reaching out. president obama works to repair relations with the muslim world. >> america is not and never will be at war with islam. mystery in the sky. nobody seems to know just what this vapor trail off the california coast is or where it came from. and and stranded at sea. stranded at sea. no air conditioning and no hot water. a powerless cruise ship in the pacific slowly returns to port. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, november 10th, 2010.

good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. president obama travels to south korea today after delivering a progress report on u.s.-muslim relations in indonesia. in seoul, mr. obama will attend the g-20 economic summit but, before he left indonesia, where he lived as a crowd, the president told a crowd of university students, quote, indonesia is part of me. whit johnson is in washington with details. good morning, whit. >> betty, good morning. president obama heads to a much more contentious environment in south korea. many countries are frustrated with sluggish economic growth and there are deep divides about how to fix the problem. before heading to south korea president obama delivered a message of friendship to muslims around the world. >> america is not and never will be at war with islam. >> reporter: in this speech he admitted despite his best efforts relations between the u.s. and muslims are still tense but the president praised the country for its own efforts to

root out terrorists and urged all nations to work together to overcome that. >> all of us must work together to defeat al qaeda and its affiliates. we have no claim to be leaders of any religion. >> reporter: president obama will attend the g-20 world economic summit in south korea. tuesday, he warned the group still has a long way to go with the global economy. >> one of the key steps is putting in place additional tools to encourage balanced and sustainable growth. >> reporter: one central issue at the meeting will likely be the federal reserve's recently announced plan to pump $600 billion into the u.s. economy. china and germany have already criticized the idea, suggesting that it'll drive down the value of the dollar even more and worsen global trade tensions. but president obama is standing by the program insisting a healthy american economy is good for everyone. president obama plans to visit u.s. soldiers stationed in south

korea. he's also trying to finalize a trade deal that could lead to more american jobs. betty? >> whit johnson live in washington, thank you. back in indonesia, a mild uproar over a religious faux pas involving a muslim government official and the first lady. the conservative government minister admits he shook hands with mrs. obama but says his hand was forced. conservative muslims avoid contact with women they are not related to. the minister is the last one in line, and he appears enthusiastic about greeting the first lady. you decide. this morning, though, a mysterious vapor trail seen over the southern california sky and it remains a mystery. this video of what resembled a missile launch was shot monday by the ksbs tv helicopter. >> the video speaks for itself. it's definitely -- definitely some object. it's not a flock of birds or a jetliner. basically, it was a large plume

at the horizon and it kind of grew and got thinner and spiraling in nature. >> the pentagon says it hasn't a clue but says it's not a missile. the north american aerospace defense command said it was not a foreign missile launch and the faa says it's stumped. one independent expert says it looks like a plane. the investigation continues. we'll stay on top of that one for you. meantime, though, this morning tugboats are tugging the cruise ship carnival "splendor" back to san diego but the going is slow and it is not expected to arrive until tomorrow. meanwhile the 4500 passengers and crew are making due after monday's engine room fire stranded them at sea. manuel gallegus reports. >> reporter: the carnival cruise ship splendor on its way back to california, tugboats reached the stranded ship off the coast of mexico tuesday afternoon for the long tow to san diego. the 150-mile journey is expected to take two days. the 4500 passengers and cry members on board are reportedly

fine but with no air conditioning, no hot water, no internet and they're out of cell phone range. >> the passengers are being monitored closely. they're in good care. and doing very well. considering the circumstances. >> reporter: military helicopters delivered more than 10,000 pounds of supplies to the 952-foot ship from the u.s. navy aircraft carrier "ronald reagan" which is now nearby power on the ship monday was cut by an engine room fire which was contained without anyone getting hurt. >> we do not have any details on what happened and how the fire was caused. that is under investigation. >> reporter: the cruise started in los angeles and was set to tour the mexican resort coast. it will be costly for carnival. they'll be refunding passengers who are no doubt ready for some dry land. manuel gallegus, cbs news. today election workers begin counting write-in ballots in cast in alaska's still undecided senate election.

the incumbent, lisa murkowski, is trying to win re-election as a write-in and is in a close race with joe miller. there are more than 30,000 ballots to count. write-ins hold a slim lead over the republican, joe miller. he beat murkowski for the gop nomination. no charges will be filed in the destruction of cia videotapes of suspected terrorist interrogations. the tapes were destroyed in 2005. it's believed the tapes show prisoners being waterboarded, a technique which simulates drowning. an investigation into the interrogation continues. it is expected to take weeks before a decision on whether to prosecute five american soldiers charged with murdering afghan civilians for sport. the alleged ringleader appeared at a hearing tuesday. david martin reports. >> reporter: staff sergeant calvin gibbs on patrol in afghanistan three days after he allegedly orchestrated the murder of an afghan civilian. if the charges are true, he used those medical sheers tucked into the top of his flack jacket to cut off fingers as trophies. >> he's crazy.

there's something wrong with that guy. and i've seen him kill, you know, i know he's killed dudes. >> reporter: specialist jeremy morelock, who is accused of taking part in three murders earlier this year made that statement to army investigators as he described gibbs' actions. >> pulled out one of his grenades, american grenade, you know, popped it, flipped the grenade then -- >> reporter: winfield, is specialist adam winfield who admitted to being a member of gibbs' kill team. >> what did he mean by that? >> he meant that he was going to kill people. >> reporter: winfield, too, is charged with murder. >> pretty much the worse thing i've ever done in my life. >> looking back, is there any way that shooting could have been justified at all. >> no. >> reporter: winfield claimed he was too afraid of gibbs to blow the whistle. >> what do you think he would do? >> i think he would kill me. >> and why do you think that? >> he said it.

he said if anyone ever ratted on them, he would kill them. >> reporter: another soldier, emmitt quintall, told investigators >> told stunner if he snitched again, he would kill him and that he has killed people before and he has no problems killing again. at that time, staff sergeant gibbs had a cloth. he opened it and dropped it and three human body fingers fell out on the floor -- the ground. >> reporter: and yes, there are pictures of soldiers posing with the bodies of their victims. the army is doing everything it can to keep those photos from becoming public. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. just ahead on the morning news, can you be fired from your job for what you post on facebook? plus, the popular alcoholic energy drink may be headed for a state-wide band. first katie couric with a preview of tonight's "cbs

evening news." >> if you need a kidney transplant, where you live could determine how long you have to wait but now kidney chains are changing that and saving thousands of lives all across the country. we'll have that story and more tonight only on the "cbs evening news." ng pain everywhere... and i wondered what it was. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means i can do more with the ones i love. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior or any swelling or affected breathing, or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness,

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toi switched to a complete0, multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has gingko for memory and concentration plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's. it it was not quite a clean getaway for a pair of suspected bank robbers in pennsylvania last friday. in this surveillance video, you can see the two crossing a busy highway as a dye pack in the money bag explodes. the dye should have marked their clothing so police hope it will help catch the robbers. washington state is considering a ban on this controversial energy drink. the liquor control board in washington state meets today and may ban the caffeinated malt liquor beverage. nine college students were hospitalized last month after drinking it at an off-campus party. many schools and universities

have already banned it. san francisco has decided to ban toys in some fast-food kids' meals. tuesday, the city's board of supervisors voted 8 to 3 for the ban, sparked by concerns about childhood obesity. it requires fruits or vegetables to be served with kids' meals and bans toys in meals with too much salt or fat. it takes effect in december of next year. on the "cbs moneywatch" stocks in asia were mixed this morning. ashley morrison is new york with much more on that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning, betty. some asian markets got a boost on the dollar's strength. japan's nikkei rose nearly 1.5%, hitting a four-month high, while hong kong's hang seng lost nearly 1%. today, wall street gets third quarter earnings results from general motors. tuesday, stocks slipped from the start and never bounced back. the dow gave back 60 points, while the nasdaq lost 17. more than 21 million taxpayers will be happy to hear of at least one agreement on capitol hill. leaders from both parties are promising to spare them from the

dreaded alternative minimum tax by adjusting the tax before the end of the year. the tax was enacted in 1969 to make sure higher-income taxpayers couldn't avoid paying uncle sam but was never adjusted for inflation. google's search service will soon let you preview your search results. users will be able to see previews of websites before clicking on them. that way, you can skip sites that obviously aren't what you're looking for. to see the previews, just click on the magnifying glass next to each search result. google's also giving an early holiday gift to its employees. tuesday the company announced all employees will get thousand dollar cash bonus and raise of 10%. google will also pay the taxes on the extra cash. and it's not exactly what retailers want to hear, consumers plan to cut their spending for the holidays. a new survey finds 45% of all americans will cut back on the cost of gifts this year, with one in four planning on giving home-made gifts.

and can you be fired for what you post on facebook? well, the national labor relations board does not think so. they're defending a connecticut woman who was terminated after she posted disparaging remarks about her boss on the social networking site. the company insists they have the right. a judge is set to hear the case in january. betty, fire-able or not i just don't think it is a good idea to post those kind of remarks about your boss. it will not improve the working relationship. >> if you are not going to say it out loud in front of the person, i don't know if you should post it online for the whole world to see. lovely. ashley, thank you for joining us here in new york. appreciate that. straight ahead your wednesday morning weather, and in sports a night of surprises in the nba. ♪ hey! wait up! ♪ [ female announcer ] you see a mud stain. but new wisk sees a particulate stain.

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in sports, utah surprised the heat in miami. paul millsap of the jazz scored a career-high 46 points including the shot that sent the game into overtime. utah went ahead on free throws and held on to beat the heat 116-114. in los angeles, the lakers got 33 points from kobe bryant against minnesota. the 99-94 win keeps the defending champion lakers undefeated in eight games this season. and counting. their best ever season start was winning 11 straight in 1997. in new orleans, the hornets are off and running with their best start ever winning their first seven games. chris paul had 13 points against the clippers in new orleans for the 101-82 victory. and a big surprise indianapolis made their first 20 shots of the third quarter against denver. mike dunleavy had 24 of his 31 points in that period, as the pacers cruise to a 144-113 win over the nuggets. and when we return, another

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,,,,,, on the "cbs morning news," a look at today's weather. scattered snow showers flying around the northwest. another storm system is moving through the midwest. the southeast staying warmer than normal and the new england region still dealing with windy conditions. here's another look at this morning's top stories. president obama left indonesia for the g-20 summit in south korea. tuesday in jakarta, the president told a crowd of university students that the u.s. is not and never will be at war with islam. and a cruise ship that was stranded in the pacific following a fire is being towed to san diego. it is expected to reach port tomorrow. there are 4500 passengers and crew on board the carnival

"splendor." safeguarding our borders is just one component that's key to our national security. to the south, the u.s.-mexico border runs 2000 miles. since there aren't enough agents to patrol it, homeland security is using drones to do the job. bob orr got a rare look at it. >> reporter: from four miles up, this is what smuggling looks like along the mexican border. illegal immigrants sneaking through the brush, a drug-running ultra-light airplane heading towards tucson. a blackhawk helicopter corraling a group of border crossers, all seen by a predator remote controlled aircraft armed with high-powered cameras. predators are best known for tracking and killing terrorists in afghanistan and pakistan. >> impact! >> reporter: here on the u.s. border, they are used strictly for surveillance. >> i'm pretty sure they'll be able to tell the you are in a blue shirt, tan flacks i'm in a flack suit -- >> they can see all of that? >> they can see all of that. >> we are trying to cross the border, sneaking across we would be plainly visible. >> that's correct.

we would be working on putting agents in place to intercept you. >> reporter: he wants more pilots to keep the predators flying around around the clock claiming nothing else provides this kind of immediate intelligence. >> my boss in washington, d.c. can log on and say, what are we looking at right now? >> reporter: you could feed this picture in realtime to the command center. >> reporter: the program is expensive. each predator costs around $18 million and the aircraft has limits. they're only cleared to fly inside a narrow zone along the border and can't fly at all in bad weather. still, to him, the air fleet is essential and congress is sold. a fourth predator is on its way to the mexican border. bob orr, cbs news, arizona. in other news, actress betty white is proving that there's little that can slow her down these days including fulfilling a girlhood dream. tuesday, white was made an honorary forest rangers by the oopdz u.s. forest service complete with hat and smoky the bear. the 88-year-old had wanted to be a park ranger when she was younger but women weren't

allowed to have the job back then. white says her parents would have been over the moon. congratulations. this morning on "the early show" an update on the stranded cruise ship off baja, california. i'm betty nguyen. this is the cbs morning news. c bv s morning news. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off.

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>> hello again. it's another pleasant day and the breeze is gone. and we'll take a look at the day part this day's start. what we'll see is a ton of sun. we're going to a high of 60 and this evening, we'll be in the low to mid-50s. don, take it away. in the news, kick backs for referring patients.

and schoolyard bullying to the extreme. you have to hear about this and now, a woman is heading to court. and a high speed crash and what caused a nearly fatal scene and what you're warned to do to stay safe. more news and the first warning weather in a few minutes. ♪

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