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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Hey everyone! I spent the morning at the White House today with first lady Laura Bush, who provided a tour of the holiday decorations there.

We chatted in the Blue Room, where Mrs. Bush explained her role in choosing the theme for the ornaments that decorate the Christmas tree featured there. This year's theme celebrates our national parks and is adorned by ornaments from across the country. Check out our interview and see who made a cameo appearance!

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Learn more about Holidays at the White House and a see photos of ornaments from each of the 50 states.

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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A display of some of the toys recalled recently by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

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If you're like me, you are starting your Christmas shopping in earnest on Black Friday, so first of all, good luck navigating those crowds and try to stay in the holiday spirit. A lot of parents I know are staying away from buying toys for their kids, though, with the 60-plus recalls issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission this year. It’s frustrating to try and keep up with what's dangerous and what's not on the shelves this season and even more difficult to try and get answers about who is responsible for all these dangerous toys getting into our stores in the first place. Someone has to be held accountable. In the meantime, I'm sticking to books and clothes for the kids this Christmas!

Many moons ago (17 years, in fact), I co-hosted a sporting competition called the Goodwill Games on TBS. At the time, I was a sportscaster on CNN and during the 14-day gig in Seattle, I worked with broadcasting legend Larry King, the event's main host. King had a huge movie-star trailer befitting his status in the business; his heart was just as big. He took me under his wing and always offered encouraging words. I have never forgotten that and have enjoyed seeing him in the years that followed.

It's been 20 years since King's life-changing heart attack and quintuple bypass surgery. Along with his wife Shawn, he has helped fund The Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which helps pay for heart surgeries for the uninsured. Check out the Web site to learn more about how you can help those with heart problems and click here to .

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By now you've probably heard of Robert Dziekanski, the man who died after being tasered by officers in the Vancouver, Canada airport
on Oct. 14. The 40-year-old Polish man who had never ridden on an airplane before and was flying to meet his mother in Vancouver, Canada. He spoke no English or French and had been waiting for 10 hours at the airport for his mom to pick him up. She had been unable to locate him there and was told that he had not arrived. So she left. As the man became agitated and started throwing things, a fellow passenger turned on his video camera and rolled for several minutes.

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Another day, another recall. Now lots of parents are beating this drum. It seems everyone is fed up with the dangerous toys on the shelves of our favorite stores. Some Curious George plush dolls are the latest popular toy made in China found to be contaminated with dangerous levels of lead, plus kids sunglasses (ZZ Top anyone?) which are sold at Dollar General stores. Our consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen got to the bottom of a common denominator in the seemingly bottomless pit of bad toys: the ones with red and yellow paint are literally a red flag -- those are the colors that contain the highest lead percentage. Many parents tell us they won't buy any toys from China this holiday season, while the vast majority of moms and dads blame the government for not taking enough action. We will keep pressing! In the meantime, have a great weekend. I am starting holiday shopping. Think I'll stick to books and music this year!

Today we had yet another recall of toys that our kids are playing with, and frankly, it’s getting outrageous. My kids played with Aqua Dots, a hot toy over the summer. Now, it turns out that these popular toys, which were advertised on TV and can be found at most stores, can be harmful to children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has pulled the toy from store shelves after receiving two reports of children swallowing the beads and becoming unconscious.

Aqua Dots are sticky, tiny dots that look like colorful candies. They could easily stick to fingers and be licked off or mistakenly ingested by a young child. The toxic glue covering the Aqua Dots, which are made in China, unbelievably contains a chemical that metabolizes into the date rape drug GHB when swallowed.

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It's always lively when Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly stops by our studio, and today was no exception. The super-busy dad, who is also a former teacher, has penned a new book for the younger set called "Kids Are Americans, Too." It's a testament to O'Reilly's popularity that the book debuted at No. 8 on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The big take away is that kids need to know they have the right to believe what they want, form their own opinions and stand up for their principles.

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Today, in an effort to help people eliminate lead in their homes, we began a new campaign that I feel really strongly about -- The Early Show's "Anchor Moms Against Lead." As a mom of three, I cringe when my kids come home from birthday parties with painted, plastic goodies and toy jewelry. They love that stuff, but who really knew it was potentially dangerous before the last year or so? My girls aren't toddlers anymore, but my 9-year-old still manages to chew on just about everything -- so I am constantly on the lookout.

And then today came a big surprise: Early Show correspondent and mom-to-be Tracy Smith invited a lead inspector to check for lead in her home -- and especially in a room being converted into a nursery.

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