they are charges of extreme sexual abuse to children we cannot fully describe to you allegedly performed by five men of the very same family. three of whom are lay ministers. now deputies are searching this farm they once owned, and they're looking for bodies. after eight war council meetings on afghanistan around that round table the president says go back to the drawing board. how a stark disagreement between two of his top generals is adding fire to this debate. also. ♪ because when you're 15 and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them ♪

>> taylor swift makes history. this time there's no kanye west to take the microphone away from her. this at the country music awards. all those good tunes and stories as well this hour on "morning express. i'm richard lui. first off this morning cnn has learned that tomorrow morning the parents of the so-called balloon boy will admit in court it was all a hoax. mm-hmm. richard heene's attorney says he'll plead guilty to attempting to influence a public servant. that is a felony. his wife, will plead guilty. they told authorities their son had flown away in a large, silver balloon. heene's attorney said the prosecutor recommended pro bags for both of them but they could get some jail time in this. we have not heard from the da on that. president obama leaves today for an important visit to asia. eight days. five stays. and four countries. so why now? well, to reassure asian allies that have lent billions to the united states that the u.s. is still strong and the dollar still solid.

concerns of regional and international security including north korea will be discussed. his plans for afghanistan will no doubt be in the mix. plus, meeting several newly elected leaders in asia for the very first time. we're following his trip when he does take off. then the economy, of course, will be an important part of the president's trip. just a few moments ago, he spoke about this morning's jobs reports. >> the economic growth that we've seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need. as i've said from the start of this crisis, hiring often takes time to catch up to economic growth. given the magnitude of the economic turmoil that we've experienced, employers are reluctant to hire. >> jen westhoven will have more on the jobs numbers in a minute. heavy rain from what's left of prop cal storm ida is now battering the mid-atlantic. virginia's governor declared a state of emergency. there are coastal flood warnings in some of those areas there. the storm has moved out of

georgia, but not before flooding several neighborhoods. some are still recovering from the massive flooding that happened back in september. but a lot of streets looking like that. bob has more on that storm and the rest of your forecast in just a couple of minutes, too. if kbroyou're looking for a, here's new information. jobless claims fell last week. money expert jen westhoven, that's good for us. of course you always tell us we've got to be careful. >> another one of those reports where you kind of -- look, the number's going in the right direction but it is going so slowly. drip, drip, drip. not very fast. that is really tough for many americans. the labor department said down to 502,000 people in the latest week. that's the number of people going to their local unemployment office for the first time to register for unemployment benefits. so it tells you that half a million people every week are losing their jobs. so week after week after week we say, oh, it's improvement. but very slow for the millions of americans trying to find a job. of course, that's what the president was trying to get at,

richard. he was saying i acknowledge that it's taking a long time. >> right. creeping down but still a big number. jen's going to be back with more of the top business stories for the day in about 10 or 15 minutes. president obama got four options from his advisers for the war in afghanistan, and he's turned all of them down. he told his war council yesterday he wants a clear exit strategy before he commits to sending more troops. but two of his top advisers disagree about whether to send more troops at all. on one side the current top commander in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal. he wants 40,000 more troops. then on the other side you've got carl iken berry, the retired general who had mcchrystal's job for 18 months. he's now the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, and he says more troops would only make afghanistan more reliant on the united states. this disagreement is surprising some folks. >> having two generals on the ground, general iken barry as

ambassador and general mcchrystal as commander on the ground openly just feuding with each other in public like this is nearly unprecedented. we used to talk about a team of rivals. we never mentioned it would be general mcchrystal versus general ikenbarry. now to the number of americans who have died from swine flu. it may be four times higher than we originally thought. "the new york times" says the cdc estimates h1n1 may have killed 4,000 people in the u.s. since this april. the virus is not getting more dangerous. but the cdc is now counting lab confirmed cases and deaths from complications related to h1n1. but a big number there. police working on a child abuse case are looking for clues that may have been buried years ago. at least six people have come forward, saying they were victims or witnessed abuse on this property you see here in missouri in the early '90s. a lot of their allegations are very disturbing. so disturbing we cannot even describe them to you.

but one involves forcing kids into fake marriages with relatives. >> the victims are from all over right now the united states. not all of them are local. i really don't want to give too much information about the victims. >> sheriff, sit true the victims in this case described their abuse at the time it happened when they were children and wrote it down and buried it in jars? >> that has come up in our investigation. and we are looking for evidence pertaining to those. there has been indications there are a body or bodies in numerous locations. >> now, the sheriff will not say who may be buried there. though a father and his four sons were arrested on sex and abuse charges on tuesday. three of the men are lay ministers at a church. we don't know if they have attorneys as of yet. a very disturbing story if that is all true. bob van dillen joins us to talk about weather. weather the western part of the united states, let's say it's 7:00 in the morning, completely covered in white.

still looks like it's mostly like that. >> here's what's going on. here's the cold front from yesterday. there's another one that's dropping in right now by vancouver in canada. that's going to steer a little bit of moisture in towards you. the rain already out ahead of this. you can see the west wind coming in, the rains around the shoreline, getting to the mountains. it's all snow when you get above about 3,000 feet. winter storm watch in effect for the cascades and the olympics. snow levels are going to start to drop from about 2,000 to only 1,000 feet. colder air slamming on in. you're going to see that snow level come on down. look at the bay area. light rain this morning. getting some snow in sierra nevada. next 48 hours you can see the snow come on in. the purple shaded colors around montana, that's about a foot, maybe a foot and a half of snow over the next two days. you're starting to get more of that coming through. the big story, of course, that big low pressure center off the coast of the carolinas. high wind warnings are the areas shaded in red.

winds gusting to 50 miles per hour. the areas shaded in yellow, those are advisory areas. see the rain across the outer banks. go up farther in towards norfolk and virginia beach area, winds sustained at about 34 miles per hour with heavy rain. take you live to norfolk. here's that tower cam. it is going to be rocking. you're going to see the streets that are flooded. this is the way it's going to be. this is from w.a.v.y. you'll have the cloesal flooding along with inland flooding because of four to five inches of rain today. again, a wind advisory for norfolk. winds gusting to 50 miles per hour. >> it's really great when you show us those tower cams, bob. >> it gives you a sense. >> it really does. >> get away from the maps, and that's what it really looks like. unbelievable. >> it's not going to be a good weekend for most folks across the country. >> that wind, it's really not going to die down until about sunday. more in a bit. one punch lanlded boxer mike myson in the back of the police car you see here. he says the whole thing was a matter of self-defense. former miss california usa carry prejean got a little

miffed, shall we say, on our sister network, cnn, last night. what made her take off her microphone and threaten to walk off the set with larry king.

shall we say, there was a little bit of drama with former miss california usa carrie p prejean on "larry king live" last night. she got ready to bolt. take a look. >> in mediation, it was discussed why you were mediating. >> larry, it's completely confidential. and you're being inappropriate. >> okay. >> okay? >> all right. inappropriate king live continues. >> yes. >> detroit, hello. >> hi. i'm calling from detroit. >> yes. >> caller: i'm a gay man, and i love pageants. i'm sure you, carrie, have got great gay friends that helped you. what would you give them as advice if they wanted to get married. >> larry: did you have a

question, carrie? did she hear the question? >> no, she didn't. because she took off the microphone as well as her ifb, which she can hear what larry was saying. prejean continued with the show, though, after the commercial. larry apologized and said prejean had insisted there would not be any phone calls from viewers. new this morning, we are now learning prejean's ex-boyfriend, by the way, is claiming she was 20 years old when she made that controversial sex tape. he tells tmz she asked him to lie about it and say she was 17. prejean says the tape was a youthful mistake and the controversy is an attempt to embarrass her. jen westhoven, just watching that tape of her getting up, i'm not used to seeing that happen to larry, at least. >> you're not used to it? >> yeah. she was saying, yeah, that was not our agreement. let's talk about this. your state may have huge money problems. there's a new report that finds the same economic pressures that pushed california to the brink of insolvency are threatening a

lot more states. jen westhoven, your money expert, we think about the financial troubles. but it's on the state and local levels where we can see a lot of the trouble in an acute fashion. >> this is the way we're going to show you kind of where you live, the bad and good news. the new report from pew says a lot of states are in trouble and could end up like california. you see them in red. they are clustered in the west, midwest. some of them, too, florida, new jersey. in those states people are facing higher taxes. also massive job cuts. the government may cut a lot of jobs. that's what could affect the rest of us. that could be a big drag on the entire economy. now, here comes the good news in a bad economy. because we know overall we're talking about an economy, a bad economy, but this group really also show us the states that are doing well. you see them in blue. you may notice that a lot of them up there in the midwest, some of them are even seeing their economies turn up, up and out of recession. get that.

moodys says iowa and north dakota are turning out of recession. because of the farms. prices are pretty good right now for a lot of agriculture products. that's helping farmers. that's helping people there have steadier incomes. >> like corn. corn. big demand because of ethanol and the rest. all right. want to give a little video game update. xbox. microsoft xbox. a lot of people got booted off the service. information week.com reports microsoft banned up to 1 million people. suddenly their xbox didn't work because they had down loaded, according to microsoft, illegal games. they were usingping pirated gam. microsoft said say good-bye to your whole service. we're watching, of course, president obama, "marine one" just landing at andrews air

force base. this is not just a normal trip across the country or even within the northeast. president obama now heading for asia. it's not a small trip. president obama will be spending eight days, he'll be hitting five cities, four countries. and here you see him coming out. of course "marine one" just landing. he's going to walk over to "air force one," a 747200. he's got to stop in alaska before he then lands in tokyo. not a short trip, as many of you know. six to seven hours at least to alaska. then another bunch of hours to hit tokyo. he will be, again, speaking to troops in alaska. he will be visiting new leaders in asia that themselves just begun their tenureships there. as you can see, president obama walking up the gangplank. he'll get in, turn around, is a salute, perhaps, and then it will take off. all right. there he is. "air force one" now headed to alaska. and a long trip to asia. we will be back with more.

new this morning, there's no record the ft. hood shooting suspect ever claimed to his supervisors about his claims of being harassed over religion. that's what two senior military officials told the associated press. they also say there's no indication major nidal hasan formally requested to leave the military. his family has said he was seeking legal advice about that. meanwhile his attorney has concerns about the case. >> not only do i have concerns about it, i can tell you, i've been approached on the street by many folks in this vicinity who've expressed the same concern. is it possible for him to get a fair trial, they ask me.

and i just simply shake my head and say, well, i guess we'll have to wait and see. >> now, 13 people died in the shooting at ft. hood. dozens were wounded. this was just last week. if hasan is convicted of capital murder in a military trial it would be up to the president to decide whether a death sentence could be carried out here. the military justice system has not executed anyone in nearly half a century. a man back in the news, you've heard his name before. mike tyson in trouble for an incident at the airport. he's accused of hitting a photographer here? >> yeah. you and i were talking off camera. he went on the "oprah" show and said how he was a changed man. >> oh, he did? >> again, there's two sides to every story.arazzi like to camp at l.a.x. both men were booked and released on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. the photog says iron mike hit

him, he fell and was treated for a cut on his forehead. a spokesman for tyson said he was acting in self-defense, trying to protect his 10-month-old child. a minor league coach loses his mind. he was the coach and gm of the louisiana ice gators. he doesn't like a penalty called on one of his players so just grabs pretty much anything not nailed down. >> was it a garbage can at the start? >> a lot of hockey sticks. it was only his second game coaching. the second time he lost his cool. goes out to a cascade of boos. he was suspended indefinitely from coaching. falcons tight end tony gonzalez and his wife got naked for peta. gonzalez and wife october posed as part of peta's anti-fur campaign saying we'd rather go naked than wear fur.

gonzalez's teammates had a bit of a chuckle. gonzalez says it was something they're very passionate ability. others who've done this, dennis rodman, paul mccartney and charlize theron. >> this is from a saudi american soccer league. that guy has got worse moves than saudi arabians. >> this game, soccer players who know it, very low scoring. to get one of those in a matter of seconds is like, wow. >> that's why you can see the look on the goalies face. totally stunned. >> did he blink? to get to the top of forbe's latest list, you need more money, evidently. see who's being called the most powerful person in the world. plus, is the man famous for singing "walk this way" really

about to walk away from aerosmith?

new this morning, the balloon boy's parents have agreed to a plea teal for their attention grabbing hoax. richard heene's attorney says tomorrow he will plead guilty to a felony, and his wife will plead guilty to a misdemeanor. they both could get short jail sentences, those prosecutors are recommending probation at the moment. the roving protest movement, the tea party express, makes its last stop in orlando tonight, finishing its second cross country tour. it was billed as the countdown to judgment day. this was the rally in atlanta that happened on monday. the house's $1.2 trillion health care reform bill a big issue at these protests. but house democrats say the bill

will actually reduce the deficit. lou dobbs is leaving cnn. on last night's show he said he is leaving the network effective immediately. over the past few years he has taken a stand on hot topics like immigration. he says he's going to look for other ways to play a more active role on the issues facing the nation. those are some of the stories we're following for you as we start a thursday. every year an average of 11 u.s. commercial pilots try to fly under the influence of alcohol. "usa today" says faa records show it's been happening since 1997. and the agency is currently reviewing the case of a united airlines pilot arrested in london on monday suspected of being drunk on the job. so fairly common, perhaps. a drug bust turned into all-out warfare. and the fierce gun battle was caught on tape. look at this. well, this was the scene when anti-drug police in peru encountered heavily armed

smugglers using mules to transport cocaine. local medial reports no one was killed. police arrested five people suspected of being part of the infamous shining path rebel group. peru is second to colombia in cocaine production. boy, got every last shot there in that video, it seems. this morning a jury is considering whether to give the death penalty to the man who killed a tv news anchor in arkansas. curtis lavelle vance was convicted yesterday. >> it's taken a year to get to it. nobody's more grateful than the parents. >> the jury has two sentencing options. death or life without parole. you see pressly here, the pictures. if they cannot decide, the judge will impose a life sentence. this morning defense secretary robert gates will meet with workers who make military trucks that hopefully help to

save lives. he'll visit oshkosh truck headquarters in wisconsin. the pentagon has order master's degree than 6,000 what are called mrap vehicles from the companies. some are already in use in afghanistan. these types of trucks are easier to drive and offer better protection than smaller humvees. if you look closely, they have a v-haul underneath which helps, again, to protect the lives when these trucks go over ieds. china may have overdone its efforts to tinker with the weather. heavy snowfall has canceled and delayed scores of flights out of beijing. thousands of cars and trucks are stranded on highways. chinese media says the government induced the snowfall by feeding clouds with silver iodide. the result is beijing's heaviest snowfall in 54 years. a little bit too much salt, perhaps. not enough eggs. >> i don't know if you can pin it on exactly the silver iodine.

even though that helps. >> during the olympics they were trying to affect the weather, too. trying. >> can't break up smog, apparently. >> it's going to be tough for the next couple of days. let me show you what's going on now. low pressure center. here's your coastal storm. old ida now redeveloping just south of cape hat rus in north carolina. here's high pressure building into new england. it's the difference in pressures that gets the wind going right across the ocean. right now 40 mile per hour gusts right in that vicinity by laguardia airport. big time problems with that. look at the rain coming in through washington out of philadelphia. the other big story, of course, the wind right off the ocean. coastal flood warnings because of the ocean getting pushed on up. high wind warnings with gusting up to 60 miles per hour. rain and wind, 60 mile per hour gus gusts. inland you can see the rain beginning to break up just a bit over the mountains. then it picks up again just south of philadelphia, back in wards cape may. flash flood watches and warnings

out here for the afternoon. out west, it's all snow for you for the higher elevations of the sierras and the cascades. tape from california. this is what it looks like. getting a lot of snow today. talking about 3 to 6 inches above about 4,000 feet. how about that? that is live. you can see the streets a little bit wet. there's your forecast. >> a little bit of too much silver iodine. >> i don't think we're doing that. >> whatever that stuff does. the famous space needle in seattle went dark early this morning. a power outage caused it to go out. you can barely see it here. about 6,000 customers lost electricity. most of them have it back right now. we don't know what caused the outage. earlier firefighters responded to a report of smoke in an electrical room at a downtown building. a possible breakthrough might allow women who have had masectomies to grow new breasts. researchers in australia told local media they're developing a surgical technique that would use the body's own tissue for breast reconstruction. right now women who lose their breasts to cancer treatment have a choice between implants, which

carry some risks, or wearing prosthes prosthesis. human testing could start next year. mexican police have arrested four suspected kidnappers after they were surrounded at a town hall by hundreds of angry townspeople. take a listen. so, perhaps public justice was that attempt there. people tossed gasoline and lit it on fire to try to get the men out. police rushed the four smts out of the building as people through rocks at them. if men are accused of trying to kidnap a local businessman. police used tear gas to get rid of that crowd you see there. last night on the joy behar show, welcomed serena williams. she talked about her outburst in the u.s. open that cost her the last point in the tournament. >> what was it that set you off that day so much? what was it that the umpire, whatever, the ref said. what do you call them in tennis. >> she was the line judge. >> the line judge.

i'm really a sports moron. >> it was just -- it was just a heated moment. i relate it to like a car accident sometimes. if you get in an accident and hit something, someone, someone hits you, you get out and naturally you're shocked, you're angry. then you just deal with it and move on. >> i don't know. that was pretty controversial there, what happened at the u.s. open. catch "the joy behar show" at 9:00 eastern on hln each and every night. bad news for drivers in the san francisco bay area. it's 7:37 a.m. pacific time. the bay bring is going to be shut down again for yet more repairs. as we've always been telling you, when they have these shutdowns that's 200,000 to 300,000 people that cannot cross. more work to do on the very same 80 foot long steel bar that cracked earlier this year. >> may be adding a member on the outside and trying to repair that individual i-bar. those are possibilities that are

being looked at. >> because they have not decided exactly how to fix it, it's not clear when the work will happen. looks like cars are still going across on that top deck. they have not closed it down as of yet. a bomb sniffing dog got caught in a fire fight in afghanistan. and was never -- and was never able to see again. until last week. who found sob by after she went missing on the battle front for a year.

new this morning, a bob sniffing dog has been found alive and well a year after she disappeared in afghanistan. the name here of this dog, sobby. a u.s. soldier found her wandering near an isolated base last week.

she's an explosive detecting dog for australian special forces. sobby vanished during a fire fight in 2008. her handler says that sobby's rescue has been a fantastic morale boost for the whole unit. a former high school teacher says she was forced to resign over her facebook page. ashley pain was a high school teacher in north georgia. she says her principal recommended she quit because of a curse word that appeared on her facebook page and pictures from her european vacation. >> i visited the guinness brewery. i went to italy and had win. i went to the temple bar district of dublin and drank some alcohol there. like any normal adult would. >> now, payne is suing to get her job back right now. the school system is not commenting on that situation. >> wow. you've got to be real careful. >> you do. anything you do online there, jen. you have to be careful. >> you might not even think you

could be judged for that. >> evidently perspectives are very important. right? >> yeah. >> do you check the expir ration date when you buy over the counter medication at a pharmacy? i do sometimes. cvs pharmacy is paying almost $1 million to settle claims it sold expired items. jen west hoef season looking out for you. do you check them? >> i admit, i don't. you know who does? >> your husband. >> clark howard. >> of course. that's his job. >> he really -- he checks them. well, i guess maybe we should have been. cvs is going to pay $875,000. that will settle claims with the state of new york that its shelves were full -- including eggs, milk, over the counter drugs, baby formulas. that is what state investigators say they found. they they there were egregious amounts of expired prugts on the shelves. some of them more than two years old. cvs says, first of all, just remember we're settling this.

that does not mean we're admitting any guilt. it means any time anybody settles they're paying something to finish up the case. cvs says it will strengthen monitoring and put up signs in the stores to remind you to check the date. >> i got this figment -- this picture of clark howard right now in some aisle looking at all the expiration dates when you said that. >> i went into costco. did you check the date. also, new this morning, frugal may be the new norm. more evidence that we are getting used to these new spending habits, and adopting them, and they're sticking around. this is a new study from spending pulse. it's part of mastercard. it found americans have cut their spending. it is now three months in a row where we've held it at some of these lower levels. we may have a new normal. that's something that, right, it goes both ways. it's good in the sense that, look, you got to look out for your personal budget, your family, your money, you're the only person. you're in your own driver's seat. at the same time, when we all do that it could put a little bit

of a lid on the economy with consumer spending. back to you. >> i'm more flrugal. that's definitely true. at the country music awards last night it didn't take them long to start joking about kanye west interrupting taylor swift at the mtv awards. the show was opened with a medley, including this ♪ mama's don't let your babies grow up to be kanye ♪ ♪ let them pick guitars and drive them old trucks, as cowboys have manners they don't interrupt ♪ >> that was interesting on the kanye west issue. of course, making fun of the fact that he had interrupted taylor swift, who was a big winner yesterday at those awards. she was a big winner. everybody's got to laugh about themselves once in a while.

perspectives. your view. today in your view's question of the day, we've got richelle carey who always handles that. starting around noon. that's an hour and 15 minutes. with president obama the big story today and the four options he got. he said no go. i don't like them. you're linking this in. >> i am. like you said, the president has been mulling over these four options that he got from his advisers about what is the next step in afghanistan. he rejected all of them, richard, and said that he needs them revised before he sends anymore troops there because he wants an exit strategy. does exit strategy equal winning in afghanistan? you would hope those two things were the same. but are they necessarily? on one side, general stanley mcchrystal wants 40,000 more troops. on the other side, carl iken barery, the retired general who had mcchrystal's job before, he says that if you keep sending more troops, this is only going to make afghanistan more reliant on the u.s. still waiting on a decision from the president. in the meantime that doesn't

mean our viewers don't have their oughts on this. true enough. we're not privy to all the classified information. but this is their country. they have thoughts on this. we want to know, how do you define winning in afghanistan? do you think there is such a thing as winning in afghanistan? actually, i started this discussion last night on my facebook page. we got such an overwhelming response bb, we decided to make this the topic of the day. e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. call us now at 1-877-tell-hln or text us at hln tv or jump into discussion on facebook. search richelle carey hln. think about this. we don't want knee jerk reactions. we don't want you to spout out what your favorite pundit says about this. this is too serious. really think about this. how do you define winning in afghanistan?

the wife of the dodgers' owner is speaking out for the very first time about the couples's messy divorce. >> good morning to you, richard. a little more like "war of the

roess." so far we've only heard from frank mccourt. now jamie mccourt is firing back, saying her name has been dragged through the mud. frank hired her as ceo, said she had an affair with her driver. she opened up and said it's a lie. she never had an affair with anybody during their 30 years of marriage. she also said she's co-owner of the team and deserves credit for the team's success. she sued but did not get her job back and reportedly signed a post nuptial agreement which could hurt her. mike tyson is in trouble with police again. he was released after being arrested at l.a.x. on suspicion of misdemeanor assault. there he is in the back of a squad bar. apparently a paparazzi who was also arrested says tyson hit him, he fell to the ground and had to be treated at the hospital for a cut on his forehead trying to get a picture. tyson's speex woman say he was acting in self-defense trying to protect his 10-month-old child. >> that's a tough job. new this morning, three

tennessee freshman football players were arrested early this morning and charged with attempted robbery. police say two of them approached a parked car, one of them with a handgun, demanding whatever the victims had. the other player was waiting in a car, but they all left empty handed when the victims showed they had no money. tennessee's athletic director says he's evaluating the incident. and a 61-year-old graduate student is saying, put me in, coach. tom thompson is the father of four and a full-time student and a kicker for division iii austin college. he's not played all year and hasn't played since high school, but hopes to get in this weekend when they plain trinity university. it's the last game, you've got to put him in. 61 years old, richard. does that give you hope? >> i guess you and i can get into one of these games. we've got 20 years left in our career. >> 20 years of eligibility in there somewhere. i don't have a graduate degree. >> that makes me feel good. thanks a lot, rafer.

find yourself getting a little bored? why not take a camera into an apple store, make a video of yourself, and hope you don't get kicked out. ♪ >> nobody's doing anything. >> i love that. nobody's paying any attention. >> they don't even look at her. >> it must be in l.a.. >> or in new york. >> people have clicked on that viral, there, rafer, nearly 1 million times. we dug this up for you, on youtube. >> she does a little jump for you at the end. charges have been dropped against a man from the united states who tried to take his kids back from his ex-wife in japan. christopher savoie was arrested in september after allegedly abducting the children as his ex-wife walked them to school. he says she violated a custody agreement by taking them to japan. he was released from jail last month. one school is in hot water

for trying to trade extra credit for some cash. and take a look at all of these nails. this isn't someone's fix-it kit, these used to be in someone's stomach.

right now on "showbiz tonight," dave's extortion war. brand-new shocking revelations today about the guy accused of trying to blackmail david letterman. on the "today" show, meredith vieira asks his lawyer, are you kidding me? >> are you concerned that a lot of people out there listening to this are going to say, give me a break? >> tonight, is the excuse for what was done to letterman just absolutely ridiculous? tonight, the carrie prejean/donald trump smackdown. the donald strikes back today at the beauty queen's startling

claims about him. but is she just plain out of her mind to take on the donald? tonight, jon gosselin's incredible funny or die video. can jon turn back time and right his wrongs? ♪ i don't know why i did the things i did ♪ ♪ i don't know why i said the things i said ♪ >> tv's most provocative entertainment news show starts right now? hello. i'm a.j. hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. >> hi, there, everyone. i'm brooke anderson coming to you from hollywood. and tonight, dave's extortion war. there are absolutely outrageous brand-new claims and excuses tonight by the guy accused of trying to extort $2 million from david letterman. excuses so over the top that

today some people were saying they're right up there with "my dog ate my homework." and it was all-out war on tv this morning as the attorneys for the suspect made his cases. >> this was not extortion. this was not blackmail. >> reporter: say that again. today, the attorney for david letterman's alleged blackmail hit the airwaves and denied his client tried to extort money from david letterman. >> this is a transaction where joe halderman came into possession of certain intellectual property. he had a first amendment right to sell that property. >> reporter: he says robert halderman was simply trying to sell letterman a screenplay for $2 million at 6:00 in the morning! no big whoop. "showbiz tonight" is asking, seriously? are you kidding me? >> if this was not extortion, what was it? >> it was a commercial traction. it may not have been an ordinary

commercial transaction, but my argument is that it was a transaction that's permitted by law. >> reporter: let's face it, it was a hard sale. this morning, "today" show anchor meredith vieira asked the question a lot of us were thinking. >> are you concerned a lot of people out there listening to this are going to say, "give me a break"? >> this defense by halderman's lawyer is absolutely ridiculous. come on, if you are selling a script, there are ways to sell a script in this business. it sounds like foul play and illegal behavior. >> this is the word i actually used. that's a little hinky. >> reporter: david letterman revealed the hinky alleged blackmail plot on his show in october. he told his audience that this guy, robert halderman, tried to sell him a screenplay, describing the lurid details of an affair letterman was having with a woman who worked for him. a woman who also happened to be halderman's longtime live-in girlfriend. >> i don't usually receive packages at 6:00 in the morning in the back of my car. there's a letter in the package

and it says that "i know that you do some terrible, terrible things." >> reporter: letterman took the letter to authorities and halderman was arrested. but halderman says he's innocent and he wants the case dismissed. letterman's lawyer said today on "good morning america" and on the "today" show that these new claims of innocence are a bunch of bunk. >> this was not a legitimate business transaction. who negotiates a business transaction at 6:00 in the morning in the shadows of somebody's apartment building? who says, your world's about to collapse? >> reporter: but halderman's lawyer says 6:00 a.m. is a perfectly fine time to make this type of proposal. >> to keep going back to 6:00 in the morning, as if somehow you have to make the request during normal business hours? i mean, i don't get it. >> he tells letterman, i have embarrassing material. he asks for money, and then he gets a check worth $2 million. a check! this seems like an open and shut

case. >> reporter: if this case goes to trial, which it looks like it will, part of halderman's defense will be to show letterman created a hostile work environment by sleeping with female employees. >> it's relevant, because it increases the value of the intellectual property. >> reporter: "showbiz tonight" brought in a lawyer of our own and ran the whole thing by him. >> whether david letterman slept with people in his workplace and created a hostile environment is irrelevant. the real issue here is whether extortion was committed. and whether david letterman is the victim of that extortion plot. >> reporter: so what happens now? it looks like this case will go to trial, and once again, david letterman will be dragged into a very public and potentially very embarrassing situation. the question is, will a judge buy the argument the defense is selling? >> so let's get to the burning question. was letterman blackmailed or was this just like a stupid pet trick? joining me tonight in hollywood, hyla, an entertainment journalist from

fivedollarprep.com. and also in new york, carolina bermudez, a senior editor for "in touch weekly." a judge will not be deciding on whether or not this case will be dismissed until january. but between now and then, i'm thinking the attorney for the suspect would do himself and his client a huge favor by not going on tv like he did this morning, making these ridiculous claims. hyla, you with me? >> not 100%. i mean, the guy kind of admitted guilt on behalf of halderman, his attorney by saying, yeah, you know, most of the public does probably believe that this is just a bunch of move laalark. you can kind of hear in his words and his tone that he's saying that. but he just has to convince one judge, one person he has to try to convince. >> but if he wants to have a legitimate argument, he can't go on morning shows and admit that this is a bit suspect, what his client did. i mean, this was not a legitimate business transaction. >> well, hold on a second, carolina, don't get ahead of me here, because i've been in this

biz for a long time, and i don't know about you, be if i was thinking of pitching a screenplay about david letterman's sexual misbehaviors, i would drive it over to letterm letterman's house, include some photos and diaries, drop it in his car at 6:00 a.m. after all, halderman's attorney said today, that's the way it's done. here's what he said on "good morning america". >> he knew letterman's driver. he gave the package to the driver. he didn't break into the car. i don't quite know why people are focusing on that. would it have been better if he sent it federal express? was there some requirement of the law that he sent it federal express? by the way, to keep going back to 6:00 in the morning, that as if somehow you have to make the request during normal business hours. i mean, i don't get it. >> and quite frankly, i don't get it either? who in their right matter takes business proposals to people during normal business hours, anyway? what a crazy idea! all right, carolina, the whole

thing is just nuts, isn't it? >> this is just crazy, a.j., i mean, come on. this guy is trying to weasel his way out of something. i've never seen a screenplay with a "pay me or else" clause. that's something that needs to be just -- everyone saw that he went and cashed a $2 million check. what does that tell you? he had incriminating picturing of david letterman. i mean, this was set up as a blackmail plot. i don't think -- it's an open and shut case, as far as i'm concerned. >> it's open and shut in the court of public opinion, but law, is he going to be able to get off on some type of technicality -- >> this guy works for cbs. he knows how the industry works. he knows there are proper procedures. there are ways to get your ideas read by the people that you want to buy your script. but this is not the way to do it. sneaking around at 6:00, giving it to someone's driver. it's very sneaky, very suspect. i don't believe this guy. >> listen, all i know is watching the lawyer on television, lawyers are kind of like the vampire on "true

blood," they can glamourize you. for a moment, i was glamourized. i was like, maybe. in that's his job. this lawyer, halderman's attorney has filed a motion to dismiss the whole case,ing claiming that letterman was guilty of sexually exploiting his ideas. and keep in mind, the woman letterman was having this affair with was halderman's ex-girlfriend. it does seem to a lot of people this was simply a case of revenge. >> absolutely. and i think bringing up the sexual harassment stuff, yeah, it probably doesn't hold a lot in court, but i think it's going to make letterman think twice. okay, do i want to drag this out? because it sounds like they're ready to go to battle. and if we go to court, oh, my god, so much more is going to be revealed. so maybe this will entice letterman to say, i'm going to either drop this or try to do a settlement on the side. i think that's maybe why halderman's lawyer is doing this whole thing. >> i think that was maybe his

point. and also, carrie prejean versus donald trump. prejean accuses the donald of dividing up california miss usa contestants by their looks and humiliating them. well, the donald has struck back big-time. listen to what he told "extra." >> carrie should be ashamed of herself. i would never, ever go so far as to say, you go over here and you over here. >> and i'm thinking carrie prejean in way over her head. hyla, carolina bermudez, stay right where you are. we've got the beauty versus the donald. that hot debate is coming up on "showbiz tonight." now over to you to our "showbiz tonight" question of the day. here's what we need to know. carrie prejean versus donald trump. is the former beauty queen in over her head? here's where you vote. cnn.com/showbiztonight. here's where you e-mail us. showbiztonight@cnn.com. is jones s jon gosselin cl his act? check out this new video. >> i want to go back to the normal, simple life i used to

have. ♪ if i could turn back time >> can jon really turn back time and right his wrongs? i have the outrageous new video. plus, fresh on the high heels of a stripper claiming she had an affair with josh duhamel. his wife, fergie, is admitting she has been tempted to cheat with other women. also this -- >> reporter: it's been a banner year for people getting run over and then having their close call run over and over again on tv. >> showbiz caught on tape, life and death cliff hangers you have to see to believe. and now the "showbiz news ticker," more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

it's been a long two weeks. i have seen my friends here and there, talked to them, but i haven't been to school, so i've had teachers come out and i've had to do the homework at home. >> did you see this? a girl who can't stop sneezing. it started a couple of weeks ago when 12-year-old lauren johnson from virginia was recovering from a cold. since then, the a choos have been happening all the time, like 10 to 12 times per minute. doctors can't seem to figure out what's wrong with lauren. though this morning on the "today" show, dr. nancy snyder said it could be some sort of involuntarily tick. we wish lauren well. back to "showbiz tonight." i'm brooke anderson in hollywood with a.j. hammer in new york. tonight, caught on tape, people cheating death. this is absolutely incredible. by now, you've probably seen the shocking video of the woman in boston who fell on to train tracks and survived with only a few scratches.

amazing amazingly, there have been a lot of people in the past year or so who have been caught on tape nearly being killed and they all involve trains. here's cnn's jeanne moos for "showbiz tonight." >> reporter: it gives every commuter the willies. who hasn't contemplated their own demise while waiting for a train. only in this case, the woman says she was drunk, trying to stamp out a cigarette, she lost her balance and fell to the tracks of the boston subway. looking up to see the headlights of an oncoming train. this is what the train operator saw. people frantically waving. >> obviously telling me, slow your train down. and as i'm approaching, the woman pops her head up. so i threw it in emergency, exactly what i'm supposed to do. >> reporter: in the nick of time, the train came to a stop. >> after the fact, she comes up with a big smile on her face. and i'm like, oh, my god. it really scared me. >> reporter: then folks hauled her back up on to the platform, unhurt. >> it's been a banner year for

people getting run over and then having their close call run over and over again on tv. there was the israeli woman who apparently tried to commit suicide by lying down on the tracks. ten seconds later, she got up and staggered off. then there was the runaway baby stroller in australia. a 6-month-old boy inside. >> there was a moment i thought i should jump. >> reporter: the mother told the "today" show about finding her son beneath the train. >> as we were approaching towards the program, i could hear him crying. i was relieved by thinking that my boy is alived. >> reporter: again, unhurt. wouldn't it be nice as we were all as agile as neo in "the matrix." even neo didn't have to contend with a train hitting a truck hitting a guy. this man in turkey lost his hat, but not his life. >> translator: i cannot remember anything about the accident. i thought i was sleeping, but when i woke up, i was not in my

bed, i was on the ground. >> reporter: dudley do-right used to ride to the rescue. but who needs do-right when they do all right on their own. >> translator: life is really beautiful. >> the woman who nearly lost her life in boston, she told a boston tv station that she's incredibly thankful the train operator was alert and stopped the train before it hit her. that was cnn's jeanne moos for "showbiz tonight." well, brooke, the "showbiz on call" phone lines, they have been ringing off the hook, i tell you, with people calling in about carrie prejean's solo sex tape confessions. >> we got a call into "showbiz on call" from linda in new york. she says we should give carrie a break. >> caller: she made a mistake. it was a tape between her and her boyfriend. she was 17. this is now, that was then. she's not perfect. >> thank you for your call, linda. >> we also heard from casey calling into "showbiz on call"

from washington. who has, shall we say, a somewhat different opinion about carrie's situation. >> caller: i don't know why we're still talking about this idiot. she got fired, her 15 minutes of fame are up, she is obviously not the brightest bulb on the tree. and when are people going to learn to stop making sex tapes? obviously, they don't end up good for anybody. it's a no-brainer, people. >> well, thank you for calling, casey. remember, the "showbiz on call" phone lines are open all the time. >> call us at 1-888-sbt-buzz, that's 1-888-728-2899. hold on one second. is this right? carrie prejean is now taking on donald trump? >> carrie should be ashamed of herself. she's trying to sell a book, i can't imagine too many people would be interested in it. >> carrie diss the donald with startling claims with how he runs his beauty pageant. he says he separates miss usa contestants by looks. the donald slfights back is sla

carrie. also, making big news today, stunning new developments surrounding the reported j lo sex tape. also, this outrageous new jon gosselin video. people always say to me, jon, you can't go back. but i am going to go back. i'm going to learn from my mistake, i'm going to move forward and be the most righteous person i can be. >> do you mean it, jon? everybody is talking about it today, but will it help jon's image? time now for the "showbiz news ticker," more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

carrie should be ashamed of herself. she's trying to sell a book. i can't imagine too many people would be interested in it. >> now on "showbiz tonight," the nasty brand-new fight today between the beauty and the donald. carrie prejean makes startling claims about donald trump, so the donald slams carrie. but tonight i've got to ask, is carrie out of her mind to take on trump? explosive developments in the j lo reported sex-tape shocker. tonight, will jennifer lopez's ex be able to release a steamy tape of her? i just want to go back to the normal, simple life, like i used to have. ♪ if i could turn back time >> hey, jon, dude, what's with

the cher song? tonight, jon gosslen's outrageous new video. will this help him turn back time and fix his image? plus, more stories breaking from the "showbiz news ticker," tv's most provocative entertainment news show continues right now! welcome back to "showbiz tonight." it is 30 minutes past the hour. i'm a.j. hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. >> and i'm brooke anderson, coming to you tonight from hollywood. and tonight, the beauty versus the donald. an all-out war of words has broken out between donald trump and conservative former beauty queen carrie prejean. trump is taking no prisoners today, blasting carrie prejean for her claims about how he runs his beauty pageants. carrie claims the donald singled out some of the beauty queens and humiliated them. watch what she told barbara

walters on "the view." >> donald trump separated -- you're in, you're in. he says he didn't. >> he said, california, step forward. who do you think is the most beautiful girl on the stage? i would have to say, alabama. >> but the donald is fighting back and you will not believe what he has to say about carrie prejean. it's a war of words like no others. >> reporter: with u >> with us, carlos diaz. so donald trump's on carrie prejean came the same day that she publicly acknowledged that, yes, she made a sex tape of herself. carrie's promoting a new book and said donald actually took time out to pick out the hottest women in the beauty pageant. tonight, the donald is fighting back. he gave a brand-new interview to "extra" and donald slams carrie's claims. listen to this. >> carrie should be ashamed of herself. i would never, ever go so far as

to say, you go over here and you go over there. >> carlos, what donald said to you guys at "extra" making pretty big headlines today. just how mad is he? >> i was the one who talked to him and i expected him to be a lot madder. i've heard him a lot madder, a la rosie o'donnell, but he was very careful with his words to defend himself and used terms like, "she should be ashamed of herself," but he never attacked carrie prejean specifically. he was just defending himself as far as separating the women on stage, which was her allegations. but, by the way, it's a beauty contest. eventually, they're going to be separated on stage by some kind of beauty, you know? >> yeah. i want to hear some more of your words. i want to read to you what else the donald tells "extra." he says, "certainly, i would never do a thing like that because it would be too hurtful. i don't stand the ones that are less attractive to one side and the beautiful ones on the other side. it was total nonsense, it was fiction in her imagination. i don't even know how she came

up with an idea like that. she should not have written in the book." he goes on to tell extra, she's trying to write a book. is carrie prejean pretty much plain crazy for taking on donald trump? nobody takes on do s os on donad gets away with it. >> first she jumped into the ring with perez hilton and he's a lightweight. now she's jumping into the ring with the muhammad ali of media. i'm going with the ko. i'm usually a blond sympathizer, but it's the ko right there. >> carlos, you and i have been dealing with donald trump for quite a long time. we've seen him in other battles before. whether or not the person taking him on is even right, and in carrie's case, she thinks she's right, he says she's not, but is she out of her mind for taking him on? >> staying with that analogy, she's a lightweight. so when you have a heavyweight like donald trump and a lightweight steps into the ring, you just say to yourself, okay,

you know, what are you going to do to me? any one of your punches is not going to hurt me. as far as donald trump maybe suing her for what she said, only if -- only if she stays around for a while, which i don't see happening. >> it's interesting, when carrie was on "the view," barbara walters said right to her, donald trump is thinking of suing you for what you said. brooke anderson, let me bring you back in here. do you think that donald would actually go through with suing her if she sticks around, or is it kind of a scare tactic? he does speak loudly sometimes. >> he does, but i don't think donald trump is afraid to be litigious, a.j. and this is a man who supported her, who defended carrie prejean numerous times. sat by her side in interviews. sang her praises when not many people were. so i'm shocked that she said these things about him in her book. but at the same time, she does have to sell the book and what better way to do that, to get attention than a public feud dwon

with donald trump. >> and we're looking at the image of donald trump and carrie prejean arm in arm at the press conference where donald was saying, i'm not going to fire her, and now it's something entirely different. paula shoeguard the the president of miss universal and she's also blasting carrie prejean. she gave an interview to joy behar right here on hln. shoeguard really laid into carrie about her claims about mr. trump. >> mr. trump who bent over backwards and defended her even after she was caught in lie after lie, she just totally lied and really did not tell the truth about things behind the scenes in the pageant. she put it more in a way to make herself look good. but, honestly, if you want to sell a book, if you put donald trump's name into it, that's the best way too. but just enough already. this was not about her answer, it was about the fact that she was absolutely impossible to

work with when we tried to make things -- make it work -- >> at the pageant. >> yeah. and paula does make a great point that we've been making right here. you want to sell a book? well, hey, start a fight with donald trump. whitney, let me ask you, do you think the whole thing could backfire on carrie? because, yeah, she's getting all this attention right now, hey, here we are talking about it, we're mentioning her book and the fact that it's out, but all that really is just going to fade away, isn't it? >> well, from one author to another, no, it's not probably going to backfire, but one of the blonds that's going to win is not going to be her. it's going to be ivanka trump, because she's on the list right now -- she's going to be the blond that's at the top of the list for selling books and it's not going to be carrie prejean if donald trump has anything to do with it. and furthermore, it's not that's going to sell books, not trump, it's that sex tape that's going to sell books. and i think it's a small coincidence that that just happens to come out the week she's on her book tour. i think we ought to look into that a little bit. >> you're not the first to suggest that. and carrie prejean has had to be

on the defense about that solo sex tape she stars in. for our "showbiz tonight" question of the day, here's what we ask, carrie prejean's sex tape confession, has she lost credibility. and take a look at these results. 81%. it's totally one-sided here. 81% said yes. only 19% said no. carlos, regardless of whether you felt she had credibility to begin wi begin with, you look a result like that, and it doesn't say a lot for her future. >> there was a miss l.a.os ange scandal last year as far as the voting went. and a few years ago you had miss usa with the alleged drug use and partying. do you remember any of those girls names at all? see, that's what happens. what happens is, we as a society, we have a short memory. and six months from now, carrie prejean will be a distant memory. >> what do you think about that, whitney? six months from now, will we even be discussing carrie

prejean, unless, of course, she's picking another fight with donald trump? >> no, with unless there's another sex tape. but my paperback comes out in january, so i better get busy in the bedroom. >> better kick up some dirt with donald trump, see where that can takes you. we'll probably either be on the phone or sitting across the desk from him, asking him, why did you say that about, whitney, in your case. >> i want to buy her book. >> that's right! >> thanks, guys. appreciate it. well, we have been asking you to vote on this "showbiz tonight" question of the day. tonight, carrie prejean versus donald trump, is the former beauty queen in over her head? this is where you vote. cnn.com/showbiztonight. if you have more to say, i want to see those thoughts too. e-mail it to us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. a.j., i could not believe my eyes when i saw this brand-new jon gosselin video today. watch this. >> i just want to go back to the normal, simple life like i used

to have. ♪ if i could turn back time >> yeah, that's really jon. hey, what's with the cher song, man? you have got to see this thing. it's pretty funny, but will it help jon's image? also, making business news today, brand-new developments surrounding the jennifer lopez reported sex tape. will j lo's ex be able to release it? and fergie's bisexual confession. you know how fergie's husband, josh duhamel, has been accused of cheating on her with a stripper? well, tonight fergie is opening up about how she has thoughts about cheating with other women. now the "showbiz news ticker," more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

♪ if i could turn back time ♪ if i could find a way >> tonight, you have got to see this absolutely hilarious bland new funny or die video starring the real jon gosselin. and it just might change everyone's opinion of him forever. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm brooke anderson in hollywood with a.j. hammer in new york. tonight, jon's big laugh. after months of being a laughingstock from everything for dating three women at the same time to living it up in the hampton with michael lohan, tonight jon gosselin today became the center of a hilarious funny or die video about his outrageous drama-filled life. but why is he doing this now? is it more fact than fiction? we'll get to those burning questions in a moment. but first, jon's big laugh. watch this. >> for the past few months, i've been looking back and thinking, man, this is not me, this is no what i want to do. you know, i just want to go back to the normal, simple life, like

i used to have. i just try, i'm going to try, try, try. people always say to me, jon, you can't go back, but i am going to go back. i'm going to learn from my mistakes, i'm going to move forward and be the righteous person that i can be. ♪ ♪ if i could turn back time ♪ if i could find a way ♪ i'd take back those words that hurt you and you'd stay ♪ ♪ i don't know whoo i did the things i did ♪ ♪ i don't know why i said the things i said ♪ ♪ words are like weapons, they wound sometimes ♪ >> i'm sorry, bikini dj, the

party's over. >> i'll never forget you, jon gosselin. ♪ i didn't want to see you go ♪ i know i made you cry >> seriously? ♪ if i could turn back time ♪ if i could find a way >> you're going to have to take my name off the list forever. >> off the list? >> j-dog, you're breaking my heart here. come on! >> what's going on, guys? >> we heard jon gosselin might be in there. >> cool. tell him i said good-bye. >> later, buddy. >> people always say, jon, you can't go back, but at least i'm going to try. >> now, after watching that, i'm wondering, why in the world is jon gosselin making fun of himself and giving us more to

goof on him about? here with me in hollywood is hyla, an entertainment journalist with fivedollarprep.com. and in new york tonight is carolina bermudez, a senior editor for "in touch weekly." hyla, you first. was this really the best move for jon? >> huge move for jon. this was great. listen, he just -- this is a breaking news alert. okay, exclusive on "showbiz tonight." jon gosselin is here to stay. we keep thinking of jon as when's the end point. >> no! >> the tlc is gone, when's it going to be over with jon gosselin? he just came back with a vengeance. he's making fun of himself. this is the best pr move he could ever make. >> i'm sorry, hyla. i'm sorry, we're not laughing with jon gosselin, we're laughing at him after this clip. i'm sorry, it's going to take a lot more for me to actually think this guy is legit. this is so sad. >> who do you talk more? who is on the cover of your

magazine more, who's inside your magazine, who's on "showbiz tonight"? jon gosselin is everybody. he manipulates us to talk about him. and now he's making fun of himself. that endears himself to people. >> he needs to be filling out job applications and not doing spoof videos. the guy is going to be unemployed in a couple of months. i think he would be spending his time doing something a little bit better for his future. >> you don't think he's going to get a show anytime soon? we all know he's going to be back on reality television. >> not if tlc has their way. >> carolina, i'm with you. and what makes this so funny is we're all wishing jon would simmer down, dump the hair gel, go back to his life for the sake of his eight kids. so even though this spoof is hilarious, you kind of hope it's true. >> i do. i hope it's true. we think jon needs a wake-up call and maybe the reactions from this video will finally give him the kick in the butt he needs to go out there and start really getting his family back together. >> yeah, give him some motivation. well, kate gosselin, his ex,

also recently showed she's got a funny bone, taking a swipe at her own infamy in a shot on "the jay leno show". >> kate, what'd you buy? >> seriously, i'm exhausted. leave me alone. and stop taking pictures. >> just a couple more, kate. a couple more. >> hey, what did mommy just say? >> what? >> i asked you to stop taking pictures and you continued. >> we're not your kids, ma'am. >> we're not part of your plus eight. >> don't talk back to your mother. >> hyla, i've got to ask, who's got the better comic chops, jon or kate? >> i've got to give it to jon gosselin on this one. this is a small little clip and it's hilarious. kate had the entire jay leno writing staff behind her on that one. i'm going to give the edge to jon. >> giving the edge to jon right now, okay. i do want to move now to explosive new developments in the j.lo sex tape shocker. a judge has just extended a

temporary restraining order, preventing her first husband from releasing an intimate sex tape of her. carolina, quickly, is she out of these two have been battling back and forth for years now, there is something that old honey has on j-lo, so i don't think we're going to see the last of this case. >> he needs to drop it and stop living off his ex. hyla, carolina, good to see you, thanks. >> josh drumel has been been accused of cheating on his wife with a stripper. well, tonight, i can tell you, fergie has thoughts of cheating herself, but thoughts of cheating with other women. it's fergie in her own words about being bisexual. now it's time for the showbiz noous ticker. these are stories from the showbiz "newsroom," and they are making news right now.

>> you're watching "showbiz tonight" on hln. and right now, you've got to keep watching the bottom your screen, because we are bringing you more nonstop compelling and provocative news from "showbiz tonight." oooçççççççço

military prosecutors are preparing charges against this man, a suspect in the ft. hood shootings. find out what major nidal hasan is likely to face. major developments in the colorado balloon boy hoax. remember that one? why falcon heene's parents will plead guilty to criminal charges. plus, outspoken ex beauty queen carrie prejean suddenly has nothing to say. why she was speechless on cnn's "larry king live." eventually, i should say. thank you so much for keeping us company. welcome to hln "news and views," i hope you're enjoying your lunch or breakfast if you're on the west coast. thank you for being with us. we want to write you bring you the breaking news we're getting from ft. hood and the shooting

investigation. u.s. military sources say formal charges will be filed today against the suspect, major nidal hasan. he'll be charged, we understand, with 13 counts of premeditated murder in connection to that bloody rampage exactly one week ago today. 13 people were killed, 29 wounded. hasan, an army psychiatrist, was wounded in the shooting and he is still in an army hospital in had san antonio. we're expecting an announcement on the charges in about an hour, and we'll bring that to you live as soon as it happens, just so you know. meanwhe, the military doctors who trained hasan as a psychiatrist expressed concerns about his strong religious beliefs, and sometimes odd behavior. but they didn't consider him a threat. the "associated press" is reporting hasan's behavior was a topic of conversation when he was a student at a military medical school. hasan was reportedly considered only a mediocre student during his training. his superiors also reportedly thought his strong religious beliefs interfered with his

research. on to another story here. richard and mayuni heene will plead guilty to last month's balloon boy hoax. his attorney says he expects him to plead guilty, and his wife will complete guilty to reporting false statements to authorities. the couple may face jail time, but the prosecutor has recommended probation. he says, the quote, threat of taking the children's mother from the family and deporting her to japan is what fueled this deal. who could forget these dramatic pictures, though, this large silver aircraft floating over colorado. i know i was tuned in. at the time, heenes said their 6-year-old falcon was inside that balloon. but in reality, he was hiding at home the whole time. court papers show the heene's hatched the scheme two weeks earlier. a western missouri sheriff is urging people who know anything about the family at the center of a child sex abuse

investigation to please come forward. authorities are digging up a rural property east of kansas city that's connected to the family. the five men are charged with rape, bestiality, forcing children into fake marriages and forced abortion. investigators are searching the property for possible bodies and jars with buried notes from the children, documenting the alleged sexual abuse. the sheriff says there are more alleged victims out there, as well. so three of the five men are former ministers in the community of christ, it used to be called the reorganized church of jesus christ of latter day saints. the church says their licenses have been suspended. police have arrested a suspect in the disappearance of 5-year-old sha mia davis, but there is still no sign of the little girl. police took clarence ko into custody last night. he has a record dating back eight years, including convictions on assault of a

female and breaking and entering. let's talk about shaniya. she was reported missing tuesday morning. how she was taken that. is still a mystery here. police dogs were not able to turn up the girl's scent. but on hln's "nancy grace" last night, we found the police have found other clues. >> and now the bombshell tonight, denice, is not good. this child's favorite blanket has been found in the trash can a neighbor at least 200 feet away, in her trash receptacle. we have also been told from our sources that that blanket was covered in feces. breaking news tonight. a man has been charged with kidnapping shaniya, but the big question is where is she? nancy grace is investigating at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln "news and views." there is a little drama with former california miss usa carrie prejean on "larry king

live." when larry asked why she settled with a lawsuit with the pageant and a sex tape she made, she got ready to bolt. why did you settle? you don't have to tell me the terms of the settlement. >> larry, everything that was discussed in mediation, i'll say it again, is completely confidential. i'm not going to be able to talk about that, so i'm just letting you know that ahead of time. >> see, you can't even say why you settled? that's not -- how does that break what you settled for? i'm not asking you what the settlement was. >> the confidential agreement. it's a confidential agreement, and i am not allowed to talk about that. >> so the agreement discusses the motive behind why each party agreed? >> larry, you're being inappropriate. you really are. so -- >> what? >> i'm not going to talk about -- >> i'm asking a question. >> i'm not going to talk about anything that was discussed in mediation. it's completely confidential, and it was a confidential settlement. >> all i'm asking -- all right.

so what you're saying is, in mediation, it was discussed why you were mediating. >> larry, it's completely confidential. and you're being inappropriate. >> okay. >> okay? >> all right. inappropriate king live continues. >> yes. >> detroit, hello. >> caller: hi, i'm calling from detroit? >> yes. >> caller: i'm a gay man, and i love pageants. i'm sure that you -- carrie got great gay friends have helped you. what would you give them as advice if they wanted to get married? >> did you hear the question, carrie? had. >> okay. you see that she took off her mic and continued with the show after the commercial, but larry apologized and said prejean had insisted there wouldn't be any phone calls from viewers. today we're learning that prejean's ex-boyfriend is claiming she was 20 years old when she made the sex tape. he told the website that she asked him to lie and say she was

17. prejean said the tape was a youthful mistake and a controversy to embarrass here. the military gave president obama four options for pursuing his goals in afghanistan. his response is apparently none of the above. why the president is sending the commanders back to the drawing board now.

well, president obama got four options from his advisors for afghanistan, and apparently doesn't like any of them. the white house official says the president has growing doubts about the afghan government, and he wants an exit strategy before sending extra troops. so he sent all his staff recommendations back to the drawing board. part of what's making the decision so hard is the fact that the president's two top men in afghanistan completely disagree about bringing in more gis. general stanley mcchrystal has asked for 40,000 more troops. but the u.s. ambassador to

afghanistan, carl ike enberry thinks increasing troop levels will make them more reliant on the u.s. so he has publicly suggested they do more to crack down on corruption and drug trades that fund. he is very skeptical karzai will follow through. if he does not, the white house is considering shifting money from the central government to local afghan leaders who cooperate with u.s. objectives. . >> i absolutely -- so our question to you is really simple today. and richelle carey is here to talk about what we're asking. specifically, we want people to give us what their plan, i guess would be, or how they define winning to be, correct? >> exactly. how they define winning, christie, because we're talking about troops, we're talking about people's lives, and we've been talking about fact that like you said, president obama has rejected the options that his advisors have given him for

afghanistan, which implies he's basically starting over, so the question we're asking is, how do you define winning in afghanistan, if you even think there is such a thing as winning in afghanistan. you have been commenting on this topic on my facebook page since last night. we have gotten probably more comments on this topic than on any other topic we have done. if you're ever in there, go to richelle carey, hln, there's discussions we are having there. frederick says, when, are you serious? there is no winning this war, the troops are fighting a losing battle. there are too many radicals in the world and too many weak-minded people to follow them. if it and when we finally pull our troops out, the culture will resort back to what it nose. force is not always the answer. we've got some callers lined up, as well. joe is calling us from san diego, california. joe, what's your take on this? >> caller: hi. well, i agree with frederick,

for one. we just -- there is no -- we have no war there. what is our objective? what got us in there? we went there because they attacked us, and because the taliban government would not give up the terrorists. so we went, owe ousted the taliban from government. we pursued bin laden and punisheded him. we didn't capture him. we're not going to capture him with a million troops. >> and it's been almost nine years since all those objectives you just laid out. so what do you think the objectives are now? do you think they're attainable? . >> caller: here's the thing. as long as we're there, we're going to fuel nationalism and spill american blood for nothing. the taliban will remain after we leave, and keep on fighting, because they're protecting their poppy. >> so it sounds like you want everyone to come home. more facebook comments. nathan wrote, you can't win against terrorism. if you kill one terrorist, two more take its place. leave before it breaks our nation apart. chad wrote, unless we catch bin

laden, this one is one we shouldn't have our noses. isn't this a civil war between the people of afghanistan? and eric is on the phone from ft. wayne, indiana. how do you define winning in afghanistan? >> caller: i don't really think that they're actually a true definite term of win in iraq or exactly pulling troops out. >> afghanistan, you mean? >> caller: i'm sorry, afghanistan the many and that's what i was going to say. they need to look at the examples from iraq and what we're doing there. what we are trying to do is just basically stabilize the country, and the things we're trying to pull out after that, that's the same thing we're going to do in afghanistan, and if we can get that place down to a stabilized position, where we can let their governments lead, and we pull out slowly, that's what will happen. it won't be a -- it won't be a debate pullout date. it will be a trickle effect. >> all right, eric, thank you, and it sounds like what the president was not happy with was he wants an exit strategy.

we want your views on this. how do you define winning in afghanistan? e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. or text us, the word views and your comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates appliment it might be kind of a complicated topic to text about, but we wanted to give that you option. >> thank you, so much, richelle. appreciate it. the money was meant for a sick young boy with a brain disorder. but instead it's in the hands of a crook who just lifted the donation jar off the shelf.

a number of americans who died from swine flu may be four times higher than we thought. the "new york times" says the cdc estimates h1n1 may have killed 4,000 people. earlier estimates put the number at 1,000. the virus isn't getting more dangerous, but the cdc is counting lab-confirmed cases and deaths from complications related to h1n1, like pneumonia and bacterial informations. that's how that new number is

being calculated. . meanwhile, mike tyson is accused of hitting a photographer at lax airport. police are investigating conflicting accounts of what happened. but both men were booked and released on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. the photographer says tyson hit him, he fell and was treated for a cut on hes forehead. a spokesman for tyson says the photographer was overly aggressive, and he was trying to protect his 10-month-old child. the former heavyweight champ was cooperative, and they're looking for surveillance video. one of the victims found inside the home of a cleveland sex offender was buried today. it is the first funeral for many of the victims found so far. many are scheduled in the next few days. but police continue searching the home, and neighbors say the stench of decomposition is back and getting worse. investigators are also removing evidence from the house next to it, next door, which appears to

be abandoned. sowell is charged with five counts of murder so far, but all but one of the 11 bodies at the house have now been identified. someone walked into a convenience store and stole money people had donated for a sick young boy, and it was all caught on tape, though, here. store surveillance shows the woman lifting a jug full of money. that cash was supposed to help a 10-year-old boy with a brain disorder. >> i was absolutely sick. i just -- i mean, sick. i couldn't believe that somebody could do that, and -- i mean, how do you sleep at night? how do you live your life? >> the woman who was collecting donations, by the way, says she doesn't want to press charges. she just wants the money back. it was a history-making night at the country music association awards last night. ♪ >> there's the woman of the night, 19-year-old taylor swift. she became the youngest ever to win entertainer of the year

award. and she also won album of the year. video of the year, and best female voccist. >> i will never forget this moment, because in this moment, everything that i have ever wanted has just happened to me. >> isn't that great? formal fortunately, no one interrupted her. don't think people forgot beau what kanye swift did to her at the mtv awards. we'll show you the spoofs coming up. first time unemployment filings dipped to their lowest level this year. they did this last week. this is good news in a bad economy here. the report showed 502,000 people filed initial claims last week. that's fewer than analysts expected. and another sign the housing market may be healing. the rate of homes in foreclosure dipped 3% in october which makes it three months in a row. there is still a lot of risk out there, though, realty track says many homes are still at risk

because of job losses and many people are still upside down or under water in their mortgages, which means they owe more on their home than it's actually worth. you don't need me to tell you that investing in the stock market can be a gamble. but hln money expert clark howard says if you play your cards right, you can weather the ups and downs. >> it seems like we are such pack animals that we follow the herd when we shouldn't. and i'm going to give you an example. you know, a lot of people really were shell shocked by the huge decline in the stock market that went on for about a year-and-a-half, saw your account values just evaporate right before your eyes, and your 401(k)s or iras and whatever. and so what did so many people do? they did what's called capitulation where at the worst possible moment when things are practically in the toilet, said, i can't take this anymore, sold out their position and put their money into ultra safe things.

now the stock market's had a big run-up that may be running out of steam, don't know. but people were pushing money back into stocks, after they've already recovered big values. doesn't work. you're working against yourself. put money in steady as you go. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to invest wisely, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark howard serves on the georgia state guard, in case you didn't know, and this weekend, you're going to see him serving our troops. clark and robbedin immediate teamed up to help our soldiers and help you save more and spend less and avoid getting ripped off. you can watch this special presentation at 6:00 a.m., noon, 4:00 p.m. eastern right here. we hope you'll join us. a man of 55 years made one big mistake. accidentally threw his wife's wedding and engagement rings in the trash. there is a happy ending here, but wait until you hear what

they did to get those rings back. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@

want to get you the breaking news we're learning right now out of ft. hood regarding the shooting investigation there. u.s. military sources say formal charges will be filed today against the suspect, major nidal hasan. he'll be charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in connection with that bloody rampage exactly one week ago today. 13 people were killed, 29 wounded. hasan was wounded in that shooting and he is still in an army hospital in had san antonio. but we're expecting an announcement on the charges and we'll bring that to you live when that does happen. police arrested a suspect, we have learned, in the disappearance of 5-year-old shania davis. the thing is, there is still no sign of the little girl. police from fayetteville, north

carolina say they took clarence coe into custody last night. he has been charged with first degree kidnapping. he has a record dating back eight years, including convictions for assault on a female and felony breaking and entering. but let's get back to sha mia here, she was reportedly missing from her home tuesday morning and how she was taken is a mystery. because police found her favorite blanket in her neighbor's trash can covered with feces, but they have not been able to uncover her scent in the neighborhood. a man charged with kidnapping, but where is shaniya. nancy grace investigates right here on hln "news and views." investigators are urging anyone with information on a sex abuse ring to come forward. here's what we know. the five men are charged with rape, bestiality, forcing

children into fake marriages, and forced abortion. investigators are searching the property for possible bodies and jars with buried notes from the children documenting the alleged sexual abuse. now, the sheriff says there are more alleged victims out there. three of the five men are former lay ministers in the community of christ. it used to be called, apparently, the reorganized church of jesus christ of latter day saints. the church says their licenses have been suspended. richard and mayumi heene will plead guilty to last month's hoax. this is according to an attorney statement. he expects richard to plead guilty to a felony charge, and m mayumi for false reporting to authorities. the prosecutors recommended probation. he says the quote, threat of taking the children's mother from the family and deporting

her to japan fueled this debate. who could forget these dramatic pictures of that large, silver aircraft floating over colorado. ted they said they believed their 6-year-old falcon was inside, when he was hiding at home the whole time. family law attorney sharon liko joins us on the phone. thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> as i understand, what this came down to is you either plea or she gets deported, is that correct? >> i don't know that it's that simple. she is an immigrant. i'm assuming she has an immigrant visa status. it depends on what type of visa you have here. so assuming she has -- she cannot commit crimes of moral terpitude, and that's a subjective analysis. so it's a misdemeanor, the least serious misdemeanor, so i don't think she could have gotten a

better deal unless they dismissed it. i don't know what her record is, if she has another misdemeanor that she has pled to, this could put her really on the edge. >> oh, i see. >> so it depends on what her record has been and where she stands, in the firing line of screwing up in this country. >> okay. well, she's got a misdemeanor, but her husband is pleading to a felony. i know prosecutor says we're only suggesting probation. no jail time? >> yeah. it's -- it's a felony punishable by two to eight years of prison, but he is probation-eligible. so what they have to do is a presentence evaluation. they bring him in, they talk to him, they figure out what his criminal history is. and if somebody mentioned that he was told to fall on his sword, which is exactly what he needs to do and plead for mercy. he was nudged, he should do this, he knows that, i'm going to get help, please forgive me,

i'm going to pay this back. yeah, he could get probation. if he goes in with an attitude, which given the way this guy is, i would bet 50/50 that may help, he could say hell with you, i am going to do what i want, he might be inviting a jail term. >> a lot of people might say -- i've heard a lot of people argue he should get some because of the manpower involved. and some sort of restitution needs to be given. sharon liko, we appreciate your perspective and expertise in this area. >> thank you. bye. well, president obama got four options from his advisors for afghanistan, and doesn't like any of them. a white house official says he's rejected all of them. the president apparently has growing doubts about the afghan government, and he wants an exit strategy before sending extra troops. so he sent all his of staff recommendations back to the drawing board. part of what's making this decision so hard, the president's two top men in afghanistan are at odds over

whether to bring in more gis. general stanley mcchrystal has asked for 40,000 more troops, but the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, retired colonel general carl ieikenberry says increasing troop levels will make them more reliant on the u.s. they suggested that president hamid karzai do more to crack down on illegal drug trade. but he is very skeptical he will follow through. the "new york times" is reporting the white house is considering shifting money from the central government to local afghan leaders who cooperate with u.s. objectives. so on this particular issue, we're asking you. for your view on what does winning mean in afghanistan, richelle? >> and it seems like that's almost what president obama is asking, too. it seems like that's why he rejected these four options, because he wants a definite exit strategy which you would hope exit strategy means, we know what winning means.

so we have been asking people actually since last night, started discussion on our facebook pages, what do you define as winning in afghanistan? here's a sample of one comment we got. michael served in of abegan stan, christie, and he said this. i believe winning in afghanistan is defined as having the afghans be able to governor themselves in a manner that does not promote terrorism. it's a great comment, but then, of course, that begs the question, is that possible, is that attainable? these are just some of the issues that the president and his advisors are having to deal with. and then some of the other comments were, i don't know why the president just won't listen to his advisor. so there is a lot of room in between those two comments, as well. so we want to know, how do you define winning in afghanistan? e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. e-mail us -- call us, rather at 1-877-tell-hln. or text the word views plus your comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates apply. and also continue to comment on my facebook page, richelle carey

on hln. i anothnow you're getting a lot comments, because we're talking about the lives of men and women, whether to send more people there, or even, who knows, to bring them home. this is an emotional topic. >> listen to this one, greg on my facebook page says a solid economy, slept education system, hospitals working. this, however, would probably take 20 years. >> eat least he's aware of how losty those goals are. >> thank you for everybody chiming in. excellent, thank you. alrighty. former miss california usa carrie prejean got auto little miffed on our sister network cnn last night. what made her threaten to take off her microphone and walk off the set of of "larry king live."

in case you missed it, there was a little bit of drama with former miss california, carrie prejean on "larry king live." she was talking about her new book when larry asked why she settled with the pageant on a sex tape she made. she got ready to bolt. >> why did you settle? you had a fight to carry on. >> larry, everything that was discussed in mediation, and i'll say it again, is completely confidentialment i'm not going to be able to talk about that. so i'm just letting you know that ahead of time. >> so you can't even say why you settled? that's not -- how does that break what you settled for? i'm not asking you what the settlement was. >> the confidential agreement. >> why would you agree to settle? >>ness it's a dfl agreement, and i'm not loud to talk about that. >> so the agreement discusses the motive behind why each party

agreed? >> larry, you're being inappropriate. you really are. >> what? i'm asking a question. >> i'm not going to talk about anything that was discussed in mediation, it's completely confidential. and it was a confidential settlement. >> all i'm asking -- so, all right. so what you are saying is, in mediation it was discussed. why are you mediating? >> larry, that's completely confidential and you're being inappropriate. >> okay. >> okay? >> all right. inappropriate king live continues. >> yes. >> detroit, hello. >> caller: hi, i'm calling from detroit. >> yes. >> i'm a gay man and i love pageants. i'm sure that you, carrie, have got great gay friends that have helped you. what would you give them as advice if they wanted to get married? >> did you hear the question, carrie? did you hear the question? >> you see there, she took her mic off, threatened to walk of the stage. she did continue, though, with

the show after a commercial. larry apologized and said prejean insisted there wouldn't be any phone calls from viewers. today we're learning that prejean's ex-boyfriend is claiming she was 20 years old when she made that sex tape. he tells the website, tmz that she asked him to lie and say she was 17. prejean says the tape was a youthful mistake and the controversy is an attempt to embarrass her. boston has a ton of great places to shop and to eat. and in this week's my city, my secret, a boston native shows us where he likes to hang out in beantown. . >> hi, i'm barry marshal, and i was born and raised here in boston. and i'm going to tell you about some of my favorite places. >> this is seals cozy corner in the north end. it's a great place during the day for breakfast or lunch, but i particularly like the brazilian food at night, and one of my favorite is the brazilian fish stew.

i think the book shop is fabulous, it has a lot of good bargains, but all the way up the scales and the very, very valuable, rare first editions and old books. when i was thinking of doing some browsing, i looked up in a 1929 boston phone book my grandmother's phone number and i found it. here is our last stop, looney toons. i'm a musician myself, so a lot of the great music i learned to play i learned off records i bought here. >> it also has a lot of really rare vinyl. this is a classic album from the 1960s. satanic majesty with the 3d cover. so now you know some of my favorite places. so let's see some of yours. go to i report.com/my city my secret. >> we are following the breaking developments in the case of the'hood shootings and the new revelations about the suspected gunman. find out why major nidal hasan's

behavior caused concerns among his supervisors.

we are on alert and standing by right now for a briefing from ft. hood, texas about the criminal charges against the officer suspected of killing 13 people on the post. military sources are saying 13 counts of premeditated murder will be lodged against major nidal hasan. that briefing is scheduled for the ton of the hour. the military doctors who trained hasan as a psychiatrist expressed concerns about his strong religious beliefs, and sometimes they say odd behavior. but they didn't consider him a threat. the "associated press" is reporting hasan's behavior was a topic of conversation when he was a student at a military medical school. hasan reportedly was considered only a mediocre student. now, his supporters also reportedly thought his strong religious beliefs interfered with his research. and one of the civilian

police officers who responded to the ft. hood shooting is recounting a slightly different version of events than the military. army brass credit sergeant kimberly munley, of course for taking down the gunman after being shot three times. senior sergeant mark todd tells abc's "good morning america" he engaged the shooter after munley brought him down. she has problems with her logs, and to her hand, as well. moving on here, heavy rain from what's left of tropical storm ida is battering the mid atlantic now. this is video we jut received from affiliate waby in the norfolk area. the governor has declared a state of emergency, and coastal flood warnings. the storm moved out of georgia but not before flooding several

neighborhoods. some were reporting flooding back in september. our money expert clark howard serves in the georgia state guard. did you know that? he's always thinking about how to help people get the most from their money. he and our robin meade from "morning express" headed to georg georgia's ft. benning to give the troops some financial tips, including how to invest toward the end of their careers. >> this is colonel hallboyer, she is retiring from the reserve about five years from retirement, okay? and she has a question about coming up on retirement. >> good afternoon, sir. >> hi. >> i'm actually going to be retiring from the army reserve next year sometime. and will retire from my civilian job, i'm projecting five or six years from then. >> when do you rest? >> right now, i'm resting. but -- >> this is it. she is resting. >> i'm -- i just got back from

afghanistan, and i'm on my way home. and this is a little rest stop here. but i have about five more working years that i am going t years that i'm going to invest. i don't get reserve retirement until i'm 59 1/2. but will have extra money to invest during that time. what's the best thing to look into for end of career type investments? >> let me ask you a tough question. if you quit working at 59 1/2, you know the odds are you'll live maybe another 30 years or so. are you confident that you're going to have enough money five years from now that you will be able to carry yourself the rest of your life? >> pending the market crash or unless there's a market crash, i expect to have enough by the time i hit 60. >> so you feel comfortable that you are going to be able to bag work at 60, boom, you're done? >> well, i might not want to

quit work. i still like to work. >> do you understand why i'm asking this question? i want to make sure that you are in a position and although i was talking with the young soldier about doing a roth account, for you doing a roth is even better because you're allowed to do what's known as catchup. you can do an extra thousand a year at six grand each year in a a roth account and i would do that for these next five years. >> as we mentioned, clark howard serves in the georgia state guard and this weekend you'll see him serving our troops. clark and robin meade of hln's "morning express" teamed up to help them save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off as you saw there catch this special presentation at 6:00 a.m., noon and 4:00 p.m. eastern saturday and sunday. some of country music's biggest stars came together and took pot shots at rapper kanye

west. wait until you hear what they have to say. y8