making news this morning, a second revolution. >> days of deadly violence have egypt at a new breaking point. angry protesters taking to the streets right now. and six months later. how far joplin, missouri, has come, since a tornado wiped parts of that city right off the map. and a fever pitch. a surprise leader heading into tonight's "dancing with the stars" finale. good morning. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm sunny hostin. we begin with what's being called egypt's second revolution. it's going on the right now. stone-throwing protesters in

cairo's tahrir square this morning. >> it is the fourth-straight day of violence there. the protesters are demanding that egypt's military rulers step down. >> day don't think that the change demanded this sprang has taken place. 25 people have died and nearly 1,800 have been injured in the violence. here at home, the big story is the looming battle on capitol hill over the budget. >> since the supercommittee failed to reach an agreement, lawmakers may have to do an end around the spending cuts. president obama said he would veto any such attempts. >> tahman bradley is joining us from washington with more. tahman? >> reporter: hi, rob and sunny. after a day of finger-pointing, this morning, washington is preparing for the fallout of the supercommittee's collapse. and what it means for the economy and ordinary americans the supercommittee's

superfailure, leaves across-the-board cuts. >> i will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts. >> reporter: the supercommittee's failure to reach a deal means big consequences. $1.2 trillion in budget cuts will go into effect in 2013. huge cuts affecting average americans, like medicare. and big cuts to the defense budget. >> what the american people believe, which is we have yet to make the fundamental decisions, whether to address the problems that we face. we have to be seeing increases in taxes. or whether we ought to be seeing growth in spending. >> reporter: president obama blamed hard lines on taxes for the supercommittee's collapse. >> there are too many in congress that are refused to listen to reason and compromise. >> reporter: the president will

extend the tax cut for middle-class americans. but people outside the beltway worry washington is broken. >> the single biggest threat to our economy is the partisan paralysis that i think is defining washington. >> the future is in doubt in a lot of people's finds. >> reporter: congress has just over a year to reach agreement, before the massive cuts into effect, in 2013. sunny and rob? >> tahman, bradley, thank you. at least a dozen undercover agents have been captured and likely killed. and some officials say careless cia procedures are to blame for blowing their covers. details from abc's brian ross. >> reporter: in iran, the loss is a huge and embarrassing intelligence setback, especially with the country on the verge of building a nuclear weapon. >> the united states lied in the

middle east could only hurt this nation's national security. >> reporter: using labeling lied and propaganda by the u.s., american officials say this broadcast actually revealed some cia sources and methods. the program even showed the websites of several companies that the iranians said were cia fronts used for covert communications. >> u.s. agents use these identities to contact iranian citizens, who they have targeted for covert operations. >> reporter: in lebanon, most of the cia spy network inside the terror group hezbollah, has also been compromised. u.s. officials said part of the blame, they say, goes to sloppy procedures by cia officers in beirut. >> we have lost our touch with espionage. >> reporter: it turns out the cia met many of its spies in the same places. a pizza hut, and a public beach. and failed to detect two double-agents sent in by hezbollah, who learned of the secret locations. in washington, no one wanted to

talk publicly about the massive cia failure. at the state department -- >> i'm certainly not going to comment on anything having to do with intelligence. >> reporter: or at the white house. >> i'm not going to comment on it -- on intelligence matters from here. >> reporter: brian ross, abc news, new york. a former head of the fbi is now leading penn state's investigation into the sex abuse scandal. louis freeh says he will go back as far as 1975, as he looks into the case. freeh says he will look at any evidence that the crime was given to the proper thoughts. a hotline and e-mail address has been set up for anyone with information about the case. as more alleged victims come forward, it now appears inevitable that jerry sandusky will face even more sex charges. his lawyer says he worries that the former coach will be behind bars before christmas. we'll have more on our exclusive interview with the attorney late on "good morning america." students at u.c. davis are calling on the head of the

school to resign after friday's pepper spraying of peaceful protesters. the chancellor apologized, saying she felt horrible for what happened. the police chief, as well as two officers have now been placed on leave. the chancellor's also calling for an investigation. and today marks six months since the monster tornado raked over much of joplin, missouri. as homeowners and businesses scramble to rebuild their lives, a memorial is being held for the people killed in the storm. since the twister hit, joplin has issued $180 million in construction permits. in lighter news this morning, it was a night of country music at the white house. ♪ i don't need your prayer it's true ♪ ♪ but save a few for that's left for you ♪ >> reporter: darius rucker and kris kristofferson were among the headliners playing for the first lady and president and their guests.

the whole event will be broadcast on pbs, tomorrow night. part of the cultural series that the white house is hosting. >> i think it's nice. >> where is our invite? we'll talk about that later. time, now, for a look at your weather across the country. gusty winds, hail and a chance of tornadoes from houston to new orleans, nashville, atlanta and cincinnati. flash flood watches in seven states, from oklahoma to indiana. showers here in the northeast, turning to heavy rain by evening. and windy with up to two feet of snow in the cascades and northern rockies. rain from seattle to redding, california. >> phoenix hits 72. and colorado springs, 62. mostly 40s across the midwest. 51 here in new york. 73 in atlanta. and 82 in miami. and coming up after the break, sylvester stallone's latest idea for a new "rocky." you're not going to believe this one. retail workers push back against thanksgiving day

shopping. but can they convince their companies to close? also, you'll see what happens when a famous new york clothing store is taken over by the one and only lady gaga. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse. britta olsen is my patient.

most overseas markets are down on disappointment over the collapse of u.s. deficit reduction talks. tokyo's nikkei average fell 33 1/2 points today. hong kong's hang seng gained 26 points. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow dropped

249 points yesterday. the nasdaq index fell 49 points. and it's shaping up as a bad year for bankers and brokers. the financial services industry has lost more than 200,000 jobs worldwide so far this year. that's more than two years ago at the height of the recession. and twice as many jobs have been cut over last year. holiday news this morning. target employees are now demanding that the retailer push back its black friday midnight opening time. they've delivered more than 190,000 signatures through petition. they say the midnight opening means workers will have to report to work about 11:00 at night on thanksgiving. that prevents them from spending the holiday with their families. if you were planning on doing a little holiday shopping while at work, you may be disappointed. more companies are blocking access to online shopping sites this year. others say they monitor employees for excessive internet use. the average employee during the holidays spends about four hours

a week shopping online at work. yo, adrian. a musical based on the movie "rocky," is now in the works. it will premiere in germany in about a year, with sly stallone himself as one of the producers. instead of boxing, the musical is expected to focus on the love story between rocky and adrian. and new york stores are known for their holiday displays. but shoppers are going gaga over the one at barney's. the famous clothing store turned an entire floor over to the pop diva, offering hundreds of gifts with a lady gaga theme. lady gaga gave our robin roberts a tour, which you will see later on on "good morning america." >> how big is lady gaga now? when "america this morning" continues this morning, justin bieber, takes a step towards proving he did not have a baby with one of his fans. and major league baseball, after a young player is murdered. details coming up. i'd race down that hill without a helmet.

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how's this for a devine discovery? a california landscaper found this image of a cross, at the center of a tree he was asked to chop down on the grounds of a church. it's not clear what they plan to do with the tree. now, for a look at your morning road conditions on this tuesday. flooding on i-40, from little rock to nashville. i-10, from houston to new orleans. and i-20, from shreveport to atlanta. wet on i-70, in indiana. and i-95 in the northeast. wet spots on i-90 in the northwest. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in houston, memphis, new orleans, atlanta, d.c., philadelphia and detroit. a california teen has pleaded guilty to killing a gay classmate during computer lab class. it's beginning to make news across the country.

brandon mcinnerney, killed larry king. the 17-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which will send him to prison for 21 years. king was shot twice in front of stunned classmates. there was a mistrial in the case back in september. a tense day-long standoff has ended peacefully at an air force base near colorado springs. officials say an airman facing discharge had barricaded himself in the highly-secure facility and had a gun. officials want to know how he got that weapon through security undetected. the base controls the nation's gps military satellite. justin bieber has reportedly taken a paternity test that may prove he did not father a child with a fan. the 17-year-old superstar has said all along that he never even met the accuser. mariah yeater dropped her suit last week. but she may be looking to settle out of court. it's now up to her to provide a

dna sample from her 4-month-old son. and actor, hugh grant, is among the celebrities testifying in court about being a victim of tabloid hacking. grant told investigators that the london tab hacked his phone, stalked him and broke into his home for a scoop. they even paid hospital staff to get his medical records. he says it was relentless. >> if someone like me called the police for a burglary, a mugging, something in the streets, something that happened to me or my girlfriend, the chances are that a photographer or a reporter would turn up on your doorstep before a policeman. >> the parents of a murdered girl told the court how thrilled they were when the voicemail was cleared. they thought their daughter was alive. but a murdoch reporter had hacked into the phone and erased the messages. greg hellmann is being held

as a suspect in halman's murder. he played 35 games for the mariners last season. he was found stabbed to death yesterday. halman's brother was taken into custody for questioning. police say it will take some time to figure out exactly what happened. meanwhile, major league baseball and its players union are set to announce a new labor deal today. the five-year agreement will include new drug testing of players for human growth hormone. it increases players' minimum salary to $480,000 a year. as for football, lots of smiles this morning for fans of the new england patriots. the reason why, from espn news. >> good morning. i'm don bell, with this espn update. tom and the gang taking on the kansas city chiefs. there's tyler palko, making his first nfl start for kansas city. first quarter we go. thomas jones, around the outside. a gain of 24. pushed out at the 5 yard line.

the chiefs would settle for a field goal. they're up 3-0. ensuing possession. brady under pressure. gets hit right there. funnelibles the rock. kansas city recovering. gilberry jumping on it. brady on the sidelines, talking it over with the offense. whatever they discussed, it worked. second patriots' possession, brady to rob gronkowski. outruns the defense. the patriots go up 7-3. we fast-forward to the third now. pats up 10-3. third and two in the red zone. and gronkowski, another catch. fastest tight end to 20 career touchdowns in nfl history. gets up and comes down. he would be okay. kansas city, they would not be okay. gronkowski had 96 yards and that touchdown. later in the third, chiefs punting. julian edelman, returning. you give him an inch.

and he'll take 72 yards. all the way to the house. patriots win in blowout fashion, 34-3, your final score. and that will do it for your espn news update. i'm don bell. coming up next this morning, "the pulse." just three teams remaining. and a surprise leader going into tonight's "dancing with the stars" big finale. and it's one of our favorite stories of the day. the dog and his favorite movie.

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time to check "the pulse," stories that have lots of us talking this morning. >> yes. tonight is the night millions will be watching to see either rob, ricki or j.r. take home that coveted mirrorball trophy. last night was a huge night for the three teams. rob kardashian cheered on by his big sis, kim. to take the highest overall score. >> close behind him, ricki and j.r. scored 54 points. >> at this point, j.r. is the crowd favorite. everyone is routing for him. >> he's my favorite. >> he's your favorite. >> yes. >> check it out tonight. and remember six degrees of separation. that was a study from the '60s saying everyone can connect themselves to everyone else through six people. new research finds we're a lot closer than that. >> apparently we really have a

4.74 degrees of separation. you can thank facebook for that. it's 727 million users. that's one-tenth of the world population. making it easier for us all to connect with each other. >> 4.74. but it raises the question what really is a friend. >> we're friends. >> exactly. now, you have to check out this one about a dog named jake. >> jake lives in ohio. he's an 11 1/2-year-old border collie. here's the important part. jake can't get enough of the movie "babe." >> jake's owner says she can't remember a time when jake didn't love "babe." they've seen it a lot. they've worn out 7 tvs, 10 vcrs and 17 movies. >> he knows what he likes. he ain't changing. >> he likes that pig. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, j.r.

martinez's long road to tonight's big finale of "dancing with the stars." an amazing story when "america this morning" continues after this.

and finally, we're just hours away from the

much-anticipated ballroom finale. >> as we said, j.r. martinez is in a dead heat with ricki lake and rob kardashian. but win or lose, he's captured hearts and minds across the country. deborah roberts has more on his story. >> reporter: he has tangoed, waltzed and jived his way to the finals of "dancing with the stars." it was just eight years ago that j.r. martinez was as far from the glitz and glamour as humanly possible. waking up in a hospital bed with nearly half his body charred following a bomb attack in iraq. a routine drive in a humvee would change his life forever. >> they said, martinez, it's your turn to drive. i had one hand on the cheering wheel. i'm driving as if i'm driving down sunset boulevard. >> reporter: then, the unthinkable. >> boom. the explosion. everything just slowed down. i can see my hands, my skin, you know, slowly just kind of

deteriorating. i can see my hands change in the way, quite honestly, you only see in movies. i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: three weeks after his arrival, he demanded that his nurse give him a mirror. >> i started to cry. for a week after i saw my face, i barely spoke. i didn't tell my mother i loved her. >> reporter: you were angry? >> i was angry. >> reporter: then, one morning, the power of a strong-willed mother would change everything. >> these are my mother's exact words. i know exactly what your problem is. and my response is, sure. your problem is you're worried about girls. >> reporter: you're worried about girls. a simple moment of honesty. j.r. had the courage to face his new, uncertain life. >> one, two, three and four. >> one, two, three. >> there it is. >> reporter: j.r. martinez may very well be named a champion. but to so many, he already is one.