hate about the most wonderful time of the year. good morning. i'm sunny hostin. >> and i'm rob nelson. we begin with more twists and turns in the herman cain campaign. overnight, his manager told abc news in an exclusive interview that cain is not dropping out of the race. >> but that appears at odds with cain's own earlier statements when he said he was reassessing the race. with all the latest details, we're joined by abc's tahman bradley from washington. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning rob and sunny. herman cain's campaign something tells abc news, there will be a strategic reassessment of things. not a reassessment withdrawing from the race. >> life can seem impossible. >> reporter: especially when your presidential campaign impoeding. but businessman, herman cain, says he is not deterred. telling supporters the campaign

goes on. cain's manager says there's no way cain's dropping out, even as he tells supporters he was reassessing his bid in the wake of allegations of an extramarital affair. >> this is cause for a reassessment. we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in some people's minds. >> reporter: the latest allegations come from an atlanta woman named ginger white. she claims having a 13-year affair with cain. >> i was aware he was married. >> reporter: the denial may not be enough to save his campaign. some cain staffers are seeking jobs with other candidates. it's been a remarkable freefall for the former pizza mogul, who shot to the top of polls with his plain-speaking style. >> i feel pretty good today. >> reporter: even before the new allegations, the cain campaign was knocked off track by harassment claims from four,

separate women. one of cain's rivals, who has himself admitted infidelity expressed sympathy. and says only cain can decide if he should stay in the race. >> it's his decision to make. he has to do what he thinks is best. >> reporter: and cain's campaign manager says the candidate will lay out the way forward in a speech later today in ohio. rob and sunny? >> interesting remarks coming from mr. cain. what are his rivals saying? are they putting pressure on him to bow out of this thing? >> reporter: rob, jon huntsman says every time the allegations come up, it distracts the entire field from discussing issues that matter to the american people. and michele bachmann, another one of cain's opponents, said that pretty much, that -- she noted that since these accusations broke, cain's standing in the polls have decreased. rob and sunny? >> abc's tahman bradley. thank you. >> fall from grace. he boasted after the sexual harassment claims came out, he

raised a bunch of money. he wrote an open letter to his supporters saying, i'm asking for your prayers and support. this is a trying time for my family, my campaign and for me. see if the money keeps flowing in. >> and i think it's interesting that there has been a discord with the message being sent from cain. and his campaign said two things would push him out. mrs. cain and if we show up to do events and no one is there. who knows? >> that would be a tell-tale sign for sure. and stay with "good morning america" later this morning, and we'll be talking with ginger white, the woman who says she had a multiyear affair with herman cain. president obama travels to urge congressional lawmakers to extend if payroll tax. the president will meet with a family in scranton. >> mr. obama carried the state in 2008. overseas now. and a historymaking trip to the isolated nation of myanmar. hillary clinton has just arrived

in the southeast asian country. the first visit by a secretary of state in more than 50 years. after meeting with top officials, clinton will meet with opposition leader and noble peace prize lawyer rot, aung san suu kyi. occupy protesters are being forced out of two cities of ignoring orders to leave. in los angeles, police left hundreds of demonstrators pouring into the street. and they cleaned out the area wearing latex gloves and hazmat suits. police took to the streets of philadelphia, after officers pulled down their tents after midnight. one of jerry sandusky's alleged victims plans to testify at a hearing in two weeks, according to his attorney. it would mark the first time that one of the accusers has publicly confronted sandusky since the allegations first broke. the hearing is scheduled for mid-december. and a victim's right group

says another young man may soon come forward to claim sexual abuse by syracuse coach bernie fine. so far, three men say they were victimized. head basketball coach, jim boeheim got a standing ovation when he walked on the court last night. big medical news to pass on this morning. the generic version of the drug lipitor hits the market today. that means a steep drop in prices. instead of paying between $29 and $49 a month, users can expect to pay about 10 bucks a month for a generic version. abc's richard besser says there's very little difference. >> i'm a big fan of generics. when people think about generics, they think about products in the supermarket. the generic ingredient has to be identical. there may be fillers in there. but for most patients, it will make no difference whatsoever. >> the company, pfizer, which

makes lipitor is offering some unprecedented discounts to stick with the real thing. the company makes nearly $11 billion a year from lipitor sales. a new study out this morning says eating fish could help fight alzheimer's disease. that's if it's baked or grilled. researchers say fried fish does not offer the same benefit. it stems from the level of mega 3 in the fish. the higher levels in baked or grilled fish, limits the buildup of plaque in the brain. it is drying out across the south this morning of a rare storm dumped several inches of snow from tennessee all the way to north carolina. >> that's right. dozens of plows were out in the carolina appalachians. but there were a number of accidents on the slick roads. in the midwest, the first major storm of the season left northern indiana covered by eight inches of snow. >> here comes winter. here we go, folks. time, now, for weather from across the country. a storm moves in from the

northern rockies to the upper midwest, dumping up to six inches of snow in idaho, montana, north dakota and minnesota. even more in mountain areas. also a wintry mix of rain and snow around buffalo and rochester, new york, and the adirondac adirondacks. cooler and drier on the east coast. >> 50 in atlanta. and 75 in miami. dallas gets up to 61. kansas city, 50. and chicago, 44. 46 in boise. 60 in sacramento. and a nice 75 in phoenix. and coming up after the break, the scathing words the judge had for conrad murray before sentencing him to prison. and a san francisco mcdonald's is charging extra for happy meals. and also, big winners? or big liars? the latest on the group of mysterious lottery winners.

welcome back, everybody. the parent company of american airlines has filed for bankruptcy. amr says it needs to reduce labor costs and shed some of its debt. american intends to operate normally during the bankruptcy process and does not expect any changes to its flight schedule or to its frequent flyer program. there's a meeting today at the justice department. but the at&t merger with t-mobile is pretty much finished. the ftc is allowing the wireless companies to withdrawal their application to merge. but knoll until issuing a scathing report to the deal. asian markets are down after european finance ministers pushed off some difficult issues

to a meeting next week. tokyo's nikkei average fell 43 points today. hong kong's hang seng dropped 258 points. in london, the ftse opened higher. and on wall street, the dow rose 33 points yesterday. but the nasdaq index lost 12. this is usually the most wonderful time of the year for the stock market. what's called a santa claus rally. december has been the top month since world war ii. but analysts warn this year could be different with europe's debt crisis and washington's gridlock ready to act as scrooges. you may have to pay extra if you take your kids to a mcdonald's in san francisco. a snu city law requires the happy meals meet strict restriction rules or charge for the toys. mcdonald's and fast food restaurants are moving toward healthier kids meals. but not fast enough for san francisco. if you want that toy, it will cost you an extra dime. not sure if the toy was the issue as much as the fat and the

salt. >> the message has been lost. >> a little bit. when we come back, the only suspect in the case of the missing american in aruba is free. but for how long. and we'll have all of the top highlights from the world of sports. stay with us. "america this morning" continues after this. hey babe... oh, hi honey! so i went to the doctor today, then picked up a few extra things for the baby. oh boy... i used our slate card with blueprint. we can design our own plan to avoid interest by paying off diapers and things each month. and for the bigger stuff, we can pay downalance faster

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it's a breezy day in chicago. but nothing like the windy city we saw yesterday. powerful gusts whipped up waves up to 20 feet high. the waves were so dangerous, in fact, police had to shut down the lakefront bike path. and christmas shoppers on michigan avenue had to struggle to stay on their feet. very windy. >> stay strong in chicago. not winter upon us. now, for a look at your morning road conditions on this wednesday. a rough commute in the northwest and plains. also some snow and ice on i-90, from spokane to rapid city. i-94, from billings to western michigan. and i-15, from salt lake city to

helena. wet on i-90 from cleveland to puff low. >> if you're playing, delays could happen in salt lake. and gusty winds could hold off flights in san francisco. >> leaves you time to get a happy meal. dr. conrad murray is back behind bars this morning after getting the maximum punishment in the death of michael jackson. >> because of overcrowding it's unlikely that murray will serve anywhere near his four-year sentence. prosecutors also want murray to pay $100 million for lost revenue from jackson's canceled concerts. >> the judge crunching those numbers to see how much he'll have to pay. >> that's right. other news this morning, american businessman gary giordano is free to leave aruba this morning. he was released from jail last night after four months in captivity, in connection with the disappearance of his travel companion. >> where giordano's freedom be short-lived. abc's matt gutman is in aruba. >> reporter: just a few hours ago, gary giordano for the the irs time in 116 days rolled out

of the prison here in aruba, a free man. but immediately, he was swarmed by the press. they tried to put cameras in his face. he was emotionless. didn't say anything to them. when he came here to this hotel, a local screamed out murderer. but the first thing giordano did hen he got here was call his three boys in maryland. he became very emotional. then, he embraced his attorneys, thanking him for helping him get out. now, mr. giordano may go home this morning. but he's not home-free yet. there is a court hearing at 11:00 a.m. judges might decide to keep giordano on the island for 30 days. in that time, he would be en route to the united states. the attorneys here would say they would try to extradite him. that's a lengthy process. it could take anywhere from three months to a year. >> if the new order for detention is given, we aim to file for mr. giordano's extradition from the u.s. authorities. >> reporter: giordano is the only suspect in the disappearance of robyn gardner. not a trace of her has been seen

sense. investigators admit they have no body, no murder weapon and no convincing motive. they have a lot of circumstantial evidence, including a $1.5 million travel insurance policy, which giordano took out on gardner, the day before they traveled here, names himself the beneficiary. but giordano says he did that for all of his travel compani companions. they still intend to try him. they will bring him back here if they have to, to put him on the stand for murder charges. robyn gardner's family issued a statement that they were disappointed that the only suspect in this case gets to go home while they know very little about what really happened to robyn. matt gutman, abc news, aruba. a sad note from entertainment world this morning. standup comedian, parise o'neill has died. he performance was the high light of the charlie sheen roast on comedy central. o'neill passed away last night,

a month after suffering a stroke. teleinvestment bankers from connecticut insist they are the winners of a huge jackpot. the trio picked up their winnings on monday. there are claims that they are not the real winners but only a front for a wealthy investor. and there was a big night in college hoops on tuesday. for the highlights, here's the crew at espn news. >> hey, there. i'm lindsay czarniak. this is your espn news update. it was a star-studded affair. lebron james, dwyane wade, in columbus to watch duke take on ohio state. ohio state up early. later in the first half, duke trying to keep it close. nathan plumlee catches. duke trails 18-17. you're thinking that's a big problem, right? later, it was even worse. austin rivers, the nice cross-over, gets the lay-in and the foul. duke, down 47-28 at the half.

second half, ohio state needing aaron craft. gets the three. ohio state was up 58-34. later in the second, they were in command. craft to evan rob know, who dishes to sillinger for the dunk. ohio state wins, 85-63. elsewhere, jim boeheim, trying to deal with the scandal at syracuse. eastern michigan. lampley with a nice lay-in. first half, syracuse up 23-21. james sutherland gets the pass. syracuse up four. a minute to go in the half. scoop jardine with the alley-oop for the dunk. second half now, syracuse continues to lead. their building, trandon trish, for the one-handed slam and foul. nice move. syracuse wins, 84-48. that's your espn news

update. i'm lindsay czarniak. >> a carolina alum, loves to see duke lose in big fashion. >> i know you do. >> love it. the family of an 80-year-old man in illinois is refusing charitable donations after a stunning mistake. >> the man had donated a suit and other items to goodwill. in the pocket of that suit, his life savings, $13,000. after checking out his story, the search for the money began and it continues. >> charitable offers have come in from coast-to-coast. but the man only wants his original money back. >> costly mistake there. >> hopefully someone will do the right thing. >> there are good samaritans out there. up next, "the pulse." why instead of decking the halls, many want to deck their house guests. >> interesting numbers. and my favorite story of the day. a look at last night's victoria's secret fashion show. a look at last night's victoria's secret fashion show. stay with us. wonder... what's left behind? [ female announcer ] purifying facial cleanser

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all right. time to check "the pulse," the stories you'll be talking about today. and what stories were we talking about this year? we have the top-five most-searched stories according to bing. number five was the death of amy winehouse. number four was the japanese earthquake/tuesdayny. >> hurricane irene and the death of osama bin laden were the third and second-most searched. and the top, please. it was the casey anthony trial. >> 2011, almost in the books. it's the most wonderful time of the year for a lot of people, such as myself. but the holiday season seems to bring out the grinch in others. >> you may be surprised to find out what people are not looking forward to this time of year. 35 million of us dread being nice during the holidays. >> and up next on the list, 68% dread lines and crowds. 37% dread gaining weight.

>> but we love eating. this might be the most visional story of the morning. let's just roll it, shall we? it's become an annual tradition this time of year. the victoria's secret fashion show. >> the so-called angels were strutting their stuff on the catwalk. the price tag for some of the items on the show, $2 million. >> some of the women who got the most face time are actually mothers, as well. two of them had sons back in january. so, to all of the women and mommies out there. >> thank you, rob. >> sure. holiday times. that makes me happy for the holidays. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. >> for everyone else, we'll be right back with the revival of the singing telegram. but will its return be music to people's ears? stay with us. hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? no more points - coupons now. coupons? coupons.

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and finally from us this morning, an atremt to breathe in new life to a former staple of american life. >> in the age of e-this and e-that, western union is trying to bring back the telegram. >> abc's sharyn alfonsi tells us about it and tries the new telegrams outs. >> reporter: it was an iconic form of communication. the telegram. announcing the first flight, the start of world war i. but soon, the sight of a western union currier made people shudder. >> excuse me? >> reporter: remember "a league of their own?" >> i got a telegram from the war department? >> reporter: the telegram was the way families were notified a loved one was killed in battle. one western union executive had tried to revamp the telegram's image with this.

♪ we harkin if you please >> reporter: the singing telegram, as seen in "you were never lovelier." and now, western union is bringing it back, sort of. senders will be able to choose a singer and a song from a template, personalize it and then e-mail it. cute, but will another e-mail really get our attention? we tested it. first, we e-mailed part of the digital message to the news room. so, nobody's paying any attention at all to our e-mail. then, we sent in the real thing. ♪ ain't not mountain high enough ♪ >> reporter: turns out, if you really want to get someone's attention, a pink gorilla is still pretty hard to ignore. sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. >> please, don't send that pink gorilla. >> i would love it. >> do not. that is what's making news in america this morning. p. >> stay with us for "good morning america." have a great wednesday.

live and in hd, this is "good morning washington." on your side. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- we are following breaking news in northwest washington. police looking for a cabdriver man in dupont circle and kept going. it is wednesday, november 30. i am cynee simpson. >> collecting heavy along. their traffic and weather every 10 minutes -- glad to