When today's 'True Champion' Cyclist Phil Southerland was just a baby, doctors told his parents that he'd be dead by 25... and before that, he'd go blind as a result of his diabetes. Well, Phil is now 29, and he's eyesight is perfect.

Phil has written a book titled "Not Dead Yet" where he talks about diabetes being his gift, and how he's used exercise to help him focus and keep this disease in check. I spoke with Phil about the importance of educating kids about diabetes (video above).

For more about Phil and his book "Not Dead Yet" check out his website: teamtype1.org

Posted by: Sports Anchor Carlos Diaz
Filed under: Sports • True Champions

Here are a few Sports stories that will tug on your heart-strings on this Hump Day…

While family and friends mourn the death of Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, his dog remains beside the casket.

The dog that refused to leave the casket of fallen Navy Seal Jon Tumilson, will now help commemorate the troops at a college football game. His name is Hawkeye and they're talking about having him lead the Iowa Hawkeyes onto the field. The team has announced that they will honor Jon Tumilson at one of two home games in November. University officials said they will work with Tumilson's family to determine what role his dog, Hawkeye, might play in the memorial. Tumilson's dog captured America's heart last week when he laid at the casket of his fallen best friend. The 35-year-old Tumilson, who grew up in northern Iowa, was one of the American soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 6th when his helicopter was shot down. Tumilson, who joined the Navy after graduating high school in Iowa in 1995, was a big Hawkeye football fan. A former Iowa player suggested that Hawkeye, the dog, lead the team on the field as a way to honor Tumilson's sacrifice.

The NFL is gonna rock out, with a big concert before next week's opening night game. We're talking Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5! We're 8 days away from the free concert, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET - an hour before the Saints-Packers kickoff up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This huge concert will be a little better than the gig Lady Antebellum played in Wisconsin a few years ago. The country trio played at a gas station at 5:30 in the morning to a handful of half-awake deer hunters near Slinger, Wisconsin. They later called it one of their worst gigs ever! They've come a long way from playing gas stations!

In other football news, the NFL and its players will honor the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by donating $1 million to 9/11 charities...

The Stanley Cup got a new dent this week. Former Boston Bruin Michael Ryder had the NHL's huge championship trophy in St. John's, Newfoundland (Each player from the NHL championship team gets the Stanley Cup for one day), and when he placed it on the edge of a table... down went the cup!!! Resulting in a huge dent on the top. Brad Marchand, who had the cup before Ryder said, "I don't know if I want to give it to him because I'm scared it's not going to come back."

Have a great day, and remember… after reading this, you’re now about 5 minutes closer to your 3-day weekend!!

*Follow "Morning Express with Robin Meade" sports anchor (and all around HLN go-to guy) Carlos Diaz on Twitter: @CarlosHLN

Posted by: Sports Anchor Carlos Diaz
Filed under: NFL • NHL • Salute to Troops • Sports

I’m tracking Tropical Storm Katia again this morning, as she has gained some power. Max sustained winds are creeping toward hurricane strength (above 74 mph) at 65 mph, and that trend unfortunately will continue as it rolls over warmer water and light wind shear. The direction hasn’t changed yet, still moving at a quick 21 mph to the WNW. There will be no landfall for anybody (including the Leeward Islands) for at least the next five days. As Katia moves closer to North America, the steering will start to be influenced by whatever high pressure or trough is over the region next week. It’s still too early to tell exactly what the US weather will be in seven days, so the track can’t be nailed down beyond five days at this point.

There’s also an interesting cluster of storms over the Southern Gulf/Western Caribbean this morning that may affect the US weather this weekend. The NHC is giving it only a 10% chance of turning into a tropical depression, but a few computer models develop it into a big storm that could affect LA/TX. This could mean beneficial rain for the weekend, but could mean damaging winds as well. That’s all speculative anyway since the thing hasn’t even formed yet. I’ll tweet what happens with this thing.

The rest of the weather is relatively quiet except for the fire weather in OK and TX. Big fires around those states won’t get any help from the weather today, as temps will soar into the low 100s and relative humidities will drop into the 15% range. I’ll show you the red flag warnings. Rain is creeping into the OH valley this morning, and that will stretch into the NE tomorrow. The Passaic River in NJ is still above major flood stage this morning in Patterson and Little Falls so they don’t want to see any more rain. It’s true for New England and NY state as well.

Heat is back for Phoenix with a high around 112. Ouch. Storms for the northern Rockies and ND this afternoon too.

*Follow "Morning Express with Robin Meade" meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Fire • Heat • Katia • tropical storm • Weather

You may read with your child every day... but are you making the MOST out of that time together? Tiny changes in 'story time' could make a big difference in how your child does in school when it comes to reading.

Here are some tips that "Morning Express with Robin Meade" correspondent Ryan Smith picked up while reporting on cutting edge methods educators at the Atlanta Speech School are using to help kids overcome all kinds of reading disabilities. Each student at the school gets individual treatment to help him or her get over their individual literacy hurdle, but there are some general things every parent can do to improve a child's reading ability.

Ask questions: Executive Director Comer Yates says, "When you are reading with your child, that is the time for conversation." Asking your child questions while reading helps him or her build vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Don't always challenge: When your child is reading to YOU, Yates suggests books that are filled with words that your kid already knows so they can work on fluency and speed. That will also build confidence in a young reader which can be eroded if they're having to struggle with big or unfamiliar words. Yates says, "If you are asking them to read something by which they are building vocabulary, you're asking them to do too much at one time."

Give new words meaning: When it IS time to learn new words, you should read TO them... and choose something at a higher level. That way the child hears those unfamiliar words in context.

Don't interrupt: Finally when a child is reading to you and a makes a mistake, don't correct them mid-sentence. Let them read on and then, when you come to a comfortable stopping point, go back and analyze that trouble spot together.

If you have questions about helping your kids with reading... Or a story about how reading issues have impacted your life... Share it with us. Leave a comment here or email MorningExpress@cnn.com OR tweet Ryan at @RyanSmithTV.

Posted by: Correspondent Ryan Smith
Filed under: Power of Words

Tropical storm Katia is our newest named storm in the Atlantic. Yesterday it was Tropical Depression 12. This storm is located in the Eastern Atlantic ocean, SW of the Cape Verde Islands and booking to the West near 17 mph. The track will lead Katia over warm ocean temperatures and light shear, so I expect to see this thing develop explosively. We may be looking at a Category 3 hurricane with winds over 110 mph by this weekend. So far the track looks a little north of Irene, possibly missing the Leeward Islands altogether to the North. We’ll have to wait and see where she ultimately winds up in about 7 days b/c that’s when the North American weather features begin to take over her steering. Keep updated on HLN or @BobVanDillen on twitter.

Back to the US: Dry high pressure has been in control ever since Irene has left the NE. It was pleasant yesterday with temps only topping out in the low-mid 70s from New England to NJ, but the temps will be about 5-10 degrees warmer today. That means all the people w/o power will be a little more uncomfortable today without the AC on I hate to say. The flood waters continue to ebb, but the damage has been done. The good news about air travel is that all major airports are back open, but Teterboro in NJ is still closed (that’s the one Capt. Sully was going to try to hit, but couldn’t make it so he landed in the Hudson).

Storms are presently rolling through the MW near IA and MO with more on the way for the area later today. The SE will see some rain along the Coast of the Carolinas and FL, and heat is back for San Antonio and Houston. Phoenix should hit 111 today too. Those are the major weather makers out there, everybody else should enjoy a quiet day today.

Filed under: Katia • tropical storm • Weather

Hope you had a great weekend! Here’s some Sports with Tiny Winners, Biggest Losers and athletes who are K-I-S-S-I-N-G…

The kids from Huntington Beach, California are the Little League World Series Champions, and they grabbed the title in super-dramatic fashion. With 2 outs and the bases loaded in the final inning, the coaches son Nick Pratto drilled a bases-loaded single which sent Eric Anderson across home plate giving California the 2-1 victory over Japan. The start of the game was delayed more than three hours after the outer bands of Hurricane Irene brought more rain than expected to the Williamsport area. But the sun came out half way through the game, and it was quite fitting that the team from California celebrated in the sunshine.

No hurricane can stop the US Open from starting on time. The final major tennis tourney of the season gets underway at 11am today (Monday 8/29) as scheduled after the National Tennis Grounds in New York received only “minimal damage.” Five-time champion Roger Federer and Venus Williams are the biggest names playing later tonight.

Another fan fell over the weekend at Rangers Ballpark in Texas, just a couple of months after a fan fell to his death. Saturday night, an unidentified 24 year-old man was leaving the game with his friends, and he fell 21 feet down a stairwell when coming down from the upper deck… Police say there was no fighting of foul play involved. The fan did get immediate medical attention and was rushed to a local hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.

NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Tim Tebow are going to be hanging out with some real big “losers” in October. That’s because they’re going to be on an upcoming NFL-themed episode of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Brees, Tebow and Hall of Fame Running Back Eric Dickerson will be competing in fitness contests against contestants trying to lose the most weight. Remember, tennis star Anna Kournikova is one of the new trainers on "The Biggest Loser" this season.

Houston Texas running back Adrian Foster just completely defined the digital age we live in with one tweet… After getting injured in Saturday night’s game against the 49ers, Forster tweeted… “4 those sincerely concerned, I'm doing ok & plan 2 B back by opening day. 4 those worried abt your fantasy team, u ppl are sick”. First off, it looks like more and more NFL players will be Tweeting their own injury updates, instead of letting the team taking care of it. And fans from coast to coast needed to know Foster’s condition, because he’s going to be a Top 5 pick in Fantasy Football drafts all over the country.

We now have conclusive photographic proof that the #1 Women’s Tennis Player in the World is dating the Hottest Young Golfer on the Planet… Here’s Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki posing with the Yale Football team… and then TOTALLY making out in front of them! Then, Wozniacki went out and won the New Haven Open the following day… That’s her first tourney victory since she starting dating McIlroy at the beginning of the summer…

Don’t focus on the fact that it’s Monday today… Focus on the fact that NEXT Monday, you’ll be OFF WORK!

*Follow Morning Express with Robin Meade sports anchor Carlos Diaz on Twitter: @CarlosHLN

Posted by: Sports Anchor Carlos Diaz
Filed under: Baseball • NFL • Roger Federer • Sports • Tennis

I’m hearing reports from my friends and family in the NE, and they aren’t good. It appears power for some in NJ/NY all the way to ME may not be restored for 3-10 days. Flooding will peak today for all the major rivers in the NE from the 5-10” of rain that fell in the short period of time it took Irene to blow through. Heck, eastern NC got more than 15” of rain. Irene made three landfalls over the weekend. Two as a hurricane. The first was over the Cape Lookout area of NC on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane. The second was over Little Egg Inlet (south of LBI, NJ) as a Category 1 hurricane, and from there it blew over my home state and into NYC where it made the third landfall as a tropical storm near Coney Island. Currently the storm is post-tropical and moving out of Canada. You’ll notice the breeze is in ME this morning, but that’s it from Irene.

Tropical storm Jose is moving into the North Atlantic now, no worries from him but tropical depression 12 formed this morning near the Cape Verde Islands. This will most likely be the next named storm, Katia. We have plenty of time to chart this storm’s potential.

Stateside, I’m worried about all the folks w/o power in the NE and Mid Atlantic. Temperatures will range from the low 70s in Me to the mid 80s in NC, so I don’t think the lack of air conditioning will be too bad for you.

Heavy rain is developing over AR and OK this morning, and decent rain is sliding up the Rockies too. I’ll have the entire forecast for you on the show. I’m riding on adrenalin from covering Irene this weekend. It nailed my childhood town and ravaged the Jersey Shore. If I could go up and surf the swell today, I would. But alas, no bosses took my suggestion to do the show up there seriously, so I’m still landlocked in Atlanta. Whaddyagunndo.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Irene • Katia • Weather

Hurricane Irene’s impact is going to be huge. I’ve been following along with the National Hurricane Center the path and strength of the storm, and it looks inevitable that it will make at least one landfall on the US East coast. The timing goes like this: It will probably gain a little strength this afternoon south of NC. Tropical storm force winds will start to come into the state this afternoon. Hurricane force winds (over 74 mph) will build through the nighttime hours with the center of the storm reaching the shore by Saturday afternoon. It will chug across eastern NC for a few hours and emerge just off shore from VA, encountering the cooler Labrador Current. At this point the winds will be knocked down a bit, but since the storm itself is so large (tropical storm force winds extend nearly 300 miles from the center, with hurricane force winds extending 90 miles out) it really doesn’t matter much. There will be tons of power outages starting in NC Saturday, VA, DE, MD on Saturday night. The storm will roll past or over NJ on Sunday and into the NYC area Sunday afternoon, with numerous outages and flooding. From there Irene will rain through the Hudson Valley and into New England with 6-12” of rain and fast winds through Monday.

One of the biggest concerns is the storm surge for the NYC metro area. It’s likey that Irene will be a Category 2 storm once it reaches the area, and that means the storm surge will envelope and submerge the Brooklyn water front (including the Naval Yard). It will most likely put the FDR under water, flood portions of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, submerge Lower Manhattan (Battery Park, Wall Street), cover a good deal of Governor’s Island as well as Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The West Side of NYC will have flooding up the Hudson. Over on the Jersey side Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken up the base of the Palisades will have flooded roads. The Lincoln and Holland Tunnels will most likely see flooding too.

As the storm approaches the major cities in the NE, the skyscrapers will get slammed hard. The higher you go, the faster the winds will be blowing against the towers. The winds at ground level could be around 100 mph, but at the top of the buildings they could be as fast as 115. Flying glass is also a concern. This will be major event for just about everybody from FL to ME, and I’ll be on HLN to cover it for you this weekend as well.

*Follow "Morning Express with Robin Meade" Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen on Twitter: @BobVanDillen.

Posted by: Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen
Filed under: Hurricane • Irene • Weather

We had some very special guests on the set Wednesday. Real American Heroes: firefighters in town for the Fire-Rescue International Conference at the Georgia World Congress Center, plus local Atlanta firefighters from Engine and Truck Company One. Robin was truly touched to be named an Honorary Fire Chief during their visit, but it was a bigger honor to be visited by these dedicated pros who have saved so many lives.

Keep reading to learn more about them, the Fire-Rescue Inernational Conference, and some of the ways they are honoring lost colleagues as we approach the 10th aniversary of the September 11th terror attacks in NY, DC & PA. Plus, see Robin's honorary fire chief helmet up close.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Extras • Robin Meade

Beau Pihlaja, Academic Advisor and lecturer at the University of Texas, El Paso, says his colleague Jessica Archuleta is a "Breakthrough Woman." Jessica is a member of a very small group of people who "age out" of the foster care system and graduate college... only 2% do, according to Beau. Now Jessica is taking that degree and her life experience and putting both to good use in UTEP's "Foster. Homeless. Adoption. Resources" group where she mentors students who face similar challenges. Beau says Jessica is creating opportunities and giving students someone who can say, "I've been where you're at right now, I've succeeded and I'm going to help you succeed as well."

If you know a "Breakthrough Woman" let us know. Upload an iReport or send us an email telling us why you think she should be featured on an upcoming episode of Morning Express with Robin Meade on HLN.

Filed under: Breakthrough Women