breaking news, assassination attempt. iranian president ahmadinejad's motorcade reportedly comes under attack. we have the very latest. one step closer. bp says the static kill is finally working. the new report claims three-quarters of the oil spill side gone. massacre in manchester. after being caught stealing at work, a man goes on a deadly rampage killing eight co-workers. his family said racist remarks triggered his violent outbursts. splitting up again. bristol palin and levi johnston reportedly call off their engagement for the second time "early "this wednesday morning, august 4, 2010. reportedly2010. ff again for

captioning funded by cbs "early" this wednesdaythis live from fifth avenue in new york city. and good wednesday morning, everyone. i'm erica hill. thanks for being with us. >> good morning, everybody. i'm harry smith. breaking news yesterday, this woman in atlanta, the burglar breaks in the house, he's armed and they get into a scuffle. he forces her around the house, show me the valuables and everything else and he ties her to the bed at which point after he leaves and feels her car, he takes the cord from the laptop and she hacks out with her toes messages to 911 and her boyfriend. >> amazing. luckily she convinced him not to take the laptop. >> right. because she said it was encoded and traceable. >> great story. we want to get you to the breaking news. a reported assassination attempt on mahmoud ahmadinejad.

we want to get to national security analyst juan zarate. first of all, how serious was this attempt? >> erica, the early reports suggest this was a serious attempt that ahmadinejad's motorcade hitting about 100 meters or 100 yards away from where he was while traveling in western iran. what's not clear is how many people were involved and how big this explosive was. the reports suggest it was a homemade explosive and one person was arrested, but it is not clear at this point. >> he -- he also has denied it. he appeared later in the day live on tv, but denied this assassination attempt. why? >> this is interesting, erica. he was talking about potential assassination attempts from israel a couple of days ago, and it would seem that ahmadinejad would want to use this event to his advantage, stoking nationalist fears and drawing people to his cause, but the denial suggests, i think, some degree of concern that this was a serious attempt and may

reflect that all is not well in iran, that there are internal divisions and power struggles under way that we need to keep in mind. >> he really does have enemies in almost every camp. >> we have to keep this in mind. ahmadinejad has enemies within iran and outside of iran. internally there's been a lot of tension because of the fraudulent elections last year, the suppression brutally of the green movement. a lot of friction and tension within the ruling elite. in addition, you have sectarian and ethnic tensions and zen della who killed dozens of revolutionary guard corps with truck bombs and suicide bombs in the past. there is kiss cord within iran and likely what we will see is that some of that is coming to the fore in this attack. >> we'll continue to follow the developing story out of iran. harry? >> thanks. now to more breaking news. after 107 days and countless setbacks, bp says they've finally reached a milestone

trying to permanent he cap the well in the golf. cbs news correspondent don teague is in grand isle, louisiana, with the latest. don, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, harry. this is what millions along the gulf coast have waited months to hear. bp has finally plugged that blown-out well and they are on the verge of killing it for good. overnight bp announced quote, they achieved static condition, where engineers pumped heavy drilling mud, forcing the well back into its reservoir began at 3:00 tuesday and was stopped after eight hours. the well e effectively sealed. it's a significant milestone in this three 1/2 month long environmental disaster. now "the new york times" reports announced 75% of the oil spill has evaporated, dispersed or been captured. the report will go on to say most of what's left is so diluted it may not pose much

additional risk. it is all welcome news although cautious officials aren't ready to celebrate just yet. >> there is always unknown, but so far it's looking good. >> reporter: the well is being monitored and more mud may or may not be pumped depending on whether or not it remains static and later this month they will still tap into the well with a relief well to inject even more cement ensuring a permanent seal. >> this thing is not sealed until the wells are done. >> reporter: ahead, there will be months of cleanup and perhaps years for wild life and the economy to recover. >> reporter: i spent the morning speaking to fishermen here in grand isle. most of them say, of course, it's welcome news that they have plugged that well, but when you tell them that and you tell them the government's assessment that the oil for the most part is gone, they all sort of cock an eyebrow and say oh, really? they believe that good news has

finally arrived on the louisiana coast. harry? >> don teague in grand iefsle, louisiana. joining us is carol browner, director of the white house office of energy and climate change. miss browner, good morning. >> good morning. >> we're hearing from bp that they're making good progress with this static kill. are you satisfied with the progress they're making so far? >> think the static kill has provided us very important information. we remain focused on the relief well and that is the way to permanently kill this well. that is what we'll make sure happens, but i think we're getting good news in terms of the information from the static kill and also what the scientists are telling us. the vast majority of the oil has been contained and it's been burned and been cleaned and that's good news for the people of the gulf. >> on the other side of that with an estimation of 5 million barrels that went into the water as a result of this spill, "the new york times" is reporting that there is still a quarter of it out on the water. how concerned are you about it?

>> well, that quarter will weather. it will break down naturally. mother nature will do her part. we will continue to be visibling labts that anything that comes onshore, the tar balls and the sheen is cleaned up. we will continue to work with the gulf coast communities and the people of the gulf to make sure that their communities are made whole, to make sure bp is held accountable. harry, this is the worst environmental disaster in the history of our country and we have launched a wide response, 7,000 vessels and 40,000 people. that made a difference. almost three-quarters of the oil was captured, cleaned or skimmed. >> one of the issues out there is this issue of dispersants. bp was encouraged not to use it. they've apparently continued to use it. do we have any idea how much was used and do we have any speculation about what its long-term effect might be? >> we will continue to monitor. we've been monitoring -- the

dispersant decision was a difficult one. oil is very, very toxic and it's dangerous in the environment. a decision was made in conjunction with the environmental protection agency to use it. epa directed bp to use less, a 72% reduction in the use, but obviously we have to continue to monitor which we are doing and we will continue to do. >> right. the other story that's out there this morning is in "the washington post" and it suggests that the government might end its ban on deepwater drilling before the november deadline. do you support that idea? >> well, what the president has said from the beginning is that we needed to take a pause on this type of drilling. we needed to understand one thing. one, how to make sure it was as safe as possible, two, if there were another accident how we would contain it and three, how would we clean up any oil that got released? we clearly learned a lot from the last effort in terms of containment and in terms of cleanup. you know, when we have all of the answers and then the decision will be made

appropriately, but we need to make sure this can be done safely and we can protect the gulf coast communities. carol browner, thank you very much for your time this morning. we appreciate it. now here erica. >> nine people are dead including the gunman. now some members of the gunman's family are claiming his coworkers pushed him over the edge. cbs news correspondent ben tracy joins us this morning from manchest manchester, connecticut, with more, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. we know the gunman's day began yesterday like so many people's do. he overslept and was almost late for work, but when he did get to his job as a driver for this beer wholesaler, he went on a rampage. the survivor of the shootings says omar thornton was, quote, cold as ice as he methodically gunned down people inside the beer distributor. >> there are multiple victims and multiple fatalities. >> reporter: thornton called his mother before he killed himself. last night his family spoke out

saying omar blamed his actions on racial harassment including being called the "n" word at work. >> he said i killed the five races that were there and were bothering me and he said that's it, the cops are going to come in so i'm going to take care of myself. >> reporter: both the company and thornton's union representative adamantly deny charges of racial harassment. >> i think this tragic incident was an individual that had his issue and just went off. >> reporter: before the shots started thornton calmly watched taped evidence of himself stealing beer. he was offered the option of resigning or being fired. he signed a letter of resignation. >> he was calm. there were no signs of anger or threats of violence. >> reporter: as he was let out of the building, he opened fire. a source tells cbs news that just before 7:30 thornton had a

handgun and shot the men who fired him. thornton ran along the loading platform, selectively shooting, killing some and sparing others. three of his victims were 52-year-old brian sorigliano and james and peppin, peppin was calling out to warn his coworkers. even thornton's own girlfriend can't explain the horror of what he did. i don't know what happeneden side of him. something snapped inside his head. >> reporter: to give you a sense of the loss, the mother of one victim said when she kissed her son that morning she had no idea it would be for the last time. thornton never complained of racial issues therefore there was no problem for them to fix. >> the uncle mentioned it in his phone call to the mother, had he mentioned racial harassment to the family prior to that call? >> reporter: well, the family says that thornton had evidence of this harassment that he had

voice mail recordings and cell phone pictures and so far the family has not provided any of that evidence to us. >> tragic story. ben trace ney my in manchester, connecticut. >> so much news this morning and more to come. jeff glor is at the news desk. >> harry, eric a good morning. good morning, everyone. it's been a very hot summer and sweltering temperatures continue across much of the south this morning from missouri to mississippi. cbs news correspondent kelly cobiella is in memphis, tennessee, with more. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. the sun is barely up here and it is already 84 degrees. it is not unusual to be hot in the south in august, and this kind of heat is unusual. triple digit temperatures for days on end with no break. from the deep south to the center of the country, the blistering heat is making it tough just to step outside. >> it's too hot. way too hot. >> reporter: this is more than just another summer heat wave.

2010 is on track to be the hottest summer ever. it was the hottest june ever recorded, breaking the old mark by two degrees. in fact, june was the fourth record breaking month in a row. july has been even worse, so hot, it's deadly. in memphis, at least nine people have died from the heat this year. in kansas city, two heat-related deaths. 66-year-old stuart evans was mowing his lawn when he collapsed. >> i tried to do cpr, and i wasn't successful. >> reporter: an excessive heat warning is in effect for much of the south. on tuesday it was 107 in wichita, kansas. little rock, arkansas hit 106. the heat index which factors in humidity made those temperatures feel even worse. >> they can just put you down and make you sick to all of the way to death. >> reporter: in some places you can see the heat. concrete expands in higher temperatures, it made this

street crack not once, but twice, with surprising force. >> the thing exploded and it shook the ground and almost felt like an earthquake. it was pretty wild. >> reporter: here we go again in memphis today. it's expected to reach 104 with the humidity. it will feel like 116, but the good news is it will cool off by friday, that is, if if you consider mid-90s to be cool. jeff? >> kelly cobiella, thank you this morning. 90 days before the midterm elections missouri became the first state to challenge president obama's health care law. in yesterday's primary, missouri's proposition c passed easily. it prohibits the government from requiring people to have health insurance and penalizing them if they don't. the new state law conflicts with a recently passed federal law. since federal law supersedes state law the vote is seen as largely symbol being. the first federal judicial ruling on same-sex marriage is expected today. a judge will announce his

decision on whether to overturn california's proposition 8 which bans same-sex marriage. a small plane crash near phoenix, arizona. the plane crashed right near the side of the building. the dark smoke could be seen for miles. the single engine plane seats four and it is not now known how many people were onboard or if there were survivors. whether the time of the crash was clear and calm. hip-hop star wyclef jean is running for the president of haiti. he is expected to officially announce his candidacy tomorrow. jean was born in haiti which is struggling to rebuild following january's massive earthquake. the haitians vote on november 28th. dutch teenager laura dekker set out to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. she is 14 and she and her father left to the netherlands on a test sail to portugal where she will start her voyage later this year. dekker had to fight a 10-month

court battle to be allowed to make that trip by herself. she loves the venture, as does dave price. good morning, sir. >> i like adventure, too, but i like it under sunny skies. see if we can deliver that to folks around the nation.

17 minutes past the hour. we've got our first check of the weather this morning. see you again in just a little while. erica and harry. >> dave, thanks. >> just ahead, the final straw. why bristol palin and levi johnston have called off their engagement again. also, tied to her bed after being robbed. we'll talk to a woman who typed her way to freedom using her toes. we will speak exclusively this morning with a family who sold everything to sail around

the world for the last seven years. they lived to tell about it. three kids. this is "the early show" on cbs. [ man ] ♪ well, we get along ♪ yeah, we really do - ♪ and there's nothing wrong - [ bird squawks ] ♪ with what i feel for you ♪ i could hang around till the leaves are brown and the summer's gone ♪ [ announcer ] when you're not worried about potential dangers, the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light. moh-ohm. -do you have your lunch? -yes. and you know where your classroom is? uh huh. mom, i can walk from here. what about your... mom, i got it. ♪ [ female announcer ] they're never too big

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for budget-friendly recipes go to missionmenus.com. mission. tasty tortillas. fresh ideas. don't buy that wedding gift just yet. bristol palin and johnston calling off the wedding. three weeks after she were engaged, she says she feels played. >> played? >> uh-huh. >> oh, no. we'll get the late-e on that and talk to the toe girl, the girl who toed her way to safety after a robbery attempt in atlanta. >> announcer: this portion of "the early show" is sponsored by splenda, no calorie sweetener. imagine life sweeter. ar you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. [ male announcer ] savory. fluffy. yummy. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda®. america's favorite no calorie sweetener.

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good morning. it's 7:25. in the headlines, a federal judge has reached his decision on same-sex marriage in california. that judge plans to release that ruling on proposition 8 this afternoon between 1:00 and 3:00. whatever the outcome an appeal is expected to the u.s. supreme court eventually. northerners for the san jose firefighters are meeting to discuss the proposal. negotiators are meeting to discuss the proposal after 49 firefighters were laid off. the union offer for pay reduction is 5.25%, short of the 10% that mayor reed has asked from all city employees. no danger to the public. so there was no shelter in place issued after a spill at the valero refinery in benicia

late yesterday afternoon. it was a sulfuric acid leak described as small. two contract workers were taken to the hospital but then returned to work shortly afterwards. traffic and weather right after this. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

good morning. new bart delays now.

this time, involving an equipment problem on one of the trains. all right. 15-minute delays right now between west oakland and san francisco. so this is obviously going to affect most people or all people heading into the city this morning so watch out for that 15-minute delays right now. at the bay bridge, the metering lights are on. traffic not too bad. probably busier than we have seen the past week or so. looks like it's backed up to the end of of the parking lot in all lanes but looks great through oakland all the way up into downtown. that is your traffic. for your forecast, here's tracy. >> hey, thanks, elizabeth. so there is so much cloud cover outside we thought we would find one shot with sunshine. so here we are, here atop mount vaca, plenty of sunshine here. but most of the bay area still looking at cloudy skies for the morning. heading into the afternoon, we are expecting some sunshine inland but believe it or not, temperatures are cooling down. today's highs anywhere from five to nine degrees cooler than yesterday. a few clouds along the bay and the coast. ,, ,,,,,,,,

nice crowd out there on the plaza this morning. wow. settle down. welcome back to "the early show." coming up, you're going to meet a remarkable woman, an armed robber broke into her home, tied her to her bed, stole a bunch of stuff, including her car, but not her laptop. using only her feet, her toes, she opened up the laptop and sent an instant message to her boyfriend. we'll speak with both of them if a few minutes. >> incredible story. a family from alaska who really has done something amazing. they sell their worldly possession, buy a boat, sail the world for seven years. they landed a few days ago back in the states. they are joining us excluescy live in the studio this morning

to talk about their incredible voyage. i'm curious what their 15, 16-year-olds said when they said, hey, we're going to go sail the world. another bizarre twist in the saga of bris tal palin and levi johnston. they have split up once more. jeff glor has more on that. >> it appears palin and olevi johnston were prepared to raise their son together but now bristol with more information about levi says that is all off. it was a picture hard to believe, levi ojohnston and bristol palin back together. the couple with their son tripp announced it during an "us weekly" photo shoot. >> he got down on one knee and al qaeda me to marry him.

>> but bristol says there was trouble in paradise. >> bristol told us that on the very day the world learned they were going to get married, levi came home and said to her he may have gotten another woman pregnant. >> reporter: "people" magazine magazine says bristol says the final straw was levi spent more time trying to get a reality show. >> bristol is heartbroken. she described texting him and getting no answer. and then eventually she said that levi said, hey, do you want to be on a reality show? >> reporter: bristol says she wants no part of his reality show plans. in a statement to people.com, mom sarah weighed in saying, i wish bristol to move forward in life with her same forgiving, gracious, optimistic forward but henceforth she'll know to trust butter are fi. bristol is strong. she is independent. she knows what is right for her

son. >> she has moved back with her parent. on johnston has been filming a music video in los angeles. erica? >> thanks. joining us now, bonnie fuller, editor-in-chief of hollywoodlife.com and dr. jennifer hartstein, a child and adolescent psychologist. good to have you with us this morning. we need you to keep this straight. bone y there was all this speculation that they're shopping a reality show and now the speculation is, that didn't work out on the engagement's off. what are you hearing? >> we heard they had an offer to do a reality show, $1.5 million was on the table. they basically walked away from that deal. and the reality show producer told hollywoodlife.com that he had buyers from networks, cable, who were interested in the show, but it had to be as with them as a family. both parents and the baby.

there was no interest in just levi on his own. >> well now we're hearing bristol palin coming out, telling people.com -- or "people," rather, she feels played. clearly, that didn't work out. she says he was in l.a. shopping his own reality show, shooting a music video. >> i think she does feel played. this reality show producer was very surprised. he was in skug, he sent somebody up to anchorage to talk to them and suddenly they disappeared. suddenly he's off in l.a. and now his people are claiming he has all kinds of other offers on the table. >> so, how real is this split? is this a stunt or is this one, in fact, it? >> i don't think it's a stunt. but i do think they are 19 and 20 years old, very young. you know, teenagers get together and break up all the time. and i think he particularly is very immature and he's in love with fame. he's in hollywood right now, talking to people. at parties, filming a music video, supposedly mocking her

family. though he's denying that, but he did film it. >> that doesn't exactly show, as -- i'm not a professional, but it doesn't show a commitment to co-parenting to raising a child together when you run off and do that. >> exactly. and i think really if we want to think one of the main victims is tripp, this little boy whose dad is in and out and in and out of his life. there is no stable presence. it's very confusing for a 19-month-old to understand what that's like. that's a really -- going to be confusing for hip down the road. we'll figure out how they'll explain that. >> that could affect him throughout his life. >> absolutely. they'll have to find positive people to be in his life to take the place. >> one thing that stood out to me is that bristol said to "people," she feels heartbroken, humiliated and trapped. she's a 19-year-old mother, trapped. that just jumped out at me. >> absolutely. she's 19. she's isolated. she's working. she's taking care of this child. who -- what friends of hers are in the same place? who has kids like she does? she can't go out and just hang out. it's a really tough position.

she's not in the same typical 19-year-old position as her girlfriends and friends may be. >> it's tough being a single parent at any age. when you look at the situation specifically and as you said, they're 19 and 20 years old so the maturity level is obviously a little different but they come out three weeks ago and say, we're engaged, i haven't told my mom yet. three weeks later they're not engaged. what does that tell you about a couple maturitywise. >> certainly shows they're not a solid couple. i think she does feel trapped and she looked at this as an escape. the fact levi didn't sell a show and came back into her life, she was looking to create a stable family. then she made money by selling her story. their engagement story to the magazine. and there was all this other money. it was an escape, a way out. now she's moved back with her parents. >> which is never the best reason to get into a relationship. >> never. that's the hard part. she's looking for someone for support to help her. why do we always go back to old relationship? they don't always change but we

go back because we know them. the devil we know is better than the devil we don't. she needs to learn to grow out of that need and be self-reliant and find the best person for her. >> and as you mentioned, there's a little boy at the center of this that needs

and that's a look at the weather picture for this half hour. harry, erica, back to you. >> thanks, dave. up next, a resourceful woman tied up in a robbery uses her toes to tap out a desperate message for help. you'll meet her when we come back.

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a quick-thinking woman got herself out of a very tough situation using her toes. 39-year-old amy windom was asleep in her home in atlanta. when a gunned man broke in. he tied her to the bed, stealing her car but left her tap top. she managed to open the laptop with her feet and typed an i.m. to her boyfriend with her toes. he called police and she set her free. joining us from atlanta are amy and her boyfriend john hilton.

good morning to you both. >> good morning, harry. >> good morning. >> amy, you have a smile on your face. what an ordeal, though. this guy -- you're asleep. this guy breaks in. he's armed. how afraid for your life were you? >> i was very afraid, honestly. it's a pretty terrifying experience. >> and he made you show him around the house to see what was valuable? >> yes. he had me through the house at gunpoint to pull out all of my valuables, which i was happy to provide to him in exchange for not hurting me. >> wow. so, at what point, then, does he tie you up? >> we had fought initially when he first came into my bedroom. and i figured his intentions were the worst. so, is trying to get the gun from him. so i think he knew that i was maybe going to be a little bit of a fighter. so, he had me -- after we went through the house and i provided

all the valuables i could, that's when he took me back up to my room and tied me to the bed. he stayed for still another 40 minutes or so and came back periodically to ask me various questions for codes, et cetera. >> oh, my goodness. your tied up. he takes off with your car. but you convince him to leave your laptop because you say it's encoded, it could be traced? >> i did. i told him it was a company laptop and it would be traced if he took it. >> can you describe to me, then, how -- what did you do with your toes? you've got to be barefoot at this point. what did you do with your toes? how did you type on the computer with your toes? >> okay. so i used my right toe as a way to operate the mouse and to hit the left and right buttons. and then i used this power cord and put it between my left toes and i used that to hit the keys because your toes are not real

good at hitting keys so i used the end of the power cord. >> amazing. john, you get up early in the morning, you turn on your blackberry, laptop, whatever, you see these messages. what are you thinking? >> just total disbelief at first, but i peimmediately turn around and recognized the seriousness of it and, yeah, i called the police. >> right. >> it was a bit of a shock at first. >> wow. amy, you have all kinds of good energy this morning. you have a smile on your face when we said good morning. to have gone through an ordeal like this, how are you today? >> i am, honestly, tremendously grateful that the out come was not a lot worse. it certainly could have been. and i'm -- all things considered, i feel very blessed that i'm here to talk to you today. so, you know, it's a huge wave of relief. i was in shock yesterday. got a few bumps and bruises but

all things considered, i'm doing very well. >> what a story to tell. amy windom, john, thank you very, very much for taking the time to share your story with us this morning. do appreciate it. >> thank you, harry. >> thank you, harry. >> be well. we'll be right back. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. most of us want to hear we've done a good job caring for our mouths. that's why there's a rinse like crest pro-health multi-protection. it helps you get a better dental check-up. ♪ because not all rinses provide all these benefits. giving you a clean, healthy mouth. crest rinse makes the difference. so be ready for your next dental check-up. crest pro-health multi-protection rinse. ♪ [ sniffs ] morning. you got in pretty late last night. dad, i'm not sixteen anymore. still, it was late. well... you're not gonna have to worry about that anymore. yeah, why's that? ♪

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love that enthusiasm on the plaza. this is a story we're all really intrigued by, excited about. we're all about to meet a family, a family of five, three kids. they set sail. they decide, you know what, this rat race, two working parents, what are our memories going to be, going to work? we want really good quality family time. so, hey, let's spend seven years sailing the globe in a 43-foot sailboat. >> that's not a lot of space. >> no. >> no. >> for five people. when they left their oldest was 15, 16. >> out of high school, honey?

forget band practice. >> we spent two weeks driving across country to volkswagen van and we're just speaking again. this happened 25 years ago. >> you think about the adventure and education it gives your children. what an incredible experience. they all still like each other. >> amazing. >> that's the headline. we'll find out how that made that happen. we'll meet them coming up. >> is it something know thinks about once in a while? >> they do. they'll tell us this story. for strong bones, i take calcium.

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it is 7:55. time for news headlines from cbs 5. i'm juliette goodrich. santa clara-based intel has agreed to change some of its business practices to settle an antitrust lawsuit. the federal trade commission announced details of the settlement within the past hour. the fcc accused the semiconductor giant of unfair practices like bullying computer makers into avoiding other companies' chips. intel is still fighting a $1.5 billion antitrust fine in europe. also, san jose voters will decide on three november ballot measures all aimed at reducing spending or generating more money for the city. one would limit the role of arbitrators in police and fire labor disputes, another giving the city council more flexibility to make changes in city worker pension plans. the third calls for a 10% tax

on medical marijuana. and a federal judge today planning to release his ruling on california's prop 8, the voter-approved measure that limits marriage to male-female couples. we'll have traffic and weather in just a moment. ,,,, vegetables are naturally low in calories. ,,,, v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. it's a tasty, nutritious way to make this number go up... and help this one go down. v8. what's your number?

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there are 10- to 15- minute delays on bart between west oakland and san francisco. there was equipment problem on one of the trains. they had to take a train out of service. so that's the deal there. they were saying major delays. so this is actually an improvement, just 10 to 15 minutes from the east bay into san francisco. if you are using the roads, traffic is backing up towards the west grand overcrossing to maybe a 10-minute wait at the bay bridge toll plaza. little sluggish up the incline but overall not too bad. and still have this injury accident northbound 280 at page mill road. that's a check of your traffic. here's tracy with your forecast. hey, thanks, elizabeth. plenty of clouds still out there drizzle and misty conditions along the coastline and also for the bay. our seven-day forecast, we got sunshine in there but temperatures are cooling down. yesterday's highs in the 90s. today the mid-80s inland. 60s at the bay, lower 60s at the coast. more sunshine through the week

but temperatures will remain below normal.

♪ [ applause ] welcome back to the "early show," everyone. i'm erica hill along with harry smith and ri welcome back to "the early show," everyone. erica hill with harry smith and dave price. iowa is taking over the plaza. they are here for their favorite adopted son. >> a lot of iowans today, too. >> they are very happy to see harry. would you quit your job, sell your home to sail around the world for three years. by the way, you're doing it with your three kids and the spouse. >> you have to take the kids.

>> yes, that's kind of the point. >> they are joining us exclusively in the studio this morning to share their adventure of a lifetime. >> go to your cabin, no tv. >> oh, wait. we share that same cabin. >> oh, wait, we have no tv. >> there is a silver lining to this tough economy, really low mortgage rates. have you looked in the papers? phenomenally low. our guru with advice on why this is not only a great time to refy. why everyone should go for 20 instead of 30. why it works. in the meantime don't go anywhere. jeff glor at the news desk with one more check of the headlines. >> good morning to you, and everyone. an assassination attempt on iranian president ahmadinejad. mark phillips in london with more. mark, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. iranian president ahmadinejad

appears to have been the target of an assassination attempt today. in the murky world of politics, there are conflicting reports and outright denials. he gave a speech as normal, showing no signs he had been the target of an attack as a website alleged. still photographs show ahmadinejad traveling in a convoy and then those around him apparently flinching at something. ahmadinejad was in the western iranian city of hamadan on the way to the airport from a stadium when the attack took place. news agency reports citing a source at ahmadinejad's office confirmed the attack saying a homemade explosive device had exploded some distance from the president's car. but iran's international television propaganda channel later issued a report denying there was no attack at all.

>> there was no such thing. it was actually a firework. >> reporter: president ahmadinejad has lately claimed zionist a little are trying to assassinate him. but whatever happened today, it's clear he has potentially deadly enemies within iran as well. jeff. >> cbs's mark phillips in london this morning. mark, thank you. accused gunman omar thornton was, quote, cold as ice when he opened fire at his workplace in connecticut yesterday. police say thornton shot and killed eight people at a beer distributor and then took his own life. he had been forced to resign from his job for stealing beer. his family said he blamed the actions on racial harassment. in the gulf of mexico what's described by bp as a significant milestone in the efforts to permanently stop the leaking oil well. don teague in grand isle, louisiana, with the details. don, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. this is what people along the gulf coast have waited months to hear. bp has effectively plugged that well. the static kill has been

working. what they have been doing is using med they pumped into the well beginning at 3:00 yesterday to hold down the oil, to literally drive the oil back down the well. it's now reached the static pressure level. they now need to decide whether or not to pump cement into the well at this point or use the relief wells primarily to pump the cement. either way, they are very near killing this well for good and they have control of it now in the gulf. more good news, the government is now saying 75% or so of the 200 million gallons of oil that spilled into the gulf has either evaporated, dispersed, been captured or the remaining bit, 25% or so, is so diluted it doesn't pose much risk anymore. earlier this morning, carol browner, director of white house office of energy and climate change spoke to harry smith. >> i think we are getting some good news out of the gulf coast in terms of the information from the static kill. but also what our scientists are telling us, the vast majority of

the oil has been contained. it's been burned. it's been cleaned. i think that's good news for people of the gulf. >> reporter: maybe good news, but i can tell you they are certainly skeptical here still. the fishermen i spoke with this morning say is they still believe the bulk of this oil is under water out there waiting to come to the surface weeks or months from now. they really worry about sort of declaring victory over this oil too soon. >> don teague in grand isle this morning. don, thank you. one more check of weather this morning with mr. dave price. dave, a lovely light suit color. >> absolutely, jeff. now, i wanted to wear a suit which was actually so bright it could reflect the sun's heat back upwards rather than absorbing it. scientific reasons for this outfit. as you can see, harry is also wearing light colors today and a reflective shield over his brain in order to prevent overheating.

another brilliant move. that's why you, sir, are an anchor. nice to see you. harry continues to say hello to the crowd and we do, too. hello to everyone in the great

>> this weather report sponsored by mott's, purely delicious flavor and great nutrition. >> these kids quick learners. they had dark long hair before this weather segment. they watched it, and you are set for a hot day. nice to see you and west coaslc. all right. a quick look at your weather picture. >> ever thought about convict your job, chucking it all, sell your house, sail around the country. i'm sure you've thought about it. this family did it. in just a moment, cbs news correspondent seth doane takes a look back at their incredible journey. >> reporter: this # 3-foot sail

boat has been home to the members of the crafton family for years. >> they said, what do you think about living on a boat. >> reporter: it all started when kathy, a nurse and tom, a psychologist, realized their life wasn't exactly what it seemed. >> economically we were in great shape but it didn't mean anything. >> reporter: so they sold their house and nearly everything else to buy this boat and begin their seven-year odyssey. setting sale from maryland they sailed south to see the mayan ruins of mexico before passing through the panama canal, then onto new zealand where they spent a year and a half. then in papua, new guinea, in all 23 countries before returning home to the u.s. imagine doing all of that in this, a cabin that's so small at times you can touch the ceiling and almost the two walls. sometimes the family was at sea

for up to 43 days. they survived five hurricanes, traveled more than 30,000 miles, and have countless stories to share. seth doane, cbs news, maryland. >> joining us exclusively in the studio, tom and kathy crafton along with their kids. we're happy to have you with us this morning. we're fascinated by this, in awe. i think the first question everyone has is, tom, what are you wearing? >> somebody needs to take them to the gap. this is zulu, south african clothes. >> you're all dressed in a little something different. they are not all zulu clothing, actually. >> no, my outfit is indian coming from maritius. >> did you pick this up today or showing stuff you picked up along the way? >> yes. >> i think it gives you a good sense of obviously the different

places you visited, the adventures you had. let's back up for minute. tom, you give kathy a trip to learn how to sail. she comes back and you two say, let's chuck this, take the kids and go sailing around the world. why? >> we were doing what life -- what everybody seemed to be doing. we were making decisions based on other people's values. we say making decisions by default. we were doing well in our careers, economically. but we felt like there was something missing and we wanted to spend more time together as a family with our children. >> you'll definitely be doing that once you end up in a boat, a 43-foot sailboat. how challenging was that as a family. you had little kids at the time, they are bigger now, for you guys? >> it was a bit of an

adjustment. first we moved into an apartment because we had our big home in alaska. but it was so important to me to be with my family, with all of us. and as they grew into their teenager years, i really wanted to be the driving force behind my family. it really brought us more close together. >> you also like each other, which is a great sign. >> yes. >> kallie, you're 18. from 10 or 11 to 18, this is a huge experience for you. you're going through some important challenges. any challenges for you being an adolescent. >> there's a few, but i think the things you gain from it more than over -- they make up for it all. >> i know it's hard to sum up high points and low points over the years. do you have a favorite place? >> i like new zealand because i have a lot of friends there.

my friends, sailing friends, come now and visit us. >> so maybe you'll go back. i understand you've made a little bit of a career decision. after this sailing trip, what do you want to do when you grow up? >> a cruise ship. >> there's a little more room on a cruise ship than a sailboat. tom, what do you think was the most important experience you got to share on the boat. >> i think it was time together, massive amounts of time. the quality time of getting to know and spend so much time with each other. we genuinely missed each other if we were out of sight for just a few minutes. we became so close and shared so much together. we had the time of our life doing it. >> we can see from all these pictures, which are just incredible. you got to see and do so many things people only dream bout, kathy. is there something that sticks out over the seven years you were able to witness or be a part of? >> it's a beautiful world out

there. there's so many great people that we met along the way. yeah. >> now you just need to come up with the encore. >> exactly. >> working on the reentry which will be tough. great to have you with us. thank you for your story and sharing the pictures. >> thanks so much. up next, the hidden salt in your diet. where is it lurking? why is it such a danger to your health and what can you do about it? we've got the answer for all of that. this is "the early show" on cbs. from mom. c [ kids ] whoa! [ marcia ] new motts medleys. looks and tastes just like the motts juice kids already love. but has two total fruit and veggie servings in every glass. new motts medleys. invisible vegetables, magical taste. ♪ pop-tarts®! i'll have a frosted strawberry... as an ice cream sandwich. ♪

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in this morning's "healthwatch," secret salt. 90% of americans eat too much salt. and with most consuming twice the recommended amount. the fda is now thinking of setting limits on the amount of sodium allowed in processed food, for instance, and our dr. jennifer ashton is here to show us how to shake -- get it,

shake -- the salt habit. good morning. >> good morning, harry. >> we talk about this a lot but we should go back to the beginning and talk about why salt can be very dangerous. >> so, salt is a very essential electrolyte in the body. it makes up the majority of the blood. our body needs salt. it's not all bad like so many other things. >> if you get cut and you taste -- >> your blood tastes salty and your sweat is obviously made up of salt. what happens in the body is water follows every molecule of salt. so, if you injesgest a lot of s, you will retain a lot of water and for people with kidney problems, high blood pressure, that can be dangerous. a new study in the new england journal of medicine estimated 150,000 lives could be saved have year if we lighten up on salt. this is not a joke. is it all about the salt shaker? >> it's actually not. a lot say, i don't add salt to our food so i don't have to

worry about this. not so. if you look at daily recommended amounts, 1500 milligrams a day is what we're supposed to get. the average american gets twice that amount, 3400 milligrams. harry, it's coming from hidden sources, things you would not expect, which we have a couple examples of. >> this is very interesting. i couple thing,ing are con this segment before, i said, i know this. there were surprised that surprised me. >> let's go through it. cottage cheese, a cup has 900 milligrams of sodium. a bagel, you don't think you're ingesting salt with breakfast, about a third of what you should have every day. then my favorite, whole grain cereal like raisin bran -- >> you're thinking, this is so good for me. i'm asking it with skim milk. >> exactly. one cup has 400 milligrams. one serving of salad dressing, harry, about 300 to 400. >> when you get into this, any kind of processed food, any kind of processed food is going to be laden with salt.

>> packaged food, processed food, restaurant prepared food. even if you cook at home, thing like tomato sauce on top of your nice pasta, it's loaded with salt and prepared chicken can be injeked with a salt solution to make it appear more plump, filled with salt. >> how do you cut sodium out of your diet? . >> a couple things. this bears mention again and again. you want to eat more fresh foods and eat fewer or less processed foods. obviously, as we've said today, you want to limit your use of condiments, tomato sauce, salad dressing in limited amounts and use herbs and spices to retrain your taste buds so you don't say, this is horrible. because at the end of the day you want your food to taste good but healthy at same time. >> good idea. dr. jennifer ashton, thank you so much. we'll be right back. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. >> announcer: "cbs healthwatch" sponsored by thermacare heat

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so, lindsay lohan, we were talking about her lately. she's out of jail now, working on rehab. did you know she's going to be in a magazine? we have some pictures from "maxim." these were photos shot just before she went to jail. >> wow. >> it's a different lindsey. she looks healthy in them. >> right. isn't there a lot of controversy already, somebody wrote 90 days is not enough. well, anyway. sort of a limitless amount of opinion about her life and how she -- >> yes, these are the stories that keep on giving. good details in this article so we'll be joined by our good friendy qmaxim". >> coming up, ray martin, our financial adviser will be along. mortgage rates are phenomenally low. some places record lows. you may be wanting to think

about refinancing your home or also taking advantage of some other things that ray will be also taking advantage of some other things that ray will be alon da dan: i had a biopsy and i had high-risk prostate cancer. i was depressed. i was shocked. sometimes cancer makes you feel very lonely. the doctors can do their best to cure the cancer, but it takes all of the other stuff to make you a whole person again. i've been given a second chance. announcer: at sutter health, our story is you.

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has reached a decision on same- good morning. it's 8:25. in the headlines this morning, a federal judge has reached a decision on same-sex marriage in california. that ruling will be revealed this afternoon between 1:00 and 3:00. it will determine whether the proposition 8 ban will be upheld on overturned. an appeal is expected with either outcome. the u.s. senate is expected to vote today on a $26 billion measure that will help states and local school boards with budget problems. within the past few minutes senate democrats defeated a filibuster on the bill. san jose voters will decide on three november ballot measures all aimed at improving the city budget. one would limit the role of arbitrators in police and fire labor disputes. another would allow the city council to make changes in city workers' pension plans. and the third calls for a 10% tax on medical marijuana.

traffic and weather right after this. ,,,, ( chirping, music ) ♪ pop-tarts®! i'll have a frosted strawberry... as an ice cream sandwich. ♪ chocolate fudge... on a stick please! ( crunch ) with the endless possibilities of kellogg's® pop-tarts, it's sure to be a picture perfect summer.

pop-tarts®. made for fun™. all lanes are clear through the los altos hills. look at the backup. it's slow going all the way back to beyond highway 85. so 101 is actually going to be

your best option in that area. bart is back on time. they had to take a train out of service near the west oakland station due to equipment problems. anyway, they got all these issues resolved. bart is back on time between the east bay and san francisco. and at the bay bridge, still inching back towards that first overcrossing. 10-minute wait to get you on the bridge. that is your traffic. for your forecast, here's tracy. >> hey, thanks, elizabeth. ocean beach camera along the coastline, cloudy skies for the coast through the morning and expecting a fair amount of clouds through the day. here's a look at our seven-day forecast, speaking of today, cooler temperatures. 80s inland, 60s at the bay and lower 60s at the coast. temperatures will remain below normal well into the weekend and the beginning of next week. do note we are expecting clouds along the coastline today, a few clouds around the bay. and plenty of sunshine well inland. [ female announcer ] at the jcpenney huge sale this friday and saturday,

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♪ welcome back to "the early show," everybody. nice crowd on hand. >> yes, indeed. >> yeah, hi. >> a lot of iowans, as we mentioned before, but never hurts to mention it again. a lot coming up, including a look at lindsay lohan. she's going through two kind of rehab. dealing with her substance abuse problems, in a 90-day program and also has an image that more than a few people would say needs a little work. we have a sneak peek for you. you're seeing j. lo there but we have a sneak peek of "maxim" magazine with lindsay lohan. we might talk a little j. lo, too. >> also ahead, mortgages are at

historic lows, so if you're thinking of refi, now is the time to jump on that. financial guru ray martin is here with some advice on how to find the best rates. >> also, a very interesting segment coming up. teenagers and seniors, two groups of drivers most at risk on the road. the question s what's the best car for them to drive? "consumer reports" looked into this. this morning we'll show you the best vehicles for at-risk drivers out there. >> a good segment. >> ones that are safe. first, we have a final check of the weather, yes? dave price standing by. >> yes, yes, yes. how are you? lance right here, and we've got the coloniy aial williamburg co and they've played over 700 times just this year. what is your group's goal? >> to tell the world about colonial williamsburg and the

music system for the military back in the 18th century. >> it's not just music, for your listening pleasure, it was actually a war tool as well? >> absolutely. it served a function to tell soldiers what to do from early in the morning to late at night, getting up, going to fight or going to bed at night. >> how about some music which will give me the direction to start the weather, can we do that? >> fantastic. >> here we go. ladies and gentlemen, from colonial williamsburg, the fifth and drum corps. with that, my assignment is to put up the weather maps and to

i'm telling you from personal experience, i went there as a kid, even as an adult, it's a great place to learn about america. thank you for our look into musical history in the military. ladies and gentlemen, the colonial williamsburg fifth and drum corps. harry, pretty cool stuff, huh?

in this morning's "moneywatch," affordable mortgages. the silver lining in the economic cloud, historically low mortgage interest rates. our financial adviser ray martin is here with tips on how you can take advantage of them right now. if you're thinking of buying or refi'ing, it's interesting. when you listen to the economic news and they talk about interest rates and sometimes it doesn't really apply that much to us. but in this case, these mortgage rates are phenomenally low. >> yeah. mortgage rates have hit historic lows. we already had a slow economy. interest rates were already low. when the debt crisis in europe emerged, investors sold off riskier investments, flocked into treasuries, pushing interest rates down. mortgage interest rates are in the high to mid-4% range, lowest since 1956. that's the silver lining to some economic crises around the world. >> if you are employed, are starting to look, you built up a

little equity, it may be time to buy. talk a little bit about how you can save long term on interest. what does this really mean? >> there's new twists for mortgage advice, for home buyers and homeowners. here i'm saying 20 is the new 30 when it comes to mortgages. home buyers should think about a 20-year mortgage. why? the interest savings can be significant here. first of all, on a 20-year mortgage you'll get an interest rate a quarter of a percentage point lower because banks would rather only own a mortgage at these low rates rather than 30. if you borrow $200,000 on a 20-year mortgage versus 30, you'll save over $70,000 on interest costs. for home buyers, it's a great idea. >> if you can make -- get that nut in your mind about how to make that, just -- you are going to be saving yourself a significant amount of money. >> and at these low interest rates, the monthly payment on a 20-year mortgage is just inkra mentally larger, just a little larger than 30. it's affordable. >> there are other ideas about how to help save money using

these mortgages. >> yeah. for home buyers, a 20-year mortgage, paid off ten years earlier than a 30-year mortgage, make a lot of sense. think about a young home buyer, buying their first home and then planning to have children. their mortgage would be paid off in 20 years, just about the time their kids are ready to go to college. it will -- they'll be mortgage payment free, able to secure schooling bills. >> is there a way to save by making extra yearly payments? >> if you want the more affordable payment on a 30-year mortgage rather than 20-year mortgage, the payment is $200 less, go for the 30-year mortgage but make two extra mortgage payments a year and you'll have it paid off in 21 years, giving you essentially the same savings as a 30-year mortgage. go to calculators on websites to calculate how making extra payments are made. and make sure you tell your mortgage provider in writing

that you want to pay down your balance. >> now, what is a cash-in refi, what is that? >> refinancing, for people who already own homes. people are doing what's called a cash and refi. remember the days when real estate values were going up, people were replacing a smaller mortgage with a larger mortgage and taking cash out in the process? well, now what's happening is 1 in 5 people refinancing right now are shrinking their mortgage. they're replacing a larger mortgage with a smaller mortgage and bringing cash to the table to pay it down. called a cash in refi. one in five folks did that last quarter, third highest since these levels were tracked. the advantages here, you get a smaller mortgage, more affordable payment, lower interest rate and save on thing like private mortgage insurance because you have a smaller loan. >> we talked about new mortgages at the beginning. if you refi, should you also do the same thing with getting fewer years? >> absolutely, i think so. if you have a 30-year mortgage you've paid off for seven years, 23 years to employ, don't

replace it with a 30-year mortgage, replace it with a 20-year mortgage because more of your payments will go to paying down principle and you'll be better off in the process. >> we're looking at history he can lows. should people sit and say, they could go even lower still? >> okay. mortgage interest rates are probably the lowest we'll see in a lifetime. lowest since 1956. how can you beat that? lock in now. >> there you go. ray martin, as always, thank you so much. good job. for more on low interest rates, all you need to do is go to cbsmoneywatch.com. erica? >> harry, thanks. we saw her weeping in court two weeks ago. days before that appearance, though, a strong, sexy lindsay lohan posed for the cover of "maxim" magazine. joe levy joins us for that and other big headlines. lindsay looks great in the pictures. she was really involved in this photo shoot and what she wanted from it. what kind of image was she pushing for here in. >> strong, confident, sexy.

this was a chance for her to really make a statement in a difficult period that got even more difficult shortly after our shoot. >> because she's were shot right before she went to jail? >> these were shot on a wednesday, the court date was the following tuesday. and then her jail time several weeks after that. so, this was a difficult period that got more difficult as time went on. >> what was she like when she showed up? was she on time? was she professional? >> you know, i'm happy to tell you she was on time. a lot of our shoots don't start on time. this one did. this is the rare shoot that finished early. she was easy to work with, very involved with the shoot, collaborated with our photographer, matt jones, talked about what she wanted out of the picture, what clothes she wanted to wear and, you know what, an actual pleasure to work with. >> really? >> yeah. >> did you get a sense from her that she was in a good place or on her way to a good place? >> i think she was at a better place at this shoot at this time than she was a few days later when she was in court.

>> she talked to you guys a little bit. you asked her for what she was hoping for in this year to come. what did she tell you? >> she really want the chance to put the past behind her. she would like to have the press around her focus on what she does, the movies she's made. she's been to india as part of an bbc documentary. that's an experience she would like to repeat. >> she's starting off with your magazine so she's starting off with this one interview to get that out there. >> that's right. >> did she -- was she concerned at all that she could be too sexy in the picture? it may detract from anything? >> you know, that's not really something that came up. "ma xichlt m "maxim" is a sexy magazine, largest magazine in the world for young men. we know what our audience want. we're also a tasteful, fun magazine that celebrates women and gives them a chance to be strong, sexy and confident. we weren't worried about going too far.

we know our limit, she knows our limits. we've worked with her before. >> good to see her looking healthy. >> she looks fantastic. >> lady gaga, 13 nominations for mtv video music awards. this is not just big for this year, you see her resonating for years to come. >> this is more video award nominations than anyone has ever gotten in the hit of the mtv video music awards. you know, lady gaga doesn't seem sometimes like the only game in town right now. she seems like the entire game. she's somebody who -- of course she has more video award nominations. she's making the best rid yoes anyone is. she believes in music videos, reinvigorated the form. i honestly think when we look back on this time, we'll look back on this year we'll remember justin bieber. we look back on this decade, it will be lady gaga. >> how many moon men do you think she'll take home? >> asked to predict, i would say six or seven.

>> six or seven. >> write it down, people. >> what is it, september 12th? also big in the entertainment world, there's so much speculation about "american idol," which is helping them drum up interest in the show. latest being this morning from "people" that perhaps randy jackson is out, dog? >> i know, i know, can you believe it? it's come to this. we're seriously worried randy jackson may not return to "american idol." >> ryan seacrest is safe? >> apparently the only one that's safe. it would be great for them to change the whole judging panel out. >> do have you to change the withhold panel can you leave randy? >> you can leave randy and surround him with other judges. we know people have been named including jennifer lopez, a great choice for them, but why not start fresh? let's renew it. it's the tenth year. we've been doing this for ten years now. children born when this show debuted are almost old enough to compete on it? it's been at it for a while. why not freshen it up? let's have all new judges.

>> you say stephen tven tyler, great choice? >> not a great choice. i've interviewed him a, he real can't cross the street without comparing it to a sexual experience. not great on live tv. >> especially when people watch it with their kids. thanks. there are more than 6 million car accidents a year in the united states. so, "consumer reports" went out and found the best cars for the two groups of drivers that are most at-risk of on the road tax dents, teens and seniors. david champion, magazine's director of automobile testing. welcome back. >> good morning, harry. >> let's first talk about teens. what are the factors we're talking about here with teens? >> well, you want to find a car that's reasonable size so it gives some sort of crash zone around them to protect them. you want a car with good crash test results, one that's done well in the insurance institute and federal government tests. then you don't want to give them too much horsepower.

kids love to go fast. really restrict them to a four-cylinder without too much power. thirdly, all the latest safety features like side air bags and electronic stability control. >> let's talk about electronic stability control. this is one of those things that you might just gloss over. explain why it's so important not to. >> well, electronic stability control came out a few years ago. basically what it does is, if a car starts to slide side ways it applies a brake to one or more wheels and bringing the car back in line. instead of the teen sliding off the road and hitting something, it bring the car back in line and brings them safely to driving along. >> this is important. we've done segments with you before, checking the electronic stability control. it really makes all the difference in the world. and could be the difference between life and death. >> it is. it's the best safety feature to come along since seat belts. federal government mandate all 2012 cars have electronic stability control. that's a great success.

>> let's go to two you feel are great teen models. >> this is the mazda 3, re good crash test results, standard electronic stability control from 2011 model year. just a good all-around car. nice and nimble handling. you don't to want give a teen too big a car. people think put them in the big boats and that will protect them. but those cars tend to be difficult to handle in emergency situations. so, you want a nice, nimble car. >> very good. the other thing that's important is sometimes you think, well, we'll give the kid the old car. that's a mistake because you want to give them the new car because it has all of the newer safety features. >> yes. many times, the parents give the kids the old car xu get the new car. you want to change that shift. how much does it cost you, you know, to bring that kid up to 16 and what would you pay to get them back? you would pay anything to get them back. give them the safest thing can you. >> very good point. now let's move on to what you feel like is the second good

teen car. what is this? >> this is a honda accord. this is a good size car. i wouldn't necessarily go any bigger than a honda accord. this comes with all the safety features. great crash test results, four-cylinder jirngs not too much horsepower, side air bags standard. >> is this on the senior list as well? >> on the senior list as well. all-around car. nice, big controls. when we get older our eyes take longer time to see what's going on. with big controls it makes it easier to see what you're going to do. the federal government has done a study some years ago where they looked at how long your eyes are off the road. they said, any glance off the road totally two seconds or more greatly increases your risk of a crash. >> wow. >> two seconds is not long when you're looking for a control. >> very good point. before we look at the senior cars, what are the aspects of senior cars that are very important?

>> well, you want a car that's easy to get in and out of. as as we get older we want a car that's easier to get if and out of. also a car with good visibility all around. you're less likely to move around with it. also a car with nice, easy controls and is comfortable and got plenty of space inside. >> let's look at this car for seniors. under what category does this fit? >> this is the small suv, subaru forester. one of the features we like is the seat height is nice and -- >> you don't are to jump up to get in. >> you don't have to jump up to get in. more importantly, you put your legs up, you get out -- >> you're on the ground. >> nice and ceasecy to get out of. this car has great visibility all around. it's very easy to drive. >> sight lines get more and more important. it's always important but really important. >> side crash becomes more important. the waistlines we see getting higher and higher. it's more difficult to see out of. you know, seeing avoids a crash.

>> and seeing is believing. let us go finally to the last car down here. this is a little more of a luxury version of a car that's great for seniors. >> this is the hyundai, around $30,000. but it's a beautifully equipped car. it has lots of space inside. seats are nice and easy. plenty of room. if gives you everything you want in a luxury car for a very affordable price. >> all of these cars have very good gas mileage. once again, controls that are very visible. once again, sight lines that are very accessible. >> it's just a nice all-around car. almost a forgotten car. people don't know it's almost there. cars like this give you the sight around, nice low waistline, easy controls. makes it easy for people to drive. >> especially people of a given age. >> i'm with you. >> there you go. you've gotta right. david champion, thank you. you can find more information on these cars in the september

issue of "consumer reports" on newsstands now. we'll be right back. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

♪ happy birthday to you >> stevie wonder, happy birthday. president obama, 49 years old today. >> you really tied it all together. >> i did. i just tied it up with a bow for you on a birthday gift. >> thank you. >> any time. your top 40- >> how about a long distance dedication. >> coming up later in the show. so, it's president obama's birthday today. heading home to chicago to celebrate. mrs. obama and sasha are in spain, malia is at camp. he'll be celebrating with friends. he's looking a little gray. >> friday he came bounding into the interview area full of energy. that is the most telling thing,

is -- he really is grayer, without question, grayer, but in terms of energy and sort of lines on the face or any of that other kind of stuff, we've seen over the years what being in the white house can do to a president. and he looks like he's -- >> even his face -- >> at least overtly looks like he has it together. >> he doesn't look tired or drawn or stressed. >> well, he was probably happy to see me because lord knows, everybody likes me. >> keep in mind, you really never notice it until you see those pictures one -- i mean, look at carter. the only one that really came out looking just like he did was reagan. he went into the office, you know, being relatively senior and left the same. and left looking great. >> you know, they insisted that he never dyed his hair. >> of course not. >> have a great day, everyone. if it's your birthday, happy birthday to you as well. stay tuned. your local news is next. ,,

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i'm juliette goodrich. a federal judge has reached his decision on same-sex marriage in california. the judge planning to release his ruling on prop 8 this afternoon between 1:00 and 3:00. whatever the outcome, an appeal is expected at the u.s. supreme court. negotiators for san jose and the city's firefighters will meet this afternoon and discuss the union's latest proposal. today's meeting comes just days after 49 firefighters were laid off. the union's pay reduction offer remains at 5.25%, far short of the 10% mayor reed has urged from all city employees. and hundreds of block parties last night in the bay area for "national night out." it gets neighbors together to fight crime. residents in oakland used the night to speak out against recent police layoffs. we'll have your traffic and weather for new just a minute. we'll be right back. 3q

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saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks a week in my pocket. here's a good one: state farm insures 40 million drivers. more than geico and progressive combined. i saved because i'm accident-free. of course, with so many ways to save including discounts of up to 40%, having that many customers shouldn't be a surprise. so ask a neighbor about state farm, then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. good morning. julie with the kcbs phone force tells us that traffic is backing up in menlo park. northbound 101 in east palo alto approaching university. a lot of slow traffic in the stretch of the peninsula. 880 has improved here in the

last five minutes or so. it was jammed approaching the coliseum in the northbound lanes. but it looks a little kind of just kind of patches of slowing there as you head towards downtown. and at the bay bridge, very slow right now up the incline because of a stalled bobtail truck blocking one right lane. bridge tow crews are aware of it, heading out to the scene now. at the toll plaza it's backed up to the first overcrossing. that is your traffic. for your forecast, here's tracy. >> hey, thanks, elizabeth. our forecast for the morning, it's still pretty gray toward the bay bridge. you can make out all of it somewhat. here's a look at what we are expecting during the day. cloudy skies at the coast, highs in the 60s. mid-60s at the bay, lower 60s inland. cooler temperatures. we'll be cool below normal thursday through tuesday. the lower 80s as we move into the beginning of next week, the lower 60s for the bay and the upper 50s along the coast. ,,,,

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