travel nightmare. get away day for thanksgiving meets the perfect storm. border battle. newt gingrich may have said a little too much at last night's debate. and crash course. a helicopter pilot somehow survives a horrific wreck. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, november 23rd, 2011. the day before thanksgiving. good morning, everybody. good to see you. i'm terrell brown. this is the traditional get-away day for the thanksgiving holiday. this year, despite the lagging economy, a significant increase in holiday travel is expected. the wednesday before thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year. 42.5 million are expected to

travel 50 miles or more this holiday according to aaa, most by car. a 4% of those traveling on the roadways compared to last year. rough weather across the country. it could be a travel nightmare for many. storms are pounding both the east and west coast, making to slick spots on the roads and may be big problems at the airports. >> reporter: the skies could stay dark all day in the northeast. a major storm system pushed into the region tuesday and stalled threatening to make a busy travel day messy for millions. 8% of the holiday travelers will go by air, or at least try to. >> i think we are an hour late. we just checked. >> we have a delay, yes. the flight is showing delayed right now. >> this flight is delayed by one hour. >> even though a lot of these flights are just on a couple of hour delay, you're missing connections. >> reporter: already jammed airports will get swamped today. in the ripple effect of delays and cancellations could extend all over the country.

the northwest knows the feeling. a huge autumn storm slammed into the pacific coast tuesday, packing hurricane force winds and flooding coastal communities. with so much rain, you could find fish where you least expect. >> they should have signs up, salmon crossing. >> reporter: the deluge made any kind of travel like swimming upstream. especially in the mountain areas where freezing temperatures turned inches of rain into feet of snow. the good news, though, tomorrow, thanksgiving day, the weather in most of the weather will be calm, sunny, and cooler in the northeast and midsection. but folks in the northwest will have to deal with rain, and, yes, snow. politics now on this wednesday. at last night's republican presidential debate, their 11th, by the way, newt gingrich raised some conservative eyebrows with comments on how to handle illegal immigrants in this country. the good news for gingrich, he is surging in the polls. a just released poll of

republican voters finds 26% of them would vote for the former speaker of the house. 22% for romney and herman cain 14% and followed by rick perry and ron paul. tara mergener is in washington with more. good morning to you. >> good morning to you, terrell. >> reporter: the former house speaker really stood out last night, taking a softer stand on immigration and breaking with traditional republican thinking. newt gingrich says he is prepared to take the heat for his stance on immigration. >> i don't see how -- the party that says it's the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter century. >> reporter: at last night's debate in washington, the latest gop front-runner risked alienating the core conservative base proposing that illegal immigrants be allowed to stay in the country if they have already laid roots in the u.s. >> i don't believe you would make 11 million workers legal bus that, in effect, is amnesty. >> reporter: his rivals fired back. calling imping gingrich's proposal -- >> people respond to incentives and if you can become a

permanent resident of the united states by coming here illegally, you'll do so. >> reporter: national security and foreign policy dominated the agenda, but the candidates also discussed congress' failure to reduce a deficit reduction deal this week, putting the blame on president obama. >> we have a president of the united states who is not a leader. he pitched this over to them and said, here, y'all figure this out. >> reporter: rick perry and mitt romney slammed potential budget cuts the pentagon is now facing as a result. other contenders were open to trimming military spending in order to bring down the deficit. >> everything has got to be on the table. the defense department has got to be on the table, for heaven's sake. >> reporter: the candidates have just six weeks to go before the iowa caucuses, the first chance for voters to officially make their presidential pick. and there were definitely fewer fireworks in this debate. all of the candidates were not allowed to answer any one question, resulting in little back and forth. terrell? >> tara mergener in washington for us this morning, good to see you. thanks.

president obama is back in washington this morning, after pushing his payroll tax cut in new hampshire. shortly after speaking yesterday, he was interrupted by members of the occupy movement. >> i had -- >> after the speech, as mr. obama worked the group, a member of the group handed president a note and mentioned the arrest of protesters and said stop the assault on our first amendment rights. yaever overseas. anti-government protesters are not convinced. they were shouting leave, leave. demonstrations throughout the country continue this morning. at least 30 people have been killed since the clashes with police began on saturday. in a televised address yesterday, an army chief

promis promised the civilian president would be elected by june, six months earlier than planned, but then he suggested a referendum on whether military rules should end early. three american college students were arrested during the anti-american protesters. derrick sweeney's mother said he got caught up. seth doane reports. >> reporter: this was the first video she seen of her son derek. she described her 19-year-old a student at georgetown university as passionate and bright. >> he believes in being peaceful, peaceful negotiations, peaceful discussions, so that's why we just have a hard time believing that he could be part of anything violent. >> reporter: but the twitter page of another one of the students, 21-year-old luke gates, a junior at indiana university, appears to reveal his thinking on his alleged role in the protests. gates writes, he was feeling reckless. in another tweet, he admits we

were throwing rocks and adds, honestly, hopefully, i die here. the third american, 19-year-old gregory porter, a student at drexel university, was known at his glennside, pennsylvania, prep school as a nationally ranked member of the debate team. the head master remembers porter who graduated in 2010. he spoke with porter's mother. what was his reputation like at this school? >> he was a very fine guy and a gifted intellect. quite frankly, quite honestly, he was a very good debater. >> reporter: seth doane, cbs news. the three-man crew of the international space station may have to take refuge in their soyuz space capsule this week. potential threat is a piece of space junk. it is a four-inch piece after destroyed chinese satellite. it may come within half a mile of the station. most times the station is able to move out of the way of space debris, but this morning, it came a little too late. take a quick break on this wednesday. when we come back on the this morning necks, sexual abuse case

of penn state again. angry students confront the head of uc davis. this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ [ female announcer ] everybody loves that cushiony feeling. uh oh. i gotta go. [ female announcer ] and with charmin ultra soft, you can get that same cushiony feeling you love while still using less. ultra soft has extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. ah. [ female announcer ] using less never felt so good.

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duracell. trusted everywhere. at least 20 people were hurt in a school bus accident in maryland. the bus was on its way back from a girl's basketball game when it was involved in a three-way crash with a car and truck south of washington, d.c. 16 students were treated and released. the truckdriver was arrested on a drunk driving charge. all of the local county judges have removed themselves prosecute presiding over the penn state sexual abuse case. judges from other areas will be involved. pennsylvania officials are investigating two new cases of child abuse alleged against former football coach jerry sandusky. they are the first known cases of people under the age of 18, ma means the abuse may have happened recently. the chancellor of university of california-davis got a an earful during a town hall we

pepper spray the students? >> the protesters have set up tents on the occupy site on campus again. so far, the university is allowing them to stay. the texas judge caught on tape beating his daughter back in 2004 has been suspended. the disturbing video has been viewed more than 6 million times on youtube. county court judge william adams had been suspended with pay pending investigation. cbs "moneywatch" time now. your boss may be watching you on cyberwednesday. here we go. ashley morrison is in new york and more on that. hong kong's hang sang was down more than 2% and japan's nikkei was closed. today, wall street gets the

weekly jobless claim numbers and new reports on durable goods and personal income and spending. tuesday, a downward revision of gdp sent stocks lower. the dow lost 53 points, while the nasdaq was down by 1. the federal reserve is ordering a new round of stress tests for the nation's biggest banks. 31 banks will have to show they would be able to withstand a recession if unemployment reaches 13%. there is concern the banks are far too exposed to the european debt crisis. the fed will publish the results next year. netflix is in survival mode. they hope to raise more than 400 million as it tries to recover from a customer backlash that has battered its stock and tarnished its brand. investors are worried about netflix ability to recover from management's decision to raise prices as much as 60% in september. the post office is raising rates on express and priority

mail. beginning january 22nd, the cost will increase roughly 5%. but still cost less than fedex or u.p.s. cybermonday isn't until next week, but your coworkers are getting a head start. 50% of all american employees say they have already spent time shopping online at work. be beware. 22% of employers said they have fired someone for using the internet for nonwork related activities, including shopping, and half of bosses said they keep tabs on what their employees are doing online. that's up 3% from last year. that's good to know, right, terrell? >> yeah, it's nice that you keep an eye on it, but who is watching the bosses, you know? >> good point! >> you yell at me for shopping online but you're updating your status on facebook. how does that work? >> i don't know how that works. i'm doing research. retail research, you know? >> ashley morrison in new york, good to see you. thanks. coming up, we will have your wednesday morning weather.

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the east coast with snow falling across portions of the northeast. the middle of the nation has clear skies. in the northwest, showers continue and move toward the northern rockies. later today, it will be windy and rainy from new york to maine with snow in upper new england. temperatures are cool in the northern plains and great lakes, and a large storm system on the northwest coast could bring wet and wild weather. in sports this morning, there may not be any nba, but there are some great college basketball. let's take a look. the shots kept falling for duke last night at the maui invitational. duke chances to the championship round for the fifth time. they will play kansas. number 14 jayhawks almost blew a 20-point lead against ucla. but they held on to stop the bruins 72-56. kansas takes on duke tomorrow night for the tournament title. in the consolation round, a double overtime threater.

less than a second on the clock, tennessee with a chance to tie. the shot comes up short. tigers hold on to beat the volunteers, 99-97. in baseball, ryan braun has been named the national most valuable player. the four-time all-star smacked 33 homers and 111 rbis and a league leading 77 extra base hits and it helped the milwaukee brewers win their first division title in nearly 30 years. when we come back on this thanksgiving eve, another look at this morning's top stories. and the mystery of an abandoned suitcase down under. wait until you hear what is inside. and have them ready for pick up in 5 minutes, guaranteed. and if the gift we want isn't in store, it's shipped to us, free. only sears lets you get the gifts you want, when you want, at the prices you want. guarantees like that can make anyone a true believer. now that's real joy, guaranteed. use your sears card to earn up to 5% back

in shop your way rewards points. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. [ coughs, sniffles ] especially when you're sick. now, with new simpler packaging, robitussin® makes it simple to get the right relief for your symptoms. new simpler packaging, same effective relief. robitussin®. relief made simple. san francisco dilemma. the mayor tells protesters, let's make a deal. where they could be moving next. he's one of the most hated men in america, for pepper spraying students. why this isn't the first time a u-c davis cop has been accused of bad behavior. families cut off from loved ones right before thanksgiving. the nursing home quarantine that could ruin their holiday. and.. more signs that coffee can

protect against cancer. join us for cbs 5 early edition ... beginning at 4:30. ,,,, on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. a huge system is bringing lots of wind and rain and mountain snow into the pacific northwest. the northeast will be hampered by a mix of rain, sleet and snow. here is another look at this

morning's top stories. it may be a rough get-away today for some of the 42.5 million americans expected to travel this thanksgiving. heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected in much of the northeast and parts of the midwest. it will be much nicer for the holiday. today, the american embassy in cairo expects to see the three american college students who were arrested during the anti-american protests in cairo. egyptian officials say the three were throwing fire bombs from a roof. incredible video here of a helicopter crash in new zealand. the chopper was trying to install a christmas tree today when a blade appears to hit a cable. it breaks apart. parts are flying everywhere and workers are running for safety. amazingly, the pilot walked away from the crash with only minor injuries and no one else was hurt. to a suitcase mystery in australia. a man is in custody this morning after leaving a big bag of money in an italian restaurant. he suffered a medical problem and taken to a local hospital so police are still waiting to question him.

reporter matt doran of australia's network has more. >> reporter: it is a bizarre story of a mystery suitcase full of cash, a very nervous customer and two extraordinarily honest cafe owners. now, police won't say exactly how much cash was in the case, but i understand it to be around $1 million. in any event, i'm sure i'm saving in saying no one has ever paid more for a skinny latte than the gentleman who entered cafe marco behind me before 9:00 this morning. suitcase in hand and dressed in beach wear, he strolled casually up to the rear of the restaurant and took a seat before placing his coffee order. >> a mild appearance. approximately 30 years of age and wearing a pair of board shorts and yellow singlet and was seen to carry the suitcase into the coffee shop and after he had spoken to a number of people inside the coffee shop, he seemed to get spooked. >> reporter: witnesses have told police the man had a brief and curious exchange with a young couple who had been seated nearby as he left the restaurant.

the cash laid in the suitcase behind him as he left. the owners of this small italian cafe had a moment of deliberation but they quickly notified police. >> went to go walk out and put his hands into a woman's bag. a couple sitting there. apparently a couple who haven't been there before and either pulled something out or put something in and then walked out. >> reporter: now, no matter how hard i tried to convince the detectives i had misplaced a lazy million this morning, they say is there a rightful owner for this large sum of cash and they are now appealing them for come forward. >> must be nice. this morning, on "the early show," what to expect when you hit the road this weekend the road. i'm terrell brown. and this is the "cbs morning news."

announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by silk. wake up your cereal routine with the delicious taste of silk. ,,,,

take a look at the surveillance video from a 7-eleven store in silver spring, maryland. a flash mob robbery. young people went to the store to steal snacks and drinks. police nabbed about six suspects and looking for the rest. in wisconsin, police caught a drunk driving suspect after a 911 call. police say this was a first, because the caller was the drunk driver. >> why did you dial 911 back again? >> because i want to basically turn myself in. >> okay. where are you at? >> i am at -- what bank is that?

park city bank. >> the driver blew a breathalyzer test and would you believe it? twice the legal limit is what he blew. he had a sober driver come pick him up at police headquarters. people are preparing the turkey dinner. for many people, putting that turkey on the table is no sure thing, but there is some help available. ben tracy reports. >> reporter: we met minny elford this morning, standing at the corner of this street in los angeles. she had already been in this line for nearly two hours. >> last thanksgiving, i did it all myself. like i said, i could have bought me, you and your whole crew what you wanted, you know? but this year, wow! you see where i am. >> reporter: she was with thousands of other people, waiting for a free turkey and thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of a local limousine company. >> got hungry people out here. >> reporter: minny elford, budgets have slashed her income by 60%.

is it humbling a little bit? >> well, a little, yeah, it is, it is. like i say, i appreciate, i appreciate them. i just wished i could have done it on my own. >> reporter: they handed out 10,000 turkeys and boxes full of vegetables and water. the organizers tell us the first person got in line three days ago. many of these people have been here for six hours and still have at least an hour to go. >> thursday will be -- day. >> reporter: minny elford finally reached the end of the line six hours later. >> thank you! >> you're welcome. >> reporter: so you're no longer worrying about what you're putting on the table? >> no. i know it's done, like i always used to do it, so i'm happy. >> reporter: with this help, she will be able to feed her two children on thursday but next year, she will be even more thankful if she can once again do it on her own. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles.

with that, coming up later on "the early show." hitting the road. your thanksgiving weather and travel forecast and how to deal with it. plus the mother of one of the three americans arrested in egypt talks about her son's ordeal. and channeling marilyn. michelle williams describes how she transformed herself into the legendary star. looks like a good movie too. all that and coming up a little bit later on "the early show." that will do it on this wednesday. i'm terrell brown. take care. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com