports. gorgeous picture of the capital. >> it is pretty. thank you. let's review for the week. wednesday, the dow closed above 10,000 for the first time in a year. the market then is primed for a pullback today, though. susan lisovicz will tell us why. has to do with earnings, doesn't it? >> it does. this is quite typical that, you know, it is a very short kind of focus, kind of like a 4-year-old, you know, not really looking at anything but what's in front of you right now. and what is in front of us is, well, a couple of earnings that are disappointing. and they do have a lot to do with the financial sector. bank of america lost more than 2 billion bucks in three months. that's a bigger loss than wall street expected. bank of america's ceo ken lewis also agreed to take no salary for this year. don't worry, though, he's retiring at the end of the year and his total payout will be about $69 million, also well paid prior to this.

b of a shares down 5.5%. that's the reason why the stock mark set pulling back. so is ge. shares down 3.5%. a 45% drop in third quarter profit, hurt by declines in its finance unit. yes it makes light bulbs, yes, it makes movies, jet engines, also has a huge exposure to the financial sector. problems at ge capital indicate that consumers from businesses are having problems paying their bills. the tech sector continues to show strength. last night, ibm and google posted earnings that beat estimates. google says the worst of the recession is over and indicated plans to accelerate hiring. let me repeat that, accelerate hiring across the company. that's proof. finally, today is friday. that is great. today is national boss day as well. and there are suggestions of how to show your boss you appreciate -- >> this is major brownie points or whatever we call those now, like major plus points. >> yes, the suggestion that i'm reading includes cards, a lunch

in the boss' honor, flowers or gift certificates which have you done, robin so far today? >> i sent an e-mail yesterday trying to ining to beat all th people who wanted to be the boss' pet. >> that's the truth. and you? >> well, the day is not over yet. >> she's like, i have too many bosses, forget it. a nighttime training exercise took an unexpected turn and crews are searching for an f-16 pilot who collided with another jet.

this is a very, very dangerous situation, not only to people -- not only to the 6-year-old boy, but the people on the ground, because this thing is moving at a very fast

velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to actually carry anybody t was just a family project they were working on. >> he's going down. ae he's at 100 feet. this is ending. >> he's coming down? >> he is coming down. >> it was a mix of fear and excitement. was the 6-year-old boy okay? after all, that balloon had flown about 50 miles wobbling and spinning all the way, while the faa even cleared air space for it. now we know that falcon heene was safe and sound back at home, hiding in his family's attic. we're learning more about the family at the center of the big balloon chase. richard lui has more on that and some of the other stories we're working on in the next hour. because our viewers are all over this one. >> what a story this has been so far this morning and over the evening, robin. it turns out the family who thought their son was in the balloon was in the spot light before and now the police want to talk to them after hearing what he said to our sister

network, cnn. and then blurred vision, dry eyes, the list goes on, the negative side effects of lasik surgery. this say former beauty queen and hear how she got shot and how she nearly did not make it out of her nightmare alive. >> thank you. crews are searching the atlantic now for an f-16 that collided with another jet during training exercises. they hit each other near the south carolina coast last night. one of jets landed safely. the location of the pilot and the other plane is still unknown. the air force has been doing tests at night so the pilots can train with their night vision equipment. new this morning, he survived three years in jail and now survivor winner richard hatch is back in rhode island. hatch won a million dollars on the first season of the reality show. he was released from jail this morning after serving time for not paying the taxes on his reality show winnings.

toyota has had two massive recalls in the past month. well, one involved a faulty cruise control device. the other one has a very simple fix you can do at home. so hln money expert clark howard has more on those. >> by now i hope everybody in america who has a toyota or a lexus made between 2004 and 2010 has checked to see if your vehicle is one of the ones affected by one of the oddest recalls of all time. 4 million vehicles approximately recalled because the driver floor mat could cause you to be in an accident and possibly even cause a fatal wreck? it is weird, isn't it? and the remedy, so simple. you pull out the floor mat on the driver's side and you let your carpet get dirty in the car. but most recalls aren't so simple as that. the shocker, though, is that most of the time, even when there is a recall involving serious safety stuff, people

don't respond, don't take their cars or trucks to the dealer. i want you to take care of it, especially if it is steering, braking, something like that. there is a website you can learn what's going on with your car, autosafety.org. check it out. i'm clark howard. check me out at cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less. catch him saturdays and sundays here on hln. now we know the so-called balloon boy is fine. he wasn't in that balloon as all as it flew across colorado. the story had our full attention yesterday. and you have a lot to say about it today. we'll read those comments.

so a heart warming story had so many of us glued to the tv yesterday, maybe you were right there with us. everyone thought that a 6-year-old was alone on board a weird looking runaway balloon. turns out he was hiding in the attic at home, an incredible

story, thankfully with a happy ending. did you see it happen? what did you think? here is what some of your fellow viewers are saying today. we gave you the news. you give us your views. you can e-mail us by going to the contact us box at cnn.com/robin. and just hit the little contact. i did say that. in louisiana, civil rights activists wanted justice of the peace to resign for not giving a marriage license to an interinterrarbt couple. he told a local paper he's not racist but feels that interrarbt marriages usually don't last. the groom had that this toy say about those views. >> he's saying 99% of it wind up

in divorce. but how many people get married and wind up in divorce, white or black? >> the couple ended up going to another justice of the peace where they were finally married. a simple gesture at a high school football game, it maybe lasted a second and a half, is causing a whole lot of commotion at a small town. here's rafer with more on that. >> and, you know, i understand that they want to cut down on showboating. this goes way too far, robin, in my opinion. >> didn't look like he was showboating to me. >> i did not think he was. the tale of the tape and you decide. we're talking about 17-year-old r.j. davis from fitzgerald, georgia. says he's a religious young man. after scoring a touchdown on friday, he pointed to the sky, saying he was giving thanks to god. he holds it about a second. the ref penalized him 15 yards for unsportsman-like conduct, the team anyway. the rules say you can't celebrate in any excessive way. ref was not available for comment. davis says he'll do it the next time they play and he scores. this play again tonight. rush limbaugh not playing with the nfl. he blasted out on his radio show

for being kept out of buying an nfl team. >> then of course the two race hustlers, reverend jackson and reverend sharpton got involved, and i got a call on tuesday night from dave tuesday night from dave saying, i'm sorry, i have to ask you to withdraw. >> moving on. no more head-banging for owe ense -- owen schmidt. he told seattle times he's not going to bang his head anymore. he also did the same thing at college in west virginia. he said he's not going to do that anymore. john glen trailing by one with eight seconds left. their field goal is blocked by pl plymouth. they thought it was over. but it's not over, they didn't cross the line of scrimmage. the coach is yelling, go, go,

go. and the ref confirms, that's a touchdown, folks. plymouth is protesting and won't even put the score on their web site. the ref blew the whistle, but they wouldn't have gone for a touchdown. >> hi, bob. for those who do want to get away. >> if you do, it's going to be a tough go, especially around new york and philadelphia currently. it's a 90-minute delay in newark, new jersey. also la guardia, a 65-minute delay all because of the wind. low clouds in philadelphia. here's what we have the rest of the afternoon. philadelphia right now, it's a 70-minute delay and that's probably going to keep up through the early part of the day. d.c. metro, including baltimore, short delays, but same thing, morning wind and san francisco, morning fog. more details in about half an hour. one of the most popular

children's books of all time is now coming alive on the big screen. should you walk into a dark theater, though, where the wild things are? our movie review up after this. >> we're going to try to kill the bad guys by beating them in the head with these dirt clubs. we're going to try to find the biggest pieces.