making news this morning, behind bars. >> new charges send jerry sandusky to jail, locking up the former coach a month after the penn state sex scandal shocked the nation. but could he still go free? and millions will be waking up to a fresh coat of snow. a commuter mess from virginia to maine. and one peppy point of view. seeing the game from a cheerleader's perspective. good morning. i'm sunny hostin. >> and i'm rob nelson. jerry sandusky wakes up in jail this morning, the first time he's been behind bars since the sex scandal at penn state began

to unfold. >> the former coach was arrested on charges after two more young men came forward to say they, too, were abused. >> their stories, all now, sadly, familiar. >> reporter: jerry sandusky is looking for a way out of prison this morning, after failing to post $250,000 bail. the former penn state assistant football coach was handcuffed and arrested wednesday afternoon, on new child sex abuse charges. he now faces more than 50 counts of sexual abuse. >> jerry's scratching his head saying, what's next? i said, don't ask that question. can it get worse because it can. >> reporter: two, new accusers paint a terrifying picture of what went on in sandusky's basement. that's where victim number nine told the grand jury, that sandusky ordered him to stay. the boy said he ate meals in the basement, brought to him by sandusky. and there are graphic, new details about sandusky's wife. and what she did or did not do to stop it. victim number nine was 10 to 12

years old, during the alleged attacks. and testified sandusky's wife, dottie, was in the house. but that she never came downstairs. at least once, he screamed for help, knowing sandusky's wife was upstairs. but no one came to help him. >> i didn't do those things. >> reporter: it was just last week that jerry sandusky told "the new york times," he had done nothing illegal. denials that seem only to fuel the accusers' pain and outrage. >> first, he serially abused my client. and then, he has to hear sandusky deny that he did those things. >> reporter: sandusky is expected to come face-to-face with at least eight of his accusers at a preliminary hearing steaded for next tuesday. as of now, all of them are expected to testify. rob and sunny? >> paul beban, thank you so much. and no sexual abuse charges will be filed against former syracuse assistant basketball coach, bernie fine. that's because a statute of

limitations has run out. basically, the charges against fine are just too old to be prosecuted. the d.a. who made the announcement apologized to two of fine's accusers. and he said the story of the third may not be solid. fine has denied wrongdoing from the very beginning. to politics now. and the tough, new ads we're starting to see from mitt romney. the latest poll shows romney being beaten by gingrich in three, critical states. now, he is fighting back. with more now, here's abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: on the surface, it looks like a feel-good campaign ad portraying mitt romney, husband and family man. >> i've been married to the same woman for 25 -- excuse me, i'll get in trouble -- for 42 years. >> reporter: except in this case, romney's main opponent is newt gingrich, a man who has been married three times and has admitted to infidelity. >> romney is not trying to remind voters about his marriage. he's trying to remind voters about newt gingrich's three marriages. >> reporter: in the ad, which is

filled with pictures of his wife and family, romney closes with a promise. >> if i'm president of the united states, i will be true to my family, to my faith and to our country. >> reporter: true to his family? presidential candidates don't usually feel a need to make that promise. gingrich was asked whether moral behavior is a legitimate issue in the campaign. >> i think everything about a candidate has to be held into account. i suspect everybody who runs for office at this level has had some flaws at some point. i don't think, other than christ, i don't think anybody has been flawless. >> reporter: romney's wife, ann, signaled she's about to take a more high profile role. >> that's going to be my job. i'm going to try to let other people see the other side of mitt, the funny guy, the laid-back guy. >> reporter: romney is getting personal just as his campaign appears to be in real trouble. the upcoming abc news debate this weekend in iowa will be the first with gingrich as the clear front-runner. he's up nationally. and new polls today give him double-digit leads in three of the first four dates to vote, including 23-point leads over romney in south carolina and florida.

asked about romney's ad, gingrich said he's not going to pick a fight with romney. saying, quote, he's going to run on his strengths and i'm going to run on mine. jonathan karl, abc news, washington. >> we're two days away. be sure to join us for the republican debate moderated by diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos in iowa. it takes place, at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific. more remains were mishandled. the remains of troops that arrived at dover air force base were incinerated and dumped into a virginia landfill. the practice that was ended three years ago was never authorized by the pentagon. there are no plans to alert the families. the obama administration is out with some pretty strong reaction to our abc news exclusive barbara walters

interview syrian president bashar al assad. he said he did not order the violent crackdown against his own people, ludicrous. the white house says assad is simply not credible. and the united nations is dismissing assad who called a report of widespread torture in syria, a false allegation. people are digging out after getting blasted by a snowstorm. eight inches of snow fell in parts of pennsylvania, with higher elevations bearing the brunt of it. much of it will melt today, as temperatures warm up. and time, now, for weather from across the country. a blustery day in the northeast, with lingering snow in northern new england. up to half foot of lake-effect snow in michigan's upper peninsula. and snowshowers between nebraska and kansas. meanwhile, cooling down along the gulf coast. and some scattered showers down in florida. >> 74 in miami. 52 in atlanta. 45 here in new york.

a biting 13 degrees in fargo. 21 in minneapolis. and 31 in omaha. 40s in the pacific northwest. phoenix gets up to 61. sacramento, 58. and salt lake city, 36. and we are tracking a few developing stories on this thursday morning, including the crash of a tourist helicopter near las vegas. we'll have the details on that. plus, the alarming video of student to the rescue, when the bus driver falls asleep. >> very brave young man there. on top of that, more new video just coming in. hawaii's most active volcano is at it again.

welcome back, everybody. overseas markets are mostly down as investors wait to see what will happen at the european summit that opens today in brussels. tokyo's nikkei average lost 58 points today. hong kong's hang seng dropped 133 points. and in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, meanwhile, the dow rose 46 points yesterday. the nasdaq index fell a third of a point. and the european debt crisis is one reason former senator jon corzine will be answering questions today, at a congressional hearing. corzine, of course, the former governor of new jersey, was subpoenaed to testify about the collapse of the m.f. global, the wall street investment firm he once headed. the brokerage invested heavily in european bonds. there's another sign of growing consumer confidence. we borrowed more in october, the most in two years. economists say that's a sign we're more confident about the economy.

the biggest increase was in the category that includes cars and student loans. but credit card use was also up. the federal government is pushi ining an easier to unders credit card agreement. it requires only a seventh grade reading level. card users aren't required to use the new language yet. two department store chains are fighting over a woman. jcpenney is adding the martha stewart brand to its lineup by buying one-sixth of her company. but macy's is annoyed by this because it's had an exclusive martha stewart line for several years now. macy's says it's going to reconsider that line now. facebook is known for bringing families together. but there may be ulterior motives. 90% of mothers have friended their children on facebook to keep an eye on ha their doing. most rely on someone else to check on their kids. >> in this day and age, i kind of get that.

know what's going on out there. next on your thursday morning, what alec baldwin is saying now after getting booted from his cross-country flight. and you've probably never seen a game from this point of view. cheer camp, coming up. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! amazing pictures this morning from hawaii. that is red-hot lava from a big crater on the big island, flowing towards the pacific. the lava goes right through what was once actually a thriving neighborhood. hundreds of people have now gathered to watch the amazing show being put on by mother nature. it's part of the kilauea volcano that's been erupting since 1983. amazing pictures. look at that. >> unbelievable. now, for a look at morning road conditions. a slick ride on i-95, from portland to the canadian border. i-80, from new york to

pennsylvania. and i-87, around albany northward. snow-covered roads across michigan's upper peninsula. also slippery on i-80, from cheyenne to omaha. wet on i-95, in florida. >> if you're hitting the friendly skies today, airport delays are possible in boston, new york city, philly, and d.c. with that, we shift gears to sunny's favorite story. >> i'm obsessed with this story, i will admit it. actor alec baldwin has deactivated his twitter account, in the middle of a heated war of words. >> baldwin apologized to the passengers for the confrontation that got him booted on a flight from l.a. to new york. baldwin tweeted about getting reamed out by a flight attendant, for playing words with friends while the flight was at the gate. >> american fired back on its facebook page. saying baldwin refused to turn off his phone, slammed the bathroom door and called the crew some names. in other news this morning, five people have been killed in

the xrash of a tourist helicopter outside of las vegas. the chopper, like one of these from sundance helicopters, was on a sunset tour of the vegas strip and hoover dam, when it crashes into the mountains near lake mead. several people heard the crash and saw the smoke. the weather was mostly clear at the time. crews will resume the search for the victims later this morning. at least two prisoners were shot by corrections officers after a riot broke out at the maximum security section of a california prison. it started when officers tried to break up a fight between 50 inmates at the prison, east of sacramento. most of the prison's 2,800 inmates were locked in their cells while the disturbance was being investigated. a new clue has turned up in the search for a missing fl mom who vanished after appearing on "the people's court." michelle parker's family has found her iphone. detectives made a stop at the home of parker's ex-fiance, prime suspect, dale smith.

parker hasn't been seen since she dropped off their 3-year-old twins at his condo three weeks ago. and from washington state, a 17-year-old high school student says he was only doing the right thing. what emmanuel williams did was likely prevent lots of injuries during a school bus ride. williams said he noticed the driver wasn't his usual self early on in monday's ride. and when the 65-year-old fell asleep, williams jumped into action. >> if something would have happened, if i didn't get up, i know there would have been a big huge thing going on because he would have crashed. it would have been a whole lot more than what it is now. >> school officials say the driver had an impeccable record with no accidents or incidents. he's been put on paid leave while an investigation moves forward. fans are remembering veteran character actor harry morgan this morning. he was known as colonel potter on "m.a.s.h." he was also joe friday's loyal

partner in episodes of "dragnet." he died yesterday at the age of 96. and there's shock on the campus of oregon state university this morning. it comes after the announcement of the death of a 19-year-old freshman football player named fred thompson. he collapsed while playing basketball on campus last night and later died at a hospital. head coach mike riley is rushing to campus. the school is expected to release more details today. and now, some hoops and hockey highlights. we get those from will selva at espn news. >> good morning. we had a nail-biter at the swamp between number 12, billy donovan and the gators and arizona. 18 seconds to go. gators down one. patric young, with the lay-in. gators. five seconds to go. wildcats down three. solomon hill draws the foul. billy donovan is beside himself. hill would go to the line. after making the two first free throws, wildcats down one.

score tied at 66-66. in overtime, walker, young -- oh. and florida would go on to win 78-72. colorado state taking on coach k. and duke. first half, duke leading, 18-11. seth curry, forcing the turnover. where is andre dawkins? oh, there he is. soaring in for the hoop. 20-11, duke. more duke for your viewing pleasure. mason plumlee ends up getting it back. bringing the thunder, josh hairston. he put the exclamation point on this one. 80-64. on the ice, brian miller and the sabres hosting the flyers. jaromir jagr ends up beating miller like a rented tom-tom. under two minutes to go in l regulation. stafford scores. tied at 4-4.

that means more hockey for us. claude giroux, all alone on the break. giroux, with the advantage. flyers win 5-4, in overtime. and that will do it for this update. i'm will selva. and here's a rather unique look inside the world of big-time college football. it's the view of an lsu cheerleader during a pregame routine. >> she wore a small camera on her head for the tigers stadium performance just before lsu beat up on arkansas a couple weeks back. top it off with a charge on to the field in front of the team. that's what we call pretty cool. >> not only do they have good cheerleaders at lsu. but they will be national champions again. coming up next, a couple gets married. where they met making for a pretty interesting ceremony. how skinny is too skinny? students are sent home because of their skin-tight jeans. my name is robin.

i'm a wife, i'm a mom... and chantix worked for me. it's a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. my inspiration for quitting were my sons. they were my little cheering squad. [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix we went around the country asking women to speak frankly about something no one wants to talk about. it's time to get real about what happens in the bathroom. stop all the cutesy stuff. and start talking about what you really want from your toilet paper. it's time to talk about clean. feeling clean is so important. vo: quilted northern soft & strong is stronger than the leading rippled brand to help protect against breakthrough. for myself, for my family, it keeps us clean. i use quilted northern. quilted northern soft & strong. protection for a confident clean or your money back. imagine a day when we can eat what we want and sleep soundly through the night. prevacid®24hr prevents the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. go to prevacid24hour.com for a $4 coupon.

all right. time to check "the pulse." we begin this morning with war. this would be the dumbest war ever. michigan versus wisconsin over whose state looks more like a mitten. >> that's right. look at the map. michiganders have long identified with the mitten. if you know anyone from michigan, they like to hold up their hand to show you where in the state they're from. now, wisconsin launched the war with a new tourism ad showing their state as a mitten, inflaming michiganders who voiced their outrage online. >> but fear not. a wisconsin spokeswoman says the mitten ad will only be around until the spring. >> you can't just take someone else's symbol. >> it's a mitten. good luck with that epic battle out there. from mittens to skinny jeans. a controversy has been touched

off after a student was turned away from a university testing center because her pants were too tight. >> and it was on the idaho campus of utah-based brigham young university. the young woman said she was humiliated by the incident. the mormon-owned university has long had a dress code. but the new popularity of those skinny jeans is causing friction between student and school officials. >> it's -- >> you know that. >> you know that. finally, how about some love with your latte? that's exactly what eva mccarthy and carmine camarillo found at their local starbucks in tulsa, oklahoma. >> the place meant so much to them, they had their wedding there. that's where is eva had her coffee every week while carmine was serving in iraq for 15 months. >> carmine said when he started dating, he didn't like coffee. but drinking it was a way to spend some time with eva. >> i love that.

it's a love story. love and latte. >> it's very cool. a romantic gesture. may it be a long and happy marriage. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, another thing that doesn't mix with drinking, online shopping. hmm. stay with us. passport? here you go. driver's license. past five years' tax returns. high school report cards. and i'm gonna need to see a receipt for that watch you're wearing. you know, you really should provide us with a checklist of documents we're gonna need up front. who do you think i am? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide a checklist of the mortgage documents you'll need up front. it helps keep you in the know every step of the way. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze.

you were singing along to that during the commercial. >> i like that song. rain was falling on my head today. there is a warning from

overseas not to drink and click. british consumers admit they shopped online while drinking. and some say they do some or all of their shopping while under the influence. >> one in seven admits buying something when drunk they wouldn't have bought when sober. and more than half say they shop more when tipsy. >> they might want to be sober enough when those packages arrive on the doorstep. >> all of that shopping is making for easy pickens for grinches around the country. neal karlinsky explains. ♪ you're a foul one mr. grinch >> reporter: as the story goes, it's the grinch that stole christmas. ♪ mr. grinch >> reporter: but this year on front doorsteps coast-to-coast, surveillance cameras have the proof. there's a new kind of grinch in town. in utah, this guy walked up. stole a complete stranger's waiting package. and walked away. in san diego, this man peeked through the front door to make sure the coast was clear before

making off with a freshly-delivered box. >> at least now i have a suspect. >> reporter: in seattle, there was the hooded porch pirates whose big haul turned out to be a shipment of cat urine deodorizer. but much bigger ticket items are at risk of pilfering. estimates 16.5 billion packages will be shipped in the month before christmas. everything from computers to gift certificates. as we learned, it's not too hard to find waiting packages just sitting on porches. often for hours or even days. this one sat outside all morning before the owner opened her door. would you do something different out of concern that people are taking packages. >> if i knew it was going to be taken, i probably would be more careful. >> reporter: it's an easy problem to avoid. you can either ask for delivery by signature only. or ask for the package to be left in a specific area, like hidden behind a bush. neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. >> thieves