hey, good morning. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade. i hope you're doing well today. a woman who police say was run over by her father has died. reaction to what some are calling an honor killing. now that trip to grandma's is going to cost some extra money. how most airlines are specifically targeting holiday travelers and -- >> are you still driving right now? >> yes. >> do you want to stop driving before you get in an accident? >> yes, i will stop. >> now you just heard a woman turn in a drunk driver and she says it's her. a 20-year-old woman has died nearly two weeks after arizona police say that her father ran

her over with his jeep. noor's father thought she had become too westernized. the father is expected to face new charges now in what some are calling an honor killing. >> this behavior is not islamic, he was not acting like the muslim like every muslim i've met act. they feel they're legitimized to end the life of that poor girl. >> they say the almaleki family moved to arizona in the mid-'90s. faleh fled. he was sent there from the uk after he was denied entrance. new this morning nearly half of u.s. kids could be on food stamps at some point during

childhood. a new study says 90% of african-american kids and 37% of white kids may get food stamps by age 20. it says that these kids may be at risk for malnutrition and the recession could push those alarming numbers even higher. the study is in the archives of pediatrics and adolescent medicine. well, you know what, if you're flying to see your family for the holidays get online now and book that flight before the fees get up any higher. air lines are loading on another round of surcharges. jen. merry christmas, natasha. more money. we already talked about the surcharges for traveling on the busy days around thanksgiving and christmas, they just doubled them. you could now pay $40 roundtrip on top of your base fare. the airlines want to make as much as possible on the days when people are flying a lot to make up for the other days. travel experts say this year is a whole new ball game.

last year you could wait up until the last minute and get a sale. this year you may pay a fortune. they say buy as soon as possible. >> their prices are really high. thank you, jen. well, one dose of the h1n1 vaccine can protect nearly all pregnant women from the flu. federal health officials hope that that announcement is going to reassure expectant mothers. they say 92% of pregnant women had a robust immune response to a single vaccine dose and no side effects were reported. trials also confirmed that kids 9 years and younger will need two doses. new this morning. this could be a huge mess. almost a million people will have to find a new way around philadelphia today. the city's largest transit union went on strike overnight and that means no buses, no subways or trolleys in the city. transit officials say their offer was competitive.

new security measures are in place at the california high school where police say a 15-year-old girl was gang raped. the district put up automated lights in the area where they said this whole thing happened and today it's taking bids for security cameras. the superintendent assured people at a rally yesterday that the school is safe. church leaders called for 100 volunteers to help. >> we believe that if we can have a presence on campus during the lunch hour, in the classroom, that that will help curb some of the negative behavior. >> what i would say to parents is that i've got two daughters myse myself, and i would have my daughters going to richmond high. >> police have five people in custody, and they say more arrests are likely. meanwhile, support is pouring in for the victim. another rally is scheduled this afternoon and richmond police say people from around the k country are sending donations and even teddy bears because the girl collects them. a trick-or-treater may have something way more valuable than candy in their halloween basket.

an ohio woman thinks her diamond anniversary ring slipped off her finger saturday night while she was handing out candy. >> i'd had it enlarged and then when it got cold, your fingers get smaller and i noticed it was spinning around more but i didn't realize it was so loose that it would slip off. my suspicion is that as i was throwing candy and pillowcases and buckets i inadvertently threw my ring, too. >> the woman figures she's not the first person this has happened to either but she's still hoping to get that ring back. >> oh, man. have you ever lost a ring? i've lost mine twice and found it both times. >> oh, good. so maybe there's hope for her. get a metal detector. >> once it was on the beach down in south carolina. the other 0 i was throwing snowballs for my son. she's right, it can slip off your finger. the worst feeling to look at my wife and say i've lost my ring. not much going on when it comes

to the west coast which is good news. a lot of fog out there. we are following a couple of cold fronlts but they're not on the cold side. a lot of clouds around the region. all the rain you saw across the gulf coast over the last couple of days is not going to be back for at least five to six days. still the flood warnings for basically illinois down to mississippi back on in to louisiana and eastern sections of tex be tex. that's the area that really got walloped. you're not going to get any rain the next five to six days. good news there, you're drying out. a weak cold front through the new england states. light rain associated with that. slides in towards northern new hampshire. in fact you can't see much of it at all. behind that it's cold air, 30 degrees in marquette. as that cold air goes over 0 the relatively warmer waters, you've got it, lake effect snow for the morning mainly the u.p. it's out there for you. you can see a couple coming on through. that's your forecast. more on that coming up in a bit. >> all right, bob. thanks so much. okay, so people who are out of a job may get a life line to

last through the holidays. so how soon congress could extend unemployment benefits. and a major tax credit also for home buyers. plus, a college football player in trouble for playing dirty. we want to know what you think about his punishment for a major offense.

morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. we salute the troops every morning. okay. so today's salute is from cynthia garcia. it's to her husband, sergeant samuel garcia. cynthia says that he may be a tough marine, but he also has a heart of gold. >> my name is cynthia from hacienda heights, california. my husband is in the united states marine corps. hi, babe. the girls and i love you and miss you very much. your absence weighs heavy on our hearts and not a day goes by that you are not missed.

we want to salute you and tell you we are so proud of our marines. we just want everyone to know that we have one of the best. the commitment to your family and country is admired and appreciated. we're counting down the days until your return, babe. we love you. >> if you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them, go to cnn.com/robin. the man accused of raping and killing a popular anchor woman faced the people who could decide his fate. curtis vance was in court yesterday for the start of jury selection. he could get the death penalty if convicted. anne pressly was found brutally beaten in her bed. she died days later. vance says police tricked him into giving a confession. turns out gay couples may have a lot in common with straight married couples.

nearly a third who identify themselves as married are raising children. 43% of married straight couples are raising kids. now voters in maine decide today whether to repeal or keep a law legalizing same sex marriage. it's considered too close to call. a disturbing video of anna nicole smith has become the center of attention in the trial over her death. >> huh? >> this video here, well, the defense and prosecutors have very different stories about what this tape shows. that's new for you in 25 minutes. hey, this could be the week of an extension of jobless benefits. our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. the extension cleared another hurdle yesterday, right? >> this is one step closer to reality. and i know a lot of people are going, when is it going to be

real? not yet but actions happen. the senate hammering out this bill for up to 20 more weeks of jobless benefits that could help millions of out-of-work americans through the holidays. in fact, we're at nearly a record now. in some places you could get 99 weeks of benefits. the bill in the works would also extend that first time home buyer credit through june. a lot of republicans signed on for that part of the bill. the whole thing would likely cost about $20 billion. so it's expensive but lawmakers want to get this done before friday. on friday is when we get the big employment report and the headline could very likely be that we're at 10% unemployment. so that would be the worst since about 1983. we've been watching that very closely. so i think they want to be very sen sensitive to the plight of americans in trouble. your favorite charity may not be able to help as many because donations are expected to decline about 9% according to

the chronicle of philanthropy today. it is expected to be a bigger drop than last year. people are still giving, natasha, but they're just not able to give as much. they're giving less. >> all right, jen. thanks so much. so people are pretty divided about the new health care reform bill. you have to hear from one law maker who says it's more dangerous than terrorists. plus, the football player who learned when you go for the big tackle make sure the guys on the other team.

11 of the nation's largest business groups are spending millions to defeat a health care bill in the house. they started running ads in 19 states and on national cable channels. they called the legislation a bill america can't afford to pay.

and yesterday one congresswoman echoed that sentiment with some controversial words. >> i believe that the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this room, this very room, and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. i believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country. >> the democratic national committee called the comments outrageous. the congresswoman's office later said she was speaking off the cuff. the house is expected to vote on a bill later this week. a sheriff is making his case to charge inmates for rent, haircuts, and medical visits. the massachusetts supreme court heard his appeal. the sheriff started the controversial program seven

years ago but a judge struck it down. the sheriff says charging fees can help teach inmates responsibility. an attorney for inmates says it's like an illegal tax. >> government needs to look for ways to support the people who are doing the right thing and send a clear message if you don't, yes, you're going to get treated with regards to paying your way like everybody else. >> many of them are in prison for taking other people's money and they don't think it's right that the sheriff should unlawfully take theirs. >> the sheriff raised $750,000 by charging inmates fees. that money is being held in an escrow account. a football player caught on camera trying to gouge out another player's eyes and his punishment has some people upset. here's rafer weigel with the video of it. i haven't seen this yet. are wait until you see it. eye gouging is such a deplorable act that pro wrestling and mixed martial arts, the most violent

of sports, ban it. here is florida linebacker brandon spikes and you can see him there start to jam his fingers into the facemask of georgia's elie trying to blind the guy. this is just awful stuff. spikes' coach says he doesn't con dome his behavior and suspended him for the first half of their game against vanderbilt. a half. spikes did apologize saying he accepts responsibility for his actions. florida quarterback tim tebow, who i really respect, defended his actions saying i don't think we did anything in a n that game they didn't do which is a childhood excuse. is the punishment -- does the punishment fit the crime? do you agree or am i wrong? post a comment on our facebook page, cnn.com/robin, be and cheryl already has a comment. do we have cheryl's comment the there? she says -- i can just read it to you. these people are role models for young men. what kind of message does that send? tell us what you think. cnn.com/robin. we'll read your comments on the

air. meanwhile, good news in new orleans for the people of new orleans. they got something to cheer about. the saints are keeping the good times rolling on. they got an exciting win over atlanta. they are the only unbeaten team in the nfc. thomas doing a little jump in the air. they could go undefeat this had year. the falcons have one last chance, a hale mary with seconds left. kim kardashian was not there. and the ultimate blooper, the cobras returning a punt. when this guy's own teammate tackles him and watch the guy's reaction. i can't believe i did it. one more time, you're on the same team. but look at his reaction. he's like, oh, i can't believe i did that. poor guy. the world series takes another dramatic turn. >> all right, rafer. looking forward to it. thanks. okay. so did you know that our money

expert clark howard served in the georgia state guard? this weekend you're going to see him serving the troops. clark and robin teamed up to help soldiers and you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. >> all right. specialist greg frye is right here and he has a question about something that i have seen on the commercials again and again and i know you guys have on our own station as well. go ahead and ask the question. >> clark, what is the best way to invest in gold? >> other than turning in your wife's jewelry and stuff like that. >> okay. first, any of those ads you see on tv from all these people who buy your jewelry and all that, run away. run away not to them. second, buying gold is tough because when you buy actual gold, you have to pay a commission to buy it. you have to pay a commission to sell it. and then let's say you put real

money into gold, take all your savings and put it into gold. gold is something people want to steal. so then you have to pay to lock it up. so then anything i like about buying actual gold, but there's a trick way to buy it that's easy and cheap if gold is what you want to have. you can buy ownership in gold like you buy a stock and it's called an etf, an exchange traded fund, which sounds complicated but it's not. and you pay a company to buy gold for you. they store it for you in a vault and then when you choose to sell it, you can sell it right away at whatever market price is. it's really, really easy to do and it saves you a fortune. and you have the same thing owning gold. >> i like seeing him in uniform. how cool is that? watch at 6:00 a.m., noon, and

4:00 here on hln. birds hit a delta plane hard enough to knock a hole in it. check out the damage here. and hear passengers describe what their emergency landing was like. c

a 20-year-old woman whose father allegedly ran her down with his jeep died. noor almaleki said her father thought she became too westernized. both women were walking in a parking lot together when they were attacked. voters in maine decide today whether to keep or repeal a law legalizing same sex marriage. it's considered too close to call. it's the first time voters will weigh in on the same sex marriage issue. five other states have legalized same sex marriage. a california appeals court will hear oral arguments from

roman polanski's attorneys next month, pushing for a lower court whether to dismiss charges, whether he's present or not. polanski fled the u.s. 31 years ago before he was sentenced for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. and those are some of the headlines we're following for you this morning. i'm natasha curry in for robin meade. it's tuesday in case you're still getting started. things aren't expected to get better for days in arkansas. an arkansas town hit by flooding. it was flooded saturday after heavy rains drenched the area last week. people think the water is from run-off from fields and now they practically live in knee-deep lake. and to make things worse, sewer pumps have failed so sewage is mixing with floodwater. >> when i bought the house, they didn't tell me it flooded down here. it's not livable. anytime you can't use the bathroom, your house is not livable. >> a utility company is fixing

the pumps but says the drinking water is safe. arkansas was slammed by tornadoes last week plus months of record rain, but our meteorologist bob van dillen says there is no rain in the forecast this week. new numbers this morning show a slight majority of americans approve of house president obama is handling his job. a new cnn opinion research corporation poll finds 54% of people surveyed gave him a thumbs up. but they're not as happy about how he's handling the economic crisis. 49% said they liked his tax policy and 47% say proved of house he's handling unemployment. police say it could be weeks before they identify six women found dead at a home in cleveland. the coroner is collecting dental records for several missing women including nancy cogs who lived in the neighborhood and asking relatives to provide dna samples. one missing person's advocate says the deaths could have been

prevented. >> nancy cogs walked to the store. walked to the store on 116th and hasn't been seen since. six families are going to get horrible news. better we had a missing persons department and an active, ongoing investigation in all these cases as much as possible and maybe none of this would have happened. >> police are trying to get a warrant to collect dna from the man who lived at the home. convicted rapist anthony sowell, and tracing all the places he lived since he got out of prison in 2005. he hasn't been charged with any crimes related to the bodies found at his house. battling multiple sclerosis a woman finished the new york city marathon more than a day after it started. she just hung in there. here's rafer weigel with that story. hey, rafer. good morning, natasha. look, there's probably nothing more grueling than running a marathon. you cannot imagine how hard it must have been for this woman. but 61-year-old zoe koplowiz completed on monday wearing

braces on her back and knee and using purple painted crutches. koplowitz walked the entire route with her supporters in just under 29 hours. the motivational speaker was diagnosed with ms 30 years ago and this woman is truly an inspiration. more sports in a bit. >> that is really inspiring, rafer, thank you. the polls are open in new york. this race is being watched all over the country, too. conservative party candidate doug hoffman is battling with democrat bill owens to represent the state's 23rd congressional district. former republican nominee scozzafava dropped out amid conservatives who said she was too moderate. top gop leaders and the republican national committee have put their resources behind hoffman. now you may remember disturbing video of anna nicole smith dressed up as a clown months before she died of a drug overdose. it could become key evidence in

the trial of three people accused of giving her those drugs. now watch as smith, who was pregnant at the time, appears to confuse a doll for her unborn child. >> my baby's over there sleeping. >> your baby down there. >> baby down here? >> that one. >> i think i just had a little gas. >> say that again? say it again? >> i think i just -- i think i'm having some gas trouble. >> prosecutors say smith's behavior in the video proves her boyfriend, howard k. stern and her two doctors were keeping her drugged. they showed it at a preliminary hearing last week. defense lawyers say it shouldn't be used as evidence in the trial because smith was acting and the part that proved it got edited out. the defendants pleaded not guilty. let's check in with

meteorologist bob van dillen to see what your forecast is looking like for this tuesday. hey, bob. >> good morning, natasha. you talked earlier about the heavy rain and flooding they have in arkansas right now. the rain is gone and it's not going to return anytime soon. some great news here. high pressure dominating around the lower part of the gulf coast stretching to the mid-atlantic. we have a couple of disturbances up to the north. it moves in across the u.p. of michigan. lake-effect snow, look at all the flood warnings still left up in the weekend and from last week's rain. all the light shaded green areas, flood warnings. the dark shades flood advisories. either way the water is riding high. it's only getting higher for the next couple of days as things begin to run often into the major rivers. as for the actual rain, the heavy stuff is offshore right now, new england. the cold front does have a few light showers and the possibility of getting into northern new york state and vermont, too. look at the colder temperatures, 30 degrees in marquette. cold air going over the lake waters, the lake superior, lake-effect snow. so you can see what it looks like for the u.p. light stuff coming in.

this is all rain when you get across the lake, but once you get to the colder temperature zone right in the inland areas, it all turns into snow. so you see that shade of the radar, that's definite snow. it will be there in the morning and early afternoon and then more snow will pop up late tonight with the clipper moving on in. heaviest rain in the country is still onshore right across florida. that should move in to ft. pierce and down to miami by late today. we'll look at that coming up in a little bit. >> bob, thank you. so actor ted danson took on the religious right last night on "the joy behar show." why he says rush limbaugh and others are exploiting their listeners. those are the people that really piss me off. i understand people who are angry and fearful, be i understand church is a huge part of their life. i understand people not wanting their daughters. i understand and have empathy for all those people. the people that come along and make use of those people's fears

and insecurities to make money or to make something, a position for them, you know, more palatable. those people. >> want to name some names? >> rush. we're talking rush. >> who else? >> pretty much the religious right does that by and large. >> they're extremists. >> yeah. >> and they prey on people's fears. there's a lot of that. >> and you totally understand. i understand that. i understand wanting to go to a mega church because the rest of your life is tough. i understand all of that. but then you come along and organize those people off their fears and anger and i think that's bad. >> catch "the joy behar show" here on hln. a mother watched her baby fall in front of a tree. you'll hear the woman talk about her agony and find out about her baby boy, how he's doing today.

every tuesday new music hits the stores and today that includes an album from carrie underwood called "play on 0." now that's underwood's first single "cowboy casanova." this is her third album. underwood has four grammys and sold more than 10 million albums. she was recently inducted into the oklahoma music call of fame. searchers are combing north dakota range land for three missing college students. this is a scary story.

police say that a friend got two calls, one right after the other from one of the women sunday night. now both calls mentioned water and said that they needed help. then it broke off. the women play softball. they're believed to be in a white 1997 jeep cherokee with california plates. we are now hearing from a mother who watched her baby fall in front of an oncoming train when his stroller tumbled right onto the tracks. >> i should jump but i just thought for a second that i should have a look what has happened to him. i just wanted to have a look how is he. and that time i just -- i was blank. i was in complete shock. >> amazingly her son is doing fine. he only had a few scratches after the accident in australia last month. the train's engineer saw the stroller fall and hit the brakes

but the train still rolled another 100 feet. jen was saying she's never let that go kid out of her sight. that makes your stomach drop. jen, stores -- different topic. stores aren't waiting for black friday to roll out deep price cuts. i thought this was interesting. some good news in a bad economy. >> i mean, this is going to be an amazing holiday season in terms of the sales out there. sears is already starting something they're calling black friday now. you don't want to wake up at 4:00 a.m. on the friday after thanksgiving if you're trying to sleep off that turkey. every saturday through christmas they're going to have different door busters to try to get you inside the door. this saturday they have a 42-inch plasma for 500 bucks. they have all kinds of things that make you go, do i want one of those? over at walmart they're cutting more toy prices. they started that. now some are less than 10 bucks. toys 'r' us is offering incentives like gift cards

sometimes. so the price wars are really on out there. and it's something where, you know, if you don't just go in at the last minute if you're careful and targeted about your shopping, you probably save a lot of money. two names you probably know in tools. stanley works, which is in connecticut, they are good at tools like hammers, they are buying black & decker for $4.5 billion. and black & deck good at the power tools. they hope together they can survive the slowdown in housing construction. huge controversy for the number one florida gators after video shows a player jamming his fingers in an opponent's helmet. you may be very surprised at the punishment. we're already hearing from some of you.

i'm rafer weigel with sports. the philadelphia phillies with their backs to the wall on the brink of elimination lived to

see another day as the world series heads back to new york. the yankees one win away from winning it all dancing in the dugout. a little premature celebration perhaps. that's melky cabrera injured. he didn't look too hurt. this guy, phillies star second baseman chase utley, one of the best names in baseball, he did put the hurt on new york making a huge name for himself. he had not one but two home runs to lead the phillies to the win. he now has five home runs in the series. that ties reggie jackson's record. so we're going back to the bronx for game six. in other baseball news, a milestone has been reached in professional sports with the chicago cubs. according to multiple media sources the cubs have the first openly gay owner. laura ricketts, bought the team from "the tribune" is a lesbian and her family supports her. brandon spikes is not getting support. he made headlines for intentionally trying to gouge the eyes of georgia's elie and now his punishment is getting more people upset. head coach urban meyer suspended

him for one half. a half for what looks like assault. now the school and the conference are happy with the punishment. are you? should this be over or should this man be disciplined more? this is what we're asking for on our facebook page and here are some of our responses. let's go to that right now. brian wrote via facebook if this is true he needs to be charged for attempted assault, tried for that assault, and at the very least kicked out of football for good. meanwhile, jacques wrote coach is taking care of it. i say let it go. do you agree or disagree? go to cnn.com/robin. manu ginobili said he had to get a rabies swhot after swatting down a bat. he picked it up and handed it to somebody. he said he got multiple shot including rabies and insists after swatting it an usher took it outside and it flew away.

i hope that usher got a rabies shot and in the next half hour why they are still partying in the big easy. natasha? >> any word on the bat? >> the word is that the usher let the bat out and it flew away to the theme song of "born free." >> fantastic. nine lives. thanks so much, rafer. so president obama is throwing his support behind afghan president hamid karzai. he called karzai yesterday to congratulate him on winning a second term. afghan election officials declared karzai the winner after his competitor dropped out of a run-off. now president obama is deciding if more u.s. troops should go to afghanistan. retired general wesley clark said this is a key strategic decision. >> when the commander on the ground says he needs more troops to do the mission and you're the commander in chief, you'd better listen to him. now it may be that you need to carefully consider what the mission is. but we don't want to get pushed

out of afghanistan by battlefield defeats. >> about 68,000 troops are already in afghanistan. the u.s. commander in afghanistan afghanistan wants up to 40,000 more. the white house says a decision could come within weeks. a huge statue of former bill clinton was unveiled in the serbian province of kosovo. many consider them a hero for drawing out yugoslavia's troops in 1999. for conan o'brien, the story was too good an opportunity to pass up. >> yesterday, the country of koes sovo unveiled a 20-foot-ta statue of president clinton. the former statue was so lifelike, it's been slapped plenty of times. >> clinton went to the unveiling, but he was not

slapped. >> got the stands to himself. let me show you what's happening now. we don't have any delays, which is really good, but we might see a couple pop up. that gusty north wind as you get to new england, you have a high pressure building in. when boston and new york, probably a half hour delay. if you don't get the delays, you'll definitely get the bumpy ride coming through. l.a.x., last hour had visibility of one-16th of a mile due to fog. delays due to that. the san francisco oakland bay bridge is up and running again. it reopened yesterday nearly a week after 5,000 pounds of steel fell into traffic. transportation officials say vibrations in the steel rods caused the break. engineers say they may have to close the bridge again for a more permanent fix. no word yet on the cost of the repairs, though. 911 operators gets some really weird calls sometimes,

but here's one of them. >> you get the idea. hear what happened when people called to say, i want to report myself driving drunk.