from the subways to the stock exchange, occupy plans to shut down wall street today. officers plan for tens of thousands of people to fill lower manhattan this morning. newt gingrich facing questions about a $1 million plus payday from the mortgage giant freddie mac. if you have not booked a flight for thanksgiving yet, do not fret. we have last-minute travel deals to get you home for thanksgiving for less. this is your "a.m. wakeup call."

good morning to you. this is your a.m. wakeup call for thursday, november 17th. from the time warner center in new york, i'm carol costello. here are this morning's top stories. new questions about what police knew and what they knew about it in the penn state child abuse sex scandal. a coach who's taken a lot of heat for witnessing the alleged sexual assault on a little boy and not reporting it says he went to the cops years ago. but two law enforcement agencies are now saying that's not true. the secret service catching up to the man accused of shooting at the white house with an ak-47 that he left at the scene. one bullet was lodged in a bulletproof window facing the south lawn. and severe weather that ripped across the southeast has killed at least four people. the concern now there could be more victims beneath the rubble of some homes. let's check in with meteorologist reynolds wolf. >> the southeast getting pounded the last 24 hours. a very intense line of storms that went through parts of alabama, georgia, and the

carolinas. one fatality that we know of in parts of georgia, swanee, georgia, to be more specific. a guy driving his suv and got hit by a branch from a falling tree due to strong winds. three more fatalities in parts of south carolina, rock hill, to be more precise. again, as the sun goes up. more daylight and possibly more fatalities. a tips line. the storm is now moving through parts of central florida. if you happen to be tuning in from orlando or gainesville, florida, you can hear the boom of thunder. the front is going to come through. the back end of the system is going to be residual moisture. the shot of cold air is going to come in and give you snow in the highest elevations. coming up, we're going to talk about how that's going to affect your travel not only along parts of the eastern sea board and the central plains. looks like another big storm ramping up in the central and northern rockies and the central northwest. carol, more on that in a few moments. let's send it back to you. >> thank you, reynolds. lots of new developments in the penn state sex abuse

scandal. more questions surrounding the man who's become a lightning rod in the case. it's not jerry sandusky. right now it's coach mike mcqueary. he reportedly sent an e-mail to a friend saying he tried to stop sandusky when he allegedly saw him sexually assaulting a little boy in the shower and he also went to the cops. but that's not what the grand jury report says. and now two law enforcement agencies, penn state's campus police and state college police, say they have no record of it. legal contributor sunny hostin from "insession" on our sister network trutv, says it's still possible mcqueary is telling the truth, not just trying to clear his name. >> perhaps, mark, it's possible, because there's been such a cover-up, no report was filed. no report was taken. >> right. three police departments decided to deep six the reports. >> there's no transcript out there for the grand jury yet because, of course, grand jury proceedings are secret. all we have is this presentment, which is basically a summary report. so it's quite possible that in front of the grand jury he did

discuss his police encounter. >> in the meantime, a new judge has been assigned to the sandusky case. the first judge who set bail for sandusky and allowed him to return home right across from a school, it was revealed she had connections to sandusky's second mile charity. and this morning the mother of victim number one in the grand jury report is speaking out. he was the first brave child, now a man, to break his silence. his mother says he's now afraid jerry sandusky will walk free and she was pressured by her son's school to keep quiet. >> the principal said, oh, you know, jerry has a heart of gold. and i said, listen, i was very upset at this point. i was extremely upset, and i was basically yelling at them that they needed to call the police. i said, i want you to call the

police. i said, i want you to call the police right now. i said it three times, call the police right now. they said, no. they said, i needed to think about the ramifications of what was happening if i did that. i want jerry sandusky to go to jail for the rest of his life. i don't even know, to tell you the truth, at this point, i don't even know. >> that was the mother, and her voice has been altered. they broke the story that the university was allowed to keep secret documents that are typically public record just about everywhere else. he went directly to police and officials for answers. he has the latest from state college this morning. >> reporter: carol, instead of continuing our look for the records, which we've been told we cannot get, we decided to go searching for the people, the officials who should have known and most likely did know about the allegations, the investigations, and why nothing had been done for so long once

these investigations were launched. the former university president graham spannier, the former university counsel, his name is wendell courtney, and the former university police chief, a guy named tom hartman. according to the grand jury report, all three of these officials most likely knew a heck of a lot was going on with jerry sandusky and these allegations as far back as 1998. in fact, after that mother accused sandusky of showering with her son naked in 1998, the former police chief had an investigation going on, but somehow, we're told from that grand jury report, tom harmon reportedly stopped that investigation. tom harmon now works for an architectural firm that has a business very near the campus, and they do business with the campus. this is what happened when we went and tried to find him. >> is mr. harmon in? >> he's not. >> reporter: he's not?

>> he worbgds out of his home. >> reporter: oh, he works out of his home? >> yes. >> reporter: all right. so does he have an office number. does he have a number if somebody wants to -- >> we can't provide that information. sorry. >> reporter: you can't provide that information? >> no. >> reporter: the former police chief did send us an e-mail, carol, saying he could not discuss this because of a pending investigation. we went to the university counsel's office, wendell courtney. he was the university counsel back in 1998. in fact, he gave his blessing back in '98 for the investigation of sandusky. he is not talking either. in fact, when we went into his office, they actually had an attorney come out and tell us to leave the property all together. graham spanier -- now, he was forced to resign as the penn state university president, but he still lives here, lives in the mansion, lives down a private road. he is not talking, not answering any questions. so continuing silence here at penn state university. many people continue to look for answers as to who knew what when

and where. carol? >> thank you, drew. another mystery surrounding this case. "the new york times" reporting this morning that three years worth of files are missing from the charity sandusky founded for troubled kids. investigators are worried that that may limit their ability to find out whether sandusky used charity resources to buy his alleged victims' silence. new york this morning bracing for what could be an action packed day on wall street. they've threatened to shut down lower manhattan in just a few hours. they plan to take their protest to the subways and then march to the brooklyn bridge at 5:00 p.m. eastern. they're filled with a little extra anger after being kicked out of their home base in zuccotti park earlier this week. and the eviction of occupy dallas is now under way. police going tent to tent telling people to get out and tearing the tents down. in san francisco police arrested dozens of wall street protesters after they occupied a bank of america branch in the city's

financial district. he's surging in the polls, but now newt gingrich's involvement with freddie mac is threatening to stop that momentum. he said some politicians should go to jail for ties to the troubled mortgage giant, but it turns out newt gingrich made some big time cash during his stint there. cnn's brian todd is digging deeper on this story. >> reporter: newt gingrich has had some harsh words recently for politicians who dealt with troubled mortgage companies. listen to his comments at a washington post/bloomberg news debate. >> if you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with barney frank and chris dodd, and let's look at the politicians who created the environment, the politicians who profited from the environment, and the politicians who put this country in trouble. >> clearly not saying they should go to jail. >> in chris dodd's case, go back and look at the countryside deals. in barney frank's case, go back and look at the lobbyists he was close to at freddie mac. >> reporter: take a look at

gingrich's own ties at freddie m mac. cnn has discovered that gingrich was paid between $1.6 million and $1.8 million for two separate stints at freddie mac, from 1999, when he left congress, to 2002. and from 2006 to 2008. asked if the money figure was accurate. >> i don't know. we're going back to check. >> reporter: what did the republican presidential hopeful did for freddie mac? gingrich said at one point he offered advice as a quote, historian, telling freddie mac officials that lending to people with no credit history was a mistake. he later said he was a strategic adviser. according to cnn, four people that worked for freddie mac while gingrich was there disagreed with his characterization he was a historian. his role was more strategic, specifically political strategy. officials familiar with gingrich's work in 2006 said the former house speaker was asked to build bridges to capitol hill republicans. i spoke with bob edgar of the

liberal group common cause, which advocates more transparency in government. >> what does that seem like to you? >> when you're paying over $1 million to build bridges with capitol hill, you're buying a lobbyist, you're buying somebody with your money that can connect you with members of congress. you don't hire a historian to do that. you don't hire someone just to give you polite advice. you hire somebody who makes those relationships work, and that's lobbying. whether you're registered or not, that's hard-core lobbying, and that's what newt gingrich was doing. >> reporter: a characterization gingrich firmly denies. >> no lobbying of any kind. that's all i've got to say about it. >> reporter: it would not have been illegal for gingrich to lobby for freddie mac unless he did it the last year he was employed by them, 1999 to 2000. asked if he would make public the records of his work for freddie mac, gingrich said he would to the degree he can. we checked federal records and found nothing indicating gingrich was a lobbyist.

gingrich said nothing but he was a consultant but did not lobby for them. search teams are in high gear after a string of deadly storms hit the southeast. and benetton creating controversy once again. some are saying it went way too far with this new campaign ad. wait until you see it. when we come back, find out if your airport made the daily beast's list of the worst airports in america. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some people just know how to build things well. give you and your loved ones an expertly engineered mercedes-benz... ho ho ho! ...at the winter event going on now. but hurry -- the offer ends soon. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken.

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now very well qualified lessees can sign and drive a 2012 cruze ls for around $199 a month. ♪ it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. it is 50 minutes past the hour. new developments in the penn state sex abuse scandal. in an e-mail, assistant coach mike mcqueary said he filed a police report moments after allegedly witnessing jerry sandusky abusing a boy in the

shower. but two police departments say they have no record of the report. police talked oscar ortega hernandez to a hotel in western pennsylvania. he is suspected of firing an ak-47 at the white house on friday. two bullets were discovered, one stuck in bulletproof glass, the other on the outside of the mansion. no one was hurt. and turkey day is almost here. that means we're getting into the holiday travel season. if you plan to use chicago's o'hair airport, be prepared for major league headaches. the daily beast ranks it as the worst airport in america. that's based on delays, comfort and security, and wait time. rounding out the top five, newark liberty in new jersey, jfk in new york, william hobby in houston, and laguardia, also in new york city. let's get a check of today's weather. let's head to atlanta and check in with reynolds wolf. we're keeping a sharp eye on delays around the country. looks like there's going to be plenty along the eastern seaboard. as you take a look at the maps,

you'll see a lot of delays stack up in new york and philadelphia, delays possibly over an hour. in boston and washington, d.c., showers and low clouds might keep you grounded. in atlanta, the rain is moving out. however, we've got issues with low clouds. the wind is actually expected to pick up in the afternoon. temperatures some 20, even 30 degrees cooler in parts of the southeast. tampa, orlando, and miami, they're dealing with thunderstorms as we speak and will through a good part of the morning, hence the delays. in the west, san francisco, we're talking about low cloud activity. central coast california southward to l.a., you may have i shassues with the marine laye. before all is said and done, we may have to low l.a. in the mix. in terms of the forecast, that long frontal boundary extending down to the northeast to the gulf of mexico to drift its way towards the east. right behind it, low pressure building in. with it, just a big shot of cool air that's really going to drop the temperatures down. as that moves out, we've got a big storm coming in from the gulf of alaska, it's going to be a rain maker and a snow maker in parts of the rockies.

could see several feet of snow before the weekend gives out. 61 in san francisco. 43 in seattle. 56 in el paso. 52 in memphis. 65 in the big easy, new orleans. miami with 85. new york, 48, your expected high for the day today. wish i had better news about those potential delays f you're heading out to any of the major airports in new york or even over towards jersey and newark, be patient. it's going to be a long wait. >> at least you've warned us. we'll be ready. >> isn't knowledge half of the battle? now you're prepared, you're good to go. >> that will make things so much easier. thank you, reynolds. we appreciate it. early morning gunfire in syria's capital comes as leaders put pressure on syria's president to stop the crackdown against protesters. this could mean a turn for the worse in syria. until now, most of those protests have been peaceful. let's head round the world and bring in zain verjee live in london. tell us about the situation in

syria, zain. >> good morning, carol. the focus is on the situation where the arab league has told syria we're going to give you three more days. stop and end this brutal crack down. otherwise, there will be consequences. they want to kick syria out temporarily from the arab league. and what they're saying is they want to put something like 500 observers from that organization on the ground in syria to determine exactly what is going on. we keep getting pictures like this, but it's very difficult for cnn and other news organizations to verify the reports that we're getting because syria has not allowed western and international news organizations, or arab television chanchannels, for th matter, on the ground. the other situation is today there were explosions in the capital of damascus reportedly followed by gunfire. we're trying to figure out exactly what's going on. definitely, there's a lot more pressure on syria right now. the question is what will bashar al assad do. carol? >> the world is watching.

let's talk about benetton and its latest advertising campaign. it's made the vatican mad. >> it really made the vatican livid. this picture just says it all. take a look at it. there were a few with various world leaders there kissing one another. you've got sarkozy smooching merkel. you've got hu jintao and obama. this is really what outraged the vatican. pope benedict xvi kissing an imam from egypt. the vatican has demanded that benetton pull the ad. the vatican said this was an unacceptable use of the holy father's image. benetton said they're sorry for being offensive, and they'll pull the pope-imam kissing ad. the point is this has already flashed around the world, and benetton, as it always does,

pushing the envelope. >> i like how you said these pictures doctored -- yeah. all righty then. thank you, zain. we appreciate it. still ahead on "a.m. wakeup call," we're getting a real sum of what it will cost if new gas mileage rules go into effect for new cars. this new at&t 4g lte is fast. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it.

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a steep drop in stocks following the final hour of trading. all three u.s. markets closed down yesterday, the dow plummeting 191 points. now 23 minutes past the hour. welcome back to your "a.m. wakeup call." so you might want to check your 401(k) this morning. big banks took that big hit yesterday following a dire warning of exposure of u.s. banks to the crisis going on right now in europe, something we keep hearing and hearing and hearing. let's bring in christine romans. how serious was this newest warning? >> pretty serious. i mean, this is fitch, the ratings agency, saying, even though many of the banks have been limiting, carol, their exposure to the sovereign debt crisis, that there are still lots of ways it could hurt them. for u.s. banks in particular, it could be the loss of business. if you have a financial crisis in europe and you have europe falling back into a recession, that means less business for american banks, and it means less business for companies that are doing business in europe, and that could hurt u.s. banks.

also, if you have a situation -- and you know that ali and i have talked about this a lot. if you have a situation where the lending markets are starting to freeze up in 2008 and that's a real concern here, that's the life blood of the banking system. that's another way it could hurt u.s. banks even if they don't have super direct exposure to some of the problems with the sovereign debt. french banks seem to be the most exposed at this point. they own an awful lot of italian debt. we're watching spain right now borrowing costs in spain are going up. that's putting pressure on that government to borrow money and also on the banks, the people who hold that debt. this is a crisis. even traders are telling us that they have headline fatigue because every day they're looking for the next little bomb that's going to go off about where we are in this debt crisis. this is a dangerous situation, and fitch just the latest to weigh in and say this could be trouble for banks. bank stocks did terribly at one point yesterday. morgan stanley was down 8%. you don't see a stock move 8% in

one day. some of the american banks have been cut in half this year in part because of concerns about the health of the sector in europe, carol. >> gotcha. let's talk about the new proposed federal gas mileage rules because, if these go into effect, this could mean the price of certain cars go up. >> that's right. it costs money to make cars more fuel efficient. remember those belching, fuel guzzling cars of the 1970s, we've made a lot of progress. the epa moving forward and the government moving forward to continue to make progress. the goal for these new fuel economy standards, raise the average miles per gallon to 35.5 by 2016. increase to 54.5 by 2025. vehicles are going to cost $3,000 more, but over the lifetime of a car, you'll save $6,600 on fuel costs. the idea is you pay more up front, more fuel efficient, but you'll save more on gas prices longer term. carol? >> i'll see you in, what, about

a half hour. thanks so much, christine. still ahead, will you raise my taxes, please? it's something you don't hear on capitol hill very often, but a group of millionaires are begging lawmakers to make them pay more. you will hear from one of those millionaires. and today marks two months for occupy wall street protesters, and they're promising to make it unforgettable.

i had no idea of any kind. that's all i've got to say about it. >> the front-runner feeling the heat. newt gingrich facing questions about a $1 million plus payday from the mortgage giant. this is your "a.m. wakeup call."

good morning to you. it is thursday, november 17th. i'm carol costello. here are this morning's top stories. it's the two-month anniversary of occupy wall street. protesters plan to mark the occasion with a shut down wall street breakfast in just over an hour. also this afternoon, they plan to occupy the subways. then at 5:00 eastern, a march from foley square to the brooklyn bridge. the u.s. energy secretary in the hot seat today. steven chu faces a house panel looking into solyndra, the california company touted by the obama administration that received $535 million in federal loan guaranties and then went bust. the question is were those loan guaranties politically motivated? at least three people were killed in york county, north carolina, a number of homes destroyed. one man was killed in georgia when a tree fell on his suv. damage also reported from louisiana to virginia. so is it over?

let's head to atlanta to find out. good morning, reynolds. >> reporter: it does look like the situation is going to be better as we make our way through the morning hours. it's going to be a mess in parts of the carolina, certainly here in georgia we've had some damage. even in parts of alabama near a town called opa-locka outside auburn, there's been damage as well. anyone tuning in on satellite radar needs to be prepared for that. it's going to be heading along the i-4 corridor and into 95. be ready for all of it. this big area of low pressure is going to be drifting its way through parts of the eastern seaboard. right behind it, a big shot of colder air. and in the pacific northwest, a big storm coming that may bring feet of snowfall to the central and northern rockies. we'll be talking about that in a few minutes and mention the delays that's a few moments away. back to you, carol.

>> thanks, rehn oellingynoldrey. we appreciate it. we just got news president obama has arrived in bali. we're waiting for him to disembark from air force one. the president had been in australia talking about putting more troops in that area because he feels there should be a troop buildup in that part of the world in order to compete better with china. we'll see what he says in bali when he takes to a podium, if he does. we have reportered traveling with the president. if the president speaks, we'll, of course, send his remarks your way. also in the news this morning, new york bracing for what could be an action packed day at occupy wall street. today marks the two-month anniversary of the movement. protesters in lower manhattan have promised to shut down wall street this morning. this afternoon they plan to take their protests to the subways and march to the brooklyn bridge at 8:00 p.m. they're filled with a little extra passion after being kicked out of their home base in zuccotti park earlier this week. the so-called super committee now with less than one

week to reach a deal. one of the big sticking points is raising taxes on the wealthy. here's something you don't hear every day. some of the rich are now begging washington to take their money. more from cnn's kate bolduan. >> reporter: these millionaires are on capitol hill demanding the super committee do something most americans would not ask for, tax them more. >> we challenge the millionaire politicians who oppose paying higher taxes to consider for a moment how much their country has done for them. >> we hope our fellow citizens will seriously consider rejecting any deal the committee makes that does not include an increase on taxes on incomes over $1 million. >> charlie fink, a former aol executive, is one of the millionaires lobbying for higher taxes to help pay down the deficit. they took their pitch directly to lawmakers, meeting with democratic and republican members and their staffs. why do you feel like you need to

step up to make that declaration to the super committee right now? >> that's what we've been doing in this country for the past ten years is madness. you don't have to be a businessman or a millionaire to know, the first thing to do when you're in a hole is to stop digging. revenue has to be any part of any agreement the super committee reaches. >> reporter: fink was joined by about two dozen other millionaires, all part of a group called patriotic millionaires for fiscal strength. they want the super committee to let the bush era tax cuts expire for wealthier americans as a way of reaching the required minimum of $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over ten years. >> reporter: one argument that many republicans make is they don't want to tax job creators because it will hurt job creation. >> it is a lie. i worked for big fortune 500 companies. i work for a little startup today. and every consideration regarding an employee had to do with the demands for our product and services. it had nothing to do with taxes. >> reporter: while they're

definitely grabbing attention, the millionaires who came up here are not likely to win over many republicans who have long opposed such tax increases. the reality for the super committee, members continue to negotiate behind closed doors. both sides insist they are still talking, but the group has not reached agreement, and we are now a week away from the thanksgiving deadline. kate bolduan, cnn, capitol hill. >> as for the super committee, republicans just said no to the latest democratic proposal over taxes. the congressional committee has until wednesday to come up with a plan for at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts. failure will trigger across the board budget cuts and will lead to rising interest rates. republican presidential hopeful newt gingrich is on the defensive about his prior business relationship with freddie mac. cnn confirms the mortgage giant paid gingrich's consulting firm more than $1.5 million. here's gingrich in his own words denying he was ever a lobbyist.

>> i did no lobbying of any kind. that's all i've got to say about it. >> he just said no. let's dive right into this with senior political writer maggie haberman. she's joining me by phone. maggie, good morning. >> good morning. >> so was newt gingrich lobbying for freddie mac, or was he a historian, as he has asserted? >> i think being a historian is somewhat in the eye of beholder. the problem for gingrich is lobbying becomes a fungible word. he was not lobbying in the sense that freddie mac also says, no, we did not hire him to do that. he was giving what has now been described belatedly as strategic advice. the problem is that every time newt gingrich reminds voters of his long ties to washington, of a more than $1 million fee, which is obviously a lot of money, especially as people are

reminded in this economy, it reminds voters what they didn't like about newt gingrich before and what were questions for him before in may when his campaign collapsed. he had a collapse so long ago that he is able to try to come back and rebuild, and he certainly has been effective at it. he has stayed trudging through the summer when frankly most political reporters were questioning why he was even still bothering. look, now here he is up at the polls again getting another look. i do think the better newt gingrich does, the more you're going so see scrutiny of stuff like this and the more voters are going to be reminded of problems that he has. >> he's trying to portray himself as this washington outsider, but he hasn't actually lived outside of washington for more than 30 years. >> that's right. he had a very interesting line last night on the mark levine show talking about this very issue, this freddie mac fee, where he described it as a contract over many years for which he was paid a standard washington fee. i think that is a phrase that he

may end up regretting using because standard and washington are two things the republican base is very, very exercised against right now and sort of reminding people, as you said, that this is where historically he comes from at this point. he has been a creature of washington for a very long time. you actually had jack abramoff criticizing him yesterday on "meet the press," which was really quite a moment. the more you see newt gingrich have to deal with this, the more questions that come up, the less he is able to put it to bed, it will start to hurt him. >> maggie, just a brief question about -- are you still there? >> i'm here. >> oh, good. i was just going to ask you a brief question about the other candidates because they seem to be falling. newt gingrich seems to be rising. i mean, mitt romney, he's still on top, but he still hasn't cracked that 30% figure in approval ratings. schmitt romney come out and

campaign stronger, especially in iowa where the caucus is fast coming up? >> it's very funny, you're seeing iowa governor took a really, really hard swing at mitt romney over this yesterday, over suggesting that, if he really skips iowa, it's essentially at his own peril, and what could end up happening to mitt romney could be the same fate that rudy giuliani met four years ago. i don't think they're similar candidates at all, rudygiuliani and mitt romney for a couple of reasons. romney campaigned aggressively in iowa in 2007. and he is a known entity because he spent so much money. rudy giuliani never played in iowa. i don't think you can make them comparable. for him to invoke such an image is not a good thing for mitt romney. it's somewhat damaging. it conjures up a lot of memories of not only rudy giuliani's campaign, but it reminds people that mitt romney is an east

coast moderate, a term that republican voters don't like. if he does go into iowa, he could end up getting rejected the harder he plays. if he loses and has actively campaigned, that will clearly be used against him to portray a sign of weakness. if he doesn't go in and campaign and there is this opening because of this unsettled conservative field, then he could have a problem on that end. i think you will see in the next two weeks or so a real clear sign of which way mitt romney is headed with regard to iowa. >> maggie haberman for politico, thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. the next republican debate, by the way, will be on national security. and that will come your way tuesday, november 22nd, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we'll take on big issues like homeland security and foreign policy. tuesday, november 22nd, at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. it's four minutes past the hour. let's get a check of what's coming up at the top of the hour on "american morning." christine joins me again. coming up in 20 minutes on

"a.m.," trying to prevent kris nis detroit. mayor asking for sacrifice to save the city. from subways to brooklyn bridge to the stock exchange, occupiers plan to shut down wall street today. we'll ask the deputy mayor whether the city is ready. and kareem abdul-jabbar, the league's all time leading scorer and cancer survivor. he's in a tournament that provides his two passions, hoops and cancer research. the living legend is going to stop by in the 8:00 hour. g-last. yeah, i could really use this silverado. i'm a big hunter. oh, what do you hunt? deer. fish. fantastic. ♪ [ male announcer ] this holiday, chevy's giving more. now qualified buyers can get 0% apr for 72 months on a 2011 chevy silverado. or 0% apr financing for 60 months plus no monthly payments until spring. ♪

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it is 45 minutes past the hour. here's what's all new. new developments in the penn state sex abuse scandal. in an e-mail, assistant coach mike mcqueary wrote that he filed a police report right after allegedly witnessing jerry

sandusky sexually abusing a boy. two area police departments say they have no record of any report. an arrest in the white house shooting probe. police tracked oscar ortega hernandez to a hotel in western pennsylvania. he's suspected of firing an ak-47 at the white house on friday. two bullets discovered. one stuck in bulletproof glass. the other on the outside of the mansion. no one was hurt. the transportation security administration may be scrapping plans to study the health risks of airport body scanners. officials say a soon to be released inspector general's report finds that machines are not harmful. a new study is not necessary. the scanners emit small doses of radiation. an unusual scene on an arizona freeway. check it out. an elusive yorkie pup makes a mad dash in the middle of traffic, several police officers in hot pursuit. the dog jumped out of the owner's car after it crashed. eventually, the cops were able to snag the dog. yes, the dog is perfectly fine this morning.

so a happy ending -- that's such a funny image. >> i'm sure they gave him a ticket too for being in the hov lane. come on. unless he's got flaeas on him o something, he doesn't qualify for hov. i don't know what the speed is for yorkies. ole, check that out. he looks like more of a matador there. that is unbelievable. come on, come on. >> oh, look at my little puppy. >> this is called beautiful television. unbelievable. >> this is the kind of chase scene i like. >> wow. let's switch gears a little bit, if we can. let's go from the doggy news to weather stuff. it's going to be a day for the dogs in parts of new york where you're going to be dealing with major delays. in all the huge airports, jfk, laguardia, even over in newark, you're going to have backups. you may be on the tarmac for an hour or so. just be patient. showers moving out in the late afternoon. by tonight, by 6:00 p.m., you

should be just kosher. meanwhile, for boston, d.c. metro, showers, low clouds. in lan tarbgs the rain's gone. low clouds remain. the wind is going to pick up. minus some backups. tampa, orlando, miami, thunderstorms. out in san francisco, low clouds. what's interesting is out in the pacific northwest, you may have travel delays. if you are driving, say, on parts of i-15, maybe even i-5, you're going to be dealing with strong wind and heavy snow, especially out towards spokane into great falls, up towards montana and billings. very rough winter weather. salt lake city, you can expect snowfall. up in snowbird, you may get up to one or even two feet of snow before the weekend is out. that's a quick snapshot of the forecast. let's send it back to you. great dog video. you've got to love that. >> i hope we show it again later. that's terrific. >> i'm sure we will. >> thank you, reynolds. >> you bet. it is the two-month anniversary of the occupy movement, and the countdown is on. it will be about an hour before protesters are planning to take over wall street. here's wabc reporter kimberly

richardson. she's live in new york for us. what's going to happen, kimberly? >> reporter: good morning, carol. right now things are pretty quiet. there are only about two dozen protesters here in the park along with private security. but, again, as you mentioned, we do expect in the next hour or two for that number to swell. the planned today, 7:00 a.m. the protesters plan to essentially storm wall street, right around the corner from here. that will be a first for the protests. they're hoping to disrupt things on the trading floor in time for the ringing of the bell at 9:30 this morning. from there at 3:00 they will gather at 16 key subway stations here in new york city throughout the five boroughs and take to the trains, make their case to folks there. and then at 5:00, they will meet at another park here in manhattan. they will then march to city hall and then across the brooklyn bridge. carol? >> so when they try to march across the brooklyn bridge -- i think it was about a month ago. that caused a lot of trouble, and there were many arrests

made. how are police handling all thf? >> reporter: they may be promising, the protesters, a day of chaos today, but the city and the nypd is not taking it lightly. today alone, they said they're adding an additional 1,000 officers for each shift. we've already seen that up here, the barricades are up, and they're not taking it lightly. >> i bet not. kimberly richardson from wabc reporting live this morning. thank you. still ahead, holiday travel season is here. if you're behind on booking your thanksgiving trip, no worries. we have tips on how to find the last-minute deals. ter? your father loves your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life... especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint.

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the macy's thanksgiving day parade is a national tradition. this year you can expect to see traditions. macy's unveiled their newest floats and balloons. check out gazer, the 35-foot elf that delivers wishes to santa in the north pole. and the nhl float, a frozen pond showcasing children skating and practicing their hockey moves. that will be the 85th annual parade. thanksgiving day just one week away. if you're still looking to snag a last-minute travel deal, we know just the right person who might be able to help. gabe segali, a senior editor with travelzoo.com.

gabe, you're here just in the nick of time. i just can't believe there are still good daeleals out there. >> for my fellow procrastinators, we certainly are pushing it. the trick to finding a last-minute deal, particularly airfare, that's the thorn in the side this holiday season. airfare is trending 10% to 20% higher. the trick is flexibility. most people want to fly on wednesday next week and come back on sunday. that's where the fares will be the highest, airports the most busy. flexibility is going to be your friend. i was checking how fares look for that busy period. on an l.a. to new york flight out of l.a.x. wednesday coming back on sunday or thanksgiving, will run you $1,500 on united airlines. if you go out of burbank instead, so you'll get an national airport out of l.a., that rate fare drops about $600, $650 for that alternate fare.

these smaller regional airports can save you some money. if you change your travel day on virgin america, fly out from l.a. to new york next wednesday, you're looking at a $500 fare. if you fly out thursday morning, thanksgiving day, that fare drops to $149. come back on tuesday or wednesday after thanksgiving, the fare drops dramatically. flexibility at this point will be your friend if you're looking for airfare deals. >> choose your days wisely. choose your apirports wisely. is there some site where people can go to find great deals? >> certainly ours at travelzoo.com, we've got a lineup of last-minute airfare deals. most airfare bargains are released tuesday into wednesday morning. just this week, we saw the latest airfare sales released this past tuesday. they were matched by competitors tuesday afternoon into wednesday. if you're really a major hard-core procrastinator, you

want to fly by the seat of your pants next tuesday into early wednesday morning next week, that's when the very late, late last-minute bargains will pop up. again, that's where you're basically flying wherever's available. you may have a couple of connections you're not so happy with, but that's where you'll find a couple of deals. carol, where the deals will be found is where you're not going home for the holidays. big city hotels, for example, will be at a major bargain next week over the holiday period. fair mont in san francisco, $179 over the period. "w" new york in battery park, $199 with a room upgrade over thanksgiving weekend. that's a hotel that's charging $300 to $400 just this week. the bargains will exist in big city hotels and also kid friendly destinations like southern california and orlando, florida. >> great. thank you so much. you've given me hope because i am a hard-core procrastinator. gabe with travelzoo.com. thanks so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. that's it for this thursday

edition of "a.m. wakeup call." american morning continues right after a break. you have one great day. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. ♪ ♪ mom? dad?

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