Transcripts For HLN Morning Express With Robin Meade 20091225

merry christmas to you. i'm richard lui in for robin meade. it will be a very good morning as you're getting ready to open those presents. here's the top story, though, as you're doing what you enjoy doing. the winter storm is turning out to be a real nightmare. roads are deadly, interstates are closing across the midwest. plus, watch as a woman slamz the pope to the ground during christmas eve mass. he is okay, but we've learned about her. and people try to save a buck winning the deer that went wild in the aisles. cars smashing together in a christmas eve pile-up. the wreck stranded dozens of people on interstate 40 in oklahoma. right now interstates closed all across oklahoma. some areas got 14 inches. >> there were two other cars over here besides us. we were all stopped but they're just going way too favst. >> an ambulance carried away one woman with two broken legs. they are declared a state of emergency there. at least 18 people were killed on slippery roads. driving conditions are so treacherous, interstates are shut down in south dakota and texas as well. people are being warned to stay off the roads in most of minnesota. up to 20 inches of snow was expected to blanket the state, authorities saying traveling after dark could be life threatening. chris has where traveling could encounter ice and snow. what do you got, chris? >> just part of it is the wintry weather. that's where we focus in parts of midwest into the northern plains states. still snowing very heavily back into kansas city. you can expect to see five to ten, maybe even 15 inches when this storm system is all said and done. heavy back in north dakota, south dakota, maybe 15 inches of snowfall. back in minneapolis, you're beginning to change from snow to a little mixture of rain. let me take you to minneapolis, minnesota where temperatures will be in the 30s. you could still get accumulations of about three to five more inches of snow possible today and on into the overnight hours. of course, this storm system, the snow is just part of t. there is severe weather across the south, richard, and i'll have details coming up in just a few minutes. the taliban released a video claiming to show a soldier captured five months ago in afghanistan. in this video, a healthy-looking man identifies himself as private first class beau bergdahl. he gives his tag number and other personal identification. in the end, he calls for a political exchange. the u.s. military have not commented. police are looking for two men who shot and killed a salvation army employee. he was returning to the salvation army building yesterday when two men walked up, demanded money and shot him. his wife called 911, but he died before help was able to get there. his three young children saw the entire thing. >> my heart goes out for the family losing their dad, and i guess to have to witness it during this time of the year. it's definitely going to be hard on the kids. >> no doubt. the salvation army is planning a news conference today. now to a new jersey father that has been reunited with his son after a five-year custody battle. they're going to disney world for the holidays -- nice place to be at. david goldman's family in new jersey is just thrilled. >> i can't wait to see sean and david. i'm sure they're both so happy to be with each other. i got to get this animosity out of my head because that doesn't do really anybody any good, but it's been so upsetting this morning watching that parade through the streets. >> he is talking about yesterday's public handover of sean. you see right here his brazilian stepfather chose to take him through a crush of reporters. sean is in the yellow jersey in the middle you can see instead of privately delivering him to his dad. that's what he was upset about. a woman rushed the pope, grabbed his robe, jerked him to the ground during christmas eve mass at the vatican. you can see her leap over a barrier right here, lunging at the pope. the 82-year-old pontiff was not hurt by a cardinal broke his leg. authorities rushed in. they described the unarmed woman as mentally disturbed and said she tried the very same thing at the same event last year. vatican police took her into custody and the service went on. so balloon boy's dad could have to pay the faa $11,000. that's its maximum fine. that's on top of a $42,000 bill he got from the sheriff. the faa said heene disrupted flights when he told authorities his boy was drifting away in a helium balloon. the boy was actually hiding inside the house instead. heene and his wife have been sentenced to jail. they are working with the faa. the very reef that the exxon valdez hit 20 years ago. two tanks carrying 30,000 pounds of diesel fuel were damaged and there is a sheen on the water. we'll find out today how much spilled. the exxon valdez disaster was the worst spill in history. we have weather, including extreme weather from chris. chris is in for bob van dillen. >> look at the weather we're seeing here across the country. this same storm system we talked about a second ago producing all the snowfall is producing severe weather on this christmas morning. we're talking about northern florida back to eastern george jrj toward savannah. right now this encompasses charleston, south carolina. that's in effect until noontime. this one is in effect until 11:00 this morning, so a lot of weather going on. you doan't have to go too far t the north. that indicates frozen precipitation. could be an accumulation of half an inch of ice. going to be possible in asheville, north carolina. pretty up in the spine of the appalachians, back to the keystone state, making your way to new york state. kind of a wintry mix. not expecting major problems, but we will see some slick spots out there, so if you are traveling to grandma's house today making your way between family members' houses, go carefully because you're going to have slick spots in between those bridges. across the plains states, we have winter watches and warnings, we have blizzard watches and warnings. still coming down in minneapolis stretching back to fargo where you could get another half foot of snowfall. let me show you an ireport. this one comes from kevin palivec near abilene, texas. things are starting to clear out in the panhandle of texas. temperatures in the 40s today and tomorrow with lots of sunshine, but obviously a lot of heavy and blowing snow across south texas. when this is all said and done, we are setting records all over the place. a foot of snow in kansas city on christmas eve and christmas day. >> that is a lot of snow. were you making fun of me? you said something about my voice or something? >> i could barely even tell. >> it sounds the same to me. yeah, i'm a little bit under, but we're going to keep on moving forward. chris, thank you so much. president obama is far away from the winter stormsz that chris is talking about. he's in hawaii celebrating the holidays with his family. they got there yesterday. people lined the streets as the president's motorcade went by. some hung the hang loose sign. others hung signs wishing the obama family a merry christmas. you're about to get a christmas gift today that you don't like, but returning it doesn't have to be a painful ordeal. we've got some helpful tips for you. a commander in iraq wanted to punish soldiers that got pregnant in the war zone, but now the top u.s. general is weighing in. my name is chaplain cox. my kids and my wife and i would like to wish everybody happy holidays. merry christmas! well, actress brittany murphy has been laid to rest at an intimate funeral in california. friends and family attended the christmas eve service in forest lawn cemetary in the highland hills. it appears she died of natural causes. murphy was 32. now, some people are going to be looking under their christmas trees today and wondering why they can't find the dope they asked santa for. now, during a traffic stop, troopers in missouri found about 20 pounds -- it sounds like my voice is going; i apologize. they found about 20 pounds of marijuana, some of it wrapped up as christmas presents and two of them were luggage. a woman was arrested and is out on bond there. a prison official says madoff was transferred to the prison medical facility last friday. madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence for a massive ponzi scheme. his attorney declined to comment about madoff's health. so we hope you get everything you want for christmas today. it's supposed to be a great day for many. but just in case santa did not quite follow his wish list, money expert jennifer westhoven has some tips on how to make your holiday returns as painless as possible. >> now, if you're like me, you hate standing in line, but don't wait too long to return things. because stores may only give you a few weeks to give it back, and when you get to the register, you know how you may fill out a form or show your driver's license? that is the store tracking you. make too many returns, they could put you on their naughty list and they won't let you bring back anything else. don't assume if you've been to one store they've got the same policy as last year. nearly one in five retailers tightened up their return policy this year, according to a trade group, to try to tighten massive fraud. some stores will help you if you lose your receipt, but most don't promise anything, so keep it. land's end and nordstrom, they have the friendliest reputation when it comes to returns, but you may have a hard time returning electronics. you see it, a 15% restocking fee in many cases. so to avoid any surprises and avoid a headache, check the store's return policy before you schlep to that store and stand in that long line. i'm jennifer westhoven looking out for you. with all due respect. i don't know about you, but when i say "with all due respect" i'm about to follow it up with something ugly. >> there's robin. what she means is stay tuned to us this evening for her goss ip. >> why are we so upset with mrs. palin? >> well, she's attractive. we're fascinated by sarah palin. i wouldn't vote for her, but i think america is fascinated because first of all, she's a hockey mom, she's got five kids ask she's attractive. i mean, that's the real reason. and the reason you know that's true, because a year ago we didn't even know she was alive. then within a swift thing of nominating her vice president by mr. mccain, she has become a rock star. >> all right, robin and her yes talk. more about this year's stories. that's tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern, with all due respect, right here on hln. that new rule that would have punished pregnant soldiers in the war zone is being mixed. u.s. soldiers in iraq plan to undo the policy which faced a storm of criticism. it would have allowed soldiers who became pregnant and their sexual partners. when soldiers go home, they leave their units weaker. all right, chris smith, now your travel update. chris? >> thank you very much, richard. yeah, you can imagine with the big winter storm system, severe weather going on, travel will be an issue going throughout the day today. we have about 1,000 flights in the air across the country. relatively light air travel because of the holiday, but a lot of making up to do after big storms yesterday. we'll see half hour to hour-plus delays in chicago, kansas city, minneapolis because of snowfall. pittsburgh, cleveland and detroit, you are seeing rainfall. that's also the case for cincinnati and back into minneapolis where you'll see more heavy rainfall. st. louis, a mix of rain and snow throughout the day with hour-plus delays there. tampa, orlando, raleigh, charlotte, d.c. and baltimore, a rainy, rainy day. richard? rocker gene simmons just got slapped with a assault. find out why two band members are accusing him of assault. plus, what was a deer doing inside a grocery store? and we're looking at christmas around the world. check out this party in sydney, australia. some people are celebrating christmas in their bathing suits. ♪ stockings sent from home sent a littles christmas cheer to kosovo. ramsey's daughter is asking the public again to search for his daughter's killer. 13 years have passed since they found his daughter in the basement. details suggest an unknown outsideer was the killer. band members of kiss say simmons threatened them and took their video camera when they filmed the rocker at an upscale mall on saturday. simmons hasn't been arrested or charged. his attorney hasn't commented. well, a usc running back who nearly died after dropping a weight lifting bar on his throat gave his first interview. the bar slipped from his hands and crushed his throat. doctors needed seven hours to rebuild and repair his layer i think so. in three short months, johnson not only recovered from that accident. it nearly killed him. he's back in the gym and retraining for the nfl draft. still, he remembers everything from that fateful day. >> this will probably be it. but i couldn't let that happen, you know. i have to get back to my family. >> the nba star could be in hot water for storing guns in his team locker. gilbert arenas brought the guns in a carrying case but left the ammunition behind. arenas is still not charged with a crime but will be prohibited from carrying weapons on the property. the teams are in charlotte for a bowl game tomorrow, and as part of bowl week, they got a chance to pay a visit to lowe's motor speedway and rode shotgun going about 180 miles per hour around the track. a deer interrupted people's holiday shopping in florida. he went into a grocery store and started running around the checkout lanes, and they pinned him down, but not before he ran right into a shopper. >> i was headed to the checkoutd and i was right by the front door, and all of a sudden i got knocked into and something stepped on my foot, and there was this deer that was running by me and slid and fell down. >> an animal rescue group released it into the woods. no one, including the deer, was hurt. forget the shirt and tie for dad or mom's heavy duty vacuum. it's the wacky gifts everybody is talking about, and boy, do we have some doozies. >> i just want to spend a message out to my family. happy holidays. i wish i could be home, but i'm out here in iraq. love you all. take care. i love you danielle.  massive storms are hammering parts of the u.s. here's a video from an airport. about 50 people were killed on interstates nationwide. they were closed down in parts of minnesota and texas. the pope is doing fine after a woman knocked him down at the mass in philadelphia. a woman knocked down a barrier to get to him at christmas mass. she tried this last year and it's said she is disturbed. she was taken into custody. a man got his son back from brazil after a five-year custody battle. when his wife died, the family fought to keep him. those are the stories we're working on this morning. good morning to you, i'm joe carter. back to the midwest, at least 18 people were killed on slippery roads nationwide. a semi truck rolled over in nebraska. drivers there are encouraged to pack emergency kits before sending themselves out on treacherous roads. meanwhile, nearly 50 cars piled up in a christmas eve blizzard. one woman broke her leg. right now interstates are shut down all across oklahoma. let's move over to chris smith for more details on these deadly storms. chris, over to you. >> we're continuing to watch a storm system that will continue to pummel parts of the plains states in the midwest for another 24 hours before it finally begins to move out saturday and sunday. it's actually a storm system that has two parts to it. let's focus on the winter weather continuing right now back to kansas city where we're already seeing 18 inches of snowfall. we could see some parts of kansas city about 15 inches of snowfall. right now in mitnneapolis, you'e beginning to switch over to a little wintry mix. a lot more accumulation in fargo. you could pick up 18 inches before all is said and done. chicago, you could turn into a wintry mix later on today, so slick spots in chicagoland, but don't expect any accumulation in chicago. maybe 13 inches up toward fargo, how about 8 inches in sioux falls. stretching to kansas city, you could see another half foot of snowfall, so a lot of winter weather going on out there. we're going to talk about the severe weather moving through the south in a few minutes. joe? >> thank you, chris. one man is dead, another man critically injured after a truck ran into a live nativity scene. police in ohio say another truck hit the car first, severing its tire. that sent the truck into the crowd of nearly auto people. >> when i turned, the truck was on the sidewalk and hitting the people that were watching our display and saw some -- four victims fly through the air. >> he was playing one of the wise men. he happens to be a certified emt, so he helped the injured while they waited for an ambulance. the taliban released a video claiming to show a u.s. soldier they captured more than five months ago in afghanistan. in the video, a healthy-looking man wearing sunglasses and what appeared to be a military style uniform identified himself as first class beau bergdahl. the man gives his blood type, mother's maiden name and other personal type information. we're not showing you that because the video has not been confirmed by cnn yet. at the end, a taliban spokesperson calls for a prisoner exchange. the u.s. military has not commented. four people were killed when scaffolding collapsed on a high rise. in happened yesterday in toronto. they reported a fifth man is in critical condition. the workers were suspended on the 13th floor under constructions when the scaffolding snapped in two. police say they all had safety harnesses, but it's not clear if they were on. they're investigating the case. a police officer in tennessee says his badge saved his life. o he pulled over an suv for expired tags yesterday when he says the passenger got out and tried to stab him. then the driver shot at him. the bullet hit his badge, bounced off his vest and hit his shirt. but he's okay. >> he had been complaining about how heavy the badge was and he wished that we had patches on the shirts, but he said he was really glad last night that he had the heavy badge on. >> the suspects were last seen heading towards memphis in a dark chevy suburban with temporary tags that expired september 9. tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of that devastating tsunami that killed nearly 200,000 people in indonesia. more than $13 billion in donations poured in after the disaster. since then it's been used to build homes, schools and roads. but there are still more than 5,000 orphans struggling to succeed after losing their families in the tsunami. weather is the big story this morning. a lot of storms across most of the country. chris is here to tell you more about how to get home safely. >> more than half the country right now dealing with severe weather from snow to big storms. this weather is brought to you by our friends at green giant. we have plenty of green on the radar across the south and even the potential for some severe weather. we have tornado watches in effect for parts of northern florida just to the west of jacksonville. a tornado watch in effect in savannah, hilton head, back to the charleston area. that watch goes until noontime today so we could see the possibility of tornadoes in that watch area as we go throughout the day. farther to the north, the same storm system with all the snowfall. we're seeing a mix of icy conditions across parts of north carolina in the asheville area, back towards hickory, where we could see a half inch accumulation of ice. meanwhile, as you make your way to pennsylvania, you're talking more about a wintry mix. we're not anticipating major problems up there, but you could encounter some slick spots if you're going to be traveling parl parts of west virginia into pennsylvania later tonight. in arkansas, you are seeing snow back into parts of the ozarks. more than nine inches fell in the little rock area the last couple days, and water sitting everywhere. this is the most amount of rainfall they've seen in a year. the interstate in between dallas and the midwest was closed for several hours. we'll talk airports in just a little bit. >> certainly the airports are delaying a lot of people. thank you, chris. firefighters had to be extra careful when they showed up to battle a house fire. it wasn't just the flames that concerned them but the live ammo inside. hi, my name is captain john lancing. i'd like to send a salute out to all the soldiers that are deployed. happy holiday to my friends in georgia. happy holidays. looking at christmas around the world of the these are kids in the phillipines spending christmas in shelters because of an erupting volcano. clowns were brought in for some much-needed cheer. they said it's necessary to keep the christmas cheer. a woman knocked down the pope delivering the christmas message. the 82-year-old pope was not hurt in the fall and his busy schedule would not change. he gave christmas greetings in 65 different languages. a fire stormed into a burning home and then stormed back out when he heard shotgun shells go off. it turned out the fire triggered some ammo that was in the house. >> it's very scary sometimes. hearing shotgun shells go off in a house, that's not always the best feeling. >> the woman was treated for burns on her feet. the house is pretty much a loss. well, the empty nest is getting crowded again when grown children return home. here's jennifer westhoven this morning with this growing trend. how parents can make it work. >> so a new pugh study is finding that nearly one out of seven parents had one of their kids, grown-up kids, move back home in the past year. we're talking millions of people who were out on their own, they had a job, they had their own place to live, independence, but because of the great recession, they've moved back in with mom and dad. pugh is calling them boomerang kids. family counselors say to make the best of this situation, first of all, you have to talk beforehand and about what both of you guys are expecting when it comes to keeping the house clean, what hours people are coming and going, and expenses. counselors say that's really important. if you're a grown-up, you've got to treat your grown-up kid like a grown-up. they can help with expenses, then they should. if they can't, they can earn their keep in other ways. but the main thing is lots of respect on both sides and see this situation as em powering. you get a little more family time than you expected. if you're an adult kid, you get a chance to save up for your next place, or a lot of adult kids get a chance to go back to school so they can eventually support themselves. looking out for you, i'm jennifer westhoven. >> so if you're tired of sitting around the yule log and staring at the relatives, we've got a treat for you. watch the behar christmas marathon right here on hln. stormy weather is affecting travel across the country. we'll have weather reports. plus, we all know football is big business. is your favorite team the most valued team? we're watching christmas around the world for you. here's a look at the christmas scene in tehran. it's an important holiday for the christians minority living in iran. a christian shop owner says mutual respect between christians and muslims have increased there. i'm here with combat lo gisty cal 46. and i just want to wish happy holidays to my family and friends back in ohio. a college football program that was once given the death penalty by the ncaa has new life. the death penalty is the harshest penalty one can hand down to a football program. back in the 1970s, they were being paid to play. that's a major violation in football which eliminated football for two years. fast forward to decades. smu made it's first post-season bowl appearance in 21 years playing in the hawaii bowl last night. the mustang players who weren't even born during that penalty crushed the wolfpack 45-10. a pioneer in sportscaster has died. george michael passed away thursday from complications related to leukemia. for 21 years, michael delivered the sports to the d.c. area and is best known for his show, "the george michael sports machine." he won four emmis and also paved the way for espn sports center. they fined albert haynesworth $10,000 and brandon jacobs $7500 for fighting. come on, guys, where is the christmas spirit at, huh? you know college football is big business. it's really big in texas. according to forbes, it's the biggest. the university of texas tops the list as the most valuable college football program at $119 million. the second most valuable football program is notre dame at $108 million. what's valuable this morning is advice about the roads because weather is hammering a lot of the country. chris smith now with your air travel. obviously, the weather affecting travel in the airports as well, chris. good morning. >> good morning, joe. it is just a nightmare out there when it comes to traveling in the plains states back in the midwest. we're expecting major delays throughout the day today, including the major hubs. chicago, minneapolis, chicago all seeing delays because of heavy rainfall. cincinnati, cleveland and detroit, you are going to see one-hour plus delays across the south. people can expect to see delays in orlando in tampa, back towards raleigh and charlotte. again, pack your patience if you're going to be traveling anywhere in the air today across much of the eastern half of the country. >> thank you, chris. it looks like a lot of problems out there in our -- related to weather today. thank you. a high school senior was suspended for dressing up like santa claus. he told his principal he planned to wear the red suit to school and pass out candy canes. his principal told him it would be a big distraction, but he did it, anyway, and was fined. he said the school could have just given him detention. he steps in as the money coach when a soldier and his wife needed to get their finances set before he deploys to iraq. >> my name is private kevin lights, this is my beautiful wife amanda lights, and this is our two-week-old son. i'm 21, my wife is 19, and i'm facing deployment in about two weeks. >> how can i be of service to the two of you? >> i'm looking at the way the economy is, and i know banks are changing the rules. is there any banks still participating in the soldiers relief act. >> they don't have a choice. they have to. why is that relevant in your case, though? >> my husband is deploying to north iraq in the next two weeks, so -- and we have a brand-new 2008 truck that has a very high interest rate, in the near 20%. >> >> you don't. >> he -- >> what were you thinking? >> we were young when we got it and just -- we haven't refinanced yet. >> all right. well, you have two options. under the soldiers and sailiers relief act, while you are deployed that will go down to 6%. tough petition for it the other thing though is your credit's good? why don't you refi? >> actually looking at refi. >> ask them. they may require that you do some down payment, reduction in the loan balance in order for them to do it, but they will mark it down if your credit's good. and i have one more question for you. i have two credit cards but i've been very leery with them, if i put anything on, by the time i get the statement, as soon as i get the statement, i pay it off. how is that affecting my credit score? >> making it great. that is the right thing to do. >> okay. >> learn from her. >> yes, sir. >> this weekend, watch clark serve our troops in an hln special presentation. he helps soldiers and you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. operation clark smart airs this weekend at 6 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. eastern time, saturday and sunday, right here on hln. president obama and the first lady sent special christmas thanks to the u.s. military and urged americans to support military families this holiday season during his salute to the troops. >> all our men and women in uniforms spending the holidays far away from home whether it is at a base here in the states a mess hall in iraq or a remote outpost in afghanistan, know that you are in our thoughts and in our prayers. and this holiday season and every holiday season, know that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that you can succeed in your mission and come home safe to your families. >> yesterday, the first family greeted troops at the air force base in hawaii. that's where they are spending, of course, their christmas holiday. good morning. i'm joe carter. merry christmas to you. these are the stories we are working on for you this morning. the winter storm is turning out to be a real nightmare. roads are so deadly, interstates are shut down across the west. and suspect done yet. plus, watch as a woman slams the pope to a ground during christmas eve mass. he is okay. what we've learned about her. and people at a supermarket were trying to save a buck. we meet the deer that went wild in the aisles. nearly 50 cars smashed together in a massive chain reaction pileup in a christmas eve blizzard. the wreck stranded dozens of people in subzero temperatures on interstate 40 in oklahoma. right now, interstates are shut down all across oklahoma, winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour, some areas got 14 inches of snow. >> there were two with other cars over here besides us, we were all stopped. everyone, they are just going way too fast. >> an ambulance carry aid way one woman with two broken legs. oklahoma's governor has declared a state of emergency. devastating winter storms are slamming much of the u.s. at least 18 people were killed on slippery roads, driving conditions are so treacherous, interstates are shut down in south dakota and texas as well. people are being warned to stay off the roads in most of minnesota. up to 20 inches of snow were expected to blanket the state. authorities say traveling after dark could be life-threatening. chris smith has more on where huge pileups of snow and ice may cause problems today. chris, if you on the roads, people need to pay attention. >> yeah, joe, everyone always wants a white christmas but this is kind of above and beyond. we are talking about feet of snowfall. and the other part of this storm system is the gusty winds, causing the blizzard conditions, blowing all that snow around. our storm system basically has two parts a severe part to the south, snow to the north. start off this time with the snow to the north where we continue to see heavy snowfall become over toward kansas city. when it is all said and done, you neigh some places of kansas city get a foot of snowfall as we continue to see this band just kind of hanging across the area. it will eventually move out. kansas city, off blizzard warping in effect now, because of the fact you are seeing winds gusting upwards of 40 miles an hour, blowing this snow you have already seen all over the place. we are going to be talking about some massive drifts making travel very version difficult. snowfall continuing to come down back toward fargo, north dakota, south dakota, back over toward minneapolis, things are beginning to improve. warmer air is beginning to move in. that is allowing for this snowfall to change to rainfall. i think minneapolis, only minor accumulations from here on out. talk about that severe weather across the south in a little bit, joe. >> thank you, chris. a woman rushed the pope grabbed his robe and jerked him to the ground during christmas eve mass at the vatican. you can see her leap over the barrier and lunge at the pope. the 82-year-old pontiff wasn't hurt, but a cardinal broke his leg as security officers rushed n the vatican described the unarmed woman as mentally disturbed and says she tried the same thing at the same convenient last year. vatican police took her into custody and you the service went on. actress brittany murphy has been laid to rest at an intimate funeral in california. friends and family attended the christmas eve service at forest lawn ceremony in hollywood hills it included the hymn "amazing grace" and reading from one of her favorite books, "the little prince." she died sunday morning. authorities say of natural causes. murphy was 32 years old. now that a new jersey father has reunited with his son after a five-year custody battle, they are going to disney world for the holidays. david goldman's family in new jersey is absolutely thrilled. >> i can't wait to see sean and david and i'm sure they are both so happy to be with each other. and i got -- i got to get this animosity out of my head because that doesn't do really anybody any good, but it's been so upsetting this morning, watching that parade through the streets. >> now, he is talking about yesterday's public handover of sean. his brazilian stepfather chose to take him through a crush of reporters instead of privately delivering him to his dad. police in arkansas are looking for two men who shot and killed the salvation army employee in front of his family. investigator says major phillip wise was returning to the salvation army building yesterday when two men walked up to him, demanded money and shot him. his wife called 911, but he died before help came. his three young children saw the entire thing. >> my heart goes out for the family, losing their dad and i guess to have to witness it during this time of the year, it's definitely going to be hard on the kids. the salvation army is planning a news conference today. well, new this morning, the taliban released a video claiming to show a u.s. soldier they captured more than five months ago in afghanistan. in the video, a healthy-looking man wearing sunglasses and what appears to be a u.s. military uniform identifies himself as private first class bowe bergdahl. the man gives his blood type, mother's maiden name and other detailed personal information. now, we are not showing you this because cnn has not confirmed his identity yet. at the end, a taliban spokesperson calls for a prisoner exchange. a u.s. military spokesperson calls the release of the video a horrible act. balloon boy's dad could have to pay the faa $11,000. it is a maximum fine. that's on top of as 42,000 bill he got from the sherry. now the fa a says richard henne disrupted flights when he told authorities his 6-year-old son was drifting away on a helium balloon. now the boy was really hiding inside of the house. yesterday, henne and his wife were both sentenced to jail time for the hoax. now, henne's attorney is working on a response to the faa. weather is a certainly a concern for a lot of folks across the country this christmas morning. chris in with more on the weather. give us the breakdown, who it is affecting and how long it will affect them? >> thank you very much, joe and a merry christmas to you and a mer cri merry christmas to you at home. hopefully you are enjoying the weather where you are, most of the country is not. tornado watch in effect until 11:00 for florida. tornado watch for coastal sections of georgia, savannah, hilton head, the charleston area that watch goes until noontime today, possible tornadoes across the deep south. meanwhile, go farther to the north, now this is the same storm system producing all the snow across the plain states, producing a little bit of ice across north carolina, could you end up seeing maybe half-inch of ice accumulation back up into the appalachian mountains, the asheville area. pennsylvania and new york state, going to be more of a wintery mix, not going to cause major problem bus could be slick spots out there if you are traveling across interstate 80 through pennsylvania today, keep that in mind. by far and away, the biggest problems with snowfall, north and south dakota, minneapolis, as i said, starting to change over to rain in minneapolis, good news there, but still, heavy snowfall back toward fargo. that will continue to fall throughout the day today. you can maybe get another foot of snowfall. record snow across much of the country. oklahoma city, over a foot of snowfall. duluth, you have had about a foot of snowfall. minneapolis, you have seen about seven inches. you might get maybe an inch more. joe, we will talk air travel delays there are a lot of them in just a bit. >> thanks, chris. >> i know one person very far away from those winter storms, president obama, necessary hawaii celebrating the holidays with his family. now, they got there yesterday. people lined the streets as the presidential motorcade went by. some actually waved the hang loose sign at the nation's first hawaii-born president. the holidays may inspire us to help bowlers one california woman is inspired to do it all year long. robin meade has this year's breakthrough woman. >> reporter: almost every day, betty chin heads doubt feed the homeless in eureka, california. she has done the same thing for 24 years. >> good morning. >> she is here, without fail, rain or shine. she is like a second mom us to. >> she has given me hope. >> reporter: chen know what is it is like to live in despair. during china's cultural revolution in the '6, she was separated from her family and forced to live on the streets, at 7 years old. >> i still can't understand how i am alive today. >> reporter: chen eventually escaped china, came to the u.s. and started her american dream. >> i have so much. i want to do something. >> reporter: with the money from a part-time job she started taking care of people she truly understood, the homeless. >> thank you, betty. >> she provides them with meals. she provides them with bus tickets, clothing. >> she has inspired other members of the community get involved. >> reporter: volunteers also help her prepare the meals at a church. >> something about doing something practical and tangible for the poor. she brings out the best in all of us. >> reporter: proving one person can truly make a difference. >> look at me, i can do it anybody can do it. you find so much joy. you're bound to get a christmas gift today that you really don't like but returning it doesn't have to be a painful ordeal. we have got some helpful tips. and a commander in iraq wanted to punish soldiers who got pregnant in the war zone, but now, the top u.s. general is weighing in. my name is chaplin mike cox from third army arcent. my family, suzanne, nathan and ryan, would like to wish all the soldiers in iraq and afghanistan merry christmas and a happy new year's and also like to wish our families in west virginia and north carolina a happy holidays. merry christmas. >> happy holidays to you. thanks for listening in. a tug boat ran aground on the same reef the exxon valdez tanker hit 20 years ago it happened in alaska's prince william sound. the coast guard says two tanks carrying 33,000 gallons of diesel fuel were damaged and there's a three-mile-long fuel sheen on the water. they will try to figure out today how much of that spilled. the exxon valdez disaster was the worst spill in u.s. history. now, we hope you get everything you want for christmas today, but just in case santa didn't quite follow the wish list, money expert jennifer westhoven has some tips on how to make your holiday returns as painless as possible. >> now, if you are like me, you hate standing on line, but don't wait too long to return things, 'cause stores may only give you a few weeks to bring it back. and when you get to the register, you know how you might fill out a form or show your driver's license, yeah that is the store tracking you. make too many returns, they could put you on their naughty list and they won't let you bring back anything else. now, don't assume that if you have been to one store, they have the same policy as last year. nearly one in five retailers tightened up their return policy this year, according to a store trade group to try to fight massive fraud. now, some stores, they will help you if you lose your receipt, but most of them don't promise anything. so keep it. land's end and nordstrom, they have some of the friendliest reputations when it comes to returns but you may have a hard time returning electronics. you see it. a 15% restocking fee in many cases. so, to avoid any nasty surprises, avoid yourself getting upset do yourself a favor and check the store's website and the return policy before you schlep to that store and stand in that long line. i'm jennifer westhoven looking out for you. levi johnston was paid $25,000 to disrobe for "playgirl." how much for you? >> well, stay with us this evening for something special. . hln's robin meade has assembled a panel of sports stars and celebs to look back at some of the year's stories and they have some pretty interesting things to say. i do believe that we have a president now who is as much a celebrity as he is a president and he has become that and he has transcended that and we expect so much. we expect something from him. and there is a group in this country that expects him to fail, wants him to fail and wishes him to fail because's black man. that is how such that will is. and we have to live with that i mean, we do. >> well, robin and her guests talk more of this year's big stories that is tonight at 6 p.m. eastern. "with all due respect" right here on hln. that new rule that would have punished pregnant soldiers in the war zone is being nixed. the top commander in iraq will go the policy which faced a storm of criticism. the general who issued the order, said when pregnant soldiers go home, they leave their units weaker. weather is certainly on the minds of a lot of travellers this morning. let's check back in with chris smith. he is going to give us the latest on travel conditions across the country. >> the only saving grace, not a lot of air travel typically on christmas day. those of you that are traveling are going to need to sit around quite a while. pack your patience. saker flight explorer, a big gap across the central part of the countries but of the big winter storm system. expect to see big-time delays from chicago to kansas city, minneapolis, hour-plus delays because of snowfall. rain is the issue in parts of the midwest. become to cincinnati and indianapolis, continuing to monitor the situation and keep you posted with the very latest. joe? >> all right, chris, thank you. we will be right back. all right. this is an amazing comeback story. stefan johnson was bench pressing 275 pounds with his team during a routine workout when the bar slipped from his hands and crushed his throat. now, doctors needed seven hours to repair and rebuild his larynx. they actually said it was like putting together a wet tissue paper. amazing n three short months, johnson has not only recovered from that accident that nearly killed him, he is back in the training gym and training for the nfl draft. johnson though still remembers that fateful day. >> in the back of my mind, i was like, this could probably be it, but i couldn't let that happen, you know? with all the strength in me, i couldn't let it happen. i have to get back to my family. an nba star could be in hot water for storing guns in his team locker. gilbert arenas brought guns into a carrying case in the verizon center but left ammunition behind. arenas is not charged with a crime but may face action from the nba which prohibits players from.carrying weapons on league property. north carolina and the university of pittsburgh have got the need for speed. the teams are in charlotte for a bowl game tomorrow. as part of the bowl week, the teams got a chance to visit the lowe's motor speedway and got to ride shotgun in a stock car, which goes 180 miles an hour around the track. definitely one of the highlights of their bowl trip. jonbenet ramsey's father is asking for the public in finding his daughter's killer. tomorrow marks 13 years since the 6-year-old was found strangled in her basement n a statement, john ramsey asked people to share any memories of people acting strangely around that time. authorities say new dna tests suggest an unknown killer was -- an unknown killer -- upknown outsider was the killer. a couple is suing kiss bassist gene simmons for allegedly attacking them. they say simmons, seen here on the left, threatened them and took their video camera when they filmed the rocker at union upscale mall in l.a. on saturday. they even sought a restraining order but their request was denied. simmons hasn't been charged or arrested. his attorney has not commented. a deer interrupted some people's last-minute holiday shopping in florida. he went inside a grocery store and started running around the checkout lanes. you can see employees eventually pinned him down but not before it ran right into one shopper. >> i was headed to the checkout, i was right beside the front door, all of a sudden, i got knocked into and something stepped on my foot and there was this deer that was, like, running by me and slid and fell down. >> an animal rescue group release it had into the woods. no one, including the deer, was hurt. forget the shirt and tie that you were going to get mom or dad or that heavy vacuum cleaner you might get mom it is the wacky christmas gifts that everybody talks about and boy, do we have some doozies coming up.  nearly 50 car ssmashed together in a massive chain reaction pileup in a christmas eve blizzard. now, the wreck stranded dozens of people in subzero temperatures on interstate 40 in oklahoma. right now, interstates had shut down all across oklahoma. the governor has declared a state of emergency. one of two cops wounded in a shootout monday has left the hospital. the officers in washington state were responding to a domestic dispute when they came under fire. the suspect was killed in the exchange. the second officer is still in critical condition. the vatican says pope benedict xvi is doing fine after a woman knocked him down in st. peter's basilica. he did deliver his annual address. the woman jumped a barrier at christmas eve mass. the vatican says she actually tried the same thing last year and is mentally disturbed. police took her into custody. those are some of the headlines working this morning. welcome back, merry christmas. i'm joe carter. become to the deadly storms hammering part of the u.s. at least 18 people were killed on slippery roads nationwide. here is video of a semitruck rolled over in nebraska. drivers are encouraged to pack emergency kits before setting out on treacherous roads. people warned to stay off the roads in most of minnesota. up to 20 inch of snow blanketed the state. authorities say traveling after dark could be life threatening. weather certainly a big issue today. get over to chris smith for more details on the deadly storms. good morning and merry christmas to you, chris. >> yeah, the storm system encompassing half the country, including right now kansas city. continuing to see the snowfall come down, blizzard warnings in effect for kansas city. those warnings continue farther to the north across north dakota, south dakota, all those places you just mentioned, heavy snowfall coming down, back toward aberdeen, sioux falls, south dakota. i think the heaviest of the snowfall ending toward the minneapolis area, warmer air now beginning to move in. expecting 9 to 15 inches of additional snowfall across north and south dakota. look at the totals, don't believe? he this is what we are forecasting, 8.4 in sioux falls. the storm system not done yet, severe weather across the south. i will talk about it in just a minute, joe. >> thanks, chris. a lot of weather, have more in a few more minutes. well, one man is dead, another critically injured after a truck ran into a live nativity scene. police in ohio say another car hit the truck first, severing its tire that sent the driver careening into a crowd of at least 15 people. >> when i turned, the pickup truck was up here on the sidewalk and hitting the people that were watching our display and saw some -- four victims fly through the air. >> now, he was playing one of the wise men but happened to be a certified emt, so he helped the injured while they waited for an blanks. four people were killed when scaffolding collapsed on a high rise. it happened yesterday in toronto. canadian media report a fifth man is in critical condition. the workers were suspended on the 13th there are of an apartment building under construction when the scaffolding snapped in two. police say they all had safety harness bus it's not clear if they were on. they are investigating the cause. as you heard us talk about all morning, weather, weather, weather, affecting a lot of people on this christmas holiday. chris smith in to tell us a little bit more about what is affecting the northeast, chris? >> yeah, talking about anywhere from the east coast all the way into the plain states and it's the same storm system. not different storm systems, the same one. severe weather ongoing if you are traveling along interstate 95 between jacksonville, back up toward, say the raleigh area. expect a threat for heavy rainfall and the possibility of severe weather. we have tornado watches for georgia, coastal s.e.c.s of south carolina, back down into northern florida. meantime, we continue to watch frozen precipitation, freezing rain toward asheville, hickory, north carolina that should taper off as we head to the afternoon hours and make its way into pennsylvania. we are not expecting a major winter weather event across central pennsylvania but could get slick out there see a mixture of sleet and freezing rain with the showers continuing to move n meanwhile, across the midwest, you are not talking about snowfall it is heavy rainfall from cleave and back down toward cincinnati, columbus, back over toward indianapolis and chicago all seeing rainfall, temperatures just above the freezing mark. one place that definitely doesn't need any more rainfall that is little rock, arkansas, where they got nine inches of rainfall yesterday in little rock, makes it the wettest year ever on record in little rock, probably many other areas around the state. interstate 30, a major connector between dallas and the central midwest was closed for several hours because of the heavy rainfall. little rock, good news, joe, they get a chance to dry out. we will talk travel weather in just a bit. >> all right, thanks, chris, looking forward to it. the holidays can be a dangerous time for your heart. researchers say more people guy of heart attacks on christmas day than any other day of the year. chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta explains why. >> we don't want to sound like the grim reaper around the holiday season, but there is something to this idea of people having more cardiac deaths or heart attacks during the holidays and it's interesting, if look at the three days where you have the most of these happen it is on christmas day the day after christmas and newier's day, what is going on here specifically? a couple of broad reasons first, people may pay less attention to things during holiday season, don't want to bother their family, don't want to go to the hospital, don't want to pay attention. that is one idea. the other is hospitals may not be as well staffed during holiday season, people going may have to wait longer, may not stick around. those are a couple of reasons that medical journals have talked about. take a look at the long list of reasons happening to people specifically, some will sound very familiar, everything from stress which occurs so more over the holiday season, leading to increased inflammation in the body, cold weather, food, fireplaces as well. fireplaces cab problem. they can release a lot of carbon mon knock side in the air, especially if they are not being vented properly, people with cardiac disease or lung disease can be really affected by that good news, pretty simple things you can do to try to avoid becoming one of those statistics. stay alert, first of all. that means not blowing off symptoms just because the holiday season. bring your medications, especially if you are traveling around, visiting family, minimizing alcohol consumption. obviously, people may have a couple of drinks over the holidays, if you drink, trying to cut down on that and making sure your family's informed, both about any underlying illnesses and any current symptoms you might have as well. we always give what are the potential symptoms of a heart attack and i always get e-mails about this. oftentimes, people being thankful because they had forgotten or saw these types of symptoms but again, crest pain, obviously, pain doing your left arm or neck, light headedness, shortness of breath and excessive sweating. really are the thing to keep in mind is that symptoms of heart attack can be different for just about any given individual it doesn't have to be any of those symptoms that i just mentioned. if something seems abnormal, if you do have some underlying heart disease, go see your doctor, even if it's the holidays. good luck. happy holidays. hope to see you soon. become to you for now. firefighters had to be extra careful when they showed up to bat al house fire it wasn't just the flames that concerned them but the live ammo inside. looking at christmas around the world, these are kid in the philippines spending christmas in shelters because of an erupting volcano. now, a clown was brought in to deliver some much-needed cheer. the mayor says it is important to keep the christmas spirit, despite the danger from the volcano. pope benedict xvi appeared to be a built tired when he delivered his traditional christmas message this morning. just a few hours before, a woman knocked down the pope. the vatican says the 82-year-old pope was not hurt in the fall and his busy christmas schedule will not change. the crowd cheered when the pope gave greetings in 65 different languages. firefighters in rhode island stormed into a burning home and stormed right back out after hearing shotgun shells go off. turns out the flames ignited some live ammo inside the house. the man and woman who lived there did survive and firefighters were shaken but are okay. >> it is a nerve-wracking job, very scary at times. hearing shotgun shells go off in a house that is not always the best feeling. >> the woman was treated for burns on her feet. the house pretty much a lost loss. the empty nest is getting a little crowded again, grown children returning home. here is jennifer west loaf within more on the growing trend and how parents can make it work. >> so, a new pugh study is finding nearly one in seven parent also one of their kids, grownup kids, move become home in the past year, talking millions of people who were out on their own, a job, their own place to live, independence, but because of the great recession, they have moved back in with mom and dad. pugh is calling them boomerang kids. family counselors say to make the best of the situation, first of all, you got to talk beforehand about what both of you guys are expecting when it comes to keeping the house clean, what hours people are coming and going and expenses. counselors say that is really important. if our grownup, you have got to treat your grownup kid like a grownup. they can help with expenses, then they should. if they can't, they can earn their keep in other ways, but the main thing is lots of respect on both sides and see the situation as empowering, a little bit more family time than expected. an adult kid, a chance to save up for your next place or a lot of adult kids get a chance to go become to school so they can eventually support themselves. looking out for you, i'm jennifer westhoven. so if you are tired of sitting around the yule log and staring at the relatives waevg treat for you. watch joy behar's christmas marathon, starts at noon eastern and keeps on going until 6:00 right here on hln. stormy weather will be affecting travel all over the cup, we will have the latest from the airports, plus, we all know college football is big business. so is your favorite team the most valuable? a a college football program that was once given the death penalty by the ncaa has new life. the death penalty is the harshest penalty the ncaa can hand down to an athletic program. back in the late '80s, players at smu were being paid to play, what is a major violation in college football, which eliminated football all together for two years. now, fast forward two decades,some mu made its first postseason bowl appearance in 25 years, flag the hawaiian bowl against nevada last night. the mustang players that weren't even born when the program wasser is thawas er is -- served that death penalty won 35-10. a pioneer in sports broadcasting has died, long time washington supports castor george michael passed away thursday from complications related to leukemia. for 28 years, michael delivered the sports to the d.c. area and best known for his nationally syndicated show, "the george michael sports machine." when 40 emmy aboards and paved the way for shows like espn's sports center. we know two guys likely on santa's naughty list, the nfl fined washington redskins defensive tackle albert haynesworth $10,000 and new york giants running back brandon jacobs $7500 for their scuffle in monday night's football game. haynesworth struck jacobs after the play was over and then the running back retaliated. come on, guys. where is the christmas spirit at, huh? we know college football is big business, it is really big in texas. according to forbes, it is the biggest. the university of texas tops the list as the most valuable college football program at $119 million. the second most valuable football program is notre dame at $108 million. what's valuable this morning advice about the roads, 'cause weather is hammering a lot of the country. chris smith now with your air travel. obviously, the weather affecting travel in the airports as well. good morning. >> good morning, joe. it is a nightmare out there comes to traveling across the plain states, in the midwest, major delays we go throughout the day today, including some of the major hubs. chicago, minneapolis, kansas city, all going to be seeing well over one-hour delays today because of snowfall. chicago, a mix of snow and rainfall. meanwhile, rainfall's going to be the big story four pittsburgh, cincinnati, cleveland, detroit. you are going to see one-hour-plus delays. across the south, expect to see delays in orlando as well as tampa, back up toward raleigh and charlotte because of the rainfall. so again, pack your patience, if you are going to be traveling anywhere in the air today across much of the eastern half of the country. >> thank you, chris. looks like a lot of problems out there in our -- related to weather today. thank you. a high school senior was suspended for dressing up like santa claus. he said he told his principal he planned to wear the red suit to school and pass out candy canes. his principal told him it would be a big distraction and he was suspended for a day for defiance of authority. the school couldn't just give him detention -- could have given him detention. could have. hln money expert clark howard stepped out of the studio and headed to georgia to answer money questions. he steps in as a money coach when a soldier and his wife need to get their finances set before he deploys to iraq. >> my name is private kevin lights this is my beautiful wife, amanda and this is my 2-week-old son, hunter. i'm 21. my wife was 19. we are facing deploy n two weeks. > howky be of service to the two of you? >> i have a question i know with the way the economy is and banks sort of changing the rules as far as things go, are any banks still participating in the soldier and sailors relief act. >> they don't have any choice. they have to why is that important in your case? >> my husband is deploying to north iraq in the we have a brand-new 2008 truck that has a very high interest rate in the near 20s. 20%. >> you don't. what were you thinking? >> we were young when we got it and we haven't refinanced yet. >> well, you have two options because under the soldier and sailors' relief act, while you're deployed, that will go down to 6%. you have to petition for it. the other thing is, your credit's good. why don't you re-fi. >> i am looking at that. >> they may require you do some down payment and your reduction in the loan balance in order for them to do it, but they'll mark it down if your credit's good. >> one more question for you. i have two credit cards but i've been very leery with them if i put anything on by the time i get the statement, as soon as i get the statement i pay it off. how does that affect my credit score? >> that is the right thing to do. learn from her. >> yes, sir. >> this weekend watch clark serve our troops in an hln special presentation. he seps soldiers and you avoid getting ripped off. clark smart airs this weekend right here on hln. president obama and the first lady sent special christmas thankses to the u.s. military and urged americans to support military families this holiday season during his salute to the troops. >> all our men and women in uniform spending the holidays away from home whether it's a mess hall in iraq or in afghanistan, know you are in our thoughts and in our prayers. in this holiday season and every holiday season, know we're doing everything in our power to make sure you can succeed in your missions and come home safe to your families. >> yesterday the first family greeted troops at the air force base in hawaii. good morning, i'm joe carter. merry christmas to you. these are the stories we're working on for you this morning. the wipt storm is turning out to be a real nightmare. roads are so deadly, interstates shut down across the west and it isn't done yet. watch as a woman slams the pope to the ground during christmas eve mass. he's okay. what we learned about her. people at a supermarket were trying to save a buck by weaning the deer that went wild from the aisles. nearly 50 cars smashed together in a christmas eve blizzard. the wreck stranded dozens of people in sub zero temperatures. right now interstates are shut down all across oklahoma and winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour and some areas got 14 inches of snow. >> there were two other cars over here besides us. everyone is just going way too fast. >> an ambulance carried away one woman with two broken legs and oklahoma's governor declared a state of emergency. devastating winter storms are slamming much of the u.s. at least 18 people were killed on slippery roads and driving conditions are so treacherous and interstates are shut down in south dakota, texas, as well. people are being warned to stay off the roads as much as 20 inches of snow were meant to blanket the state and traveling after dark could be life threatening. huge pileups of snow and ice may cause problems today. chris, if you're on the roads, people need to pay attention. >> joe, everyone always wants a white christmas and this is above and beyond and you're talking about feet of snowfall and the other part of the storm system is the gusty winds causing the blizzard conditions blowing all that snow around. our storm system has two parts. severe part to the south and snow to the north. starting off this time with the snow to the north and continue to see heavy snowfall back over towards kansas city and where it is said and done you may in some places of kansas city hit a foot of snowfall as we see this band hanging across the area and will eventually move up and kansas city a blizzard warning in effect right now because you're seeing the gusty winds at times of 40 miles per hour and all the snow that you've already seen all over the place and massive drifts making travel very, very difficult. snowfall continuing to come down towards fargo north dakota, south dakota. back towards minneapolis things are starting to improve as warm air moving on and that's allowing for the snowfall to change. think minneapolis and only minor accumulations from here on out and talk about the severe weather across the south in just a little bit. a woman rushed the pope and grabbed his robe and jerked him to the ground during christmas eve mass at the vatican. you can see her lunge at the pope. the 82 yooend mont of wasn't hurt. the vatican described the unarmed woman as mentally disturbed and tried the same thing at the same event last year. actress brittany murphy has been laid to rest in an intimate funeral in california. attended the christmas eve service in hollywood hills. it included the hymn "amazing grace" and a reading from one of her favorite books "the little prince." murphy died sunday morning and it appears she died of natural causes. now that a new jersey father has reunite would his son after a five-year custody battle, they're going to disney world for the holidays. >> can't wait to see sean and david and i'm sure, i'm sure they're both so happy to be with each other and i got to get this animosity out of my head because that doesn't do anybody really any good. but it's been so upsetting this morning watching that parade through the streets. >> now, he's talking about yesterday's public handover of sean. his brazilian stepfather chose to take him through a crush of reporters instead of privately delivering him to his dad. police in arkansas are looking for two men who shot and killed a salvation army employee in front of his family. investigators say major philip wise was returning to the salvation army building yesterday when two men walked up to him, demanded money and shot him. his wife called 911, but he died before help came. his three young children saw the entire thing. >> my heart goes out for the family and losing their dad and i guess to have to witness it during this time of the year, it's definitely going to be hard on the kids. >> the salvation army is planning a news conference today. the taliban released a video showing a u.s. soldier that captured more than five months ago in afghanistan. in the video a healthy looking man wearing sunglasses and a u.s. military uniform identifies himself as private first class bowe bergdahl. he gives his mother's maiden name and other information and cnn has not confirmed his identity yet. a taliban spokesperson calls for a prisoner exchange. calls the release of the video "a horrible act." balloon boy's dad could have to pay the faa $11,000. it's a maximum fine. that's on top of a $42,000 bill he got from the sheriff. now, the faa says richard henne disrupted flight when he told authorities his 6-year-old son was drifting away on a helium balloon. now, the boy was really hiding inside of the house. yesterday henne and his wife were sentenced to jailtime for the hoax and now henne's attorney is working on a response to the faa. weather is certainly a concern for a lot of folks across the country this christmas morning and chris in for more on the weather and give thus break down. >> thank you so much, joe, merry christmas to you and merry christmas to you at home. hopefully you're enjoying nice weather where you are and most of the country is not enjoying it. severe weather across the sunshine state this morning and tornado watch in effect for northern florida and tornado watch in effect for coastal sections of georgia and back into the charleston area and we'll have to watch for the development of possible tornadoes this morning there across parts of the deep south. meanwhile, you go farther to the north now and this is the same storm system producing a little bit of ice across north carolina where we could see a half inch of ice accumulation back up into the appalachian mountains and back up towards the asheville area and more of a wintry mix and not going to cause major problems, but some slick spots out there. if you're traveling across interstate 80 across pennsylvania today, just keep that in mind. by far and a away the biggest problems dealing with the snowfall across north dakota and starting to change over to rain in minneapolis and heavy snow back towards fargo and continue to fall throughout the day today and maybe get another foot of snowfall and record snow across much of the country and oklahoma city over a foot of snowfall and duluth a foot of snowfall and minneapolis, you've seen about seven inches and maybe you'll get an inch more. joe, we'll talk air travel delays, there's a lot of them. one person very far away from those winter storms, president obama. he's in hawaii celebrating the holidays with his family. they got there yesterday and people lined the streets as the presidential motorcade went by. hang loose sign at the nation's first born hawaiian president. the holidays may inspire us to help others, but one california woman inspires all year long. robin meade has her story in this week's breakthrough woman. >> reporter: almost every day betty chin heads out to feed the homeless in oklahoma. she's done the same thing for 24 years. >> good morning. >> she's here without fail, rain or shine. she's like a second mom to us. >> she's given me hope. >> reporter: chin knows what it is like to live in despair. she was separated from her family and forced to live on the streets at 7 years old. >> i still cannot understand how i'm alive today. >> reporter: she eventually escaped china, came to the u.s. and started her american dream. >> i have so much. i want to do something. >> reporter: with money from her part-time job she started taking care of people she truly understood, the homeless. >> she provides them with meals and provides them with bus tickets, clothing. she's inspired other members of the community to get involved. >> reporter: volunteers also help her prepare the meals at a church. >> doing something practical and tangible for the poor. she brings out the best in all of us. >> reporter: proving one person can truly make a difference. >> so much joy. you're bound to get a christmas gift today that you really don't like, but returning it doesn't have to be a painful ordeal. we have some helpful tips and a commander in iraq wanted to punish soldiers who got pregnant in the war zone. but now the top u.s. general is weighing in. well, we hope you get everything you want for christmas today, but just in case santa did not quite follow that wish list jennifer westhoven is here on how to make your holiday returns as painless as possible. >> if you hate standing in line but don't wait too long to return things because stores may only give you a few weeks to bring it back and you know when you get to the register you might fill out a form or show your driver's license. that is the store tracking you, make too many returns and they could put you on their naughty list. don't assume if you've been to one store they have the same policy as last year. nearly one in five retailers tightened up their return policy this year to try to fight massive fraud. now, some stores they will help you, if you lose your receipt, but most of them don't promise anything. so, keep it. lands end and nordstrom they have some of the friendliest reputations when it comes to returns and you may have a hard time returning electronics. you see it, a 15% restorking fee in many cases. to avoid any nasty surprises, avoid yourself getting upset and do yourself a favor and check the store's website and the returns before you sclep to that store and stand in that long line. i i'm jennifer westhoven looking out for you. rain and snow causing travel delays and chris smith is here with your latest travel update. good morning, smith. >> good morning, joe. air travel delays out there and the only saving grace is not a lot of folks usually travel on christmas day. you look at saber flight explorer right now and 2,000 flights in the air and well below the average of this time in the morning. big-time delays across the midwest and upper midwest. hour hch plus delays and rain is going to be the issue across parts of the midwest, pittsburgh, cincinnati and back over to indianapolis and rainfall causing problems from florida and st. louis you'll see hour-plus delays because of rain and snow. >> all right, so a lot of patience today. >> oh, yeah. it's going to be a slow one. >> exercise your christmas patients. >> yes. the holidays can be a dangerous time for your heart. researchers say more people die of heart attacks on christmas day than any other day of the year. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta explains why. >> i don't want to sound like the grim reaper but something to the idea of people having more cardiac deaths during the holidays and it's interesting if you look at the three days where you have the most of these happen, christmas day, the day after christmas and new year's day. what is going on here specifically? a couple broad reasons first. people may pay less attention to things during the holiday season. they don't want to bother their family, they don't want to go to the hospital and they don't pay as much attention. two, this idea that hospitals may not be as well staffed during the holiday season. so, people going in and they have to wait longer and may not stick around and those are a couple of the reasons that medical journalists have talked about. take a look at the long list of reasons of things that are happening to people, specifically in terms we'll sound very familiar and from stress which occurs more so over the holiday season leading to increased inflammation in the body and cold weather, food and fireplaces. fi fireplaces can be a problem and oftentimes can release carbon monoxide in the air especially if they're not being vented properly. people with underlying cardiac disease or lung disease can be really affected by that. pretty simple things to try and avoid becoming one of those statistics. stay alert, first of all, that means not blowing off symptoms just because it's the holiday season. bling your medications, especially if you're traveling around visiting family. obviously, people may have a couple drinks over the holidays, if you drink. try to cut down on that and making sure your family is informed about any underlying illnesses and any current symptoms you might have, as well. we always give what are the potential symptoms of a heart attack and i get e-mails of this. oftentimes people being thankful because they have forgotten or saw the type of symptoms. chest pain and pain going into your left arm or neck and light headedness and shortness of breath and excessive sweating. thing to keep in mind symptoms of heart attack are different for any given individual and none of the symptoms i just mengdzed. if something seems abnormal and you have underlying heart disease, go see your doctor, even if it is the holidays. good luck, happy holidays. back to you for now. rocker jean simmons just got slap would a lawsuit. hear why two people are accusing him of assault. stockings full of goodies from home spent a little christmas cheer for these troops in kosovo. part of nato's peacekeeping mission there. jonbenet ramsey's faurlth is helping for the public's health again in finding her killer. tomorrow marks the 13th year that her body was found in her basement. authorities say new dna suggests an unknown outsider was the killer. a couple that is suing kiss jean simmons for attacking them. simmons seen here on the left threatened them and took the video camera when they filmed the rocker at an upscale mall on saturday. simmons hasn't been arrested or charged and his attorney hasn't commented. well usc runningback who nearly died after dropping a weightlifting bar on his throat gave his first interview. benching 275 pounds when the bar slipped from his hands and crushed his throat. doctors needed seven hours to rebuild and repair his lir insh. in three short months johnson has not only recovered from that accident that nearly killed him but he's back in the gym and training for the nfl draft, but, still, he remembers everything from that fateful day. >> looking back in my mind, this could probably be it. but i couldn't let that happen, you know. with all the strength in me, i couldn't let it happen. i have to get back to my family. >> well, nba star could be in hot water for storing guns in his team locker. gilbert arenas brought the guns in a carrying case into the horizon center but left the ammunition behind. he's not being charged with a crime but may still face action from the nba which prohibits players carrying weapons on league property. north carolina and the university of pittsburgh have the need for speed. the teams are in charlotte for a bowl game tomorrow. it's part of the bowl week. they got a chance to pay a visit to lowep's motor speedway and going 180 miles per hour around the track. well a deer interrupted some people's last-minute holiday shopping in florida. he went inside a grocery store and started running around the checkout lanes. employees eventually pinned it down, but not right before it ran into a shopper. >> headed for the checkout and i was right by the front door and all of a sudden i got knocked in to and then something stepped on my foot and there was this deer that was running by me and slid and fell down. >> an animal rescue group released it into the woods and no one, including the deer, were hurt. forget the shirt and tie for dad or mom's new heavy duty vacuum. the whacky christmas gifts that everyone is talking about. boy, do we have some duzies. >> i just want to send a shoutout to my family and friends in west palm beach. happy holidays, wish i could be home but i'm over here in tikrit, iraq. love you all, miss you all.  nearly 50 cars smashed together in a massive chain reaction pileup in a christmas eve blizzard. now, the wreck stranded dozens of people in sub zero temperatures on interstate 40 in oklahoma. right now interstates are shut down all across oklahoma. the governor has declared a state of emergency. one of two cops wounded in a shootout monday has left the hospital. the officers in washington state were responding to a domestic dispute when they came under fire. the suspect was killed in the exchange and the second officer is still in critical condition. the vatican says pope benedict xvi is doing fine after a woman knocked him down. he did deliver his annual christmas day blessing. the woman jumped a barrier at wrismous eve mask. the vatican said she tried the same thing last year and is mentally disturbed. well, those are some of the headlines we'rer with rurking for you this morning. good morning, welcome back. back to the storms hammering parts of the u.s. at least 18 people killed on slippery roads nationwide. here's video of a semi-truck rolled over nebraska. drivers told to pack emergency kits before setting out. people are being warned to stay off the roads in minnesota, up to 20 inches of snow blanketed the state and traveling after dark could be life threatening. weather certainly a big issue today. let's get over to chris smith and more details on these deadly storms. good morning, merry christmas, chris. almost half the country and right now kansas city you're continuing to see the snowfalls coming down and those blizzard warnings continue further north north dakota, south dakota and all those places you just mentioned where heavy snowfall coming down and back towards aberdeen and south dakota. the heaviest of the snowfall now ending towards the minneapolis area as warmer air now beginning to move in and we're expecting 9 to 15 inches of additional snowfall across north and south dakota. you don't believe me, this is what we're forecasting. the storm system, it's not done yet. severe weather across the south, i'll talk about it in just a minute, joe. >> a lot of weather, we'll have more for you in a few minutes. one man is dead and another critically injured after a truck ran into a live nativity scene. police in ohio say another car hit the truck first severing its tire and that sent the driver into a crowd of at least 15 people. >> when i turned, the pickup truck was up here on the sidewalk and hitting the people that were watching our display and saw some, four victims fly through the air. >> now, he was playing one of the weisman, but happened to be a certified e.m.t. and he helped the injured why they waited for an ambulance. canadian media reports a fifth man in critical condition. the workers suspended on the 13th floor of an apartment building under construction when scaffolding snapped in two. they all had safety harnesses, but it's not clear if they were on. they're investigating the cause. as you heard us talk about all morning, weather, weather, weather affecting a lot of people on this christmas holiday and chris smith in about more on what is affecting the northeast, chris? >> anywhere from the east coast all the way into the plain states and it's the same storm system. not different storm systems, but the same one. severe weather ongoing between jacksonville and the raleigh area and expected threat for heavy rainfall and the possibility of severe weather. we have nornado watches for parts of georgia and back down into northern florida. meanwhile, we continue to watch frozen precipitation and freezing rain back up towards asheville and hiktry, north carolina. that should taper off as we make our way into the afternoon hours. we're not expecting a major winter event across central pennsylvania but kind of slick out there as you see a mixture of sleet and freezing rain with the showers continuing to move in. meanwhile, across the midwest, you're not troching about snowfall, heavy rainfall from cleveland back towards cincinnati, columbus and indianapolis and columbus and all seeing temperatures just above the freezing mark. little rock, arkansas, got nine inches of rainfall yesterday in little rock and it makes it the wettest year ever on record for little rock and probably many other areas around the state. interstate 30 a major connector between dallas and the several midwest closed for thundershowers. little rock, good news, joe, they get a chance to dry out. travel weather in just a bit. >> thanks, chris. the holidays can be a dangerous time for your heart. researchers say more people die of heart ataction on christmas day than any other day of the year. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta explains why. >> reporter: i don't want to sound like the grim reaper but but something about people having more cardiac deaths over the next three years. most on christmas day, the day after christmas and new year's day. what is going on here, specifically? a couple broad reasons first. one is that people may pay less attention to things during the holiday season. they don't want to involve their family and they don't want to go to the hospital, they don't pay as much attention. that's one of the reasons. two is this that hospitals may not be as well staffed during the holiday season. people going in and may wait longer and still around. couple reasons medical journals have talked about. look at the long list of reasons that people talk about everything from stress that occurs more over the holiday season leading to increased inflammation in the body cold weather, food and fireplaces, as well. fireplaces can be a problem. oftentimes can release a lot of carbon monoxide in the air, especially if they're not being vented promptly. cardiac disease or lung disease can be really affected xwi that. a couple things you can do to try to avoid becoming one of those statistics. stay alert means not blowing off sympt symptoms, bring your medication and minimizing alcohol consumption and people may have a couple drinks over the holidays, if you drink. really trying to cut down on that and making sure your family is informed about any underlying conditions and any current symptoms you might have. we always give what are the potential symptoms of a heart attack and i get e-mails of this. oftentimes people being thankful because they have forgotten or saw these type of symptoms. chest pain, obviously, pain going into your left arm or neck and light headedly and xur sessive sweating. symptoms of heart attack can be different for just about any given individual. it doesn't have to any of those symptoms i just mentioned. if you do have underlying heart disease, go to your doctor, even if it's the holidays. back to you for now. >> firefighter husband to be extra careful when they showed up to battle a house fire. not just the flames that concerned them, but the live ammo inside. looking at christmas around the world. kids in the philippines spending christmas in shelters because of an erupting volcano. a clown was brought in to deliver much-needed cheer. the mayor says it's important to keep the christmas spirit despite the danger from the volcano. pope benedict xvi was a bit tired when he delivered his traditional christmas message this morning just a few hours before the woman knocked count the pope. the 82-year-old pope was not hurt in the fall and his busy christmas schedule will not chag. firefighters in rhode island stormed into a burning home and then stormed right back out. after hearing shotgun shells go off. turns out the flames ignited live ammo inside the house. the man and woman who lived there did survive and firefighters were shaken, but were okay. >> it's a nerve racking job and hearing shotgun shells go off in a house is not thaulz best feeling. >> the woman was treated for burns on her feet and the house pretty much a loss. well, the empty nest is getting a little crowded again with grown children returning home. here's jennifer westhoven with more on this growing trend and now parents can make it work. >> so, a new pew study is finding that nearly one out of seven parents had one of their kids, grown up kids, move back home in the past year. we're talking millions of people who were out on their own. they had a job and their own place to live and independence but because of the recession they moved back in with mom and dad. boom rang kids. family counselors says to make the best out of this situation. first of all, you have to talk beforehand about what both of you guys are expecting when it comes to keeping the house clean, what hours people are coming and going and expenses. counselors say thats that's really important. if you're a grown up, you have to treat your grown up kid like a grown up. they can help with expenses, then they should. if they can't, they can earn their keep in other ways. the main thing is, lots of respect on both sides and see the situation as empowering. you get a little more family time than you expected. if you're an adult kid, you get a chance to save up for your next place or a lot of adult kids can go back to school so they can eventually support themselves. looking out for you, i'm jennifer westhoven. so, if you're tird of sitting around the yulelog and staring at the relatives, we have a little treat for you. watch joy behar's christmas marathon. starts at noon and goeses until 6:00. stormy weather will affect travel all over the country and the latest from the airports. plus, we all know college football is big business, so is your favorite team the most valuable? i'm here with combat logistic battalion ts company in iraq and i just want to wish a happy holidays to all my family and friends back in youngstown, ohio. a college football program that was once given the death penalty by the ncaa has new life. the death penalty is the harshest penalty the ncaa can hand down to an athletic program. back in the late '80s players were being paid to play. that's a major violation in college football, which eliminated football altogether for two years. now, fast forward two decades and smu made its first poll vote first season poll appearance in 25 years playing in the hawaii bowl against nevada last night. the mustang players that weren't even born when served that death penalty and crushed the nevada wolfpack 45-10. pioneer in sports broadcasting has died. long-time washington sports caster george michael passed away thursday from complications related to leukemia. for 28 years michael delivered the sports to the d.c. area and best known for his nationally syndicated show the george michael sports machine. michael won more than 40 emmy awards and paved the way for shows like espn's "sport center." two guys likely on santa's naughty list defensive tackle albert haynesworth $10,000 and brandon jacobs $7,500 for their scuffle in monday night's football game. haynesworth struck jacobs after the play was over and the runningback retaliated. where is the christmas spirit at? we know college football is big business, really big in texas, according to forbes, it's the biggest. the university of texas tops the list as the most valuable college football program at $119 million. the second most valuable football program is notre dame at $108 million. what's valuable this morning is advice about the roads because weather is hammering a lot of the country. chris smith in now with your air travel. obviously, the weather affecting travel in the airports, as well. good morning. >> good morning, joe. just a nightmare out there when it comes to traveling across the plain states and back into the midwest. major delays as we go throughout the day today including the major hubs. chicago, minneapolis, kansas city all going to be seeing well over one-hour delays because of snowfall. chicago kind of a mix of snow and rainfall. meanwhile, rainfall is going to be the big story for pittsburgh, cincinnati, cleveland and detroit. you're going to see one-hour plus delays. across the south, you can expect to see delays in orlando, as well as tampa and back up towards raleigh and charlotte and, again, because of the rainfall. pack your patience if you are traveling anywhere in the air today across much of the eastern half of the country. >> thank you, chris. looks like a lot of problems out there related to weather today. thank you. a high school senior was suspended for dressing up like santa claus. he told his principal he planned to wear the red suit to school and pass out candy canes and his principal told him it would be a big distraction and was suspended for the day for defiance of authority. the school couldn't just give him detention. they could have. hln money expert clark howard stepped out of the studio and headed to georgia to answer military money questions. he steps in as the money coach when a soldier and his wife need to get their finances set before he deploys to iraq. >> my name is private kevin lights and this is my beautiful wife amanda lights and this is our 2-week-old son hunter lights. i am 21 and my wife is 19. we're facing a deployment here in two weeks. >> how can i be of service to the two of you? >> i have a question, i know with the way the economy is and banks sort of changing the rules as far as things go, are there any banks still participating in the soldiers and saillers' relief act? >> they don't have a choice. they have to. why is that relevant in your case? >> my husband is deploying to north iraq in the next two weeks. so, we have a brand-new 2008 truck that has a very high interest rate in the near 20s. 20%. >> you don't. what were you thinking? >> we were young when we got it and we haven't refinanced yet. >> all right, well, you have two options because under the soldiers and sailors' relief act while you're deployed that will go down to 6%. you have to petition for it. the other thing is, your credit's good. why don't you refi. >> i'm actually looking at refi. >> they might require that you do some down payment, your reduction in the loan balance in order for them to do it, but they'll mark it down if your credit's good. >> one more question for you. i have two credit cards but i've been very leery with them. if i put anything on them, by the time i get the statement, as soon as i get the statement, i pay it off. how is that affecting my credit score? >> making it great. that's the right thing to do. learn from her. >> yes, sir. >> this weekend watch clark serve our troops in an hln special presentation. he helps soldiers and you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. operation clark smart airs this weekend saturday and sunday right here on hln. president obama and the first lady sent special christmas thanks to the u.s. military and urged americans to support military families this holiday season during his salute to the troops. >> all our men and women in uniform spending the holidays far away from home whether it's a base here in the states or mess hall in iraq or outpost in afghanistan, know that you are in our thoughts and in our prayers. in this holiday season and every holiday season know that we are doing everything in our power to make sure you can succeed in your missions and come home safe to your families. >> yesterday the first family greeted troops that air force base in hawaii, that's where they're spending, of course, their christmas holiday.    

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