touchdown, space touchdown, space shuttle "endeavour" returns safely to the kennedy space center for the last time. debt debate, call it political theater, house republicans deliberately defeat their own bill to boost the nation's debt limit. and cancer concerns. experts sound the alarm on a possible link between cell phones and brain cancer. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everyone on this wednesday. i'm terrell brown in for betty nguyen. the space shuttle "endeavour" is safely home. she ended her final mission with an early morning landing in florida with commander mark kelly at the controls.

"endeavour" touched down following a 16-day mission to the international space station. "endeavour's" only remaining flight will be to california, where it will go to a museum to be on display. randall pinkston is at the kennedy space center with more. randall, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, terrell. yes, indeed, the shuttle is indeed here on earth, it landed here on time and without any problems here at the kennedy space center. with the landing it is "endeavour's" final mission to the international space station. "endeavour" glided onto the tarmac in the middle of the night, marking an end to its 25th and final mission. >> it's sad to see her land for the last time but she really has a great legacy. >> reporter: the shuttle's six-member crew spent more than six weeks in orbit, conducting four space walks and installing a $2 million experiment. "endeavour" is the youngest of nasa's shuttle fleet and next to last to be retired. >> houston, "endeavour" will stop. >> the space shuttle has been the space horse of the u.s. space program for more than 30

years now. it will be sad to see her be retired. >> reporter: before leaving space "endeavour" commander mark kelly called the end of the program bittersweet but says he's excited about the future, that includes seeing his wife, congresswoman gabrielle giffords who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. congresswoman giffords was here for the launch but not for the landing. she put on twitter saying she and her staff would stay up and watch it on tv. kelly said he had no regrets about leaving his wife during her rehabilitation. >> you miss your wife and your kids and i think that's true for all of us, but in hindsight i think it was absolutely the right decision. >> reporter: the couple is expected to reunite tomorrow in houston. but first within the hour the crew will be holding a news conference and the "endeavour" will be getting ready to be sent to california for its final mission at a museum. terrell? >> randall pinkston at the kennedy space center, thank you so much. even as "endeavour" was landing, its sister ship

"atlantis" was on the move at the space center beginning preparations for the last space shuttle flight. "atlantis" began its slow journey to the launch pad yesterday. it left the vehicle assembly pad yesterday. it left just after sunset, "atlantis" with the four-member crew is scheduled for launch july 8th. to politics now and sarah palin's style east coast bus trip. her latest stop including a visit with donald trump. they shared pizza for dinner following a brief meeting in new york. palin says she and trump had have much in common. >> a love for this country and a desire to see our economy get back on track, to have a balanced trade with countries across the world so americans can have our jobs, industries and manufacturing again. that's what built this country. >> palin still won't say if she'll run for president. trump says he hopes she does. president obama meets with house republicans today. he'll discuss boosting the federal debt limit. today's meeting follows a game

of political chicken and a move they admit was just for show. house republicans overwhelmingly defeated their own debt limit bill. joel brown is in washington. good morning to you. >> terrell, good morning. this bill failed overwhelmingly last night, that was no surprise. what is more certain says the white house, if washington doesn't come to terms soon in this battle over its red ink, the outcome could be disastrous. republicans called it symbolic. democrats called it a political stunt. >> the bill is not passed. >> reporter: house republicans unanimously defeated their own proposals to raise the debt ceiling last night, in a bid to pressure president obama to agree to significant spending cuts. >> republicans in congress are going to send a statement today that america will get its house in order. >> reporter: lawmakers on the other side of the aisle didn't appreciate the message or how it was delivered. >> this is not an honest debate.

we are playing russian roulette with a loaded gun in the american economy. >> reporter: the nation hid the $4.3 trillion debt ceiling two weeks ago meaning it's already borrowed the money it's legally allowed. since then the treasury department has been shifting funds around to cover expenses. that will work until august 2nd. if no agreement is reached, the u.s. government will default on its debts. >> it could reverse the recovery potentially, it could definitely have an impact on growth and definitely have an impact on job creation. >> reporter: behind closed doors vice president biden has been leading talks with a small group of lawmakers from both parties. they're looking for more than $1 trillion in spending cuts to offset an increase in the debt ceiling but freshmen republicans who campaigned on fiscal discipline are pushing for more. no one's really sure what would happen if the country defaulted on its loans. it's never happened before but even the debate has consequences.

lawmakers scheduled last night's vote for after the stock markets closed. >> we'll see what happens in the coming months. joel brown thank you so much. republicans say the obama administration's actions to make school lunches healthier costs too much. the new school lunch guidelines issued in january call for less salt, starch and more whole grains and low-fat milk. yesterday the republican led house appropriations committee approved the bill calling on the agriculture department to rewrite those rules. a new study found pregnant women who are vaccinated for the flu are less likely to have premature babies. researchers in data in atlanta looked at 4,000 moms of babies, and found that babies of vaccinated mothers were less likely to be premature or unusually small than mothers who didn't receive the vaccine. the world health organization says cell phones may be linked to brain cancer. sandra hughes has our report. >> reporter: it's been an

ongoing debate over the world's modern convenience, whether the cell far phones can cause cancer. an international panel of experts with the world health organization says yes. >> when the scientists look at this data in total, the conclusion is that yes, there is a possible risk, particularly when you begin to have long-term exposure, and you know, the way that people use cell phones as we currently do 30 minutes a day or more. >> reporter: the w.h.o. designated the risk as category 2b, the pesticide ddt and gasoline engine exhaust are in the same group. neurosurgeon dr. keith black explains putting a cell phone directly to your head is like a microwave cooking food. >> when you put it next to your brain it's vibrating the water molecules in your brain and it could potentially be heating, cooking the brain over time. >> reporter: 5 billion people use cell phones, that's almost three-quarters of the world's population, many of whom have already started changing habits.

>> i use loud speaker a lot now and the headset but not always on it as much as i was. >> it makes sense because it hurts when you talk for it on the cell phone so i use the land line if i need to call someone. >> reporter: to reduce exposure limit time on the cell phone, use speaker mode or headset and don't carry your own in your pocket. brain cancer is fairly rare. even if the risk is doubled by cell phone use, it would only mean 12 people per 100,000 would get it. sandra hughes, cbs news, los angeles. coming up, a new feature for twitter fans to tweet about. plus housing's double dip, bad news for homeowners keeps getting worse, this on the "cbs morning news." [ female announcer ] you do so much... to stay healthy. but did you know fiber choice can help support your overall well-being? every tasty tablet has prebiotic fiber from fruits and veggies... that lets your good bacteria thrive

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in 2008, telling police her granddaughter was missing. a former friend is expected to take the stand today. anthony could get the death penalty if convicted of killing 2-year-old caylee. another round of severe storms ripped in michigan last night. a tornado touched down in the lower part of the state. thunderstorms dropped hail the size of golf balls over 160,000 homes are without power this morning. the governor declared an emergency for battle creek. major cleanup operations begin in tornado ravaged joplin, missouri. the environmental protection agency will oversee removal of debris, it could contain asbestos, hospital waste and other hazardous material. in the dakotas the race is on to save entire towns from the fast-moving missouri river. thousands have been told to evacuate. runoff from melting snow and heavy rains are forcing crews to work around the clock. they're building emergency levees in south dakota, and minot, north dakota, the mayor

ordered 10,000 residents to evacuate. >> these areas for secondary diking are designed to save the most amount of infrastructure and be built in the amount of time available and i want to tell you that the amount of time available is critical and that's why we've had to make some difficult decisions. >> it's feared some people won't be able to return to their homes for two months or more. switching gears now, "cbs moneywatch" time now. ashley morrison is here. >> a mostly quiet day for asian markets. tokyo's nikkei edged up to close at a three-week high. hong kong's hang seng edged up a fraction. the automakers release their may sales numbers. on tuesday stocks rally, even with consumer confidence dropping to a six-month low. the dow jumped 128 points. the nasdaq added 38, despite those gains, may was the worst month for the market since

august. for the month the dow lost almost 2%, while the nasdaq 1.5%. analysts are warning it could take the housing market five or six more years to recover. home prices are down more than 5% in the past year bringing them to levels not seen since 2002, and moving into double dip territory. many economists think prices could drop another 5% just this year. sprint nextel asked regulators to block at&t's takeover of t-mobile. they argue the $39 billion deal would decrease competition and increase consumer prices. if approved it would make at&t the biggest mobile carrier in the u.s. with more than 40% of the market. twitter is expected to announce today it's launching a new photo sharing service, according to online reports the new feature will allow users to upload photos directly from the application instead of using

outside service like twit pick or wyfrog. and finally that summer bash auto cue is going to cost you a little bit extra this year. according to the labor department the average price of ground beef and cheese are up 12% over the last year. lettuce is up 28% and the cost of corn has soared, get this, a whopping 150%, so terrell, when you come over to my house this summer for dinner, do not ask me for an extra piece of corn. >> key word, come into your house, since everything's going up i'm not buying it. ashley morrison in new york appreciate it. thank you so much. up next, your weather forecast. and in sports it's all about "d" and the threes. the heat and mavericks meet in game one of the nba finals. at bayer, we're re-inventing aspirin for pain relief.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. in new york after thunderstorms 89, miami sunny and 87. sunny and 79 in chicago. 95 and sunny in dallas. 72 and partly cloudy in los angeles. time now for a check of the national forecast, the latest satellite picture shows storms fading away in the great lakes region while another batch lingers over texas and oklahoma. later today heat and thunderstorms push into the northeast with a chance of heavy rain, gusty winds and small hail. sunny and hot in the northwest. the northwest stays cool. in sports this morning, the heat was definitely on for game

one of the nba championships. miami lebron james torched the mavs nailing fourth three-pointers. in the fourth quarter dwyane wade came up with big "d." the heat beat dallas 92-84 to take the series lead. in baseball, texas took on the rays in florida. in the fifth inning, rangers pitcher c.j. wilson made a bare hand snag on a shot coming right back at him. evan longoria a go-ahead two-run homer, tampa beat texas 5-4. french open tennis, roger federer is moving on to the semifinals. the 16-time grand slam winner rolled easily past his opponent, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. federer has yet to drop a set in this open. when we come back another look at the top stories. and the latest on two iraqis charged in kentucky with plotting support for terrorist terrorists in their homeland. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body.

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violent crime in las vegas. a happy reunion.. for a bay area newborn, abducted in a stolen car. hear from the hiker.. who finally found her. a landing for the history books. the bittersweet ending, for endeavor. and how congresswoman giffords watched her husband. plus.. a major crash, and diesel spill snarls traffic in the east bay. join us for cbs 5 early edition ... beginning at 4:30. ,,,,

on the " on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather, warm air is surging further into the northeast, along with the threat of severe thunderstorms this afternoon in the northwest, temperatures below normal and scattered showers will linger through the day. here's another look at this morning's top stories. house republicans meet today with president obama to discuss the nation's debt limit. yesterday they defeated their own bill to raise the nation's borrowing limit, a move aimed at highlighting their demand for steep budget cuts. "endeavour's" final flight space shuttle landed safely at the kennedy space center early this morning. following its final mission, one more shuttle flight is planned, "atlantis" due to launch in july. shuttle commander mark kelly is expected to reunite with his wife, wounded kongwoman gabrielle giffords, tomorrow. it's reported this morning that the pentagon is said to classify computer sabotage as a potential act of war. that would allow the u.s. to

respond to cyber attack to respond using traditional military force. a pentagon report will be released next month. two iraqi men who came to this country as refugees remain in federal custody in kentucky this morning, they pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges. before leaving iraq one of the suspects took part in attacks on american troops. bob orr has retails. >> reporter: prosecutors say the two suspects arrested in bowling green, kentucky, were hardened on the battlefields of iraq. while waad ramadan alwan and mohanad shareef hammadi have been charged with 23 counts of providing material reports to al qaeda, and alwan is charged with conspiring to deliver weapons of mass destruction. alwan's fingerprints have been matched up with a bomb components recovered in iraq in

2005, shortly before his capture by authorities. court papers do not say when alwan was released but in 2009 he and hammadi both came to the u.s. sources say the fbi acting on a tip began watching alwan and later hammadi using an undercover informant to set up a sting. in a series of recorded conversations, alwan admitted to carrying out multiple ied attacks in iraq between 2003 and 2006, saying he collected everything, tnt, electric detonators, mo are tar shells and rpgs and bragged his group conducted strikes every day using ieds in iraq hundreds of times. the two suspects pleaded not guilty. u.s. officials admit they never should have allowed the men in the country in the first place, blaming that mistake on screening gaps which they say have now been closed. bob orr, washington. this morning on the "early"

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president obama has asked congress to overhaul the no child left behind law. his hope is to improve student performance at the country's most troubled schools. elaine quijano looks at how one principal is already turning things around. >> reporter: for the students of this elementary school in one of america's most troubled districts -- >> boys and girls -- >> reporter: this year has brought hope through a new radical approach. >> for i am a wiggins college preparatory lab school -- >> reporter: the newly named wiggins college preparatory lab school in camden, new jersey, is a turnaround school, part of president obama's $3 billion initiative to remake more than 700 of the nation's worst

performing schools, to receive $2.6 million in federal grants, wiggins was mandated to undergo major changes by retraining teachers, overhauling the curriculum, with intense reading and math programs, and bringing in specialists to help struggling kids. the most drastic change? firing the old principal and bringing in lana murray, who has to show results by june or risk losing federal funding. >> i'm up for the challenge so i'm excited about it. we have a lot of issues here in the school, but we can do it. >> reporter: her efforts are already showing results. last fall, none of these kindergarten kids were reading at grade level. today, 75% are above or on target. murray attributes this to a change in teaching attitudes. >> before you used to hear well i taught that. why didn't they get it. now the conversation has turned to, how is what i'm teaching affecting the child. >> we learn new things in computers.

we didn't have it in fourth grade. we type and stuff and then also every morning we read, and i like to read. >> reporter: but critics say that turnaround model is a blanket approach, that fails to recognize problems unique to individual districts. >> there's no model that says we're going to send in expert evaluators and find out why your school is doing so poorly. instead they're coming in with the hammer saying fire the principal. >> what has been done in the past has not worked so we have to do something differently. public education has to change. >> i want to be a cop. >> a football player. >> a doctor or a scientist. >> reporter: their principal believes the turnaround model is the best chance for these kids to fulfill their dreams. elaine quijano, cbs news, camden, new jersey. coming up a little bit later on "the early show," sarah palin dominates the political headlines without declaring she's a candidate while republicans who are running

struggle to gain the voters' attention. also the latest on the two iraqis arrested in kentucky on terrorism charges and a closer look at the new reports suggesting a link between cell phone use and brain cancer, all that and more coming up a little later on on "the early show." that's it for this wednesday edition of the "cbs morning news." appreciate you watching, as always. i'm terrell brown. take care, everybody. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com