SP4 Brendan H. DeLaTorre has been an EMT since he was 16 years old and is now a combat medic stationed in Iraq.

My son, Specialist Fourth Class Brendan H. DeLaTorre, is currently serving in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, stationed at Saab al Bor, Iraq.

Brendan has been an EMT since he was 16 years old and is now a combat medic with 2w/104 CAV.

We just want him to know how proud his father and I are of him! We're looking forward to his safe return home this upcoming September.

–Cynthia DeLaTorre

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HLN's Robin Meade arrived in Kennebunkport, Maine, and has been preparing for her upcoming interview and skydive with President George H. W. Bush.

Watch as Robin discusses what she plans to ask the former president and shares her thoughts on skydiving.

Producer Aimee

We’re expecting President Obama to announce his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan during remarks at 9:25 a.m. Friday. During the presidential campaign, you may recall, Obama called Iraq a “dangerous distraction” and said more emphasis should be placed on Afghanistan.

Senior administration officials have said the president’s new strategy will include sending an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, on top of the 17,000 troops the president has already ordered. The additional troops will be responsible for training and building the Afghan Army and police force. According to officials, President Obama also plans to call on Congress to pass a bill that triples U.S. aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, over five years. And his strategy includes new benchmarks for both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The administration is still developing the specifics for these benchmarks, but officials are calling them “the most explicit demands” ever presented to the Afghan and Pakistani governments. President Obama’s strategy includes no timeline for withdrawing troops.

We want to know what you think about this renewed focus on the war in Afghanistan. Do you agree with President Obama… has Iraq been a “distraction?” Should more troops be sent to Afghanistan? And, is this announcement timely… or should the president be focusing solely on the economy? Send us your comments! We’ll be continuing the discussion throughout the day on Morning Express with Robin Meade.

TV/Web Producer Kate

According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, 40% of people have dated a co-worker, and of those relationships, 30% say they went on to marry that person.

Nothing makes the workday fly by like a little bit of romance.

Perhaps, the reason that so many of those inter-office relationships end in a lifelong commitment has something to do with the romance that comes from two people stealing moments together in a place where love isn't generally an objective.

Take a look at some examples of romantic moments office-lovebirds admitted to sharing:

- Had a drink together up on the roof.

- Danced to the elevator music in the hallway.

- Ate a late night picnic with candles after everyone had left.

- After a meeting, picked up my girlfriend in a limo and proposed to her.

- Left each other love post-it notes.

However, CareerBuilder.com also reported that conventional wisdom – that you should steer clear of inter-office dating – reigned true in some cases too. 7% of people who played with co-worker fire said they ended up having to leave a job due to a nasty breakup.

What do you think about inter-office dating? Share your horror stories or tales of romance below!

Business Correspondent Jennifer Westhoven

Looking for ways to monitor or improve your credit score? Here are some helpful tips:

Where can I get my credit report for free?

You're entitled to a free copy of your credit reports from the Big 3 credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) once a year. The place to get these is www.annualcreditreport.com. Select your state and request the report. You will have to put in some personal information.

You can keep even closer tabs than once a year if you want to. Since you are entitled to one report from each credit company a year, you can space them out. (The reports tend to be fairly similar). Order from one credit bureau, first. Four months later, you can check in with the second company, and four months with the third company. Write a note in your calendar so you’ll know who you ordered from and when.

How can I check my credit score?

This will cost you something.
No Frills: If you want to spend as little as possible and just get a general sense of your score: order it from one of the bureaus on www.fico.com. It's about $16. You don't need to sign up for any ongoing "services".

If you are going to be applying for a big loan, like a mortgage, you may want to check your scores with all three of the bureaus. It will cost a little more, and then you may want to check out the different packages that are offered.

Does checking my own credit hurt my credit score?

It depends.

Applying for new credit definitely can hurt you. When an OUTSIDE company runs a credit-check on you, it's a sign that you are seeking more debt. So don't sign up for store credit cards or smaller loans if you're going to be applying for a mortgage or a car loan in the near future.

If you run your own credit through these websites, or through the three major credit bureaus, that will not hurt your score. That's a "soft" inquiry. Those mass inquiries, such as when banks check thousands of people to send out those "pre-approved" offers are also "soft" pulls that will not hurt your score.

But here's where things can be tricky - if you sign up for credit monitoring by an outside service, not listed here, there are cases where they count as "hard" inquiries that can hurt your score. Make sure it's YOU checking your credit, not an outside service.

Do you have any questions that you'd like Jennifer to answer? Leave them in the comments field below.

Political Correspondent Richard Lui

Very shortly, if you haven't done so already, many of you will be casting your vote for not only President and VP, but also indirectly a group of top advisers that will drive the President’s decision making. Issues of national security and the economy will be defined and recommended by his cabinet and strategists that inhabit the white house.

Chief of Staff, Secretary of State, and Treasury Secretary are just some of the positions he must fill come January. We look into the process and decisions the president undertakes to fill his staff; as well as some names that have been discussed that McCain or Obama might select. Former eBay president Meg Whitman, Warren Buffet and others are discussed in these reports

These choices might affect who you vote for. You might like some of them, dislike others. Take a look and let us know how if at all, a President McCain’s or President Obama’s potential choices change the way you think.

Congratulations Roland G!

Week one of the Morning Express Challenge was a swimming success for everyone involved. Thousands played the game, the chat rooms were blowing up, and last weeks winners dazzled all with their news prowess.

Congratulations to October 7 winner, Roland G aka 'suzukibandit,' of Spring Hill, Florida, who took home the prize with 23,379 points, wow!

And on October 9, James B of Atlanta, Georgia, known to Morning Express Challenge players as 'JRBAtlanta,' won top honors with 27,307 points.

Every week, we also do a random drawing of everyone who registered to play the game. This week's winner was 'whimseyhaze,' or Joy B of Oak Hill, West Virginia.

Meet October 9 winner, James B.

Roland and James will get a cozy "Morning Express" bathrobe and an autographed photo of Robin. Joy will get a Morning Express shirt. Congratulations to our winners!!

If you'd like to take the Morning Express Challenge, it takes place every Tuesday and Thursday from 8-10 am E.T. During the game you can:

• Compete with other "Morning Express" viewers
• Answer trivia questions and polls about the news of the day
• Predict what will be next on the show
• Chat with other people who are playing the game

• You'll be scored based on correct answers, as well as how quickly you answer the questions
• The daily winner will take home a "Morning Express" bathrobe and an autographed photo of Robin
• Once a week we will draw a name from a list of everyone who played and send that person a prize

Last week's random winner, Joy B.

Go to CNN.com/Robin for more details about how to sign up, or go straight to the game.

Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel

He's back.

Apparently Brett Favre heard you.

Last week we asked you, the viewer, should Brett Favre have come back to football?

After two consecutive losses guided by Favre's pedestrian performances, the question was presented in a "Morning Express" text poll:

70% of you said "no," Brett should have kept his cleats in his closet. The poll garnered one of our largest audience responses.

Then, Sunday the 38 year-old went out and threw for a career-high and Jets' record SIX touchdowns in the Jets 56–35 win over Arizona.

Let me qualify this. Brett Favre is playing in his 17th season. Sunday was his 257th consecutive regular-season start. And, it was the first time he threw for six touchdowns in a game. Did I mention he was 38 years old?

Looks like we were wrong.

And I believe Brett wanted to prove it to us.

Oh sure, the New York Post, New York Daily News and even the Wall Street Journal all said the same thing after a loss to San Diego-that Favre should have stayed retired.

But that's the "media elite" talking. And we know "Middle America" doesn't much care for them (at least that's what Fred Thompson and Fox News tells me). And Brett, being from Hattiesburg, Mississippi and as "Middle America" as they come, probably dismissed those criticisms as uniformed eruditeness.

But when the people say it, like you did in our poll, that's a different story. That's right, I'm saying YOU got into Brett's head and lit a fire under his behind.

Jets, please don't thank me.

And yes, I too said before the season started a Favre comeback was a bad idea and he would overstay his welcome.

Heck, even Robin said it on the air.

Well, Mr. Favre, your table is ready.

Although I'm afraid the crow is no longer on the menu as too many of us were forced to eat it.

On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain announced that he would suspend his presidential campaign to go to Washington and participate in negotiations on the financial bailout plan. He called for a postponement of Friday's presidential debate.

Sen. Barack Obama, however, said the debate in Oxford, Mississippi, should go forward.

"It's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person will be the next president," Obama explained.

So, what do you think?

Leave your comment below.

Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel

Amid all the hoopla over whether the Chinese gymnasts were under-aged apparently it’s not the first time they’ve fielded children … allegedly.

The International Gymnastics Federation—aka the FIG—now says it’s looking into whether two of China’s gymnasts from the 2000 Sydney team were under-aged when they competed—Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao.

Yang Yun, left, and Dong Fangxiao are currently under investigation for competing in the Olympics before reaching the legal age.

Before you get excited, this “investigation” comes as a result of an interview in which Yang said she was only 14 at the time of the games to the Chinese media a year ago.

Yang’s claims contradict her official birth date, which is listed as Dec. 2, 1984, which would have made her eligible for the Olympics.

Let me get this straight. This “girl” told the Chinese media she was competing illegally? And it aired—a year ago? And NOW, the FIG is “investigating”?

This comes after the Associated Press, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times all claim to have found documents showing two of China’s 2008 team, He Kuxin and and Yang Yilin competed illegally. The AP claims it found an article on China’s state-run newspaper website showing He was only 14. That sight was taken down right after the report.

The Chinese have produced state-issued passports claiming it proves the Gymnasts age.

The FIG claims it looked at those state-issued documents and cleared He and Yang before the games. They only looked into it more after the media reports came out. They still say the “investigation” on that is on-going.

As for this latest wrinkle, the FIG’s response sums up its position perfectly.

The Secretary General, Andre Gueisbuhler, said, “We did not have another choice. If we want to remain credible, then we have to look into things.”

In other words, we have to look into this or we’ll look stupid.

While it’s not clear if the Chinese are cheating, it is clear the governing body in charge of the sport really doesn’t want to deal with this.

Case in point: if there’s suspicion surrounding members of the 2000 and 2008 team, wouldn’t it stand to reason you’d investigate the 2004 team as well? But the FIG says it’s not.

In order for something to actually come of this, a neutral party needs to take over.

If the Chinese are not cheating, they need a more credible group at this point to clear their name.

And if they are, it would be one of the biggest scandals in Olympic history. Why? Because it would be institutionalized cheating. It would mean the Chinese government, Chinese Gymnastics Federation and even the Chinese media—to a degree—would all be involved.

What do you think? Visit CNN.com/Robin and learn how to cast your vote!