this morning on "early today" -- here we go again. republican presidential candidate herman cain now facing a new allegation of a long-term affair. grumpy old men? a fight breaks out between two football rivals at odds for nearly 50 years. and winning streak. three money managers from one of country's wealthiest towns claim three money managers from one of country's wealthiest towns claim a staggering lottery jackpot. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with another cain croes. republican presidential candidate herman cain is once again on defense, denying an atlanta woman's claims she had a

13-year affair with the former businessman. cain's lawyer calls it alleged consensual conduct. cain himself says it never happened. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: it's not another sexual harassment charge. on fox 5 interview in atlanta, ginger white claims she had an affair with herman cain. >> i wanted to give my side before it was thrown out there and made to be filthy, as some people will look at this and say that's exactly what it is. >> reporter: white said she had fun, flown around the country, put up in hotels for 13 years. >> it was pretty simple. it was uncomplicated. and i was aware he was married. >> reporter: on cnn cain denied white's story. >> did you have a 13-year affair with this woman? >> no. i did not.

>> did you know her for 13 years? >> yes. but i did not have an affair. >> reporter: as the story went national, cain said he told his wife, gloria. >> my wife's reaction was very similar to mine. here we go again. we were basically show when details become available that i didn't do anything wrong. >> reporter: but earlier unproven charges cost cain his gop front-runner status. >> another damaging allegations. even if he denies it, can only hurt him. >> reporter: and the iowa caucuses that herman cain are counting are on only five weeks away. elsewhere, barney franc, a key lawmaker on financial issues and long-time liberal voice on capitol hill, has announced plans to retire from congress at the end of next year. the 71-year-old massachusetts democrat says doesn't have the energy to run for re-election. in a newly drawn congressional district, and there are other things he wants to do. first elected to the house in 1980, he was the first member of congress to publicly acknowledge

he was gay back in 1987. nbc savannah guthrie will have an exclusive interview with congressman franc on his decision to retire later today on the "today" show. united nations united states has concluded syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity, including the killing and torture of hundreds of children. the report found at least 256 children were killed by government forces between mid-march and early november. some tortured to death, including a 2-year-old girl, reportedly shot so she wouldn't grow up to be a demonstrator. also reports government forces were given shoot to kill orders to crush demonstrations. the results of the inquiry add to mounting pressure on syria's president bashar al assad to end his crackdown on protests and enact democratic reforms. meanwhile, for the first time in two years, several rockets were fired tuesday from

lebanon into north israel. two buildings were damaged but no reported casualties. the israeli military says it returned fire across the border. a 34-day war was fought in 2006 between israel and iranian-backed hezbollah guerrillas based in lebanon while israeli/lebanese border has been quiet in recent years, some have worried about a possible spillover of tensions from the months old revolt in syria against president assad. here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. no santa didn't get the date wrong. rescuers were called to a rooftop in texas after a man locked himself out of his house and then got stuck trying to get in through the chimney. well, firefighters used a rope to hoist him out after the man's wife, who was waiting outside, eventually called 911. one lucky kentucky man is very lucky to be alive after a powerful storm knocked a massive

tree into his mobile home monday. the homeowner says the tree landed two feet away from where he was sitting in his living room at the time. farther south nasty weather is making it look like winter in parts of tennessee. snow piled up outside of memphis making treacherous travel there. a winter weather advisory is in effect throughout the area this morning. and finally, there was no snow in washington, d.c. yesterday, but the arrival of the capitol tree is making it look a lot like christmas. the 65-foot tall, 118-year-old gir sierra white fir traveled from california. the annual tree lighting ceremony will take place one week from today. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist todd santos with your weather channel forecast. good morning to you. todd, i know after thanksgiving you should get used to the holidays being here. i'm just not ready. maybe because it was 65 degrees in new york city yesterday. >> that's exactly why. it's a role reversal. dear dealing with snow from

mississippi back into tennessee, while here in new york still mild temperatures again today. we'll start to deal with rain showers later on. wanted to take you to the rart. you talk about what time of year you start to see snow. the average snowfall for northern mississippi, if you even get some in most years, would be into february. it's not out of the question. in some cases we've seen about four times in the last 10 0, 120 years, even down toward tupelo, mississippi. you see the heavier snowfall through portions of i hich-40, i-55. some reports around 1 to 3 inches so pretty much, along with expectations going into today but keep in mind, what you'll see on the roadways, quite a bit less than that, maybe a little slushy accumulation. the numbers we're talking about, piling occupy some of the elevated surfaces. there's a look at temperature. a lot falling into air that is actually just a little above freezing. still some of those winter storm warnings in effect across these areas through southwest tennessee go until noontime.

we'll see it winding down. not out of the question to see a few flakes around atlanta. most of the activity across county eastern portion of the country. we'll take a look at temps coming up in a bit. there's a look at the region. let's check out your local forecast. philly getting showers later this afternoon but, again, mild numbers. 67 degrees there tampa around 70. clea cleveland with some rain. the role reverse sal. we'll talk about the cooldown making its way toward new york, some areas you would expect to see a chance for snow. >> thank you so much. also coming up, holiday sales boost stocks. a big social network going public. a debt paid and a conscience cleared. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll tell you how royal sister-in-law pippa middle to know is about to earn a king's ransom. coming up, a homecoming for

urban meyer and the saints make it look easy in the big easy. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here are some of your top headlines. the associated press is reporting this deadly nato air strike that killed 24 pakistani soldiers could have been a case of mistaken identity. they suggest taliban force may have fired shots at afghan forces to provoke a cross-border fire fight. tmz reports the mother of conrad murray, the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of michael jackson, has appealed to a judge to go easy on him at his sentencing later today. the 58-year-old murray faces up to four years in prison. a legendary comic book stolen in 2000 is expected to fetch a record-breaking $1.5 million or more.

the pristine 1938 first ever edition of "superman" resurfaced in a storage unit earlier this year and was identified by three distinct printing defects. this same book formally held the record when it was last sold for $150,000. and three financial executives from greenwich, connecticut, have claimed this month's $254 million powerball jackpot. that's the largest in the state's history. at a news conference on monday they say they chose lump sum payment and a significant portion of it will go to charity. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,523 after spiking 291 points yesterday. the s&p surged 33 points. the nasdaq squi rocketed 85. in tokyo, the nikkei jumped 190 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 218. well, strong holiday

shopping and efforts by european leaders to get tough on finances lifted wall street monday after seven straight down days. record sales over thanksgiving weekend boosted big retailers, including macy's and best buy. a report on november's expected increase in consumer confidence comes out today. trade was also fueled by a push from france and germany for tougher budget control over eurozone members. bank stocks rose sharply led by citigroup and morgan stanley as investors worried less about european vulnerability. fitch raised its outlook to negative on the u.s. triple committee failure however analysts don't expect it to hit hard today on wall street, that's because the street was expecting it. elsewhere, "the wall street journal" reports facebook will look to raise as much as $10 billion in an ipo between april and june of next year. aol's ceo says the company won't

be buying any of yahoo's assets and plans to stay independent. americans bought slightly more new homes in october, but the average sales price fell to a low for the year. using unusually harsh language, a judge struck down a $285 million settlement between citigroup and the securities and exchange commission over toxic mortgage securities. he sent a july trial date, calling the settlement neither fair nor reasonable nor adequate. finally, a seattle sears manager says an elderly man came in and repaid, with interest, cash he said he stole from a register back in the '40s. the store will use the money to help needy families during the holidays. coming up, the buckeyes find their man. a top ranked overtime thriller in college hoops. and two old foes go at it once again. plus, the new orleans saints make the new york giants look like munchkins on monday night

football. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. since we talked about the rain and snow for today, what about tomorrow? we'll get you set for the middle of your week. you're watching "early today." when a sore throat strikes,

the pain can leave you feeling dreadful. and all you want is for it to go away. cepacol works fast and gives powerful sore throat relief. that's because the numbing medicine in cepacol is the maximum strength you can get without a prescription. and it stays there after the lozenge has gone. tame your painful sore throat with cepacol. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night on monday night football, while the new

orleans saints strength. ed their status as a team on the road to the nfl playoffs, for the new york giants, desperation is setting in. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. sometimes drew brees and the saints make it look oh so he's is i. let's go to new orleans. drew brees put on a clinic against the giants. three touchdown passes in the first half alone. brees not only did it with his arm, he also did it with his legs. called his own number and ran in from eight yards out. new orleans literally running away with it, up 28-10 in the third. when all was said and done brees finished with five touchdowns. giant sent backing 29-24. college football as expected ohio state officially hired urban meyer as its new head coach. a homecoming for meyer who was born and raised in ohio. wild and lightning, stamkos scored 45 goals last year. he's on pace to score 50 this season. he gave the lightning a 1-0 lead in the second. unfortunately, that was it for tampa's offense. minnesota scored two minutes

later and added a couple more. wild went on to win it 3-1. how about overtime basketball. number 19 vander built, number 11, xavier. vandy up two in the final second. lyons high off the glass and in. that tied it at 66 and they're off to ot. xavier kept it going in the extra frame. holloway led up with 24. xavier with an 80-70 overtime win. finally proof old grudges never die. a 73-year-old football legend joe kap at a cfl event offering an olive branch to 74 angelo. he was injured with a vicious tackle in 1963. angelo wasn't having it, hit joe with his cane and took angelo down with one punch. he was okay. plenty of fight left in these two. after seeing that, there's no question joe kapcapped him.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." >> you feel bad laughing but you kind of have to. coming up, batman calls it quits. while the catwoman finds her man. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, an unbelievable story of survival from an animal shelter with a very happy end g ending. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early

today." a quick look at temperatures across the country. you notice the cool air that's made it's way into southeast. again, you see where that settled in. mild across the east coast. we'll start to see some showers filtering in toward new york city especially later on this afternoon. atlanta not out of the question to see a snowflake or two especially over the next couple hours. temperature topping off around 32. tomorrow, again, still remaining fairly mild across a few areas in the northeast. if you're watching us on wlex tv in lexington, kentucky, discover how some sly animals are able to blend into their surroundings at amazing animal adaptations. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> todd, thanks so much. let's get a check of your headlines in entertainment. her sister may have been the one to marry into royalty but pippa middleton is about to earn a royal size income. pippa became a celebrity has landed a book deal with a

$600,000 advance. pippa's guide to party planning will come out for next year's holidays. actress anne hathaway who's played a princess is now getting married. 29 is engaged to adam, an actor and jewelry designer who she's been dating since hers messy split with her ex. christian bale in "the dark knight rises" told philippine paper this batman movie will be his last. finally, katy perry as marilyn monroe? young hollywood reports harvey weinstein hints in his new movie "my week with marilyn" wants perry to star as monroe on broadway. monroe on broadway? i'm not sure which is more bizarre. >> i know. that's a big role to play. >> it is. i'm not sure someone like katy perry would take that kind of a

role. she's touring, doing all that. i don't know whether or not the hot pink outfits will go with it. this comes to us from wnbc 4 new york in nutley, new jersey, one very lucky dog survival story is worthy of a cat's nine lives. last month this 1-year-old beagle mix was living in an animal shelter in alabama where dogs that aren't adopted are euthanized in a gas chamber. incredibly, this death-defying pup found an air pocket and survived. a rescue group brought the dog to new jersey where he was adopted. he was named daniel after the brave biblical character who survived the lion's den. that's great there. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. it is another mile start on this two-step. temperatures are around 68 -- it start.les staa mild is heavier rain down in virginia is moving our direction -- this heavier rain is moving. let's look at the forecast for today appear rain showers are likely. it gets heavier during the middle of the day. high temperature between 60 and 65. we'll come back and check the forecast for the rest of the week. >> 60 degrees on tv hill.

dr. conrad murray heads to court for sentencing. >> how police were able to track down a man accused of raping a girl. >> police are searching for a will that they say is responsible for a two-state crime spree. >> we're expecting a busy rush.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> the massive system dumping rain and snow to our west. this is no in jackson, tennessee -- this is snow. >> it is