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 smoothers a texas city. and a close encount, some california kayakers do some very up-close whale watching. this is the cbs morning news for up-close whale watching. 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 hamas. he was exchanged for hundreds of palestinia palestinians, but some israelis opposed the lopsided deal. 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. there were reports earlier this morning that the israeli soldier who had been coop temperatured by hamas soldiers, he was in a position that was overrun by hamas fighters, that he would be released 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 that he has been released. he would have been happened 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 is, in fact, moving forward as planned. >> 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 pornd. 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 eepgz. gilad schalit has become a symbol. there will be a lot of rejoicing here when he's released, but perhaps more sore on the palestinian side who are going to receive more than 1,000 people who have been held in israeli jaild 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. 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. and according to a new cnn poll, mitt romney and herman cain are running neck and neck. 26% support romney and 25% support cain. 43% of democrats said they're he thus aftic about next year's election compared to 64% of republicans. president obama continues 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 cash paid campaign trip. >> 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. 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 coroner confirms that dan wheldon died of head injuries suffered in sunday's car crash. make shut 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, i wouldn't run them. 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.

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with yesterday's drought created conditions not seen there since the dust bowl of the 190s. >> it started out light and all of a sudden it got pitch black. it was pitch black.you cooperate 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. >> asian stocks took a tumble following news that japan's growth has slowed. 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. 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. 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 20,000 swrobs. the retailer says demand for home improvement is down and 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 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 heir richard branson opened the 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. 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 ach needed win. i've got nothing against these do-it-yourself steam cleaners. lugging around a hot water extraction unit can be 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. and new categories every 3 months. and 1% on everything else.

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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 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. 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. 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. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries.

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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 soldiers. 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 watch iing can be up close and personal. >> 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 awe redondo beach. they 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 as it swam right beneath him. >> my first thought was, rick! that was my first thought, he was down there hoping to get hit. >> he wasn't hit and says his experience can be summed up in two words. >> it was peace and relaxation. he's feeding on the krill near the surface. now watch this wave that comes and washes over my kayak. >> reporter: the waves show just how powerful the whales are. >> i wouldn't recommend trying to get close. it could be dangerous. >> reporter: that's because a what he will this size could

easily cause the kayak to tip over. >> that is remarkable. this morning on "the early sho show", the great granddaughter takes up the cause. this is the krmz. "cbs morning news." sthoo [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up!

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good morning and welcome to 9news now, i'm andrea roane, today is tuesday, october

18th. look who's back. >> i'm glad to be back. my kids are mickey mouse mugs -- >> i love that. >> i don't know, can you see it? there it is. he's propping his eyes open and it says some mornings are rough. [ laughter ] but not when you join us. thank you for joining us. here's monika samtani. she'll have traffic in just a moment. howard bernstein, good morning my friend. good to see you. >> i expected you to be wearing mouse earring when you got back. -- ears when you got back. >> i got them. >> today is not going to be a good day and then chilly the rest of the week that have and kind of bei -- after that and kind of breezy after that. temperatures will be in a good range today. mid 60s here by 11:00 and near 70 by 1:00. in fact. some of us will make it into the low possibly mid 70s but the with the east wind that will keep things in check but not a bad day at all. now a look at what's happening

outside right now with the satellite and radar. the clouds to the north and west with rain accrues the mississippi valley. that's moving east, a storm system in florida with a lot of moisture. so late tonight and tomorrow we will turn wet and breezy. some 40s in fact low 0s in frederick up -- 40s in frederick and upper 50s down south at annapolis at 57 and pax river 57 and prince frederick was 55 and winchester this morning at 50 degrees. a sunny day, at least partly to mostly sunny. 75 in easton. tuesday morning, monika samtani, tell me it's better than yesterday morning. it is better, but this time everything is happening north of town. i just got off the phone with montgomery county police, an off-duty police officer was heading home on georgia avenue. let's go there live right now

and he saw live wires across the roadway on georgia avenue. closed between bachelor's forest forest road and emery lane in both directions. live wires across the roadway in both directions on georgia avenue. this is at the swim center. what you want to do if you're heading out right now is go ahead and take route 108 to 28 and back over to georgia avenue. to virginia, no problems to report here on 395 north of duke street to the 14th street bridge. coming up i will update you on the situation in alno. back to you guys. president obama will continue pushing his jobs plan in north carolina this morning. it's day two of his three day bus tour. >> and yesterday, in ashville he told the crowd that congress will have the vote on the bill in pieces and any no votes are

votes against americans. >> reporter: at a packed high school auditorium in north carolina, president obama pushed congress to pass the jobs plan piece by piece. >> we're going to hot up up into -- chop it up into some bite size pieces and give them another chance to look out for your jobs instead of their jobs! >> reporter: he implied that tea party conservatives hijacked the debate. >> to stop tie trying to satisfy some branch of the party and help america. >> reporter: the bus tour will continue rolling through north carolina today before pulling into virginia. monday, he stock up on can day and -- stocked up on candy and greeted locals at a general store. it's about jobs, not votes the white house says. but that didn't stop supporters