attack that went badly wrong and made things even worse between the u.s. and a key ally. a big day for online holiday shopping. we're live tonight at one of the busiest places in america tonight, scrambling to fill all those orders. also tonight our making a difference report. also tonight our making a difference report. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television the iowa caucuses are 36 days away. the gop field is scattered and things just got tougher for a candidate who's been surging in the polls despite battling some very tough accusations. herman cain today did something unusual. he used a live tv interview to warn that new charges were coming out about his personal life and then they did when an atlanta tv station aired the story. a woman has gone public over

what she says was a 13-year consensual affair. she says she wanted to control her own story rather than having it get out. herman cain is denying the story, vowing to knock down every detail. and his lawyer is reminding everyone this time it's not a sexual harassment allegation. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's lisa myers in our washington newsroom on the still breaking details. lisa, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the latest accuser is an atlanta businesswoman, ginger white, who told waga in atlanta that she'd had an off and on again affair with herman cain for 13 years. she says he flew her around the country and put her up in expensive hotels. as proof of the relationship, she produced phone records of dozens of calls and text messages to cain's phone. >> it's pretty simple. it wasn't complicated. i was aware that he was married. i was also aware that i was involved in a very inappropriate

situation, relationship. >> reporter: even before the report, cain went on cnn to deny the allegation. >> 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. i acknowledged that i knew the woman. i acknowledged that i have known her for about that period of time. but the accusation that i had a 13-year affair with her, no. >> reporter: cain's lawyer issued a statement saying this is an accusation of private alleged consensual conduct between adults, a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public. the lawyer said mr. cain discussed the new accusation with his wife. he does not say how mrs. cain reacted. >> lisa myers in our d.c. newsroom tonight with the story. lisa, thanks. we have new numbers to report tonight on an increasing trend.

the parents that will not allow their children to be vaccinated because they are worried about unintended consequences of the vaccines. a new analysis finds that a growing number of parents in more than half the states in this country are opting out of getting shots for their kids. the problem with that is we have vaccines of course for a reason. the alternative can be disease, in some cases epidemics. that's why it's called public health. so the choices of a few can affect a lot of people who have followed the rules. and that's why this is being watched so closely. our report tonight from dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: 5-year-old ella and her little brother ethan are happy, healthy and unvaccinated. their mother, lisa morris, a practicing chiropractor from buffalo decided against all immunizations, an about-face from the way she was raised by her mother, a practicing nurse. why the decision? >> the thought that more vaccines is better, so the more the better, the more the

healthier. i really don't know if that's true. >> reporter: increasingly, thousands of parents are making the same decisions as lisa and veering away from the recommended immunizations. now, eight states report that more than 1 in 20 children has not been properly vaccinated. just last year, california experienced an outbreak of whooping cough affecting 2,100 children. ten infants died. minnesota faced a cluster of measles infections last march. these outbreaks have health experts worried. >> there is still a lot of confusion because many young parents have no knowledge of the diseases that we are trying to prevent. >> reporter: diseases like measles, mumps, polio, meningitis, chickenpox and hepatitis. lisa is among a growing number of parents who are educated, middle-class, white and get much of their information from the internet. many experts say it's misinformation.

>> i believe there is a moral and ethical responsibility to being vaccinated ourselves, have our children and grandchildren vaccinated. >> reporter: lisa is confident she made the right choice for her children. >> everyone is programmed that vaccines are so great. >> reporter: but public officials counter that making a personal decision for your family may not necessarily be the best one for your community. as it stands now, 90% of american children are vaccinated. that threshold is very important. because that means that communities are, in fact, protected. but the concern obviously, brian, is if that number drops the grandmother on chemotherapy, the aunt who may be struggling with rheumatoid arthritis, those are the vulnerable people. that 4-year-old may be transmitting a disease that could have been prevented and, in fact, could make those people, our most vulnerable. it could be a death sentence for them. >> we'll keep covering this. nancy snyderman, thank you, as

always. we turn now to wall street where stocks bounced back big from the worst thanksgiving week, by the way, since the great depression. the dow was up 291 points. nasdaq was up big. s&p 500 up just under 34 points. what appears to be a busy start to the christmas shopping season appears to have helped drive the gains today. according to black friday estimates -- estimates from retail trade groups -- $52 billion was spent by 226 million of us who spent an average of $400 each, we're told. again, these are numbers based on surveys and they could change when we get the actual retail sales figures next month. and following what we now call black friday we have today so-called cyber monday when online shopping is said to be at its height. nbc's kristen dahlgren is at a huge amazon.com shipping center in phoenix. >> reporter: after black friday scenes like this, cyber monday

may seem, oh, so civilized. >> i don't like crowds or fighting over things. >> reporter: shoppers like sandy johnson choosing the comfort of home to find holiday bargains but she had stiff competition with some 123 million other americans shopping online. >> i probably got the last one. yay! >> reporter: americans are expected to spend $1.2 billion via the internet today. more than last year's one-day record. >> this is going to be a monster, unprecedented, off the rails cyber monday as far as numbers. >> reporter: so at amazon.com's phoenix warehouse it's game time. >> last year worldwide we processed over 158 units per second. >> reporter: keeping up with the orders is a workout. mark james is an amazon aisle picker. where are we going? >> third floor now. >> reporter: he can walk 12 to 15 miles a day this time of year. >> first floor. >> reporter: it's no longer just cyber monday according to ibm's core metrics, online shopping

was up almost 40% on thanksgiving this year. up 24% on black friday. >> the holiday season is far from over. retailers know their biggest challenge now is just going to be continuing that momentum. >> reporter: and so tonight we are high above this 1.2 million square foot processing facility for amazon.com. a lot of holiday wishes being filled down there tonight. but this is, of course, just one of the retailers offering big discounts for cyber monday. 8 out of 10 retailers had some type of deal today. we saw discounts up to 50% in some places. >> all those packages heading somewhere tonight. kristen dahlgren in phoenix. kristen, thanks for that. now we turn overseas to pakistan and that deadly attack over the weekend by u.s. troops that killed at least two dozen members of the pakistani military. and now it's created a huge mess in the u.s. relationship with pakistan. a nuclear nation, don't forget, that's key to the u.s. war effort in afghanistan.

by the way, a war on which we spend roughly $2 billion a week. there are new details tonight, still a lot of questions about what went wrong. our own jim miklaszewski is on duty at the pentagon tonight. hey, jim. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. u.s. officials tell nbc news that before launching those deadly air strikes, american commanders got permission from the pakistani military to go ahead with the attack. but now the u.s. military is looking at the possibility that american forces may have hit the wrong targets. pakistan's military and government leadership gathered for a mass funeral in islamabad to mourn the deaths of the 25 pakistan soldiers killed in u.s. air strikes. while violent anti-u.s. demonstrations exploded across pakistan. the white house tried to ease another round of growing tensions between the u.s. and pakistan. >> the president's reaction is

all of our reaction which is that the events that took those lives, the event rather, was a tragedy. >> reporter: pakistanis say it was unprovoked but others claim it was self-defense. they claim that early saturday rockets were fired from pakistan at american and afghan forces across the border in afghanistan. the americans called for air cover and u.s. helicopter gun ships attacked two separate outposts killing the 24 pakistani troops. pakistan quickly retaliated. cargo trucks stacked up at the afghanistan border after pakistan shut down the critical supply line that provides american forces with 40% of what they need to fight the war. >> this has put us in one step short of a strategic disaster. we simply can't operate without at least 50% of our supplies that come through pakistan on the ground and are now held up.

>> reporter: it's the latest in a series of clashes between the u.s. and pakistan, including the u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden that potentially threatened the entire u.s. war effort in afghanistan. joint chiefs chairman general martin dempsey knows exactly what's at stake. >> is it serious? absolutely. are we taking it seriously? i can promise you that. i don't know how it will turn out. reporter: the u.s. and nato launched two separate investigations into this attack. while officials here at the pentagon are confident that pakistan will eventually re-open those vital u.s. supply lines, they fear it will come at a heavy price, brian. >> jim miklaszewski, great work at the pentagon tonight on a big story for this country. and now we turn to egypt where this is a history-making day. the first election day since mubarak fell. tonight our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in cairo where there may be reason for the u.s. to be worried about the outcome of this vote. >> reporter: with every vote

cast, every finger dipped in ink, egypt moved closer to democracy today. >> for the first time we can make a difference. >> reporter: 4,000 candidates are running for parliament for more than 40 political parties. voting stations so crowded, soldiers had to keep order. but voting was largely peaceful. it didn't seem possible even a week ago when protesters clashed with security forces. tonight, those protesters stayed in tahrir square, boycotting the vote saying it's not democratic enough, that the military still has too much power. >> i don't trust this election. >> reporter: but the boycott could benefit their main opponent -- egypt's muslim brotherhood, banned under mubarak. at one of cairo's busiest polling centers, most people told us they support the brotherhood. >> the most organized party in

egypt. >> reporter: do you think reporter: because people in the u.s. think maybe they are extremists, they want to change egypt into an islamic state. >> they must have a chance. they must have a chance. >> reporter: the brotherhood is powerful, rich, often anti-american and definitely anti-israel. the group is taking advantage of this opportunity, handing out leaflets as voters go to the polls and recording exit polls is democratic transition may be flawed but the muslim brotherhood isn't letting that get in its way. elections will be taking place here, brian, over the next several months but the potential political fallout could be severe. egypt has long been a close and reliable u.s. partner in the at could be changing. >> richard engel watching it all in cairo. richard, thanks for that. up next, as we continue on a monday night another scandal at another university making big headlines tonight and a wife's potentially damaging words about her husband caught on tape.

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ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck, and see how we can help you, not sell you. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 as you may know college sports has been rocked by yet another scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse. syracuse university fired its long time assistant basketball coach after three men accused him of molestation back in the '70s and '80s. our report tonight from nbc's jay gray. >> reporter: bernie fine has helped lead the syracuse orangemen to ncaa victories for more than 30 years. his plaque hangs in the syracuse basketball hall of fame, but fine was fired this week following allegations he sexually assaulted at least three boys. one of his alleged victims spoke to espn. >> he started trying to touch me and things like that, you know. honestly, i don't remember if i, um, thought that was what was supposed to happen, you know? i know i cringed up and didn't want it to happen. >> reporter: bobby davis and his

step-brother mike lang said the abuse started in the '80s. they were syracuse ball boys. concerned that no one would believe his story, davis said he recorded a phone call in 2002 with fine's wife laurie, which espn aired this weekend. >> i know everything that went on. you know, i know everything that went on with him. bernie has issues. maybe that he's not aware of but he has issues. and you trusted somebody you shouldn't have trusted. >> reporter: why espn waited ten years to air the tape is unclear. the network didn't respond to our request for comment. in 2005 syracuse police and the university investigated allegations, but charges were never filed. now a third accuser, zach tomaselli claims fine assaulted him in a pittsburgh hotel in 2002. >> i have a feeling that, you know, there could be many other victims in this case as well. and if somebody didn't back up bobby davis in his story then this could continue. >> reporter: in a separate case

tomaselli faces charges he molested a 14-year-old boy. he's pleaded not guilty. federal agents searched coach fine's home for six hours on friday. he's not been formally charged and has called the allegations patently false. jay gray, nbc news, syracuse. >> up next, a retirement decision in washington getting a lot of attention. and wait until you hear who won the powerball jackpot. who won the powerball jackpot. tourism season in years. st all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over

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one of the best known names in the house of representatives is leaving. barney frank of massachusetts, a liberal member of the house since he was first elected back in 1980. he announced today he will not stand for re-election. over the years he's become a big target for republicans. could very well have faced a very tough challenge had he chosen to run again. redistricting has changed his long-time constituency. he never did suffer fools gladly or a lot of other people for that matter, which he more or less admitted today. among his legacies besides his legendary sharp tongue he was the first member of congress to publically acknowledge he was gay back in 1987. in the insult to injury department tonight three financial executives, asset managers from greenwich, connecticut, are your new winners of the powerball lottery. $254 million. it is the biggest lottery prize

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finally tonight our making a difference report. this story really is a sign of our economic times because it's about addressing a need in a place most of us think about as being relatively carefree or how it should be removed from so-called real life. as nbc's john yang reports tonight, there's something new on campus these days making a difference for young people who might otherwise have to drop out. >> we are going to introduce a new method here. >> reporter: she's dreamed of being an astronaut since she was 7 years old and learned that the sun is a star. >> we need to calculate the volume. >> reporter: at the university of central florida, a scholarship, grant and loans cover her tuition. without money for food she nearly quit. >> i didn't want to ask my mom for money. we're tight at home. we have a big family. she was the only one with income.

>> reporter: then a friend told her about the campus food pantry, organized and run by students to provide free food to classmates in need. >> literally saved my life. i don't know what i would have done. >> reporter: food pantries have sprung up from california to new hampshire on campuses as rising college costs, shrinking financial aid and a tight job market make student budgets even tighter than normal. at the university of california davis, in-state tuition jumped a whopping 17.6% this fall. >> i got a can of fruit which is my breakfast and a lunch. so without it i'd say i would go hungry. >> reporter: pantry organizers at the university of central florida say they have been surprised by the demand. >> people that we are helping out, we may never know but we may sit next to them in class. >> reporter: so far the pantry has collected 3,000 pounds of food, virtually all from students, but the need is greater than that. they have given away nearly 5,000 pounds, relying on a grant

from the unirsity to make up the difference. >> do you know where the library is? >> reporter: it could be the difference between dropping out and working toward a goal. staying in school led to an internship at nasa's kennedy space center and she hopes for a job there. >> i will be the first person in my family to graduate with a degree. i'm trying to set an example for my brothers, getting them in the same direction. >> reporter: getting a helping hand from classmates to reach for the stars. john yang, nbc news, orlando. and that is our broadcast for this post thanksgiving monday night. thank you for being here with us as we start a new week. and a reminder,