inside four weeks until iowa. a brand new poll showing newt gingrich as running away with it. now his past used by conservative critics. more disturbing allegations against jerry sandusky. another man saying he abused him and gave him alcohol as a boy. i have been excused of being a tramt traitor to both sides. a woman goes from wall street protester to wall street professional on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com all right. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, december 7th. ali is off today. i'm christine romans along with carol costello on this "american morning." welcome, everyone. >> welcome and good morning. up first this morning, newt gingrich threatening to run away with the republican race. his bid for the gop nomination

going gang busters. it's beginning to look like a gingrich juggernaut. look at the latest gallup poll. among republican voters nationwide, 37% now say gingrich is their choice. he leads mitt romney by a whopping 15 points. cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser joins us live from washington this morning. who could have predicted this? >> boy, one crazy ride. we've seen candidates go up and down in the polls. gingrich is going up right at the right time, carol. look at the brand new staples. check this out. cbs/"new york times," gingrich right up there. mitt romney at 17% and ron paul at 16%. another poll, abc news/"washington post" of people to take part in the caucus there

you go again. gingrich, a 13-point lead. not just iowa. look at this. this is from yesterday as well. there is gingrich with a 16-point advantage according to this poll. carol, we have cnn/time/orc, new hampshire where romney still leads and florida. even with four weeks to go in all of these poll, all of these likely republican voters and caucuses a lot of them stay, i'm still definitely thinking be changing my mind. this electric is still up in the air. >> if i'm mitt romney, newt gingrich just opened an office in iowa with the last couple of days. he has no organization in that state, yet he's trouncing mitt romney. so how must mitt romney be feeling this morning? >> i think romney is starting to feel the heat. no doubt about it. take a listen to what he told reporters in arizona campaigning. >> i'll be on the air a good deal more than in the past,

doing a very good to let the american people know why i'm running. and the beginning is going to be, what, january 3rd? this will probably take more than a week or two to sort out. this is going to be a campaign that is going to go on for a while and i expect to win it. >> you know what? see, he's got a point there, too. carol, you mentioned this. mitt romney has the campaign structure. he's been campaigning for quite some time. he's got the people in the early states to get those voters to the polls or caucus. newt gingrich, he's playing catch-up. that is the key. can he get these people in place by january and in iowa. >> thanks, paul steinhauser. and plenty of critics including talk show host glenn beck. he called out his statements requiring people to have health care coverage. this is the center of the fight over president obama's health care law. listen.

>> health insurance or you post a bond or in some way you indicate you're going to be held accountable. >> that is the individual mandate. >> it's a variation on it. >> you seem to be very interested in the government finding the solution. >> well, let's go back to what i just said. what i was asked was, if a program is unpopular, should the republicans impose it anyway. go back and listen to exactly what i was asked on the show and what i said i'll stand by, in a free society you don't impose things you disagree with. we just went over this with obama care. >> beck brought up something gingrich called one of his dumbest mistakes. the climate change ad with al gore, sitting side-by-side with nancy pelosi. >> do you still believe in the inconvenient truth as outlined by global climate change

advocates? >> well, i never believed in al gore's fantasies and, in fact, if you look at the record, the day that al gore testified at the energy and commerce committee in favor of cap and trade, i was the next witness, and i testified against cap and trade and in the senate worked for solutions to help beat the cap and trade. cap and trade was an effort by alaska to use the environment as an excuse to get total control over the american economy. >> join us at 5:00 p.m. eastern when newt gingrich sits down with wolf blitzer, what he needs to do to maintain momentum with the caucuses and primaries just around the corner. just at few months ago, carol, he was criticized by his own campaign staff for beingiterran he's leading in iowa. >> i was reading eric erickson's

glo blob and he doesn't wholeheartedly support newt gingrich. later down in his post, he's supporting jon huntsman maybe, sort of, kind of. we're going to talk to eric erickson about that, that's important. the tea party is driving this season. we're going to talk too eric erickson about that. maybe it's jon huntsman time. who knows. president obama, talk about his a second, a push to extend the tax cut on the road. the president was in kansas stressing ow vital a deal is to your paycheck and emphasizing the widening inequalitiy between the rich and the middle class in america. >> this is a make or break moment for the middle class, and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class because what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.

>> the white house has even place add countdown clock on its website to pressure congress. republicans and democrats can't agree on how to pay for the tax break. the democratic plan on the table now calls for a 1.9% surtax for millionaires to get the cash and many millionaires own businesses that create jobs and should not be taxed more. new developments this morning in the penn state sex abuse scandal. a 19-year-old man came forward with new allegations. the former assistant football coach jerry sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was just 12 years old, and this new accuser claims that sandusky gave him alcohol first. joining us now, sara ganim. good morning, sara. what do we know about this new victim and what he says happened is different than from the other victims who -- who are named in this case against sandusky. it's a little bit different. >> reporter: yes, christine, you're right. there's a lot of new things in

this allegation. first of all, we've never heard before sandusky gave one of his victims alcohol, and this man who is 19 years old said when he was 12, he was a second mile camper staying in the facilities on the second mile boarding house and he was in a swimming situation with jerry sandusky and a bunch of other kids. was then separated from the kids. taken on a tour of the football building, which we have heard before, but then he was taken to an office, and this is something new. because before many of the others felt it didn't happen in jerry's home or in situation where is they were traveling. a lot of them were in the showers, in the locker room of the football building, but in this situation, this man alleges it was in an office in this building and he was given whiskey while jerry sandusky talked to him about his life and how he ended up with the second mile and then was assaulted. that's all the allegation, but this man is talking to the police. he is talking to the attorney general's office and his attorney says they're going to try and corroborate this story

by possibly even going to the building and looking for that office, and then they're potentially filing a lawsuit. >> so this fits sort of in the profile, then, with some differences of the other cases that we've seen. do we know if they'll be any additional charges because of this particular, these allegations? >> reporter: you know, by my count, christine, this is the fifth person to make public allegation since jerry sandusky was arrested. his preliminary hearing is next tuesday. i think we have to wait and see what the attorney general's office plans to do. if they're going to file more charges. when they're going to file more charges. his attorney says they are definitely having that hearing. then a question, if more charges come, will they have another hearing and then possibly another hearing? we'll have to wait and see what happens. next week is a big week in this case. >> all right. sara ganim, cnn contributor and reporter at "the patriot news." nice to see you. thank you. new information about the

u.s. spy drone that crashed in iran last week. u.s. officials telling cnn the drone was part of a cia reconnaissance mission flying over western afghanistan to look for insurgent activity. one senior official insisting there was no directive to spy on iran or fly into iranian airspace. another official confirms when the drone went down the u.s. considered options for retrieving it or even bombing it, but both scenarios were ultimately considered not practical. the federal aviation administration is looking for a new leader. randy babbitt resigned three days after getting arrested on dui charges. police pulled him over in virginia. they say he was driving on the wrong side of the road. today it's 70 years since the bombing of pearl harbor, the attack that led the united states in world war ii. 120 survivors are expected to arrive in hawaii for the annual commemoration. rifle salutes and honoring and remembering the nearly 2,400

people hoop diwho died in that . its members are aging and their health declining. if were you 20 back then you'd be 90 years now. >> 70 years ago. an event that defined more than a generation of america. all right. the u.s. speaking out on election protests in russia. thousands of people flooded the streets accusing president putin of voter intimidation. questions haunting mitt romney. countless e-mails from his term as massachusetts governor are missing. did he use taxpayer money to keep those records secret? alec baldwin booted off a flight he says because of a cell phone game. and everyone following on twitter. >> details ahead. card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪

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a 70sesentence of 15 to 20 year behind bars. his lawyers called that excessive and are asking for leniency. cnn's ted rollins is live in chicago and people in chicago and illinois are no strangers to watching former leaders being prosecuted. >> reporter: his lawyers went an entire day pleading his case in front of this judge. if any indication, the judge's rulings yesterday, it doesn't look good for blagojevich. he roomed on enhancements and totally sided with the prosecution. so most courtroom experts, or legal experts, in the courtroom basically say this does not look good for blagojevich. he'll have a chance to address the courted today face-to-face with this judge. this will be the end of the sentencing portion of this

trial. this has gone on four two days. today we're also expected to hear from prosecutors. yesterday the lawyers for blagojevich basically changed tacks. in their filings they really haven't said anything about guilt. yesterday they said he is very remorseful and also said that this is a family man and he should be given leniency because he is leaving his daughters and his wife. at one point the lead attorney, aaron goldstein told the judge he doesn't deserve mercy because he has a family. his family deserves mercy. they also read a portion of a letter that blagojevich's teenage daughter amy submitted to the court saying in part, i need my father. i need him here. today it is likely the prosecutors will argue, it's sad that he has a family, but according to the law, it doesn't make a difference in sentencing, unless there are extraordinary circumstances and they just aren't there. so today we'll have, what, 15 to 20 minutes.

prosecutors say their case, and then the judge will ask questions of both sides and then blagojevich addressing the court for who knows how long, and then we expect that the sentence will be delivered by this federal judge later this morning. guys? >> quickly, about what is the public response then? what do people think? do they want him to get a lot of years? they're tired of this story, this scandal and drama? what are the people of illinois and chicago saying? >> reporter: quite frankly, a lot of people you talk to, they think, well, he's definitely guilty of buffoonery on a large scale, but a lot of folks don't want to see him going away for too long, because they've gotten to know him over the years through all of these reality shows. he's obviously in the news here every day and was when he was governor. a certain likality. you hate and the like him. some people in the courtroom, the courtroom packed with spectators from the public. some did want to send a clear message to politicians here in the state of illinois, which you

alluded to, has had problems over the years, that this can't happen. it is really mixed. the defense is arguing, don't make an exempt out of this guy just because of george ryan and other politicians in this state. we'll have to see what this judge. after sitting through yesterday's testimony and listening to this judge, it doesn't look good for blagojevich. this judge seemed very stern and with his ruling on the enhancement, that right away added year. it doesn't look good. >> doesn't matter what the public think. what the law and that judge thinks. ted rollins, thank you so much. don't try to rob a guy who can kill you with his bare hands. talk about picking the wrong dude to mess with. this man, anthony miranda, pull as gun on a driver in chicago, instead ended up with two black eyes, bruises and a gun shot in his own ankle. the intended victim was trained in the mixed martial arts and

competes in the ultimate fighting championships. so -- the story makes me laugh. >> crime doesn't pay -- >> no, it doesn't. >> -- in that particular situation. rob marciano in the weather center, really well trained. he knew to shoot him in the foot where he wouldn't kill him. >> exactly. exactly. some days my thoughts are consumed with what i would do if approached in that manner and i realized my mixed martial arts skills are fairly limited. >> are you the criminal or the cabbie in that wags? >> no, no. i'm the cabbie. fe were had a larger frame i'd show you my "karate kid" stance. rain across the northeast. mild, and the rain extends down to the south until it turns over to snow in places like memphis, where it's covering bridges and roadways. right now little rock, arkansas got two inches of snow. the second time so far and we're not even into the second week of december yet that this has happened across parts of the midsouth. so this is going to be heavy rain at times and believe it or

not, it changes over to snow tonight and the tomorrow. meanwhile, 33 degrees in houston. 26 in austin. and 61 degrees in new york city. you want to talk about a topsy-turvy atmosphere. we're going to even thinking out in a bit. winter advisories out for parts of tennessee, mississippi and alabama. a couple inches of snow expected there. the rains turn to snow on the back side of this. not until really late tonight and into tomorrow. two to six inches of snow potentially. mostly away from the bigger cities. here's the heavy rain right around rush hour and tonight and early tomorrow turns to snow. mostly away from i-95. seeing snow a brief period of time. new york metro, d.c., even atlanta gusty winds. memphis, rain or snow in, and even the atmosphere outside, but right now thing are a little nutty, crazy. something's in the air. >> i think it's winter. >> yeah. i like it.

the cast of "myth busters" busted when their cannonball, their cannonball stunt, it was a crashing failure. we'll put it that way. that story's coming up. >> myth busters, more like door busters. and find out which cell phone provider was ranked the worst carrier in the country. it's 22 minutes after the hour. ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

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welcome back. "minding your business" this morning. the dow up for two days in a row. right now on track to keep rallying. u.s. stock futures straighting higher as investors are optimistic a lasting long-term solution to europe's debt crisis will be found and announced this

week. treasury secretary tim geithner is there for just such an event. three-day european whirlwind tour taking him to paris where he's meeting with more of his european counterparts. speaking this morning, geithner said he is confident that eu leaders will be successful in negotiations to tackle the debt crisis. those negotiations begin friday in brussels. here at home, giant citigroup planning to lay off 4,500 employees over the next four months. the ceo says the cuts are needed to cut costs with a weak company. citi will take a $400 million charge to cover the severance costs and other costs associated with this downsizing. and a final moment in the financial crisis, granted approval to exit the biggest bankruptcy in american history. leap sn a collection of assets, real estate investments and the latest court ruling clears the way for the sale of those assets, some $65 billion worth. a new credit report is

digging deeper into your financial history. a company introduced a new credit file based on its massive database of information including whether you paid your rent and cell bills on time. bottom line for you, you make a payment on time every time, your credit scar will stay high. you don't have to tell cell phone users. for a second year in a row, "consumer reports" says at&t is america's worst mobile carrier. at&t says it's committed to getting better and better. "american morning" will be right back after this break. the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world.

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where have all the e-mails gone? new questions about then massachusetts governor mitt romney using taxpayer money to

purge electronics documents on this "american morning." all right. welcome back at 31 minutes past the hour. time for the morning's top stories. newt gingrich looking like he's about to run away with the republican race, at least the way the polls look now. he's opened up a double-digit lead over mitt romney in three new national polls and a programming note -- at 5:00 p.m. eastern, newt gingrich sits down with wolf blitzer in "situation room." a new accuser coming forward saying former penn state coach jerry sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was just 12 and gave him booze. sandusky's charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight other young boys. a preliminary hearing has been set for tuesday. and according to u.s. officials, an american spy drone that crashed last week in iran was not spying on iran, and it was not programmed to fly in iranian airspace. officials tell cnn the drone was on a cia mission over western afghanistan looking for

insurgent activity. getting the endorsement of former vice president dan quayle is nice, but newt gingrich says allegations romney spent taxpayer dollars to hide electronic records from his term as governor of massachusetts. brian todd is following the story. >> reporter: aside from newt gingrich, new hurdles for mitt romney to clear in the republican race. questions about records that disappeared. questions whether he'd be transparent as president. deval patrick's office found no e-mails from 2002 to 2006 in our possession, which covers romney's term as governor. patrick says the computers used during romney's term were replaced right before patrick took office. he gave us copies of leases for the computers, indicating it cost romney's administration,

massachusetts' taxpayers, nearly $100,000 to replace the computers. all the files removed and the server used during the administration, taken out of service. those records should have been reserved. >> clearly in massachusetts it's not illegal to do that. i mean that has been made clear in the press reports, anyway, but because something is not illegal doesn't mean that it's right or ethical or acceptable to the pun lick to do so. and we believe that the records of political official it's, elected political officials, belong to the public. >> reporter: governor's patrick's office showed records of cancelled checks indicating romney's aides paided state to buy the hard drives used in their government jobs. the director of administration in massachusetts und are romney and several previous governors told reuters in all those years never inquired about or

expressed desire to buy their hard drives. john o'keefe, a former romney aide in charge of archiving all records when romney transitioned out of office said he was allowed to go anywhere. but with romney's third floor office. >> the so-called third floor was actually office-specific. a chief of staff, communications director, deputy chiefs of staff, they archive their own offices. so it was handled differently than the rest of the governor's office. >> reporter: o'keefe does not believe this was a directive from romney, just, he says, how it worked out. the story was first reported by the "boston globe." romney's campaign tells cnn the decision to erase most electronic files is not illegal or unusual, that several other governors have also done that. romney said this. >> we actually put in 700 boxes of information to the archives that weren't even required. so -- we followed the law exactly it's a intended and as written.

>> reporter: the decision by governor patrick to put out this is politically motivated. patrick is a close ally of president obama and an aide to patrick denied that telling us they were responding to media requests for public documents. brian todd, cnn, washington. mitt romney, meantime, taking a pass on the donald trump presidential debate. romney declined trump's invitation to participate in the iowa forum citing his crowded debate calendar. romney is the third gop candidate to say no to trump following jon huntsman and ron paul. rick perry, rick santorum and newt gingrich have all commitmented to the december 27 debate which will be moderated by the donald. and the donald will be on "piers morgan" tonight at 7:00. >> surprising to say moderated by -- donald trump. secretary of state hillary clinton calling for a full investigation into election fraud in russia. thousands of protesters stormed the streets of moscow angry over

alleged ballot rigging by prime minister vladimir putin's united russia party. and outside watchdoug group accuses his party of stuffing ballot boxes, manipulating voter lists. live in moscow we have the latest. so are police cracking downen the demonstrators now? >> reporter: very much so, carol. the first night of spontaneous protests was big. there were thousands of people. the second night, not at many people, but they were met with a very firm response from the security forces here. there were some scuffles. they arrested hundreds of them, but generally just slowly pushed and squeezed them out of the square, that they were hoping to occupy. as well as that organized response, they were met with a large number of pro-government demonstrators. people supporting the united russia party. they banged their drums drowning out the crowds of the

opposition. so on the whole, it was not a very successful demonstration. in any event, not in any way carry over the momentum of the first night that saw thousands of people on the streets. the protesters hope to keep going. they say they'll try and organize another protest tonight voicing their anger about the weekend's parliamentary elections and their belief they were not held fairly as well as their general dissatisfaction with the government in this country and also pointing ahead to a much bigger protest this weekend, which they hope to get tens ever thousands s tens ever thousands of thousand attend. we'll get a sense whether this burst of public outrage has peaked or if it has true staying power to become some sort of constant movement against the government here. carol? >> when secretary clinton calls for a full investigation, can such a thing happen?

>> reporter: well, not given the response of the government so far. from the outset, the president, the prime minister here, have both said they believe the elections were fair and democratic, despite many russians claiming to have witnessed breaches of electoral process here, that is, despite the criticism that has been given by independent international observers, and that criticism that has been voiced by the u.s. administration as well, and if anything, the language from the russian ghoft overnment in resp to that criticism that been very harsh. it's described the words of secretary clinton as unfriendly, unacceptable and potentially damaging between the relations of those two countries. >> live from moscow, thank you. all right. a reality tv show stunt gone terribly wrong, carol. the show "myth buster," accidentally lost a cannonball, smashed through the front door of the wall. clearly the cannonball misfired.

>> that would wake everyone up. >> how would you explain that to the insurance company? >> nobody hurt. >> we'll find out what myth busting required a cannonball in a neighborhood? >> that cannonball are accurate? >> who knows. alec baldwin, kicked off an american airlines flight. reamed out for playing "words with friends." he sent out a bunch of angry tweets including one with a hash tag, there's always united. passengers have a slightly different version of what happened. like former boxing champion oscar de la hoya. >> i actually felt alec bald dwing wbaldwin was turning off his devices. >> he didn't want to get out of his phone. snuck into the bathroom.

became a little irate and they to remove him from the flight. >> the airline is looking into the incident, but i don't think alec baldwin will be taking any american airlines flights in the future. >> and just tweeting about it. everyone on my plane is laughing about him getting kicked off his plane in realtime. in a different part of the country. he's tweeting every last thing and people are tweeting whether you should follow alec baldwin or not. it was crazy. the whole thing. bottom line, when the flight crew says turn it off, turn it off. the royals were ready to rock last night. the duke and duchess of cambridge hit the town with charles and camilla for a charity. >> they did. cnn royal correspondent joining us with details on that, and i'm sure some people are hoping you'll also talk about the rumors that, you know, the princess might be preggers. >> she can't carry her clutch in a certain way, she can't turn down a little taste of peanut butter somewhere, and people go

crazy. >> even what she was wearing was a sign. >> reporter: it's always about protecting her, her stomach, isn't it? and she had a bag in front of her stomach. that's all there was to it. everyone's waiting for that story. last night -- i haven't got it. but last night we see them arriving here. there you go. the duchess of cambridge out with the in-laws. just to express the commercial value, that dress she's got on in a $99 dress from zara's new to the market. it sold out immediately around the world last night. can't get it in the u.s., in the uk, anywhere. there they are standing for the national anthem. and a bit later they got into the pop concert. weren't of katherine's favorite bands. weren't of her favorite singer, but a serious message, guys, this was all about raising money for the young people affected by

the uk riots earlier this year. >> all right. they mingled a little backstage afterwards. tell us about that. >> reporter: yeah. they went backstage and met gary bono and the team and young people affected by the riots who need help from the princess' charities. interesting conversations come out of these. turns out that katherine and william are sitting down and watch tv every saturday night. sit down and watch "the x factor." a few stars there and they knew everything about them. rooting for their own favorite contestants. simon cowell will be pleased today. >> seem so nice and down to earth. i can't help but wonder. the dress did have a busy print. more effective in hiding baby bumps. >> i know. the poor thing, she'll look great she has a bump. she's a little, tiny thing. holding the clutch to hided grapes she had. >> and it wasn't cold in that room.

>> i'm sorry. marx, get on that. we will know dissolve into the waiting game, for which there will be another era. >> just say it on "american morning." from desperation comes inspiration. how an occupy wall street protester managed to land her dream job on wall street. it's 43 minutes past the hour. i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as 1... -2... -3... [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. [ toy robot sounds ] [ woman on r♪ bum-bum,stinct ] a bank of bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ bum-bum - ♪ ai, ai, ai - ♪ bum-bum - ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum - ♪ [ ice rattles rhythmically ]

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all right. with no job, little hope of finding one, a down and out new yorker goes from occupy wall street to working on wall veet in just a matter of weeks. tracy joined the movement back in october. she did.

and even though she's has a degree in biomedical science, she went from wall street protester to wall street professional. chris knowles joins us with her remarkable story. >> isn't it, though? good morning. occupy wall street portrayed by some as radicals, young kids without a focus. ne'er-do-wells who do anything but get a job. one woman finds herself occupying a different space on wall street. [ chanting ] >> reporter: somewhere in this gathering of a so-called 99%, there is one who would soon the join the one. she just didn't know it yet. >> some days where it was a carnival or lots of music, drumming, costumes, marching, protesting. >> reporter: tracy says she jumped right into the occupy wall street movement all-in,

banging drums and washing paint and dirt-covered sidewalks. in the past few years the biochemist found herself unemploy and under employee. ed until she changed herd sign fr to a job wanted sign. passersby would say, get a job. i would say i'm trying to get a job so you can't prove 2. why don't i make a sign and hand out my resume at occupy wall street. proving i am actively looking for a job. in two days someone spotted her, exchanged e-mails and a job offer followed. that someone, a top executive at a financial firm, in other words, the enemy. >> it might sound like it's a fish out of water story, or a square peg in a round hole, but

it's really not. >> tracy, how's your new boss? >> i like him. >> reporter: for now she's researching early stage biotech companies for the firm and plans to take a test allowing her to become a broker and a full-fledge member of the 1%. so what are her former occupiers saying? >> i have been accused of being a traitor to both sides. some people are saying that the whole time i was at occupy wall street i was really a wall street insider. >> reporter: tracy says she's going to keep that sign of hers and promises to protest again when she finds something, well, worth protesting. something tells me her bosses may not approve of that, but we'll see. >> a really good idea. you hear that down on occupy -- well, you heard it when they were basically living in zuccotti park, get a job. why don't you get a job? people would say, there's no opportunity. there aren't jobbed, and she was going to turn that around by passing out resumes. smart. >> i don't know. so many people with so many

different opinions protesting on wall street's she's not working for the banking industry. right? >> reporter: well, it is a financial firm. i get they're all -- sort of -- >> looking at different companies and how to get money -- >> down there, okay. a traitor. >> it's pretty much -- yeah. but a job's a job. in this economy. thanks so much, nice to see you this morning. 50 minutes 35past the hour. the last day you were change your medicare part 2 prescription drug plan and has the deadline snuck up on you this year? you're not alone. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 when companies try to sell you something off their menu ttd# 1-800-345-2550 instead of trying to understand what you really need. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we provide ttd# 1-800-345-2550 a full range of financial products, ttd# 1-800-345-2550 even if they're not ours. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 and we listen before making our recommendations, ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so we can offer practical ideas that make sense for you. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck, and see how we can help you, not sell you. ttd# 1-800-345-2550

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learn more at chase.com/ink 51 minutes past the hour. what you need to know to start your day -- newt gingrich gaining momentum. the former house speaker opening up double digit leads on mitt romney in several national polls. less than four weeks to go before the iowa caucuses. a new accuser coming forward saying former football coach jerry sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was 12 and gave him alcohol. a u.s. spy drone that crashed last week in iran was not spying on iran. u.s. officials telling cnn the drone was on a cia mission over western afghanistan looking for insurgent activity. and an american city citizen is among those killed in a series of deadly attacks. 56 people killed yesterday at a crowded shiite muslim shrine in kabul and a second bomb in northern afghanistan killed four others.

afghan president hamid karzai cut short a trip. and a heads up to 42 million americans. the open enrollment plan ends today for seniors. the deadline three weeks earlier than previous years. today is the last year seniors can enroll in a new prescription drug plan or renew their old one. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back after a break.

newt gingrich finding out that life at the top comes with a price. the republican front-runner getting a late-night grilling. look. >> now people are saying, wait a second. newt, when newt was a congressman wasn't he fined and

reprimanded for some house ethics violation? remember that, back in the '90s? '98? thank you. he can't run for president. remember, he got in trouble -- remember this? here's what they're talking about. see what he did? get in there close. >> hey, newt gingrich met with donald trump yesterday. there's a good combination. two guys, six wives, zero chance of either one ever them ever becoming president of the united states. yeah. >> newt gingrich is riding very high in the polls. yeah. he's the front-runner i believe. some by quite a margin. i'm surprised that newt's doing so well, because -- if you've seen him, his campaign ads, his message, it isn't very positive. >> the america we know and love is a thing of the past. >> announcer: america. it's over.

newt gingrich for president. it's over. >> okay. that was funny. i'm sorry. it was. ahead in the next hour, sensitive military secrets in the hands of america's enemies. new details live at the pentagon about that top secret u.s. drone that went down in iran last week, and who might want to get their hands on it? [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪

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up and away. inside four weeks until iowa, and a brand new poll shows newt gingrich is running away with it. now his past is being used as ammo by conservative critics. u.s. military secrets for sale, where iran may be shopping a stealth drone that came down in their territory. money hungry newt gingrich claims millionaires are sapping the system. getting food stamps. we put these claims to the truth truth-0-meter. and alec baldwin kicked off

a plane. on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and good morning to you. it is wednesday december 7th. ali has the day off. i'm carol costello along with christine romans on this "american morning." good morning, everyone. we begin with newt gingrichbust to run away with the republican nomination. we may just be witnessing a gingrich jug gernaujuggernaut. 37% now say gingrich is their top choice among republicans. he leads mitt romney by 15 points. cnn political deputy director paul steinhauser is live in washington. not long ago we were talking about newt gingrich and his wife on a mediterranean cruise and members of his staff saying he wasn't focused enough. that was way long ago. now he's top in the polls.

>> reporter: no doubt about it. he's the front-runner now. remember, a battle for the states. iowa, first to vote four weeks away. cbs/"new york times," gingrich, 31%. romney, 17%. ron paul, 16%, rick perry, 11%. the latest poll, last 24 hours, abc news/"washington post." exact same story. gingrich up by double digits. move on to south carolina. the first southern state to vote, third overall. there is gingrich again. way ahead of everybody else. romney 16 points behind. our own poll is coming out this afternoon. one caveat, in all the polls, those to attend the primaries and caucuses, a lot are saying i may change my mind. a lot of things could happen between now and the beginning of voting in january, christine. >> what about the numbers in the romney camp? >> i think the romney camp is starting to feel the heat. mitt romney says we're going to see a lot more of him on camera and on the campaign trail.

listen to what he told reporters yesterday campaigning in arizona. >> i'll be on the air a good deal more than in the past, doing the very best to communicate to the american people why i'm running for president. hopefully get their support and i know the beginning is going to be what, january 3rd? this will probably take longer than a week or two to sort out. my expectation, this is a campaign that's going on for a while, and i expect to win it. >> reporter: now, gingrich is shoring up the polls but mitt romney is set in those states. newt gingrich playing catch-up. stay tuned. four weeks to go until the first votes. >> thanks, paul. despite double-digit leads, critics in his own party including talk show host glenn beck. beck called out gingrich on past statements, a supporting individual mandate ruiring

people to have health care coverage, at the set of the fight over president obama's health care law. >> health insurance or post a bond or in some way indicate you're going to be held accountable. >> that is the individual mandate. is it not? >> it's a variation on it. >> you seem to be very interested in the government findings the solution? >> well, let's go back to what i just said. what i was asked was, if a program is unpopular, should the republicans impose it anyway? back and listen to exactly what i was asked on that show and what i said i'll stand by, which is -- in a free society, you don't elect officials to impose a new thinking you disagree with. we just went over this fight with obama care. >> also bringing up something gingrich called one of his dumbest mistake, the climate change ad he made for al gore where he was sitting side-by-side with his rival nancy pelosi. >> still believe in the, you know, the inconvenient truth as

outlined by global climate change advocates? >> well, i never believed in al gore's fantasies and, in fact, if you look at the record, the day that al gore testified at the energy and commerce committee in favor of cap and trade, i was the next witness and i testified against cap and trade. and in the senate, i worked through solutions to help beat the cap and trade bill. cap and trade was an effort by the left to use the environment as an excuse to get total control over the american economy. >> stay with cnn all day today for all your 2012 politic. congressman ron paul will be in the "cnn newsroom" at 3:00 p.m. eastern and newt gingrich and texas governor rick perry will join wolf blitzer in "the situation room." congresswoman michele bachmann john king's guest and debate moderator joins piers morgan at

9:00 eastern. and extending a pay roll tax cut stressing ow vital this is to your paycheck and mentioning the widening inequality between the rich and middle class in america. >> this is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all of those who are fighting to get into the middle class. because what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement. >> the white house says even placed a countdown clock to pressure republicans. they can't agree how to pay for the tax break. a democratic plan on the table now calls for a 1.9% surtax on millionaires to come up with the money. republicans say millionaires own businesses that create jobs, and they shouldn't be taxed more. new developments to tell you about this morning in the penn state sex abuse scandal. a 19-year-old man now has come

forward with new allegations that former assistant football coach jerry sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was 12 years old. earlier "patriot" news reporter sara ganim talked about what's different about this particular accusation. >> reporter: there's a lot of new things in this allegation. first of all, we've never heard before that sandusky gave one of his victims alcohol. in this situation, this man alleges it was in an office in this building and he was giving whiskey why jerry sandusky talked to him about his life. and how he ended up with the second mile and then he was assaulted. >> sandusky's charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse involving eight other young boys. a preliminary hearing is set for tuesday. it's six minutes after the hour. what's new this morning -- syrian president bashar al assad again is denying he is responsible for the bloody craftdown against protesters in the country. speaking with abc's barbara

walters, assad says he does not own the country or the security forces and "there's a difference between having a policy to crack down and between having some mistakes committed by some officials." according to the united nations, syria's nine-month crackdown on protesters have killed 4,000 people including some children. and a nation that doesn't use the euro could put a wrench in europe's plan to fix its debt crisis. british prime minister david cameron is demanding safeguards for england or his nation will veto a treaty designed to save the troubled currency. today marks 70 years since the japanese bombing on pearl harbor, the attack that led the u.s. into world war ii. 120 survivors are expected to arrive in hawaii for the annual commemoration. there will are rifle salutes, wreath presentations to honor and remember the nearly 2,400 people who died in that surprise attack. this is the last time the survivors association will gather together, because members, carol, are aging. their health declining and don't

have enough membership to withstands the committees and chapters around the country. >> many in their 90s now. >> yeah. so sad. >> but we're proud of them. >> republican front-runner newt gingrich likes to call barack obama the most successful food stamp president in history. 47 million americans depend on food stamps to get by. >> gingrich is adding a twist insisting millionaires are padding pockets by milking food stamp systems. we decided to put this to the test. here's lisa sylvester. >> reporter: talk about a tempest in the teapot. listen to what newt gingrich said on the campaign trail. >> you don't get food stamp. you get a credit card and it can be used for anything. use it to go to hawaii. and you know, they get food stamps out to millionaires. >> reporter: but is it all true? the u.s. department of agriculture administers the food stamp program officially called a supplemental nutrition assistance program. purchasing with a food stamp electronics card are strictly

limited to food according to lou jacobson with politifact. >> it food card stamp will not let you buy anything. it looks like a credit card. it's an ebt card. it will tell you what it can and can't purchase. >> reporter: that means you can't use it for a plane ticket to hawaii or anywhere else. politifact rates that gingrich statement, pants on fire. what about the claim millionaires are living off food stamps? to qualify your net income must be no more than $11,000. for a family of four the income cutoff is about $22,000. but that's income. what about assets? what if you have $1 million in bank and had no income? only 13 states use assets as a task for food stamp eligibility, meaning it's technically possible for someone with assets are more than $1 million and a very low income to qualify for food 1256r7s. >> i feel printy good about

that. >> reporter: one example, leroy won millions on a lottery show but still using his state-issued food card for food stamps. bill wallisch caught up with him and he made no apologies. >> driving around in an audi convertible and collecting our money on food stamps. what would you say to those people? do you think it's ethical? >> from my point of view, i think so. >> reporter: the usda acknowledges although possible it's highly unlikely to find someone in this place. >> it's hard to imagine somebody having a million dollars in assets without having income, at least at the poverty level if not higher. and as i say, that's why this was so anomalous. >> reporter: the law been changed in michigan. he is no longer receiving food stamp benefits. now the lawyer says he thought he continued to be eligible for assistants, because he had been on food stamps

before he won the lottery, and the usda says that case is the only one that they are aware of where a millionaire was using food stamps. usda worked with the state to quickly correct the situation. lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >> during the stimulus, possible, not likely. i looked into this, too. so did cnnmoney.com, the pay roll tax holiday, we could make money if we get millionaires off food stamps and unemployment benefits. there are millionaires out there in 2009 who did get on benefits for a short time after they lost a job. possible, not likely, millionaires are getting food stamps. >> it is possible, but it does defy -- how do you prove it? i mean, you'd have to do, like, a major league investigation in those states that don't have the law -- >> the issue, we have so expanded the food stamp program. it's part ever stimulus. anybody collecting unemployment

benefits could automatically then qualify or at least pre-qualify for food stamps. so you just opened up the pool to be much bigger. people working six months ago may have had a decent job six months ago now qualify for unemployment benefits and food stamps. so that's -- that's where they were conservatives saying too many people are getting food stamps. >> interesting. i enjoyed that story. more on newt gingrich's stunning rise to the top of the gop race. can he hold on to his double-digit lead? our panel of experts weigh in. we'll tell you why alec baldwins addiction to a cell phone game may have gotten him booted off a plane. ♪ [ electronic beeping ] [ male announcer ] still getting dandruff? neutrogena® t/gel shampoo

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welcome back. it's 15 minutes past the hour. no one could have predicted this, but newt gingrich is surging so rapidly in the polls he's leaving the competition in the dust. the former house speaker now has a double digit lead on mitt romney and the rest of the republican field, but can he keep it up? let's ask our senior political analyst joining us live from washington, and eric erickson, editor-in-chief of redstate.com

with us in the cnn center in atlanta. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> thanks. >> eric, i want to start with you. i read your blog this morning and this is what you posted today about gingrich's moral and political positions. i'm going to read it. you say, how did i know you won't cheat on me politically and reconcile what my kids can respect with my life? and ge on to say, i may have to seriously reconsider saying i never, ever, ever would vote for jon huntsman. more consistently conservative than newt or romney, more pro-life than either and a far more competent executive than either. i was a little surprised at your comments. explain more for us. >> yeah. you know, i'm really in the not romney camp, and i think newt gingrich's rise says more about mitt romney's failure to close the deal with conservatives when he's had four years to do it than anything else. given the choice between romney and newt i would supporting in but i'm not sure. i was sitting down last night

thinking about it, and i just don't know that i want to really support to newt gingrich with three wives, adult degree in between and all of this shifting positions on conservative issues? i mean, i like the guy personally but i'm not sure that he's my guy. >> the jon huntsman part i would sap surprised me more. would you seriously consider voting for jon huntsman? >> you know, over mitt romney, yes. ip think jon huntsman has a more good conservative track record as governor of utah. granted, mitt romney was in massachusetts, but given the position between the two, i'm starting to think i may have to reconsider what i originally said about jon huntsman, which was to write him off. >> so, ron, are you surprised by eric's writings this morning? >> well, no. i think eric really crystallizes the dilemma of the conservative base of the republican party which is by far the dominant faction in the party but throughout the year has not had a horse it can stably ride in this race. the one constant in awful these

polls all year is that whether you look at evangelical christians or people who identify with the tea party, they don't want mitt romney. they haven't been able to settle on one candidate. recycled from huckabee to michele bachmann to newt gingrich. a lot in his history that might cause him to think twice. i wonder if it would matter if gingrich emerged in august. emerged in july or august, issues of cap and trade, support for health care might have loomed larger because there are other alternatives. now it's closing time. for voters who don't want mitt romney there may not be another alternative. jon huntsman would have to see exponential growth to get up to margin's error with them. so i think, you know, certainly gingrich is capable of wounding himself and shooting himself in the foot as precisely the moment when he seems strongest, but right now i think this is a demand side phenomenon as eric said. conservatives need an alternative to mitt romney. those who don't want romney and

right now gingrich is the strongest horse they have in that field. >> so, eric, conservatives also want someone who can beat president obama in 2012. can newt gingrich do that? >> yeah i think newt gingrich can do that. i would pay money to see a newt gingrich/barack obama debate. the issue, is, though, the president doesn't just debate. he does other things as well. much more so than debate. any of the republicans right now probably have a shot against barack obama. i'm not sure about mitt romney given his positions all over the board, but newt gingrich, yeah. either the republicans can beat him or the republicans can't beat him and if they can beat him, pretty much any of them can. >> the thing is, newt gingrich just opened up an office in iowa a couple days ago. he doesn't have a strong organization there. so you have to wonder, are these polls really telling us what we think we know, ron? >> that's a really good question. i think no question, carol, the way you run for president, we talk about it before, is changing. the idea that you borrow into

iowa and new hampshire with organizations and that's the invisibility primary, the way you succeed it's changed. it now is something like a national audition, voters everywhere are affected by the same media and driven by the same currents. polls in iowa, south carolina, a gallup poll, incredibly similar. in the way of the subgroups and different factions the party is breaking out. having said that we are moving into a different stage of the campaign and you'll see how much this national tide overwhelms the traditional mechanisms of running for president. ads in the early stage, organization in the early stage. newt gingrich has six paid staffers in iowa. at this point in 2007, barack obama had around 200. so you're obviously seeing a very different model how you run for president, being performed this year. the question, whether that can -- whether mitt romney advantage son that front, not so much iowa, elsewhere, his money, can erode the quick momentum in the polls by newt gingrich. >> we'll see. thanks for joining us this

morning. >> thank you. 21 minutes past the hour. time for rob in atlanta. good morning. >> good morning. rain moving into the northeast. not the only thing that rolls that way. look at the radar scope. heavier rains now across the spine of the appalachians in through harrisburg, pa, they've had their fair share of rain this year. and atlanta city through philadelphia as well. the further south and west, the more rain. accumulating snow across parts of arkansas today. last night in memphis. this morning, northern parts of mississippi even seeing some snow this morning. give you an idea how turned upside-down the atmosphere is, 33 in houston. 23 in dallas. and almost 60 degrees right now in new york city. all right. we get the rains. we get heavy rain over the next 24 hours. then the back side of it turns to snow. most of the accumulating snow will be away from the i-95 corridor, away from the largest cities but slushiness near new york city. scranton, upstate new york and albany, four to eight inches potentially with this system and

the timing of which would be, tonight into tomorrow and then tomorrow afternoon before this thing rolls out of town. we have delays in new york, philadelphia. those on the increase today and a portion of tomorrow as well. that's a quick check on the weather. "american morning" is coming right back. ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪ when it comes to preparing for your financial future,year. it helps to have a team that performs well together. pacific life offers life insurance, annuities for lifetime income, mutual funds and retirement solutions. ask a financial professional about how pacific life's

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"minding your business" this morning. the dow is on track for a third day higher. u.s. futures are up because at the moment, the moment, investors are optimistic a long-term solution to europe's debt crisis will be announced this week. renewed talk of a bailout to help europe boost markets. the financial bazooka involves using two separate rescue funds at the same time to essentially

double the money available to fight the crisis. markets like that. treasury second timothy geithner's three-day european trip takes him to paris this morning meeting with more european counterparts. speaking this morning, geithner is confident that eu leaders will be successful in negotiations to tackle the debt crisis. those negotiations begin friday in brussels. bank of america agreed to pay $315 million to a group of investors who claim its merrill lynch unit misled them about the quality of those mortgage-backed securities. that settlement must stilley approved by a judge. bank of america is not admitting any wrongdoing. according to the labor department, one in seven americans collected a jobless check. the government paid out $434 billion in benefits during that time. right now many of the long-term unemployed could lose their benefits if congress fails to pass yore extension by the end of the year. green bay packer fans

swooped up $400,000 worth of the team's stock, even though it's technically worthless. that's team spirit. they started selling shares for $ 50 -- $250. it gets you two words -- bragging rights. "american morning" will be right back after the break. what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good. 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.

welcome back. it's 30 minutes past the hour. time for this morning's top stories -- newt gingrich looking like he's about to run away with the republican race. he's opened up a double-digit lead over mitt romney in three new national polls. gingrich sits down with wolf blitzer in "the situation room." that's tonight at 5:00 eastern on cnn. president obama saying it's a make or break time for the middle class. the president traveled to the republican heartland of kansas yesterday to talk about the fragile u.s. economy and how to fix it. he called on congress to extend the pay roll tax tuesday, saving

americans $1,000 intake-home pay this year. and former football coach jerry sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was 12 and gave him alcohol. sandusky is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse. a preliminary hearing is set for tuesday. all right. whether it was shot down on a malfunction brought it down, a top drone that crashed last week may be an open book. if there was anything left of the unmanned aircraft, the technology is likely in the hands of the russians or the chinese by now. chris lawrence is live at pentagon this morning. chris, by most accounts this is a serious intelligence loss for the u.s. >> reporter: exactly. you know, a u.s. official telling us this was a cia mission and they had satellite images showing the drone may have sustained significant damage. the white house overruled any possible use of boots on the ground to go into iran and retrieve it, so the feeling now from u.s. officials is, iranians

have what's left of it. they're trying to figure out what to do next. when the u.s.' newest stealth drone crashed on the wrong side of the afghanistan/iran border it may have sparked a shopping spree for u.s. adversaries. >> i suppose several people tried to buy airline tickets to tehran from moscow and beijing in the last couple days. >> reporter: saying if the rq-170 is relatively intact the ironens will likely give to do china who can unlock its secret and sell the technology back to iran. >> the chinese probably have one of the best technology gathering espionage services in the world, if not the best. >> reporter: retired air force intelligence officer colonel sedrick leighton says it's missing, stealthier than commonly used drones like the

preside preside predator. >> they show up briefly. show up in something disguised as a flock of birds or something like that, or another type of aircraft. >> reporter: the surveillance over osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. military officials say if the drone's technology is compromised, other nations will likely device better defenses against it. >> and if they emulate us we'll find it much more difficult to go after them and to go after their aerodefenses as well as the assets they're trying to protect. in the case of iran, it would perhaps be their nuclear weapons system. >> reporter: now, if all of this sounds farfetched with nothing but frag mthments of the drone on the ground, remember this, one of the stealth planes shot down over serbia in 1999. balkan military officials say chinese agents bought up pieces of that plane from the local farmers, and when china unveiled its stealth plane, earlier this year, a lot of experts say it

borrowed from american technology. christine? >> chris lawrence, thank you, chris. in a few hours former illinois governor rod blagojevich will learn his sentence for public corruption. if federal prosecutors get their way, blagojevich will be going away for a very long time. ted rollins live in chicago for us this morning. any indication how this judge will rule? >> reporter: well, a little bit in yesterday's session the judge ruled against blagojevich on some enhancement questions. not a good sign for blagojevich. prosecution wants him put away for 15 to 20 years. his lawyers are asking the judge for leniency saying, two, three, four years would be more in line with what he deserves. they argued yesterday that the crimes he committed simply didn't constitute a 15 to 20-year sentence. they also brought up the fact that blagojevich has a family. including two young daughters, that he would miss if he was sent to jail. at one point aaron goldstein,

blagojevich's lawyer said he doesn't deserve mercy because he has a family. his family deserves mercy. they also read a portion of a letter that blagojevich's teenage daughter wrote to the judge saying in part, i need my father. i need him here. prosecutors today are likely going to argue it's sad he has a family but the law does not allow the judge to factor in a family in sentencing unless there are extraordinary circumstances. today's schedule, the final day of this two-day sentencing hearing will start with prosecutors. then we'll hear from blagojevich. he will address the judge and that will be the last portion of the hearing until the judge hands down his sentence. carol? >> i'm curious. will blagojevich's daughters be in court with him today? >> reporter: we don't know if they'll be in court today. they were not in court yesterday. they have been in court before. the first day of the trial. they made an appearance. but he has a lot of family members in court, and interesting enough, there are

jurors in court for this sentencing from both of the trials. probably 10 to 15 jurors are in court watching this sentencing. one juror said that they just wanted to see the process through, and by the way, as a side note, the courtroom is entirely packed. they're using a ceremonial large courtroom here. members of public here as well. is a packed house. people want to see what happens to the former governor of illinois. >> ted rowlands in chicago, thanks. and a series of deadly attacks in afghanistan, 56 people killed yesterday at a crowded shiite muslim shrine in kabul. a second bomb in northern afghanistan killed four others. afghan president hamid karzai cut short a european trip. the operators of a west virginia mine where 29 people were killed last april have been slapped with a $209 million fine. government regulators say the company dodged federal safety rules and hid violations.

the april 2010 explosion was the worst u.s. mine disaster in 40 years. the company will pay the families of each victim $1.5 million. victims of that sugarland stage collapse at the indiana state fair offered a total of $5 million by the state's attorney general. that amount is the most indiana can pay according to the state law. if the victims and their families accept the offer, families of the seven people killed will get at least $300,000. the 61 survivors would get 65% of their medical expenses paid. alec baldwin kicked off an american airlines flight. reamed out for playing words with friends while they sat at the gate not moving. baldwin actually sent out a bunch of angry tweets about the incident including one with a hash tag that there's always united. baldwin took jabs at flight attendants. not very nice jabs. but some passengers have a slightly different version of

what happened. like former boxing champ oscar de la hoya. >> i actually felt alec baldwin was turning off his devices and he just got a little angry. >> he was on his phone, he didn't want to get off the phone. then snuck into the bathroom and became a little irate they had to remove him from the flight. >> so the airline says they're looking into the incident. those rowdy people in first class. >> i know. and everyone is tweeting about. still to come a new effort to get around the partisan bickering and save you a cool grand. two senators offering a new payroll tax cut compromise. they'll join us live. and would you give your kid a twinkie or cookie for breakfast. would you? guess what -- i'm going to get this out eventually. stick weith me. i promise. guess what some of the cereal you're eating it has more sugar

than twinkies. we'll find out about the findings, next. all right. does being president make you age faster? look at these before and after pictures. what do you think? new research looks into it. you're watching "american morning." whoa. whoa. how do you top great vacations? whoa. getting twice the points on great vacations. whoa! use chase sapphire preferred and now get

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already. welcome back. failure could cost you $1,000, and the countdown is officially on. president obama turning up the pressure on congress to extend the popular pay roll tax holiday. now two senators are offering a compromise to extend the savings for millions of americans. republican senator susan collins and democratic senator claire mccaskill. i want to quickly look at your plan. what it could do. keep the lowered payroll tax rate and reduce employers tax

rate for the first $10 million of their payroll paid for by repealing tax breaks for oil companies and a two-year 10% surtax on million nears which would not hit small business owners who report their business on the personal tax returns. you're making this exception to the millionaire surtax and you're hoping that's going to make it more palatable to conservatives. senator mccaskill, is that enough to get the bipartisan votes you need? >> i hope so. we are trying to find that compromise. it's hard to find around here, because too many people are worried about the politics and not about the policy. we want to make sure people don't have a tax increase next year but want to carve out the small businesses. frankly, you didn't mention the other great parts of the bill that funds infrastructure, roads and bridgework around our country. this is a jobs bill. it truly s. that's what everyone wants to see, a jobs bill. senator collins, i will tell you that democrats and republicans have different ideas on what creates jobs. you were with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell when he

said this about your plan. >> i am not in favor of raising taxes on working people. and i do favor extending the payroll tax holiday for another year, in conjunction with job creating proposals. >> so can you convince him to support this bill? >> well, actually, what the minority leader said is very consistent with our bill. it does not raise taxes on middle-income families, and it does create jobs. we need a way to break through the partisan divide in washington. it simply gets us nowhere and is discouraging to employers and the american public at large when we keep having these partisan votes. so what we're trying to do is bridge that divide. >> you know what? i think everyone agrees on that and i hear that from both sides

of the aisle, but actually bridging it, and i'm so pleased the two of you are trying to cross over, shake hands and do it, senator mccaskill, eyes are on house republicans working on their own plan, could be paid for by cutting research grants for the environmental protection agency and the plan, that plan, they also push for the development of the keystone pipeline. so they have other ideas about how to create jobs and what creates jobs that might not be consistent with what democrats think. could you and other democrats support a bill with those provisions? >> well, i think what we all need to start focusing on is trying to find a compromise that can pass. that's what susan and i have done. there are things in this bill i'm not crazy about. some things she's not crazy about, but it's a real middle ground. frankly, some of the stuff the house is talking about is political red meat. stuff that will divide us further and they know it's not going to pass the senate.

why don't we focus on a bill that has things that could get support as opposed to trying to divide us for political purposes? >> the president is, was in kansas yesterday trying to push for an extension of the payroll tax holiday. listen to a clip of what he said that really got that crowd going. >> it's estimated that a child born today will only have a one in three chance of making it to the middle class. the idea that those children might not have a chance to climb out of that situation and back into the middle class no matter how hard they work -- that's inexcusable. it is wrong. [ applause ] it flies in the face of everything that we stand for. >> senator collins, as a republican, how does the president's populist theme play with the republicans saying there are fewer opportunities because of this president's policies, not in spite of them, and they say some of the things like cutting epa's research grants and building that pipeline, those are the ways to help the middle class?

>> well, the president's rhetoric has not helped to bring people together, and after all, he's not just a bystander. he is the president of the united states. i'd like to see him show more leadership, but what we're trying to do is to transcend all of the partisan rhetoric regardless of which side it comes from. whether it's the senate, the house or the president. we're trying to get things done for the american people, and we have very little time to accomplish this. >> yeah. >> if we don't extend the payroll tax cut by the end of the year, working families are going to face tax increases january 1st, and employers will not have the incentives they need to preserve and create jobs, and that's what our bill's all about. >> you guys know more than anybody, that the real trouble here is that temporary tax moves are never really temporary.

right, senator mccaskill? just like the bush tax cuts. it's very hard to take them back when people -- that's what's so tricky about the tax code. >> well, we know that taxes are the lowest point that they have been in in 50 years for those at the very, very top of the economic ladder. and, frankly, i've not met someone that has more than $1 million in income, passive income that doesn't say, you know, we're willing to pay a little more. that's why this bill is a breakthrough. we are carving out small businesses. >> right. >> in that 2% surtax. it is just ten years long. and frankly, i think it remains to be seen whether all of those bush tax cuts for the wealthy stay in place at the end of the year. >> quickly to both of you, at the end of the day, do you think there will be a payroll tax holiday extension? you're confident they'll be able to do that? >> well, we'll confident if they're get on our bill. we're confident that we have the right recipe for success here,

and if people would quit worrying about winning elections and worry more about trying to get along and get something done, we can get this done in two or three days. >> all right. thank you so much. nice to see you both this morning. >> by the way, it's susan's birthday. so happy birthday to susan. >> oh, wow. you're up early on your birthday. hope you at least get a nice lunch and a cupcake. happy birthday, senator. >> thank you. >> we would sing, but that would be a bad birthday present. >> that would be a birthday curse. >> happy birthday, senator. still to come this morning, is your kids' breakfast making them fat? a new study says your kids would be better off eating cookies in the morning. >> oh, my. and today's "romans' numeral." 200,000. here's a hint. somebody's about to go on a hiring binge. who could it be? 49 minutes after the hour. capital one's new cash rewards card

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here's what you need to know to start your day at 51 minutespist the hour. newt gingrich picking up steam. the former house speaker opening up double-digit leads on mitt romney in several national polls with less than four weeks to go before the iowa caucuses. syria's president telling abc's barbara walters he is not responsible for his country's nine-month crackdown on protesters. he does not own his country or forces. the u.n. estimates 4,000 people have died since syria's uprising. add powder ereered baby foro

the products said to be contaminated by radiation from the earthquake and tsunami back in march that damaged nuke relacters at the fukushima plant. contain the contamination levels do not suppose a threat to infants. today we mark 70 years to the attack on pearl harbor. 120 survivors are expected to arrive in hawaii for the annual commemoration. salutes and brief presentations to honor and remember the nearly 2,400 people who died that day. the event led the united states into world war ii. you're now caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" back after a short break.

good morning, this morning's

"romans' numeral." the number is 200,000 jobs. what industry is creating 200,000 jobs? the once thought to be dead u.s. auto industry. 200,000 jobs coming to the u.s. by 2015, according to research industry firm. made possible by the new labor agreements to hire new workers for less. >> they're on that tiered system now. >> 200,000 auto industry jobs. >> michigan, ohio, indiana, so, that's terrific news. >> there you go. okay, is fsbreakfast making your child fat? kids' cereals are loaded with sugar. some have more sugar than chocolate chip cookies or twinkies. >> that's what makes them taste so good, elizabeth cohen. what did researchers find? >> there's a reason why my kids beg me to buy these things. what researchers found is they looked at 84 breakfast cereals

and they found that three-quarters exceeded proposed federal guidelines for sugar in cereal. so, i'll take you through four of the biggest, what they would call offenders. so, for example, you have here golden crisps and that has 18 grams of sugar and that is as much as a twinkie. so, you're giving your kid as much sugar as a twinkie. isn't that, who knew, exactly. honey smacks, which are called sugar smacks when i was a kid. honey smacks, 20 grams of sugar. >> they took the word sugar out of the title for a reason. >> did they take it out of the cereal? >> honey sounds healthier. eight hershey kisses. you are giving your kid the sugar of eight hershey kisses. let's move on to captain crunch oops all berries. that is the name. that's 15 grams of sugar and that's as much sugar, about as

much sugar as in this doughnut. you think you're giving him the cereal and giving him as much sugar as doughnut. froot loops with marshmallows. that is as much sugar as in four chocolate chip cookies. >> what do those cereal makers saying about this? >> look, we reduced the amount of sugar in our products because people were complaining, basically, and they say our cereal when you eat it with skim milk has essential nutrients and vitamins and i'd like to point something out here, okay. take a look at the amount of cereal in this bowl and i'm going to try to take out some of these kisses here. who eats that much cereal. that is not lalot of cereal. that is a cup. so, you're getting as much sugar, but who eats that much? most people are probably eating a lot more. i know my kids are. >> but with skim millm, that's like eating a cheeseburger and a

diet coke. >> except a cheeseburger that has been infused with a lot of vitamins and nutrients. >> these cereals if you're looking for healthy options for your kids, you don't go for any of those that are on that list, right? what are the healthier options for your kids for breakfast? >> there are healthier options and the trick is you have to put them in your house and take the other ones away because kids would always opt for fruit loops for something like cheerios. so, you have to have just the cheerios or just the rice crispies. much, much less sugar. between one and four grams of sugar. if you look at that whole wheat waffle, that has a whole lot sugar. waffle and fruit, that has sugar, but not as much as we have here. there are things you can do, but i will say as a mom y get it. kids want to eat these things so it's hard to say, no. you're going to have the cheerios, instead. >> i got the whole wheat waffles and then i was noticing that my

children love on it didn't even contain maple syrup it was all high fructose corn syrup and be careful how much i put on there because that undermines the whole whole wheat waffle. >> you think you're doing good. >> i'm just wondering what happens to children's love of cheerios. you always see babies eating cheerios but at some point that goes away. >> the 2-year-old eating cheerios, that's all they know. that's all you're giving them. once they try fruit loops with marshmall marshmallows, they're not going back to cheerios, unless you make them. just don't have it in the house. >> thanks, elizabeth. still to come this morning, newt gingrich widening his lead in the race for the gop nomination, but with less than four weeks to go before the iowa caucuses, can he hold on?

institute gingrich opening up a double-digit lead in the national polls, but life at the top has its challenges.

now, conservatives are coming after him. alec baldwin has an addiction to words with friends. i'm christine romans. how his love for the cell phone game cost him his airline seat on this "american morning." good morning to you. it is wednesday, december 7th. all right, up first this hour newt gingrich stunning surge in the polls. look how far the former house speaker has come. according to gallup he trailed mitt romney with only 13% of the vote. in the first week of november. two weeks later, jumped ahead to 22%. first week of december, gingrich now holds a commanding 15-point lead. paul steinhauser has been watching this chart. paul, a 21-point jump in just -- >> remember, this is a battle

for states and its delegates. gingrich is picking right at the right time. look at this right here, this is cbs/"new york times" poll. newt gingrich 14 points ahead of romney and ron paul, a congressman from texas and rick perry the governor of texas lowered down. an abc/"wash" poll. newt gingrich, by far, the frontrunner in south carolina. one caveat here. in all these polls a lot of likely voters in the primaries say we may still change our minds. four weeks to go until the first votes, christine. >> is that giving mitt romney any hope? if i'm mitt romney, i'm pretty depressed right now. >> here's what romney told us and told reporters in arizona we'll see more of him on the campaign trail. take a listen. >> i'll be on the air a good deal more than in the past doing the very best to communicate to the american people why i'm running for president.

hopefully getting their support and i know the beginning is going to be january 3rd. this will take longer than a week or two to sort out. this will be a campaign that will go on for a while and i expect to win it. >> here's the advantage romney has, though. he has the organization, he's got the structure in the state to get out the vote efforts. gingrich now trying to play catchp there and trying to get his people in place in the early states. that could help romney. four weeks to go until the first votes in iowa. >> whether they want to wait for gingrich to do something wrong, make a mistake and see how those gains are because a lot of people are saying, they could be pretty undecided. >> mitt romney has changed his strategy a little. he's talking to the media more. granting interviews, something he hasn't done in the past. >> exactly. telling us there we'll see more of his on the campaign trail and talk shows. stay tuned. four weeks until the first votes. >> stay tuned to cnn to for the best political coverage on television. ron paul joins us live in the

3:00 p.m. hour of "cnn newsroom." at 4:00 p.m. newt gingrich and rick perry and then at 6:00 eastern michele bachmann goes one-on-one with john king and donald trump makes an appearance on "piers morgan tonight" at 9:00 eastern only on cnn. >> i'm exhausted already. >> i can't wait. >> i can't either. president obama taking his push to extend a payroll tax cut on the road. he was in kansas stressing how he thinks a deal is vital to your paycheck and the american dream. >> they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. in fact, they want to go back to the same policies that stack the deck against middle class americans for way too many years. and their philosophy is simple. we are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. i am here to say, they are wrong. >> failure to reach a deal by the end of the year could cost

you $1,000. and the countdown is officially on. president obama turning up the pressure on congress to extend the popular payroll tax cut with a countdown clock posted on whitehouse.gov, the website. two senators republican susan collins and claire mccaskill are offering a compromise to extend the savings for millions of americans. a bipartisan compromise. still includes a millionaire's tax to pay for it, but a big deal breaker for republicans. but small businesses would get out of paying of it. put a carve out so small millionaires wouldn't have to pay for it. the senators joined us earlier on "american morning." you're making this exception to the millionaire surtax and you hope it is better. senate mccaskill, is that enough to get the bipartisan votes you need? >> i hope so. we're trying to find that compromise it's hard to find around here because too many people are worried about the politics and not the policy.

we want to make sure people don't have a tax increase next year, but carve out the small businesses. >> does not raise taxes on middle income families and it does help to create jobs. we need a way to break through the partisan divide in washington. it simply gets us no where and it's discouraging to employers and the american public at large when we keep having these partisan votes. >> another bipartisan moment. senator claire mccaskill wished her a happy birthday today. we will, too. happy birthday. syrian president assad is, again, denying any way he's responsible for the bloody crackdown against protesters in his own country. speaking to abc's barbara walters assad insisted he has the support of his people and he doesn't believe reports of protesters being tortured or killed. >> do you think that your forces

cracked down too hard? >> they're not my forces. they are media forces that belong to the government. i don't own them. i'm president. >> but you have to give the order? >> no, no, no. >> not by your command. >> no, no one's command. there was no command to kill or to be brutal. >> according to the united nations syria's nine-month crackdown on protesters has killed 4,000 people. new developments this morning in the penn state sex abuse scandal. a 19-year-old man has come forward with new allegations that former assistant football coach jerry sandusky sexually assaulted him when he was just 12 years old. >> this accuser claims that sandusky gave him alcohol first. joining us now is patriot news reporter and cnn contributor sarah ganum. good morning. >> good morning. >> what do we know about this newest victim? >> well, what we know about this man is that he's coming forward with some allegations that we

have not heard before. not totally consistent with some of the other stories. what he says is that when he was 12 years old in 2004, he was staying at the second mile facilities in a dorm-style camp. and was in a pool situation with jerry sandusky and other children and was separated from the other children. taken by sandusky on a tour of the football building on penn state's campus and then taken to an office where he was given whiskey and talked to sandusky about his lich afe and how he e up in the second mile camp and then was assaulted, allegedly. >> this accusation fits in with the profile that we saw in the grand jury report, does it? >> well, you know, there's some things that are consistent and some things that aren't. the attorney that represents this man says that he's trying to corroborate his story by going to the football building and looking for this office and seeing whose office it is, what might be in there right now and, you know, there are allegations

in that grand jury report of jerry sandusky giving or allowing one of the victims to, giving him money to buy pot to buy marijuana. so, that's somewhat consistent, but this is the first time we're hearing of an allegation of providing alcohol and this is the first time that we're hearing nat something might have happened in an office. a lot of other incidents are alleged to have happened in that football building, but all of them in that building are alleged to have happened in shower incidents in the locker room where, you know, it start would a naked shower and progressed to something else. this is a little bit different than that. >> sara ganim, thanks to you. alec baldwin kicked off an american airlines flight at lax for playing that game words with friends. >> it is addicting, christine. >> he fired off a bunch of angry tweets. >> some passengers have a slightly different version of what happened because alec baldwin says, oh, the plane hadn't even taken off yet and

they're telling me to turn off the game. >> he was insulting the flight attendants saying they were being overbearing and just criticizing them. >> and then supposedly he stood up while the plane was taking off and slammed the restroom door but many other passengers in first class, including boxing champion oscar de la hoya. >> i actually felt alec baldwin was turning off his devices and, i don't know, he just got a little angry. >> he was on his phone and didn't want to get off the phone and then he's walking to the bathroom and he became irate and they had to remove him from the flight. >> the airline says they're looking into the incident. just when you thought the cain train had left the station for good, it seems to be rolling back, again. former gop hopeful herman cain is talking to b.e.t. we'll give you a sneak peek. plus, we'll chat live with the man who spoke with cain. new developments in the case

of an american spy drone that crashed last week in iran. why u.s. officials are now calling this a devastating intelligence loss and who might want those military secrets. and snow. yeah, reality hits us right in the face. snow expected to hit the northeast later today. rob marciano tracking the storm for you. you're watching "american morning." it's 11 minutes past the hour.le ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

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welcome back. herman cain will appear in a news documentary tomorrow night on b.e.t. cain's first and only interview taped right before he bowed out of the gop presidential race. here's a peek. >> describe your relationship with the black community? >> i stayed in touch with it while i was climbing the corporate ladder. reunited with the church that i grew up in, got married in. the relationship is one of respect. because they know where my heart is. the people that know me, the people that go to church with me, they don't see me as that republican walking in the door.

they see me as herman cain, a fellow brother. >> joining me now is b.e.t. correspondent emmett miller. good morning. >> how are you? >> i'm great. thanks for joining us this morning. your special is called "the curious case of herman cain." that is a great title. why did you call it that? >> it's a curious man and a curious man. here you have a poor, black man growing up in the ghetto and the projects and works his way through school and went to a traditionally black college and at some point he veered off from where other folks in the '60s. other leaders in the '60s were going for civil rights and he made something of himself with respect to business. he becomes the leader of the national restaurant association. he suddenly becomes the first black candidate to lead a gop field in a presidential race. and he really did have something to say. we delved into his past, we looked at some of the things he had written about. his book in 2005 called, "they

think you're stupid" reads really like a republican manifesto of sorts. >> we just heard, you know, in that sound bite we played from herman cain. we heard him describe his relationship with the black community and it sounds pretty harmonious. he said he was just a fellow brother. was the relationship between cain and the community really that simp snl. >> i wouldn't call it simple, i would call it strong. i would call it very deeply rooted. but there's the phenomenon you're seeing now. you're seeing now someone unlike any other black leader in the conservative movement that's come forth. this is no allen west. this is no alan scott or tim west, this is a man who really did have deep ties to the black community. he's going to the same church that he went to as a child. he goes to a traditionally black college, yet, some of his ideas about where blacks are headed and how they've gotten there are stunning. >> and that leads into another

clip from your interview and i want to play that now where you talk about a portion of his book where he calls the work of black leaders like jesse jackson and julian pond a scam. let's listen. >> the self-appointed black leaders in conjunction with some unfortunately unscrupulous church leaders have convinced many blacks that white racism is the cause of their problems. >> and white racism isn't the cause of many of the problems. and that's the point i was trying to make. >> but a scam? >> you can call it scam. you can call it -- pick whichever word you choose. they've misled too many black people. >> so, he says racism isn't the cause of many of their problems, but it's the cain's scandal piled up during his run for the president, cain sort of did, i don't know if i would do an about face, but i'll use that term for lack of a better one. do you agree with that?

>> i think necessarily in the situation that he was in what his ideas were that if the black community relied on racism, as per the democratic party and let that guide their decisions, then they would never make it out of the cycle of depravity that they found themselves in. and what cain did at the end of his race here was literally let some of his past come back and take him down. but, there really is a story to be told here about who this man was and what his ideas were and that furthers the discussion in the black community on who we are, where we are and why we vote the way that we do. that's the story that was never told. >> i was just going to ask you, as far as black conservatism is concerned, did herman cain make it more palatable for african-americans to feel comfortable about speaking out about their conservatism or did it work the other way? >> i don't think that was his

goal to make it more palatable for him to discuss conservatism. what he wanted to do was bring to light a certain side of the argument that hadn't been told. huge and democratic ideals and that there is a voice that's being illuminated now that says the democratic party literally has corralled blacks to keep their vote. he called it the democratic plantation. and he said that we've got to get off the democratic plantation if we ever want to make it anyway. >> his catastrophic fall, i mean, what does that say to you? what happened there? >> there's an old saying that you can't throw out the weisman with the wisdom or the wisdom with the weisman and i think, if people had tried to paint bill clinton as being a nothing just because he had sex in the oval office, there were people that didn't really have that view

either. in this case, herman cain is a very rich man. herman cain is a man that has an enormous amount of personal who knows if his personality in that arena could have brought down a very decisive discussion about what his ideals were politically. who knows. we may never know. but i think it says that people are multi-facetted and this man certainly was multi-facetted. we'd like to illuminate the other facet. the facet that speaks to the black community that they may not have heard. >> emmett miller, i can't wait to watch the documentary. thank you. the "curious case of citizen cain" premieres tomorrow night on b.e.t. snow is expected to hit the northeast later today. rob marciano in the extreme weather center monitoring this system. good morning, rob. >> it all start would the cold air that drove down into the mexican border. here are some of the numbers out of new mexico. yesterday morning, minus 21 in

estancia. las vegas, new mexico, minus 9. right now temperatures are close to 24 in el paso. temperatures in 40s and 50s across southern california and freezing mark in houston and, meanwhile, 55 degrees in new york city. now, a couple hours ago it was 61. so a mild rain at least right now and see colder air filter into this later on today. new york to atlanta and atlantic city we're looking to light to moderate rainfall. that will be on the increase. memphis, meanwhile, a couple inches of snow and some icy roads or at least the bridges and overpasses and some snow actually falling across northern parts of mississippi. winter weather advisories out here for a couple of inches of snow, mostly accumulating on grassy surfaces and certainly slick spots along secondary roadways and bridges and then the timing of this comes tonight and really tomorrow morning with a changeover from rain to snow begins across the northeast. notice we don't have a whole lot painted here and that will mostly be in the form of rain

but you go off inland a little bit north and west of the cities. four to eight inches possible in some spots. we are seeing some travel delays this morning. see these on the increase not only today, but tomorrow. seeing anywhere from 30 to an hour and a half as far as delays are concerned. that is a quick check on weather. it is 22 minutes after the hour. "american morning" is coming right back. act my age?

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it's 25 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morn p timothy geithner says that eu leaders will be successful in their negotiations to tackthal debt crisis there. those negotiations begin friday in brussels. a check on the markets right now. u.s. stock futures are

retreating, turning mixed at the moment. they were up earlier because of optimism the eu leaders will hammer out a solution to that meeting and actually, potentially double the size of its bailout fund and change the constitution of that to make it stronger. a new credit report is digging deeper into your financial history. a company called core logic has introduced a new credit file based on its massiveida data ba of information. this is information that is not currently considered by the credit bureaus. bottom line for you, though, if you make payments on time every time, your credit score will work for you and not against you. but beaware, a lot more information about you being perused by your creditors and banks right now. you don't have to tell cell phone users but for the second year in a row, consumer reports say at&t is the world's worst mobile carrier. at&t is committed to getting

better and better. next, it's not iowa, it's croatia. we'll talk with author jennifer wilson and her husband about their family's odyssey in her new book "running away to home." "american morning" back right after the break. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. 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.

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to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. and welcome back to "american morning." it's 30 minutes past the hour. time for this morning's top stories. newt gingrich opening up double-digit leads over mitt romney in three new national polls. gingrich sits down with wolf blitzer in "the situation room" tonight at 4:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. president obama saying it's a make or break time for the middle class. the president travelled to the republican heartland of kansas yesterday to talk about the fragile u.s. economy, how to fix it. he called on congress to extend the payroll tax holiday that has saved americans $1,000 in take-home pay this year. a new accuser coming forward saying former penn state coach jerry sandusky sexually

assaulted him when he was 12 and gave him alcohol. sandusky is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, involving eight other young boys. a preliminary hearing is set for tuesday. whether it was shut down or a malfunction brought it down, a top secret u.s. spy drone that crashed last week in iran, it may now be an open book. >> officials concede if there was anything left of the unmanned aircraft the technology is likely in the hands of the russians or the chinese by now. chris lawrence live at the pentagon for us this morning. chris, by most accounts this is a, this is pretty much a devastating intelligence loss for the united states. >> yeah, carol. u.s. official is now telling us that the guidance system failed and that is what brought the plane down. they briefly considered sending a team in to retrieve it, but the white house said no boots on the ground in iran. they also disregarded a plan to destroy the wreckage from the air.

they say the drone has been significantly damaged and now iran is trying to figure out what to do with it next. when the u.s.'s newest stealth drone crashed on the wrong side of the afghanistan/iran border it may have sparked a shopping spree for america's adversaryies. >> i'm guessing there were several people who tried to buy airline tickets to tehran from moscow and beijing the last couple of days. >> reporter: peter singer says if the rq 170 is relatively in tact, the iranians will likely give the drone to china, who can unlock its secrets and sell the completed technology back to ir iran. >> the chinese probably have one of the best technology gathering, espionage services in the world, if not the best. >> reporter: retired air force intelligence officer says the missing drone is faster, smarter and stealthier than commonly used drones like the predator. on radar, the setinal comes across as being something other than what it actually is.

>> they show up very briefly, if at all. they show up in perhaps something they could be disguised in a flock of birds or something like that. or another type of aircraft. >> reporter: they flew surveillance over osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. if the drone's technology is compromised, other nations will likely des have better defenses against it. >> and if they emulate us, we will find it much more difficult to go after them and to go after the defenses, as well as the assets that they're trying to protect. in the case of iran, that would perhaps be their nuclear weapons systems. >> now, if all this sounds far fetched considering there may be nothing but fragments left, remember this. back in 1999, one of america's first spy planes was shot down over serbia. balkan military officials say chinese officials bought up pieces of that plane from local farmers and when china introduced its own stealth plane

earlier this year, a lot of experts say it borrowed elements from american technology. christine? >> wow. you would think, though, chris, if iran had this thing, they would be showing it off, maybe on state television. >> you would. we haven't seen any pictures of the actual wreckage, only the iranian claims, but they may be trying to, you know, pump that up a little bit. you know, if the u.s. officials are saying they've got nothing but fragments and rubble and the iranians are saying, no, it's relatively in tact, they may not want to show that crash site, which, you know, may prove the lie. >> interesting stuff. and disturbing at the same time. chris lawrence, thank you. syrian president bashar al assad declaring, we don't kill our people when pressed about the crackdown on bloody protesters in his country. >> do you think that your forces cracked down too hard? >> they're not my forces.

they're media forces that belong to the government. i don't own them. i'm president. i don't know the country. >> but you have to give the order. >> no, no, no. >> not by your command. >> no. no one's command. there was no command to kill or to be brutal. >> our ivan watson is live in izsti istanbul. who is in charge of his military then? >> well, if you listen to and you trust bashar's initiative, he has nuthing to do with the killing that has taken place in his country. he claims the majority of the more than 4,000 people killed over the last seven months, according to the united nations are supporters of his government. that contradicts the accounts of human rights organizations and the united nations and the arab league of states, as well, who have all pressed for sanctions

against his government and accused bashar al assad's regime of crimes against humanity. it's not the first time we've heard him deny these accusations. he's gone so far as to even say that he met with the father of a 13-year-old boy whose mutilated body became a rallying cry of fury for many opposition protesters. and claimed that that boy was not even tortured at all. so, we have completely contradictory narratives here that really don't fit with the eyewitness accounts that we have heard from syrian refugees and members of the security forces that are streamed across the border from syria over the course of the past half year who have said to us, we were given orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators. back to you. >> he told barbara walters when she asked him about that boy, i don't believe you. she said, we've seen the

pictures and we have all of this evidence that this child was tortured and killed and he said, i don't believe you. >> it does seem that he has a problem accepting reality or that his strategy is just a deny, deny, deny. but the problem is the situation on the ground shows real signs of spiraling out of control. the syrian state news agency claimed that there was a battle on the border between syria and this country, turkey. yesterday turkish officials have denied that. but there have been reports of very disturbing sectarian murders and kidnappings in one very restive city. the general secretary of the arab league has warned of sectarian submission and as he denies that this blood letting is taking place and that his security forces may have a big role in it, syria seems to be inching closer and closer towards a terrifying sectarian conflict.

the likes of which we've already seen in iraq and that we saw in lebanon in the 1980s. >> ivan watson reporting live for us this morning, thanks. all right, still to come. would you sell all your worldly possessions and then name your own price garage sale and leave the american dream to go to the old country that your forefathers left? >> it's italy for me, so, yeah. >> to live with your kids. >> this is croatia. it's chronicled in the new book "running away to home." author jennifer wilson and her husband join us with their epic voyage and what they discovered about themselves, their family and the real american dream. it's 38 minutes after the hour.

welcome back. jennifer wilson found the american dream in croatia. she and her husband and two little kids left their life in des moines, iowa to spend a year in her family's homeland. they discovered a new love for themselves and as a family. jennifer wilson and her husband, jim hoff join us this morning. >> good morning. >> i love this idea of this typical american family in des

moines, two kids, two jobs. you got the big life and then you sell everything in a name your own price garage sale and move the family to croatia. are you crazesny. >> little more back story. you know, jim and i were feeling restless. we were not connecting with each other or the kids. we were just moving all the time, whether it was shopping at the big box store, going to this practice or that rehearsal and that same time the rest of the immigrants passed away. i got her personal papers and she talked about this little village where the family came from and i started getting obsessed with this idea of what it would be like. the more i learned about this place, what would the ancestors have to teach me and my family about family and about how to get through hard times. the recession was hitting about that time and we just felt like we needed a reset. >> jim, you said you looked and

you lost half of the 401(k) anyway, the stock market crashed, maybe it was a sign that you should do something new. >> i mean, we figured that if anything it would be good practice if things were going to get worse before they got better. >> but did you find, tell me about this town. there's a reason why our ance ancestors left the old country and built an american dream here. we sometimes get restless with the american dream. we can still make it here. >> right. you know, one of the things that we learned is gratitude for the real bravery and courage it took for our ancestors to come to this country and we sort of rediscovered that. they've been through tough times in croatia and the surrounding countries. it's been hard and, so, we sort of learned just what, just what the great-grandparents saved us from by coming here and we have to live with gratitude because of that. it was a big lesson for us there. >> in the end, the people in this village, jim, said you are the most croatian of everyone. and you are not croatian.

>> i lived a substantial part of their time that was absolutely not croatian. i just, i kind of fit in right away. i don't know why. >> he's adaptable. >> he is. he is very relaxed, open minded iowan. >> we are leaving your soccer practices and ballet and school and leave what most people strive to achieve and go to a town that has sheep around the post office and moon shine, apparently. >> the clear liquid of the gods. you sboe sam and zaddie. she was only 4 when we started talking about this and she was just happy to be with her parents all the time. >> she said, you know, i'm in day care now, really, because you both work and i'd love to be with you 24/7. >> it brought home to us how important it was that they were still young and needed us so much. it was time to focus on family time. >> most people can't do a reset like this, it's just not, i

mean, they just can't. what about, jim, is this something, is there something you can tell families who feel like maybe they are caught in this just cycle of paying attention to your job, paying attention to your career and paying attention to your friends and trying to achieve stuff and you kind of lose sight of your family. >> no, what you're saying, i was leaving early for work and i was coming home late and there wasn't, you know, seeing your kids from 6:30 until 8:00 and putting them to bed. getting home early and taking some time and having dinner with them, i mean, that would be the simple thing to take home. not everybody can have cattle on the ground floor of their house. >> will there be another trip for you guys? you have gotten great reviews. book list said this is something like, in comparison to year in provauns, a travel log. >> you know, christine, everyone is saying croatia is the new france, so, really, it's a good idea to just go back to croatia, i think. >> do we have to go to croatia

to find ourselves, again? you've done it, what can people take away for the reset for their family, i guess? >> i don't think you have to spend nine months in a compact quarwith your family of four to reset your lives. but i think it's an important thing to stop, slow down and just make eye contact with your kids or partner and ask how it's going that day. it has a way of slowing down and resetting your day and i think one day at a time, you just try to kind of come back to those things that are important to you. >> is the american dream dead. the american dream is dead, it's behind us. you've been to where it started from. where people left to get it? >> i think the american dream is changing. and it should change. and connecting with the places where we're from is a good place to start. i mean, we can't forget that we came from lots of countries and we have to remain connected with them, too. they're also part of our family. >> jennifer wilson, jim hoff, good to see you. the book is called "running away to home." thank you for sharing your story

and going to croatia to find it. >> thank you for having us. still ahead. 99-1 shot. woman goes from wall street protester to wall street professional. that's right.

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50 minutes past the hour. welcome back. many schools across the country are faced with overcrowding problems. yesterday we showed you one new york city school so packed they had to use the attic and the basement and bathrooms as classrooms, but smaller class sizes aren't always better. undercrowding is a problem, too. >> we want to tell you about the unique challenges of schools with diminishing student populations like this one in vermont. take a look. this is what many schools look like around the country, classes in trailers and attics and halls. the overcrowding is overwhelming and angering parents. but, in the cow patches of vermont, class sizes are at an all-time low. so small at waybridge elementary school that 5-year-old dillon stow is the only child in kindergarten this year. >> i really like that they get a lot of individualized attention.

that teaching can be specific to where they're at. the teacher can meet them where their need is. they feel very safe and also very confident. and asking questions. >> reporter: vermont has the smallest class sizes in the country. the product of an aging population and a low birth rate. waybridge students get home cooked meals and one-on-one time with teachers. >> extraordinarily important part of teaching is being able to listen to children. understand how they're thinking and how they're constructing information. ♪ mountains are my home >> reporter: the state of vermont has asked all of its communities, whether they can afford all these small schools and the hefty tax bill that comes with them. waybridge, a town of dairy farmers spends about $17,000 per child when the national average is under 10. but weybridge residents say their school was more than just a costly building.

>> once the school closes, there really isn't a center. no commercial district in weybridge. very few businesses at all. so, the center of activity, community activity is the school. >> reporter: weybridge combined classes to create a critical mass, but a quarter of the school's children graduate this spring. dylan's teacher fears too few affects learning. >> it also describes the amount of fire power or brain power in the classroom. >> reporter: dylan likes all the attention, but would still like to see a few more kids his age. >> another kindergartner here. >> that guy is adorable. every community in vermont is proposing solutions to the diminishing school population there ranging from ways to attract more young families to the state to importing students from china whose parents are

willing to pay to get an american, rural education. >> it's unbelievable. imagine you are the only kid in the class. it would just be lonely. i know you're with the teacher a lot. >> you'd really look forward to recess when you can play with the other kids, too. >> so much older than he is. >> almost harkens back to the one-room school houses. they had a couplecouple kinden gartner. >> more than 35 kids per classroom, they had to go to school in shifts where there is a terrible overcrowding problem. >> the challenges in the system are so different and so diverse depending on where you are. shows you how those problems have to be solved right there on the ground because they're so unique. still to come, down and out occupy protester who is now occupying a wall street office. you're watching "american morning."

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welcome back to "american morning." the new york woman felt she simply had no place to turn. >> even though she has a ph.d. in science she went to zuccotti park and went to wall street protester to wall street professional. here is her remarkable story. >> reporter: somewhere in this gathering of the so-called 99%, there is one who would soon join the 1. she just didn't know it yet. >> there were some days when it it was a carnival or lots of music, drumming, costumes, marching, protesting. >> reporter: tracy says she jumped right into the "occupy wall street" movement all in banging drums and washing dirt and paint-covered sidewalks.

in the past few years the biochemist found herselves unemployed and underemployed until a few weeks ago when she decided to change her protest sign to a job wanted sign and bunkered down in zuccotti park with a handful of resumes. >> passersby would say, get a job. i wouldn't have a really good response to that. i wanted to say, well, i'm trying to get a job. but you can't really prove it. i said, why don't i make a sign and hand out my resume at "occupy wall street." that is proving that i'm actively looking for a job. >> reporter: in two days she says someone spotted her, exchanged e-mails and a job offer followed. that someone, a top executive at a wall street financial firm, in other words, the enemy. >> it might sound like it's a fish out of water story or a square peg in a round hole, but it's really not. tracy, how is your new boss? >> i like him. >> reporter: for now, tracy is