good morning. wednesday. i bet some of you are watching us in the airport because you are getting ready for a trip. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on. while you were asleep, your blackberry woke up with an e-mail backlog. the second major outage in a week. you could be in for a rough day getting home for the holidays. another big storm is causing headaches for a big chunk in the country. and -- >> it's nice to have a dog. girls always want to come talk to you. >> one dog helped this soldier do more than meet girls.

it changed his life. first, our top story, a scary flight for people making a trip at christmas. an american airlines plane over shot a runway in jamaica. it stopped feet from the sea. 91 people were hurt. most were treated and released. the plane's fuselage was cracked. >> not near enough to see the part of it. there are definitely some breaks in the fuselage, but nothing that would indicate it was broken apart. >> officials say it happened during a rainstorm. a landing gear collapsed. it was arriving from miami, but originated in d.c. the crew gave up on serving

drinks. if you checked your blackberry and wondered where are my friends, i have no e-mail. their service was down, again. it becomes all about you. >> it's christmas, there's not much work to do. nope, there is some. if you found your inbox empty this morning, it's the second outage in a week for blackberry. many people found themselves without their fix. blackberries were paralyzed. 32 million people use them. the companies maker, research in motion, not saying what caused the problem. they are sorry and working on it. things started getting back online 3:00 a.m. this morning. you may start getting e-mails, again. >> mine seems like things were in there. maybe some people got them late. other people didn't get them at a

all. >> hey, thank you. a huge winter storm is moving through the west. it could dump a foot of snow in areas as it heads eastward. a huge dust storm in arizona combined with slick roads caused massive pile ups on i-10 and i-40. several vehicles caught fire. in des moines, iowa, freezing rain and snow coming their way. shoppers are buying last minute gifts before the weather arrives. >> i'd like to finish now. if the weather gets bad, i don't want to have to worry about going out. >> everyone said i'm pretty much through and on my way home. i think it's the general c consensus of everyone. >> a state of emergency anticipating the winter storm. bonnie schneider is in for bob. i see blizzard. >> you're right. for south dakota.

we are looking at blinding snow across this part of the country. we are looking for winter weather warnings from minneapolis. it's upgraded to a watch. we will see heavy snow there. freezing rain for kansas city and southward toward oklahoma. when you head further to the west, very heavy snow. it's already falling in the mountain west. it will start tonight. we are looking at a tough travel situation. more on that coming up. >> thank you. new jersey dad, david goldman can be reunited with his 9-year-old son. the brazilian court ruled in favor of goldman yesterday. the fanly of the child's mother plans to appeal, again. there's no word on when he will see his son. they have not seen the boy in five years. >> there were so many memories. we spent so much time with sean.

just fishing and going to the circus and the farm and board walk and everywheres. he's such a wonderful boy. so much life. i just hope they haven't taken any of that out of him that we're going to have to put -- have to get him back to where he was. >> after the court's decision, the u.s. gave brazil billions of dollars in benefits. it had been put on hold when they failed to resolve the custody dispute. more than 4 million doses of the h1n1 nasal vaccine was recalled. it lost power. balloon boy's parents, we'll

hear whether they are going to jail. richard heene is facing up to 90 days in jail. his wife may get 60 days. they have to pay $4,000 for rescue costs. they want to limit how much they can profit from tv and book deals. some kids got a treat from michelle obama. it's a tradition for first ladies that dates back to bess truman. malia and sasha helped. beau wasn't having it. all right, beau. sit. sit. he hasn't seen santa before. he is a believer. >> he's not a believer. you know santa must look strange to dogs.

what's the president getting for christmas? the first lady hinted sports stuff. beau was just protecting his family. six minutes after the hour. here comes a big winter storm. a lot of you plan to head out of town or tomorrow to get to your christmas destination. here is bonnie in for bob. here is the travel picture. >> we are talking big hubs like minneapolis, chicago, dallas, they are all affected by a massive system. it stretches from minnesota back toward arizona. heavy snow in new mexico and arizona. for those of you just heading out, the rain is coming out heavy hard. moving to memphis on i-40, a lot of rain in mississippi down through louisiana later in the day. where the snow is falling, it's not falling hard, yet.

we are seeing a lot near denver, in the mountains of colorado. this is where it's headed. while it's not snowing in chicago, it's not snowing in minneapolis, it will be. we're looking at a wintery mix. the set-up for extreme weather today is moving into tomorrow and christmas eve. watch out for the severe storms as well and down along the gulf coast. it slides to the east. not tonight, but tomorrow, too. impacting travel on thursday. where we don't have bad weather today, we'll have it tomorrow for christmas eve. lots of storms in the south for christmas eve. >> yeah, just when people are trying to get somewhere. >> if you are procrastinated on holiday shopping, it's okay. you can still order online and get it in time for christmas. a college football game got a kick in the weather.

>> the wind picked up significantly.

okay. let's salute the troops. today, we salute david riley. he's currently serving in afghanistan. his wife, jill, tells us, he won't be home for christmas, but he's expected back in february. >> good morning, my husband is david riley. we love and miss him so much and are so proud of the work he's doing as a medic. merry christmas, honey, we love you. come home soon. >> if you are somebody in the service and want to salute them, go to cnn.com/robin. senator john kerry's wife just announced she has breast cancer. she's 71 and using the announcement to encourage women to get mammograms. that's how she found out in september. she's had two surgeries. she's going to start radiation.

the commander who threatened to court-martial sailors says it will never happen. the policy is meant to make soldiers think before they act. he says he wouldn't put anyone in jail for becoming pregnant, instead, he'll find a lesser punishment. pregnancy is a problem when troops are stretched so thin. new for you, see what he did to help other kids for christmas. one, two, two shopping days until christmas. the stores have a few tricks up their sleeves, trying to get you to shuck out your money. jennifer westhoven is here. what are they doing? >> i know you don't want to end up shopping at the pharmacy. we always see guys at 11:00 on christmas day. >> i did see some christmas shopping going on there.

i love the "as seen on tv" isle. >> when it's the last minute and coming home. >> the alarm clock. i'll buy the alarm clock. smokes. >> it's the last chance. we are getting down to the wire. a lot of stores are going to stay open late. best buy will let you wait until 3:00 p.m. tomorrow. some stores are offering next day delivery. come on, you know how much you have to pay for that. you have to order by noon today. some stores are doing that, including crate and barrel. target is going to be open until 7:00 or 8:00. toys "r" us, 8:00. >> on christmas eve tomorrow? >> yes. tomorrow. i think we'll have to do this again tomorrow. if you are a last minute shopper, you are not listening today. >> on christmas morning, you have to tell us what web coupons

we can print out. you know, and just wrap those up. it happens. it does. thank you. a huge winter storm is brewing out west. before you head out the door, we're going to tell you how it's affecting the travel plans. the senate is getting ready to give themselves an early christmas present. how much of the plan will survive?

president obama, i can't talk. i just said present because we're opening gifts on the set. president obama is not leaving for his christmas holiday to hawaii until the senate passes the bill. richard lui, good morning, by the way. the major differences between the senate plan and house bill. they have to be reconciled. >> they have to be reconciled. now, we are on the verge of finding out whether they stick or get ditched along the way. the house bill costs over $1 trillion. the senate plan costs about $871 billion. now, the big lightning rod issue here, a government run public option is debated. the house plan has one. the senate plan does not. how do we pay for all this?

it would tax the wealthy. couples earning at least $1 million a year and individuals earning $500,000. >> so, the public option, the thing that's been so controversial here, some despise the idea, others say it might be necessary. what are the chances of it surviving? >> it could get booted. the senate is on track to pass its bill without the public option without a single republican vote as well. the senate may hold the upper hand on the public option. >> they have a fragile coalition. they are barely making it over the top. when it comes to this, we have so much conversation about the public option or buy-in to medicare. i think the house is going to have to bow to the senate on that. >> they would allow private

non-profit insurers the plan. >> all right, richard, thank you. appreciate it. >> we want to warn you, the next video may be disturbing. there are new pictures of the boy set on fire by teenagers. we are expecting a news conference with his doctors and mother. he was released from the hospital yesterday. his recovery is going to be a life-long process. family, friends and teammates paid a final tribute to chris henry. we have more on that. good morning. >> good morning, robin. it was a very emotional ceremony. chris henry's fiance spoke. she professed her eternal love and promised to raise their children the way he would want

to. other nfl players were also in attendance. >> for us to see chris and, you know, there today, it's difficult for his teammates and friends. these guys held chris' hand in many, many quiet moments and really knew inside the man, beyond what i knew. >> chris henry, 26 was killed after he fell out of the back of a pick-up truck driven by his fiance during a domestic dispute. crazy video from las vegas between the game of oregon state and byu. >> it's hard enough to wear those feather hats, i'm sure. >> they are heavy. 45 miles an hour winds. temperatures dipping in the 20s. it was in the 40s, but felt like the 20s. one punt traveled six yards. they go on to win the las vegas

bowl over oregon state. good video. we have more good video this morning. check this snowball fight out from the game between the philadelphia eagles and the 49ers. two 49ers fans in the stands getting pelted. they have no defense. they are getting covered in snowballs. they would eventually leave their seats and go on to sit somewhere else. these are the same fan that is threw snowballs at santa claus years ago. >> i wonder if the opposing teams fans sitting in the midst for mouthy or something? >> no, they were sitting there. you don't go to philadelphia stadium wearing another team's jersey and expect not to get hit. >> a surfing dog helps deliver toys to a children's hospital in san diego. check out her santa suit.

maybe we can drop the words to see little ricochet. she's so cute. the drive collected more than 3500 bucks during this holiday season. i think a lot of you probably watching this morn frg the airport, trying to get to where your loved ones are for the holidays. bonnie is in for bob, how easy or hard is it going to be? >> this morning, no problems. if you can catch the early flight, you'll be better off. you can see the thousands of planes behind me now. a lot of the activity on the eastern sea board. in the south is where we're going to have delays. our delays include chicago with a wintery mix, minneapolis,ing baa ker key. sioux falls, watch out for a

blizzard. dallas clouds and thunderstorms. it's going to be stormy there. more wind for l.a. some troops are finally home from iraq. their families had to wait a little longer than expected. 

you know what? it's a rough start to christmas for some people on a plane that overshot a runway. it crashed into a fence in jamaica last night. 91 people were hurt. jamaica's information minister says it injuries were broken bones, cuts and bruises. the flight came from miami, it started in d.c. crews are working to get the power back on in west virginia. 59,000 people are still in the dark. now, a new winter storm is about to jump snow in the west. aero smith top man is in the

hospital. he was hooked on painkillers. last year, he fell off the stage and broke his shoulder. i'm just -- the video of the guy with the green and pink. good morning, how are you. it's 30 minutes past the hour. i'm robin meade. glad you are up today. president barack obama is not leaving for his holiday until the senate passes the health care bill. a final bill is slated for christmas eve. richard lui is saying how health care changes could affect your family's budget. >> we did the math base d ton house bill using a university of berkeley calculator. we have thrown out scenarios for you. if you have a family of four, in this case, if the age of the youngest adult is 40 and $35,000

is your total income, the annual premium is $1,203. the out of pocket maximum, $1578. let's throw it into a $70,000 income, family of four. the age of the youngest adult 40, $14,346 is the total you will incur. the more you make, the more you have to pay. under the house bill, 200,000 dlarls in income, total $17,801. this is for the same loaf of bred. this is the same scenario. same health care, but you pay more. >> you mathematician, you. very dichfferent views on abortion. how is abortion funding shaping up here? >> the house bill would ban most abortion funding in subsidized policies. it lets the states decide.

the more conservative house decision may emerge the winner here. david broke it down for us. >> there is this issue, where i think the house may prevail that's going to be, i think, very upsetting for many in the country. that's on abortion. the house has a more conservative position on abortion. the house is saying, without this more conservative provision, we can't pass it there.'s going to be a lot of hard bargaining and opportunity for a lot of people. maybe we'll have easter rhymes by the time it's done. >> what's with the easter rhymes? it's a reference to a christmas poem. it's crazy. during the senate debate yesterday, trying to let down the hair, roland burris delivered a health care inspired version of "twas the night before christmas.

all through the senate, the right held up a health care bill, no matter what was in it. the people had voted, they mandated reform, but republicans blew off the gathering storm. we'll clog up the senate they cried with a grin and in the mid-term elections we'll get voted in. >> robin, it's a good thing he didn't try to do the whole thing. it's a long poem and he did a short version. >> it got a lot of attention rather than someone up there yammering on. >> it's a good christmas. it's nice to let your hair down a little. >> thank you. hewlett packard is looking at claims its web cam cannot see black people. two co-workers took turns in front of a camera. it follows the white woman, but

not the black man. hewlett packard said -- see how it moves with her when she moves. they said it's probably a problem with contrast and poor lighting conditions. still, though. americans supporting president obama's decision to send more troops to afghanistan. brand-new poll shows 59% of americans surveyed said it's a good idea. 39% said it was not. when it comes to who is winning in afghanistan, most people said neither side, only 18% said the u.s. is winning. 35 minutes past the hour. just in time for your holiday last-minute shopping or traveling, we have that winter storm closer on the horizon. bonnie is in for bob. >> we are snow across the rockies, sliding to the east. watch out if you are in nebraska. we are looking at a blizzard situation there. we are monitoring heavy rain

across parts of the south now. driving on i-40 from little rock to memphis, it's not so pretty out there. a lot of rain and frequent lightning strikes. a wintery mix in kansas. snow north of denver, colorado this morning. it's not snowing, yet, in minneapolis. temperatures are cold enough to support that. schaug, more is expecting mixing with rain and ice. low pressure sliding to the north and east, tapping into the gulf moisture. we are going to see the strong thunderstorms from texas to the florida panhandle for thursday. we are looking at a wet christmas there. heavy snow mean as white out situation. watch for blizzards. those of you getting in the car in kansas city, if you are heading to fargo or denver, there's a wintery mix in the forecast. be careful on i-35, 29 and 70.

i'll have more coming up. >> thanks. a lot of kids got to meet nubs. he brought the abused dog home from iraq. he had no ears and had been stabbed. he wrote a children's book about him, which he brought to his niece's school. >> what i learned is that if you do something kind for someone, if you do something really kind for someone, then you don't really think about what's in it for you. they will never forget you. you'll have a friend for life. >> he says nubs is popular for the ladies and there might be a movie about nubs. >> if you look at irs records, you see interesting patterns, how to beat the odds and avoid a tax audit. hey. then, here's a way to attract a man. beer perfume. brilliant.

police in utah say the husband of a missing woman rented a car that was driven hundreds of miles two days after she disappeared. josh powell's attorney says he has no information and powell is not a suspect in the case. joy behar looked into the investigation last night. >> let me tell you what the salt lake tribune reported. susan told her friends she was worried he would kidnap their kids and ruin her financially if she divorced him. he was abusive. she set up a separate checking account.

she prepared an informal will. that's odd. she's a young woman. what does that alltel you? >> it tells you state of mind and something had to have happened for her to think those thoughts. you don't just automatically think those thoughts. if it gets to a court of law, it may not come in. everything we have been discussing, renting the car, driving the hundreds of miles, prosecutors want to bring it in. you know, you have to watch joy's year end special tonight, 2009, enough already. that's at 9:00 eastern here on hln. if it's the "snl" character of her, who cares. enough already. who cares. want to beat the irs odds, make under 200 grand. it means most families, most

families will probably never get audited, right? >> yes. you still have to be honest. you don't have to feel like you are living in fear. you are doing your taxes honestly, but you don't have this receipt. it can be terrifying. it's a little comforting. if you make under $200,000 a year, you are likely only going to be audited 1% of the time. remember, if you live 100 years, well -- like i said, it would have to be 100 working years. there's still a chance. make more than $1 million and your chances jump to 6% that you will be audits. the irs is auditing more and more. there was a lot of criticism in the last few year that is the irs was spending too much time on ordinary taxpayers who even if they slip only could have owed $1,000 and letting rich tax

cheats slip through. audits are up in general. some folks are willing to pay a lot of money for sneakers. nike's new air jordans. if you like to collect sneakers, check this line out. this is houston where people were sleeping out overnight. >> that's crazy. >> it's the air jordan. space jam sneakers. 175 bucks. >> they were sleeping outside for these? >> do you wear them or put them in a box and look at them like dolls? >> they are collectibles. thank you. a former reality tv star's latest venture is about breathing new life into an old century. we check out the small business success. >> reporter: he hasn't worked on wall street since the first season of "the apprentice" a few

years ago. these days, you might find him at macy's. they carry his luxury brand of neckties. >> we have the florals. >> reporter: he and his business partner launched it in 2006. >> it's the young, aspiring professional moving up the corporate ladder. >> reporter: they have the distinct look and size. >> they are 16 inches long ver sis 56 inches long. it's the standard length of most ties. they are 3.5 inches wide versus 3 inches wide. >> reporter: he deals with national retailers. now, he says, there's more to come. >> it's going to be a luxury global lifestyle brand. moving from neck wear to cuff links to fragrance and build out a professional name.

okay. if you are a small business owner, we'd like to see your success story. go to cnn.com/robin. you might be featured here on "morning express." if you are traveling for the holidays, you don't want to know how bad the weather is going to be. maybe you do. a heart warming storpry about a little boy with cancer. h e's doing great things for other kids this christmas.

♪ hello there ♪ merry christmas. a 10-year-old boy with brain cancer is doing his part to help out other sick kids for christmas. he has tumors in his head and spine. he led his classmates to drop

off about 400 toys to a children's hospital. >> if it's a down day and he's not feeling good, we still make that his best day. if it's an up day, we make that the best day. i have to focus on the time. >> today is a good day? >> today is an awesome day. >> bless his heart. they collected so many toys there were extra to give to the ronald mcdonald house. steals your heart. bonnie schneider is here for our travelers. the getting is good now. right now, i want to stress. >> you want to catch your first flight of the day. we have a lot of places that will face delays because of a huge storm affecting the country. let's go to delays. in chicago, 45 minutes to an hour yesterday, due to snow.

today, a wintery mix. it holds true for minneapolis, as well. sioux falls, it's going to be a blizzard, meaning a white out situation. dallas, delays with thunderstorms. be careful out there. everybody wants to get where they are going. later today and christmas eve, we're going to face a lot of delays. >> thanks. now need a last minute gift idea? how about beer perfume? basically, old grains and 50,000 kinds of bacteria. it doesn't smell like beer. what's the point? >> good stuff. good stuff. >> would you want your wife wearing this? >> absolutely. >> all right. i guess it smells good. it comes in male and female versions. all right. nfl player, chris henry, was laid to rest.

it's not where his legacy ends. we have more on that. good morning. >> good morning. this is a silver lining of this. the bengals receiver was an organ donor and according to the cincinnati television station wlwt henry has helped save the lives of five people through organ donation. >> that's incredible. >> on tuesday, family, friends and teammates paid a final tribute to the nfl receiver at a funeral near new orleans. henry's fiancee gave an emotional speech to the hundreds in attendance. cincinnati quarterback carson palmer, head coach marvin lewis delivered eulogies. >> the fiancee driving the truck that he fell out of. >> he fell out of. >> had to be emotional for her. >> tough day for her, for sure. >> this is a good story, robin. a new jersey high school basketball player is making quite a name for herself. marvadean anderson stands 6'11" tall. incredible. she's been declared the world's

tallest teenage girl according to the "new york post." she's only 16 years old, born in jamaica and her coaches say she uses her 6'11" frame to block shots and make easy lay-ups. i would consider that's probably pretty easy since she's so close to the basket. good for her. only a sophomore. >> if she's 6'11" and those girls are just on her shoulder, i mean they're all tall girls. >> this girl is exceptionally tall. you can bet she's probably going to get a college scholarship in the next coming years. >> the next video, not going to see it on mtv. the phoenix suns fired up the team video recording a new version of the lionel ritchie hit "all night long." >> i have to hear it. ♪ all night long all night all night ♪ ♪ all night long all night all night ♪ >> sounds like a goat. >> lionel will love it. >> steve nash, which is sort of the best player in the team, he

actually has his own production company and he twoel wrote some tv ads for vitamin water. >> that's hysterical. >> i like the high singers. let's see here, moving on, get ready for a new cell phone option, coming from google. yes, it is.

okay. good morning. how are you doing? it's 7:00 eastern. good morning, sunshine. it's a real gift to be with you every day, that's nor sure. while you were sleep your blackberry probably woke up again but you might have a bit of an e-mail backlog. what we're learning about the second major outage in less than a week. you could be in for a rough day if you're trying to get home for the holidays. a big winter storm is already causing headaches for a huge chunk of the country. all right. our top story, though, is this one, some people are getting over a scary flight overnight. an american airlines plane overshot a runway in kingston, jamaica, last night. officials say that it smashed into a fence, skidded on to a road, and stopped just feet from

the sea. 91 people are hurt. jamaica's information minister says most were treated and released and he talked about reports that plane's fuselage was cracked. >> actually got near enough to the airplane to seat tail part of it. there are definitely some breaks in the fuselage but nothing that would indicate that it has broken apart. >> well, owe fishls say that this happened during a bad rainstorm. an airline spokesperson says that plane lost an engine and a landing gear collapsed. it was arriving from miami, but originated in d.c. now one passenger says that entire flight was turbulent and that crew gave up on serving drinks. a huge winter storm is moving through the west. it could dump a foot of snow on some areas as it heads eastward. it's already spawned a huge dust storm in arizona. that, combined with slick roads, caused a massive pileup on i-10 and also on i-40. three people were killed.

dozens of vehicles were involved. several of the vehicles even caught fire. in des moines, iowa, crews are prepping for freezing rain and snow coming their way. shoppers are buying last-minute gifts before the bad weather gets there. >> i like to finish now because if the weather does get bad, i don't want to be worrying about going out and having to get last-minute presents. >> everybody i've talked to have said, i'm pretty much through and i'm on my way home. so i think that's just the general consensus of everyone, is yeah, finish it up today. >> south dakota's governor has declared a state of emergency, anticipating that winter storm. let's have a look at the thing. bonnie schneider is in for bob. good morning. >> good morning, robin. so many advisories and many upgraded from watches to warnings, meaning the situation is more immediate and so is the threat for severe weather. in minneapolis, we have a winter storm warning. we also have advisories through kansas city, all the way back westward to arizona and new mexico. right now, the rain is coming in heavy and hard and this is all part of the storm.

it's not just snow but very strong thunderstorms working their way up from mississippi into tennessee and back out towards arkansas. some very heavy rain coming down right now in little rock. here's where it's snowing at this hour. just moving into parts of kansas and kansas city, even though it's raining where you are, you're going to see cha change over to rain and snow later. temperatures will support the snow showers. we have some very cold conditions out there climbing all the way up into the 20s only for minneapolis. so there is a lot of snow on the way and a lot of nasty weather. i'll have more on what we can expect in just a bit. >> all right. thank you. we're waiting to find out just when new jersey dad david goldman will be reunited with his 9-year-old son. here's the latest. a brazil zan supreme court ruled in favor of goldman in the international custody case yesterday. the family of the child's mother says it plans to appeal again. goldman's family has not seen the boy in five years. >> there was so many memories. we spent so much time with sean.

just fishing and going to the circus and going to the farm and going to the board walk and everywhere. it was wonderful. he's such a wonderful boy. and so much life. i just hope that they haven't taken any of that out of him that we're going to have to put, you know, have to get him back to where he was. >> after the brazilian court's decision, the u.s. senate finally approved a trade bill that gives brazil billions of dollars in benefits. you know that bill extends an existing agreement and had been put on hold when brazil failed to resolve the custody fight. if you checked your blackberry last night or earlier this morning, you probably wondered, nobody at work? no e-mail? service was down again. jennifer westhoven is here to tell you what's going on. or you can go i have no friends, nobody is e-mailing me! >> yeah. oh, it's so wonderful at the holidays when work slows down. there was a lot of it. yeah, there was a huge outage, widespread outage, that happened all across north america last

night. it hit all carriers not just one this time. blackberry estimates at one point 100% of its north american customers were hit. that is millions of people addicted to these little things, they say are on a leash. there were reports of problems in south america and asia too. service did start coming back on-line around 3:00 a.m. east coast time. but this is the second outage for blackberry in a week. that's some black eyes for them. the company's maker research in motion, they've always been very tight lipped about what's going on but i think there's going to be a little more pressure on them now that they have these two outages. >> close together, yeah. thank you. get this story, a dog in suburban, new york, is the first in the nation confirmed to be init effected with the same strain of the swine flu that's made so many people sick. the 13-year-old mixed breed apparently caught the virus from his owner. his vet is not identifying either one but says the pooch is on the mend. a reality tv star plans to

live out his fantasy in the house used for the movie "a christmas story." you remember the movie, bill jeffrey of the abc show "true beauty" was the top bidder in an on-line charity auction. he paid $4200 to spend two nights in that house in cleveland. now he says he's obsessed with the 1983 film. i purple double dog dare you. what did the little boy want? a red rider cap gun? that's not right. a bb gun. you'll shoot your eye out! six minutes past the hour. here comes a winter storm and bonnie is going to show you again where it is today and where it's going to be tomorrow when you're probably on the road somewhere. hi, bonnie. >> hi, robin. it's all over. snow, wind, rain across the country right now. heavy rain down in the mid south and back to the west it's snowing over utah and colorado at this hour. but the storm is on the move. it won't just sit there. we're expecting it to work its way eastward, bringing in a lot of heavy rain to louisiana, including new orleans tomorrow.

so we'll be seeing rain for atlanta for christmas eve and then heavy snow, whiteout situation for the dakotas for today and tomorrow and nebraska, too. and then back out towards minnesota, it's also going to be tough to travel due to snow. kansas city getting rain right now. however, this is important to know, if you're driving on any of these interstates to denver, fargo, minneapolis, you will see a changing weather situation. a rain/snow mix, happening in kansas city, pretty much from today to tomorrow and even into friday. then for chicago, we had snow yesterday that caused quite a bit of slow downs at the airport. well look at this. i-94, 90 and 80 will see a wintry mix in the forecast if you're driving today or tomorrow, you will encounter those inclement weather conditions. whether you're flying or driving you're going to have to deal with some of this wet weather. on the positive side to let you know with the snow and wintry conditions in the forecast, our chances for a white christmas are pretty good. here's the normal probabilities what we see, certainly the rockies above 90% for a white christmas and then, of course,

northern minnesota, wisconsin, michigan, tend to get a white christmas. here's the way it shapes inright now. our current snow cover is pretty far south down into the carolinas and virginia and that's from the recent noreaster. so we already have snow on the ground in a lot of different places. i think a white christmas this year, robin, will be more likely than it was this time last year because of all these big storms. the problem is it makes it tough just to travel for today and tomorrow. >> absolutely. good for the spirit once you get there. thank you. listen to this one, some web cameras reportedly cannot see black people. how the problem was noticed and what the camera maker is saying about that. and then a college football game got a big kick from the weather. the wind was crazy. .

you know we're getting new video of an american airlines plane that overshot the runway in kingston, jamaica, last night. this is a lot more clearer than what we've had in the past hour. you can see the plane right there. now here's the deal.

officials say that it smashed into a fence. you can see the fence that appears to be broken down right there. and that it skidded on to a road, obviously outside the airport, and stopped just feet from the sea. can you imagine? well, 91 people were hurt. the information minister in jamaica says that most people have been treated and released. so that is good news. but can you imagine, i know a lot of people were probably on a christmas trip and that's the way they started it. it's time right now for a salute to the troops. today we salute private first class david riley, currently serving in afghanistan. now his wife jill tells us he's not going to be home for christmas but he is expected to be back in february. >> good morning, robin. my name is jill riley. my husband is private first class david riley. we love and miss him so much. and are so proud of the work he's doing as a medic. merry christmas, honey, we love you, come home soon. >> very sweet. do you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them? go to cnn.com/robin.

balloon boy's parents will hear today whether they will go to jail. richard heene faces up to 90 days for the hoax. his wife could get 60 days. they may have to pay more than $40,000 for the search and rescue costs. a sheriff's investigator also wants the judge to limit how much the couple can profit from the possible tv and book deals. vegas is known for its unusual sights but no matter how many times you've been there, i don't think you've seen this. this guy was caught pelting the famous "welcome to las vegas" sign with paint. what are you thinking? new for you in 30 minutes, what he says -- okay. pushed him over the ledge. this is original. oh! that ain't right. president obama says that he's not leaving for his christmas holiday in hawaii until the senate passes its health care bill. the senate will hold a third procedural vote today. the final vote is tomorrow evening on christmas eve.

correspondent richard liu is digging into the major differences between the senate plan and the house plan. good morning. >> good morning. step by step, we get closer here, robin. you've heard a lot about these hot button issues. now we're on the verge of finding out whether they stick or get ditched and thrown out the window. the house bill, you remember the price tag here, a trillion dollars over the next decade. the senate, $871 billion. okay. that's the review. then the big lighten rod issue, a government run public option. the house plan still has one. the senate plan notably does not. so that will be debated over the next month. now, how do we pay for that number that sits at the top of the screen there? the house bill would tax the wealthy, couples earning at least a million dollars a year. and individuals earning $500,000. the senate plan would tax cadillac health plans vowed at more than $23,000 for families there. let's dig down more on that controversial public option. could -- and that could get booted. when plans from both the

chambers are merged, at least that's the attempt that's going to be happening after this. the senate is on track to pass its bill by the slimmest of margins without the public option. yet also without a single republican vote. so, the senate may hold the upper hand here on the public option. >> because they've got such a fragile coalition they're just barely making it over the top. so when it comes to this issue, we've had so much conversation about a public option, or the late-minute entry for a buy-in to medicare, i think the house is going to have to bow to the senate on that. they can't get it through the senate without that. >> the give and take there that david is talking about. the senate plan would allow private, non-profit insurers to offer coverage similar to the plan for federal government employees. we'll break down what this might mean for you. a little bit later. just two shopping days until christmas and the stores still have a few tricks up their sleeves to get you to spend and break out your wallet and spend and do more of that fun stuff.

jen westhoven is looking at all of those deals that might be out there for us, jen. >> are you all done? >> i am done. >> that is good. because there's always that person who shows up with like slim jim, you know, or a cookie post for mom. >> a bag of potato chips and a handshake. >> so tomorrow is your last chance. if you are a procrastinator and hey, that's normal, that's very human, to procrastinate and put things off, there are stores, though, that say you can still order on-line, including best buy, as late as 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, but then just to get it there on time you have to go physically pick it up at the store, pick up your gift you can make sure you reserve whatever you want. if you need to ship something, you can get that done today. some on-line stores are going to let you send it next day, like cate and barrel, but you are going to have to pay a lot for all that delay. maybe you've got a little kid somewhere you want to make sure they get it in time. now on the night before christmas, tomorrow, christmas eve, most stores are going to close early.

target is open until 7:00, toys r us are open until 8:00 and reports say most walmarts will be open until 6:00, a few open until 8:00. don't count on those stores being open late for you. maybe in your neighborhood you have seen a few more sold signs on the homes. existing home sales rose dramatically last month. that's some good news in a bad economy. signs maybe the housing market is finally picking up a little bit. sales jumped more than 7% in the latest month to their best level in three years. partly thanks to the $8,000 tax credit, of course, that they have picked up quite a bit from the bottom. the big question is, is that going to hold? you see that it says existing home sales and, of course, we kind of mean used homes. nobody likes to say used homes, right, but that's the way most homes really are. some family lived in it before. a lot of people making their christmas travel plans. bonnie, let's find out how we're doing. >> the smart ones that book their first flight out, no

problem. flight explorer will show we have several thousand planes in the air, most of the activity in the eastern half of the country but the west coast certainly waking up and getting going. why not? it's just before the holidays. problem is, we've got a lot of delays to tell you about. chicago you had delays yesterday, more today with the wintry mix. minneapolis, omaha, all facing snow. and albuquerque, des moines you're looking at snow in the forecast as well. one hour delays. sioux falls, south dakota, blizzard conditions, dallas and houston will be facing clouds and thunderstorms. so watch out for those stormy conditions out there. and kansas city, st. louis, you have thunderstorms, windy weather in los angeles. well, pregnant soldiers in iraq might not face a court-martial after all but their commander says they could still be punished. find out what he hopes to accomplish. plus, the first lady and the first daughters spill the beans, well almost. what they're saying the president is getting for christmas.

good morning. it's 19 minutes past the hour. new this morning, senator john kerry's wife teresa heinz has announced she has breast cancer. she's 71. she's using the announcement to encourage women to get mammograms. that's how she found out in september. heinz's had two surgeries since october and she's going to start radiation treatments next month. family, friends and teammates paid a final tribute to nfl receiver chris henry at a

funeral service in new orleans yesterday. joe carter is in for rafer. and the fiancee, who was driving the truck that he fell out of, was there yesterday as well. >> she was, robin. she gave a very, very emotional speech. you can imagine the entire ceremony was very emotional. his fiancee spoke to the hundreds in attendance. she actually paused several times to gather herself. she professed her internal love for henry and promised to raise their children the way he would want. nfl commissioner roger goodell and other nfl players were also there. >> for us to see chris, you know, there today, is very difficult for his teammates and friends and, you know, these guys held chris's hands in many, many quiet moments and really knew inside the man even beyond what i knew. >> chris henry, 26, was killed after he fell out of the back of a pick-up truck driven by his fiancee during what police called a domestic dispute.

well, wind was the big story in las vegas last night. hold on to your hats, ladies. 45 mile an hour winds. >> you're covered first. >> those things are heavy to begin with. holding them up in 45-mile-an-hour winds must have been really difficult. this was between the las vegas bowl between byu and oregon. temperatures in the 40s with the wind, felt like the 20s. that's a bowl game. byu would go on to win the game. check out this next video, snowball fight, it's from sunday's nfl game in philadelphia. >> it's like one target. >> yeah. it's an unfair snowball fight. we'll call it that. unnope how it started or white it started but we all know that this one was -- these two guys were 49er fans and they were completely outnumbered. these are the same fans, robin, that threw snowballs at santa claus. so anyone is fair game in philadelphia. >> that would have been rough. i wonder if they like were trash talking or just sitting there in

their jerseys. >> we don't know quite for sure but i'm thinking they were just sitting there in their jerseys. some people who pulled up at a gas station got a surprise, free gas. how did that happen? a police department has a plan that they say will make some people think twice before drinking and driving.

new video just in this hour, of a plane that overshot a runway. it crashed into a fence in king stonk, jamaica, last night during bad weather. 91 people were hurt. jamaica's information minister says the injuries were mostly broken bones, cuts and bruises, but the american airlines flight came from miami and that flight started in d.c. the man accused of shooting two washington state deputies on monday had a history of terrorizing his family. now that is from the sheriff's spokesperson. he said that david krable was drunk and intentionally ambushed the officers at his brother's cabin. he died in the shoot-out. one officer is in critical condition. the other is in stable.

looks like new jersey dad david goldman will be reunited with his 9-year-old son. we're waiting to find out when that's going to happen. the brazilian supreme court ruled in favor of goldman in the international custody case yesterday. the family of the child's mother says that it plans to appeal. those are some of our headlines that we're following for you this morning. you know what? being with you every morning, that is really truly the gift this holiday season for me. i'm robin meade. welcome. winter is not sparing southern california. a cold wind blew through palm springs yesterday. now the high winds kicked up dust and sand and that forced the city to close some roads. some might have preferred to stay indoors. >> it's a little scary because of the palm trees, you're frads they're going to fall on you. >> there's a bad storm getting ready to dump snow on some western states. honey, that thing is moving eastward. if you're in the midwest, don't go, yeah, too bad for you. bonnie schneider will have more on that storm and what it means for all of our holiday travelers in a couple minutes.

president obama says he's not leaving for his christmas holiday in hawaii until the senate passes its health care bill. now the senate will hold a third procedural vote today and then a final vote is slated for tomorrow morning. christmas eve. correspondent richard liu is digging into how possible health care changes could affect your budget. good morning. >> good morning, robin. yeah, dig down specifically this time around, for simplicity sake, for singles and what this new house bill might mean to you since that has been approved. what we did is we went to a calculator at the university of berkeley and what they have put out. under the house bill if you are single and 30 years old, you will put out $3,339 if you make $25,000. that's $3339. that is, again, if you're again 30 and single. another scenario here. let's say you're 30, make $50,000. again your total will go up to

$6864. that includes an annual premiums max of $2918 and an annual out of pocket maximum of $3946. so the more you make for that same loaf of bread, same sort of health care insurance plan that you might have, it will cost you more. >> you mathematician, you. on another issue, some very different views about abortion may clash when the house and the senate plans are merged here. how is the battle abortion funding shaping up here? >> as you know it's been a contentious issue so far. the house bill it would ban most abortion funding and subsidized policies. the senate plan on the other hand would let the states decide individually. the more conservative house position which i've just described may emerge a winner. senior political analyst david gergen broke it down for us. >> there is this issue where i think the house may prevail that's going to be, i think, very upsetting for many in the country, and that is on abortion. the house has a more

conservative provision on abortion than the senate, but the house is saying, without this more conservative provision, we can't pass it. so there's going to be a lot of hard bargaining and probably be opportunities for other people. maybe we'll have easter ryms by the time this is over. >> ryms. why is david talking about easter rhymes? that line about that is a reference to a christmas poem during senate debate yesterday. >> hit me with it. >> this is funny. illinois senator roland burris delivered a health care inspired version of "twaz the night before christmas." >> 'twas the night before christmas and all through the senate, the right held up a health care bill, no matter what was in it. the people had voted, they mandated reform, but republicans blew off the gathering storm. we'll clog up the senate, they cried with a grin, and in the

mid-term elections, we'll get voted in. >> all right. that was six lines, robin. it was funny, right? >> did he go on and on? >> i don't know if he went on. there were more lines to that but he was definitely not doing the full 60 lines, which had he done that would have put a lot of people to sleep. >> after a lot of talking, i'm sure everyone sat up and listened to that. >> serious on the hill. >> richard, thank you, appreciate it. listen, more than 4 million doses of the h1n1 nasal spray vaccine have been recalled because they appear to lose strength over time. but the fda's not recommending that you get revaccinated. it says this should not affect how well, it protects you. the vaccine maker says this was discovered during routine testing. last week another company recalled h1n1 shots for kids for the same reason. some people charged with drinking and driving may have their names posted on twitter. now that's the plan in a county near houston. the da's office says that the info is already public record and it hopes that the threat of embarrassment will be a

deterrent. not everybody is behind it, though. >> i don't think they should go that far with it. if you break the law you're going to get caught anyway. >> impaired driving or reckless driving kills five times more montgomery county citizens than other crimes. >> well the d.a.'s office says it will publicize the names until at least new year's day. do you need a last-minute gift idea? how about beer perfume? chemists in seattle are using the waste from a local brewery to make perfume. basically the old grains and 50,000 kinds of bacteria. i should point out it doesn't actually smell like beer. >> good stuff. >> good stuff. >> would you want your wife wearing this? >> yeah, absolutely. >> the fragrance comes in male and female versions. i think just the label would be good enough. beer perfume!

brilliant! 36 minutes past the hour. some of you might be up early today, maybe packing and doing some last-minute wrapping because you're taking off for the holiday trip. bonnie schneider is in for bob because we have a big winter storm, it is going to make its way eastward. tell me where. >> pretty much across the midwest, robin, we are looking at the chance for some really nasty weather. >> hold up. is that your microphone i'ming here? is everyone hearing that or my ear? >> i think your might crow phone might be hitting something, like maybe your hair? it's not working! that's the problem. i think the batteries died. that's probably what happened here. if you want -- i got an idea. you come over here and tell me what to say, we'll put up the map. and -- okay. you can see who the weather is brought to you by. obviously this is where she says we're going to have the blizzard conditions. is this for today or tomorrow? >> today, robin. we have blizzard advisories posted that start today and continue into tonight for

minneapolis and omaha. we're looking at freezing rain and that will affect places like kansas city, heavy snow to the mountain west. this is going to be a tough go of it for those of you that are traveling across the area. right now there's some very heavy rain that's working its way across little rock and memphis at this time. >> wow. look at that. >> heavy downpours for sure. we're looking at heavy rain across mississippi and snow at this hour moving into kansas. kansas city will see really changing conditions throughout the day. we've got definitely a wintry mix ahead from rain to snow later on tonight. notice chicago, we have a live tower cam picture of chicago and it's 31 degrees there. snow yesterday, more snow today, and now under a winter weather advisory. watch out for that. 31 degrees at this time. we're looking for temperatures across the northeast in the 20s. it's a cold morning in new york city. cold in philadelphia. still snow on the ground there. be careful for ice, black ice this morning. the big story, of course, is our extreme weather and that will work its way across the country for today and for christmas eve.

severe thunderstorms actually right here in atlanta, i think, for christmas eve. then we'll see that wintery mix with ice into areas of the upper midwest including northern michigan and look at that into western pennsylvania down through the mountains of virginia for friday. so it's really a storm that goes day by day. >> appreciate you leaning in here. >> i wanted you to show on camera how we did this. my microphone is working, i'm like go ahead. >> we're good friends. >> can you tell me who the weather is brought to us? >> today's weather is brought to us by tylenol. >> thank you. >> thank you for leaning in. >> moving on here. it is 21 minutes -- it's live tv. i said moving on. go ahead. keep going. if you look at irs records, you start to see some interesting patterns. how to beat the odds and avoid it a tax audit. and also ahead, what a man says drove him to vandalize the famous vegas sign. oh, no he didn't!

all right. 42 minutes past the hour. the attorney for rob blagojevich's brother is asking a judge to throw out more than 200 fbi wire taps and the former illinois's governor's corruption case. robert blagojevich's lawyer says recordings of phone conversations between him and his wife and son are private. he's arguing that anything on those calls should not be allowed in court. federal prosecutors have not commented. ♪ come here. do you want to beat the irs

odds? make under $200,000. most people say, done! our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. is that kind of the money mark where the irs comes in and goes, you make more than that, let me see? >> yeah. they'll still look, if you make less than that but you trip too many of the warning signs they have all kinds of secret, you know, if you do too much of this. >> okay. >> they look. but if you make more than $200,000 a year, it's a lot more likely that you're going to be audited. according to new figures that were just released you are likely only to be audited 1% of the time if you make less than that. now if you make more than a million dollars your chances jump to 6%. the irs has been doing more auditing, but you may remember, there was a lot of criticism in the past few years that they've gotten away from being kind and gentle so they're still making sure that people are on the up and up but they've been seen as letting too many rich tax cheats slip through. those are people who are taking a lot more money. audits are up 30% for

millionaires and up 11% for folks making more than $200,000 a year. some people are willing to pay a lot of money for sneakers. thinking turtle on entourage? but check out this is the line for the new nike air jordans. it's cold out there, right! they're bundled out, sleeping out overnight. this is in houston. i wonder if some of them even traveled there. most of them are sold out. this is the air jordan 11 retro space jam, $175. >> i think -- i don't think that the sole looks very retro or is it just me? i'm not exactly an air jordan connoisseur. >> i don't know. >> all right. thank you. a nevada man says that he is sorry for vandalizing the famous "welcome to las vegas" sign. he was wearing only a barrel. when a local tv crew caught him in the act. that's right, honey. now he says he wanted to demonstrate against the senate health care bill and started to

hallucinate because of his meds. this is not the first time that he's been in the spotlight.

so we were talking about a man who vandalized the famous las vegas sign. he said his meds made him hallucinate. >> las vegas put me through this for the last 12 years, and i couldn't -- i couldn't do no more. i just -- i lost it. >> well, he's done some attention-grabbing things like this since an arizona casino took away his half million dollar jackpot win 12 years ago. the casino said the machine malfunctioned and since then, he's been seen from time to time in weird outfits, ranting against the system.

hewlett-packard is looking into claims that its web cams cannot see black people. it all started with this youtube video. two co-workers took turns in front of a camera which is supposed to track your motion, right? it moves with you. it follows the white woman but it does not follow the black man hewlett-packard says it's likely a problem with its contrast in poor lighting conditions. nfl player chris henry was laid to rest yesterday, but that's not where his legacy ends. joe carter has more on an amazing part of this story really. >> because of his death, lives were saved. simply put it. this is one of those silver lining kind of stories because while chris henry's death is a tragedy, some good did come out of it. the bengals receiver was an organ donor and according to the cincinnati tv station wlwt henry has already helped save the lives of five people through organ donation. on tuesday, family, friends and teammates paid a final tribute to the nfl receiver at a funeral near new orleans.

henry's fiancee who was driving the truck when he fell out, gave an emotional speech to the hundreds in attendance. cincinnati quarterback carson palmer and marvin lewis delivered eulogies. a new jersey high school basketball player is making a name for herself. marvadene anderson stands 6'11" tall and has declared the world's tallest teenage girl according to the "new york post." there's a girl on her team who's 52'8", he she's 6'11". imagine that team picture. her coach says she uses her frame to block shots and make easy lay-ups. she's only a sophomore. this next video not going to make it to mtv any time soon. the suns recorded a new version of lionel ritchie's "all night long." ♪ come on and sing along all night long all night ♪ >> the team does this. they used to do it after a team win. their spirit's high. >> i love it. let me hear it ♪ all night long

>> so cute. all right. google has changed the way people use the internet. now the company's trying to usher in a major change in the cell phone biz. phone biz. hln expert clark howard has the scoop. >> i want you to fasten your seat belts and get ready for the new way that you access wireless networks, cell phone calling and the internet because nexus 1 is coming to launch soon. what's nexus 1, that's google's new effort in the marketplace that may fall flat on its face, but it's a clear signal of what's coming. right now we think about buying internet service from a particular company and then in turn having a contract with whoever that is well, in the new era you will have a device that will be data ready and data will

also mean calling and you may choose maybe even on a daily basis who you use. you'll have one number that will follow you around the globe. google is light years ahead of everybody else thinking along this line, but it's coming. i'm clark howard. for more ways your money's going to fatten, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> he's the guy to teach you to save more, spend less and avoid being ripped off. catch him at noon on saturdays and sundays right here on hln. >> flying now? good, compared to flying later. >> here's bonnie in for bob. >> that's right. no delays so far, but we are anticipating them in chicago due to a wintry mix. snow is in your forecast today and tonight. sioux falls, south dakota. >> we'll also see those thunderstorms roll further south and east on tuesday for christmas eve. so you will have them in atlanta

and new orleans. that is a look at your air traffic and anticipate the delay it is because they're coming up later today. >> all right, thanks. christmas will be hectic for a woman who has adopted 50 son. 50. how she does it. 

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. how are you doing besides up early? good morning, sunshine, i'm robin meade, here's what's going on. a passenger plane overshot the runway while trying to land overnight. next thing the passengers knew the plane was crashing to a fence and was this close to the water, a sea. >> also if you're missing e-mails on your plaque berry, you're want alone. it happened to millions of people last night and now we're tracking down what went wrong. some military families are saying thol their loved ones back home from iraq, but why did they have to wait even longer than expected? >> first our top stories, the people are talking about the scare they got when their plane

overshot a runway in bad weather. the american airlines plane crashed into a fence at the airport in kingston, jamaica, overnight. a stop just feet away from the water, the sea. one passenger said he felt rain coming through the roof. 91 people were hurt. jamaica's information minister says most were treated and released and he talked about reports that the plane's fuselage was cracked. >> i actually got near enough to see the tail part of it. there are definitely some breaks in the fuselage, but nothing -- nothing that would indicate that it had broken apart. >> officials say it happened during a bad rainstorm. an airline spokesperson said the plane lost an engine and landing gear collapsed. it was arriving in miami, but originated in d.c. one passenger said the entire flight was turbulent and the crew even gave up serving drinks. a huge winter storm is moving through the west right

now and it could dump a foot of snow, but honey, it is going eastward. it has already spawned a huge dust storm in arizona, that, combined with slick roads to cause massive pile-ups on i-10 and i-40. three people were killed and dozens of vehicles were involved. several vehicles caught fire. crews are prepping for freezing rain and snow coming today their way. south dakota's governor has declared a state of emergency anticipating the winter storm. is des moines getting it today or tomorrow? >> today. absolutely. tonight and tomorrow, it's a long-lasting storm for those of you traveling and so many people are, what's going to happen on the interstates, for example in kansas city is a changing situation. you might start off right now with heavy rain because it's coming down hard, but it's going to change over to snow, if you're driving west, east, north, you will definitelien counter these problems. chicago is another city i'm watching closely because we have a wintry mix in the forecast. right now it's calm.

we had light snow yesterday, but look at this, whether you're heading to the dakotas or not you'll see a wintry mix. speaking of the dakotas, blizzard warnings are in effect for areas there. we'll be looking for a white out situation. i'll have more on this extreme weather which includes a forecast that will take us through friday, christmas day and we'll be looking at nasty weather then unfortunately, actually. we're waiting to find out exactly when david goldman will be reunited with his son. the brazil court ruled in favor of goldman yesterday, but the family of the child's mother says it plans to appeal once again. goldman's family has not seen the boy in five years. >> i'm going to hug him and kiss him and tell him how much i love him and how much i've missed him and go on from there. >> after the brazilian court's decision the u.s. senate finally approved a trade bill that gives brazil billionses of dollars in

benefits. that bill extends an existing agreement and had been put on hold when brazil failed the custody fight. >> have you checked your blackberry and you thought no one has e-mailed me. service was down again. she equates everything with work and said there's no work. oh, rats, there is work! >> a lot of people use them for work, but widespread outage and they hit all of the carriers. we're not just talking about one carrier which is the way the story goes. blackberry estimates that 100% of its north american customers were at least at one point hit by the outage and that's millions of people and maybe not just u.s. and canada. there were reports of problems with blackberries in south america and asia. service did start to come back around about 3:00 a.m. east coast time, but this is the second blackberry outage in a week. how do you count on this thing if it keeps going out. it's kind of a plaque eye there and research in motion which is

the canadian company that makes these, still not saying what happened and that's, robin, been their policy that they just -- they don't have to explain to us. we'll see. >> the little people. we won't understand. >> okay. thank you. the biggest overhaul of your health care in decades has one more test to pass in the senate today before final christmas eve vote. senate democrats need all 60 votes at today's procedural vote. the white house and republicans say not much can stop it. health care reform is not a matter of if. health care reform is a matter of when and the president is enormously encouraged by that. >> what is the reason we're doing this fast? we're doing it for a political reason. do we want to pass a bill to say we passed a bill not because it's in the best long-term interest and doing the best right thing for america. >> the controversial public option is not in the senate plan and the house bill does have it

and you will hear about the upcoming battle over the public option and that story's ten minutes away. new this morning we're learning that senator john kerry's wife, teresa heinz has breast cancer. she's 71. she's telling her story to encourage women to get mammograms. heinz has had two surgeries since october. she will start radiation treatments next month. a big winter storm again. i know, you just got over one that happened over the weekend, now this storm is hitting in the central part of the united states, in the west coast, but it is coming eastward, right, bonny? >> christmas day this storm will bring very heavy rain to the southeast, for example, places enjoying nice weather and then we run the risk of a wintry mix all of the way from pennsylvania to new york for christmas day, but first right now, we have winter weather warnings up for blizzard conditions across the dakotas back up through minnesota. freezing rain expected for kansas city. it's raining hard right now, but the temperatures will drop and

that will freeze and heavy snow back out to the west. it is snowing heavy and hard in the mountains of arizona and utah, but here's where we have the thunderstorms and memphis about to be hammered by storms and heavy downpours of rain across mississippi and arkansas. little rock will be a tough early morning drive for those heading to your holiday destination. look at the changeover in texas. you can see the rain and back out to the west where the cold air is trying to come in and it will. we're getting that change over from sleet to snow. >> here's another place to baton down the hatches. do it early in minneapolis and chicago because right now it's cold out there, but we're okay. the problem is the rain will move into chicago tonight. temperatures is 31 degrees and it will get colder tonight. >> also the northeast, we still have plaque ice residual from the nor'easter, but here's the big storm coming and so today all of this slides to the east. we see a wintry mix to the north

behind it. on friday it's a wintry mix for western pennsylvania, places like scranton and wilkes bury and the mountains that just knot the heavy snow and more heavy snow for the plains and we'll be measuring it by the foot. no doubt about that. and for those of you looking for a getaway in florida for christmas day, you'll need the umbrella and it will be a wet christmas across much of florida and georgia. what a storm, robin over the next 48 hours it will pretty much hit everybody. >> it is such a letdown for people that planned their trip, we'll spend christmas on the beach. it's raining on them. get this, a web cam may have an embarrassing glitch. it doesn't seem to recognize black people. also a man is serving nine days in jail for the fifth year in a row. it is the price he has to pay after driving a car that killed a little boy.

in our salute to the troops today we salute private 1st class david riley currently in afghanistan. his wife tells us he's not going to be home for christmas, but he is expected back in february. >> good morning, robin. i'm jill riley and my husband is private 1st class david riley. we love and miss him so much and are so proud of the work he's doing as a medic. merry christmas, honey. we love you, come home soon. >> if you have smn somebody in the service go to cnn.com/robin. count them, one, two, two days until christmas. shopping days, anyway. some of the stores will be open late and they have a few tricks up their sleeves to get you to spend a little more than you planned. money, pert jennifer westhoven. like what? >> there's always someone who got the air freshener, something they picked up at the last minute, but some stores like best buy are still saying they can get the gifts for you if you

order online as late as three p.m. if you need to ship something you will have to pay a lot. you can still do it today. you have four hours left to catch next-day shipping and places like crate and barrel are doing that online, but it will cost you. tomorrow the night before christmas, the final day, maybe there was someone you forgot. most stores are going to close early. especially if you have bad weather try to get out early or pick it up before lunch. target will be open until 7:00. toys "r" us until 8:00 and most walmarts will be open until 6:00 and remember, even a lot of those stores that are usually open 24 hours they may be closed for christmas day so you've got to make your plans. in your neighborhood, maybe you've been seeing those for sale signs turned into home signs. existing home sales rose dramatically in the latest month. sales jumped more than 7%. it took them to their highest

mark in three years. they are climbing up and out of the hole. partly, of course, it is thanks to the $8,000 tax credit for the federal government for first-time homebuyers. here you see, they are coming out of the hole. they have sure picked up from the january low. >> as you know, you've been listening to morning a huge winter storm is brewing out west. so before you head out the door we'll tell you how it it is affecting travel plans, but what is britain's prince william doing sleeping in the streets?

president obama says that he's not leaving for his christmas holiday in hawaii until the senate passes its health care bill. the senate will hold a third procedural vote today and a final vote is set for tomorrow morning on christmas eve. correspondent richard louie is joining us now and he's looking

into the major differences between the senate plan and the house plan. good morning. >> good morning, robin. those contentious issues we've been talking about for months are still contentious and we'll talk about them right now. we'll find out where they stay and where they go as the two plans come together. >> the house bill specifically costs you about $1 trillion over the next decade. the senate plan $871 billion. now, the key lightning rod issue here, that's that government-run public option. the house plan, it does have one. the senate plan does not. how do we pay for the whole thing they would tax the wealthy. individuals earning $500,000 would get taxed on that. the senate plan would tax health plans valued at 23,000 for families in that. just some of the key issues. >> what about this public option thing? it is so controversial. some people just despise it and others say it be needed. what are the chances of it

surviving that the point. the public option could get booted. the senate is due to pass its bill by the slimmest of options without the public option which givious an indication there and it doesn't have a single republican vote. even though it doesn't have the public option in there so the senate may hold the upper hand in terms of what will be happening in the future on the public option. take a listen to this. because they have such a fragile coalition, they're barely making it over the top. so when it comes to this issue, we've had so much conversation about a public option or the late-minute entry for a buy-in to medicare and i think the house will have to bow to the senate on that. they can't get through the senate on that. >> the senate plan would allow private non-profit insurers to offer coverage and that's similar to the plan for federal government employees. >> thank you for the rundown on that. for the fifth year in a row a man is spending nine days of the christmas holiday behind bars. a judge in dallas came up with the unusual sentence after the

jury gave the man probation in a dui crash that killed a boy. the man has to spend 180 days in jail, but the time is spread out over a decade, during the holidays and the victim's birthday. >> he has to prepare for it. he has to anticipate it. he has to worry about it and maybe when he has children and he has to say, well, daddy's got to go to jail for christmas. it hopefully will mean something. >> the victim's parents have never agreed with the jury sentence. they say probation was not enough. a lot of us are getting into the christmas spirit,david lett. check out part of his top ten list. >> number six. ♪ frosty the snowman had a carrot on his face ♪ ♪ 'til some young punks relocated it to a very naughty place ♪

>> number five. ♪ here comes tiger woods, here comes tiger woods driving really fast ♪ ♪ here comes elin woods with a 7 wood clobbering tiger's -- ♪ >> that's awesome. i could listen to the whole top ten list! >> 19 minutes past the hour. family, friends and teammates paid a final tribute to nfl receiver chris henry at a funeral service in new orleans yesterday. joe carter is here now with more. i can't imagine how hard it was for his team and his fiancee. >> it was an emotional day for chris henry's fiancee which was the one credited for helping him turn his life around. he was arrested five times in 18 months and she spoke to the hundreds of people at the funeral pausing several times to gather herself. she professed her e teshal love for henry and promised to raise their children the way he would

want. roger goodell is in attendance as well as other nfl players. for us to see chris there today is very difficult for his teammates and friends. you know, these guys held chris' hand in many, many quiet moments and really knew inside the man even beyond what i knew. >> chris henry, 26 years owed died thursday from head trauma after falling out of the back of a pickup truck during what police call a domestic dispute. >> well, wind was the big story in las vegas last night. hold on to your hats, ladies because these 45-mile an hour winds can rip them right off your head. this was the las vegas bowl between byu and oregon state. temperatures fell into the 20s. bowl game is supposed to be a reward for a team, but these guys got blown around and froze their butts off. byu will go on to win the game. time from a snowball fight from sunday's nfl game in

philadelphia. >> this is so rough. >> not quite the most fair snowball fight. fans in the stands, the eagles fans were taking direct aim at a couple of san francisco 49er fans who were wearing opposing jerseys. in philly, they don't like that. they like you to wear the team colors. >> this was organized. how do they get the word around at certain times we'll throw snowballs to people they started with one and another person thought that was a good idea. these are the same fans, not the exact same fans, but they're the ones that threw snowballs at santa claus some ten years ago in philadelphia. >> no hospitality. >> thank you. some of santa's helpers do not need reindeer to get the job done. the elephants rose santa hats. the poor elephants in thailand handed out gifts to kids with their trunks.

needless to say the kids were ecstatic about it. the elephants came from an organization that takes care of them when they get older. >> and dresses them up in funny costumes. republicans are getting an interesting christmas gift and an interesting seat in the house. it is interesting.       

you know, it's been a rough start to christmas for some people on one plane that overshot a runway. it crashed in a fence in kingston jamaica last night during some bad weather. 91 people were hurt. jamaica's information minister said the injuries were mostly broken bones, cuts and bruises. the american airlines flight came from miami and the flight originated in d.c. the attorney for rodd blagojevich's brother is asking the judge to throw out more than 200 fbi wiretaps in the governor's corruption case. robert blagojevich's lawyer said fbi recordings of phone conversations between he and his wife and his son are private. federal prosecutors have not

commented. a dog in suburban new york is the first in the nation confirmed to be infected with the same strain of the swine flu that's made so many people sick. the 13-year-old mix breed apparently caught the virus from its owner. it is not identifying either one, but says the pooch is on the mend. those are the headlines and i want to say good morning to you. good morning, sunshine! are you up early today because you're packing or scurrying around, maybe? glad to have you. i'm robin meade. president obama says he is not leaving for his christmas holiday in hawaii until the senate passes his health care bill. the senate withheld a third procedural vote. correspondent richard lui is digging into the possible health care changes. how those would affect your budget. good morning. >> good morning to you, robin. we went to the university of california berkeley's calculator to see what it might mean for families of four. two adults, two children where the youngest adult is 40 years

old. first scenario for you, you're a family of four. you take $35,000 in income. what that means for you is the total cost per year will be $2,781. you will have a total annual out of pocket there of some $1578. another scenario, $70,000 in income for your family of four, again, 40 being the youngest adult. here we see $14,346. you can see the trend bill. annual out of pocket maximum, $7,102. as you make more, you put out more. if your family of four takes in $200,000 in income that goes up again $17,801, your annual out of pocket maximum $7,891. your annual premium $10,000 almost. that seems to be the trend. the more you make, the more you pay. >> okay. switching gears. very different views on abortion may clash when the house and senate plans are merged.

how is the battle on abortion funding shaping up with this? >> this is a controversial issue. the house bill would ban most abortion funding in subsidized policies. the senate on the other plan, that would let the states decide individually, the more conservative house position which i was mentioning on abortion may emerge the win or senior political analyst broke it down. take a listen. >> there is this issue where i think the house may prevail that's going to be, i think, upsetting for many in the country and that is on abortion. the house has a more conservative provision on abortion in the senate, but the house is saying without the more conservative provision we can't pass it. so there will be a lot of hard bargaining and there will probably be opportunities by other people. maybe we'll have easter rhymes by the time this is all done. >> the rhymes that david was talking about is in reference to a special christmas poem. maybe you've seen it during the senate debate yesterday. illinois senator roland burris

delivered a health care inspired version of "'twas the night before christmas", you've got to listen to this. >> 'twas the night before christmas and all through the senate, the right held up the healthcare bill no matter what was in it. the people had voted, they mandated reform and republicans blew off the gathering storm we'll clog up the senate, they cried with a grin, and in the midterm elections we'll get voted in. >> so, robin, we looked at all his stands as we counted them up because you asked the last time you and i were talking. the full "'twas the night before christmas." we're glad he didn't do the full thing. >> it did make people stop and listen. >> perhaps a couple of belly laughs, too. >> richard, thank you. >> sure. what a story here hewlett-packard is looking into claims that its web cams cannot see black people. it started with this youtube

video. two coworkers took turns in front of a camera which is supposed to track your motion and move with you. >> it's not following me. wanda, get back in the frame. it follows me wherever i go. >> hewlett-packard says that it's most likely a problem with the contrast and the poor lighting conditions. we want to warn you that this next video might be disturbing. there are new pictures of michael brewer, the 15-year-old florida boy who police say was set on fire by a group of teenagers. today we're expecting a news conference with his doctors and his mom. brewer was released from the hospital yesterday. his doctors say that his recovery is going to be a life long process. 35 minutes past the hour. >> a huge winter storm is over on the west coast. it is marching its way across the country. so when's it going to affect your backyard? >> hi, bonnie.

>> we're looking at freezing drizzle in des moines, iowa. that's going to get heavier and we're watching rain in kansas city that will change to rain and freezing rain and ice. the biggest threat is the blizzard. that will be problematic for the northern plains. we're talking about a white-out situation and strong winds as well. heavy thunderstorms hitting memphis, tennessee hard right now. we're also looking for a lot of rain out toward little rock, arkansas. stormy weather there, strong winds. it is also going to be a changing situation in kansas where one side of the state is facing snow and the other is facing rain. you can see the current temperature in chicago is at 31 degrees. in des moines we have 31 degrees. it's very cold out there. one city that will also be affected by this is not really the northeast just yet even though it's a cold morning in boston, just to note 17 out there and just watch out for black ice. in omaha, nebraska, you will get hammered by this snowstorm.

we can show you how the extreme weather is moving in. it does want look very promising. get ready and batten down the hatches for snow, wind, rain and ice in nebraska. it will work its way up to northern wisconsin as well. as we track the storm from christmas eve into christmas day, wet weather for florida. it will bring a wintry mix into pennsylvania, back out toward virginia and heavy snow in the northern plains. so windy weather there. this is such a huge storm. those of you driving, be careful out there whether you're headed to minneapolis, fargo and denver, you're facing a wintry mix. it can turn to ice and snow at any time. >> tough travel in and around chicago where i'm anticipating airport delays, but if you're driving it will start as freezing rain and it will change over at night. if you can leave chicago early i would advise it because it will just get worse tonight into christmas eve.

so keep that in mind for those of you driving around. robin? >> thank you very much. get this, sales of personal breathalyzer, have you seen these? the sales are up and some are thinking that's probably not a good thing. we hear a lot about the win the winter blues. how much is myth and how much is reality? we'll go beyond the surface.

okay. you know what? we are going to check the papers for you so you don't have to toddle outside in your robe. here's what's going on. "the wall street journal "kwt has a story on a shocking murder in the mexican drug war. the family of a mexican naval hero who was killed last week were themselves gunned down by a drug gang yesterday. it's believed to be retaliation for the sailor's participation

in a special forces operation that killed a high-profile drug kingpin last week. >> this story, "usa today" reports the use of personal breathalyzers is up, but that it may want be such a good thing. you've seen these in stores, right? you can buy them. according to the report, both aaa and law enforcement officials question the accuracy of these personal devices that you basically do a breathalyzer test on. these could be giving drivers a false sense of security. >> it seems weird, too. >> what seems weird? the breath az a risers? >> if you have more than two drinks in two hours, don't drive. that's it. >> i wouldn't want to see someone at the wheel and then testing themselves. it could be like a fun party activity, but let's not go getting behind the wheel. yeah. exactly. do you want to beat the irs odds make under $200 grand? i know most people in the audience will say done! all right.

we're safe. jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. it seems most families would never get audited. it's your responsibility, everybody knows, to do your taxes and do them honestly, but at least you don't have to worry so much if you get one thing wrong that you're going to be in all kinds of trouble and you'll be subject to this scary nightmare scenario of an audit. according to new figures just released if you make less than $200,000 a year, unless you set off a lot of red flags which you can do, you will probably only be audited 1% of the time. if you do make more than $1 million, lucky you, but it jumps to 6% that you'll get audited. the irs has been stepping up audits to make sure people are on the up and up. a few years back they got in for a lot of criticism that basically they were being really lax when it came to richer people which is often where they see more of the problem. of course, you can get away with a lot more as opposed to someone

doing a little bit. audits are up 30% for millionaires and up 11% for people who make more than $200,000 a year. more audit activity overall. these people are willing to spend a lot of money and spend a lot of time for sneakers. these are the new air jordans by nike that we're talking about. these are people overnight in houston, sleeping out in the cold, willing to pay $175 to get a pair of these air jordan 11 retro space jam sneakers. >> i liked your comment earlier that -- do you wear them and put them on a frame and look at them for $175. do you get a special clear box? >> wow! >> right beside it there's a crown and then there's shoes. >> and some barbies from 1972. >> we laugh at tennis shoe

aficionados and they're like, they don't know what they're talking about. for some people winter is dark and depressing. we're going underneath the surface to look at the winter blues. >> seasonal affective sdorder is a type of fall and winter depression where we see that typically people have low moods or eating a lot and are sleeping a lot. what's interesting is that seasonal affective disorder is not the same thing as holiday stress. holiday stress comes and goes, but seasonal affective disorder for many people lingers long after the holidays. some of the best things people can do for themselves and helping a family member is really to stick to a routine as much as possible. so that means getting out of the house, getting out to get sun light, getting exercise and getting support from friends and family. a lot of people have this misconception that suicide rates are higher during the holidays and that is actually not the case. winter months we see a decreased suicide rate in part, we think

because of increased social support. >> interesting. a huge winter storm is causing problems for people all across the country. where it's heading and how bad it's going to be. the parents of a boy battling cancer are extremely proud of him. see what he did to help other kids for christmas.

>> a 10-year-old with brain cancer is doing his part to help out other sick kids for christmas. brandon bronze has tumors in his head and spine. chemo has stopped working now, but he let led his classmates to drop off 400 toys to a children's hospital. >> when i was in the hospital all over again i would presents. >> if it's a down day and he's not feeling good then we still make that the best day and if it's an up day and he feels good

we make that the best day. so i just have to focus on the time. >> today's a good day. >> today's an awesome day. >> bless his heart. >> brandon and his friends collected so many toys that they were extra to give to the ronald mcdonald house. nice job, brandon. nfl player chris henry was laid to rest yesterday, but that's not where his legacy ends. joe carter in for rafer this morning with an amazing story about how his life is helping other people. >> yes. his death is helping save other lives. that's really how you can simply put it because this story, there's a silver lining tos this their story because chris henry's death is tragic, some good did come out of it. the bengals receiver was an organ donor and according to wlwt henry has helped save the lives of five people through organ donation and raise awareness. tuesday, family, friends and teammates paid tribute at a funeral near new orleans. henry's fiancee who was driving the truck he fell out of gave an

emotional speech to the hundreds in attendance. since then, carson palmer and head coach marvin lewis also delivered eulogies. >> a new mexicoing high school player is making quite a name for herself on the basketball court. marvadene anderson stands 6'11" tall and has been declared the world's largest teenage girl according to "the new york post." she's only 16 years old and he was born in. >> make and she's using her frame to block shots and make layups and make a name for herself. there's a girl on the team who is 5'2" so the team picture is a bit lop sided. this next video not going to make it to mtv any time soon. the phoenix suns fired up the video camera recording a new version of lionel richie's hit "all night long." >> i love this. >>. ♪ come on and sing along ♪ all night long, all night

neat all night long ♪ . . >> that's leonardo and he sounds like he's choking a goat. >> that is that really shows their personality. >> they apparently do this after they win games. no word if they're going to record "dancing on the ceiling." google has changed the way people use the internet and now the company is trying to usher in a major change in the cell phone biz. clark howard has the scoop. >> i want you to fasten your seat belts and get ready for the new way that you access wireless networks, cell phone calling and the internet because nexus one is going to launch soon. what is that? that's the code name for google's new effort in the marketplace that may fall flat on its face but a clear signal of what's coming. right now we think about buying

internet service from a particular company and think about buying cell phone service from a particular company and then in turn usually having a contract with whoever that is. in the new era, you're going to have a device that will be data ready and data will also mean calling and you will choose maybe even on a daily basis who you use. you'll have one number that will follow you around the globe. google is light years ahead of everybody else thinking along this line, but it's coming. i'm clark howard. for more ways your wallet is going to fatten, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> so teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays. homer simpson is with the vatican. the vatican newspaper praised the unorthodox take on religion. homer's religious confusion and

ignorance mirror some of modern man's attitude toward faith. i'm not normally a religiouses man, but if you're up there, save me super man. christmas is going to be hectic for a woman who has adopted 50, 5-0, sons.

good morning! 9:00 eastern and i hope that you're having a very good morning or a good start to it. i'm robin meade, here you go, sunshine, with what's going on today. a passenger plane overshot the runway while trying to land and the next thing the passengers knew it crashed through a fence and sliding right towards the sea. if you're missing e-mails on your blackberry, you're not alone. we're tracking down what went wrong. the fbi kept an eye on michael jackson for more than a decade. now, we get to see what's in its files. first, though, our top stories. some people are talking about

the scare they got when their plane overshot the runway in bad weather. the american airlines plane crashed into a fence in kingston, jamaica, last night. one passenger felt rain coming through the roof after the landing. 91 people were hurt. american airlines is now talking about the damage to the plane. >> we certainly know there is damage to the fuselage and one engine on the right side came off after it had gotten past the runway and, ultimately, stopped with one landing gear on the left-hand side of the main gear had collapsed on the left. >> well, officials say this happened during a bad rain storm and an airline spokesperson said the plane lost an engine and landing gear collapsed. it originated in d.c. one passenger said the entire flight was turbulent and the crew gave up on serving drinks. a huge winter storm is

moving through the west and could dump a foot of snow in some places as it heads eastward now. it is already, for example, spawned a huge dust storm in arizona. that combined with slick roads caused massive pileups on interstate 10 and 40. three people were killed and dozens of vehicles were involved. in des moines, iowa, crews are prepping for the freezing rain and snow from that system. anticipating the winter storm. what about your back yard? is the same thing coming for you? bonnie schneider is in for bob. good morning. >> good morning, robin. a warning for parts of arkansas, excuse me, arizona. what we're looking at right now are definitely some improvements in the forecast. heavy rain working its way across parts of arkansas and into tennessee and the rain will bring about tough travel conditions for those of you that are driving. if you're driving from kansas

city to denver, changing situation. you start off with rain and changes to ice and then eventually snow and you can also see temperatures are cold enough to support snow in minnesota. 27 degrees and we're expecting snow to move in tonight and also a cold morning in portland, maine, 11 degrees. that is chilly. brisk 32 degrees in washington, d.c. be careful from the nor'easter, still plenty of snow on the ground that melted it and then it refreezes. that is just the beginning of a huge storm working its way across the country. severe storms working its way across the parts of the gulf coast and eventually the strong storms will push eastward not only for christmas eve, but christmas day, as well. back behind the system heavy snow in the northern plains and brisk wind, 45 miles per hour and that will create a whiteout situation for a good portion of south dakota. we're expecting blizzard conditions there. i mention the drive. rain, sleet, snow wherever you go and we're also anticipating

that for chicago and this is so important, robin because chicago, of course, is a hub for those of you traveling whether you're driving or flying. all those big interstates are going to be facing some inclement weather tonight and tomorrow. >> thank you. not exactly the greatest timing for this storm to come around, but what can you do? we're waiting to find out just one new jersey dad, david goldman reunited with his 9-year-old son. the brazilian supreme court ruled in favor of goldman, but the family of the child's mother says it plans to appeal again. goldman's family has not seen the boy in five years. >> i want to hug him and kiss him and tell him how much i missed him and love him and go on from there. >> after the brazilian's court decision, the u.s. senate finally approved a trade bill that gives brazil billions of dollars in benefit. that extends an existing agreement when brazil failed to

resolve the custody fight. if you checked your blackberry last night or early this morning and you're thinking no e-mail, looks like no work. service was down again and jennifer is here to tell you what's going on. >> they had a big glitch overnight. maybe your inbox was empty this morning. widespread outage across north america, south america and some people around the world reported problems and hit all the carriers. blackberry estimated every single one of its customers in the united states and canada was affected. so, millions of people out there going, hey, what's happening with my blackberry? a lot of people out last night. service did start to come back about 3:00 a.m. east coast time but this is the second blackberry outage in a week. maybe a couple years ago they could have gotten away with that, but now a lot more competition out there. research in motion addressing the issue and they say they have

new versions of a software, blackberry messenger and that is causing the glitch for everybody. if you have that, go reload a new version. >> really, what is blackberry messenger, is that back and forth to each other, other people on blackberries? >> you know, i have one, but you're asking the wrong girl. i guess like instant messaging over blackberry. >> it rings, i pick it up. more than 4 million doses have been recalled because they appear to lose strength over time, but the fda is not recommending that you get revaccinated. it shouldn't affect how well it protects you now. the vaccine maker says this was discovered during routine testing and another company recalled h1n1 shots for kids for the same reason. people are upset about a plan to bring terror suspects into illinois. protesters showed up at a public hearing in sterling, illinois. the governor plans to sell a state prison to the federal

government so detainees from guantanamo bay could move there. >> you're making us a target for foreigners to attack on american soil. >> a rep for the governor says they would never put people at risk. supporters also say that this would bring in thousands of jobs. some kids got a special treat from first lady michelle obama. she read stories and, you know, a tradition for the first lady that dates back to truman. first daughters sasha and malia joined in. but their dog, bo, wasn't having it. bo, it's santa. all right, bo, sit. he hasn't seen santa before. he is a believer. >> he is a believer. you know, santa would look weird

to dogs. what is the president getting for christmas? the first lady hinted sport stuff. a web cam may have an embarrassing glitch. it does not seem to recognize black people. the wind got crazy during a college basketball game.

we always salute the troops and today we salute private first class david riley, currently in afghanistan and his wife, jill, tells us he will not be home for christmas but is expected back in february. >> good morning, robin, my name is jill riley. we love and miss him so much and are so proud of the work he's doing as a medic. merry christmas, honey, we love you. come home soon. >> maybe you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them. go to cnn.com/robin. just want to remind you can get on our facebook page and

chat away with our viewers. new this morning, we're just learning that senator john kerry's wife has breast cancer. she is 71 and telling her story to encourage women to get mammograms. that's how she found out in september. she had two surgeries since october and will start radiation treatments next month. right now on our facebook page people are talking about the weather that they're experiencing and i think the weather is probably affecting our shopping. there are only two shopping days until christmas. the stores do have some tricks up their sleeves trying to get you out to spend. jennifer westhoven is here with more on that. >> especially when you hear what bonnie is saying. tomorrow is your last official chance to pick up gifts and maybe you want to do it today. some of the stores will let you, you know you will not get there until late tomorrow night and you can go ahead and order online like places like best buy. you can reserve something you want and just physically pick up

the gift at the store. if you still need to ship to some people, you will pay a lot for it but maybe you know a little boy or girl anxiously awaitling a gift from you under the tree. some websites, including crate & barrel will let you do it, but you have to do it within the next three hours. tomorrow, the night before christmas, the last day of official shopping, be careful because a lot of stores are going to close early. target is open until 7:00 and toys "r" us until 8:00 and most wall marts open until 6:00 some open to 8:00. a lot of stores you think are 24 hours, they may have special closings for the holiday. in your neighborhood maybe some for sale signs are turning to sold. that is good news in a bad economy to see the housing market reviving a bit. sales jumped by more than 7%. they hit their highest mark in three years.

look, we are no where near the old levels but climbing out of the hole and that may be alleviating some of the fear that it's only the government propping up the housing market. all right, now, if you are traveling this morning and you want to hear all the latest on what it is going to be like for you as you get to your christmas places. >> hi, jen, some delays out there for the afternoon, you will find them mainly in the midwest. check out flight explorer because a lot of people already on their way home for christmas. activity starting to pick up on the west coast, as well. where the delays are, if you're heading to the airport, this is where you can expect delays. chicago wintry mix could bring delays over an hour and minneapolis and omaha we're bracing ourselves for snow and albuquerque, des moines, snow in the forecast. sioux falls not only snow, but wind. that will create a blizzard situation for dallas and houston. clouds and showers and even

thunderstorms are in your forecast. thunderstorms right now in kansas city, so anticipate delays there. 45 to 60 minutes and st. louis we're also looking at delays and los angeles some windy weather ahead in the forecast, just like yesterday, but improvements for arizona. >> all right, thank you. you know what, we have a story about the first confirmed case of the swine flu moving to dogs. we're going to have more of that story. things are tough all over, sure, but what in the world is britain's prince william doing sleeping in the streets?

president obama says he's not leaving for his christmas holiday in hawaii until the senate passes its health care bill. they'll hold a third procedural vote today and a final vote tomorrow morning on christmas eve. correspondent richard lui, good morning, by the way. the major differences between the senate plan and the house bill because they would still have to be reconciled. >> now we're on the verge to figure out if they stick or get ditched. the house bill cost over $1

trillion over the next decade and the senate plan that cost $871 billion. now, the big lightning rod issue here, a government-run public option. that is still going to be deb e debated and the house plan still has one and the senate plan does not. so, how do we pay for all this? the big number at the top. couples earning at least $1 million a year and individuals earning $500,000. now, the senate would tax cadillac health plans vowed at more than $23,000, robin, for families there. >> the public option, the thing that has been so controversial here. some people despise the idea and others say it might be necessary. what are the chances of it surviving at this point? >> robin, the public option could get booted here. the senate is on track to pass its bill by the slimmest of margins here without the public option. yet, without a single republican vote, as well. so, the senate may hold the upper hand on the public option. >> because they've got such a fragile coalition and they're

just barely making it over the top. so, when it comes to this issue, we had so much conversation about a public option or the late minute entry for a buy into medicare. i think the house will have to bow to the senate on that. they can't get it through the senate without that. >> the senate plan would allow private non-profit insuresers to offer coverage, as well. >> thank you. in less than two hours balloon boy's parents will hear whether they're going to jail. richard henne faces up to 90 days for the hoax and his wife could get 60 days and also may have to pay more than $40,000 for search and rescue costs. now, sheriff investigators also wants the judge to limit how much the couple can profit from possible book and tv deals. a man dressed up as santa robbed a bank in nashville. he came in with a red sack and pulled out a gun and demanded money. he robbed a bank because he had

to pay his elves. you've got to be kidding me. no. all right, family friends and teammates paid a fipal tribute to nfl receiver chris henry. his funeral service was yesterday in new orleans. >> good morning, robin. especially emotional day for chris henry's fiancee who was the one driving the truck he fell out of, but on a positive note, she is the one for helping henry turn his life around. she spoke to the hundreds of people at the funeral pausing several times to gather herself and she professed her eternal love for henry and promised to raise their children the way he would want. roger goodell and other players were also in attendance. >> for us to see chris there today is very difficult for his teammates and friends and, you know, these guys held chris' hand in many, many quiet moments

and really knew inside the man and even beyond what i knew. >> chris henry, 26, died thursday from head trauma after falling out of the pickup truck after what police called a domestic dispute. it was a windy, windy night in las vegas. these ladies had to hold on to their headdresses. 45-mile-per-hour winds. i can't say that at the las vegas bowl between byu and oregon state. temperatures really cold dipping down to the 20s. byu go on to win the game but i'm sure they would like to forget all about that wind and nasty weather. bowl games are supposed to be fun and this one was down right disastserous. snowball fight time, this is from sunday's game in philadelphia. a huge snowball fight broke out in the stands, except this fight not fair at all. a lot against two. eagle fans taking aim at two very lucky san francisco 49ers

fans. these are the same fans that threw snowballs at santa claus ten years ago in philly. no love in philly unless you love the philly eagles. something like that. >> these poor people just kept coming. >> for a good, five, ten minutes until security came and pulled them out of there. a dog in suburban new york is the first in the nation confirmed to be infected with the same strain of swine flu that made so many people sick. the 13-year-old mixed breed caught the virus from its owner. the vet says the pooch is on the mend. interesting story, though. britain's prince william spent the night sleeping on london streets. the prince was with the chief executive of a homeless charity and he slept near a garbage bin in 25 degree weather and he said later he can't imagine how people do that night after night. some troops are home from iraq for the holidays, but their family husband to wait longer

than expected. you could be in for a rough day if you're trying to get home for the holidays. a big winter storm is coming.

the new york stock exchange just opened for business. investors may have reason to cheer before the holidays. stocks have been climbing for three days straight and we're getting a hint that they may be going today. keep going today. we'll take you live to new york in a few minutes here. you know, a very rough start to christmas for the people on this american airlines plane that overshot a runway. crash under to a fence in kingston, jamaica, last night during bad weather. 91 people were hurt. jamaica's information minister said mostly broken bones, cuts and bruises and the american airlines flight came from miami and that flight originated in d.c. the biggest overhaul of your

health care in decades has one more test to pass in the senate today, before a final christmas eve vote. senate democrats need all 60 votes at today's procedural vote. the white house and even republicans say not much can stop it. most city workers in chicago are getting christmas eve off, but it's without pay. it is one of three reduced service days meant to save the city more than $8 million. there will still be trash pickup and a full police and fire services. the mayor says it will help save jobs. well, hello. are you up early because you're getting ready to go on a trip or work one more day before the holidays. whatever the reason, we're glad to have you. morning, sunshine, i'm robin meade. a huge winter storm moving through the west and could dump a foot of snow on some areas as it heads eastward maybe to your backyard. here's what it did yesterday in palm springs. kicked up dust and sands and forced the city to close some roads and some might have

preferred to stay inside. >> it's a little scary because of the palm trees, you're afraid they're going to fall on you. >> well, there was a bad storm getting ready to dump snow on some western states. bonnie schneider will have more on that and she's in for bob and will be up in a couple minutes here. hewlett-packard is looking into claims that its web cams can't see black people. you can see two co-workers taking turns in front of a camera which is supposed to track your motion and move with you. watch. >> look, it's not following me. >> it follows me wherever i go. >> interesting. hewlett-packard says it's most likely a problem with contrast and poor lighting conditions. a commander who threatened to court-martial pregnant soldiers now says it will never happen. the policy is meant to make his soldiers think before they act. now, he says he wouldn't put anybody in jail for becoming

pregnant or impregnating another soldier. instead, he'll find a lesser. terrorists target michael jackson's child molestation trial to get publicity. one thing we're learning now that the agency released the m.j. files. they monitored the king of pop for 17 years but never dwepd any solid evidence against him even after it set up interviews with two former neverland ranch employees. some farmers could be putting their lives at risk to harvest their crops. the fields in the philippines are in the shadow of a volcano that scientists say could have a major eruption any moment now. >> translator: i have to harvest my beans now because of the ashes so that i can still make money from them. >> well, in the last day or so, there have been here than 60 minor eruptions.

47,000 people have been evacuated. a 10-year-old with brain cancer is doing his part to help out other sick kids this christmas. brandon bronze has tumors in his head and his spine. chemo has staupd working, but he led his classmates to drop off about 400 toys to a children's hospital. >> if it's a down day and he's not feeling good, then we make that the best day. if it's an up day and he's feeling good, we make that the best day. >> bless his heart. brandon and his friends collected so many toys that there were extra to give to the ronald mcdonald house. nice job, brandon. 34 minutes past the hour. traveling today early might be better than later today or tomorrow. which, oh, by the way, that's when most of us travel for the

holidays. hi, bonnie. >> hi, robin. the storm could not have had worst timing. such a large-scale storm. advisories from minnesota to arizona and heavy snow with strong wind so we are going to see poor visibility across the dakotas and northern plains and freezing rain across kansas. that's actually happening in iowa right now and heavy snow back out to the west. an all incompassing storm. at presence heavy rain working its way steadily across little rock and memphis, tennessee, as well. let's check things out in houston. right now we have intermittent drizzle and moderate rain and we can show you a live picture outside of houston, texas, at this time. it certainly does look gloomy out there, but i have it tell you as bad as it looks, it can get a lot worse. this storm system threatens to bring severe storms. that means we could see hail and frequent lightning strikes and really powerful, damaging thunderstorms later today.

airport delays in houston, as well. back to the maps, we'll show you where the snow is. just sort of ramping up. kansas into nebraska and definitely seeing snowy conditions at this time and chicago, look what is just to the south, all of this is coming to the north. it will come in as snow in minnesota and more of a wintry mix in illinois. for most of you waking up across the northeast, a cold start to the day, you don't really have to deal with snow, but icy spots in new york, boston and down through washington. still plenty of snow on the ground from the recent nor'easter and the storm, the big one coming through will not only affect much of the country for today and also for tomorrow, christmas eve and then christmas day on friday, robin, check this out. severe storms, a wet christmas in the southeast and, still, a white one for the northern plains. more snow. we'll measure it by foot by foot as we go through. >> you think we'll be measuring it by the feet. >> oh, yeah, it will be a big one. >> thank you. on wall street, did i just

make jennifer laugh? how is that? you just have this view of feet. on wall street the nasdaq and s&p 500 hit their highs of the year yesterday. all right then, what about today? susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange. there can't be too many traders there today. >> you are thinking correct and not only that, they weren't here the whole week. i mean volume has been so, one is that, yes, they are spending time with their family. a lot of traders. two, a lot of money managers have closed their books for the year. that doesn't mean that there's no news, we have news to report and that's why we're seeing a rally for the fourth straight day. a new report showing personal incomes by half a percent last month as more people went back to work, that's the fastest pace in six months and the gain in incomes helped to boost spending, too. also good. volvo may have a new owner.

close to a deal to sell the brand to china. apple's iphone was the number one phone this year, although apple had a bit of an edge because they counted iphone models at both entry. each model was counted separately. finally, robin, a hot new stocking stuffer. personal breathalyzers. yes. >> they're very popular. you seen them in the stores? >> i have not. i had not heard of them, but the market for the device to check your blood alcohol levels valued at $215 million according to "usa today." now, keep in mind law enforcement officials question the accuracy of personal breath lizers and question their use about making decisions, important decisions about driving after drinking. just a little tip from a consumer advocate here. so much cheaper. so much cheaper and possibly a whole lot safer if you just have

a designated driver. someone who doesn't drink that night. be safe on the roads. bye, robin. >> you, too, have a wonderful holiday. >> merry christmas. >> it's a gift working with you every day. >> likewise. beer perfume. brilliant. what? and a police department has a plan that they say will make some people think twice before drinking and driving.

an l.a. county coroner is furious about leaks over the death of actress brittany murphy. celebrity website tmz reported

that police found depression and anti-anxiety medicines as well as pain killers at murphy's home. the coroner said she tide of natural causes, but the autopsy tests are not complete. some people charged with drinking and driving may have their names posted on twitter, that is a plan in a county near houston. now, the d.a.'s office said the information is already public record and it hopes that threat of embarrassment would be a deterrent. not everybody likes the idea, though. >> i don't think they should go that far with it, i really don't. you are going to get caught anyway. >> impaired driving or reckless driving kills five times more montgomery county citizens than other crimes. >> well, the d.a.'s office says it will publicize the names until at least new year's day. winter is just starting and already we're looking at our second big snow storm in a week. one of the top stories that richard lui will carry on to in the next half hour. >> you've been covering the last

four hours and continue to watch this storm brewing in the western states and continue to percolate here and what it means for your travel plans in the coming hour. the new year, maybe it is coming. we have a look at money magazine top job picks to get you set and then a run away teen who converted to christianity from islam will not meet with her muslim parents she also feared retribution. we'll tell you what a judge is saying about all this. that's coming up in about 15. >> richard, thank you. so, google changed the way that you use the internet and now the company is trying to usher in a major change in the cell phone biz. hln money expert clark howard has the scoop. >> want you to fasten your seat belts and get ready for the new way that you access wireless networks, cell phone calling and the internet. because nexus one is going to launch soon.

what is nexus one? that is the code name for google's new effort in the marketplace that may fall flat on its face, but a clear signal of what's coming. right now we think about buying internet service from a particular company and we think about buying cell phone service from a particular company and then, in turn, usually having a contract with whoever that is. well, in the new era, you'll have a device that will be data ready and data will also mean calling and you will choose maybe even on a daily basis who you use. you'll have one number that will follow you around the globe. google is light years ahead of everybody else thinking along this line, but it's coming. i'm clark howard. for more ways your wallet is going to fatten, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon eastern on saturday and sundays right here on hln. who doesn't need a

last-minute gift, right? well, there's something about beer perfume that is just catching and fetching. chemists in seattle are using the waste from a local brewery to make perfume. basically the old grains and 50,000 kinds of bacteria. i should tell you that it really doesn't smell like beer, though. >> good stuff. >> yeah, good stuff. >> would you want your wife wearing this? >> yeah, absolutely. >> the fragrance comes in male and female versions. something in your kids' lunch box every day. why it is telling the company that makes popular juices to back off some of its claims.

nfl player chris henry was laid to rest yesterday, but that's not where his legacy ends. joe carter is here in for rafer. it is a tough story, but it is heartwarming to know that he did help other people. >> i'm glad we could pull some positive from this story. while chris henry's death is a

tragedy, some good did come of it. the bengals receiver was an organ donor and according to the cincinnati tv station henry has already helped save the lives of five people through organ donation as well as help raise awareness. on tuesday family, friends and teammates paid a final tribute to the nfl receiver. now, henry's fiancee who was driving the truck when he fell out gave a very emotional speech to the hundreds that attended. carson palmer and head coach lewis also delivered yulegies. a new jersey high school basketball player is making quite a name for herself and she is only a sophomore. she stands 6'11" and has been declared the world's tallest teenage girl, that is according to "the new york post." she was born in jamaica and her coaches say she uses all 6'11" of her frame to block shots and make easy layups and this is kind of a cute part of the story. she has a teammate that is 5'2".

so, you've knot a 5'2" girl and 6'11" girl on the same team. robin, my favorite video of the morning. the phoenix suns fired up a camera while riding on the team bus and they recorded a new version of lionel richie's "all night long" with feeling. ♪ all night long all night, all night ♪ ♪ all night long all night, all night ♪ >> that's barbosa and that's the one -- >> sounds like a goat. >> he sounds like he's stepping on a goat. apparently the team does this after they win ball games. so, like to have a little fun. >> lionel richie would love it. >> he would. >> thank you. >> you bet. something to make you smile because i don't think the travel forecast is going to make you. bonnie schneider is in for bob. >> okay weather in d.c. and new

york and delays due to volume. a lot of people trying to get home for the holidays. let's show you where the delays are. in chicago, snow moving in mixing with rain and calledrain. minneapolis will get delays up to an hour possibly more due to snow later today and tonight. sioux falls will will be looking at very tough conditions because we are looking at snow and wind. you'll have a whiteout situation at times. and in dallas, thunderstorms. heavy rain, heavy downpours there. so be careful out there for dallas and for houston. that storm system will actually get pretty strong as we go into the afternoon and evening hours, robin. more of it will be moving eastward for christmas day. >> thank you. want to take you live to vegas. there is a fire happening a few blocks away from the las vegas strip that you're probably familiar with. and firefighters are battling a wind-whipped multialarm at an apartment complex.

you think about, if it is an apartment complex, how many people must have been inside. no immediate word of injuries. at least that part is positive. but look at how the roof is fully involved and it looks like this multilevel apartment complex. now, can you see the way the wind is kind of blowing the flames, too? that makes it harder to stop it from spreading when you've got the flames kind of licking at the very next roof there. the national weather service says winds in that area are something like 28 miles per hour. if you're the firefighter on the top of that cherry picker you're getting covered in the smoke as you're trying to put water on the thing. very interesting pictures. we don't hear of anyone being injured just yet. let's hope not. we'll take you back there live. nestle has made misleading claims of regarding health benefits for kids. at least that's what the fda is saying. they're talking about nestle's juicy juice and the boost kids essentials nutritionally

complete drink. the fda says the company made claims that are neither allowed or don't meet government standards. nestle hasn't commented. is "avatar" the movie you need to see with your family over the holidays?