All Blog Posts from Hannah's Blog

Hi everybody! As many of you know, today was my last morning on The Early Show.

What a way to end a fantastic five years! Producers Joe Long and Rebecca Resnick put together an incredible video. How do you put a chunk of your life into six minutes? They found a way and it was a real labor of love. And my good pal Toby Keith surprised me with a special song that was a real tearjerker. Heartfelt comments from the other anchors were so wonderful and we ended with hugs all around for my beloved crew. You really feel like it's a family when you work together every morning with the same folks year after year. I will miss them so much.

Thank you all for your well wishes… they have meant a lot. Most of all, thank you for the privilege of allowing me to be part of your lives each morning. God bless you and know that you are loved and appreciated. See you down the road!

Video:

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Perhaps you've been part of the massive e-mail campaign to boycott the upcoming movie "The Golden Compass" starring Nicole Kidman. Critics of the movie say its anti-religion. The movie is based on the first of a three book series by Philip Pullman, who has made comments in the past about being an atheist and how his books reflect that.

Today we had a lively debate about the movie between Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, and Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists.

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The members of the legendary group Boyz II Men have come a long way from singing in the bathrooms at their Philadelphia high school. With a string of highly successful albums, they eventually became the highest selling R&B group of all time. Today they came to The Early Show plaza to perform some songs from their new CD, "Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA." What a treat! And as you'll see by watching the video clip, we all had a great time.

To encourage a new generation of street corner serenaders, they are teaming up with us for the Boyz II Men A Cappella Quest. If you're part of an a cappella group, or know one that you admire, read the requirements and upload or send a videotape in to our Web site. Better hurry! The deadline is Monday, Nov. 17.

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Congratulations to the Red Sox and all of the fans in Boston who are having a dream season this fall. The Patriots look like Super Bowl naturals and Boston College could be in the national championship game! Wouldn’t that be something?

And then there’s my alma mater, Notre Dame, having one of the worst football seasons in school history! Every fall my family takes a pilgrimage to South Bend, Ind., even though this year, my oldest daughter was questioning the wisdom of making the trip because Notre Dame was playing the powerful USC Trojans!

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Click here to see some photos from my recent football outing.

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I took the opportunity to explain to my kids that you have to love your team no matter what and that being a fair-weather fan is not being a true fan. Even though my daughter turned out to be right and we got hammered by USC 38-0, it was still great to be there on a beautiful fall day, seeing friends and cheering on the Irish... all the while dreaming of next season. It can only get better. Thank goodness we didn’t have to play this past weekend!

For the first time today, "As the World Turns" actress Colleen Zenk Pinter shared the story of her battle with oral cancer. Frankly, this is a disease I thought only affected people who smoked, and mostly men. But increasing numbers of women and young people are getting this deadly form of cancer.

Colleen said she merely had a stubborn canker sore, and later an infection. Thankfully, she finally received a proper diagnosis and, after multiple surgeries, is now cancer free.

Check out her story and then click here for more information from the Oral Cancer Foundation. Early detection is the key to successfully treating the disease. Most importantly, ask your dentist for a screening every time you visit. It takes only 3 minutes and it can save your life.

We hear so much about breast cancer and the importance of mammograms that I was shocked to learn that since the year 2000, the number of mammograms have actually declined among those women who are supposed to have them!

In fact, some places have gotten really creative to get women in the door. Kelly Cobiella reports on a testing center in Orlando, Fla., that is hosting mammogram parties complete with manicures, wine and munchies... and it's working!

Dr. Emily Senay reminded us all this morning that women over 40 should have their mammogram once a year. We came up with the idea that even if you're not lucky enough to attend a party while doing so, you can certainly treat yourself! So the next time you schedule your mamogram, why not book yourself a nice relaxing massage the same day or at least have your nails done -- anything to remind yourself that you are a strong, beautiful woman who takes care of herself in every way!

As you know, toys with high lead levels have been in the news a lot lately, with a slew of recalls since summer.

Conscientious parents have been snapping up home testing kits, to check and make sure the toys in their homes are safe for their kids. But here's what we discovered at The Early Show: Our intrepid consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen, who has two young ones of her own, found out from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that those tests are "unreliable." Check out the video of today's segment for more details.

The bottom line: You can't test these toys at home and you better hope all of the bad ones are off the shelves. I know that with three girls, the jewelry recalls really concern me -- I have one daughter who is in grade school who still likes to chew on everything! So this is something we all need to stay on top of and The Early Show is on the case, especially with the holidays coming up. More to follow!

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Toy recalls and safety information

Former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" star Fred Thompson declared a month ago on "The Tonight Show" that he was running for president. Projected as a candidate for conservatives in the GOP, Thompson has nonetheless drawn criticism from some big voices on the right.

Today, conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish told me what Thompson needs to do in his first Presidential debate this afternoon to try to maintain momentum for his campaign, while Arianna Huffington, liberal blogger of HuffingtonPost.com, clued us in to what Democrats were seeing thus far and what they would be looking for in the debate. How will Thompson fare as he is positioned between frontrunners Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney? Tune in to The Early Show tomorrow to see how Thompson did on his latest close up.

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Click here for more on all of the 2008 presidential hopefuls.