good morning to you. i'm in tasha curry. hope you're doing well. attackers killed a group of u.n. workers in afghanistan. while the president considers whether to send another 40,000 u.s. troops to the cup, the attackers say they are just getting started. and after some rough weather yesterday, nasa is about to make another try at that rocket launch of theirs. and andre agassi, he admits to using illegal drugs. why he says he did it. first this morning, our top

story, we are seeing waves of violent attacks in afghanistan. many of them against u.s. troops. and it begs the question, how would you you feel about sending your daughter or your son there right now? president obama is weighing sending 40,000 more gis, it's a brutal situation, too. the u.n. says early this morning militants stormed a guest house being used by the u.n. at least six staffers with respect killed. the associated press reports that one of them was an american. >> have to see when we know the full situation what this means for our work here in afghanistan. we obviously will have toed a just our security in light of this. but this is a very serious incident. it's also tragic. these are civilians working for afghanistan. this is a totally senseless thing that's happened here. it's an outrage and it's a tragedy. >> now, this comes after two straight days of heavy losses

for the u.s. yesterday eight u.s. soldiers were killed by two roadside bombs in afghanistan. the locations are marked by little red stars here on the map. and on monday, 14 u.s. troops and civilians died in a pair of helicopter crashes. the war in afghanistan is now eight years old and october is now the deadliest month yet. the public health insurance option already faces a major hurdle. independent not joe leaker are man says he'll oppose any bill that includes government-run health insurance. lieberman says the public option is too expensive and risky. >> we ought to wait three or four years to see how the tremendous reforms that we have the chance to put into effect now work and then if for some reason people position we need a publicly owned health insurance company, well, we'll come back and discuss that. >> lieberman typically votes with the democrats and without him, they don't have the 60 votes needed to overcome a republican filibuster.

fans and celebs got their very first glimpse at a movie showing of michael jackson's final months. th"this is it" debuted last nig including a star-studded premiere here in los angeles. the film shows jackson's exhausting rehearsarehearsals. his brother, jermaine, spoke from the red carpet. >> i think he would have loved this only because it shows that there's a person in him throughout all the rehearsals and everything, you see when he's focused and he's concentrating on the band, the dancers. you see that there's a humane side to him as opposed to him being on stage all over time and the grits and glamour. >> now, this was the scene outside the premiere in lop done. some fans who saw the movie say they cannot believe how jackson kept up with backup dancers half his age. ♪

in beijing, an impersonator showcased the moves that made jackson a ledge he said. government accepts sores had to approve the movie there. the pilot wlos overshot the minneapolis airport have had their licenses revoked. in a harsh letter, the faa said that captain timothy cheney and first officer richard cole endangered the public while they were on a personal control lick in the cockpit. the pilots said that they lost track of time while working on their laptop computers. the decisions effective immediately, but the pilots have ten days to appeal. tennis legend andre agassi made a stunning confession about his past drug use. rafer, a lot of people shocked. >> yeah, it's very shocking. and this confession comes in a new auto biographbiography. he says he was having doubts about his impending marriage to brooke shields, he and his assistant did crystal meth in

his home. now, his publicist confirmed the drug use. he says he later failed a drug test. wait until you hear the excuse that he gave to tennis officials on why he failed it and they bought it. i'll have that in about 30 me t minutes. nasa is righting yet again to test launch et new toy. the ares rocket is going to cost more than 400 mill why not bucks. yesterday the attempt never happened because of the weather. and looking at the forecast for today, the same thing could happen, as well. nasa hopes to use the ares for future missions to the moon or even mars. would you like to go to m mars? how cool does that sound. >> let test out a couple rockets, first. good to see you this morning. i've got that area zoomed in right now and the ray day

overlaid on top before here's what it looks like at cape stret not a lot of rain. that's all ahead of a bigger system, a cold front draped north of that area some had northern florida and it goes off the coast towards the carolinas and then bring as whole heck of a lot of rain for you for the northeast in the morning into the early afternoon. so under the clouds, heavy rain right around ohio, back in towards western and northern pennsylvania. the alleghenys, all rain for you, no snow there. rain also for western and central new york down in towards basically boston right now. new york city, you you had a big shot of rain go through overnight last night. now it's hung off the jersey shore in towards long island. more rain around boston, it will get you some travel concerns out here especially this morning into the early afternoon. so be watching for delays right there. cleveland, beginning to dry up. look at that thunderstorm complex around lake erie. just a few strikes of lightning

here. but then the major winter type storm still developing right across the four corners right around colorado. denver starting to see the snow pick up once again. winter storm warnings are out there, winds blowing up in the rockies. all these areas shaded in 8 to 16 inches of snow some to tomorrow morning. this also brought a lot of wind for the lower part of the four corners. phoenix got their own dust storm yesterday. the mount tips that usually surround phoenix disappeared. that's almost zero visibility. a lot traffic accidents, too. winds not quite as strong. the highest gust was 36 miles an hour, but up in the mountains, it was way stronger than that. winds approaching 40 for you some phoenix and 55 some san francisco. las vegas same thing. looking at 55-mile-an-hour gusts. >> those dust storms are something else. i lived in arizona for a short time and you have to stop your

car if you're driving. >> tough to see through obviously. >> thanks so much. i can't believe we're talking about snow now. so when you're out of work, a little bit of help can go a long way, can't it? and this morning we're looking at whether congress is likely to extend jobless benefits. and for how long, as well. also, a hardware store worker got canned over a button. and now he's talking to a lawyer.

president obama is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether he'll send as many as 40,000 more troops to fight in afghanistan. just this week, 24 families learned their sons or daughters will not be coming home alive.

one of those brave marines was captain eric jones. the 29-year-old was in a helicopter that crashed in southern afghanistan on monday. his best friends say jones' parents are devastated by the loss of their only child. >> i can't even imagine what it's like for them. they loved him so much and he loved them. he died doing something so much more honorable than most of us will ever get to do. >> captain jones was on his third tour of duty and was scheduled to come home in just a few weeks. we're also learning more about another marine killed in that same chopper crash. captain kyle vandegeisen from new hampshire. but one of his professors remembered him best as a man committed to service. >> every once in a while, someone really truly does stand out in terms of their ability to really lead other people and to really inspire other people. and i think that's what i'll remember most about him. >> he was supposed to come home in the next few days to see the

birth of his second child. now to an extension of unemployment benefits that moves a big step toward -- moves forward in congress, if i can speak right now, jan. >> it's confusing when it's happening in washington. >> right. >> i know will are thousands of families on out there. i have people in my family who are counting on unemployment benefits to see them through. and we know that 7,000 people lose their benefits every day according to some estimates. that's the national employment law center. that leaves them stranded in what we know is a very tough job market with unemployment near 10%. so here's the step that's happening in washington. republicans joining with democrats in the senate to support legislation that would mean 14 more weeks of benefits for everyone and in states wrun employme where unemployment is high, six administer weeks on top of that. it doesn't make it law yet.

the bill will come out of committee, it will go to the floor for a full vote. so that's the next step. step after thaurt, it will be wh 9 house. but at least we're moving forward. airlines, they are offering up some cheap airfares. southwest is offering tickets as low as $25 one way for some flights this winter. you got scroll away. it's not all flights. when you do the math, it's never going to be 50 bucks, it's $90 for a round trip ticket when you pay the fees and taxes and all that but that is good news in a bad economy that you could get a round trip ticket under 100 bucks. it's more for longer flights and you have to buy tickets by tomorrow night. some of the other airlines are also matching those according to "usa today." you may remember the story about toyota recalling millions of vehicles because of the floor mats that could jam the gas pedal. four people were killed when

their car sped up to more than 100 miles an hour and crashed. well, now the "l.a. times" reports that government documents indicate it could be the gas pedal's design that are part of the problem and that toyota is considering changing the pedals. back to you. you see a lot of different reports of wrecks pack there that you just saw pictures of. >> yeah, for sure. thanks so much. so it's not even out yet, but sarah palin's upcoming book is already a best seller. she got more than $1 million from her publisher, but new documents show she also received some big gifts from people if her last days of alaska's governor. that's new for in 30 minutes. the president's daughters have got p their h1n1 flu vaccinations and a whole lot more people soon will have a chance, as well. more than 22 million doses are ready to ship and that's a big jump. as of late last week, about 6 million doses had been circulated. so imagine this, waking up

in bed with a car on top of you. a car. it happened to one couple. they were pinned under the car for nearly an hour. they survived, but their experience was life-changing.

hundreds of thousands of drivers will have to find a new way to work this morning. the bay bridge here linking san francisco and oakland has been closed endefinitely. here's what happened. a piece of steel and cable fell off and on to the road last night. nobody was hurt, thank goodness, but the falling debris did cause a minor car accident. a car bomb ripped through a busy shopping area this morning. it happened in pakistan 37 local officials say that at least 90 people died. most of them are said to be women. the number keeps going up, too. secretary of state hillary clinton is in pakistan right now just a short while ago she said that those responsible are on the losing side of history. you have to hear this story here. a car crashes in to a house,

lands right on top of a couple's bed, trapping them there for nearly an hour. here are the pictures. the couple says that motor fluid sprayed their faces. they got out with minor injuries. now, this picture taken shortly after the carash here. >> you see more photos and you're just like how did we get out of there alive. if he had been going 40, 80, how did it land perfectly on top of us. we definitely think we had some help definitely and we just feel like there's more like of a purpose. we're meant to live to do something. >> the driver face multiple charges, including drunk driving. police say he crashed into the house on purpose. he thought his ex-girl friend was living hthere with a new boyfriend, but it was the wrong

house. okay. so police have arrested three men in connection with the murder of connecticut football player jasper howard. here's rafer weigel with that story. a big development in this case. police say they have the ones responsible for this heinous crime. they are not uconn students. 21-year-old john william lomax the third is being charged with murder and held on a $2 million bond. his lawyer says that he was just trying to break up a fight and he was not involved in the stabbing. you remember jasper howard was tragically stabbed in the stomach outside the student union during a dance. police also arrested two other men in connection with the case, all three are expected in court today. in other, the nba started its season. isn't that pretty? the lakers got their championship rings. their 15th. and then ron or tez starting his new hair do. we're told that's the chinese symbol for lakers.

and the l on the back. took the clippers 99-92. they're none to watch. >> probably complaint play with those rings on either. >> no, they definitely conditan. and the divorce between dodgers owner and his wife issing nasty. she's heading to coach to try to get her job back. court documents show if she doesn't, she wants almost 500 grand a month in living expenseses. i said a month. that includes money for business lunches and dippers five days a week, a private jet, and hair and makeup for every domger game. our steelises here are like i need to move to l.a. p. and lastly, philadelphia police say a woman posted an ad on craigslist alledgedly offering sex for tickets saying desperate blond needs world series ticket, followed by i'm the creative type, make we can help each other. two undercover ats say they met the woman in a bar where she offered to have relations with them. as my grandmother would say.

she was charged with a misdemeanor count of proce prostituti prostitution. >> interesting stuff. thanks. bob, how is air travel looking? snow, rain, winds. what you got? >> speaking of philadelphia, i think i'd hold on to my tickets just seeing that picture. no deal. philadelphia actually has a 27 minute delay right now. it will be there for the morning. i zeroed in towards the area, shear northern jersey. look at the rain marching out of philly. the rain is right now over boston, so we will get delays up there especially first part of the day. about an hour or month. boston, nyc, philadelphia. denver, switchingoff to though. one hour or more. las vegas, gusty winds. one hour or more delayed because of that. and then washington looking at showers, atlanta, charlotte, morning fog. same with chicago. 30 minute to one hour delay there is. phoenix, salt lake city, wind, same with spran. bay area bridge having some

problems. more on that in just a bit. a little girl dying of cancer wanted to let her mom and dad know she loved them. how she did it.

we're seeing some of the worst violence in afghanistan since the war started. at least six u.n. workers were killed today by taliban mill tabts. the associated press says that a u.s. citizen is among the dead. also rockets were fired at the presidential palace. and a luxury hotel. no one was hurt in those attacks. no, you're not suffering from deja vu. nasa is getting toward try again to test launch its brand new ares rocket. liftoff could be in about 30 minutes, but the forecast not looking good. the michael jackson documentary "this is it" premiered last night. the film shows jackson's

exhausting rehearsals for a comeback concert series. "this is it" will only be in theaters for two weeks. still no decision about filing charges against the balloon boy's parents. prosecutors still reviewing the case against the hooerps. mayumi has admitted that the whole thing was a publicity stunt and this they knew all along that their 6-year-old boy was not on the runaway balloon. we have new video of the three u.s. hikers who have been in custody in iran for nearly these months. their friend shot it just two days before they were detained. it shows that goofing around while visiting cu. iran charged them illegally crossing the border from iraq. the families say they did it by

mistake. andre agassi made a stunning confession that he once did crystal meth during the hay day of his career. here's rafer with more on this. agassi was known for being a rebel and his long hair and all that but since then his image has been largely unblemished. a new autobiography, he confessed back in 1997, he and his assistant did crystal meth in his home. he said he was concerned about the upcoming wedding to brooke shields and his game was this dechin at the time. he says he later failed a drug test and he told tennis officials he accidentally ingested the drug by drinking a soda laced with it. president obama's daughters got their h1n1 flu shots last week. now, many average kids complaint get the vaccine because of a

shortage. but first lady michelle obama spokeswoman says their doctor went for the same prz thocess t applies to everyone else. the first couple will get shots after the people in priority groups. >> the dea has released the names of three agents killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. forrest leamon, chad michael and michael weston here are the first losses for the agency some afghanistan. richard lui joining us now. opium production is one of the taliban's main sources of income and in fact the u.n. estimates the taliban makes more money now than when it was in power by taxing opium farmers. now, the three dea agents killed in monday's chopper crash were returning from a raid on suspected taliban drug traffickers. forrest leamon's maybe says he had just celebrated his one year anniversary and his wife was four months pregnant. >> it was horrible.

it's a tragedy. heart goes out to ana and her family. glt military does not think enemy fire is responsible. >> and those agents were among two dozen u.s. set zens killed in afghanistan in just the past week. just yesterday, we learned a state department official resigned because he says that the mission there isn't worth american lives. what did he mean by that? >> well, matthew ho is a former marine captain who took a state department job as a political officer in southern afghanistan. he says he resigned because he could not promise the families of u.s. troops kill this had action that the war was worthy of their sackry pies. hoh says the afghanistan war strategy is too unorganized and is making the region less stable. >> the people we are fighting there are fighting because we're occupying them, in the for any idle logical reason, pot because of any links to al qaeda, no fundamental hatred toward the west. >> we take his point of view

very seriously, but we continue to believe that we're on track to achieving the goal that the president has set before us. >> the state department also saying no career foreign service officers have resigned over afghanistan policy yet. >>. >> reporter: >> we want to know what you think. should president obama send more troops? rick says why can't we let our troops do what they trained for to fight. let us chief a victory and accepted a message to the cowardly terrorists that we will will fight, we will win. and you can join the conversation at cnn.c daumcnn.c. an investigation of a bus crash is slamming state and federal agencies for failing to maintain safety standards.

the ntsb says the bus company was connected with a charter group that had been shut down for safety violations and the bus had passed inspection despite having a bad tire. that tire was underinflated and investigators think that contributed to the crash. a new calendar is poking fun at stereotypes and making some people a little uncomfortle. the hot mormon muffins calendar has pin ins of moms in the mormon church. each month include as must have minute recipe. not everyone likes it, though. >> there's so many people that find it they're upset about it, and i don't see what the big deal is. i just think it's kind of camp pi. >> i think it's inappropriate, both men and women. there are certain standards that we have. >> i think they have a right to their own way. >> i think it's disgusting how people are trying to promote

pornography and disgusting material. >> calendar's creator has been thrown out of the mormon church. the church refused to comment on the calendar. and these are available for purchase, is that right? >> i think so. >> sacri-licious. talking about the muffins. we have decent rain ahead. this weather brought to you by tylenol. feel better. here's what it looks like across the northeast. heavy rain pulling out of mid-atlantic stretching this n. through new york city. look at the big rain shield towards western p.a., western new york state, also. this low across the surface right around ohio will merge with this one off the shore right around long eye hand and will sit there for a little bit. basically drizzle for the game. new york showers off and on for the morning.

more steady rain around boston. winds gusting out of the east probably about 20 miles an hour. something else we're watching. cleveland beginning to dry out. that's the back edge of that circulation. but then by denver, you can see already beginning to get the speak and it will be heavy at times today. specifically this afternoon. so we have winter storm warnings out there for denver and the rest of colorado. boston tower cam, we will see some travel delays. look at the gray clouds, hoe advilow advi visibilities. high today only 50. we'll have the full travel forecast in 15 minutes. >> thanks, bob. in an emergency room, seconds can mean the difference

between life and death. how one hospital urging social networking.

an emergency room in missouri is reaching out to patients on twitter. the hospital recently began tweeting patients about how long they'll have to wait for treatment and its e.r. the manager says the wait wait times are updated about every two hours. >> the time that we're posting is pretty much what people want to know, how long will it take me to get to a room where i'm going to be seen and treatment

started. >> of course the manager also says that people shouldn't waste team checking twitter in certain situations like if you're having chest pains on or shortness of breath. this this is a watch out story for you. a new scam tries to get to you give up your sensitive financial information. and jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. people always have to look out for these scams. >> they know you're seeing the headlines will failing banks, so the fdic is warpg watch out for this, you could get an e-mail that says check your bank deposit insurance coverage. but don't even open it. delete it. this is one of those e-mails that says, oh, hey, are you worried about your bank failing some well, type in your sensitive financial information here. we'll make sure your money's safe. yeah, right. safe with them. do not fall for that.

remember, no reputable company will ever ask you you via e plal for sensitive information. if it your bank does something, they always say go and click the link to the bank so you don't get thi phony websites or anything like that. and you don't get fished. they will clean you out. ford looks pretty good in the latest rankings on the most dependable cars from consumer reports. now, don't get me wrong. asian cars still dominated this list as they have done for years. so we wanted to look for what's new within this report if we dug a little deeper. and ford really did did did a lot better. it showed improvement. 90% of fords ranked average or better in reliability. ford also beat gm and chrysler by a landslide and it's the only company that's not on the dole, shall we say, not taking any government money. and the ford fusion, it came in third in the family sedan category. so a lot of acknowledgement that

ford's quality is getting better. >> and the company is really happy to hear those results. thanks. the first survivor winner just got out of prison after serving a sentence for tax evasion. now, last night richard hatch made his first prime time appearance on "hln's" joy behar show and he claims part of the reason he ended up some brings on th in prison is because he's gay. >> did you pay those taxes? >> absolutely. >> so what did they get you on, they just had a whim, they didn't like you? >> well, yes, there is discrimination in this. weto ask the jurors about hair feelings on homosexual, and he denied it. we weren't even allowed to question the juror has got selected and i'm not saying anything negative about the jurors, i'm saying something -- that's evidence of clear by as right from the get go of this judge. >> catch the joy behar show at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on

"hln." a family put its house on the market and then three years went by. now they're trying something radical. also ahead, a health clinic got 400 doses of the h1n1 flu vaccine. you into it the hear what happened about 30 minutes later.

a family in indiana is trying to sell their house on facebook. it's a big change of patience but after three yearses on the market, they are willing to try anything. >> i think social networking is revamping a lot of things. we have it looks like 264 fans of selling our house, so all our friends are trying to help us out. >> a local real estate wroter says the facebook listing is a good idea, but severals also need to list their homes with an agent because they have the resources to help sell it. sarah palin appears to have received more than $1 million as a retain foreher upcoming book while in office. that's according to new

financial documents from when she was alaska's governor. her rep won't give anymore details saying she's now a private citizen and doesn't have to. documents also show before leaving office, palin got $4,000 worth of yankee tickets from rudy giuliani. >> and that's for one game and one ticket. just for half an inning. i kid. >> we want to know, do hits in football, do they cause early stages of alzheimer's disease? that's what congress is wanting to find out. >> yeah. it's a catch 22 because we love the big hits when we see them, but what kind of damage is it it do to these guys long term? that's what congress wants to try to find out today at a hearing. you saw all of them and loved them. well, as many as 17 former players, the union and roger goodell will be on which i will for a hearing that was called after an nfl sanctioned study showed former players have

considerably higher rates of alzheimer's than others. >> and larry johnson issued an apology and was told to stay away from the team while it investigates his use of two gay slurs. the kansas city star reports johnson used the slur attacking a twitter follower and again with the media on monday after he attacked his coach on twitter. >> and jay-z and alicia keys were supposed to perform tonight. game one is tonight, but it it was pushed back to thursday's game two. potential bad weather is the reason. jay-z is also scheduled to perform at a concert today some had columbus. the original plan was he was going to do both the same day. how is that going to happen? it's not like it's philadelphia. it's columbus. you can't just jaunt over to new york.

we'll see. >> kate hudson there, was she there for a-rod? >> yeah, allegedly. no, we can say because of alleged sexual favoritism. new for you in 30 minutes, why she's speaking out. hundreds of people in missouri searched for 9 year ole elizabeth oelten when she didn't come home last week. her body found and somebody is in custody. the suspect is a young teenager. here's nancy grace. >> that's right. the suspect behind bars is not an parolee or an escapee or one of the dozens registered sex offenders that live in the area. it's a 15-year-old girl. >> the sheriff's department isn't releasing many details about what happened. you can catch nancy grace at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. here on hln. you can now use your are

iphone to check what's happening in space. yeah, nasa released an application that allows you to track the space missions in realtime, including the international space station and other spacecraft. among other things, you can watch the launch of a nasa rocket scheduled for today, the program among the ten most popular on itunes. bob van dillen here now with a look at air travel. got a lot of problems with the weather. >> still on the launchpad, yep. >> isn't that the coolest thing? >> that's what it looks like in florida. passing clouds there. the how about washington, d.c.? couple of minutes ago we roll on this because i want to show it to you, it's gray, ugly. it's not the quite that gray, but it is rather gray. you can see the clouds going through new york, boston, too. we have delays up in philly. right now a boston delay will come up. we'll talk about that in just a little bit.

>> thought that was a new app. thanks, bob. christmas is less than two months away and one of the nation's biggest stores is helping you save big-time on toys.

good morning. time to wake up here. i'm natasha occur are ycurry. andre agassi admits to using illegal drugs. why the tennis champion says he did it. police are on the lookout for a bank robbery suspect who looks like he's got a few years on him. hear what they say he brought to one of the holdups. our top story this morning, a huge spike in violence halfway around the world begs the question, how would you feel

about sending your son or daughter to afghanistan right now? it's a brutal situation, the u.n. says this morning six of its staffers including an american were killed in an attack by taliban militants. this has people talking because president obama will have to decide whether to send many more troops. >> this is a huge decision they're talking about. unlike iraq they were talking about a surge of 20,000 for a year. this is 44,000 they're potentially debating is a long-term investment. while it probably increases the pressure a little bit, i think they're going to continue on the course that they're on in terms of debating this because it is a major long-term investment we're zuing. >> this comes after two days of heavy losses for thes u.s. yesterday eight americans were killed by two roadside bombs in afghanistan, you see the locations marked by red stars on the map. on monday, 14 u.s. troops and civilians died in a pair of helicopter crashes. the war in afghanistan is now

eight years old in october is now the deadliest month yet. happening today, it was take two. nasa trying again to test-launch its new toy, the ares rocket. it's not happening before 9:00. yesterday it didn't happen because of clouds and wind. nasa hopes to use the ares for future missions to the moon or mars. the pilots who overshot the minneapolis airport, you remember hearing about this -- they have had their licenseses now revoked. in a harsh letter, the faa said that captain timothy cheney and first officer richard cole endangered the public while they were on a personal frolic in the cockpit. the pilots said they lost track of time while working on their laptop computers. the decision is effective immediately but the pie hots have ten days to appeal.

a car bomb exploded in a crowded market today killing at least 90 people, many believed to be women. the attack happened about 100 miles from where secretary of state hilly clinton is meeting with leaders in pakistan's capital. she said those responsible are on the losing side of history. >> these attacks on innocent people are cowardly. they are not courageous. they are cowardly. >> secretary clinton is in pakistan to show u.s. support for the country's bloody battle against taliban insurgents. tennis legend andre agassi made a stunning confession that he once did crystal meth while playing the sport. >> agassi was known for his long hair and rebel image but since then his image has been unblemished until now. a new autobiography, he

confesses in 1997 he and his assistant did crystal meth in his home. his publicist confirmed this to condition cnn. agassi said he was concerned about his upcoming wedding to brooke shields and his game. he failed a drug test because of it. listen to the excuse he gave to officials who bought it. i'll have that in 30 minutes. it makes you wonder why he wanted to release this in a book. >> and why now and not earlier? got me curious. independent senator joe lieberman is threatening to block the health care bill. without him, democrats don't have enough to pass it. lieberman says he'll oppose any plan that includes government-run health insurancement he says it's too expensive and too risky. >> still a government-run health insurance plan that puts the federal taxpayer on the line, and i don't want to do that at this point in our nation's had history. if at the end it's not what i think is good for our country

and most people living in our country, then i'll vote against it and join a filibuster and try to stop the bill from passing. >> i have the greatest confidence in joe lieberman's ability as a legislator. he will work with us when this gets on the floor and i'm sure he'll have interesting things to do in the ways of amendments but he's the least of our problems. >> he typically votes with the democrats. they need him to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. fans and celebs got their first glimpse at the movie showing michael's jackson's final months. "this is it" debutted last night. it shows jackson's exhausting rehearsals for his comeback concert series that never happened. his brothers stood side by side on the red carpet. >> the fans want to see whatever it was that michael was doing flgt it's a bittersweet moment

for us for obvious reasons, the passing of our brother. we're here to support the film and him as well. >> look at the long lines in michigan. some fans say they can't believe how jackson kept up with backup dancers half his age. same scene, different continent. these fans here in paris kept warm outside the theater by singing some of jackson's hits. and somewhere i bet you somebody is trying to set a record again for the "thriller" dance. >> we had that story yesterday morning. somebody tried to do it once again. good morning, natasha. it's a tough commute for you this morning, specifically across central pennsylvania, new york state and now rolling in towards new england. heavy rain is out here. you can see what it looks like. two areas of low pressure at the surface basically going to combine into one coastal storm that will be over the afternoon hours, over long island and pull away, the rain will be out there. live to d.c., you are seeing a little bit of a drying phase

going on right now. even though the clouds are in, the heaviest rain has gone by. i haven't seen a delay yet, but the leaves looking very nice by the capitol. the capitol dome all white, the leaves yellow, red, orange. how about the foul weather? it's boosted away from the beltway, now towards new york city. you can see northern jersey swallowed with heavy rain. most of it moving into long island, toward the long island sound an connecticut, rhode island, too, over the next couple of hours. we have one shield of rain in boston fading apart a bit. we have that working away from you, but more showers are in the forecast as that area of low pressure begins to bomb right off the coast of long island. back side of that storm system is moving away from cleveland, going to get into the rest of pennsylvania, too. the next big storm, something we're we've been watching for 24 hours, continues to gain strength. a surface low south of denver, pushing winds up to the rockies,

condensing that into snow. denver is through a winter storm warning through tomorrow, 8 to 16 inches, higher elevations, feet of snow. western colorado and wyoming, towards utah as well. over the next 48 hours, you're looking at snow basically the heaviest around central colorado, in towards northwestern nebraska, parts of minnesota, too. over the next couple of days something we're watching pretty closely as we watch it move into the dakotas. a tough couple of days. more coming up in a little bit. >> that snow in the denver area, bad for drivers but skiers getting excited. >> already. they're loving it. the discount airlines they're at it again. you will not believe how low some airfares are going this winter. that's good news in a bad economy. and a woman who used to be a writer on david letterman's staff makes scathing accusations about the working conditions.

president obama is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether he will send as many as 40,000 more troops to fight in afghanistan. now, just this week, 24 families learned that their sons or daughters won't be coming home alive. richard lui joins us with now with new details about some of those very brave troops. >> good morning. one of them was captain acre jones, the 29-year-old was in a helicopter that crashed in southern afghanistan on monday. his best friend says jones' parents are devastate by the loss of their only child. >> i can't even imagine what it's like for them. they loved him so much and he loved them. he died doing something so much more honorable than most of us

will ever get to do. >> captain jones was on his third tour of duty, natasha, and was scheduled to come home in just a few weeks. >> heartbreaking for his friends and family. richard, another marine killed in that same chopper crash is captain kyle van kbegeesen. what have you learned about him? >> he played quarterback and graduated a semester early so he could get started in the marine corps. one of his professors remembers him as a man committed to service. >> every once in a while someone really truly does stand out in terms of their ability to really lead other people and inspire other people. i think that's what i'll remember most about him. >> van degeesen was supposed to come home in the next few days so see the birth of his second child. >> oh, my goodness. how heartbreaking. richard, thank you. >> sure. an extension of unemployment

benefits moves a big step forward in congress. our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. jen, this cannot come soon enough for a lot of people who don't have jobs right now. >> yeah. this is such a strange time. there are millions of families who are counting on the government to try and pay their bills, to keep their homes. every day 7,000 of them lose their benefits, that's from the national employment law project, that leaves them stranded at a time when it's so hard to find a job. nearly 10% unemployment. republicans joined with democrats to support legislation in the senate that would mean 14 more weeks of unemployment checks an six more on top of it in states with high unemployment. this is not law yet. you can't call your unemployment office and file for the extension. but i'm trying to give you every update on this, what it means is the bill will come out of committee, it's going to get to the floor for a full vote, then they'll reconcile it with a house bill. so something is happening, there's action here. we've been talking about this story for a while, but it's been stuck in committee.

a look at the housing market. how's the foreclosure situation doing? this is the latest snapshot from realty track. we've talked about how price vz come up, sales in some places. foreclosures are slowing down in some of the worst-hit cities. that's good news. they're slowing down in some spots in california, florida and nevada but they're still spreading and speeding up, even, in other parts of the country. so realty track saying we're not sure that the worst is over. in the latest quarter, foreclosures spiked up in boise, idaho, provo and salt lake city, utah. those were the places it was worst but other places, too. it seems like our housing woes, housing has stabilized but the woes are not over by a long shot. >> speeding up. interesting to hear. thanks, jen. imagine waking up in bed with a car right on top of you. not a dream either. this happened to one couple. they were pinned under the car

for almost an hour. they did survive, but hear the whole experience that changed their lives.

the president's daughters have gotten their h1n1 flu vaccinations and a whole lot people are going to have a chance very soon. the cdc says that more than 22

million doses of the vaccine are ready to ship. that's a big jump. as of late last week, about 6 million doseses had been circulate. a former writer for david letterman said she quit his show, in part, because she considered it to be a hostile work environment. in vanity fair, she accuses high-level employees of having sexual relationships with female staffer. she also says women benefitted professionally from those relationships. xoeville says she's not taking legal action but wants to call attention to the complete lack of women writers on late-night talk shows. hundreds of thousands of drivers are going to have to find a new way to work this morning. the bay bridge linking san francisco and oakland has been closed indefinitely. a piece of steel and cable fell off onto the road last night. no one was hurt, but the falling debris did cause a minor car accident. new developments in the killing of -- first, let's check

out live pictures of the bay bridge right now. it's closed down. people having trouble getting to work. we'll keep you posted, but they are working on it. new developments in the killing of connecticut football player jasper howard. here's rafer weigel with that. >> this thing happened about ten days ago, but it it's still really affecting people. not something you would expect on a college campus. howard was someone his coach said destined for greatness. police charged a 21-year-old with howard's murder. he's being held on a $2 million bond. his lawyer contradicts that, saying he was just trying to break up the fight and was not involved in the stabbing. police have arrested two others. all three men are expected in court today. in other news, do you like jewelry? how about that for some bling? that's the lakers' championship rings. they got them in their first game of the season, kobe bryant sporting his.

oh, that's a big ring. we're told the chinese symbol for heroes on one with side and lakers' "l" on the back of his head. kobe took his team clippers 99-92. this does not look good. divorce between the mccourts getting nastier. after frank fired her she's heading to court to get her job back. documents she if she's not rehired she wants almost $500,000 a month in living expenses. a month! that includes money for business lunches and dinners five days a week, a private jet, and the ever-important hair and makeup for every dodger event because you've got to look good for those. lastly, philadelphia police say a woman offered sex for world series tickets on a craigslist ad. two mrcover cops say they met her in a bar where she offered

to take care of both of them. she was charged with a misdemeanor count of prostitution. maybe she was going to do some errands for them. i don't know. i'm just saying innocent until proven guilty. maybe she -- >> i'm just not saying. >> all new sports in the next half hour. i hope they were good tickets. >> thanks, rain. sarah palin appears to have received more than $1 million as a retainer for her upcoming book "while in office." that's according to a financial document from when she was alaska's governor. her rep won't give any more financial details saying she's now a private citizen and she doesn't have to. before leaving office, she got $400,000 worth of yankee tickets from rudy giuliani. an elderly bank robber is on the loose in san diego right now. the fbi says he's between 60 and 70 years old and has hit p up four banks in about a month. this time he pulled out a gun and got away with a bunch of cash. a nearby school was put on

lockdown because of it. the suspect apparently carried an oxygen tank during one of the robberies. a hardware store worker got canned over a button. now he's talking to a lawyer. oh, yeah.

we are seeing some of the worst violence in afghanistan since the war started. at least six u.s. workers were killed today by taliban militants. the a "associated press" says a u.s. citizen is among the dead. also, rockets with were fired at the presidential palace and a luxury hotel. no one was hurt in those attacks, though. d.c. sniper john allen muhammad will be executed on november 10th. virginia officials announced that yesterday. he will be given a lethal injection. mohammed's lawyers are asking for lem enscy because they say he has a severe mental illness. remember the pilots who overshot the minneapolis

airport? they have had their licenses revoked in a harsh letter, the faa said the captain and first officer endangered the public while they were on a personal frolic in the cockpit. the decision is effective immediately but the pilots have ten days to appeal it. welcome back. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade. 30 minutes past the hour. now 31. president obama will sign a law today making it a federal crime to assault someone for their sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. the measure is named for matthew shepherd, a gay wyoming teenager who died after being beaten in 1998. it's also named after james byrd jr., an african-american man dragged to his death in texas the same year. the dea has released the names of three agents killed in a helicopter crash in afgh afghanist afghanistan. the three are the first losses for the agency in afghanistan. correspondent richard lui joining us now.

the dea has a critical role in the war there. >> yes. this brings to light that very issue there. opium production, that itself, is one of the taliban's main sources of income. in fact, the u.n. estimates the taliban makes more money now than when it baz in power by taxing the opium farmers. the three dea were mentioning were returning from a raid on suspected drug traffickers. foreroast lee mon's neighbor said he had just celebrating his one-year anniversary and his wife was four months preg napt. >> it's a tragedy. my heart goes out to the family. >> the military doesn't think enemy fire is responsible for the helicopter crash. >> your heart goes out to the families. those agents were with among two dozen u.s. citizens killed in afghanistan in just the past week. yesterday we learned that a state department official resigned because he says that the mission there isn't worth american lives. what did he mean by that?

>> natasha, matthew hoe is a former marine captain who took a job as a political officer in southern afghanistan. he says he resigned because he could not promise the families of u.s. troops killed in action that the war was worthy of their sacrifice. heh says the afghan war strategy is too unorganized and make thing the region less stable. >> the people we are fighting there are fighting us because we're occupying them, not for any ideological reasons, not because of any links to al qaeda, not because of any fundamental hatred because of the west. the only reason they're fighting us is because we're occupying them. >> we take his point of view very seriously, but we continue to believe that we're on track to achieving the goal that the president has set before us. >> the state department says no career foreign service officers have resigned, natasha, over

afghanistan policy as of yet. >> very interesting. richard, thanks. a lot of you are talking about the war in afghanistan on our facebook page. joshua writes, send more troops. the afghan locals need and appreciate our help. if more soldiers is what we need to better help, then send them. but larry says, get out of afghanistan. how many american lives must be lost before we wake up? let us know what you think. find the link to our facebook page at cnn.com/robin. you've got to hear this story. a car crashed into a house, landed on a couple's bed, trapping them there for nearly an hour. the couple says that motor fluid sprayed their faces and their bodies were numb from the weight of the car. they did get out with minor injuries, thankfully. the driver is charged with drunk driving. the man in bed was on hln "prime news" last night. >> take us to the moment, 42 minutes later, when the car is lifted.

what was that like? >> holy moly, it was just like a big sigh of relief. as soon as i could see the car, the front part of the car lifting and i could actually see kristen, them grabbing her out, they're, like, we need to get you from either the same angle or a different angle and i just kind of crawled through there. i wanted to get out of there as soon as i could. when the car lifted, our legs, you could feel the blood circulating back through. that was probably the happiest moment of my life, yes, i'm not paralyzed. i can feel my legs. i'm all right. >> can you imagine? i would think that was a dream or something at first. to get the latest developments, "prime news" start starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern. we have new video of the three u.s. hiker whoz have been in custody in iran for nearly three months now. their friend shot this just two days before they were detained. it shows them goofing around. one hiker's mother says this should prove to iran they're

just innocent kids. iran charged them with illegally crossing the border from iraq. their families say they did it by mistake. tennis legend andre agassi made a stunning confession about drug use during his playing days. here's rafer weigel with that. a lot of people have looked up to him. >> yeah, natasha. it will be interesting to see how this affects their opinion. his confession comes an autobiography, portions of which were released already. agassi says back in 1997 when his game was declining and he was having doubts about his impending marriage to brooke shields he and his assistant did crystal meth in his home. his publicist confirmed the drug use to cnn. will agassi says later on that he failed a drug test but when he found out about it he told officials this was his excuse, that he drank from a soda that was laced with the drug accidentally and they bought it. >> hmm. >> natasha? >> interesting revelations

there. rafer, thank you. > how you dog, bob? >> what's going on, natasha? let's show you the snow developing across the middle part of the rockies, this area of low pressure just south of denver, kbining to gain a little bit of strength. look at the clouds all around the region. the blue is rain, the white on top of the clouds is the snow. we're watching the snow right now beginning to develop across central colorado, specifically around denver. let me show you the live tower cam in denver because it is going to be a tough go for you. already starting right now, this is the way it looks, a winter wonderland for you. it is, in fact, a winter storm warning out there for denver, it already started in the predawn hours. will go to 8 to 16 inches of snow today. let me bring you back, showing you what it looks like on the map.

this snow shield, all the blue is snow. that will begin to sfand out over the next couple of hours. we'll see the snow continuing to fall around the mile high city. here's what we're going for today, we'll start seeing the shades of dark purple south and off to the west, that's about a foot of snow or more. we're going 12 to 18 inches just south of denver. you can see the airplane icon. that's the airport. you'll see about 6 to 8 inches of snow right there. we will get the latest at the denver metro. that's the snowfall totals over the next 24 hours. it's something we're watching. get away from that picture and back to the maps, you have more snow developing across the rest of the rockies, through wyoming, back into western nebraska, the dakotas. southern parts of south dakota and north dakota, too, you'll see about a foot of snow tomorrow. that whole system is moving over to the east. as it does that, it will drag a lot of rain and a lot of severe potential out there for lower parts of texas. look at the winter storm warnings, all the reds, white-shaded areas all winter storm watches, the blue-shaded

areas advisories, little less snow but it's still out there. wind of course is going to be a factor. wind advisories in yellow, warnings in red, 55 miles per hour around vegas, something we're watching. more in a bit. snow already starting in denver, the big story out west today in the rockies. >> gorgeous. i thought those were holiday lights or whatever. they're stop lights. >> it's beautiful. >> look at that. oh, i love it. incomeses, bob. a little girl dying of cancer wanted her mom and dad to know that she loved them. >> that was just her way of letting us know that everything would be okay. >> her gift to them, though, could help other cancer victims.

the parents of a little girl who died, they never intended to write a book about their daughter but after she passed away from brain cancer they started finding love notes all around the house. >> we started to, you know, collect the letters and they would with all say, i love you mom, dad and grace. we kept finding them, and still to this day we keep finding them. and literally there's hundreds of notes that we've found. >> the parents decided that a book containing those notes would be a good way to raise money for cancer. it is out now an it's call "notes left behind." airlines looking to fill empty seats offering up some cheap airfares right now, but you have to act really fast for some of the great deals.

our money expert jennifer westhoven is here with more on that. >> some of them end tomorrow at midnight. yeah, you've got to -- if you're going to travel with somebody, call them p up, figure it out. some southwest plane tickets are just $25 one-way. that's the latest sale price. when you get the full price, because i'll do do the math, i don't like it when they give you that one price because you can't really tell what that will cost. round-trip with taxes and fees it's really a $90 ticket. $90 is still nothing to sneeze at, cheap, good news in a bad economy. we're seeing a lot of great pop-up sales. you may remember jet blue did it last week, airtran is doing it now, other airlines trying to match or come in pretty close to the southwest fares. so pretty interesting to watch. any time of get a plane ticket round-trip under 100 bucks that's a good deal. the latest "consumer reports" ranking of cars. the asian car dealers do well

almost every year. ford looking pretty good. some real measurable improvement in the dependability of the cars. yes, honda and toyota still dominated the list. 90% of fords ranked average or better on reliability in the latest ranking. they beat gm and chrysler by a land slide. remember they're the only major automaker not taking your money. the fusion did pretty well, came in third in the family sedan category. interesting to see they've made real progress there. halloween, this saturday. for parents that means a lot of candy and some very excitable kids. today we're going to go beyond the surface and let you know some surprising facts about sugar. >> the more sugar that my child has being the more hyper. >> they bounce off the walls. >> anything with sugar sets them

off. >> it is absolutely unp true that sugar makes kids hyper. there have been 12 well-designed, randomized trials looking at all kinds of fajtors. all of these studies show there's no relationship between sugar and a kid's hyper activity. there's some truth to the fact that sugar is glucose, one of the things that gives theed body energy. it doesn't make kids hyper. kids oftentimes get sugar when kids are also excited. you may run into that this weekend. yes, they may be very excited and even hyperabout the holiday, but it's not because of the candy. last week health officials said they were several million doses short on the swine flu vaccine, raising concerns from families. hear what they're saying now about the availability of the vacci vaccine.

hey, do you spank your chile? critics say it is never acceptable. supporters believe, though, spanking is okay because it can be an effective tool, especially if your kid is defiant. but if you do it, where exactly do you draw the line? check out hln's joy behar. >> you don't know how far a person is going to go? >> most parents don't do those things. >> but you're giving the sadistic ones permission in a certain way by saying, give them an inch, they take the whole hand. remember when your mother used to say that? >> children can be more abused verbally when the parent is so frustrated that they don't spank. >> that's just as bad. there are alternatives to treating children like they're slaves. >> catch "the joy behar show" 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on

hln. today congressional leaders want to find out whether there's a connection between football and brain injuries. here's rafer weigel with that. >> good morning, natasha nfl commissioner roger goodell will go to the hill to answer questions about this issue. he as well as 17 players will testify on capitol hill. the hearing was called after former players had higher rates of alwazheimer's presumably because of hits like this. the nfl is challenging the validity of it, but they have changed the rules to try to protect players. chiefs' running back larry johnson was issued an apology and was told to stay away from the team while it investigates his use of two gay slurs. a gay rights advocacy group was happy with the apology but they want more. he attacked a twitter follower and the media monday after he

criticized his coach on twitter. not smart. jay-z and alicia keyes were supposed to perform at the world series tonight. however, their performance was pushed to thursday's keys were supposed to perform at the world series tonight. some say the bad weather was the reason, but jay-z's also scheduled at another concert today. with all do respect, i'm not buying that. how are you going to go to columbus, to the bronx, the same day? i'm not saying you forgot about columbus -- we'll be there tomorrow, new york. that's just my speculation. i'm not putting words in their mouth. >> i'm just counting celebrities there. a mega store is giving you a mega deal this holiday season. clark howard tells you who's

offering deep discounts on toys. >> how about santa coming with his sleigh ultra early and having the thing packed with deals. i've told you this is going to be the most promotional christmas ever. walmart is responding to the threat toys "r" us is posing with all its new pop-up stores. walmart's response? p 10 100 popular toys for 10 bucks. i would push up your christmas shopping for your kids and get it done before october's over because these toys are so affordable and there are so many people who want to buy for kids for christmas, i would buy ea y

early, now. for more advice, go to my website. >> he'll teach you how to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. a family put its house on the market then three years went by and now, they're trying something radical. @@@@@@@

it is wednesday. good morning. so glad you could join us. here are the stories making headlines on "morning express." gunfire ripped through kabul killing at least six u.n. workers and when the president obama considers whether to send more soldiers, they say they are just getting started. andre agassi admits to using illegal drugs.

and the pilots who over shot the runway are getting punished. we are getting new reports on the attack in afghanistan. one american was in the six staffers killed and this, after the waves of violent attacks there, many against u.s. troops. and president obama has to decide will more troops make it safer or create more american targets for taliban. the u.n. says the taliban stormed a u.n. guest house. >> we were sound asleep when we started hearing that. now there's black smoke rising no more than about two blocks away. >> now, this comes after two straight days after heavy losses for the u.s. yesterday, eight americans were killed by two roadside bombs in afghanistan.

see the locations there marked by red stars on this map. on monday, 14 u.s. troops and civilians died in a pair of helicopter crashes. the war in afghanistan is now eight years old and october is the deadliest month yet. president obama will sign a law today making it a federal crime to assault somebody for their sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. it's named for matthew shepard, a gay teenager who died after being beaten. it's also named after james byrd jr. who was dragged to his death in texas the same year. andre agassi made a stunning announcement that he once did crystal meth during his playing days. >> since he required, he's had a pretty unblemished image.

that could change with this. in a new book, he confesses back in '97, he and his assistant did crystal meth in his home. he said he was concerned about his upcoming wedding to brooke shields. wait until you hear the excuse he gave to tennis officials and they bought it. >> thank you. new this morning, john allen muhammad is going to be executed on november 10th. virginia officials made the announcement yesterday. they said they gave him a choice about how he would die, but he did not choose, so he's going to be given a lethal injection. his lawyers are asking for clemency because they say he has a severe mental illness. joe lieberman is threatening to block the health care bill and without him, the democrats don't have enough votes to pass

it. he say he will oppose any plan that includes government-run health insurance. he says it's too expensive and risky. >> it's still a government run health insurance plan that puts the federal taxpayer on the line and i don't want to do that at this point in our nation's history. if at the end, it's not what i think is good for our country and most in our country, i'll join a filibuster and try to stop the bill from passing. >> i have the greatest confidence in joe lieberman's ability as a legislature. he'll work with us on the floor. he is the least of harry reid's problems. >> lieberman typically votes with the democrats and they need him to muster 60 votes. fans and celebrities got their first glimpse at a movie showing michael jackson's final

months. "this is it" debuted in showings around the world last night. the film shows jackson's exhausting rehearsals for his comeback concert that never happened. his brothers stood side by side on the red carpet. >> the fans want to see whatever it was that michael was doing. it's bittersweet for us. >> look at the long lines outside the premier here in michigan. some fans who saw the movie say they cannot believe how jackson kept up with back-up dancers half his age. these fans here in paris kept warm outside the theatre by singing some of jackson's hits. hundreds of thousands of drivers will have to find a new way to work this morning. the bay bridge has been closed indefinitely. a piece of steel and cable fell

off and on to the road last night. no one was hurt, but it caused a minor car accident. got some wild weather today. snow, wind, rain. bob, what else? >> we've got it all. really the first major storm system we're watching. it's across the central rockies. lots of clouds all streaming up from the south. kansas and nebraska, dakotas, this area of low pressure between denver, it's -- the snow's already out. here's that denver metro area. all the blue shading is snow. it's continuing to fall all the way around the region. how much over the next 24 hours,

pretty intense over the next couple of days. the areas in purple here south of denver and the metro, that's about a foot of snow and that does include the metro area. here's what it looked like about a half hour ago. temperatures around 31 degrees. prime snow-making degrees. that's what it looks like in denver about a half hour ago. it continues to look that way. the rest of the region, it's going to be a major snowmaker. also, lots of wind, too. speaking of wind, we had it yesterday in california. even took the toll on late night tv. >> now, i would like to bid you good night. what's that noise i heard? is there someone in your house?

>> the late late show's craig ferguson, winds were just pounding away at the west coast. they decided to keep that part in the show. it took its tool on central california. that was tv studios right there. cbs. downtown los angeles with the power out. >> no generator? >> well, not one they could get out real quickly. >> there you go. thanks, bob. at any moment, we could see the launch of a new nasa rocket and it is so important for the space program, they are willing to wait to get this thing in the air. check it out here. but don't wait if you're thinking about flying. jennifer westhoven says there are some great deals out there when it comes to flying.

it's ten minutes after the hour and we could be close to seeing nasa finally launch its

new ares rocket. they're saying it could go in the next few minutes, but we haven't seen the final four-minute count down yet, but weather blocked the launch yesterday. when it finally happens, this is going to be the first test launch for the ares. the pilots who overshot the minneapolis airport have had their licenses revoked. in a letter, it said the pilots endangered the public while on a personal frolic in the cockpit. the decisions effective immediately, but the pilots have ten days to appeal. you could read the full text of the faa letters on our website. click on the important websites link. some customs officers were stunned when they investigated a guy who's clothes looked a

little bit strange. when they took a closer look, they found snakes. a whole lot of them, too. the full story for you in about 20 minutes. goodness. an extension of unemployment benefits moves forward in congress and jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. this cannot come soon enough for some people. >> that's right. there are a lot of people who are counting on their unemployment benefits. they know they're going to run out. we have a lot of viewers who write it. 7,000 people lose their benefits every day and by the way, even with this new extension, once you lose your benefits, you can't qualify anymore. that could leave people stranded in a very tough job market. unemployment is near 10%. yesterday, republicans joining the democrats to support legislation in the senate that would mean 14 more weeks of pay for everyone unemployment checks and six more on top of that in

state ws high unemployment. in some states, that could mean more than a year's worth of benefits now. this means the bill will come on to the floor for a full vote, so it is not reality yet, but a big step closer. airlines are offering up cheap air fare. that's good news in a bad economy. some southwest plane tickets are costing just $25 for a one-way fare. now, really, i did the math. you never pay that number. you always got to pay taxes and fees and when do you fly one way? you probably don't. so, a $90 ticket. this is not the holidays. you still have the buy ticket bis tomorrow night for this deal and there are other airlines doing similar deals out there. bob? >> wow. $25. do they give you a parachute and kick you out?

saber flight explorer, the rain has been in and basically scattered showers from philly to new york and towards boston. we have a couple of delays. white plains in new york, about an hour and a half delay. laguardia, same thing. newark, liberty, about a half hour delay. philadelphia, an hour. denver, you have the snow. las vegas, wind for the afternoon, one hour or more. more showers towards d.c. and the fog is about gone for atlanta. in new york city, part of the problem for the travel delays is the fog. what about the world series game tonight? looks like it will be okay. looks like cloudy with some drizzle. police are on the lookout for a bank robbery suspect who looks like he's got a few years on him. look what he brought to one of his hold-ups.

president obama is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether he will send as many as 40,000 new troops to afghanistan. just this week, 23 families learned their sons or daughters went be coming home alive. richard lui has more. >> good morning. one of them was captain eric jones. the 29-year-old was in a helicopter that crashed in southern afghanistan on monday. his best friends says jones' parents are devastated by the loss of their only child. >> i can't even imagine what it's like for them.

they loved him so much and he loved them. he died doing something so much more honorable than most of us will ever get to do. >> captain jones was on his third tour of duty, natasha, and was scheduled to come home in just a few weeks. >> just heartbreaking. and another marine killed in that same crash, what have you been able to learn about him? >> he played quarterback at college in new hampshire and graduated a semester early so he could get started in the marine corp. one of his professors remembers him as a man committed to service. >> every once in a while, someone really does truly stand out in terms of their ability to lead and inspire others and that's what i'll remember most about him. >> he was supposed to come home in the next few days to see the

birth of his second child. >> how heartbreaking. thank you. the president's daughters have gotten their h1n1 flu vaccinations and more are going to have a chance. new doses are ready to ship. as of late last week, about 6 million doses had been circulated. new details this morning in the killing of connecticut football player, jasper howard. here's rafer with the latest. >> this murder happened ten days ago, but it still rocked a lot of people. howard was someone who his coach said was destined for greatness. they have charged 21-year-old john william lomax. his lawyer says he was trying to break up the fight and was not

involved. two others have also been arrested. the nba season's started. you like jewelry? lakers got their championship rings. look at the size of that thing. and then there's ron artest. what's up with that hair style? we are told it was the chinese symbol for hero. kobe and the lakers took the clippers. other news out of the l.a., dodgers owner and the divorce is getting nastier. after frank fired her, she's headed to court. if not rehired, she wants about 500 grand a month in living expenses. that included money for -- there's a lot of tv cameras

there and you've got to look good. lastly, philadelphia police say a woman posted an ad on craigs list offering sex for tickets. well, two undercover agents say they met her in a bar where she offered to take care of both of them. she was charged with a misdemeanor count of prostitution. no offense to her, i would have kept the tickets. >> thank you. an elderly bank robber is on the loose in san diego. the fbi says he is between 60 and 70 years old and has hit up four banks in about a month. a nearby school was even put on lockdown because of it and the suspect even carried an oxygen tank. a little girl dying of cancer wanted to let her mom and

dad snow she loved them. >> that was just her way of letting us now everything would be okay. >> her gift to them could some day help other cancer victims. x

we're going to keep you -- an eye on wall street throughout the morning, so keep it right here. we are seeing some of the worst violence in afghanistan since the war began. at least six u.n. workers, including an american, were killed today. also, rockets were fired at the presidential palace and a luxury hotel. no one was hurt in those atta s attacks. two dozen u.s. troops have died in afghanistan since sunday.

u.s. trooping will be getting a raise, folks. it's part of a massive defense bill that president obama will sign today. it increases military pay by 3.4%. the raise is a half percent more than the president asked congress for and it exceeds inflation. the michael jackson documentary appeared at shows around the world last night. it shows jackson's exhausting rehearsals for a comeback concert series that was supposed to start last july. it will only be in theatres for two weeks. hope you're having a good wednesday so far. we have new video of the three u.s. hikers who have been in custody in iran for nearly three months. their friends shot it just two days before they were detained and it shows them goofing around. one hikers mom says this should pruf prove to iran they're just

innocent kids. their families say they did it by mistake. here are a couple of stories we're watching today. at 11:00 a.m. eastern, the sentencing hearing for al-qaeda sleeper agent will begin in illinois. he pleaded guilty to providing materials support to a foreign terrorist organization and could get up to 15 years behind bars. and this afternoon in washington, a hearing on distracted drivers. andre agassi made a stunning confession about drug use in a new autobiography. here's rafer with that. >> it is stunning to a lot of people. portions of this autobiography have already been released in london. in the book, he says in 1997, when his game wasn't quite as sharp and he was having doubts

and his marriage to brooke shields, he and his assistant did crystal meth in his home. a publy cyst confirmed this to cnn. he told tennis officials he accidentally ingested the drug by drinking a soda laced with it and they believed him. >> thank you. the dallas police department is apologizing now for writing tickets to drivers who cannot speak english. according to police chief, all 39 of those will be dismissed and the fines will be paid back. there's a federal law requiring commercial drivers to speak english. the chief says that may have confused some officers. the department is investigating. you can now use your i-phone to check what's happen ng space. for real. nasa released an application that allows you to track the ongoing space station missinons

in realtime. you can even watch the launch of a nasa rocket this morning. the program is already among the ten most popular on i-tunes. people look for aliens i bet. look at this. a guy is accused of trying to smuggle in two dozen snakes and gekkos under his clothes. he was getting off a ferry in norway. look at this here. officials say he put the snakes and gekkos in stockings and duct taped them to himself. they say he also had a tarantula in his bag. how can you put -- i don't get the fascination with people sticking creatures in their clothes. >> it was in fact a bunch of snakes. that's terrible. oh, my goodness. let me show you what's

happening right now. a big low pressure region is beginning to tighten up near the roc rockies. denver getting snow right now. the winds are blowing right up the mountain. also, watch the real moisture begin to condense out. most of the snow is over the city. how much? let me give you a look. over the next couple of days, the heaviest snow belt is going to be south of the denver metro. maybe around a foot, two feet of snow. that's something we're definitely going to watch. that's a way it looks. it's going to continue to develop over the next couple of hours and then spread out towards the east. it's not the only place that's going to get it. salt lake city, you have the light snou right now. get up in areas in the west of ne and north dakota, they get slammed, too.

then back to the west, we have the winter storm warnings right here salt lake city in towards lower parts of colorado along with the wind. live to las vegas, there's a wind advisory. here's the way it looks. a little shakey around the tower cam. what time is it there? 6:30 a.m. running the half marathon. the rock 'n' roll las vegas marathon. in six weeks. i'm only running the half. if i did the full, i'd collapse. >> you've been running lots of those lately. >> half. >> same to me. stocks finished mixed tuesday with the dow snapping a steep, two-day skid, but the blue chips are back in the red today. susan lisovicz has more. >> well, stocks did open lower despite a rebound in big ticket

items known as durable goods. items that range from computers to cars grew 1%. that's a biggest jump in a year and a half, largely due to increased demand for machinery. didn't move the bulls yet. ford appears to be one step closer to selling volvo. they say one of china's leading automakers is the preferred bidder. visa says more people are using debit cards. they posted a profit turning around a year ago loss and they say transaction volume grew on increased use of debit cards. everybody's learned their lesson. hopefully. ringing the opening bell today, a bunch of suits. that's like every day. well, these belong to the vitamin shop. they're celebrating their

successful initial public offering. it priced above analysts' estimates. does big business online. offers all sorts of things, 400 types of different brands and well so far, hasn't given the bulls a boost though. >> all right. thanks so much. >> need some vitamin c, i think. sarah palin, she's getting a lot of money for her upcoming book. nothing unusual about that, but she did get big bucks even before resigning as governor of alaska. also ahead, imagine waking up in a bed with a car on top of you. it happened to one couple. they survived, but the experience changed their lives.

sarah palin appears to have received more than a million dollars as retainer. her rep won't give any more financial details, saying that she is now a private citizen and does not have to. documents also show before leaving office, palin got $4,000 worth of yankee tickets. a new cnn research corporation poll is showing what americans think of sarah palin. 71% think she was not qualified to be president. 29% disagreed. when asked, does she care about people like you -- a little more

than have had an unfavorable opinion of her. you've got to hear this story here. a car crashed into a house and landed on a couple's bed, trapping them there for almost an hour. can you imagine? they say that motor fluid sprayed their faces and bodies were numb from the weight of the car. what a crazy way to wake up. they got out with minor injuries. this picture was taken shortly after the crash. trent wood was on "prime news" last night. he was the one pinned. >> as each day goes by, you think about it more and more. you're just like how did we get out of there alive. how did it land perfectly on top of us and we just, we definitely think we had some help, definitely and feel like there's more of the purpose. we're meant to live to do something. >> the driver faces multiple charges including drunk driving.

police say he crashed into the house on purpose. he thought his exgirlfriend was living there with a new boyfriend, but it was the wrong house. a horrifying crime story involving students is one of the story's richard is working on. >> the details of this story are almost beyond belief. we told you about this yesterday. now, we're learning more details from the authorities. after a high school homecoming dance, a girl was allegedly gang raped for more than two hours. now, people want to know how it could have happened literally under the noses of teachers and police. also, how many times have you heard this one. people spend too many times playing video games. researchers are finding a lot of ways they're making us healthier. and now, you can add this thoth problems of h1n1. some are saying the flu virus can be responsible for overwh m

overwhelming the internet. all that coming up. >> thanks. a man fired by home depot is ready to sue the company over a button. it says one nation under god -- he wore it all the time and nobody said anything until he brought a bible to work to read on his breaks. they have a policy against wearing any noncompany buttons. he was fired last week when he wouldn't take the button off. >> i think that was the pretense used to fire him. you're button wasn't home depot issued so we're going to fire you. >> she calls it religious discrimination. home depot says the policy is a way to respect everyone's beliefs. in emergency rooms, seconds

can mean the difference between life and death, so is it the right place for twitter?

46 minutes past the hour. an emergency room in missouri is reaching out to patients on twitter. the hospital recently began tweeting patients about how long they'll have to wait for treatment at its er. the manager says the wait times are updated about every two hours. >> the time that we're posting is pretty much what people want to know. how long is it going take me to get to a room. >> of course, the manager also says people shouldn't waste time checking twitter in certain situations like if you're having chest pains. the first survivor winner gist got out of prison for tax evasion. last night, richard hatch made

his first appearance on "the joy behar show." he claims part of the reason he went to prison is because he's gay. >> did you pay those on time? >> absolutely. >> so what did they get you on, they just didn't like you? >> there is discrimination in this. we asked to ask the jurors about their feelings towards homosexuals and the judge denied it. we weren't even allowed to question the jurors that got selected and i'm not saying anything negative about the jurors. catch the show at 9:00 eastern right here on hln. a new calendar is poking fun at stereotypes. the hot mormon muffins calendar. it features pin-up style photos

of moms who claim membership in the mormon church. each month includes a muffin recipe, but not everybody likes it. >> there are so many people that find it, they're upset about it. i don't see what the big deal about it is. >> i think it's certainly inappropriate. both men and women. >> i think they have a right to their own way. >> i think it's disgusting how people are trying to promote pornography and disgusting material. >> the calendar's creator has been thrown out of the mormon church. the church refused comment on the calendar. rafer. today, congressional leaders want to find out whether there is a connection between football and brain injuries. not muffins. >> roger goodell will go on the hill to answer questions about

that very thing. the effects of hard hits on players. here is some video. just some of the hits from this weekend. goodell and as many as 17 players former 17 players will be testifying. this hearing was called after a study showed former players had considerably higher rates of alzheimer's than others. the nfl is downplaying the validity of the study but they have put in more rules to protect players. somebody not using his head. rb running back larry johnson issued an apology. a gay rights advocate group was pleased with his apology but want more disciplinary action. johnson used a slur with attacking a twitter follower and with the media monday after attacking his coach on twitter. not a smart guy. jay-z and alicia keys was supposed to form at game one of the world series tonight. did i mention the world series starts tonight? but they're not performing tonight. they're going to do it on

thursday during game two. reports say that bad weather was the reason. they might lose their footing or something. but here's the deal, jay-z is also scheduled to perform at a concert today in columbus. he said he was going to do both concerts the same day. i don't see how that's possible. columbus is not exactly ithaca. not that you can kind of zip on over. >> not even a private jet? >> they would be very short shows, because, you know, that's just me. that's a look at sports. >> and the weather. okay. thank you, rafer. let's check in with bob. the weather is affecting air travel today, because we're talking about snow, winds and rain and -- >> we've got it all. >> yeah. >> absolutely. the only place really getting slammed hard is around new york city metro. we have an hour and a half delays around white plains, new york. laguardia as an 88-minute delay, de-icing in denver, now, too, because of the snow. what about the rest of the region? boston, watch for delays. low clouds hanging in there tough. same with new york city, denver

and san francisco later today. more now in a bit, natasha. >> thanks, bob. christmas is less than two months away. and one of the nation's biggest stores is helping you save big time on toys.