time for you to rise and shine because it's friday. i hope that's enough to make the medicine go down so early. i'm robin meade. get this. two pilots missed a landing by 150 miles. thankfully everyone is okay, but you've got to hear the pilots' unusual explanation for missing their airport. and water fountains look so refreshing, but can they make you sick. what experts say about h1n1 and water fountains. a public school is fining parents. wait till you hear how much parents are going to have to

fork over if they are tardy. first, though, federal investigators want to know this morning if a jet overshot the minneapolis airport by 150 miles because the pilots were distracted. the northwest airlines flight missed its destination wednesday night. air traffic controllers finally contacted the pilot after more than an hour, but his answers were so vague that they were worried the plane may have been hijacked. the crew told authorities it was arguing over airline policy and didn't realize what happened. >> there really is no explanation that's acceptable about how they missed the goal. they should have been well into that 120-minute period that they should have been preparing to land at minneapolis and going through procedures, being in contact with air traffic control, and it's unacceptable that they were silent for that long. >> the plane landed safely.

you know what, the passengers didn't even know anything had happened and an ntsb spokesperson said ilt's looking into whether the pilots fell asleep. they made a statement saying they're cooperating with the ntsb and as well conducting their own internal investigation. p the pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations. the state has lifted their mandatory order because they have less vaccines in new york. this morning they have formally asked them to extradite fugitive roman polanski. polanski has been a wanted man in the united states for more

than 30 years after he pled guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. he was arrested in switzerland last month. a bridge and a pipeline collapsed on a train. one was dead, six others were injured. the train was headed for mumbai. sources say after a meeting at the white house, senate democratic leaders may be leaning toward a public option but the state could opt out if they choose. they don't like the public option, but many dems believe it's the likely way to fix the system. >> i think we need a public option in the final bill, and it could be ducone in such a way tt if you like the insurance you have, keep the insurance you have. but if the public option has a better deal for you or a more

affordable one, then go for that. that's what i want. i want competition in this deal, i want people to have a real choice and i want especially young working families that are thinking they have to drop their insurance because they can't pay for it to have something they can afford. >> well, the house version will also likely include a public option. but three dozen moderate house dems are threatening to vote against it unless they can be sure it controls long-term cost. we are following a massive refinery explosion. these flames are big enough, but now look at those. this happened at the gulf petroleum facility in san juan overnight. they are investigating how this happened. a $6 billion class action lawsuit has been filed against a new york nightclub accused of turning away guests because of race. it claims african-american guest author teri woods were kept from

attending the party. the few guests who arrived were black. the staff is ethically diverse. how many mouths drink out of the fountain before yours? our sister network cnn put a hidden camera near a water fountain and 14 people visited the fountain an hour. a california school shut down its fount dane whi-- fountain f now. >> don't touch the spout with your mouth, and when you're done, if you touched the bar to turn it on or off, clean your hands. >> a micro biologist known as dr. germ disagrees. he says the h1n1 virus can linger on fountains for hours and they should be disinfected

regularly. remember a video of a robber praying with his victim. gregory smith is set to talk with oprah today. he says he's sorry for what he did and now he's a different man. police say he admitted to stealing $20 and the woman's cell phone. reading a wire story that said it's not like it's his first moment being in trouble. >> his first offense. >> let's just say there has been a history, according to what i read, anyway. i don't know. we'll have to see. >> he doesn't have a book deal but he's going on oprah. >> i'm just saying. i'm just saying. all right. good morning, bob. >> good morning to you, rob. getaway friday. and i'm telling you, it's going to be a tough one. here's the big storm. it's wrapping up south of chicago. when you see this, you know it's an active storm system with a lot of elements to it. number one, it's showers and

thunderstorms beginning to develop out of the gulf coast. here's what it looks like out of atlanta in towards birmingham. but alabama, look at that thin line of storms beginning to develop around birmingham itself. that will blossom into georgia and carolina and tennessee and kentucky. right now you're get some decent rain in louisville in the central part of kentucky, too. the whole thing just blossoms out into heavy rain. detroit gets back on track with ontario. let me show you the live tower cam traveling here. i think you'll see about an hour delay at the airport. reporting light rainfall now. rain this morning, a couple patchy showers this afternoon but the wind will be there all day long, too, so yeah, delays, unfortunately. back to the west. i want to show you nebraska. grand island, you're drying out now. omaha, you're drying out as well, but look at the light snow as that cold air follows that cold front boundary. the snow piles about two to

three inches in michigan and northern parts of wisconsin through tonight. so advisories for this. the rain working its way through western new york state. on the alleghenys. it's not really reaching the ground in the poconos and catskills. give it time, it will. the yellow shaded areas, about three inches of rain. the red shaded areas in the catskills and the poconos, that's four inches of rain and bafbly e basically ending on saturday night. more details in a half hour. the sheriff in the balloon boy case says he's been compared to barney fife. what winning role the tv sheriff turned down. people stood in line until 3:00 a.m. for the h1n1 virus.

now how long they had to stand in line.

let's salute our troops. today's salute is from kerry langer to her boyfriend. she's joshua woodard. she said they only met four days before his company was deployed overseas. and they said even though they didn't know each other that well, they knew they had something special. his family is anxiously awaiting his return. we told you about a little girl who was denied health insurance for being too little. well, the subsidiary of united health group has reversed its decision. her parents were told that she did not meet height and weight standards. she weighs 22 pounds. they say that she is healthy, and now united health says it did an additional review of the case and will now cover her. retailers have a holiday bonus for you this year. many of them are offering free

shipping. they don't necessarily want you to know about it. hi, jennifer. true? >> well, it's the companies that do charge for shipping, they hate it when we tell these stories, they hate it when we talk about shop around, try to find free shipping, because in a way you're really getting something for nothing. if it's free, they're paying for it. it does mean this holiday season you can get some great deals when it comes to shipping. that is some good news in a bad economy. there are more retailers offering free shipping for the holidays. four out of five of them will offer it with some strings. like i saw one this morning that said you had to order by thanksgiving, for example. but more than half are going to offer free shipping with no strings at all. this is all according to the national retail federation, so we have a lot of hints out there that the holiday season is shaping up. it's to your benefit if you're the shoper this year. you're in the driver's seat. not only are they cracking

down on some firms that took the bailout money, but now there are some big steps for control without pay. the federal reserve, which is not typically the government, but the federal reserve wants to be able to review pay at thousands of the banks that it oversees. and their argument for this -- basically they're saying, well, we missed it during the financial crisis, we better do something about it -- we learned the hard way that some pay policies can actually encourage the ceo to take on too much risk. and then the bank can go under, there can be dyire circumstance for the whole economy. you better get your little rain bonnet and put it on this morning if you're traveling. getaway friday, o'hare already has a delay. about a 60-minute delay in chicago because of the heavy rain pulling on in.

here's ond, that's o'hare. it's going to get into detroit, down towards atlanta, too. the thunderstorm line about to come in later this morning. detroit, storm and rains as well, about an hour or more. you get over to new york city metro, gusty winds but shorter delays. cleveland, more showers. cincinnati, you're going to get some showers. same with minneapolis and seattle. minneapolis, by the way, it's going to be rain switching over to snow. never a good thing with disability. more in just a bit. a diabetic woman calls it the trip of a lifetime that could one day save her life. how her seeing-eye dog is now learning to check her blood sugar level.

morning. 16 minutes past the hour. prosecutors across the country

will soon treat violence in gaz a gays and lesbians the same way they treat crimes of hate or religion. now it goes to president obama to sign it. most republicans voted against the bill saying it could scare people away from speaking out about their religious views. an air force pilot had to drop two fuel tanks and two bombs, one of which exploded at a base in utah. military officials say an f-16 had to drop weight for an emergency landing. the bomb destroyed an empty shack and knocked out some power lines. thankfully nobody was injured. we're told the pilot made the right call. explosive experts are looking to recover the second bomb. we're getting a first look at a new portrait of the first family. it's adorable. annie lebowitz took the picture in the green room of the white

house. it looks very casual, doesn't it. usually you think of the family feud and they've got victorian chairs in the background. very contemporary. very nice. a seven-year-old girl whose body was found in a landfill got in a fight at school the day she disappeared. thompson's sister brought up the fight as they walked home from school and somer got upset and ran off. that was the last time she and the brother saw her. her mom spoke to the killer. >> i want you to know that i will not sleep until this person is found. i hope they get you and i hope they make you pay for a long, long time. you don't take from somebody, you didn't take her from just me, you took her from my family, you took her from all of these people, and you don't do this to a little baby and put my baby in the trash like she's nothing. it's not okay. it's not okay. >> the last person to see somer appears to have been a young boy

who lives nearby. he says he saw her near a vacant house. >> she was just running so i thought she was excited, but she had like a frown on her face. >> very sickening. it's scary. >> detectives have been searching that house and a dumpster outside it. they've already interviewed 155 registered sex offenders who live in the area just outside jacksonville. authorities have not said how the little girl died. the sheriff in the balloon boy case says he's been called gullible and compared to barney fife. in his newsletter, jim alderman says he's trying to stop the media circus. in fact, he turned down the dr. phil show. the heenes say this wasn't a hoax. >> i give you a reminder who barney fife was. >> oh, all right. andy!

sorry. >> more balloon calls in the playoffs. are you sure, rafer, you cannot argue this? >> and it kept happening over again and again. we told you about game 4. let's go to game 5. the yankees johnny damon. he is called out. a major leaguer cannot mix a play that is that close. two strikes. that is strike three. no call. he walks. replays show it's definitely a strike, so the angels would win. at least one new ump gets to work the fall classic. johnson wrote in a tell-all book that thomas was the one responsible for spreading rumors that magic was gay after testing

positive for hiv. thomas denies it. magic says he and michael jordan black balled thomas from the olympic dream team. who would you think? kobe? >> somebody tough and tall. >> george w. bush who probably would provide no defense. jordan told the magazine i would did you thi dunk him and probably give him the glass. he donated bone marrow to matthew welling and it probably saved his life. his mom decorated carris' room with memorabilia. the two will be lifetime

friends. a lot of people were watching the balloon boy saga with horror. one canadian businessman was a little more skeptical. >> i said, you know, this thing is going to come down as a hoax, and bingo! 

aviation experts say that two northwest airlines pilots shufd several warnings that their flight was approaching minneapolis airport. here's the deal. the plane landed safely, but that's only after it overshot its destination by 150 miles wednesday night. the pilots say they were distracted by a heated discussion. federal investigators are looking into weathhether the pi fell asleep. a big debate about your health care is going on inside the white house. sources say after a meeting yesterday, the obama administration and senate democratic leaders may be moving

toward including a public option in the final senate bill. republicans and some modern dems say they oppose that. the u.s. is formally asking switzerland to hand over academy winner and fugitive roman polanski. that's the word from swiss officials. he was arrested there last month. polanski has been a wanted man in the united states for more than 30 years since he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. checking in with you there. just want to make sure you're awake and getting ready. you're not running late, i hope. 31 minutes past the hour. i'm robin meade. a district court judge through out a lawsuit targeting the adult service section of craigslist. a florida man sued the company saying it's a hub for prostitution. but he saidie eliminating the

site would lead to other things like erotic dancing. >> they removed some of the really explicit photographs and we were left with the same thing. since they made their minor changes, we're still making the same arrests, and i know this is going to shock you, but when we go out to these different locations when they answer our calls, we've not had one legitimate masseuse. every time it's prostitution. >> the sheriff says he has not decided if he will appeal. dozens of people attended a vigil for a virginia tech student who has been missing since saturday. everyone got a purple balloon, morgan harrington's favorite color. police say the 20-year-old disappeared during a metellica concert. her father believes she was kidnapped. >> how does someone just disappear, and what's the likelihood of a person crossing the path of someone who would take someone, and i believe morgan has been taken. >> police say harrington had called friends to tell them she

had left the concert arena but wasn't allowed back in. her purse and cell phone was found in the parking lot but there was no sign of a struggle in the area. today the top u.s. commander in afghanistan is expected to brief them on the war over there. general stanley mcchrystal won't push nato officials to accept his recommendation for more troops. but earlier this morning, the head of nato talked about how its role will shift in afghanistan. >> we have not agreed to start handing over the enemy. the conclusions are not right. conditions are not strong enough. >> meanwhile, defense secretary robert gates says several nato allies are increasing troop and civilian aids to afghanistan.

that was a little hard to understand, wasn't it? today first lady michelle obama will hold a breast cancer awareness event at the white house and then later she will show her funny side on the jay leno show. she will answer his rapid-fire questions via satellite. in the past, senator john mccain and lebron james. 33 minutes past the hour. okay. well, gosh, it looks like fewer of us are going to be rained on today. that's a good thing for a friday. hey, bob. >> good morning, rob. it's still going to be tough to travel in or out, say, into atlanta and the great lakes. this weather brought to you by green giant. wha what's happening in the deep south. this line of thundershowers, it's actually just a line of rain. that's the actual cold front. ahead that far is where you actually see the big showers develop. south of birmingham is all training up north. the rain begins to spread out. look at the louisville radar

picture picking up the rain very well and that rain is stretching through indiana, indianapolis, ohio. now getting into detroit, grand rapids. and when it gets back into chicago, you'll temporarily dry out. we have a delay in o'hare. it's an hour long because of that rain. that will stretch in towards detroit later this morning and the early afternoon and then the rain around chicago beginning to taper off just to the west, but it will pick up again, i think, later today with some more scattered showers. back behind that, it's cold air. turning the rain into snow for eastern nebraska and that snow will be found in the u.p. michigan. two to four inches of snow starting later today, lasting into tonight. most are on grassy surfaces. trying to filter in towards maryland, too. it's not doing a good job of getting the ground wet at all.

most of it is evaporating. three to four inches of rain for most of new york state. take you live to atlanta. if you do any traveling in or out of the city, it's going to be a tough go for you. we're going to see the rain and thundershowers this afternoon and probably rain getting out of here by saturday, but tough go for a friday. we have more on that air traffic delay that's coming up in just a bit, rob. >> okay. a school in oregon isn't watching kids these days. the school has a plan to keep the parents in line here, and it could hit them right in the pocketbook. it reminds me of bob when he tries to run out of here to get his son at daycare. also they say the more you wait, the more you pay.

california governor arnold schwarzenegger had signed a bill to allow a new pro football team stadium -- make that new pro football stadium -- to be built outside l.a. schwarzenegger said it would create 18,000 jobs and bring an economic boost to his state. his bill wipes out a lawsuit brought by the residents who oppose the 75,000-seat stadium on environmental grounds. dozens of people turned out to protest the move. a school is charging fees to the parents who pick up their kids late at school. a school in portland announced those fines tuesday.

they will have to pay $5 for every 10 minutes they are late to pick up their child. some of the parents are outraged. >> that's harsh. i think there's something different they could do than charge money. >> if that's the case, i'll definitely have to make sure i have arrangements for them. >> it's a tool they can use to keep kids from staying at school over and over and over. >> he adds there will be exceptions for parents with a legitimate excuse. no word on what legitimate is. rap per lil wayne is serving a one-year prison sentence. he pleaded guilty to gun possession in new york yesterday. the case stems from a 2007 arrest when officers said they found a pistol on carter's tour bus. his trial had been scheduled to start in january. he'll be sentenced in february. some ambulance operators are charging extremely overweight patients extra to take them to the hospital. the company says heavier

patients require more equipment and extra workers. an obesity advocacy group says ambulance services are critical and should be available at a fair cost. the extra charge is similar to people who are icu patients and people who are on ventilators. how could the law protect you from credit card abuses could go into effect a lot sooner than expected. our money expert jennifer westhoven. why is that? >> this is a story that everybody who has been outraged by their credit card companies will enjoy. maybe they're not coming soon enough, but the visa laws weren't supposed to kick in until february. lawmakers say the credit card companies have been abusing the grace period, hiking fees and rates, so they want to basically speed things up here. this is what the lawmakers wanted to do. they've been seeing the same thing you've been seeing out there. they've been seeing that the credit card companies maybe trying to beat the law are jacking up rates, calling in and cutting credit limits. so instead the new rules would

go into effect on december 1st, according to this house committee. we'll see if the full senate and the house approve that. mortgage rates on the rise in the country for the second week in a row now. a 30-year fixed rate loan now averaging about 5%. rates had gone below 4% in the spring. now dead even on the 5%. i put the 15-year up there, but i think, man, you got to be a goody two shoes to take on a 15-year mortgage. big payment every month. more evidence of a change in our money spending habit. that's a good sign. we're spending less. american express says people were putting less on the plastic. when we do buy, a lot of us really willing to hunt to try to get a good deal. amazon says that's one of the reasons behind a 62% jump in its profits, and if we're going to stay home, gosh darn it, it's going to be fun, robin. this summer half a million new

people signed up for netflix's new at-home service. >> no doubt. the ease of ordering at home. joy behar admits that she and ann coulter are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, so see what happened when they talked about assassinations and who are responsible for them. >> assassinations or attempted assassinations were attempted y by -- they're all liberals. >> don't make that jump from murderer to terrorist to liberal. that is an outrageous statement and you know it. >> we go through it. assassin by assassin by

assassin. and moreover. >> they're not liberals. they're murderers and terrorists. stop it. >> catch the joy behar show at 9:00 p.m. eastern on hln. some are calling what this mascot did a personal foul, and now the school is apologizing for the mascot!

good morning at about 14 minutes to the hour. the doctor was treating a florida boy who was set on fire. he's progressing, but could have complications at any time. >> right now he's where he should be and is progressing but in no way is he out of the woods. >> it's doing what a burn should do at this stage of the game and i'm pleased with how it's going. we worry every minute about any organ system failing. you're seeing michael brewer's burned clothes on the

ground there. police say five teens chased him last week. one poured alcohol on him and the other lit it. the youngest suspect is 13. he's been found competent to stand trial. still such a horrible case. michael jackson's mother fired the attorneys to help her fight for control on her late son's estate. but her new lawyer missed a key hearing yesterday. the judge gave the leading two administrators more power to make deals on behalf of the jackson estate. jackson's mother wants a jackson family member to have a seat at the table, so to speak, as a third executor. cheered on by his teammates, a legally blind ohio teenager scored a touchdown for his high school football team. hi, rafer. >> good morning, robin. something he's always wanted to do. normally he's giving water to these players. the other team had no idea of his disability when he scored. we're talking about 16-year-old tyler brown who is the team manager, but his coach let him suit up this year.

on october 15, his team was on the goal line. his coach put him in at quarterback, called for a one-yard sneak. tyler played the play of his life, his first touchdown. his mother shed tears at that moment. something he and his teammates will remember forever. now when it couldn't get any worse for the cleveland browns, the team has been sacked by the flu? what's going on in cleveland with the flu? wednesday 12 players missed practice with flu-like symptoms. we do not know if it's swine flu because they haven't been tested, it could be regular flu, but the h1n1 has been a game changer here. the nfl has recently changed its rules about exemptions if players test positive for h1n1. johnson has fired his wife as manager of the team. they're going through a pretty bad divorce ask they're fighting

over the team which is believed to be worth $1 billion. her lawyer says they'll battle it out in the courtroom. minnesota is apologizing for its golden gopher doing an incredibly stupid gesture. the player goes to pray in the corner and the gopher mocks him. he's not praying with him, he's mocking him. he apologized for it later for being insensitive. he gets up and the gopher tries to get him -- >> someone on the sideline -- >> a cheerleader gives him a high-five. both of you should be ashamed. that's a knuckle move and that's sports. are you thirnking about having a couple beers your easy chair this weekend? that's fine as long as your armchair isn't motorized. what happened to a dude charged with drunk driving in his

souped-up la-z-boy. hln money expert clark howard has advice for a guy named will. >> hi, my name is will and i need a money i have a 401(k) from my old job that i never rolled over. i got a 401(k) from my new job. i was putting in the maximum, around the irs limit. then i lowered that amount temporarily in order to pay off my credit card faster. now that the credit card is almost paid off, i'm going to have that money back to do something with. do i put it back in the 401(k), or are there other options so i can diversify my retirement? >> will, i've got to tell you something. bautz you seem to be the disciplined kind of guy who will actually get money into an account, i would say you're

better off as you start contributing again to do it to a roth account, a tax-free account that, unless you're leaving an employer match behind on a 401(k), you're better off with a roth because ultimately every dollar you put into one is yours to keep. no tax. for most of us, though, even though i love the roth, you're better off with that employer-sponsored plan. why? because even with the best of intentions you never get the money into the roth. but a 401(k) they take the money from you before you see it. >> chashg canning your money coach in this struggling economy he'll show you how save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. saturdays and sundays noon on hln. pieces of video are good enough to show you twice. a giant seagull hin a news anchor's desk.

time for you to rise and shine. besides, it's friday so just make it through today and hopefully a lot of people make it through the weekend. i'm robin meade. passengers on a flight to minneapolis ended up 150 miles past the airport? we have new sound this hour about the potential punishment for the pilots. we've shown you the incredible surveillance tape of a robber praying with his victim. now that video has landed him a national tv appearance besides

the news. plus -- >> i said, this thing is going to come down as a hoax. the bingo, product idea. >> the american way. one company should thank richard heene for releasing his weather balloon or whatever it was right before halloween. they were cleaning up with the balloon boy costume. will pilots of a northwest jet distracted or did they fall asleep? that's what federal investigators want to know after a flight overshot the minneapolis airport by 150 miles. 150 miles wednesday night. it took an hour for air traffic controllers to contact the pilot. but his answers were so vague that they worried that the plane thai have been hijacked. >> i think they're trafacing a l serious disciplinary situation. you cannot have these kinds of events on your record and keep

flying at the same level that you were. >> the plane landed safely without the passengers even knowing that anything had happened. the crew told authorities it was arguing about airline policy and didn't realize what had happenehappen ed northwest is part of delta and issued a statement saying it's cooperating with the faa and ntsb in their investigation as well as conduct the our own internal investigation. the pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations. new this morning, bombings have killed at least seven people in pakistan. this is new video of one attack outside a restaurant. in a mainly residential area. police say two people were arrested at the scene. pakistani officials say a suicide bomber attacked a military kmekpoint as well. this all may have been retaliation for a military offensive against taliban insurgents. so new york state health care workers don't have to get vaccines for the flus after all.

the state lifted its mandatory order because there's not the enough vaccines. the governor says that the state will have about 23% is all of the h1n1 doses that they thought they would get by the end of october. the workers union had sued over this mandate, remember? the 7-year-old florida girl whose body was found in a landfill got into a fight at school the day that she disappeared. a police report says that somer thompson's sister brought up the fight walking home and somer ran off. that's the last time she and her brother saw her. her mother spoke to the killer. >> i want you to know that i will not sleep until this person is found. i hope they get you and hope they make you pay for a long, long time. >> the last person to see somer appears to have been a little boy who lives nearby. he says that he saw her near a

vacant house. >> she was just running so i thought she was excited, but she had like a frown on her face. >> very sickening. it's just scary. >> detectives have been searching that house and a dumpster that's outside it. they've already interviewed 155 registered sex offenders who live in the area just outside jacksonville authorities have not said hower died. democrats may be ready for an all or nothing gamble on health care reform. sources say after a meeting at the white house leaders may be leaning toward a public option but states can opt out if they choose. some moderates don't like the public option but many dems believe it's the best way to fix the system. new this morning, the u.s. is formally asking switzerland to extradite academy award winning director and fugitive roman polanski. that is the word from swiss officials. polanski has been a wanted man in the united states for more than 30 years after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a

13-year-old girl. he fled the country before sentencing. he was arrested in switzerland last month. four minutes after the hour. what does your weekend hold weather-wise? let's get all the bad stuff 0 done today, right? >> i wish we could. the heavy rain is out there now, stretching in towards the great lakes, ultimately on the path it will get on in towards the ohio valley. it's already there and streaming into the northeast essentially overnight tonight and toerl. here is the big area of low pressure. when you start seeing the comma shape i, you know there's a dynamic system. the rain has been heavy at times over the last couple of days starting in texas, rolling through the gulf coast and right into alabama where that cold front stretching through birmingham right now. most of the showers are just clear of atlanta. get on in towards birmingham, the rain is on the light side. down south, we're getting thunderstorm action here. rain around louisville, too. as it continues to pull up, the rain has been heavy at times near chicago, now getting in

towards central michigan. zoom into northern indiana, big squall north of indianapolis. live to indianapolis, tower cam showing a lot of low clouds. you'll get the rain off and on for tmorning. a breezy afternoon for you as well. clouds morning, rain this afternoon, scattered showers also, windy, too. toward chicago, the rain is just about done when you get toward chicago metro, little bit of light rain up on the west side. the real i think story for you guys is going to be the wind as well, 35-mile-per-hour gusts around chicago, already have a delay at o'hare, about 30 minutes getting up to over an hour sometimes. rain around sioux city is turning into snow later today, northern wisconsin, michigan, too, two to four inchs of snow. that whole rain shield is moving in toward the northeast. we'll see a lot pile up over the next 48 hours. the yellow streaming in through albany, out of the poconos into the catskills.

more details on that in just a bit. getaway friday, fall-type storm coming up your way. >> we're having huge reactionses on our facebook page about the story on the praying robber. >> interesting thoughts. >> we'll give you some of those coming up, too. new for you this morning, we're getting a first look at the new portrait of the first family. annie leeb owe wits took the portra portrait. this is pretty contemporary, very casual. very nice. >> lovely. some companies are set to give you an offer that you can't refuse. we have some good news in a bad economy. how you're going to be able to save some money big-time for the holidays. the. you know, this is an incredible dog. not only is it a seeing-eye

guide, but she's being trained to save her owner's life.

lebowitz. today's salute is from carrie languacar carrie langner to her boyfriend. they met four days before had his company deployed overseas. even though they knew it would be difficult not seeing each other for months, they knew they had something special that fast. she loves him and his whole family is waiting for his return. you've got somebody you love in the military? go to cnn.com/robin. 300 more drug-related arrests were made in the united states. the a mexican drug cartel was trargted in the the four-year operation. the justice department said there were 1200 arrests in all and nearly 12 tons of illegal

drugs seized. remember the video of a robber praying with his victim? well wi well, now oprah wants to chat with the robber. wthr in indianapolis reports that gregory smith is set to talk to oprah winfrey today. he says he's sorry for what he did and now he's a different man. the woman he prayed with describes her fear. >> i was, like, dear jesus, please don't let this man hurt me. please take care of my family. >> police say smith admitted to stealing 20 bucks and her cell phone. wthr reports smith has a criminal record. court documents show he's on probation for auto theft and receiving stolen property. ooh, does this have a lot of you talking on our facebook page. for example, with the economy the way it is, people are doing things they would never usually do. it is a sad case for sure. i would be curious as to why he did it. teresa writes, this makes me mad. there are many people with

families struggling in this hard economy. i'm one of those people. but never would i go and rob someone. got your thoughts? goo to our facebook page, cnn.com/robin. there's a little facebook icon. >> i'm sure oprah's going to say, you know, we don't want to encourage this behavior, but this happened, still it's very dicey, isn't it? bringing this guy on? >> i will be interested to see how she does handle it. like is it that she's going to give him a talkin' to? >> she could. give him a piece of her mind. >> retailers have a holiday bonus for you this year. the more of them are offering free shipping. free, free, the flashing lights? >> that's really good because that's -- they say you can't get something for nothing but you do when you get free shipping. a lot times the companies that

charge for shipping they don't love these stories. but it means if you're willing to shop around you could get some great deals and avoid the lines, good news in a bad economy. more retailers offering free shipping this holiday season. four out of five are going to offer it with strings attached like you have to twend $50 or something like that. but more than half are going to offer free shipping with no strings at all. that is good news. that's from the national retail federation. keep your eye on that one. you know the joke. how do you get to carnegie hall, practice, prablgt is, practice. it turns out, forget it, join the stage crew. the guy who oversees props at the new york city concert hall made $530,000 last year. >> oh, my goodness! >> moving props, telling people where to move props. bloomberg dug up the tax return and found the other guys on the crew, karp even ters and electricians made an average of $430,000 every year.

>> wow! >> can you say union? >> is that a union job? >> it sure is. you know, in new york they have those threats, we're not going to show up. then you have an awudience full of people. apparently the only person who makes more is the actual art director. they make more than everybody in the place. >> how about the musicians? >> they make more than the musicians. school is finding parents for bad behavior. wait until you you hear parent h parents have to fork over.

she's having her dog trained to smell her blood and breath to make sure she doesn't pass out. both the owner and the trainer are thrilled. >> i live alone, and it's going to be the opportunity to feel safe at home and not be to worry about lows or passing out and having neighbors or cabdrivers finding me on the floor. >> getting her alert her through her body, through her mouth and through her skin. >> maggie is considered to be the first dog in the country to be trained to help the blind and diabetics. a public school is charging fees for the parents who pick up their kids late at school. an elementary school in portland

announced the fines on wednesday. after a ten-minute grace period, parents are going to have to pay 5 bucks for every 10 mints they're late. some parents are outraged. >> that's harsh. i think there's something different that they could other than charge you money. >> if i knew that was the case, i would definitely have to make sure i had arrangements for them. >> it's about a tool that the school can use to really keep kids from staying at school over and over and over. >> he adds that there will be exceptions for parents who have a legitimate excuse. a minnesota man pleaded guilty to driving his lazy boy drunk. come here, look at the picture. dennis anderson -- this not that picture. he had eight or nine beers before he crashed. do we have the souped-up recliner. this is the recliner he slammed into a parked car apparently. it is powered by a converted lawn morrow and equipped with a stereo even and cup holders.

police anderson's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. if it's motorized, it's illegal. >> i wouldn't take that out of the house. that thing is beautiful. the umpires. what's with the umpires? they did it again. more blown calls in the playoffs. major league baseball is taking action it's so bad. >> good morning. what i'm about to show you by thexselves may not seem major, but when you put it all together and this has been going on for weeks and all of these mistakes are putting major league umpires under fire like never before. we showed you game four, this is five. degentleman view. johnny damon is clearly safe but he's called out. a major league ump cannot miss that. later, jorge posada, has two strikes on him. that's strike three. but they call it a ball. he walks. john lackey can't believe it. the replay clearly is a strike. the ainge managed to stay alive.

why is this significant? now umps with only world series experience will work the world series this year. that is different because at least every year they want new umps have experience. isaiah thomas is furious with magic johnson. johnson wrote in a tell-all book that thomas was the one responsible for spreading rumors that magic was gay after testing positive for hiv. thomas denies this. these two were good friends but this will end that. when the game was ours also says magic and michael johnson black balled thomas from the 1992 olympic dream team. la 0 bron was asked who he would like to dunk on. nobody in the sport. george w. bush, james told maxim magazine, i would dunk on him, break the rim and shatter the glass. lastly, a sports memorabilia director claims he dumpster dived and got three used aundys.

he claims he sold a pair of a-rod's underwear for 200 bucks. >> what's with their underwear being thrown awawear? >> i don't know. water mountains look refreshing, but they can make you sick. what microbiologists say about fountains and the flu. they said it would never last.

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- and not just for 30 days. - ( inhales deeply, sighs ) but for 60. it's the longest-lasting plugins ever. get freshness that won't fade away for 60 days. ahhh! with plugins lasting impressions. and yes, it's glade. s.c. johnson, a family company. aviation experts say that two northwest airlines pilots should have had several warnings that their flight was approaching the minneapolis airport. well, the plane landed safely but only after overshooting its destinations by 150 miles. this was wednesday night. the pilots say they were distracted by a heated discussion, but federal investigators are looking into whether they fell asleep. a big debate about your health care is going on inside the white house. sources say that after a meeting yesterday the obama administration and senate democratic leaders may be

leaning toward including a public option in the final senate bill. republicans and some moderate democrats have said that they oppose that. quick check of the headlines. let me check on you. uh-huh. okay, you're moving around and up this morning. just want to make sure you're on time and didn't go back to sleep. will i'm robin meade. the parents of a missing virginia tech student say the reward for information to help find their daughter has gone from $50,000 to $100,000. the tip line is on your screen this morning. last night dozens of people attended a vigil for morgan harrington. everyone got a purple balloon which is her favorite color. >> i am humbled standing here today to feel the outpouring of love that you are raining down on our family. and that love is vital to us right now. as we try and locate morgan and to survive this obscene place in

time. >> well with, police say that last saturday harrington had called her friends to tell them that she left the concert arena but wasn't allowed back in. her purse and cell phone were found in a parking lot but no sign of a struggle in the area. today some nato members said they won't send more troops to afghanistan until president obama decides whether he will. general stanley mcchrystal, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, and defense secretary robert gates are meeting with nato's defense ministers. mcchrystal plans to talk about what steps he wants to take next. this comes as the u.s. wraps up a review of its own strategy. a u.s. district court judge threw out a lawsuit targeting the adult services section on craigslist. a sheriff in illinois sued the website because he says it's a hub for prostitution. the judge said that craigslist isn't responsible for people who misuse the site.

he also said that removing the adult section would eliminate some legal services, too, like erotic dancing. >> they changed the name, removed some of the more egregious, really explicit photographs, and we are left with the same thing. since they made their minor changes we're still making the same arrests. i know this is going to shock you, but when we go out to these different locations when they answer our calls, we've not had one legitimate masseuse. every time it's prostitution. >> well, that interview was from "prime news" with mike galanos. catch the show at 5:00 p.m. you've heard of the rivalry between the red sox and yankees. a life saving donation has put that rivalry on hold. >> good morning. this is it a very touching story. robert karas is a rapid red sox fan, our true champion this week because he donated bone marrow to 3-year-old matthew welling

and it may have saved his life. the two are together on tv. matthew is from long island and is a big yankees fan. the two found out about their different allegiances when they were staying in the home. the two will be lifelong friends, though. >> here's this guy who did the most gracious, most giving, unselfish thing anyone could possibly do, this anonymous bone marrow donation. he saved our son's life. what do you say to him? >> they are cute together, aren't they? robert says he knows matthew will be true to his team, but he says deep down he hopes he'll root for the red sox. >> maybe that donation from his body to the little boy's, maybe it will make him feel something. that's sweet, though. $34 minute past the hour.

getaway day fridays, for a lot of you, you want all the bad weather away. here's meteorologist bob van dillen. >> good morning, robin. i've got the birmingham, alabama picture up. one thing you can see is the cold front, clearly, this thin line of rain across western alabama. that's the actual cold front. most of the energy, usually you find that ahead of the cold front. that's what we have right now, all the rain and occasional lightning strikes south of birmingham here. all moving toward the northeast, will affect you near georgia, the carolinas for the weekend. the heavy rain will stretch into northern kentucky and it really fans out the across the great lakes. if you live in chicago, the heavy rain is just about done, but the wind will pick up and rain getting into northern michigan, stretching into detroit. it's already into ontario, across western pennsylvania and new york state, ultimately on the way to new england for the weekend. here's how it goes with northern indiana, big squall line, indianapolis, lower michigan here shortly. back side, look at the chicago radar.

things are lighting up a bit. the scattered showers back into play today as the cold air from behind slams on in and condenses out more showers. snow showers, u.p. of michigan and wisconsin, winter is back for you guys. how about the northeast here is the rain coming through central p.a., light showers around syracuse. watch the rain over the next two days as it spreads on out into northern parts of maine. the yellow shade there, two to three inches of rain, the oranges and reds about four inches of rain in the next two days. you are in for a soaker. it gets out hopefully by sunday. live to new york, you'll get a breeze out of that low pressure center off to the west. still looking very nice in central park. i think it will be dry for the morning, scattered showers developeding after midnight tonight, some of those heavy especially tomorrow. wet weekend unfortunately. more details, rob, in just a bit. only mid-50s for today after the 70s for the week. >> beautiful for the leaves.

>> look how great that looks. we've been following a breaking story out of washington state, getting more information right now about a fire that is burning near a commercial building in greenwood, washington. we still don't have a whole lot of details about what kind of business it is, but it is a smeshl area. fire officials say the roof has partially collapsed and they're trying to prevent the flames from spreading. local media says one firefighter has minor injuries. no cause yet, no word on the cause. hln's joy behar admits that she and conservative commentator ann coulter are at different ends of the spectrum. listen to this. >> every presidential assassination or asettlemented was committed by some sort of left wing loon, kmunist, anarchist, yes, they were, or they had -- >> the homegrown terrorists are

another group we're worrying about. >> they're all liberals. >> don't make that jump from murderer, terrorist to liberal. that is an outrageous statement and you know it. >> it's all described. >> this pastor -- >> you can go to -- >> they're not liberals, ann. they're murderers, terrorists. stop it. >> but what is the ideology? >> do i have to smack you now? stop it. >> catch "the joy behar show" at 9:00 p.m. hln. the burger king whopper is getting a face-lift in japan and might need a tummy tuck. prepare yourself for the mother of all whoppers. plus, new credit card rules are on the way. they can't stop what the credit card companies are doing now.

the swine flu vaccine isn't getting delivered as quickly as health officials hoped so some people are willing to wait in long, long lines for a shot. for example, at a clinic in indiana, people showed up around 3:00 a.m. yesterday to be the first in line. >> i have a newborn so i'm trying to make sure i stay healthy and stuff. >> i have type two diabetes. >> my son has asthma. he's 12. i think everybody is at risk. >> 40 million doses were supposed to be available by last week. so far not even 13 million have been delivered. burger king stores in japan are servie inwhopping a whopper with seven bat theties. it is part of a promotional deal with microsoft to launch

microsoft 7. customers can buy it for about $8.50 u.s. dollars. after that it goes to 17 bucks. more than 2100 calories. with seven pattys i would think more calories than that. >> don't you? >> i just get nauseous looking at that. >> oh, look at her. look at skinny little tiny person eating seven whoppers. seven pattys, you know. tough new laws to protect you from the credit card abuses could go into effect a lot sooner than expected. our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. good morning. >> good morning. these new laws not supposed to come for a while, but they are speeding things up because you don't have to be a lawmaker to know what's going on. you know. many companies hiking fees and rates before the laws kick in. a lot of you have e-mailed us to say, i'm very frustrated. a house committee voted to start these rules early, december 1st, instead of waiting.

the full house an senate still have to approve it, but among other things the new law includes that when you sign up for a card, no rate hikes for at least a year. you get the rate you beforwere promised for at least a year. plus, if they do jack up your rate, it would only apply to new charges, not the charge new charges. mortgage rates, they rose for two weeks in a row. that has been helping the housing market. they're still very low. 30-year fixed right now averaging about 5% according to freddie mac. rates had been below 4.8%, average rates, in the spring. meaning you could do even better than that if you had a good score. back to you. >> thank you you. >> one more. i forgot. so excited bt mortgage rates. more evidence of the change

in our money habits. basically it's earning season. all of these companies are saying, i won't bore you with all the profit things but look for the trends. one thing we can see is we are spending less, charging less. american express said their profits fell because people didn't use the plastic so much. then when we do buy things, we are willing to hunt around, find a good deal. that's why amazon says partly why its profits jumped 62%. if you're staying home, people say, i'm going to make it fun. netflix says this summer 500,000 people signed up for its movies at home service. just drop them in the mail and they keep coming. robin, back to you. >> their business is booming, huh? >> yeah. because i think there are a lot of ways if you use it a certain amount you will save money compared to going to the store or buying dvds. >> thank you. a blind teenager got the thrill of his life. his high school football coach decided to put him in the game and you will get to see the tape and how it turned out.

we're following a fire this morning in washington state. we hear that this fire is burning a commercial building,

don't have many details about what kind of business it is. here are live pictures now. i'm having a hard time making it out, but fire officials were saying that the roof had partially collapsed and they're trying to prevent the flames from spreading. local media is saying that one firefighter has minor injuries. no word yet on the cause, but there's a live picture. i'm having a hard time making out what i'm seeing there. i see some water through trees but i can't really make out the condition of the fire. grammy award winner lil wayne is suffering a one-year prison sentence. his real name is dwayne carter, pleaded guilty to attempted gun possession in new york yesterday. the case stems from a 2007 arrest when officers say they found a pistol on carter's tour bus. his trial had been scheduled to start in january. he will be sentenced in febru y february. cheer on by his teammates, a legally blind ohio teenager scored a touchdown for his high school football team.

rafer, you've got to love this story. >> it is a great story, robin. what's also really cool about it is he's out there, the other team, no idea at all about his disability. >> nobody was told, oh, give him a break. >> exactly. we've done stories like that, not to take away stories like that, but this guy goes out there and actually legitimately scores. we're talking about 16-year-old tyler brown. normally he manages the team but his coach let him suit up this year, convinced him mom to let him. it was october 15th. his team was on the goal line. his coach put him in, calls a one-yard sneak. his mom shed happy tears that moment, a moment he will remember forever. just when it couldn't get worse for the cleveland browns, the team has been sacked by the flu. on wednesday, 12 players missed practice with flu-like symptoms. no word on whether they'll miss the game. we don't know if it's the swine flu or regular flu. h1n1 has become a game changer in the nfl.

they've changed rules allowing teams roster exemptions if at least six players test positive for the virus. they're very concerned about it. dodgers owner frank mccourt has fired his wife as the ceo of the team. this according to si.com. the mccourts are going through a nasty divorce. they are battling over the team, which is believed to be worth over $1 billion. that has become like dynasty or something. her lawyer says she will address the issue in the courtroom. it's california. you know what that means? half. the university of minnesota is apologizing for this bone-headed move by the golden gopher mascot. this was last saturday's game. hayes is praying in the end zone. what does this knuckle head do? he mocked him. people got so upset that the school had to issue an apology. but then watch what this guy does. he goes, man, are we cool? no, we're not cool. turn the other cheek. he walks away.

look at the cheerleader give him a high-five. bad idea. that's a look at sports. if you see some used car deals that seem maybe too good to be true, they probably are. hln money expert clark howard warns you how to steer clear of warns you how to steer clear of the latest rip-offs. particularly in the southeastern states, you have got to be extra careful if you are in the market for a used car because there are flood cars that are, well, it's a horrible pun to say. that are going to flood the used car market. and most people don't ever have a used car checked out before they buy it. whether you buy a used car from a dealer or from an individual, know that you are on your own. used cars almost always sold as is. and although in this case i'm talking about flood damage to cars you might not realize having you buy a piece of junk, it could be any number of reasons. car could have a crummy

transmission or engine or not safe brakes. no matter how shiny it looks and how nice the sales person is, you need to have a used car checked out by a mechanic prior to purchase. otherwise, buyer beware. go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> catch clark howard noon eastern on hln saturday and sundays. roman polanski is a fugitive in europe more than three decades.

good morning. come and spend a little time with us even as you're hurrying around here. i'm robin meade. good morning, sunshine. here's what's making headlines today. passengers on a flight to minneapolis ended up 150 miles past their airport. you have to hear the competing stories about why the pilots were not paying attention. the fbi's trying to figure out what caused a huge explosion at an oil refinery. i mean, look at that tape. so far, the only reported injuries are not from the flames even. plus, we have shown you the incredible tape of a robber praying with the victim. now that video landed him a

national tv appearance. beyond the news, of course. the crew of northwest airlines jet told authorities it was arguing over airline policy and didn't realize it had over shot the minneapolis airport by 150 miles on wednesday night. it took more than an hour for air traffic controllers to contact the pilot and by the time they did, they worried the plane had been hijacked. federal investigators are looking into whether the pilots fell asleep. >> the idea is that the -- the front of the cockpit is asleep, not monitoring other air traffic, not monitoring what went on. is really quite frightening. >> yeah. well, the plane landed safely without passengers even knowing anything had happened. northwest is a part of delta airlines and issued a statement saying it's cooperating with the faa and ntsb in their investigation as well as conducting our own internal investigation. the pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the

completion of these investigations. new this morning, the u.s. is formally asking switzerland to extradite director and fugitive roman polanski. that's the word from swiss officials. polanski is a wanted man in the united states for more than 30 years. after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. he fled the country before his sentencing. he was arrested in switzerland last month. democrats may be ready for an all or nothing gamble on health care reform. sources say that after a meeting at the white house, senate democratic leaders may be leaning toward a public option but states could opt out if they choose. well some moderates don't like the public option but many dems believe it's the best way to fix the system. >> i think we have to have a public option in the final bill. and it can be done in such a way that if you like the insurance you now have, keep the insurance you have. but if the public option has a better deal for you, or more affordable one, then go with

that. that's what i want. i want competition in this field. i want people to have a real choice. and i want especially young, working family that is are thinking they have to drop their insurance because they can't pay for it to have something they can afford. >> well, the house version will also likely include a public option but three dozen moderate house dems are threatening to vote against it. you see the video here. that is a black hawk helicopter that crashed on a navy ship last night. one service member died. the navy say that is a group repelling down a rope from the chopper on to the ship for a training exercise when this happened. eight people were hurt. authorities are starting to investigate what happened. new york state health care workers don't have to get vaccines for the flu after all. the state lifted its mandatory order because there's not enough of the vaccine. the governor says that the state

will have about 23% of the h1n1 doses that they thought they were going to have by the end of the october. the workers' union had sued over the mandate. remember the video of a robber praying with his victim? well now, oprah wants to chat with the robber. affiliate wthr in indianapolis reports that gregory smith is set to talk with oprah today. smith says he is sorry and now a different man. the woman he prayed with describes her fear. >> i was like, dear jesus, please don't let this man hurt me. please take care of my family. >> police say that smith admitting to stealing $20 and the woman's cell phone but wthr reports that smith has a criminal record. he is on probation for auto theft and receiving stolen property. now, a lot of you have something to say about this on our facebook this morning.

maybe you have your thought that is you want to express. go our facebook page. cnn.com/robin with an icon to press right there. but i'm sure there's an intent. you know? there's an intention for having him on the show. i'll be interested to see how it comes out. >> wonder if oprah paid the bail. how did he get out of jail? >> good point. >> i don't know. a lot of questions to be answered. >> they shall. what a rainy mess. >> yeah. everywhere, too. a big area of low pressure in the middle part of the country. look at the rain coming in across the pacific northwest. right around washington state, down in towards oregon and it is heavy at times. see it streaming in off the pacific into seattle, down i-5 to portland.

you're getting a will the of rain here. probably amounting to an inch to an inch and a half around central washington state. that's what it looks like here. pull out further. notice the rain and thundershowers around central alabama. occasional spark of lightning getting right now. it is not severe but the actual cold front is a thin stripe of rain and headed into the deep southeast later on today. talking about georgia, carolinas, florida, too. watching for thundershowers there and more rain, heavy at times, northern parts of kentucky, moving on towards the ohio valley. out of here and towards michigan. look at the heavy stripe of rain through towards detroit. ontario getting some rain, too. rain is headed in towards the nashville area. if we have the tower cam, it is a little rough for you first part of the day. you have a lot of rain out there. potentially. you can see the wet roads right here. windy, too. when the low pressure wraps up as tight as it is, you get a nice gust out of the northwest today. nashville and then dry out this afternoon but the heavy rain is pulling into the northeast and trying to travel in or out of

new england for the weekend, it's going to be tough and i'll tell you about that coming up. >> looks so miserable this morning. >> yeah. that's nashville, tennessee. good morning to you guys. a rough start. starting to feel like fall. look at the flag, too. almost straight out. >> yeah. all right. thank you. a school is finding parents now for the parents being tardy. we hear how much the parents have to fork over. plus this. check out this huge fire. the roof of the building, we understand, is partially collapsed. these are live pictures. you will see the latest right now.

today's salute is from carrie langner to her boyfriend, army specialist josh woodard. they met four days before his company deployed overseas and even though they knew it would be difficult to not see each other for months they knew they had something special. she says she loves him and his

whole family is waiting for his return. maybe you have somebody in the service to salute them. let's help you. cnn.com/robin. let's get you the latest on this fire in seattle we have been showing you. these are live pictures and doesn't appear that the situation is better. this is a fire at a commercial building but we are not told what kind of business it is, why this fire started. the only thing we have been able to get out of officials is that part of the roof collapsed. you can see crews up there on what i'll call the cherry pickers trying to get water into the depth of that fire. we're hearing reports that one firefighter has a minor injury but it's certainly looks very daunting this morning. here's an example of what it looked like previously this morning so it looks to be maybe in a strip mall or, you know, a business area of an area that looks like a street that you would drive down. maybe different businesses in the shops an we don't know what kind of business this is that's on fire. a public school is charging fees for parents who pick up

their kids late from school. an elementary school in portland announced the fines on wednesday after a ten-minute grace period, parents pay $5 for every 10 minutes that they're late picking up their kid. some parents don't like it at all. >> that's harsh. i think there's something different that they could do other than charge money. >> if i knew that that was the case i would have to make sure i had arrangements for them. >> it is about a tool that the school can use to really keep kids from staying at school over and over and over. >> well, he adds there will be exceptions for parents with a legitimate excuse. no word on what legitimate is. like an act of god? i'm not sure. retailer haves a holiday bonus for you this year. many offering free shipping. our money expert jennifer westhoven. free! >> free. it is good. yeah. this -- when we talk about this, the free shipping stories, a lot of companies that do charge for

shipping, they actually get upset about it because this is really a case where you can get something for nothing and it means this holiday season, if you shop online, you could get a lot of steals. that is good news in a bad economy. avoid the lines, too. more retailers are offering free shipping this holiday season. four out of five offer it with a string. still, that's a lot, right? even with a minimum purchase of $50 or something. but more than half of them are also going to offer free shipping with no strings at all. that's great. that may mean you can get, you know, a pretty cheap item and not pay too much for it. that is a good deal from the national retail federation. you know the joke. how do you get to carnegie hall? practice, practice, practice. it turns out you may do a lot better if you join the stage crew. you are not going to believe this. the man that oversees props at the new york city concert hall made $530,000 a year.

that's what he made in the latest year. bloomberg found the tax returns and four others, carpenters and electricians made $430,000. got to be more than many of the musicians, wow. greetings from the twin cities marathon. as you may know, i've been on a sort of campaign to get in the best shape of my life by the time i turned 40 years old. it's been tough in many ways but i decided to get a check-up on how i was doing from personal fitness trainer gillian michaels. for the first days i did this, again, i don't count calories but i was leading food on the plate. >> right. >> i was taking smaller portions. i was hungry. >> that's so hard. >> i was hungry but i knew getting beyond that and had a -- >> did you get beyond the physical feeling of hunger? when that happens, i'll go with volume. i'll get the salad this big.

fiber and water, nutrient dense, low calorie when i struggle with that. >> thirst is often misperceived as hunger. >> dehydrated. >> yeah. a lot of us walk around with chronic dehydration. i drink more water and it's funny because, gillian, i have studied this like to the core. fitness, exercise, physiology of all of this. but some of the simplest things make the biggest difference. so drinking water. pushing the plate away and exercising when i can. >> how are you doing with sleep? sleep affects my hunger levels. >> i won't pass the gillian test on sleep. >> i know. i mean, you have three kids and all over the world. how much sleep with you getting and how are you finding that affects you? >> definitely. getting more sleep, i would be in a better groove. the thing i'm worried about most now is i have had a whole inspiring time of the last four months to do this because of the

40th birthday. arbitrary milestone. how do i make this a habit? >> your going to the gym every day after work. are you finding that manageable? if that's not manageable, it is okay, if you can't get the fitness in, push the plate away and eat less calories. you make the quality of your foods count as much as possible. you steal sleep on the plane if that's the only place to steal it and you got to make time. >> to getting the compliment from you today -- >> you, i mean -- like, i just was like, wow, he looks great. not that i didn't think you looked great before. let me just clarify. you were hot before and you're hot now. you look like you're just lean and mean. >> well, i feel great. and i really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thanks so much for your help. obviously, the key to all of this is to maintain this for the rest of my life and hopefully the rest of yours, as well. so we have lots of great tips. cnn.com/health and on twitter. back to you.

we are following a massive explosion at a gasoline warehouse. this happened in san juan, puerto rico, overnight. check out the huge flames here. this video looks to me like it's from the daytime so it's still burning strong. this is what it looked like when it first happened. police say 11 of more than 30 big tanks there exploded. firefighters are chilling the others. the tanks, to try to protect them. the fbi is among those investigating how this happened.

the 7-year-old florida girl whose body was found in a landfill got into a fight at school the day she disappeared. her sister brought up the fight on the way home and somer got upset and ran off. that was the last time she and her brother saw her. her mom spoke to the killer. >> i want you to know that i will not sleep until this person is found. i hope they get you. and i hope they make you pay for a long, long time. >> the last person to see somer appears to have been a little boy who lives nearby. he says that he saw her near a vacant house. >> she was just running so i thought she was excited but she had like a frown on her face. >> very sickening and it is just scary. >> detectives have been searching that house and a dumpster that's outside it. they have already interviewed 155 registered sex offenders who live in the area just outside of

jacksonville. authorities have not said how the little girl died. the umps did it again. blew more calls in the playoffs. now major league baseball is taking action. hi, rafer. >> hi, robin. here's what's significant about it. this sport is 476 years old and been the same the entire time. not really. but now what's happened in the past two weeks could end up changing this tradition-rich sport forever. okay? we told you about game four, blowing the calls. game five, the yankees, johnny damon clearly safe and called out. may not look like it's -- little bit close. a major league ump should never miss anything standing right there. and then posada, that's strike three but it's called a ball four. they can't believe it. replay shows a strike. that would be a pivotal moment even though the angels stay and win. here's the deal. umpires with only world series

experience will get to work the world series. usually they'll allow at least one new ump to get some experience. now they don't want to deal with that. too worried they'll make a mistake. isaiah thomas is upset with magic johnson. magic said thomas spread rumors that magic was day after being tested for the hiv virus. thomas denies it. they were very good friends. but the book when the game was ours co-written by larry bird said he was black balled from the olympic dream team and the friendship is over. now an inspiring story. our true champion this week is red sox fan steve caris donating bone marrow to 3-year-old matthew and may have saved his life. matthew from long island and a big yankee fan. caris found out they rooted for rival teams when caris' mom

decorated with rival stuff. >> so sweet. great story on giving. flu season is here and water fountains with controversy. experts strongly disagree about water fountains. how germy they are and the h1n1 flu.

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a heated discussion and got distracted. federal investigators are looking into whether the pilots actually fell asleep. a big debate about your health care is going on inside the white house. sources say that after a meeting yesterday the obama administration and senate democratic leaders may be leaning toward putting a public option in a final senate bill. but states could opt out if they choose. republicans and some moderate democrats have said that they oppose the public option. new for you this morning, new this morning, a bridge and a water pipeline collapsed on a train. this happened in india. the associated press reports that two people were killed and ten others were hurt. the train was headed for mumbai. those are the top stories. welcome back. good morning on a friday. 31 minutes past the hour. i'm robin meade. prosecutors across the country will soon treat violence to gays and lesbians the same way as crimes based on race, color or religion. now yesterday, the senate voted to expand hate crimes to include

sexual orientation. now, it goes to president obama to sign it. most republicans voted against the bill saying that it could scare people away from speaking out about their religious views. dozens of people attended a vigil for a virginia tech student who's been missing since saturday. everyone there got a purple balloon which is morgan harrington's favorite color. police say that the 20-year-old disappeared in a metallica concert. her father believes that the daughter has been kidnapped. >> how does someone just disappear? you know? what's the likelihood of a person crossing the paths of someone withhold take someone and i believe morgan's been taken. >> well, police say that harrington had called friends to say she left the concert arena and wasn't allowed back in. her purse and cell phone were found in a parking lot but there was no sign of a struggle in the area. grammy award winner lil wayne is facing a one-year prison sentence.

dewayne carter pleaded guilty to attempted gun possession in new york yesterday. the case stems from a 2007 arrest when officers say they found the pistol in carter's tour bus. his trial was scheduled to start in january. he'll be sentenced in february. 32 minutes past the hour. you know what? it's too cold i think for october in many of the viewers' homes -- not the homes but hometown today. bob's going to show you where. good morning. >> good morning, rob. the snow piled up last night in central nebraska and now northern michigan, getting in towards basically minnesota and iowa, too. you got the cold air right here. that's where it's located. the rain trying to fall into there. crashing down there and turning into snow. that's the white. south of minneapolis, that's where the snow's piling up. ahead of this, though, look at the cold front. that's the trigger today for heavy downpours once again and when you live in central alabama, heavy rain now. the path towards georgia and kentucky and tennessee. ultimately the carolinas

overnight tonight. heavy at times and stretches to new england, too. stormy for you in atlanta later today. rain back on in towards basically northern kentucky. that's just beginning the heaviest all morning long and fans out nicely in towards michigan, back into wisconsin and then heavy downpour action now moving in towards central ohio. living in columbus, cleveland, it is raining for most of the day. look at the squall coming out of the indianapolis stretching to toledo and detroit, backside of that, the rain beginning to loosen up a bit around chicago and the damage is done. you have your delays around chicago, midway and o'hare. o'hare, 82-minute delay lasting for the afternoon. the snow stretches in towards northern parts of wisconsin and the u.p. advisories are posted for this afternoon to tomorrow. two to four inches of snow and it begins already. d.c. trying to travel in and out of the beltway, so far so good. showers a possibly this afternoon but overnight the real rain and lasts through saturday

afternoon. so that's what it looks like there. martinsville, virginia. tough to get that race in there. more in just a bit. thank you. the dow jumped more than 100 points yesterday after corporate heavyweights like 3m and at&t reported that earnings that made investors happy basically. we're still above 10,000. susan lisovicz, good morning. what do you see today? >> i see mr. softee and we are not talking about soft ice cream, robin. we are talking about software. microsoft. its shares right now are up 9%. why is that? well, it came out this morning with its earnings. actually, its profit dropped 18% from a year ago. its revenue fell for the third straight quarter and numbers far better than expected and that revenue loss, by the way, microsoft gave out $1.5 billion of free credits to upgrade to windows 7 which launched

yesterday. it is expected to be a blockbuster for the company going forward. and actually, supposed to -- lots of estimates to help the overall u.s. economy because microsoft is so dominant with its windows operating system. amazon shares, not shabby, up 19%. its quarterly profits surged nearly 70%. the sales jumped 30%. that kindle, the digital book reader is so hot. also, expected to be very hot going forward especially over the holidays. fed chief ben bernanke is talking this morning, calling on congress to overhaul the financial regulatory system and prevent another crisis coming as we expect the 100th bank failure of the year to be announced after the close. so it's no wonder, robin, in times like these, people crave comfort food. not only talking about meat loaf and mashed potatoes. we are talking about a bar staple. chicken wings. they are huge, robin.

so huge, "the new york times" has a story today worth reading, sales are so hot that in seven of the last 11 months, wholesale wing prices are now higher than breast prices. >> i can't believe that. >> it's true. because they're all these specials, right? people go and says that all over the country, like whether it's lions head tavern in new york city or whether it's o'malley's in tucson. >> 25 cent a wing thing. >> they're going away like -- like, you know, the horseless carriage. because -- >> i was waiting to see where you're going. like what? >> like what? think fast. >> going the way of the pointo. all right. hey, thanks. >> love those wings. have a great weekend. you know, craigslist lets people buy and sell practically anything and that includes prostitution? well, i don't think it lets them but a sheriff is trying to stop that from maybe getting through.

but the law may not be on his side. these people are not waiting in line for a new movie. they don't want to get sick.

so a u.s. distrokt court judge threw out a lawsuit against craigslist. a sheriff in illinois sued the website saying it is a hub for prostitution. but the judge said that craigslist is not responsible for people that misuse the site and he said that it would eliminate legal services, too, like erotic dancing. >> every time we show up at one of these ads, we make an arrest for prostitution.

not one have we walked in and had to apologize and leave. it's never happened. i said, guys, if you are sinc e sincere, tell me the basics of how you monitor this. a college student or a former law enforcement officer in each town looking at the ads? they won't even respond to my letters. this is going on for months now. >> the sheriff said he has not decided if he will appeal. the swine flu vaccine is not delivered as quickly as health officials hoped so people are willing to stand in long lines. in indiana, people showed up around 3:00 a.m. to be the first in line. >> i have a newborn so i'm trying to make sure i stay healthy and stuff. >> i have type 2 diabetes. >> my son has asthma. he's 12. i think everybody's at risk. >> 40 million doses were supposed to be available by last week and so far not even 13 million have been delivered.

you know, if you see a used car deal that seems too good to be true, they probably are. hln money expert clark howard warns you how to steer clear of the latest rip-offs. >> because of the recent flooding in the united states, particularly in the southeastern states, you have got to be extra careful if you're in the market for a used car. because there are flood cars that are -- well, it's a horrible pun to say, that are going to flood the used car market, and most people don't ever have a used car checked out before they buy it. whether you buy a used car from a dealer or from an individual, know that you are on your own. used cars almost always sold as is. and although in this case i'm talking about flood damage to cars you might not realize having you buying a piece of junk it could be any number of reasons. car could have a crummy engine

or transmission or not have safe brakes. so no matter how shiny it looks and how nice the salesperson is, you need to have a used car checked out by a mechanic prior to purchase. otherwise, buyer beware. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to protect your wallet gorks to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him noon eastern on saturdays and sundays here on hln. it is breast cancer awareness month and here's a woman that took a stand before she was a statistic. lindsey aber in is today's breakthrough woman. >> at 23, lindsay took the extreme step of having both her healthy breasts removed. >> i have a very strong family history. when my mom was only 18, her mother and grandmother died a week apart both from breast cancer. >> abner's mother was diagnosed

with breast and ovarian cancer and carried a gene. >> when someone tells you up to an 87% risk lifetime risk of breast cancer, it changes everything. i couldn't live like that. >> she chose to -- >> i didn't have a cancer and yet i was living with this very, very significant increased risk. >> so she started bright pink, a network for cancer awareness and support. abner helped thousands of women just like her. >> she's kind of helped me find my voice and inspiring other young women to think about your bodies. >> there's nothing like having an opportunity to pay it forward and make it different for somebody else. >> all right. police are considering murder charges after three people died in an arizona sweat lodge but the man that runs the program is definitely facing a lawsuit. new for you in 20 minutes, details on the survivor who's

already decided to sue.

300 more drug-related arrests made in 19 states. a drug cartel was targeted in the four-year operation. the justice department said there was about 1,200 arrests in all and nearly 12 tons of illegal drugs were seized. hln's joy behar admits she and anne coulter are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. see what happened then when they talked about assassination threats against president obama and who coulter thinks is responsible for them. >> every presidential assassination or attempted presidential assassination committed by a left-ring loon, communist, commune tarns. yes, they were. or they had -- >> the home grown terrorists are also another group to worry about here. >> they're all liberals so -- >> wait a minute. don't make that jump from

murderer, terrorist to liberals. that is outrageous statement. >> well, it is all described in -- >> this pastor, this -- >> assassin by assassin and moreover -- >> they're not liberals. they're murderers. they're terrorists. stop it. if i have to smack you -- stop it. >> catch "the joy behar show" at 9:00 p.m. here on hln. a minnesota man pleaded guilty to driving his la-z-boy drunk. here's the souped up recliner. powered by a lawn mower equipped with a stereo and cup holders. dennis anderson said he had eight or nine beers. i don't know. eight or nine. you don't know how many before it crashed into a parked car. crashed the chair into a parked car. police say the blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit. >> puts archer bunker to shame. >> cheered on by the teammates, a legally blind ohio teacher

scored a touchdown, teenager make that. scored a touchdown. he was -- he's blind. the other team didn't know that. >> they didn't know he was blind and wait until you see the video of the teammates. literally getting behind him and making it happen. there it is right there. >> awesome. >> the story about the kid, 16-year-old tyler brown, the team manager normally. the coach asked the mom to let him suit up this year. on october 15th, the 1 yard line and go ahead and see them pushing him in for the score and that was his first touchdown. the play of his life. his mom shed happy tears at that moment. another news, when it could not get worse that is right cleveland browns, they're sacked by the flu. on wednesday, 12 players missed practice with flu-like symptoms. now, we don't know if it's swine flu. it could just be the regular flu but here's the deal. the h1n1 has concerned the nfl so much they have changed the rules. if at least six players get swine flu, they can bring in

players from the practice squad now. this is a reality show that's pretty sad. i don't know. dodgers owner frank mccourt fired his wife as the team ceo because divorce an the sides of battling over the team, which is believed to be worth over a billion. her lawyer says shiell address the issue in the courtroom. state of california, you know what that means? half. watch this boneheaded move by the university of minnesota mascot, the university's actually apologizing for doing this stupid thing. this was last saturday ace game. penn state's jerome hayes and you can see the gopher mocking him. he's mocking him, so much so that the school had to issue as apology, hayes keeps focused, crosses himself, gets up, and the gopher, hey, are we cool? no, that was not cool, and then watch this, the high-five from the cheerleader.

you both were not doing smart things. that's a look at sports. >> at least there was an apology. >> at least the school apologized, i will say that, you're right. >> thanks. but still dumb. hi, bob. >> let me show you what's going on. if you're traveling out there, a couple delays, and one of them is a long one. midway in a ground stop until 10:30 all because of the low clouds. it will be around atlanta, too. one how or more delay. detroit has a runway construction delay, about 30 minutes, but that's going to grow with the rain moving in. looking at also around minneapolis getting some showers and thunderstorms today, you probably get a delay out of that, too. more details in about a half hour. burger king stores in japan are serving a whopper with seven patties. oyeah, part of a promotional deal with microsoft for the

launch of windows 7, but every day this week you too can havesh if you're the first 30 customers through the door in japan, you get it for like $8.50. after that it goes to $17. it has more than 2100 calories. >> i've got a big mouth, but even then. >> and it's the skiniest people eating this stuff. @@@@@@@