karen fox 45 news. >> all right karen. baltimore city police need your help to find a suspect in a home invasion and rape. police say september 23, this man hit a woman in the head with a baseball bat. and assaulted her in her west baltimore home. >> the victim's children were in the house at the time of the assault as well. so this guy is definitely dangerous. brazen. and we need to bring him to justice. >> if you have any information whatsoever on this case, call the baltimore police sex offense unit at (410)396-2076. >> a man is found dead in his home lightning a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. it happened yesterday afternoon in the 9500 block of liberty road in randallstown. 55-year-old rodney lewis was stabbed to death. homicide detectives are interviewing his friends. but have few leads and no motive. police recovered lewis' stolen suv. it was recovered this afternoon, and anyone with information about this murder asked to call baltimore county police at 410-3070 20/20. >> in a crime and justice report fox 45 spo

karen has such an impact on me that i wrote you a song. two, three, four. >> i'm your new mom. what? >> hey! hey, karen. karen! come on! ♪ i know you're leaving it's not that -- ♪ >>> tonight that family, the heenes, find themselves at the center of the world's attention. they're no stranger to television. the family has appeared twice on "wife swap." i got to tell you something. here's a description, lisa bloom, of the family from "wife swap." at home, the family are as chaotic as a twister. the kids have no table manners and throw themselves around the house while richard devotes every moment to his research. he expects the wife to cook, clean and run the house without any help. >> you throw that one to me. >> of course. >> there's a name for this guy, jane. he's the absent-minded professor. he is caught up in what he's doing, what's interesting to him, and i can't feel anything but a certain sense of joy that we're covering something that has a happy ending, which is great for all of us and great for the family, but there is, as you said, a teaching moment and i think mr. absent-minded professor, he's going to have

karen. he and karen met at a fundamentalist church where they both were active. they were happily married and expecting their first child. stuart had no history of violence and no criminal record. [siren] on the night of the murder, state troopers arrived at stuart's door. they handcuffed him and brought him down for questioning, where they photographed several cuts on his hands. heaton said the cuts were old wounds from carpentry work. police say they were recent wounds from the scissors that he used while attacking krystal. 6 months later, stuart heaton was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. over the last 8 years, criminal experts have questioned whether the police had arrested the wrong man. just this year, stuart was awarded an evidentiary hearing by the appeals court to review the evidence in his case. my partner scott anderson and i were recently brought on to this case. scott is an investigative journalist from new york, and i'm a private investigator and veteran police detective. we were hired by court tv to fly down to ramsey, illinois, and reinv

karen calling in from michigan. karen says some families can handle the attention better than others. >> i think it depends on the personality of the parents. look at the duggars. their children are doing very well on tv. i think kate gosselin was very paranoid, afraid of a lot of things. if you watch the show, you can see that. always worried that she wouldn't have enough money to raise the kids, so this motivates her, and she was very nasty to jon. >> thanks, karen. show biz on call phone lines are always open. >> give us a call at 1-888-sbc-buzz. that's 1-888-728-2899. simply leave a voice mail. we will play some of your calls here on show biz tonight. >>> an oprah winfrey sarah palin smackdown. are you ready? palin is going on oprah, but will there be fireworks? what kind of questions should oprah ask? plus, jon gosselin on a spiritual quest? >> as a single dad, you know, what two or three values can i use to raise dpood kids? >> that's right. jon gosselin in a synagogue at a family values conference. you got to see this one for yourself. >>> also, i never thought i would see the day when marge simpson of all cartoon people would pose for play boy. here's what i'm asking. does cartoon nudity cross the line, or is it just plain funny? doh! show biz tonight this weekend on hln.  >> what two or three values can i use to raise good kids? >> now on show biz tonight this weekend, jon gosselin goes to temple? tonight jon shows up at a synagogue seek

. >> karen live at the golden ring with the latest tonight. karen. >>reporter: 17-year-old jordan is being held at the chesapeake treatment center on the grounds of charles h.escaped this past monday. now state police tell us this monday he was helped by a youth counselor at the facility. both have been charged. but then there's more. youth counselor 26-year-old from white marsh charged with harboring and sexual child abuse. police arrested jordan in delaware yesterday. investigators say dupont used her cell phone to contact family members. it was also learned that dupont and greenville had sexual relations the night prior to their arrest. now coming up on the news at 10:00 more details about this case from maryland state police. live in essex, fox 45 news at 5:30. >>> baltimore city police officer is dragged down the street trying to arrest a suspect. happened just after noon today in the 1700 block of edmonton avenue in west baltimore. cops there to meet with the guy wanted by police but the suspect apparently got suspicious and ran away. he got no

karen stark? psychologist from new york. weigh in, karen. >> i tell you, nancy, somebody may be very emotionally upset but don't necessarily start telling people they're going to kill them ar blow their teeth in or any of that stuff is going to happen. i really think this is such a travesty and such a circus that i'm waiting for the acrobats to come in. it's one ridiculous story on top of another. it's all very ludicrous. what about haleigh? isn't she supposed to be the focus? not the fact that misty is covering up and not telling anybody anything. someone should be really, really paying attention to what happened to her, what can we do to find out about her, and forget about all of who's killing whom and everybody blaming everybody else. >> to art harris at www.artharris.com. he's been there in satsuma for weeks on end investigating this story. what, if any, difference will the divorce make? in the last hours they have filed for divorce in a florida courthouse. >> nancy, it is keeping misty on edge, and that is hopefully what police are counting on to, perhaps, get, you know, some cooperation in the future. i can tell you she has met with police, with this undercover friend, and i'm told they told her, warned her that she could get life in prison if they're able to make a case against her. >> to dr. jennifer shu, pediatrician and author of "baby and child help." what would be haleigh's needs? let's assume the child is still alive. >> so haleigh had a condition called turner syndrome which gives you small stature and it also -- ovaries that don't function. what can also happen is heart problem, thyroid disorder and diabetes. those types of things could be life threatening to the point where if she wasn't getting the regular medical care she needed she could get very sick and die in a short period of time. >> out to the lines. lina in arkansas, hi. >> caller: hello. >> hi, dear, what's your question? >> caller: i was wondering when misty's brother went there that night, he said he knocked on one door and couldn't get a response, did he not go to the other door? wouldn't people naturally check the other door? >> good question. marlaina schiavo? >> he did not go to the second door, nancy. he only knocked on the front door, according to him. >> to sheryl in michigan. hi, sheryl. >> caller: hi, nancy. >> hi, dear, what's your question? >> caller: first off, i love your show. i have a question. if they suspect that misty told her mother and brother anything and they have them in custody, how come they haven't charged them with anything after the fact? >> hold on. repeat the question, sheryl? if the mother and brother know something, why haven't they charged them? >> caller: or threatened to charge them after the fact? >> charge them with what? >> caller: knowing any information. after the fact. >> to renee rockwell and doug burns. in our jurisprudence and our legal system, renee, nobody is under a duty to be a good samaritan and come forward. if you're under oath on the stand and lie, that's perjury. if you're under oath on the stand and refuse to answer, that's contempt. but other than that, what else can they do? >> nancy, i think it's interesting the dynamic you have now. you have mom that's in jail and she's got $100,000 bond. she's about to be brought down to florida. i clearly think that they will approach her and say, okay, do you want to get out of jail? you need to tell us something. look at it. her husband's gone. her friend's a plant from tim miller equisearch. her mother's in jail and her brother flipped on her. i think it's getting close to her cracking. >> doug burns, is there any way these people, if they know something, can be charged with not giving it up? >> the distinction is that as you said it perfectly, you're not required as a good samaritan to come forward. if you conceal information, then it becomes what -- a felony. the police asks, did you speak to mr. a, b, c -- no i didn't and it turns out you did, then you're concealing. >> what if you don't say anything at all? >> if you don't say anything at all you're absolutely right. >>> everyone, quick break. we're taking your calls live. to tonight's safety tips. over 1 million people are victims of stalking every year. nearly always by somebody they know. if someone repeatedly calls you, follows you, sends you unwanted e-mails, letters, threatens you, randomly shows up where you are, leaves unwanted gifts, you're being stalked. if you are in immediate danger, of course, call 911. otherwise, please document all of these incidents. save the voicemails, letters and any correspondents like e-mails and file police reports. tell everyone you know so the stalker cannot get access to personal info like your location, your plans. stalkers are unpredictable. if someone follows you, don't go home. go to a busy area and get help. for information go to safehorizon.org. >>> straight out to bob matthews, director of news talk 840 a.m. bob, what happened? >> nancy, basically these two youngsters were getting together on friday night, going over to visit the young man's grand mother. the family was gathered outside the grandmother's house and charles lockard's sister went inside. when they came back outside, both were missing and they didn't know where they got to. they thought, maybe they took a walk or wandered into the woods. the family started to look for them around the property then started to panic when they couldn't find them. then lockard's father was running into the woods and said he heard his son screaming out, screaming out and all the sudden the screams stopped and he started to panic. however, they didn't call police or fire officials until the next day as they continued to look around the property to try to locate the two youngsters. >> bob matthews, joining us from wpvo from strasbourg, pennsylvania. what did the father claim to have heard the son calling out? any words? >> he said he heard him calling daddy, daddy, daddy, and then all of the sudden he said he heard it again and then the third time he said he heard daddy, dad -- and it stops abruptly. that's when his father became worried and started searching frantically. >> to matt zarrell, producer on the story. what can you tell me about their mental disabilities? >> the boy, charles, he's got the mental capacity of a third grader and donna has the mental capacity of a sixth grader, nancy. >> back to bob matthews. bob, what more can you tell me? what is the type of area? where are they missing? number two, why did they wait until the next day to call police? >> let's talk about the area where they went missing. it's a rural development and there are, you know, woods and swamps and bushes and cliffs out when you get into the deeper terrain. other than that there are houses mixed in amongst the trees. it wasn't like they were out in the middle of the forest. basically what happened, i guess from what i heard, there are conflicting stories back and forth as to why they didn't go to the police right away. some said they were nervous. some said they, you know, thought they would find them on their own. and they didn't want to alert and alarm authorities. when the youngsters didn't come home and they couldn't find them, that's when they panicked and said we better call somebody and called state police and the penn township volunteer fire company. >> bob, that doesn't make sense. what would they be nervous about? >> some people involved in the case, and, again, this is just hearsay. i got th information from a third party. said that they had had some activity in the past with law enforcement, but they didn't really go into specifics or details. some people speculate they may have been afraid to go to authorities because they may have thought they were going to get into some kind of trouble. >> to mike brooks, former fed with the fbi. what do you make of it? i mean, these are two teens with the minds of a sixth and a third grader. they are helpless. >> absolutely. d.c., if we were looking for them, even if they thought they might have run away, nancy, or whatever the circumstances could be, it would be classified as a critical missing person because of their mental capacity. you know, this whole delay in calling 911, it just doesn't add up to me. doesn't make sense. you know, it could cost these children their lives for not calling the police when they should have called. >> to marc klaas, founder of klaaskids foundation. your expertise is looking for lost children. what should be done? and what has gone wrong? >> mike hit the nail on the head when he said the delay in contacting law enforcement may have been a critical mistake. one of the things they can do right now is ask all property managers, all real estate agents, farmers, ranchers, anybody that has access to unoccupied properties or outbuildings to please go and check those properties to see if the kids might be there. although they do not have -- although their mental capacity is challenged, they certainly understand the need to get shelter i'm sure. i think that would be one place to start and that might end up solving the case. >> back to bob matthews, wpvo. bob, i had heard a report, but i want to confirm this with you, there are a lot of vacation homes in that area. there's about 3,000 homes is my understanding. is it true one of the homes appears to have been used by the two teens? they've been in there? >> yeah, nancy. the latest information we have from state police, there are a lot of homes in that area that unfortunately had been foreclosed upon. there are vacant homes in the indian mt. lakes development. police say based on eyewitness accounts and people who saw these two youngsters that they had stayed in one of the homes saturday. when they went to investigate the youngsters were already gone. the teens had left the home. police are saying right now they think they are still somewhere within the development, but that's why, you know, with a program like yours and others, are still trying to get the word out in case, you know, they manage to slip their way out of indian mt. lakes and are out and about somewhere. as you mentioned a short time ago, the elements up there, the temps are supposed to drop into the low -- down around freezing. maybe even into the low 30s, upper 20s by the weekend. it's imperative they find the youngsters quickly. if they're in a home, these homes probably don't have the heat turned on and the electricity turned on. so that could pose a further danger. >> everyone, we are talking about two teens with the mental capacity of a third grader and a sixth grader. if they don't find shelter, they are in the elements. they are completely helpless an. they are completely helpless and missing now for several days. tipline, 5706462271. karen stark, how do people like this make their way in society? there's a third grade mentality and a sixth grade mentality. >> what happens they get a lot of support, nancy. they need people around them all the time who are helping them. and a nice thing is they found each other so they can support each other. what concerns me is the fact that they were yelling out the -- >> if they had fallen prey to a predator, their moral support to each other is not going to account to very much. can the family be held responsible for not reporting them missing for so long. >> i would think so. this would be tantamount to not reporting a third grader and a sixth grader missing. >> we're going to break and take your calls. happy birthday to texas friend, sue. she never misses a show. sue, happy birthday. >> pennsylvania police were searching for two mentally disabled teens who vanish in the poconos friday night. 18-year-old charles lockard and donna kiernan left out for a walk and haven't been seen sinc

but we begin with the one and only judge karen mills francis, host of the judge karen show and former miami dade county court judge. judge karenif you were the judge in this case, what would you think is appropriate to see this mom and pop charged with and should mom be treated as harshly as dad, who was the alleged mastermind? >> you know, jane, how you doing? i was in new york at laguardia airport thursday, american airlines was making an announcement that the denver airport was closed, every tv in the laguardia airport was surrounded by people riveted about this story, and to find out that this whole thing was done for celebrity and done for money? they want attention, i think they deserve detention. >> i like that one. all right. you know, this is -- it's funny in a way. you could make jokes about it like, for example, richard heene thinks the world's going to end in 2012 so maybe he doesn't care if he's in prison because it's all going to be over in his mind by 2012. but it's not funny. because there were people who put their lives at risk to try to rescue what they thought was a little boy trapped in that contraption. th

karen parks tells us how the personal information ended up in the hands of thieves. karen? >> jennifer and jeff, the fbi informed the city of baltimore about a breach that affects 3000 employees. someone threatened to expose millions of express script records on the internet if an extortion payment was for the made. it is a prescription drug provider used by thousands of city and state employees. and 8000 state workers were affected. the can company did not give into the threat. the fbi informed scripts that same person he sent a letter to a unknown law firm containing personal information of 800,000 names from across the country. including more than 10,000 from maryland. >> what we see are problems with companies that assume that their traditional security methods are enough. when in reality, as their websites become more complex and applications become more in-depth and serve users in a number of convenient ways, expose themselves to a number of new threats. >> express scripts will offer free identity restoration services to all affected employees. >> karen parks, fox 45 news "late edition". >> baltimore county man is locked up tonight accused of abusing a neighbor's little girl. he is also charged with possession of child pornography. police arrested 55-year-old william davis yesterday after a three day investigation. investigators say a cable contractor was installing the internet at davis' home on which i will cot square in essex when he stumbled on porn on davis' computer. >> he visually saw it. identifiable by this contractor. he then shut it down. never said a word to mr. davis. and left the home. >> well he later called police and investigators say davis also admitted to molesting a former neighbor's child for eight years. beginning in 1998. the girl was five years old when the alleged abuse began. davis is in jail tonight on on $250,000 bond. >> a be anne arundel county fire lieutenant is charged tonight with attacking his wife. police say 37-year-old joshua could not be stable arrested thursday after his wife accused him of hold

karen parks live from harford senior center with more on the story. karen, what can you tell us. >> jennifer and jeff, these seniors found out last week that the center will close soon. they hope that one city and state leaders see it for what it is, they will give in. >> good luck to everybody. >> here at the harford senior center. wednesday is bingo. >> i sit here and talk to mary. and connie. >> miss marry has been coming here for 14 years. >> this place means everything to me. i am not going to lie to you. >> miss jean for nine. >> governor used to come in and play the guitar and we would sing irish songs, you know. i liked to get ahold of him today. >> miss bennett is 93 years young. >> i don't go any other place. >> she and the rest of the seniors, have a bone to pick with the governor, and the city of baltimore. >> i cannot understand why they are closing it. i truly cannot understand why they are closing it. >> after more than three decades, these doors are scheduled to close october 31. >> it will be sad. i don't want to breakup. >> the city can no longer afford to give the center in northeast baltimore nearly $100,000 a year. it is a facility that helps more than 400 nearby residents. >> well, they are saying they are not concerned whether we like it or not. >> and it is more than just the seniors that are let down. >> we get flu shots here. free. >> aarp helped us with our taxes. give out pamphlets. milk, for the babies. >> provide lunches every day for $1 50. >> it is just going to be a hardship. it really is. >> and today. >> figure out how to keep them open. >> and at the end of this day, as the doors close as usual these folks leave with heavy hearts hoping for a miracle. >> the seniors have another center in parkville, which is about a mile north of here. and then another one that they can take advantage of, which is about 2 1/2 miles south. in the meantime they tell me they all plan to write city and state leaders hoping for help. reporting live in northeast baltimore. karen parks, fox 45 news at 10:00. >> positive messages on the record. >> later on fox 45 news at 10:00. how adam lambert is turn american idol success into music industry success. >> but next. dangerous discoveries on major maryland bridges. how will major repairs be funded? >> and find out just how . >> state officials have placed weight restrictions on the root 90 bridge just outside of ocean city. this comes after inspectors discovered deterioration on the bridge. it is just one of three maryland bridges discovered to have significant problems. john rydell has more, on a dangerous discovery, at three maryland bridges. they show signs of advanced deterioration. >> the tideings memorial bridge and hayden bridge had punishment from thousands of cars and tractor trailers. both crossed susquehanna river and inspectors discovered what they call advanced deterioration. state officials say the two bridges pose no immediate danger to drivers. but another reminder that major repairs must be made

karen parks live at the maryland state police golden ring barrack with more. karen? >> a councilor at the center is accused of helping the 17-year-old escape. now police tell us how this plan unraveled. >> 17-year-old jordan stefconvene dodo pont back at the treatment center. tyra greenfield a youth councilor is charged with harboring and child sex abuse. here is what happened. >> it was here at whitemarsh mall where seven juveniles and 3 councilors went to the movies on an outing. dupont and greenfield a part of the group. when the movie let out at 10:00 monday night dupont escaped. >> ultimately that juvenile ended up at a local convenience store. >> greenfield went back to the center. finished her shift. and received a call from dupont. and picked him up. >> we learned that there was a sexual intercourse that took place at her residence. and later the next morning, she drove that juvenile to a residence in laurel delaware. >> meantime investigators question dupont's family that lives along the easton shore. >> eventually, a family member notified us that the juvenile escapee made a phone call, to the residence. and we tracked that cell phone to an employee of the chesapeake center that lived in the whitemarsh be area. >> greenfield a councilor for three years at the program for sex offenders, housed on the campus of the which charles a hick he school for offend oners. arrested and told investigators where to find dupont. >> she indicates that there was no sexual relationship that took place within the facility. that the first incident was the night of the escape. >> this is not the first time employees at the hick he school complex have been accused of abuse and neglect. in 2003 a special report by an independent juvenile monitor uncovered more than 20 cases in which staffers had sex with youth. >> the facts are the facts and it has a terrible history. and failed the mission over the years. and as new administration our job is to fix it. >> bail has been set for greenfield at $75,000. a hearing was this morning, but we're not sure as to whether or not bail was posted. meantime, if she is convicted she will have to register as a child sex offender. reporting live in middle river, karen parks fox 45 news at 10:00. >> the body of a missing baltimore city woman is found. and her boyfriend has been charged with murder. baltimore county police arrested 29-year-old tyrone web jr.. charged with killing mia nickels that disappeared a year ago. two hunters found the remains off ridge road in woodlawn saturday. autopsy shows she was shot to death. >> basically it was an abusive relationship. he was very, very possessive and often violent. and something made him kill her then that he became jealous perhaps of another man and decided to kill her. >> tonight web is held at the baltimore county detention center without bail. >> and baltimore police need your help to find a suspect in a violent home invasion and rape. investigators say on september 23, this man, hit a woman in the head with a baseball bat and sexually assaulted her in her west baltimore home. if you have any information you are asked to call the baltimore police sex offense unit. >> a baltimore police officer is d

karen mills fran as we sit, host of the judge karen show and former miami dade county court judge. what a panel. we start with sarah armagon, reporter with "the new york daily news." sarah, what is the very latest on this hideous alleged drunk driving mother case? >> the latest tonight is we're still waiting for the arraignment of the driver. she is still in the hospital right now. she has been charged with dwi and vehicular manslaughter. her daughter's also still in the hospital. and i spoke to lennie last night, the father of the daughter that was killed. he told me that he would be at the funeral home today making arrangements to bury his daughter. >> i want to get right to tonight's big issue. i want my panel to weigh in on this. should drivers who are drunk behind the wheel with kids in the car face more severe charges and a harsher penalty? of course, this isn't the first story of its kind that we have covered. tragically, over the summer, cops say this grisly mangled wreckage was caused by a drunk driving mom. we all remember diane schuler killed herself and seven other people, including four children. the medical examiner said she had a blood alcohol level of .19 undigested vodka in her stomach and they say she had been smoking pot, too. judge karen, if you were given the discretion as a judge to hand down a more severe sentence because kids are victims, would you? >> well, most state statutes provide for stiffer penalties in dui cases where there was a child inside the car so this lady, she's going to be facing a lot stiffer sentence because of the fact that she had all these children in the car but i can't imagine what it must have been like for all of these children to be in the car racing down the highway in new york city and this drunk mom says how many of you think that i'm going to have an accident and according to the reports, every one of these kids raised their hands. they must have been terrified about what was going to happen here. yeah, if i were the judge in the case, she would be -- i would throw the book at her. >> dr. -- >> jane, regardless of whether those statutes exist in certain states, to elevate the penalty because there's a child involved, prosecutors considered all the facts every time they dole out a sen

karen mills francis, host of the "judge karen show." and dr. dale archer. tonya acker. but first lisa versacci. i know it's difficult to talk about this story. why did you get involved in the life of this young man named cory when he was 6 years old. and how do you feel about the fact that he's now 24 and right now as we speak in prison? >> well, first off, i'm devastated he's in prison. it's turned my life upside down because i love him very, very much. and i got involved -- it wasn't an intellectual decision, it was just put on my heart right after the los angeles riots to find a little boy to help prevent him from getting into gangs. and that was the reason to help someone from getting into gangs. give him a little extra love, little bit of guidance. but you know, he's not a criminal. he's wound up in jail anyway. and it just feels like in some communities, there's just no choice for the young men. that's where they're going to go no matter what. >> judge karen mills francis, you have obviously handled hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cases. is this sort of a metaphor with what's happening in our criminal justice system where if a kid has a misfortune of being born in a poor neighborhood in perhaps a minority neighborhood in the projects with a dysfunctional home, it's almost like this person is on track to end up in the criminal justice system despite best intentions of those who want to help and the child themselves? >> you know, i want to commend lisa for taking this big project on with this child. i, myself was a foster mother. i ended up with a 12-year-old kid who i met when i was a public defender in the juvenile justice system. the reality is that poverty breeds a lot of crimes. the question becomes that why is it that the majority of people who are behind bars are people who committed non-violent crimes? you know, in 1950, 72% of all people who entered prisons were white males. now 57% of the people who enter prison are black ma

karen calling into showbiz on call in michigan. karen says some families can handle the attention better than others. >> i think it depends on the personality of the parents. look at the duggers, their children are doing very well on tv. i think kate gosselin was very paranoid, afraid of a lot of things. if you watch the show, you can see that. always worried she wouldn't have enough money to raise the kids. so this motivates her. she was very nasty to jon. >> thanks, karenbiz online phone lines are always open. >> give us a call 1-888-728-2899. leave a voice mail. we'll play some of your calls on "showbiz tonight." >> oprah winfrey, sarah palin smackdown. palin on oprah. will there be fireworks? what kind of questions should oprah ask? jon gosselin on a spiritual quest? >> as a single dad, what two or three values can i use to raise good kids? >> that's right. jon gosselin in a synagogue at a family values conference. you've got to see this one for yourself. i never thought i'd see the day when marge simpson would pose for "playboy." does cartoon nudity cross the line or is it just plain funny. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. >>> as a single dad, you know, what two or three values could i use to raise good kids. >> now, on "showbiz tonight" this week, jon gosselin shows up at temple. he seeks spiritual advice and asks about family values. seriously? >>> oprah winfrey sarah palin smackdown. big news, palin going on oprah. will there be fireworks? will

karen unger to her son army private 1st clash josh joshua. he and his wife celebrated the birth of their second child. >> my name is karen unger. i'd like to salute our son private 1st class joshua unger. our thoughts and prayers are with the family from the 216th. we wish they have a successful mission and return home safely. all who support and appreciate the sacrifices these soldiers and families make every day for our country and for those of us who are blessed to live in a free world. >> maybe you have somebody in the service, you have something you want to salute them about, too, since they are serving. go to cnn.com/robin. we'll help you. >>> so the government stimulus plan has created or saved about 30,000 jobs so far. it is the first tally we're getting from the white house on this. krit innings say that 30,000 is is a far cry from the more than 3 million jobs that were promised when the stimulus package was passed in february. the white house says these contracts were just a sliver of the spending so far. by the way, jennifer is out today. that's why i'm handling the business here. walmart and amazon are battling it o

karen finney saw these attacks. her recent article says it's time for all of us the media, the public, politicians, to step up and demand this rhetoric stop. karen, i'm watching this. again i'm new to the policy conversation. i'm new. >> if only it was a policy conversation. >> i look at this and think okay, we're trying to figure out how to get the best possible health care to the largest number of people that has the most choice and freedom. that was maybe my stupidity since we're going to pay a few trillion. so i look and okay, who's on the hook. the taxpayer is going to be forced to put some of this in. you want the best for patients and doctors. that's where your attention should be, i would imagine. what it seems the only attention is unions, employers and politicians trying to figure out what to do with the money and at the expense of taxpayer, patients and doctors. >> look. i think what the grayson stuff represents is the back and forth and the fighting, the pettiness that goes on, the republicans want to have a resolution sanctioning grayson because the democrats had a resolution sanctioning wilson, you know they get so caught up in this back and forth. you're right, i thought we were supposed to talk about health care. but i guess we'll put that aside and work out our petty grudges. you know, but i do want to say from the piece that i wrote yesterday for huffington post, there is a sort of sublife culture in our national discourse and politics that has gotten particularly harsh. i think the problem is it does take us away from the conversation that we need to be having on the policy front whether it's health care, afghanistan, iran, you know at the end of the day this should be about america, not about a particular ideology. >> is the problem that the rules are for sale. as long as the rules are for sale to a special interest you're never going to get a decent outcome. >> no, i think the issue is nothing new. you have extremists on both sides who can capture a lot of attention by saying outrageous things. as karen said she was in the clinton administration, people on my side of the aisle accused bill clinton of being a murderer when vince foster committed suicide. you've seen it in the bush years where there was a movie produced called "the death of a president" that fantasized about the assassination of president bush. there was an article declaring bush's illegitimacy. this goes on on both sides. >> pictures of bush with the devil. we'll go all day with this. what strikes me, this is all these people know how to do, that they do not have the capability to solve a complicated problem in a simple way, either side. >> i think that may be true. the bigger problem is these voices have more platforms to communicate on than in the past. so when karen was dealing with clinton and the outrageous charges against clinton, the internet was not flying like it was, cable news isn't what it is. the blog sphere. i think there are many more platforms. >> go ahead. >> i was going to say dan is right thank god

karen calling us from minnesota. all right, karen, dash is telling us that it's just being covered more. what's your take? >> caller: i think that there's way too many kids being raised in impersonal day cares the first five years of their life. it's a type of disattachment disorder. in welfare reform they stopped paying day care at 13 so left to roam the streets. >> so you think it's fact that kids are in day area? do you think is it -- do you think that even working parents could maybe just spend more time with their kids whether they work or not? >> caller: think there should be one parent required by law to stay home with their children. a day care -- >> by law? >> caller: yeah. >> okay, all right! >> caller: i had a working mom in the '60s and it didn't work out. >> okay, karen, thank you for your take on that. and carl. carl my producer, told me age bit about what your idea is. tell everybody. >> caller: well, first, to say the children aren't really that bad and crime is down is absurd. >> okay you're not buying it? >> caller: no. >> okay. >> caller: and such as israel does with the minimum of a military program all 18-year-olds, 16 to be decided later, all children should have the military experience. they're going to get discipline. they're going to get taken out of their environment, such as kids that are in areas that can't, you know, "i will never get out of here i'll never be able to leave," they'll be able to leave that environment. they'll be able to -- it'll help with obesity, it'll help with their illiteracy. everyone needs to go to the military i think minimum two years. learn respect and discipline for their parents and other people. >> all right karl, i hear what you are saying ging and i also hear what you are saying about the numbers that ou

karen unger to her son, private first class joshua unger. he and his wife recently celebrated the birth of their second child. >> my name is karen unger. i'm from indiana. i'd like to salute our son, private first class joshua unger. our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers and families. we wish they have a successful mission and return home safely. to all, we appreciate the sacrifices these families make every day for our country and for those of us to live in a free world. >> exactly. 17 minutes past the hour. if you have somebody you want to salute, go to cnn.com/robin. >>> the death of two people in an arizona sweat lodge is now a homicide investigation. a sweat lodge is used for cleansing exercises. this is at a retreat led by self-help expert james arthur ray. the sheriff says they're looking into how the sweat lodge was built. a spokesperson says authorities do not have all the facts and the word homicide is inflammatory. >>> children in connecticut lined up for their free h1n1 vaccinations. few cried about it, though, because it was a nasal vaccination. look at the look on her face. the sheer number of kids getting vaccinated brought relief to some parents. >> i was surprised, because a lot of my friends are not able to get it, kind of in the outskirts, but to see so many parents and children here opting to get it helped me be reassured. >> the health director in charge says he hopes to get vaccine shipments each week. >>> this was not your usually boring, old city council meeting. whoa! these guys were fighting about a decision to privatize a sidewalk. a city sidewalk in st. peerltsbupeerlt petersburg, florida. they're fighting over a sidewalk. one of them is 76 years old and the brother of one of the council men. now, the other is 51. both, by the way, were arrested for disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor. i like to listen in on the natural sound here. >> do not move that way. stop it! >> they're both now free on bond. >> what an important issue, like a sidewalk. >> they were fighting over a sidewalk. i'm sure there's more to it, but it just sounded funny. >>> one college football team keeps winning the season and it says a 12-year-old cancer survivor is inspiring them. here's more on that story. >> the cincinnati bearcats had been one of the big surprises this year. the team says it's no secret. they told the new york times they're being inspired by this young man, 12-year-old mitch stone. they contributed to a charity called friends of jackson, who teams up sports fans with teams. mitch says he's been inspired by the team winning and it has boosted his spirits to win his battle against cancer. >>> lebron james has been treated for the flu. doctors are treating it as though he had the h1n1 virus. his teammates tested positive for a similar strain. they we he was sick for days. he seems okay now, though. >> you know, but it's a good group of guys. >> are you contagious? >> no, i think i'm over it now. if you get sick, then i was contagious. >> he's not contagious. >>> now it's time for our true champion. this week is former ucla coach john wooden who turned 99 last wednesday. he's considered the greatest coach of all time for his leadership and for molding his players to be good people. one of his famous quotes, "failure to prepare is preparing to fail." >> 99 years old. >> 99. >>> so a little boy alone on a runaway balloon for hours when we thought we were watching live tv. there's the balloon. the reality was equally as scary, but i'm going to say it, it was bizarre. >>> a heart-stoppingstory had so many of us glued to the tv yesterday. everyone thought this six-year-old went alone on a runaway balloon. it turns out he was hiding in the attic at home, but the whole thing played out on live tv. we were glued watching it. the family said the episode was not a stunt. >>> a woman blew herself up during a coordinated suicide attack that killed 11 people. the associated press reports that the blast hit part of a police station and a mosque in north pakistan near the afghanistan border. taliban presence is strong there. this is the latest in a wave of deadly militant attacks. >>> a judge says he wants to avoid a circus side show in a hearing from the three people accused of illegally giving prescription drugs to anna nicole smith. yesterday, he barred prosecutors from asking her doctor if there was a sexual relationship between smith and her doctor. smith died of a drug overdose in 2007. >>> those are some of our headlines. hello. it's friday, so hopefully that makes it a little bit better. >>> back to this balloon story. it had so many people glued to the tv. maybe you were among them. a boy believed to be on a runaway weird-looking balloon was later found at home and safe. correspondent richard lui. let's talk about -- i said it was weird-looking, this kind of spacecraft-looking thing, apparently homemade, flying sauce saucer, basically. >> it's about 20 feet in diameter, about five feet tall, and authorities say it reached as high as 7,000 feet. dad referred to this balloon as a 3-d low-altitude vehicle. he wanted something that would hover above the ground. we hear about what this balloon might be used for. >> it could be used to put scientific instruments into the air, it could be used as a center piece for a party. it's basically a small mylar kit that you can get off the internet. >> he also says it's possible the balloon could have lifted the boy about as high as the treetops. we're also blogging about that at cnn.com/robin. >> what kind of reaction are we getting from our viewers here? >> terry saying, omg -- oh, my god -- are you people stupid? it's a hoax. the father is clearly determined to be famous. this one from joann. how does a six-year-old think to do this? i am relieved he is okay but what a mess it caused. >> and cnn thinks it was not a hoax or a stunt. >>> three people were trapped on a ledge above a waterfall. they were stuck there for three days. people were searching here, at california king's national park. king's canyon national park. a rescue helicopter finally spotted them. they lit a fire so they would be soon. they lived by rationing what little food they had. >>> we hear of a new deadly attack on afghanistan forces in afghanistan. the violence has gotten much worse recently there. 25 american troops have been killed in afghanistan this month. u.s. commanders are asking for more troops to stamp out the comeback. >>> president obama will be speaking at a forum about community service. it marks the 20th anniversary of president george w. bush's volunteer service movement. the former president invited president obama to speak. some republican and anti-tax groups said they will be there protesting. >>> you need to see this frightening video at a train station in australia. the train hit a baby stroller. the baby, thankfully, only had minor injuries. you see the stroller just roll off the platform. the distracted mom raced after it as the train rolled in. experts say the baby was strapped in the stroller and that is what saved its life. thank goodness. >> another good outcome. >> exactly. so be thankful for maybe thinking your life is boring. at least you're not on national tv because you think your kid is floating away on a balloon or your baby went under a train. >> if he was really in there, you could see he would be tumbling around like crazy. that's what they were all worried about. >> right, that's what i was thinking, how could he survive that? >> the next time you see the thing where it lands, watch the guy chasing after the balloon. he doesn't quite get there. next time just watch. >> it's classic. >>> this weather brought to you by green giant. >>> what's going on across the region? it's heavy snow. it continues to fall in new york state, northern parts of pennsylvania, too, but within the last hour or so, look at this begin to diminish a little bit. good news if you're trying to get in and out, but the rain is there in new york city and long island. boston, too, that's why heavy rain is located. you have it right there and it will pick back up again later today as some energy from the great lakes rotates and get into a coastal storm situation again off the carolinas overnight tonight through tomorrow. so we still have winter warnings out there. look across boston, it's light. a little bit heavy as you get across cape cod. you can see the leafy shapes right here, indications of snow. most of it is above 1,000 feet, so that's what it looks like right there. areas shaded in red, all the way to maryland, parts of virginia. you get in there and it's real windy for you in cape cod. take a look in atlanta, here's what it looks like. east wind for the last couple days kept the temperatures cool. we'll have the same thing today, a little bit of sunshine, and finally sunshine for us. low 40s the low tonight. >> those clouds look like cold air to me. >> it looks a little rough. it looks like november but we're not going there. >> many times on stories when i can't say what i'm thinking, i'm like, oh, bobby will do it. >> i'm a regular guy. >>> bring up banning smoking at your local restaurant or bar, and you're likely to get into a very heated argument. we've got new information that could be important no matter what side of that discussion you're on. >>> smoking bans in restaurants, bars and other places may be protecting the hearts of non-smokers. that's from a new study by the institute of medicine which advises the government. i'll use pueblo, colorado as an example saying that hospitalizations for heart attacks there dropped 41% in three years after workplace smoking was banned. but many businesses have been against the ban, saying it's bad for business. >>> all right. since jennifer is off, let me talk money for you. ken lewis, who is stepping down at the end of the year, will get no salary or bonus this year. the bank said he agreed to forgo his $1.5 million salary. lewis still gets about 69d million in benefits when he leaves. microsoft says they have recovered most, if not all, of that data from the sidekick cell phones last weekend. you might remember t mobile said the data might be gone, but the subsidiary who makes the phones for t mobile said they found the data and will restore it soon. >>> if you wait to book your tickets for holiday travel this year, expect to pay more. prices are rising almost daily with the fares for holiday travel up 60% in just the last week. last week people who booked last minute got some great deals because the airlines were kault off guard by a big drop in demand. >>> ireporter bev mckayman introduced us to a real mover and shaker in today's breakthrough women. >> my name is bev mcmaken, aka pink panther. when i first heard robin meade announce the segment on breakthrough women, i knew immediately i wanted to be to do minx. she is a non-profit corporation that has donated more than $50,000 to local women's which children's charities. i don't think she knows how much she has changed the derby sisters' lives. from all your derby sisters, we love you, minxie. you're a real inspiration. thanks for making this a reality. hu hugs and slugs, pink panther. >> maybe you know a woman who has inspired you. "morning express" is looking for women like that. you can nominate someone, or yourself -- go ahead -- and go to our web site. >>> now we know the so-called balloon boy -- let's just call him that -- is fine. in fact, he wasn't in the balloon at all when it was pitching and rolling. >>> plus, one of the biggest movies comes alive on the big screen. >>> this is a very, very dangerous situation not only to the six-year-old boy but to the people on the ground, because this thing is moving at a very fast velocity. >> they are very upset. this balloon was never meant to actually carry anybody, it was just a family project they were working on. >> he's going down. he's at 100 feet. this is ending and it looks like -- >> it's coming down? >> yes, he is coming down. >> watch as the rescuer runs toward that balloon. we don't have it now. trying to catch it because you think that little boy is inside, right? at this moment, there was such a mix of excitement and fear. was the little six-year-old boy inside? would he be okay? after all, the balloon had flown about 50 miles, was wobbling, spinning and pitching all the way. the faa even cleared air space. we now know little falcon heene was safe and sound back home, hiding in the family's attic! more on your thoughts. maybe as you were either watching yesterday or what you think about the story today. on our facebook page or web page. >>> democrats were fighting over health care reform. yesterday they could not agree if a new plan should include an option for government-sponsored insurance. nancy pelosi insists that a public option would help the uninsured and keep costs down. critics argue that it would drive away private insurance, paving the way for a government takeover. dems pick up the debate on monday. >>> a simple gesture at a high school football game is causing a whole lot of commotion at a small town. here's rafer with more on that story. >> yeah, robin, i think they're going a little bit too far on this one. 17-year-old arlynn davis from georgia says he's a religious young man. after he scored, he pointed to the sky. he says he was giving thanks to god. well, the refs didn't think so. they penlized him for unsportsmanlike conduct. he said he would do it again the next time he scores. maybe he held it a little too long. >>> he was kept out of buying an nfl team. >> of course, the two race hus lerz, the reverend al sharpton and jesse jackson got involved. and i got a call saying, i'm sorry, i have to ask you to withdraw. >>> this is the seahawks fullback that did this stupid thing to his head. he told the seattle times, i'm not going to do it anymore. presumably the coaching staff told him not to or maybe a doctor. he also did a similar thing in college in west virginia. it's for your own good, fellow. >>> a crazy ending to a high school football game. john glen high is trailing by one. the field goal is blocked by plymouth. they celebrate. they think the game is over, only it didn't cross the line of scrimmage. look at the coach going, go, go, go, run it in. so the guy runs in, the refuse rees confer, they call it a touchdown, but plymouth is protesting. they won't put the score on their web site. >>> want to get away? maybe you want to get away on a getaway day friday. >> more coaching on the other side. that's all there is to it. you can have a tie, donovan, remember last year? robin doesn't know what we're talking about. >> i'm bored of the football talk. let's move. >> sorry about that. >>> 70-minute delays philadelphia. new york city metro, you're going to get an hour delay shorltly here and we're looking at delays around d.c. metros and that's with some showers. san francisco looking at morning fog delay. watch for delays here as well. more on that in just a bit, rob. >> fair is fair. when i'm talking about something you can go, okay, we're bored. >> it's that kind of atmosphere. >> in this tough economy, we could all use our own money coach. hln money sperexpert clark howas here. take a look at ben and sara's story and the advice clark has for them. >> hi, my name is sara. >> and my name is ben. >> and we need a money coach. the last year we got married, got a house, sara started school and i started a new job. we're sorlt of starting over ways. >> we've sort of been in super save mode. everything that we can put away we have. we're not sure what we should do. we track all of our expenses and the additional things that are coming up. >> i want to get to the point where we're making our money work for us and making sure we're doing everything as efficiently sz as possible to make sure we're living comfortable in the future. our question is how much should we be saving and where should we be investing that money? >> i think it's wonderful that you're trying to meet all of these goals. something i know about that you didn't mention in your video, that is all your student loans. those are a very high priority for you. you need to pour every dollar forward you can towards paying down that student loan debt. you want to tackle your high-interest rate debts first. for the rest ofs us, thinking about setting up priorities. if you owe money and it's at pretty high interest rates and you don't have any money saved, i'd like for you to do a half and half solution. i want you to take 50 cents of every dollar, put it towards savings, the other 50 cents towards debt. >> so clark can be your money coach, too. the clark howard show airs saturdayss and sundays at noon right here on had hln. in this struggling economy, lark will help you to save more, spend less and avoid getting rip off. >>> most of us may have been on edge had we thought a little boy was floating away in a helium balloon, but that didn't stop the late-night comedians from pouncing on the story. >>> pets may neefr see their owners again. time is running out on possible reunions. >>> all right. rise and shine, would you you? it's 8:00 straight p up on a tired friday morning. but it's friday. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on. >>> i'm really sorry i yelled at h him. >> we've got him. >> scared the heck out of us. >> that dad spent a nervous afternoon thinking that his little boy was sky-high in a balloon with no way to get down and so did a lot of people near any tv. well, the truth may be stranger than fiction. >>> plus -- these men didn't just fight city hall. they fought at city hall. what started the smack-down. >>> what started as a fever turned into a struggle to walk again. a little girl's inspiring victory over a swine flu horror story. >>> so the top story this morning is one that had many people, maybe you, glued to a tv yesterday. the missing boy and a runaway balloon. was he on that balloon? for two hours, no one knew if 6-year-old falcon hen ne was really alone onboard that balloon or if he had fallen out after it took off. turns out he wasn't anywhere near it. he was hiding in the attic the whole time. he was afraid that he might be in trouble, apparently. just a fie few minutes ago his dad told our sister network kcn that he understands why his son was scared. >> earlier in the day we had told him several times not to play inside of it, and finally i end up raising my voice telling him not to play in it. and i seemed to have gotten him pretty upset. but bradford told us that he was inside so we had no other reason to not first look into it, search the house. >> a lot of people are wondering what the boy at the center of the chase, though, meant by these comments that he made on "larry king live" last night. >> did you hear us kacalling yo name at any time? >> uh-huh. >> you did? why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for a show. >> so when asked what did the little boy mean by that, his dad said that he was appalled by that question and his son was probably talking about all the media coverage. authorities say that they do not think it was a kind of hoax or stunt at all. >>> a lot of people are talking about the story on our facebook page. jody writes, how did anyone think that the child was in that balloon? from the size, clearly there was not enough lift to carry a passenger. stephanie writes, there was a positive outcome. that's all anyone hoped for. when did people start pointing fingers about payment for attempted rescues? situations can happen to anyone. kids will be kids. send your comments to our facebook page or go to cnn.com/robin and e-mail us by hitting the contact us button. >>> this is not the first time the same family has been in the spotlight. they've been on reality tv and richard lui has more in about ten minutes. >>> happening today, defense attorneys for casey anthony will be in court asking the judge to throw out the murder charges against her. they claim that investigators destroyed the crime scene when they recovered the body, preventing defense experts from reviewing it. prosecutors say that evidence taken from the scene was preserved and there are hundreds of photographs available to the defense. >>> you know, we need to tell you about a new h 1 n 1 warning this morning. the fda says absolutely do not buy any treatments that you see for sale online. the agency says that it's testing products found on the internet that claim they can help. so far none of them has been approved for the united states, or in the united states. bottom line is you have to talk to your doctor. >>> the president was in new orleans yesterday and he faced critics who said that federal help for people recovering from hurricane katrina hasn't improved since he took office. >> i expected as much from the bush administration. but why are wre still being nickelled and dimed in our recovery? >> well, look, we are working as hard as we can as quickly as we can to process through many of these issues. >> protesters greeted president obama at a democratic fundraiser in san francisco yesterday. some were anti-war protesters from code pink. there were also health care reform protesters both for and against. in all, about 1,000 people showed up. >>> the deaths of two people in an arizona sweat lodge is now a homicide investigation. a sweat lodge is used for cleansing exercises. this was a retreat led by self-health expert james arthur ray. the sheriff is looking into how the sweat lodge was built. they say the authorities do not have all the facts. >>> a man now faces charges in a 19-year-old rape and abduction case. or affiliate in houston tells us that dennis bradford was charged yesterday with attempted capital murder. he's accused of kidnapping jennifer schuett from her bedroom when she was only 8, taking her to a field, raping her and slit slitting her throat. investigators say they found dna evidence on clothing left at the scene. >>> five minutes after the hour. we have to talk about snow. when the leaves are still on the trees and bob's going to show you who's getting that. >> that's a bad situation, rob. the reason why is the leaves on the trees, it's a heavy, wet snow, above 1,000 feet in peb pen and new york state you're just getting slammed with snow. over the last couple of hours beginning to dissipate a bit. but there's more energy across the great lake states. it will drop down off the carolina coastline and work its way back up the shore. the wind, the rain, snow all going to be out there for at least i'd say the next two days. look at the snowfall already being reported. haenyville around pennsylvania, 4.4 inches, state college yesterday 2.5 inches of snow, the earliest snowfall on seasonal on record. the last time we saw snow this early was 1901, only 0.01 inch. very rare this time of year. look at the snow coming across lower p.a., lower new york state, connecticut, rhode island, in towards massachusetts. boston radar picture picking up the rain pretty well. most of the heavy stuff offshore. northern pennsylvania, watching the radar picture out of binghamton, light stuff across the poconos, parts of the alleghenys as well. more develops tonight above 1,000 foot elevation. almost a foot by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. more on that in a bit. live to d.c., if you're traveling, you'll be affected by the storm as well. windy conditions, you'll get delays at the airport. you can see the fog is out there right now, not great visibility. that will be the case for you offed and on all day. more details in about a half hour. >> thank you very much. >>> the white house says, speaking of that picture, that the stimulus is working and it has the numbers to back it up. but the critics say those numbers are proof that the thing is a major flop. >>> i'm really sorry i yelled at him. >> we got him. >> scared the heck out of us. >> the father of that 6-year-old boy found safe and highing in the attic. for hours it was feared that that little boy he was holding was trapped on a runaway balloon. we watched this live unfold yesterday afternoon, maybe you did, too. correspondent richard lui joins us now. who is the family? it's not the first time that we've seen them on national television. do divulge. >> richard heene is a meteorologist and former tv weather guy. they're known for storm chasing and conducting extreme science experiments together, though he says his family is never put in harm's way. now, the family has even been on reality tv. this is video of them appearing on the 100th episode abc's "wife swap" in march. the woman who swapped with the heene family talked about the balloon ordeal. >> i think that he was scared because he's -- the flying thing went up. i think he might have been scared of how his father would react, you know, to it. so he may have been responsible for the flying balloon to go up. >> the heenes have even submitted i-reports to cnn including this one where they are chasing hurricane gustav. >> it's fascinating. so many people watched yesterday because it was something that once you saw it you could not turn away. listen as the story unfolded. what are our viewers saying about how they felt then or now? >> grabbing a lot of attention. blogger beth saying, big stunt. the child told it all. 6-year-olds really cannot lie. this from thomas, a a comment on the buy and balloon story, happy endings rule. >> my heart was aching for my parents. then we learned he was okay and just hiding. well being i viewed it as a learning experience for my children. thank you all for blogging and writing into us. cnn.com/robin to comment on this. keep the conversation going. we share your comments. >> you know what bob said to his son who's about the same age? don't you ever go and hide if you think you're in trouble. don't ever do it. >> lest you may end up on tv. next half hour, we'll have more about this balloon and why the family had it and what exactly it is. >>> democrats are fighting with each other over health care reform. yesterday they could not agree if the new plan should include an option for government-sponsored insurance. nancy pelosi insists the public option would keep costs down and help uninsured. critics argue it would drive away private insurers. democrats will pick up the debate monday. >>> we saulz salute the troops. today's salute is from karen to her son army private first class joshua unger. he and his wife recently celebrated the birth of their second child. >> my name is karen unger from munsey, indiana. i'd like to salute our son joshua unger. our thoughts and prayers are with the soerltds and their families from the 216th. we wish that they have a successful mission and return home safely. for all those who support and appreciate the sacrifices these soldiers and their families make every day for our country and for those of us blessed to mrli in a free world. >> it's always our honor to help you salute the troops. go to krn.com/robin. >>> new this morning, bank of america says that it lost more than $2 billion in the most recent quarter. as it continued to lose money on loans. that news could be a drag on the stocks today on top of that, general electric reported some disappointing earnings. stock futures are down you. after the dow closed yesterday above the 10,000 mark at 10,062. a new high for the year. >>> the gov

karen's on board, is that walmart will actually outperform on a tape like today and it actually did. listen i think that these areas are overowned and i know that karen doesn't like that technology but they are but they are. people have piled into these names and ugly if they all get out at the same time. it's easy getting in, it's not easy getting out. the dollar has strength, put in a bottom the last couple of weeks scares me because i think it will take the commodity trade away. if the commodity trade goes away this whole thing unravels. >> the u.s. dollar today because we did see some dollar strength about midday if you take a look at dixie. >> showing support behind the greenback. happened about 10:30 this morning when you see the dxy spike higher, take a listen to what he had to say. >> i agree with two things that mr. zelic said. he said that there is no immediate risk to the dollar, it's a relatively long-term issue. i also agree with him though that if we don't get our macro house in order that that will put the danger -- put the dollar in danger. and that the most critical element there is siskel, long-term ciccal responsibility. >> the dollar itself will be replaced in reserve currency. we talked on "fast money" "halftime" if an alternative it would already number place as the reserve currency. i think that the dollar still has a secular downtrend that remains in place. it'll be an orderly decline. why, because it has to be. because if you go back and if you look at the data, we're going to need something more from bernanke. we're going to need confirmation from ben bernanke, that you know, what the training wheels at a week ago we were talking about take them off, we cannot take them off right now. we cannot do that. we'll have to leave them on or otherwise that double-dip recession that pete and i were talking about the other night. and what does that bring to mind that brings to mind the inflation fear going forward. >> right. >> it is there. >> but how do you -- what does this mean for the commodity trade? if you're thinking that there's a secular downtrend that does that necessarily mean that it is time to get into commodities even more so? >> i think with the longer-term perspective, commodity in the fourth quarter is the place that you want to be. clearly today the tape for equities, commodity equities' names, it was not a good day for them. oil futures held up well. we're going to talk about that a little bit later. but overall, melissa, i do believe that the dollar downtrend is still intact and it's not just ready to reverse. >> karen, how do you parse those comments from ben bernanke? >> i agree with joe. >> yeah. >> he didn't say anything different than what you would expect them to say. so far as the training wheels i think he's hold told us they're going to be on for a while. they said low rates for the extended future. i forget the actual terminology, but it was -- it ain't changing for a long time. i think you know what's the next -- what's the next event that will move this market, beside the data that we have coming up? we're coming up to earning season again. and i think it will be important to see how the financials do and we'll get a sense in -- i guess two weeks from now. that will be important. i think that will give the markets some leadership or debbie downer will take over there, guy. >> and you don't have to wait two weeks for the financials. when you start to see alcoa next week, we had deutsche bank today giving an upgrade and also raised the target for alcoa. that's next wednesday after the clos