making news this morning -- crunch time. >> the most watched debate of the campaign still weighing on the mind of voters. that $10,000 bet. gingrich's firm front-runner status. it's a big week in the penn state sex scandal. now a new twist. is a key witness changing his story? and the kitty who is sitting pretty. worth 13 million bucks. good morning, i'm sunny h hostin. >> and i'm rom nelson. millions of people watched the

debate over the weekend. >> it has mitt romney still explaining this morning. >> tahman bradley is live in washington with the details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, rob and sunny. the mitt romney campaign is in overdrive. they're trying to explain comments, a bet that mitt romney made during saturday's debate. unable to land a knockout blow, he's scrambling to stop newt gingrich's surge. first he faces fallout from a wager made at the debate. zbri read your first book, it said in there your man date, which should be the model for the country -- >> you know what, you have raised that before. you're still wrong. i'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> it's more than two months

income for the average iowa family. gingrich starts the week leading in polls in several early debates. he did not back off his commentses. >> it's time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, enough lying about the middle east. >> reporter: those comments have some republicans worried about him winning the nomination. >> i saw the daniel he did to the republican party and to the congress. >> reporter: the man that has the job the gop candidates want discussed the race in a "60 minutes" interview last night. >> it doesn't matter who the nominee is going to be. the core philosophy that they're expressing is the same. >> reporter: new polls show gingrich leading romney by double digits in south carolina and florida, the next two states to vote after iowa and new hampshire. rob and sunny? >> three weeks and counting.

despite the poll numbers, not everyone is happy with the prospect of gingrich as the nominee. there's major criticism from some of the top leaders in the party. here's david kerley. >> i'm proud of trying to -- >> reporter: with that decent debate performance, many republicans are worried about newt gingrich. represent peter king, a republican from new york. >> i saw the damage he did. i owe it to my constituents and the country not to allow that to happen again. if he did that as speaker, i'm concerned with what he could do as the nominee for president. >> reporter: it's not just one former colleague. tom david served and was promoted by gingrich but won't give him his endorsement. some are saying, he couldn't run the house of representatives, how will he ruin the country? >> you can't say he was a bad

speaker. he was a change speaker, who took the republicans to the promised land after 40 years out of power. >> reporter: he had many ideas, but they were a distract. he lacked discipline and put himt ahead of the party. some republicans were fed up. lindsey graham led a coup that failed. >> i think he's leveled out as a person. all of us, even his worst critics would say that newt is a guy that can hold a room. >> reporter: i spoke to many republicans critical of gingrich, but they won't go on camera. why? they believe he could win the nomination and secretory bugs. >> newt gingrich and jon huntsman will face off in a debate tonight. it's the 15th of the campaign so

far. down, but not out. the occupy protesters in several cities are gearing up for a big day. in seattle, they'll likely be forced from their encampment. they're threatening to close down ports on the west coast. hay shut down the port of oakland last month. two new york lawmakers are trying to get airports to hire passenger advocates. an 85-year-old florida woman says she missed her flight after she was told to take off her clothes and was then searched. and scary moments on a flight from denver to l.a. the jet didn't get far before its right engine shut down. they made an emergency landing. the landing sparked a big round

of applause from the 125 folks on board. the first family got into the spirit. sasha and malia were the envy of millions of girls as justin bieber sang his hit, "mistletoe." the show airs this friday on tnt. >> bieber fever for the holidays, right? time for the weather across the country. a stormy day in the southwest. some rain from l.a. and san diego to phoenix and albuquerque. downpours across texas. freezing rain in the twin cities. madison, and the upper peninsula of michigan. >> 40s from boston to atlanta. a beautiful 8 is in miami. 64 in new orleans. a foggy 39 in seattle and 27 in

billings. this is a crucial week in the penn state sex scandal. now developments about a key witness in the case. with all that hang over him like a black cloud, former head coach joe paterno faces a health scare over the weekend. and man's cell phone with shocking video. who is accused of pulling the

welcome back, everybody. there are questions this morning

about whether the euro euphoria will continue. markets were up on friday. many problems still remain. analysts say it may be just matter of time before investors realize that. we're starting to see some of that on the overseas market this morning. tokyo's nikkei average rose 117 points today. hong kong's hang seng fell 11 points. in london, the ftse opened higher but then turned lower. on wall street, the dow gained 165 points. the nasdaq picked up 20 points. today is known as green monday because there's always a lot of spending online. it's not just because of the deals. this is the last week to use the free shipping offers and still get christmas delivery. internet sales are up 15% this year. $25 billion so far. and the artificial christmas

tree industry says a plastic, prelit tree is cheaper over a decade than a live tree each year. you can save 70%. but you can negotiate better over a live tree. >> love a plastic tree. i love to hear that. i've been doing it right all these years. what is shaping up as a disappointing season in hollywood. despite the opening of the star-studded "new year's eve" flick, they took first place with less than $14 million. "the sitter" broke in at second at $10 million. and sunny's favorite, "breaking dawn" in third. up next, a new sex scandal involving youth athletics. >> here we go again. and the remarkable teen that outsmarted terrorists. and tim tebow pulls off another miracle finish.

[ brian ] free shipping is like my little gift on top of a gift.

and this time of year, i send out a lot of gifts. sweater for mom, free shipping from brian. i'm brian andrews. i ship the gifts that last. the holidays are made here at l.l.bean.

and now for a look at your monday morning road conditions. wet and icy on i-5, 10, and 15 in southern california. slick on i-20 and 35 in south texas. also some freezing rain makes for a slippery ride on i-90 and 94. if you're flying, airport delays are possible in phoenix and los angeles. a new situation in the sex abuse scandals. charges by a coach are being challenged by a family friend. >> coach mike mcqueary said he witnessed the abuse in a shower.

a friend says mcqueary only heard what was going on, but did not see anything sexual. if the report is accurate, it could hurt the case against sandusky. one of those fired officials, legendary football coach joe paterno is now recovering from a fractured pelvis after a fall at home. he initially injured his pelvis back in august. he's also undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for a treatable form of lung cancer. one of the largest sports organization is facing allegatio allegations. two former babel players accused the ex-president of tsalting hi. ralph west says bobby dodd

abused him. dodd has denied the allegations. the holidays are looking happier for one teenager in virginia. he was vacationing in the philippines in july. he was snatched from his resort. after five months in captivity, he pulled a fast one and managed to get away. >> reporter: these are the first pictures of kevin in five months. smiling and safe in the philippines. the 14-year-old from virginia outwitted his armed kidnappers on friday. telling them he was going to wash up in a stream and running. >> it was a tough time. it was a tough five months. i only know he is a hero. and i'm so happy he es kipped. >> reporter: villages found him on an island about 25 miles from where he was kidnapped in july. more than a dozen armed men

stormed the resort in the middle of the night. kevin's mother was released in october. after ran some was paid. his cousin escaped in november. kevin is in good health. kelly cobiella, abc news, london. >> a truly incredible story here. a resourceful south florida man had a feeling he might run into trouble when he picked up his son. he made sure that his iphone was recording when his exmother-in-law greeted him with a gun. [ screaming ] >> i can't believe you did that! i can't believe you did that! >> the mother-in-law fired three shots. she now faces charges of first degree attempted murder. eight college basketball players have been suspended after a violent bench-clearing

brawl. just nine seconds were left in the game when fists starting flying and blood started gushing. a post-game press conference made things worse when instead of apologizing, xavier players trash talked their opponents. another miracle yesterday by the broncos savior, tim tebow. here's espn news. good morning. cole wright here are your espn news update. once again. week after week. it was tebow time in denver. we pick it up in the fourth frame. denver down a ten spot. tebow drops back and finds dema demareius thomas. later in the drive, denver with the last chance to tie, matt prater from 59 yards away. champ bailey all pumped up. this one would go to free football known as overtime on the streets.

barber gets the handoff and spits out the seed. fumbles the football. it's first down broncos. ensuing possession, fourth and three. pr pr prater, from 51 yards away. they win it. tony romo and the boys hosting the g-men. they leave dez bryant wide open. romo, ten poi 50-yard touchdown strike. the fourth touchdown of the night. less than 2:00 to burn, giants down. eli manning hits jake ballard. an 18-yard pickup. brandon jacobs, he would punch it in two days late ferp cowboys with a chance to tie late in the game. bailey blocked by jason pierre-paul giants win this one.

for the latest on the sports scene, tune in to the highlight express. coming up next, the sexiest woman of all time. and the cat with a bank act to prove she is among the 1%. it's a special paste i invented to replace socks. we're dipping our feet in it. why? because we can't find socks that shape to our feet. we're sick of it! sick of it! that's really stupid. that's the future. try hanes socks with the smooth comfort toe seam. a better fit your whole family will love. so you don't have to deal with this. [ indistinct shouting ] simplify your shopping at walgreens. find great gifts and earn up to $20 in jingle cash good on your next purchase of $30 or more. shopping. simplified. that's walgreens. no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card.

nice ring. knock it off. ignore him. with the capital one venture card you earn... double miles on every purchase. [ sharon ] 3d is so real larry. i'm right here larry. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. really? a plaid tie? what, are we in prep school? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? i was gonna say that. uh huh... come for a smoke? yeah. no. you telling me you quit? yeah, i'm on my way. i'm trying nicoderm cq. [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, celebrate a little win with nicoderm cq, the patch with smart control technology that gives you a burst of nicotine in the morning then continues working for up to 24 hours so you can go from one little win to another. until you reach your goal. nicoderm cq. quit one day at a time.

welcome back, everybody. time to check "the pulse" the stories you'll be talk about today. and in the jen versus angie

debate, "men's health" readers come down in favor of jen. they named her the sexiest woman of all time. >> the editors say funny is sexy. when asked who she thinks is the sexiest, though, aniston says it's a tie between bridget bardot and gloria steinem. >> i'm fan. she beat out of interesting names. they liked her down-home pers a persona. >> i like jen as well. but sexiest of all time? that's too far. how about salma hayek and halle berry. you have the sex symbols of our time. an italian cat is one of the richest creatures on the planet. he was a stray who was taken in by an elderly woman with no

other family. she died last month at age 94 and left tomaso $16 million. >> italian law does not allow animals to handle the money. a family friend is now entrusted with the cat and the kitty's fortune. >> he's not the richest animal. >> there are two other animals. there's a chimp worth $60 million and some other one. i want to come back in my other life as one of them. here's a pet that probably will not be inheriting much from its owner. he's really in the dog house this morning. >> a florida man was out hunting when his bulldog bumped into a loaded rifle, it fired and hit the man in the leg. he's in critical but stable condition. >> it's the second time in recent week that a hunter has been shot by his own dog. >> unfortunate. >> it's sad. oh, man.

bow wow. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. for everyone else, 70 years after a silent film won an oscar, the new one getting oscar buzz.

when you spend more days than not separated from your own life... when the only thing you can be sure of is migraines with 15 or more headache days a month, you're living a maybe life. and you may be living with chronic migraine. but knowing that this thing you're going through has a name, means knowing you can find treatments that are right for you. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist. and don't live a maybe life. now kay jewelers brings you neil lane bridal. - this scrollwork is a vintage technique, very intricate. - each ring is an original neil lane design,

for the star in your life. and finally from us this half hour. major buzz about the silent treatment.

a new film that is the seeper hit of the movie season. >> it has no special effects. it has no conversation at all. here's t.j. winick. >> reporter: when charlie ch chaplin was box office champ, the only peep or whisper was in the audience. fast forward to to 11. the hollywood block bust sir a roller coaster ride of i-max, 3-d, and surround sound. a quiet day at the multiplex, unheard of. until now. there's though need to adjust your volume. "the artist" is a 2011, black and white silent film about silent films. it's also a tribute to some of our greatest movie moments, like singing in the rain. it's won all sorts of awards.

several critics are expecting a best picture nod come oscar time. >> i looked at "the artist" and i thought, we're missing something now. >> reporter: it's been a hit with older audiences. but younger ones, too. maybe because our world today is filled with so many noises. >> i think we're now overdoing it a little bit with all the stimulation. there's wave that washes over us. >> reporter: we took this sociologist to one of the loudst places on the planet -- times square. >> you interact in an old fashioned way. >> and the oscar goes to -- >> reporter: so, if "the artist" does, in fact, have the last word at february's academy awards, don't be surprised if the roar of the crowd is downright deafening. t.j. winick, abc news, new york.