cotton is now at a 15-year high. a year ago, raw cotton cost 55 cents a pound. today it s $1.80, three times the price. everything s going up right now. so, we re pretty much limited in our what we can afford. reporter: retail analysts say even though worldwide supplies are down for all sorts of commodities, demand is high, because there are so many consumers in china. that means prices are not likely to drop any time soon. as the new spring receipts hit the stores, look for retailors to try to raise prices as much as so%. reporter: retailers have known for months they would likely be facing price increases but many have held the line for as long as possible because they re still struggling to recover from the recession. now they ll have to charge higher prices knowing that consumers may be buying less. david wright, abc news, los angeles. a federal government shutdown is looming unless congress and the president can work out a compromise on the budget. republican lawmakers
campbell s soup company managers announced a $10 million plan to help hungry and obese children today. the plan goes into action in cities where campbell s makes soup. and the final game between two jeopardy! champs and an ibm computer airs today. that computer, named watson, trounced the competition yesterday. go, humans. finally this half hour, there is a cat burglar on the loose in california and it s been accused in about 600 break-ins. victims and authorities aren t too worried about the thief, though, because it really is a cat burglar. a cat. vick lee has more. reporter: meet dusty. by day he s a house pet. when the sun goes down, it s time to hit the streets. dusty is a cat burglar. so, she always steals stuff. reporter: neighbors like 5-year-old ethan know him by his alias, clepto the cat. well, she took my mom s swimming clothes.
world away, young children taken by their mothers. american children who have been cut off from their fathers. i miss her sleeping on my chest. she used to lay down on my chest and fall asleep. i can still smell his hair and remember what it s like to kiss him on the neck and carry him to school. it feels like someone died. the problem is he s not dead. he s alive somewhere in japan. and i can t see him. reporter: there are 321 american children who have been spirited off to japan since 1994. how many of you have court-ordered custody of your children? how many of you actually get to see your children whenever you want to see them? none of you. i haven t seen a picture of him in two years. the only time i get to see my kids is when i dream about them. reporter: what is it about japan? japanese laws based on centuries of tradition favoring the mother. in japan there s no such thing as joint custody and fathers
southwest airlines released this statement. we were founded on the golden rule and we know our employees try each and every day to treat others the way they want to be treated. we deeply regret and apologize that we did not succeed in our interactions with mr. cristin. southwest airlines customer of size policy requires a passenger to purchase a second seated if they cannot fit safely or comfortably into one or lower the armrest. i made sure, because he made it a point to tell me the armrest had to be down. for me to sit in the seat. reporter: some passengers we spoke to say they agree with southwest s policy for larger customers. i ve seen someone be uncomfortable before because someone sitting next to them was too big. and she almost was sitting on the edge of her seat. reporter: still he says it could have been handled differently. i think their flight attendants need retraining. i think there s a more tactful way of talking to someone. reporter: as for future air travel
patterns and global weather patterns. reporter: and it s not just clothing. food prices are skyrocketing, too. a staggering 29% worldwide. those same droughts in china, a heat wave in russia, and near biblical floods in australia have sent wheat prices soaring. 67% over the last year. floods followed by droughts in the midwest caused corn prices to jump 60% in a year. that means not only higher prices on the corn products we eat, but also higher prices for pork, beef and poultry, because the main things farmers feed their livestock, corn. everything s going up right now. so, we re pretty much limited in what our what we can afford. reporter: retail analysts say americans may be feeling some pain in their wallet for some time. don t expect prices to go down quickly. rob and vinita? in other news now, cbs news correspondent lara logan is now recovering at home this morning after being attacked in egypt.