nice. oh... oh! oh! red! red! red! yes! yes! come on! oh. no! oh... bummer. [children shouting] hoops? yeah. sure. sure. announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways road to recovery, just days after watching her husband rocket into space, wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords gets set to take a huge leap of her own.

schwarzenegger's secret. new details about the love child that derailed his 25-year marriage. and the oprah countdown, saying good-bye to the undisputed queen of daytime tv. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords is expected to pass another medical milestone today. she'll undergo a planned surgery to replace a piece of her skull that was removed after she was shot in the head in january during an assassination attempt. joel brown is in washington with more on this. joel, how complicated is this surgery? >> reporter: betty it's called a cranioplasty. it probably sounds more complicated than it is but it is the biggest milestone yet in what giffords' doctors describe a miraculous recovery. doctors at this houston hospital plan to use a plastic implant to replace a piece of congresswoman

gabrielle giffords' skull. >> they decided to use a fabricated segment as opposed to her original. they feel it's safer, cleaner, actually it's a better puzzle piece sort of fitting in there, if you can imagine that. >> reporter: surgeons removed a section in january to reduce brain swelling after giffords was shot in the head. she's been wearing a helmet while undergoing intensive rehabilitation. >> liftoff of the final mission of "endeavour." >> reporter: today's surgery comes days after giffords traveled to florida to watch her husband, commander mark kelly, blast off on space shuttle "endeavour." ♪ it's a beautiful day. >> reporter: the crew kicked off their first full day in space with the song chosen by congresswoman giffords and her two daughters. >> i want to thank gabby, claudy and claire for that great wake-up song. >> reporter: doctors say the three-term congresswoman has made remarkable recovery.

she's able to talk and has some mobility. >> she gets better, you know, all the time, day after day. >> reporter: even before his mission kelly was confident giffords would keep making strides while he was gone. >> when i get back in a few weeks, she's going to be noticeably different than when i left. i mean, i know that's the case. >> reporter: giffords' surgery is expected to last anywhere from one and a half to two hours. recovery should be short, a day or two at the most. captain mark kelly sent his first e-mail from space writing to his friends and family that he's confident his wife's condition will continue to improve adding that she'll prevail. betty? >> we sure hope so. joel brown in washington, thank you, joel. the head of the international monetary fund remains behind bars in new york city this morning under a suicide watch. dominique strauss-kahn charged with sexual a assaulting a hotel maid is under growing pressure to resign from the imf. his alleged victim is a 32-year-old widow. her lawyers said she had no idea who strauss-kahn was but she is

determined to press ahead. >> now she knows it's her word against a man who is powerful and rich in the world, and she is grateful to be in a country where her rights are equal to his. so is she reluctant to go forward? no. she will do what she is asked to do, she will tell her story and happy to do that because she is telling the truth. >> u.s. treasury secretary tim geithner would not comment on the case but said of strauss-kahn "he is obviously not in a position to run the imf." his campaign is less than a week old but republican presidential hopeful is already having his troubles. >> here's a rainbow, newt. stop the anti-gay politics. >> he was sprinkled with glitter during a book signing. earlier he called paul ryan to apologize for calling his ideas

to change medicare a radical proposal. also a financial disclosure form from gingrich's wife revealed they owed american express between $15,000 and $50,000 and up to half a million dollars to tiffany's the jewelry store. meenl while another gop presidential contend er rick santorum is saying republican senator john mccain doesn't understand harsh interrogation techniques. mccain spent five and a half years in north vietnam where he was tortured. last week mccain said so-called enhanced torture tack takes such as waterboarding did not provide intelligence that led the raid that killed osama bin laden. yesterday santorum insisted that mccain doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. new details are emerging about the secret lovechild fathered by former california governor arnold schwarzenegger. tmz says this is the mother of the child. the "new york times" reports she was pregnant at the same time maria shriver was also pregnant 14 years ago.

shriver has known about the boy since january. through numerous allegations of misconduct, shriver was her husband's strongest supporter. >> you've gone on record as saying you would vouch for his character. he was that good of a man and yet everything you believed as your marriage, the character of your husband, it all falls down around you. if that's not the worst sense of betrayal, i don't know what is. >> the couple's 17-year-old son tweeted he still loves his family but signed it "patrick shriver." it is slow going, but this morning's barge traffic is moving on the mississippi river. the coast guard opened a 15-mile stretch of the river closed most of yesterday in natches, mississippi, an effort designed to hold back floodwaters but the river continues to rise, swamping thousands of acres. karen brown has more on one family's story. >> reporter: it was a race against time when floodwaters

swamped this mississippi home in a matter of minutes. >> we're evacuating as fast as we can. >> reporter: family members ran to their nearby coop filled with 300 chickens. they threw the birds to safety and pulled out dozens of chicks but about half of their birds did not survive. >> back in the car but ain't nothing nobody can do about it. >> reporter: the family built a four-foot levee to block the water from the yazoo river. when it broke it took ten minutes for water to swamp their entire property. >> reporter: what was going through your heart when that happened? >> run, get anything that was worth anything. get it out right then. >> reporter: look how quickly the water is rushing in. just a few minutes ago if you can look this way, it was all the way back towards the yazoo river. the yazoo is a tributary of the mississippi which has caused massive flooding throughout the state. the river has been rising to historic levels and officials are taking drastic measures.

in louisiana, water continues to be diverted into the morganza spillway where some 25,000 people live. >> prepare, because the lack of preparation is what can cause destruction. >> reporter: many packed up and left. others trying to protect their property. as this family found out, it may not be enough. karen brown, cbs news, yazoo, mississippi. just ahead on the morning news, the man who may or may not be the head of al qaeda. plus how much would you pay for the unabomber's possessions? they are up for auction. this is the "cbs morning news." ning news." with being fed on. we demand k9 advantix ii. it not only kills fleas and ticks, it repels most ticks before they can attach and snack on us. frontline plus kills but doesn't repel. any tick that isn't repelled or killed may attach and make a meal of us. so let's put our paws down in protest. no fetching, no friendship till we all get k9 advantix ii. join us at poochprotest.com. [ male announcer ] ask your veterinarian about k9 advantix ii.

how long she waited, to tell arnold about the baby.. and the secret home, the governor reportedly bought for her family. cycling's biggest stars, put the bay area in the spotlight. why this stage of the tour of california... could be the most grueling yet. the dodgers, up the ante. the extra push, to catch bryan stow's attacker. and.. a major milestone for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. the critical surgery she's having today. join us for cbs 5 early edition,

on the "cbs morning news" here's a look at today's weather. the northeast remains cloudy with rounds of heavy rain from a stalled storm system in the atlantic. sunshine returns to the southeast. cold temp tires remain. the system is moving east from the rockies and that will bring thunderstorms to the midwest. here's another look at this morning's top stories. today doctors are scheduled to replace a piece of congresswoman gabrielle giffords' skull with a plastic implants. giffords was critically wounded in a shooting last january. imf chief dominique strauss-kahn is under a suicide watch in a new york city jail. the hotel maid who accuses him

of sexual assault says she did not know who he was. over the years oprah winfrey hosted nearly every big star you can name on her long running talk show, plenty of them turned out last night in chicago as the last oprah shows were taped, including madonna, stevie wonder, beyonce, and as sandra hughes reports, many more. >> reporter: after 25 years of talking, oprah winfrey was almost speechless as she created an ecstatic crowd as she greeted who won tickets from an online lottery. the event called "surprise oprah, a farewell spectacular" featured a-list stars saying their good-bye. tom hanks was the first. >> more than 40 million people have tuned in every week and that means billions of viewers over generations, and you have said it over and over again, oprah, it's all about them. >> it's all about them. >> another tom came next, star-studded event went into overdrive with tributes.

>> the oprah show taught me the power of forgiveness. >> reporter: famous friends. will and jada dropped by and who else? michael jordan. after all, these last tapings took place on his old home court, the united center, where the chicago bulls play. this place is on fire for oprah, some 13,000 fans packed this arena to show their love for the talk show host. the shows will air monday and tuesday before winfrey's final broadcast next wednesday. one part of tuesday's show not yet released to the media features oprah's best friend, gayle king, with maria shrink, making her first appearance, following the news her husband arnold schwarzenegger fathered a child with another woman, their nanny. >> i'm proud she was able to do that, it was a testament to oprah and everything she has taught us. >> reporter: oprah took it all in with tears and smiles and appreciation for her fans. sandra hughes, cbs news, chicago.

a georgia man proposed to his girlfriend this past weekend on what some on the internet are calling the greatest wedding proposal ever. matthews hired a professional to put together a high production video and got to the local movie theater show, a trailer while his girlfriend, jenny, was in the audience and being secretly taped. it begins with matthew asking her father for his permission. >> it might be old-fashioned, may not be necessary but it's important to me, and i know it's important to your daughter that i do this as well. i'd like to have your blessing, sir. may i have your daughter's hand in marriage? >> you have my permission for her hand in marriage. i would love to have you as a son-in-law. >> the rest is practically a movie in itself. matthew races to the theater as jenny watches. the trailer ends and the videographer picks it up live as matthew enters the theater, gets down on one knee and asks him to marry him the audience erupts in applause

and this is a very warm introduction to the rest of their lives. you're watching the "cbs morning news." to the rest of their lives. of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. and vitamin d of regular milk. parentheses have a place. but not on your face. juvéderm® xc is the gel filler your doctor uses to instantly smooth out lines right here. temporary side effects include redness, pain, firmness, swelling, bumps, or risk of infection. ask your doctor about juvéderm® xc. now you don't have to wait six weeks to get it. natural instincts now comes with a new color refresher. just color, then give it a boost two weeks in and get a freshly colored look once again. natural instincts. it's all good. natural instincts. ♪ i got troubles, oh ♪ but not today ♪ 'cause they're gonna wash away ♪

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this may or may not qualify as a claim to fame but a wisconsin man consumed his 25,000th big mac. donald gorsky ate his first one in 1972 and celebrated yesterday with number 25,000. over those 39 years gorsky says he's gone only eight days without a big mac and most days he eats two. you may wonder about his health. >> i'm doing really good, 190 pounds so i'm doing good. my cholesterol is low, 156. >> your doctor says you're doing good. >> right. that's the first doctor i've seen in a few years. i shouldn't tell you how many years. why go to a doctor if you're not sick.

medical researchers report drinking coffee appears to help protect men from dying of prostate cancer. when it comes to prostate cancer more coffee is better. men who drink one to three cups a day were 30% less likely to die than non-coffee drinkers. for those who drink six cups or more the risk of dying was 60% less. fda experts meeting in maryland wrap up a two-day meeting on children's medications today, discussing whether to add dosing instructions to kids labels of medications containing the active ingredient in tylenol. duarte geraldino has more on that. >> reporter: michelle alba gives her 9-month-old acetaminophen when he has a fever or teething. she's not always sure how much to give. >> you don't know if it's too little, too much. >> reporter: that's because children's medicine doesn't have instructions for kids under 2. the box says "talk to your doctor." now the fda is considering new labels so parents get it right. >> we not only need to use the

right dose but need to use it at the right interval. if you take too much acetaminophen it can damage your liver. >> reporter: last year poison control centers reported more than 7,500 dosing errors with acetaminophen products. most involved children under 2. what confuses parents is some medicines have their own measuring devices. some use cups like these and others use droppers to make things easier and safer the fda is considering requiring all these drugs use the same measuring tool. >> standardizing a medication syringe, making one for all types of medication, making sure that it's clearly labeled is very important. >> reporter: michelle thinks the changes are a great idea. >> it would put a lot of new parents and parents in general at ease. >> reporter: so she can feel more confident when she needs to soothe her baby. duarte geraldino for cbs news, new york. coming up a little bit later on "the early show," a suicide watch for the head of the international monetary fund charged with sexual assault in new york. plus why many in france are outraged over how the suspect is

being treated. then maria shriver speaks out about arnold schwarzenegger. and the stars align for oprah winfrey's last show. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching, everyone. i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com