making news this morning, kidnapped. >> a 70-year-old american aide worker with health problems taken by terrorists. al qaeda's leader listing a lengthy list of demands. we're live in pakistan. mr. confidence. newt gingrich tells abc news he's going to be the gop nominee. and defying death. 3,000 feet up, an inch-wide rope and no safety net. good morning. i'm sunny hostin. >> and i'm rob nelson. we begin, now, with a developing story. that american aide worker kidnapped from his pakistani home back in august is now an al qaeda hostage. >> that's the claim of the

terror group's leader who says they won't release aaron weinstein until demands are met. good morning, sunny. aaron weinstein is the first american kidnapped in pakistan since danny pearl was executed in 2002. it's come as a shock to people here. weinstein was a development expert over 70 years old. his work was uncontroversial. he worked with people like furniture sellers and dairy farmers, which makes al qaeda's demands all that more extraordinary. ayman al zawahiri, listing nine demands, including nato end air strikes in pakistan and afghanistan. and release of taliban prisoners from everywhere, including guantanamo bay. u.s. officials dismissing those demands as a bit out landish. >> is kidnapping a new tactic being used by al qaeda? >> reporter: it hasn't been used

in pakistan since pearl was kidnapped in 2002. but u.s. officials say it's not really a surprise. when navy s.e.a.l.s came into pakistan to kill bin laden in may, they found documents that showed that al qaeda wanted to get back into the kidnapping business to make some money, actually. but it seems the demands from al qaeda suggests that weinstein's kidnapping is more about making a political statement than about making money. >> our thoughts and prayers with him, for sure. abc's nick schifrin live in pakistan. thanks, nick. and in another developing story from that region, a major milestone in baghdad this morning. the u.s. has turned its headquarters over to iraq. comp victory is the massive bass built around one of saddam hussein's houses. at the height of the war, actually housed as many as 70,000 troops and contractors. soldiers could fish in manmade lakes and play golf. the last u.s. soldier is set to leave today. not many people would want to switch places with herman

cain right now. the republican presidential hopeful will see his wife in person for the first time today since the bombshell allegation f o of his 13-year affair with vinger white. all of which was news to mrs. cain until this week. cain says he'll decide whether to stay in the race by monday after he talks to his wife. the candidate making most of the cain campaign implosion is newt gingrich. it wasn't long ago that the former house speaker was a footnote in the race. now, he's surging in the polls and making bold predictions about november. abc's jake tapper sat down with the new front-runner. >> reporter: in iowa, former house speaker newt gingrich told us that his rise from asterisk afterthought to front-runner is different from that of other former republican flavors of the week, michele bachmann, rick perry, herman cain. >> those guys were the new kids on the block. and isn't this wonderful? and boy it'd be great if it

worked out. and we don't know anything about them. i'm the guy that's been around forever. >> reporter: and with this new status come vicious attacks from his opponents. but giall ego, is undeterrfor a small ego, is undeterred. >> i'm going to be the nominee. it's very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high i'm going to be the nominee. >> reporter: but some republicans have reservations. two, specifically, that i keep hearing. they worry that even though you are a familiar figure, that maybe there still are skeletons in your closet that we don't know about. are there any skeletons that we don't know about? >> not that i know of. i mean, again, given the nature of the modern world, whatever is there i'm sure will come out in the end. >> reporter: and then, the other concern has to do with your propensity to make outrageous, interesting, whatever adjective you'd like to assign, remarks. like the remarks you made about child labor laws being stupid. >> young children who have poor ought to learn how to go to work. it would be great if inner city schools and poor neighborhood schools actually hired the children to do things. they could work in the library in the front office.

some of them could be janitorial. >> reporter: democrats could very easily take that comment and say, newt gingrich wants inner city kids to become janitors at age 10. >> and that's a lie. >> reporter: gingrich has been through his share of personal controversy. so, i also asked him if he had any advice for his fellow republican candidate, herman cain. cain. gingrich says that cain needs to stop, open up his heart, and think very carefully about what he owes his family. jake tapper, abc news, in des moines, iowa. we'll hear more from all the candidates a week from tomorrow, when abc news hosts the iowa republican debate. that's next saturday, december 10th, at 9:00 p.m. eastern. in other news this morning, the time is now running out for the senate to extend a payroll tax cut for about 160 million americans. dueling plans, one backed by the white house, the other backed by top republicans were both defeated yesterday. no surprise now, both sides are blaming each other for the gridlock. but they do say a deal will be

done by the end of the year. californians are bracing for another windy day. but not nearly as bad as yesterday. ferocious santa ana winds wreaked havoc from california to colorado. more than 300,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark. and power may not be restored in some areas until sunday. we'll have much more on wild weather coming up shortly. >> amazing footage out west. good luck with all that. those powerful western winds subside by midafternoon. snowshowers in the southern california mountains. six to ten inches of snow in the rockies, from utah and idaho. down to arizona and new mexico. flurries and freezing rain in the texas panhandle. rainy around laredo and dallas. >> a warm 77 in miami. 53 in new york. upper 30s in detroit and omaha. 30 in minneapolis. a cool 59 in phoenix. 64 in san francisco. and 42 in seattle. well, you may remember that young lady out in california who had lost her dog.

>> that's right. arle corona wore a bikini for six days. >> it worked. corona was reunited with her dog who was safe with a school nurse. the dog has a microchip to make sure she is never lost again. the bikini worked. >> i'm not so sure. i'm glad they're reunited. we're just getting started. coming up, why it's actually healthy to swear. >> i'm going to live forever. if you bought tickets from tick ticketmaster, you probably have money coming back to you. part of a huge settlement. and coca-cola changing its can plan after public outcry. some even saying it tastes different.t.t.t.t.t.t.t.t.t.t.t.

welcome back, everybody. the markets will be paying pretty close attention this morning to the november jobs report. economists predict the report will say at least 100,000 new jobs were created last month. but the number of people filing for unemployment went up. with all those new jobs, the unemployment rate will just stay at about 9%. and a study out today finds only 7% of those who lost their jobs during the recession have recovered. that is they returned to or got their previous status. twice as many say their reduction of incomes and lifestyles has been drastic.

tokyo's nikkei average gained 46 points today. hong kong's hang seng added 38 points. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow lost 26 pointsy ed. the nasdaq index picked up six. listen up if you use ticketmaster's website in the last 12 years, you could be getting a refund. a proposed class-action settlement has the company refunding the processing fees because they were deceptive. don't spend it all in one place. the refund is only $1.50 per transaction. and only 17 transactions. so, not a fortune. burger king plans to roll out better french fries next week. a series of upgrades at the company. b.k. says the new fries taste better and has crispier outside. it looks like wendy's is close to overtaking burger king as the number two burger change.

a month ago, coke began using a special white can for the holidays. customers didn't like that. they said it looked too much like diet coke. out is rushing holiday design next week. in what color? that would be red. >> if you want the diet coke, it says diet on the can -- i'm just saying. people in a rush. >> grab something. red is coming back. >> yes, it is. next on this friday morning, a country singer's custody standoff, mindy mccready, now in violation of a judge's orders. and those damaging western winds picking up again. the destruction not over yet. glad that one's over. yeah, i know what you mean. cigarette? you coming? umm, nah you go ahead. i'm good. alright. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, you celebrate a little win.

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three, two, one. >> and just like that, president obama helped light the national

christmas tree right there behind the white house. the 26-foot-tall colorado blue spruce was grown at a nursery in new jersey. it was the 89th christmas tree lighting. but the first for this tree. the old one was actually blown over last winter. now, for a look at morning road conditions. a windy commute on i-5, from san diego to sacramento. and i-80, from san francisco to reno. snow on i-15, from san bernardino to vegas. and i-40, around flagstaff and amarillo. wet on i-10 from phoenix to san antonio. and i-20, across texas. >> and if you're flying today, airport delays are possible in los angeles, las vegas and san francisco. well, people across california have a big job on their hands this morning trying to clean up the mess left behind by that powerful -- those powerful santa ana winds in more than a decade. >> it's wild weather. and it's not over yet. winds expected to hit 65 miles per hour today. and they're posing a fire danger, as well. abc's tahman bradley has the latest on all the extensive damage. >> reporter: the santa ana winds

usually don't pack this strong of a punch. in california this morning, many residents are trying to clear debris blocking their front doors. >> we couldn't get out. we had to crawl through trees. we thought it was going to come through the house. >> reporter: in los angeles, there was a state of emergency after the warm winds tore through the city. >> if you don't have to leave your house, why do it? >> reporter: big rig trucks wed. tossed on the side of freeways. traffic lights toppled. a gas station wrecked. transformers blown out, leaving more than 300,000 without power. the santa ana winds arrive in california every fall. but the winds this year were ferocious. >> windows were rattling. it was kind of like experiencing an earthquake without the shaking. >> sounds like hurricane. very scary. we couldn't sleep. >> reporter: the worst winds continued across ten western states. high wind warnings and advise is have been issued in utah, nevada, wyoming, arizona and new mexico, and are expected to

eventually hit further east, oklahoma, missouri and indiana. in utah and colorado, gusts higher than 100 miles per hour blew debris everywhere. >> our house is just swaying back and forth. and the kids are screaming. and the power's off. >> reporter: this morning, after more heavy winds overnight, fire crews worry that small blazes could become wildfires. >> firefighters are snapping up all over southern california, including our department. over 200 extra firefighters. >> reporter: there's some harnessing the wind for their amusement, while others stay inside and enjoy the day off. tahman bradley, abc news. as we mentioned earlier, power in some towns is not expected to be fully restored until sunday. new fallout from the hazing death of a college band member. four students have been expelled from florida a&m university. their dismissals are linked to the death of robert champion. but the school isn't specifying what exactly they did. champion was found dead on a bus two weeks ago after a football game. several investigations into his death are continuing. also, country singer mindy

mccready has violated a judge's custody order and missed a deadline to bring her 5-year-old son back to florida. mccready says she is in tennessee and cannot travel because she's seven months pregnant with twins. her mother was awarded custody in 2007. but mccready just took him during a recent visit. a 13-year-old boy has been denied admission to a private pennsylvania boarding school because he is hiv-positive. now, his family is suing. administrators at the milton hershey school say they were concerned about safety and could not handle a student with a chronic communicable disease. the school caters solely to underprivileged kids. well, it turns out swearing might actually be good for you. at least when it comes to relieving pain. a new study found people who do not often use expletives could cope with discomfort better by sweari but researchers say the same bad words have no effect on people who normally swear all the time. >> that's bull. i'm joking. time for sports news this morning.

the champions of college football's major conferences will be crowned tonight and tomorrow. and week 13 in the nfl is already under way. some highlights, now, from the good folks over at espn news. >> good morning. my name is todd grisham. and this is your espn news update. thursday night football. seahawks hosting the eagles. watch this play. they give to marshawn lynch. and where did he go? marshawn? marshawn? where are you at? there he is. scoring the touchdown. take another look. he's like camouflage. and then, he stumbles out and scores. makes it 7-0. but marshawn was not done. he gets the carry in the second quarter. same score. same result. see ya later, marshawn. he had 148 yards, the most since his rookie year, 2007. it's 14-0, at that point. third quarter, seahawks up by ten. tarvaris jackson finds golden tate.

what a grab. look at his feet. got to get both of them down in the pros. and he does it. so, it's 24-7. fourth quarter, eagles down seven. and a lot of people not big fans of vince young. well, he threw four interceptions, which was horrible. this is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. the pass to shawn mccoy cuts the deficit to ten. and later, young. ooh, boy. that's not good. touchdown, david hawthorne. and the seahawks rolling at home. the final score, 31-14. for all your day's highlights and sports news, there's only one place to go. espn news. it's what we do. my name's todd grisham. have a good day. continuing with the sports now. we know that president obama likes his basketball. >> yes, he does. now, there's lots of buzz about what he was wearing at a recent game.

>> it all stems from this picture, the president carrying a pair of under armour sneakers. they were actually a special model, complete even with a presidential seal. >> i love it. they're a prototype for a model coming out next year. and they already have a nickname, air force one, the same as a famous nike shoe. >> the commander in chief. kind of cool. up next, "the pulse." some new video sure to grab your attention this morning, including this one we found, walking a tightrope 3,000 feet above the ground. unbelievable. i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on top of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculis, lymphoma, other cancers,

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all right. time to check "the pulse," and some stories you've just got to see this morning. we're going to start with a video that's been viewed more than 3 million times online. check it out. >> c5. c6. little kid crossing the street.

let's see how stupid these guys are. and, yep. knew that was coming. >> that brief race took place in texas on thanksgiving morning. of course, street racing is illegal. and the guys in both corvettes are now facing third-degree felony charges. >> they have both denied, though, they were actually racing. how about we call it trying to get to the same place first? not too smart, guys. not too smart. and those cars -- >> on thanksgiving, when all the families are around. >> unbelievable. if heights make you queasy, you may want to look away. an austrian daredevil crossed one of yosemite's deepest gullies on a tightrope, 3,000 feet in the air with no safety harness. >> he made the crossing four times. three with the safety rope and once without. but as extreme and death-defying

this stunt seems, it turns out, it's not record-setting. a yosemite veteran tells abc news, quote, it's been done before. >> i can't believe it was done before. i can't believe it was done again. >> where they find the bravery to do that. and once without a safety harness? are you kidding me? some guys are brave. >> scared me just to watch it. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, the late-night comics on this very wild week for gop candidate, herman cain. i think we can -- him for all of the allegations about that affair. we'll have this and more when "atm" continues after this. as a former fighter pilot, i like the fact that quicken loans offers va loans. i worked with a real person while doing everything online. it was the best of both worlds. their rates and fees were low, and their crew kept me updated through every step of the process. quicken loans is a lot like me -- we're both engineered to amaze.

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rising tensions and new barricades lead to clashes. arrests were made. >> an event that many are calling a landmark moment for the war in iraq. mike continues to track the winds. they are finally tapering that will lead to a warm day possibly a warm weekend. >> frances will look at your traffic. join us next a well, revelations about herman cain's alleged affair have dominated the political news all week long. and today, cain will have to screen himself even more when he sees his wife for the first time

face-to-face since the story broke. >> that's right. not surprisingly, the late-night comics have already taken their share of pot shots. >> folks, i am sad to say that tonight, my man, herman cain, is still deep in campaign reconsideration mode. i don't get why he would he would consider dropping out now. he hasn't had a scandal in almost 36 hours. he's on a roll. >> a woman named ginger white claimed she had a 13-year-long extramarital affair with herman cain. a claim mr. cain has denied-nied-nied. he's starting to remind me of a black tiger woods. you know? >> she says for 13 years, he flew her to meet him in hotels and lavished her with gifts. >> all right. all right. first of all, those gifts didn't look too lavish. let's focus on the positive here. focus on the positive. okay. okay. two things.

one, 13 years? that is an admirable commitment, to the woman with whom you are violating your spousal commitment with. and, two, after all of those allegations of sexual harassment underlings, nice to see herman cain going the consensual route. kudos. >> the hermanator, appeared on fox news. and neil, in a round-about way asked him if there were any more ginger whites to look forward to? >> can you say unequivocally tonight, that there were others that might be coming forward? >> i have worked with and helped a lot of people, male and female. there's no way for me to say unequivocally. >> that's right. heard that right. there's no way for you to say what? >> that's no way for me to say unequivocally. >> i can't say it, either. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> sta