on our friday night broadcast, her side of the story. tonight what one of herman cain's accusers is saying as new poll numbers show the effect of the scandal on his candidacy. waiting game. tonight the fate of michael jackson's doctor is in the jury's hands. we are live tonight at the courthouse in los angeles. and congresswan gabrielle giffords revealing for the first time what she remembers about the day she was shot. the new and extraordinary details about her struggle to recover and her plans for the future. also tonight, the freshman 15, the field of dreams and the week's other news. 15, the field of dreams and the week's other news. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. the iowa caucuses are 60 days away. while it is early yet in the scheme of things, this presidential election season for republicans vying for the nomination, the time to choose is coming sooner rather than later. and all the while the sexual harassment drama has dominated at least the week's political headlines and overshadowed other aspects of the race. it's been a while since we heard about herman cain's 9-9-9 economic plan. instead and again tonight we are hearing about his past. one of the three women who complained of unwanted advance today broke her silence and said she filed a complaint and received a settlement. we begin here tonight with nbc's lisa myers. lisa, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the woman's lawyer says there were several incidents of sexual harassment described only as inappropriate behaviors and unwanted advances by cain.

he charged that cain for all his denials knows what those incidents were. ♪ [ applause ] >> thank you. >> reporter: in what had to have been the high point of herman cain's week -- >> love you all. love you. >> reporter: a conservative group gave him a rousing welcome today. >> i have been in washington all week. and i have attracted a little bit of attention. >> reporter: hours later the attention was focused here. lawyer joel bennett went public with his client's version of events, confirmed that she filed a sexual harassment complaint against cain in 1999 while he was ceo of the national restaurant association citing several incidents. >> she made a complaint in good faith about a series of inappropriate behaviors and unwanted advances from the ceo. >> reporter: bennett also confirmed that she received a financial settlement. what about cain's denials? >> mr. cain knows the specific

incidents that were alleged. my client filed a written complaint in 1999 against him specifically and it had very specific incidents in it. if he chooses to not remember or not acknowledge those, that's his issue. >> reporter: the cain campaign's response? we look forward to focusing our attention on the real issues impacting this country. bennett's client, now a spokesperson for a federal agency in washington, chose not to reveal details of the incidents. sources involved with the restaurant group at the time tell nbc the cain's inappropriate behavior was directed at young staffers and usually involved drinking. they say it ranged from comments about their appearance and flirtation to overt sexual overtures such as an invitation to his corporate apartment. cain denies any inappropriate conduct. >> did you tell a woman she looked good?

that that dress looks hot? >> no. >> anything? any flirtation you can think of? >> no. >> reporter: so far the accusations are not hurting cain with voters. a new poll shows his support increased in the last month and that most -- 55% -- thought the allegations were not a serious matter. and, brian, cain has more potential trouble on the horizon. today a watchdog group filed a complaint with the federal election commission accusing cain's campaign of improperly using money from a nonprofit to pay for ipads and other expenses of his presidential campaign. now the campaign says it has retained outside council to investigate. >> lisa myers starting us off on a friday night from our d.c. newsroom. thanks. all of this brings us to david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." the question for you on a friday night having worked the phones yourself today, two-part question. what does the white house make of the shape of the republican field and the status and what

are republicans saying about this? >> well, let me start with that latter point including insiders within the cain campaign. they are trying to create an alternative universe where they deflect, deny, accuse the media or his rival campaigns of playing dirty and trying to set him up, even raising the specter of clarence thomas. that speaks well to the base, sharpens his anti-establishment credentials. the problem though republicans have been saying to me say is this going to create a cap for him at the 20% level of support? can he get anything beyond that? the white house wants fire trained on mitt romney. they think he's going to be the nominee. they are looking for somebody to direct energy against him. >> 60 days to go before the iowa caucuses, but just two days to go before we wake up sunday morning and watch "meet the press."

have a good weekend. now to southern california and the trial of michael jackson's physician, dr. conrad murray. tonight dr. murray's fate is in the hands of the jury. nbc's jeff rossen is covering for us out in l.a. >> reporter: the jury has been deliberating all day and not a peep from them. not a single note, not a single readback from the judge. they took a one-hour lunch break this afternoon and a late afternoon snack break. now they are back in the jury room deliberating again. once again, still no word. keep in mind conrad murray is not charged with murder here. he's charged with involuntary manslaughter. the jury is not debating whether or not murray killed michael jackson but rather whether or not murray was criminally neglect negligent in leading to the death of michael jackson. i want to show you a couple dozen protesters, as you see on screen now. most of them michael jackson

fans chanting and yelling at passers-by. so far they have been peaceful but there is a large police presence here. there is a media frenzy inside the courthouse as well as the international media arrives. we are still on verdict watch. it could happen at any moment. we are told they will be deliberating for at least another hour. >> jeff, thanks. now overseas to greece where the economic chaos has turned into a full blown political crisis. europe's plan to try to fix greece's debt problem is hanging by a thread now and so is the government. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has made his way to athens, is with us from there tonight. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. tonight the greek prime minister george papandreou trying to reassure international investors that greece will live up to its commitments, will pay back its massive debts, will stay with the euro and will accept an international bailout plan. to do this the prime minister

says he will meet with members of the political opposition tomorrow and try and form a government of national unity. what's at stake here is not just the solvency of the greek economy but the overall economic health of europe and the potential ripple effects the deepening crisis in europe would have on the united states. brian? >> richard engel in athens tonight. thanks. here at home the jobs numbers for october is in. employers added 80,000 numbers. unemployment ticked down a notch to 9% which is the lowest it has been in six months' time. the jobs numbers were on the agenda as the president held a news conference in cannes, france, the site of the g20 summit where the main topic was the economy in europe and here in the u.s. nbc news chief white house correspondent chuck todd is traveling with the president. >> reporter: wrapping up his two-day trip to france for the

g20 economic summit the president argued europe must solve its debt crisis on its own or the u.s. recovery could falter. >> if europe isn't growing it's harder to do what we need to do for the american people -- creating jobs, lifting up the middle class and putting our fiscal house in order. >> reporter: the president urged the world's other leading economies to pass new growth measures like his american jobs act. >> in the united states we recognize as the world's largest economy, the most important thing we can do for global growth is to get our own economy growing faster. >> reporter: the president took issue with calling his plan the "s" word stimulus but was pleased the collective focus of the g20 wasn't on austerity measure this is time. >> we didn't have a long discussion about measures. we talked about steps to spur economic growth. that may not always involve government spending. >> reporter: the white house believes the summit was a success for two reasons. one, they were able to force the europeans not to rely on help

from the u.s. or chinese. two, they were able to shift the global economic conversation away from austerity measures. chuck todd, nbc news, cannes, france. >> jon corzine is in the midst of a spectacular fall from grace. he was head of goldman sachs, a senator and governor of new jersey. his latest job as head of vielg brokerage firm mf global ended today. the firm failed four days ago. over $600 million in customer funds is missing and the whole enterprise is now under investigation. corzine hired a prominent criminal defense lawyer. still ahead here on a friday night, congresswoman gabby giffords, her story is now out. and tonight, what we now know about the shooting and the tough road for her since. later, writing a wrong. they have the rest of their lives ahead of them but they were locked up for something they didn't do. tonight they are finally free. [ female announcer ] you spend weeks planning it.

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it has been ten months now since that awful day in a safeway grocery store parking lot in tucson, arizona. tonight because a copy of a long awaited book has gotten out, we are learning for the first time what congresswoman gabby giffords herself remembers about that day as well as some of the details about her struggle to recover and come back. we get the story tonight from

nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: two months after the carnage in tucson, the assassination attempt last january, gabrielle giffords finally grasped what had happened telling her husband mark kelly she remembered the attack with three words. shot, shocked, scary. giffords and kelly write about her recovery in a book out this month. "gabby, a story of courage and hope." kelly had tried to tell his wife that six people had been killed, but for a long time she had not understood. six months after the shooting she wanted to know more. he began by explaining the two friends, aide gabe zimmerman and judge john roll had died. then he named the other victims including 9-year-old christina taylor greene. so overcome, giffords could not continue therapy. she was left with only 50% of her eyesight. it nearly took her ability to

speak. kelly recalls how panic swept over giffords the first time she realized she couldn't talk. when george and barbara bush stopped to see her kelly said she struggled and could only utter "chicken." with speech therapy she can express herself. giffords writes a chapter called "gabby's voice" wr she proclaims, i will get stronger, i will return. close friend senator gillebrandt helped fund-raise. >> she's saying more, able to articulate and she's stronger. >> reporter: when it comes to politics she has time. giffords doesn't have to make her re-election ambitions known and official until spring. we learn about a more personal struggle. 41-year-old giffords and her husband were married in 2007 and hoped to have a baby. they write giffords had undergone fertility treatments before the shooting. brian? >> kelly o'donnell with a look

at the story from our washington bureau tonight. thanks. up next this evening, three teenagers sentenced to decades behind bars for a crime they didn't commit. tonight the incredible story of how they were freed. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.?

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in illinois tonight two men are free after spending almost two decades behind bars for a crime they did not commit. and a third is due to be released soon. their lawyers say dna proved their innocence, but not before they lost family, friends and the dreams of a bright future that other kids are allowed to have. the story tonight from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: first it was robert taylor, walking out of an illinois state prison and greeted by his father. >> i said i was going to be here if i had to drive. >> reporter: it came 19 years

after he was arrested for a brutal crime prosecutors now concede he didn't commit. >> they refused to let me give up. >> that wasn't going to happen. >> them not teaching me how to give up -- >> i'm a fighter. he's a fighter. >> reporter: another man convicted of the same crime, james harden, released this afternoon. >> i want to drive a truck. do a little traveling. i have been sitting for almost 20 years. let me move. >> reporter: his brother jonathan barr was to be freed as well. now in their 30s they were teenagered when they were arrested, accused of raping and murder erg a 14-year-old girl in a south side chicago suburb though none of their dna matched evidence from the crime scene. the case began to collapse this year when a judge agreed to have crime scene dna retested. it matched the dna of a convicted rapist, a man who was 33 at the time of the murder and lived a mile from where the body was found.

he's now in jail on other charges. while harden and barr were in prison both their parents' died and they missed out on high school and any chance at college. >> they lose the best years of their lifves. meanwhile the real rapist is out there committing serious crimes. >> reporter: defense lawyers say about one-fourth of defendants who were wrongly convicted gave false convictions and teenagers are easily pressured into signing something to make interrogations stop. now the men say they will try to make a fresh start after wrongful convictions took away nearly 20 years of their lives. pete williams, nbc, washington. it's as big as an aircraft carrier and it's coming our way. now the asteroid yu-55 will be close enough to get a picture of it. it will be closer than the moon is, closer than anything has come since 1975.

scientists promise it won't make impact though it's good to have your affairs in order. a lot of people reacted to our story about the giant california sequoia that came crashing down to earth and the debate now over what to do with it. most say tunnel through the tree and leave it there. you can join thousands of others in this robust interactive discussion on nbcnightlynews.com. when we come back here tonight, some news about the new iphone, the field of dreams, the so-called freshman 15. as the week goes down to the wire, a few things we thought you should know. they offer me one-on-one guidance to help me choose my investments. not just with my savings plan here at work. they help me with all of my financial goals. looking good, irene. thanks to fidelity, i can stay on top of my financial future, huh? good one. why, thank you.

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it was another busy week around here. while we were busy covering the big stories as always happens a few things got by. so in the waning minutes remaining in our broadcast week as we go down to the wire on a friday night, tonight we look at what else a we learned in this first week of november. >> food fight! >> reporter: whatever happens at college, new research is casting doubt on the notion of of the freshman 15, the reason so many kids come home heavy at thanksgiving. the lead researcher says it's more like three and a half pounds and it's more about

transitioning into young adulthood than it is pizza at 2:00 a.m. or anything remotely connected to the meal plan your parents pay for. speaking of homecomings, look at the joy in this dog's ears. that's a good girl named jezebel running to her dad, a british raf pilot home from libya. >> is this heaven? >> no. it's iowa. >> reporter: the field of dreams is being sold. the new owners say it will be preserved as part of a huge youth baseball complex including a practice dome. >> this is the iphone 4s. >> reporter: trouble in paradise. while the 4s shattered sales records and most love it, some of the batteries are failing too fast. the company's reaction was classic apple to the core. silence and first. then acceptance. a sleek statement saying a fix is on the way. >> ask not --

>> reporter: most americans know the rest by heart but a new friend by our friend chris matthews said it was a borrowed phrase from the headmaster of the future president's prep school. if you watch the oscars you have seen this name for 14 years. gil cates took over and gave us memorable hosts like letterman, martin, crystal, whoopi and stewart. if you have ever curled up with "a prairie home companion" then you heard the great sounds of tom keith. [ barking ] >> reporter: that's tom plague himself in the film about the show. tom did every animal except elephants. he did gunshots, hooves, vacuums, babies and bagpipes and the crunch of minnesota snow like nobody else. you name it, he played it.

he was a styrofoam symphony and king of the props. so props to tom keith who left us too soon at 64. in other news we learned sitting around increases your chances for colon and breast cancer though we are pretty sure a half hour a day is good for you. we also learned the president is fit at 50 as his doctor put it. he says the president is now tobacco-free. in other health news an exhaustive european study set out to find exactly what it is about the sound of fingernails on a blackboard that is so awful. the answer seems to involve the mechanics of our ear canals. medical proof that that sound in particular is a genuine irritating pain. in a related story we made it through the week without mentioning kim kardashian. >> this is our broadcast on a friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us.

i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this this the weekend. remember, we fall back tomorrow night. set the clocks back. we hope to see you right back here on monday. in the meantime, have a good weekend. in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com bge's instant discounts got our homeowner to switch to energy star® cfl bulbs. 3-way cfls really click with my style.