all right. tuesday morning and you're up early. i'm really grateful for that. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on today. >> i don't think there's an age limit on something as valuable as a life. >> a controversial shift in what some experts are saying about mammograms. we're going to lay out the pros and the cons. a teacher is accused of threatening a student with death. his attorney says it was all a joke. and with the president in china cnn correspondent got in trouble over an obama t-shirt. what chinese security guards did after the cameras stopped rolling. first, though, for years

we've heard that women should start getting annual mammograms at the age of 40, but now a government panel of doctors and si scientists says most women don't need them until they're 50. well, the u.s. preventive services task force warns that frequent screenings can cause false alarms about breast cancer but dr. sanjay gupta says levels of risk play a big role. >> if you take all the women out there with breast cancer right now, about 15% of them were caught on routine mammography and, anderson, you and i have talked about this, i've had this happen in my own family. a family member with no family history, no risk factors to speak of, caught breast cancer on routine mammography. i've seen it on a personal level as well. 15% is a lot, i think, to most women especially those women who have had breast cancer caught this way. but for women who have false positives, might they have worry undue and may they get a biopsy that ultimately wasn't needed? that's the other side of the argument here.

>> so the task force also says that breast self-exams have no value and the benefits of breast exams by doctors are unknown. the american cancer society still recommends annual mammograms starting at the age of 40 but this task force says you should talk to your doctor first about the risks. a north carolina community is devastated this morning. the body of a 5-year-old girl was found yesterday and all signs point to it being shaniya davis. dozens attended a vigil last night. police won't get specific but say that they got a tip that helped them find the body. they say everyone involved in the search is torn up. >> crazy. it was crazy when it first happened. nothing is making any sense. nothing is making any sense. nothing. none of the stories. nothing. nothing is making any sense from day one. >> well, shaniya davis' mother, antoinette is accused of selling the girl for sex. the father hadn't even been involved at all until last

month. another man, mario mcneill is facing kidnapping charges. such a disturbing story. you may be one of 15 million people who could have to give back hundreds of dollars in stimulus money to the government. say what? our money expert jennifer westhoven is all over this one. somebody messed up, didn't they? well, i don't know if it's somebody, the way that they did this, but the idea is you were supposed to get a little bit of money from the stimulus package and some people got a little bit more than they were supposed to get, and now you might have to pay it back. for some people it could mean paying it back, like owing a little money. for some people it may mean a smaller refund. it's likely to affect you if there's more than one job in your household per tax return. so if you're single, it's if you have more than one job, single with two jobs, or married with both spouses work. if there's a teenager in the family who has a job but they're not the lead on a tax return, so

to speak, or if you're on social security and have a paying job. you should know this is from the tr treasury. the treasury's inspector general is saying, look, we're worried that we gave out more than we expected to. the irs is downplaying it. it's supposed to be around $250. remember, all this really means is it's not that somebody is suddenly going to have to pay more. it's that you were supposed to get $400 or $800 and you got more than that. you weren't supposed to, so you have to give it back. >> where are we noticing that money? were we noticing it in our paycheck? were we noticing it in the stimulus? >> everybody got more in the paycheck. it's just some people got a little bit extra than they were supposed to. >> thank you. sarah palin is coming down on some former mccain campaign advisers. her interview with oprah aired yesterday and the former republican candidate said mccain didn't let her speak her mind or be who she is. she was on the show to promote her book "going rogue" out

today. >> at the end of the day i'm the candidate and if ever i got sucked into that and allowed that handling of me to the detriment of the campaign, that's my fault. not their fault. they were just doing, i guess, what the staff was hired to do and that was to write the script, though my team, the vice president canndidate's team, my handlers, if you will, we never did find that script so we couldn't really stay on the script. >> well, pa lane also said that levi johnston has an open invitation to thanksgiving dinner. now he's the father of her grandson and often is publicly criticizing her. in about six minutes you'll hear what palin says about a possible presidential run. five minutes past the hour. >> i just stepped in here. sarah palin presidential, not levi johnston. he's not old enough. >> oh, good gracious. >> i'm still waking up over here. >> can you imagine?

levi johnston. you know what? it would have the fewest soundbites of any presidency, that's for sure. >> it would be great tape. >> hi, bob. let me show you what's happening right now. the biggest concern is heavy snow right now all around kansas city. here is your upper level low, right around the missouri area in towards kansas and northern areas of arkansas, too. your surface low generating a lot of rain in towards kentucky, indiana and illinois. you can see illinois getting decent rain but it is falling shy of chicago so you get a couple of showers coming in later today. right now you're dry. here is kansas city that white is all snow and it's heavy at times in areas but the thing is temperatures are right around freezing but just a little bit of fog. it's having a tough time sticking on the road here. you have a winter weather advisory until 8:00 this morning lo local time for you around kansas city and then emporia. it will make things slick for you especially on the bridges and overpasses for the morning. here is that kansas city radar picture. 40 degrees into extreme western missouri, but into the 30s

around eastern parts of kansas. you can cito peca, light snow. heavier snow around kansas city and levin worth, too. temperatures right around 40 right there. the steady precip out of the south, that's all rain indiana in towards illinois. chicago radar again, you guys are dry. i think it's going to be a little bit of time before you see rain and it will be windy again. speaking of wind, look at this. we have video coming in from yesterday near washington state. this is western washington state. check out some of the damage around the seattle metro. look at some of the reports. sea-tac, the highest since a gust of 40. enough to bring down trees. also looking at 5 inches of rain. big surf again today. we'll get to that in about a half hour. >> thank you. so a lot of different storm systems you're watching. >> one out west and right in the middle of the country. thank you. a georgia teacher is accused of trying to take a hit on his

student. you know, take out a hit on him. the student's attorney tells local media randolph forde asked the 16-year-old if he was gay and threatened to hit him. he asked another student to kill the teen. >> the teacher held the victim's name up on it. he was going to have a hit on that student. >> people say they do something in this day and time, they just might do it. we're pretty scared. >> well, forde is out on bond and unpaid leave. his attorney says he is known to joke with his students and everyone knows he's just kidding. there's a big change for people who use and give gift cards. maybe you're among them. who doesn't? the cards will soon have a longer shelf life.

always love to salute our troops. army sergeant ebony johnson is in the spotlight today. her birthday is friday, so this salute is from her husband and their 3-year-old son. >> hi, robin. this is james johnson sr. of the i'm saluting my wonderful wife ebony johnson. i just want to tell you that i love you with all of my heart and i thank you for being brave enough to join the military to serve your country. i appreciate your sacrifice. i just want you to know that you will always be my angel. >> i love you, mommy. thank you. >> is that not the sweetest message? if you have somebody in the service go to cnn.com/robin so we can salute them. more quotes, more topics, more sarah palin. sarah palin answered questions about her political future and correspondent richard lui is here now with more on her talk with oprah because the book's out, right? oprah asked palin if she was

thinking of running for president in 2012. the big question out there right now. and here is what palin said about leaving the governor's office and her political plans of the future. >> she's not retreating, she's reloading. >> reloading? >> yes. she's able to get out and fight for what is right. >> does that mean you're reloading for 2012? >> i'm concentrating on 2010 and making sure that we have issues tackled as americans to make sure that we're on the right road. >> would you tell me? >> no, i wouldn't. >> more on 2012. she went on to say that she was look i looking forward to her son starting kindergarten that year but she did not know, robin, what she would be doing beyond that. >> if she decides to run for president, would she have a real shot at it according to the polls right now. >> that's the question asked the next couple bunch of years. not according to a cnn/opinion research poll. it found just 28% of people think palin is qualified to be president. seven in ten said she is not

qualified. one political analyst says that does not mean, though, she can have a significant impact on the elections upcoming. >> she's going to be helpful to people in 2010 on the republican side. she'll choose some candidate. i think she's going to have a significant voice among conservatives in the next few years. i do not think she will be the republican candidate for president and i don't think she will run. >> then when you break it down by party, you'll know in our poll results more than half of republicans thought palin was qualified to run the country but an overwhelming majority of independents and democrats, robin, they disagreed with that. >> all right, richard, thank you. we'll hear more of some of the best sound from that show when richard comes back in about 20 minutes or so. thank you. who isn't aggravated when you go to use your gift card and you find out you've been socked with all kinds of fees? come on, it was a gift. this is about to change. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here. so the fed wants to make it a

little more fair. >> yeah. these fees are not rules by a long shot, robin, but it's the federal reserve. they're a little more -- they're made up of banks so they're not exactly -- >> you're being very careful with your word choice. >> i think you might be tempted to think or see headlines, ooh, they're cracking down. no, but what they are doing is they're going to try to protect you from some of the most outrageous gift card policies out there. so that is some good news in a bad economy. these rules will not apply to this year's gift cards for christmas so it's well beyond that. but dwo eliminate any junk fees. just to check your balance, they'll charge you a fee from that. suddenly you thought it was $100 card and it's only worth $99. also, there's not going to be any dormancy fees for at least a year. sometimes you put it away, you think i'll wait until there's something i really want from there. the next thing you know they're charging you fees because you didn't use it and also the card

cannot expire for at least five years giving you plenty of time. you know, sometimes you might want to save up all your gift cards to tiffany's or something thinking i can get something big and then you go in and it's gone. >> yeah. >> some rules there. there will still be plenty of fees, i'm sure. just not the junk ones. you may no longer get mail on saturdays if the post office has its way. now, look, it lost almost $4 billion in the latest year even though it already cut $10 billion in costs. it's hoping to propose its plan to congress to drop mail on saturday maybe next year when they would even propose it. >> we talked about this before and how it's becoming more and more of a possibility. some people kind of shrug it off like, i don't know, i don't even walk out to the mailbox on saturday. >> and you think about who they're competing with. u.p.s., for example. a lot of times they charge more. the post office can't do that.

>> okay, thanks. >> are you done? >> thank you. >> is she done? >> yep. you may not know that you're done. here is a piece of video that i swear is going to bring a smile to your face. a soldier comes home from afghanistan and wait until you see what happens when the dog recognizes that it's him. >> gracie. oh, my gosh. gracie. >> i told you. >> it gets even louder. oh, my gosh, it's him. look. is that not sweet? people have clicked on this one nearly 800,000 times. today's video on live system leak kopp. that is where we found it. that is one happy puppy. an nfl owner found out the price of two birds. he got a big finding for a not

so friendly gesture. but did you think it's too much? plus, a real warning about fake money.

one of elizabeth smart's accused kidnappers is expected to plead guilty today. we don't have details on the plea deal for wanda barzee. she and her husband are accused of taking smart interest her home at knifepoint when she was 14. mitchell repeatedly raped her, smart says. she was found nine months later. okay. so the nfl owner caught flipping off the other team now has to pay for it but what do you think about how much he has to pay? here is rafer with more on that. it was not a slap on the wrist by any means, robin. the nfl brought down the hammer.

$250,000 is what tennessee titans owner will have to pay after a fan caught him flipping the bird once, twice, and then the double barrel apparent ly t the bills sideline. adams did apologize saying he got caught up in the excitement of the game but $250,000, i mean, that's what they fined the new england patriots for spy gate. michael vick was fined 10 grand for doing the same thing to fans in '06. what do you think about that? that is an awful lot of money. does the punishment fit the crime? you are already posting on our facebook page. that is cnn.com/robin and then go to the facebook icon. chris says this punishment is not harsh, for it is the owner of the titans, not an everyday person and we would expect better from him. meanwhile, yeah, way too harsh. that's just ridiculous from ahmadu. cnn.com/robin. >> we're going to get a lot. >> yes, we are.

and more mystery in cleveland. the browns endured another horrid loss and they were letting it be known. hey, browns fans, it's our birthday, how about a win, a touchdown, a first down. this was one of the worst games on "monday night football." cleveland's best player is hurt and lay on the ground while the players were on the field. he was taken to the hospital as a precaution. and lastly this video is a little humorous. some college soccer. watch the goalie doing cartwheels getting ready for a shoot-out here. he's going back and forth and so, yeah, here you go. look at me, look at me. and then watch what happens here as the guy, wait for it, kicks the goal and then in your face. here's the cartwheels right here. that's a look at sports. all new sports in the next half hour, robin. >> that was great. why didn't the goalie do a cartwheel when the ball was coming at him? at least there would be some blockage. the country's split over

abortion is spilling over into the house health care debate. now leaders on both sides are demanding changes and a new kia plant is giving new hope to thousands of people who lost their jobs. 

30 minutes past the hour. the body of a 5-year-old girl was found yesterday in north carolina and signs point to it being shaniya davis. although there is no confirmed id yet, police got a tip that led them to the body. a wildfire burning near a m major highway in southern california should be fully contained today. firefighters say that it has burned more than 250 acres but is a couple miles from any building. well, they say that it started after a tractor hit a power line. there are no reports of serious injuries. astronauts are going to be looking for any damage on the space shuttle "at llantis" toda checking whether debris hit it during the launch yesterday. look how pretty that was.

"atlantis" is on track to link up with the international space station tomorrow bringing some spare parts that are needed to keep the station going. and those are some of the headlines we're following this morning. if you're a twitterer did you follow any of the tweets from the launch? they had 100 people there tweeting to 150,000 followers. sarah palin's new book hits store shelves today n. an oprah interview she dished on the controversial during her vice presidential campaign. correspondent richard lui joins us now. and that includes the interview with katie couric. and what does she call her? well, she calls her -- you're talking about katie couric, right? >> yeah. >> there's a loft descriptive words, condescending, biased, badgering. that's some of the ways sarah palin described katie couric. she said she didn't respond well to some of the questions because she was annoyed by couric's constant presence. she described one incidence after she had just finished a campaign rally. >> my friend opens the curtain for me to get backstage and there's the perky one again with

the microphone and the cameras rolling and i'm like, dang, give me just a couple of minutes to gather -- with all due respect, yeah. nicely. >> so pretty perky, too. >> well, cbs' news president says -- yeah, that's right. the president of cbs saying the quality of the interview and the questions, they speak for themselves. >> wow. palin also claims in her book that she was basically tricked into doing the interview in the first place. how so? >> well, palin says she was driven to do the interview by a campaign adviser named nicolle wallace who used to work with couric. in the book she says wallace told her, quote, katie really likes you. she admires you as a working mom. she just relates to you, end quote. she also says wallace told her katie really needed a career boost and had low self-esteem. nicolle wallace said palin is making this up and that she would never say those things in

a million years. >> back and forth. thank you, richard. more americans are going hungry. the agricultural department says about one in seven u.s. households struggle to put food on the table last year. it is a record high. president obama says the report's unsettling. he's urging congress to pass a strong child nutrition bill to help hungry american kids. the agricultural department says poverty is the main cause of hunger. new this morning the president and china trying to bring the countries closer. he did some sightseeing after a closed door meeting with chinese president hu jintao. chinese leaders say they should not close the doors to trade and another big issue on the table. >> on the issue of nonproliferation, president hu and i discussed our shared commitment to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and i told him how appreciative i am of china's support for the floebl nonproliferation regime as well as the verifiable elimination of north korea's nuclear weapons program. >> well, he also encouraged china to resume talks with the dalai lama's representatives.

medical marijuana supporters came out in full force at a debate in l.a. last night. the city attorney wants to regulate and close hundreds of clinics. the issue determining if centers that make a profit are illegal. >> we cannot have a policy in the city of los angeles that bans the sale of all to patients whether you call those sales. it simply won't work. >> well, two city council xes voted to keep it open. here is a story that will just make you feel good. >> this kid had a special need and we were able to fill it. >> how this little boy who has trouble walking got some special help from a four-legged friend and a pet store. that is new for you in about 20 minutes. look at that dog's expression. and his expression. military police arrest add single mom with a baby son for

refusing to deploy to afghanistan. specialist alexis hutchinson says her mom was supposed to take the baby but was too busy caring for sick family members. an army spokesperson says hutchinson wouldn't have been deployed if the army knew about this so they're investigating but so far she's not been charged. winds as powerful as 95 miles an hour are pounding oregon's coast and sustained winds 55 miles an hour and higher are expected before that storm is over. now power is out in some places and at one point a foot of water covering u.s. highway 101 there. in any storm when it's this kind of season, the line where you have the difference between snow and rain, that's where you have the real problem points. bob's going to show you who has that this morning. good morning. good morning, robin. it's a great point, too. a different system from the one in the pacific northwest. the same result. windy conditions, not quite 95 miles an hour. you're still getting the winds out there to near 40 miles an hour. here's kansas city. now the radar is all color coded

for you. the white is all snow. the blue is all rain. that rain/snow line is right around kc itself. you get in toward kansas it's all snow. about 34 35shgs degrees there so having a tough time sticking on the roads but is making things a little bit tricky on the bridges and overpasses. so the winter weather advisories up for kansas city and the metro until 8:00 p.m. this morning and you can also see down to 35 between emporia and wichita, a winter weather advisory through the morning hours because of the snow that's currently falling. out of kc, all this leafy stuff, the blue stuff, that is all snow. look at the temperature, though, almost 36 in topeka. again, it's having a tough time sticking and it is 40, safely above freezing when you get across missouri so mostly rain on that side. look at the heavy rain pulling up. it's right around illinois. indiana getting pounded with heavy downpours all out of kentucky, too. the rain will be out there for the better part of the day. you get a couple breakaway showers and winds out of the east today once again, delays at the airport right there.

more rain through kentucky, in towards indiana. that will be there most of the afternoon. you see a nice little rain line trying to get in towards the atlanta metro, too. it's a real weak one. you can see the cold front dropping down to the gulf of mexico. a few light showers are a possibility but i don't think you'll see much in the way of accumulating rainfall. full details in about a half hour. thank you a. marine made a video diary of his life in iraq and his parents got the video after he was killed. you're going to hear the emotional reaction from his father. can you imagine? plus, former basketball star dennis rodman allegedly skipped out on a party tab and you're not talking about just chump change here.

a marine made a video diary for his parents, but the thing is they didn't get to see the videos until after he was killed in action. it shows billy spencer leaving for iraq at the age of 19 and his parents say it's like he's talking directly to them. >> i could look at those videos, every one of them, and say that's my kid. >> lance corporal billy spencer was posthumously awarded the silver star. you know, many people are still angry about big corporate bonuses, you know, at a time when people are still losing their homes. so dozens took their protests straight to one company, goldman sachs. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here with more on what happened. so what did? the protesters say that the bankers should donate their bonuses -- >> hold up.

i see a microphone on. i see it on. you know, sometimes it's kind of like when you sit down on your cell phone and it starts calling people, sometimes the microphones do the same thing only they turn off. anyway, so goldman sachs, we've all heard that name before. >> the protesters want the bankers to donate the bankers' bonuses to help people in foreclosure. >> break them up. break them up. >> this is about 150 people. they were gathered outside the washington, d.c., building. goldman did get about $10 billion in the bailout. it has paid back all of that money, so goldman's side is, look, we paid everything back so we're not like aig. we're not giving out bonuses, you know, with your money because we paid back all your money. >> okay. >> don't go looking to get a case of coke at costco for a while. the two of them are duking it

out. they are having a dispute over prices. so you won't see any coke products at costco's 560 warehouses at least for a little while. >> that's huge. >> you can still get pepsi. >> what i mean is that's got to be a huge account. >> well, remember, i think that most companies when you sell something to costco, you sell in bulk but at a very low margin, that's why the prices are so low, so they don't necessarily make a loft money. >> so no coke products at all at costco. >> sometimes you like to get everything all at once. you think, they don't have coke, huh. you want your christmas gifts safely under the tree? u.p.s. says the busiest day of its year is likely going to be december 21st. you may want to ship wf at thbet day. if you wait until the last minute, well, you know, you can do it but you're going to pay more. you can ship as late as december 23rd with u.p.s. for a christmas

eve delivery. robin? >> jen, thank you. last night on "the joy behar show" kinky friedman, giving thoughts about sarah palin. >> do you think that since you're running for governor, right, of texas -- >> i think so, yes. >> you have to know certain things. do you think it's legitimate to say a future vice president should know some supreme court cases or am i just being picky? >> i don't think you're being picky. i'm a musician at heart. it's a giant step down for a musician to politician. these politicians are -- they're a very solid lot. mark twain was not wrong about them. all i'm saying is the word is veneer, i guess. she doesn't have the veneer these other guys and gals have. >> what's vth eneer they have? >> it's a phoniness, a career --

>> she doesn't have that? >> no, no, no, she is raw and brittle and that's why i think she irritates me. >> catch "the joy behar show" at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on hln. it could soon be safer for you to travel by bus. the white house is proposing a major change for long distance trips and an israeli boxer made history by winning a title but what he's training for has nothing to do with boxing.

a young boxer made history when he became a world champ ion, but he has another goal to become a rabbi. here is rafer with more on this person's story. it is such a great story, robin. as far as we can tell there has never been a world champion boxer who is also a rabbi. well, yuri foreman made history, the first israeli boxer to become a world champion when he beat daniel santos for the welterweight title. that's santos there. he was a huge underdog in the fight. foreman expects to complete his rabbi studies in about a year. his mom made him take boxing lessons at age 8 after he was

bullied at a swimming pool. two tennessee football players accused of attempted armed robbery were kicked often the team. nu'keese richardson and mike edwards were dismissed after they allegedly tried to rob other students at a car in a convenience store. they have not been found guilty yet. jansen jackson allegedly in the car, his status remains on hold. and another tennessee story. tennessee titans owner bud adams was fined $250,000 for flipping the bird during their win over buffalo. that is an awful lot of money. does the punishment fit the crime? here is what you're saying about it. phil e. wrote on our facebook page, it starts at the top. if the owner can't behave, how can he expect the players to? meanwhile, william j. disagrees. says too much. the nfl is trying to get this clean image for the viewers. last time i checked the sport is football not shuffle board. if you or disagree, tell us what you think cnn.com/robin.

click on the facebook link. we will be reading them all morning long. there are some great ones there already. dennis rodman, i was a big fan of this guy when he was with the bulls -- >> me, too. >> he was temporarily detained in germany for allegedly skipping out on a $5,000 bar tab. a german official says rodman was playing in an exhibition game and organizers agreed to pay his hotel bill but not an extra $5,000 for drinks consumed at an after party. he paid the tab and another $2,500 to dismiss possible legal proceedings. dennis, save your money. save your money. stop partying. >> i was going to ask, what is he doing now? apparently exhibition games. >> and apparently it's costing him money if he's giving this behavior. a bad business proposition. thank you. did you know the big wireless providers are locked in a fierce price war and now walmart is getting in on the action. hln money expert clark howard explains what it means for your

wallet. okay. i get a kick when i travel and i'm sitting next to a corporate type on an airplane and he or she is there busy working with their smart phone, blackberry, iphone, whatever, and i'll say, hey, how much do you pay a month for cell phone service? already knowing the answer. it's like, oh, i don't though. my company pays for it. well, although there are corporate privilege types into get stuff just handed to them, most of us pay for our cell phone service. and never has there been a time it's more important than right now for you to reshop your cell phone service. there is brutal price competition going on and especially now that walmart has jumped into the cell phone business with both feet with their plan offering you 1,000 minutes a month and 1,000 text messages for $30 a month or you want unlimited stuff, $45 a month. generally their rates are half what the competition is. check it out.

i'm clark howard. check me out at cnn.com/clark howard. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays here on hln. less. so catch him saturdays and sundays right here on hln. i know time is just ticking away like that so if you have to travel, here's bobby. >> i think you'll get an extra hour at the airport in chicago. it's going to be the wind and rain too. watch for an hour more from midway and o'hare. windy, rainy there. just a little wind coming in toward new york city. it's a northerly wind, though. probably about 15, 20 miles per hour. half hour delays a possibility right at nyc. in atlanta the wind and rain coming in later. watch for a half hour, hour-long delay. san francisco, low clouds that will slow you down for about an hour. a new kia motors plant that created thousands of jobs in georgia has opened its doors. the first car rolled off the

assembly line yesterday. it could point $6.5 billion into the local economy and mean 25,000 more jobs in the state. >> the impact has been staggering. the small business development that is associated with these manufacturing jobs is really gaining momentum here. >> the area where the korean automaker is located had an unemployment rate of more than 18% in october. wow. oh, what a nice voice. john mayer's new album is out today in stores and online. it's called "battle studies" and includes the hit "who says." ♪ who says i can't get stoned >> i guess i know what the message is there. john mayer doesn't mess with a new formula, it's soft rock with a little blues mixed in. critics are predicting it will get a ton of play on radio.

a little boy with muscular dystrophy has someone special to hear him out. you have to hear how a dog made a huge difference for the little fella.