>> tom costello starting us off from washington tonight. tom, thanks for that. >>> on wall street here in new york today, stocks held on to the massive gains of this week which were sparked by central banks around the world acting together to try to stabilize europe. all the major stock indexes were pretty much unchanged for the day. for the week, monster rally. the dow up 7% of its total. second biggest weekly point gain in history. swinging the blue chip stocks back into positive territory for the year. tonight there are strong indications as we turn to politics that herman cain will tell supporters tomorrow he is getting out of the race for president. we are following this story on two fronts tonight. we'll start with nbc's andrea mitchell in our washington newsroom. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. in an unpredictable campaign like this one, no decision is final until herman cain delivers it but a source close to cain wants to protect his family from more fallout from the allegations he's facing. herman cain home i

>> tom costello in d.c. for us tonight. tom, thanks. >>> now we turn to politics. the presidential campaign trail and the new republican frontrunner who was pretty much left for dead politically a few months back. this is the new rise of the former speaker named newt. our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd has our report. >> reporter: the new republican frontrunner, newt gingrich in new york city today. >> i have come to new york for two different reasons today. one is to make the case that if i do become the nominee we are going to compete in all 50 states. >> reporter: the second reason, to pay a visit to businessman donald trump. >> donald trump is a great showman and also a great businessman. if we are trying to create jobs one of the differences between my party and the other party is we actually go to people who know how to create jobs. >> reporter: with herman cain's decision to drop out for now. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> reporter: gingrich is the latest not mitt romney to serve. the new nbc news marist po

we begin tonight with nbc's tom costello in washington. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. the government says at any given moment, 1 out of 100 drivers you pass on the road is texting while driving. the ntsb calls it an epidemic, says too many people, thousands of people, are dying, and it has to end. investigators say this fatal chain reaction crash involving two school buses in missouri last year, was caused by a 19-year-old pickup driver texting while driving. 11 texts in 11 minutes. today, after years of similar reports, the ntsb said it's heard enough. >> no one can drive safely when they're distracted. >> reporter: today, the safety board called on all 50 states and d.c. to ban the use of all portable electronic devices for all drivers. exceptions would only be made for emergencies and gps units, but not hands free devices. at the moment, 35 states ban texting while driving. ten and d.c. ban handheld devices. but no states have the kind of total ban the ntsb wants. >> we need to stand up and say, this is not acceptable behavior. >> reporter: under a new refined repor

tom costello starting us off in national in washington. tom, thanks. >>> now to the fight in washington over the payroll tax cut extension. with ten days left including christmas and new year's before the cut expires there is no sign that either side is ready to move. we are covering the story from two angles tonight including the latest from washington, but we'll begin with nbc's ron mott on the worries about less money in paychecks now hitting home. >> reporter: with the nation's lawmakers headed home for the holidays and no resolution on extending the payroll tax cuts, families like the blanfords in southern california are facing a financially uncertain new year, fearing smaller paychecks starting january 1st. >> it would make a tremendous impact. we are putting our 18-year-old through college right now. with the economy out there as it is today, i look out for the next three and a half years and wonder, is there any way we're going to make it? >> reporter: today the white house used social media to gauge concern about the latest politic

nbc's tom costello covered the disaster, and tonight he has more on the settlement. >> reporter: it's a tragedy that still haunts west virginia coal country. 29 men, husbands, fathers, brothers, sons and uncles died when a huge explosion ripped through the upper big branch mine in april 2010. soon after, we talked to tommy davis, who lost his own son, as well as a brother and a nephew. >> why? why did it happen? somebody tell me. why am i not coming home, seeing my son on my couch. >> reporter: federal and state investigators quickly focused on the mine operator, massey energy and what they called a pattern of reckless disregard for safety. >> basic fundamental safety precautions and practices were neglected. >> reporter: today, the largest government settlement ever stemming from a mine disaster. the new owner of the mine, alpha resources, will pay $209 million. $46 million of it in restitution, to be split among the miners' families. $11 million to settle hundreds of safety violations racked up before the explosion. the rest will go to mine safety improvements and mine safety resear

nbc's tom costello in reston, virginia, for us tonight. hey, tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. we're at a great spot here because it includes an outdoor skating rink in the shopping area. you know the current sales slogan, nobody pays full retail anymore? a lot of people are taking that to heart. they're demanding big discounts both online and in the stores. retailers are desperate this weekend. they want to get shoppers in and merchandise out. if you thought the stores were packed over the thanksgiving weekend, and they were, then prepare yourself for tomorrow, on this last full weekend before christmas, some of the biggest retailers are slashing prices to lure in those shoppers who haven't yet finished, from the promenade in santa monica -- >> i haven't bought anything for anyone yet. >> i don't have a strategy yet. i think when i get to the stores i'll figure it out. >> reporter: -- to the magnificent mile in chicago. >> anything over 50% i feel is a good deal especially like being a student, i need those sales. >> reporter: whi

most of them are hitting the roads and that is where we find our tom costello tonight, out in the headlights of washington, d.c. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, kate. good morning -- good evening to you, rather. it's been a long day for me. you're right. 92 million people. that's a lot of people traveling. so far by all accounts the weather for the most part is cooperating and we are off to a good start on this great holiday escape. from snowy maine to new mexico to southern california -- [ honking ] -- where if a car radio isn't tuned to "jingle bells" it may sound like this. >> slowing in the northbound 15. >> nothing will keep me from being with my family. i'm looking forward to it. >> reporter: of the 92 million people traveling 50 miles or more, nearly 84 million of us are driving and only about 5.5 million leisure travellers are flying. that's a big drop of nearly 10% from last year. at $210, the lowest round trip airfare on average is about $35 higher than last year and you will probably still have to pay for your bags. meanwhile, airlines aren't flying as many planes. >> and that

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> when we continue here tonight, state of the union. new snapshot tonight of marriage in america. question is, is it becoming a thing of the past? >>> and the frenzy set off by the jewels once worn by elizabeth taylor. a new record has now been set. >>> as we mentioned another sign of our times to report tonight. the number of married americans dropping fast. barely half the people over 18 are married now compared to almost three-quarters back in 1960. our report tonight from nbc's chris jansing. >> reporter: at 28 mariana is a vision in strapless organza, shopping for her wedding dress. >> i am excited. it feels right. it really does. >> reporter: for her it's a dream come true but she may soon be in the minority. a new research study finds just 51% of adults are now married, fewer than ever before. notably the number of new marriages dropped 5% just within a year. >> if this trend continues within a few years we'll see less than a majority of american adults who aren't married and this will be a first. >> hey, that sweater looks great

again, the headline is the fda will look at setting new guidelines. >> tom costello in the washington newsroom tonight. tom, thanks. >>> now we turn to presidential politics. the increasingly wild race for the gop nomination. a lot of political types will tell you in a way it's un-republican party. it's personal, messy, unsettled. sooner or later somebody has to emerge. while leaders have risen and fallen we get the first results from iowa in less than five weeks. until then it's mitt romney and newt gingrich trading jabs. herman cain looking like he's sticking with it while under attack. our report tonight from nbc's lisa myers. >> how you doing? >> reporter: with newt gingrich on the rise mitt romney today went on the air in new hampshire emphasizing that he's a creature of the private sector. >> i spent my life in the private sector. i have competed with companies around the world. >> reporter: in an interview romney took a shot at gingrich portraying the former speaker as a career politician and a washington insider. >> speaker gingrich is a good man. he and i have very different

it is a top of mind topic now and nbc's tom costello has our report. >> mr. baldwin -- >> reporter: on his return to new york alec baldwin was again met by cameras, all for being thrown off a plane when he refused to turn off his iphone and the game he was playing. among air travellers today, not a lot of sympathy. >> he's a star. he loves to do that. >> i think he needs to abide by the same rules everyone else does. >> reporter: but also a question. >> i wondered, why can't i read my ipad while i'm sitting here? >> reporter: the f.a.a. rules are clear. >> ladies and gentlemen, at this time please turn off all cell phones and other electronic devices. >> reporter: everything must be in the off position before the plane pushes back and when it is preparing to land. do they really pose a danger? boeing engineers in seattle showed us the signals that come from the video screens on portable devices. >> there is a potential for these signals to cause interference to the radio. >> reporter: pilots have complained of interference with their flight computers and radi

but we're not here to win a popularity contest. >> tom costello reporting for us there. the mntsb's recommendation is nonbinding. >>> still ahead here on way too early, live this morning from burbank, bad lip reading.com returns to take a crack at rick perry's there's something wrong with the country where gays can serve openly in the military but kids can't openly celebrate christmas ad. plus ron paul with programs the strangest applause line. he's not going to take this pasturized milk thing sitting down. that clip and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back live from burbank. >>> on president's failure visit to iraq, a grave insult. a sign of deep contempt. mr. bush and iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki were about to take questions when a television reporter hurled a shoe shouting this is a gift from iraqis, this is a farewell kiss, you dog. television reporter hurled a [ dog ] i am a rockstar. my coat? solid gold. my insides? pure platinum. [ female announcer ] a healthy outside starts inside. new iams simple & natural has chicken as its number one

it's where we begin tonight with nbc's tom costello -- where else? at the post office. tom, good evening. >> reporter: yeah, brian. good evening to you. the postal service is cash-strapped. it's lost a third of its first class volume. it's bloated, so it's cutting costs. and as you said, that means slowing things down starting in the spring. the folks at the post office hate the term "snail mail," but first class mail is about to get more expensive and slower. >> mail that is dropped in a blue collection box will no longer receive overnight service standard. >> reporter: that means what now takes one day to deliver could take two come spring. and the letter that used to get there overnight will likely take two days. meanwhile, newspapers and magazines could take several extra days. at a minimum, everything from movie dvds, to prescription medications, bills, mortgage payments, you name it, will take at least a day longer to process. >> it would affect my schedule and make sure that i do things earlier. >> the post office is not as important, i guess, as it used to be jus

nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: it was nearly three years ago that 50 people died when a regional airline crashed on approach to buffalo. pilot error was cited as the cause, but the crash highlighted long distance commuting, gruelling work schedules and pilot fatigue, b factors thought to have contributed to crashes going back decades. now the rules are changing. >> this is a big deal today. it's a big deal because for 25 years people have been talking about this and haven't done a dang thing about it. >> reporter: the new faa rules set a maximum duty day for pilots of nine to 14 hours depending on when and where they're flying. maximum flying time would be nine to ten hours. pilots get a minimum of ten hours rest time between flights, that's two hours more than current rules with an opportunity for eight hours of interrupted sleep and at least 30 consecutive hours of time off per week. something else, regardless of how far they've commuted on their own, pilots will be required to state they are fit to fly, a statement that veteran pilot john cox welcomes. >> jet airplanes move ve

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> up next here tonight, a sign of the times for christmas trees. >>> finally tonight, a tall order for some big-name american retailers hit hard in this tough economy, their online sales have been a major bright spot this holiday season. now some stores are taking it one step further by turning a traditional family outing to the christmas tree lot or tree farm into a simple click of the mouse. nbc's ron mott now with a sign of the times. >> reporter: near san francisco, the fords pull the plug on their dying christmas tree after one week and then did something they've never done before. they bought another one, hoping it would be a lot fresher, on the internet. >> the tree's here! >> reporter: oh, christmas tree. >> it smells so good. >> reporter: the real thing in a box. >> when it comes to >> when it comes to christmas, i'm a very traditional person. and i enjoy all of those things. so this was a difficult choice for me. >> reporter: this year, major retailers like sears, home depot and target, are selling freshly-cut trees on their web sites, t

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> billy graham was released from a hospital in ashville, north carolina today after being admitted for pneumonia. graham who is now 93, responded well to treatment and should be able to resume his normal activities soon. >>> we'll take a break. news tonight about a test that could help women and their doctors decide what to do after worrisome mammogram results. >>> later, who is leaving gold coins in the red kettle. it's a kind of happy holiday mystery. swollen joints, painful, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on top of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should

>> tom costello starting us off in washington. tom, thanks. >>> now to the fight in washington over the payroll tax cut extension. with ten days left including christmas and new year's before the cut expires there is no sign that either side is ready to move. we are covering the story from two angles tonight including the latest from washington, but we'll begin with nbc's ron mott on the worries about less money and paychecks now hitting home. >> reporter: with the nation's lawmakers headed home for the holidays and no resolution on extending the payroll tax cuts, families like the blanfords in southern california are facing an uncertain new year, fearing smaller paychecks starting january 1st. >> we are putting our 18-year-old through college. with the economy the way it is i look out and wonder if there is a way we'll make it. >> reporter: today the white house used social media to gauge concern about the latest political fight that puts workers in the middle asking how an average $40 drop in pay every two weeks would affect amer

tom costello tonight in washington. >>> we turn to presidential politics. tonight according to some of the very best people in the business of measuring the mood of the american electorate, there's reason to believe that the united states is approaching a tumultuous and game changing election year. we've never seen the voting attitude, exactly the way it is now. tonight we're going to take a few minutes here to talk about this because of some new data that was shared with us today. we have the pollster himself, and the rest of our veteran political team with us, our political director, chuck todd is here as is peter hart, meet the press moderator david gregory, and from washington, andrea mitchell. chuck, let's start with the hard numbers today and what they tell us. >> this poll that we have tonight is a tale of two republicans with their own set of electability problems. let's start with mitt romney, his problem is getting the republican nomination. as you can see, newt gingrich has surged to 40%. the highest number any republican has had in the calendar

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> when we continue here tonight, state of the union. a new snapshot tonight of marriage in america. question is, is it becoming a thing of the past? >>> and the frenzy set off by the jewels once worn by elizabeth taylor. a new record has now been set. . fidelity's next-generation ipad app lets you see what's trending around the world, as well as what over a million fidelity customers are trading throughout the day. and advanced charting lets you customize your views and set up your own comparisons. our ipad app can help refine your strategy, or even find a new one. i'm velia carboni, and i helped create fidelity's next-generation ipad app. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. open an account today and get a $500 apple gift card. and get a cold... ...you need a cold medicine with a heart. only coricidin hbp has a heart, right here. it's the only cold and flu brand that won't raise your blood pressure. coricidin hbp. powerful cold medicine with a heart. wait a second... with olay challenge that. new reg

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but there is hope and we begin tonight with nbc's tom costello in washington. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. this is the biggest drop in the monthly unemployment rate since january. while more americans are getting jobs, a third of those jobs are in the retail sector. many of them temporary in the run-up to the holidays. from the mall to main street to wall street, today's unemployment numbers seem to catch the country by surprise. but analysts say to understand why the unemployment rate suddenly dropped to 8.6% you've got to go inside the numbers. >> part of the game comes from people dropping out of the work force but another part comes from more jobs and fewer unemployed. >> reporter: that's critical. 315,000 fewer people were looking for jobs in november and, therefore, aren't counted as unemployed. the jobs that were created, 140,000 of them, came from the private sector. and there were more jobs created in september and october than first reported. meanwhile, government employment shrank by 20,000 jobs. the president today used the numbers to u

back to you. >> tom costello in washington. thank you, tom. we'll be right back. 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 make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. >>> i believe that this country suc

tom costello is following this story. >> this happened at 10:30 saturday night in fairfax city in northerna. randy babbitt who runs the faa was pulled over for driving on the wrong side of the road and then arrested for suspicion of dui. he was released on a boend. the city of fairfax has a policy that anytime a government official is arrested that information is release odd the public. randy babbitt has been running the faa since president obama took office. prior to that he was a veteran pilot. 25 years in the cockpit. also at one point ran the airline pilots association. as head of the faa for the past few years he has been in charge as he has dealt with allegedly drunk pilots, not only in the united states but u.s. pilots overseas. he's had to deal with air traffic controllers sleeping on the job. he worked for the department of transportation which has a zero tolerance policy on drunk driving. just recently held a news conference with madd on this very issue. i think one question that will be posed to the white house and to president obama this afternoon is whether mr. babbitt continu

maybe tom costello. nd him now. >> reporter: i've got some models back here. here are my models. pretty good, huh? >> those are big models. tom, you know, i have been scanning the papers over the past three years, and wondering why congress was taking so long, the faa was taking so long to respond to the horrific events that all sort of lined up together to cause the crash of that colgan air flight going into buffalo on an icy night. any progress here? >> reporter: you know, you're an old washingtonian. the truth of the matter is, in terms of rule making this happened at warp speed when you consider the fact that congress got in involved, faa, pilots union. three years after 50 people died on that horrific crash, we see that the faa has moved forward with new rules. faa took a science-based approach, ook at what we know about sleep cycles, jet lag, working all hours of the days and night, and applied those science-based principals to the new rules. >> reporter: for the families of the people who died on c

most of them are hitting the roads and that is where we find our tom costello tonight, out in the headlights of washington, d.c. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, kate. good morning -- good evening to you, rather. it's been a long day for me. 92 million people. that's a lot of people traveling. the weather for the most part is cooperating and we are off to a good start on this great holiday escape. from snowy maine to new mexico to southern california -- [ honking ] -- where if a car radio isn't tuned to "jingle bells" it may sound like this. >> slowing in the northbound 15. >> nothing will keep me from being with my family. i'm looking forward to it. >> reporter: of the 92 million people traveling 50 miles or more, nearly 84 million of us are driving and only about 5 1/2 million leisure travellers are flying. that's a 10% drop from last year. at $210, the lowest round trip airfare is still higher than last year and you still have to pay for your bags. >> they are trying to get a person in every seat on every plane. there are no free seats. >> reporter: that isn't stopping the farrflying t

nbc's tom costello went to the faa research center for some answers. g. >> reporter: hi, matt, good morning to you. you know, by any measure, flying has never been safer. planes are better designed and built than ever before, cockpits have advanced avionics and computers, air traffic controllers better trained than ever before, but would passengers know what to do in an emergency? crash and safety experts learn a lot by studying accidents, but the miracle on the hudson landing revealed something surprising. many of the passengers who read the passenger safety card just minutes earlier admitted they could not remember what to do as the plane headed for a river landing. >> when the captain said brace for impact, they did not know what that meant. >> we recommend you review all of the safety information. >> reporter: while the flight attendant's demonstration doesn't include showing the brace position, it is on the briefing card. >> read the briefing card. >> reporter: in oklahoma city we asked veteran faa safety researcher matt mcclain to demonstrate the

. >> that was tom costello reporting. coming up at 5:00, derrick ward will have a live report from reagan national airport from the d.c. area. >> meanwhile, taking a live look outside, what a day we had. it was almost beach weather out there. it certainly made things easy for people heading home for the holidays. >> doesn't feel like the holiday season it's so warm. doug kammerer is here. no snow coming, huh? >> not for us. really across the entire nation. i think, no matter where you go, it's looking good. there's a few areas of snow toward the great lakes, wisconsin seeing snow, chicago seeing snow. watch for that. i don't expect delays there. the other area of snow is new mexico. the entire country is looking good as far as travel is concerned. snow near the great lakes. down to the south in new mexico and west texas, that area could see accumulated snowfall. in dallas, if you are headed to dallas, could see rain in that region. watch out for that. the rest of the country, high and dry. a very good day out there as far

nbc's tom costello joins me now from washington. tom, will this go beyond a recommendation?s or averages out to two phones per individual in this country at this point. >> a couple of things we need to illustrate or underscore. you made a good point. 50 states and d.c. is what they are calling on to pass these laws. the ntsb does not have regulatory authority and does not have law making authority. it is calling on the 50 states and d.c. to pass laws banning all electronic devices. not just cell phones, but blackberries and ipads, you name it in the driver's seat. creating a sterile cockpit, if you will. here's the chairman a moment ago. >> a recommendation are not always popular and we know that this recommendation is going to be very unpopular with some people. we are not here to win a popularity contest. we are here to do the right thing. >> currently 35 states ban texting while driving. only ten states and d.c. banned a hand held device. they are calling for a total ban and not being able to use hands free devices. why? 3100 people died in distracted driving-related acci