an israeli soldier held captive for five years is exchanged for over a thousand palestinian prisoners. lights out, a massive duststorm pushed by 70-mile-per-hour winds smothers a texas city. and a close encounter, some california kayakers do some very up-close whale watching. this is the cbs morning news for tuesday, october 18, this is the cbs morning news for tuesday, october 18, 2011. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. an israeli soldier was freed

this morning after five years as a prisoner of the palestinian militant group hamas. gilad schalit was exchanged for hundreds of jailed palestinians, but some israels opens the lopsided deal. mark philips joins us from israel. mark, explain how this is playing out. >> reporter: it's not playing out as quickly as a lot of people expected. this is very intricate puzzle. a lot of pieces have been put into place. thus far, it's unclear how quickly those pieces are moving. there were reports earlier this morning that the israeli soldier who had been captured by hamas fighters just around gaza, he was in an israeli army position that was overrun by hamas fighters who had tunnelled into it, that he would be released by about now this morning. his family is waiting at a military base for him. the israeli prime minister is waiting there, as well. at the same time, bus loads of palestinian prisoners, more than

400 of them, were due to be handed over also around now, both to positions in the west bank and in gaza. thus far, the israeli military says it cannot confirm either that gilad schalit has been released. he would have been handed over to egyptian and red cross authorities in egypt before being moved. they are encouraging words saying everything is still on track. there is no confirmation at this point that this release would show everybody has been waiting for and people in the palestinian territories are waiting for, as well, that it has happened. so we're waiting to see that this operation that has been planned as an intricate clockwork operation is, in fact, moving forward as planned, be y betty. >> is criticism growing at all

for what some are calling a lopsided deal? over 1,000 palestinian prisoners for just one israeli soldier. >> the attitudes in israeli opinion polls show pretty strong support for this deal, although it's -- a lot of people are holding their node well accepting this. there's a great value put on each individual israeli soldier because everybody here goes into the military and because there's an unwritten social contract that each soldier's life is important. a lot of people are saying this is not a particularly good deal, but it's the only deal they could have gotten under the circumstances and there's great anticipation. gilad schalit has become a symbol in many ways. when he is released, as is anticipated will happen this morning, there will be a lot of rejoicing here, but perhaps more so on the palestinian side who, as you say, are going to receive starting today and over the next two months more than 1,000 people who had been held in israeli jails, some of whom have

been involved in bloody terrorist activities. >> mark philips in israel, thank you so much. take you to libya now, one of moammar gadhafi's last strong holds have fallen to the interim government. it came after a long standoff and the victorious troops celebrated in the streets. some small pockets of resistance remain, notably gadhafi's hometown of sirte. republican presidential candidates go at it again tonight. this time in las vegas. it is their fifth debate since september. and according to a new cnn poll, mitt romney and herman cain are running neck and neck. 26% support romney and 25% support cain. two-thirds say they might change their minds. there's an enthusiasm gap in a portion of the poll that included democratic voters. 43% of democrats said they're enthusiastic about next year's election compared to 64% of republicans. president obama begins his

day in north carolina continuing a bus-style trip to push his jobs plan. later, president obama will move to virginia. susan mcginnis has the latest on this. >> reporter: good morning, betty. the president rolled into north carolina on that million dollar pus trying to sell parts of his $447 billion jobs bill. but critics in washington are calling this an election campaign trip and they say that he is sticking americans with the tab. at a packed high school auditorium in north carolina, president obama pushed congress to pass his jobs plan piece by piece. >> we're going to shop it up into some bite-sized pieces and give them another chance to look out for your jobs instead of looking out for their own jobs. >> reporter: he slammed senate republicans for blocking the measure last week, implying that tea party conservatives hijacked the debate. >> it's way overdue for us to stop trying to satisfy some branch of the party and take some common sense steps to help america.

>> reporter: the president's bus tour will continue rolling through north carolina today before pulling into virginia. monday, he got a chance to stock up on candy and greet locals at a general store. the white house insists this trip is about jobs, not votes. but that didn't stop supporters in asheville for shouting for more years. >> i appreciate the four more years, but right now i'm thinking about the next 13 months. >> reporter: here in washington, republicans called this nothing more than a taxpayer funded campaign trip. >> it's not appropriate to the taxpayer's dime since it is clearly campaigning. and i must say, again, i've never seen an uglier bus. >> reporter: senate democrats could bring up the first part of the president's plan this week. it contains $35 billion to help states keep hundreds of teachers, firefighters and police on the job. now, north carolina is important

to the president. he only narrowly won that state in 2008. today he hits jamestown, north carolina, then hampton, and then he wrapped up that trip, betty, tomorrow. >> susan mcginnis in washington for us, thank you, susan. now to a disturbing story from china. and a warning, this video is difficult to watch since it involves a child. it happened last thursday. a 2-year-old girl walking along a narrow street was hit by a van, which stopped, but then continued. no one stopped to help and the child was hit by another van. finally, someone picked her up and amazingly, she is still alive. she's in critical condition. in las vegas, the county medical examiner confirms that race driver dan wheldon died of severe head injuries suffered in sunday's indy car crash. makeshift memorials have sprung up outside the indianapolis motor speedway and at the las

vegas speedway where he was killed. the 15-car pileup has raised questions about whether the track is too dangerous for indy cars. five time nascar champion jimmie johnson says he for one would not take the risk. >> those cars are going so fast and get airborne frequently on open, that i wouldn't run them on open. there's no need to. you can't control the vehicle when it's off the ground. >> besides the track, there are questions about the size of field and experience of the drivers. just ahead on the morning news, it's happening again. another big satellite will soon fall from orbit. plus, it's good to have a designated driver, but a 9-year-old? this is the "cbs morning news." 9-year-old? this is the cbs morning news.

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with the region's historic drought yesterday afternoon created conditions not seen there since the dust bowl of the 1930s. >> it started out light and all of a sudden it got pitch black. it was pitch black. you couldn't see anything. >> it's a little more than wind because those winds flipped planes at the lubbock airport and 18 wheelers on the highways. it ripped down trees and tore away roofs, but luckily no injuries were reported. so it is chicken little time again. another huge satellite is about to fall out of orbit just a month after that nasa satellite that fell into the pacific ocean. but this one is a seven-ton german space telescope. more than a ton of debris is likely to reach the surface. it's expected to come down next weekend. where, though, is anyone's guess. so you've been warned. be careful out there. on the cbs money watch, asian stocks closed lower today. drew levinson is here today with more.

good morning, drew. >> good morning to you, betty. asian stocks took a tumble following news that japan's china's economic growth has slowed. japan's nikkei lost 1.5%. the hang seng was off sharply, more than 4.5%. today, wall street gets the latest on the housing market, another round of earnings and we'll hear from the fed chair ben bernanke. monday, stocks had their worst day in more than two weeks. the dow lost 247 points, more than 2%, and the nasdaq was down almost 53. credit card customers are having a tougher time paying their bills. five of the top six card companies say late payments rose in september. that's the first time in almost three years that so many companies reported increases. some experts say that's a worrisome sign for consumer spending and the economy. and more bad news for the economy. lowes is closing 20 stores and cutting almost 2,000 jobs. the big box retailer says demand for home improvement products is down. the company is rolling back its

expansion. instead of opening 30 news stores a year as planned, it will now open 10 to 15 stores a year starting in 2012. research in motion is trying to smooth over customer frustration after last week's blackberry blackouts. the company is offering more than $100 of free software and apps to each blackberry user and some will be given a month's worth of free technical support. and you may not be able to blast off just yet, but the world's first commercial spaceport is ready. british bill air billionaire richard branson opened the spaceport on monday. he hopes to begin flying paying customers into space. more than 450 people have already bought tickets. >> that's quite a ticket to ride. i don't know if i could do that. i can't even ride a roller coaster. >> i would love to do it. >> i'm sure you would. it costs a pretty penny, though. >> yes. >> drew levinson, thank you.

in texas, an undercover sting operation didn't work out quite as planned and it was all caught on tape. last monday in arlington, a thief stole what police call a bait truck with the secret camera in the front seat. at this one point, he opens the door and literally hangs out of the truck and plows right into a house. no one was hurt, but the thief escaped. in michigan, also caught on surveillance video, a 9-year-old designated driver. so it may be a little tough to see, but that is her pulling into a gas station near detroit, michigan, about 3:00 a.m. last week. she and her father went into the store to pay, and he told the clerk that let her drive because he was drunk. someone called police and they pulled her over. >> when he opened the door, he saw the 9-year-old girl sitting on the booster seat operating the vehicle and asked her how old she was. she said 9 and then she asked the uniform officer why he was pulling her over, that she was driving pretty good.

>> the father has been charged with felony child abuse. straight ahead, your tuesday morning weather. and in sports, many happy returns as the jets leave the dolphins in the dust for a much needed win. a rush! that's why i'm carpet for life. but if things get out of hand, there's no shame in calling us. ♪call 1-800-steemer. oooohhhh yeeaaahhh!! can we show you something? wouldn't it be great to feel like this all the time? (yeaaaahhh!!) i guess so. well, with the chase freedom card, you get 5% cash back on up to $1500 worth of purchases.

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windy this dallas, 68 degrees there. 81 in sunny los angeles today. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows storm clouds swirling over florida. the west coast is mostly clear while the northeast is partly cloudy. later today, heavy rains will continue over florida with a tropical disturbance traveling through the gulf of mexico. thunderstorms are heading into the rest of the southeast. and the northern plains will be cool and breezy. in sports, the new york jets got a badly needed win over the dolphins. the jets derell revis helped. he intercepted a matt moore pass right on the goal line, cut across the field and ran it back 100 yards for the td. mark sanchez ran for a score and then in the fourth he threw a 38-yard strike to san antonio holmes to help the jets to a 24-6 victory. the dolphins are winless this year. in baseball, it is back in business for the american league champion texas rangers.

they hit the field in arlington yesterday, getting ready for their world showdown against the st. louis cardinals. game one is tomorrow night in st. louis. finally, nba players and owners will meet today with a federal mediator. the league has already canceled the first two weeks of play. it is hoped that the two sides can resolve their differences on salary cap and revenue sharing in time to save most of the season. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. while whale watching, we'll be looking at that in the water with the gentle giants. be looking at that in the water with the gentle giants. bucks vis planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee. it's the starbucks via® taste promise.

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no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. with flu complications, including young children. so to kill the germs that may make your family sick, we recommend using lysol disinfectant spray every day. lysol is approved to kill over 50 germs. this includes the cold and flu viruses that can live on surfaces for up to two days. it works on hard and soft surfaces to help prevent the spread of bacteria and keep your home healthy. lysol is the #1 pediatrician recommended brand. visit lysol.com/missionforhealth on the "cbs morning news," here is a look a on the "cbs morning news," here is a look at today's weather. heavy rain will soak florida and much of the southeast. damaging thunderstorms are likely in the region. cool air, though, is sweeping south. high temperatures will be in the dakotas.

here is another look at this morning's top stories. an israeli soldier who had been held captive by hamas for five years was exchanged this morning for more than 1,000 palestinian prisoners. the swap was opposed by some who tried to block the exchange. and president obama continues to try and pitch his jobs plan and hunting for votes on a bus trip through north carolina and virginia. tonight, republican candidates square off for a debate in los angeles. whale watching is a hugely popular past time. but it rarely gets so up close and personal as it did for two california kayakers. fortunately, they had a camera. >> a lot of patience and a dash of luck led to this. >> he was so close. that kind of was all exciting and got your heart really pumping. >> these heart pumping moments came off redondo beach recently. kayaker rick coleman and his

wife, susan, went on a series of whale watching trips with their paddles. after spotting the blue whale, rick dove into the water and came face-to-face with a 50 foot mammal as it swam right beneath him. >> the fingerprint came up close to the kayak. my first thought was, rick! i didn't scream out, but my first thought was he was down there waiting to get hit. >> he wasn't hit and says his experience can be summed up in two words. >> it was peace and relaxation. this is his mouth right here. he's feeding on the krill near the surface. his mouth is open. there's his eye right there. watch this wave come and wash right over my kayak. >> reporter: the waves show just how powerful the whales are. >> i wouldn't recommend trying to jump in or trying to get close because, yeah, it is potentially dangerous. >> reporter: that's because a whale this size could easily cause the kayak to tip over. the colemans say they approach their whale watching trip with

the utmost respect for the animals. >> that is pretty remarkable. this morning on "the early show "," good manners updated. emily's great granddaughter takes up the cause. this is the "cbs morning news." "cbs morning news." sthoo [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up!

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up. a long awaited prisoner swap between israel and the militant group hamas. and then a megaconcert raising money for those affected by the texas wildfires. still missing, an 11-year-old has vanished and the stepfather is charged with his mother's murder. and the president is on the road pushing his jobs plan but republicans say he has an ulterior motive. first weather and your traffic in a couple of minutes. mmm... if i were cheese... i wouldn't want to let go of myself either. come try the cheese inspired dishes on our $2, $4, $6, $8 value menu.

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