engines! >> road rage. nascar crowd boos the first lady before the last race of the season. this is your "am: wake up call." and good morning to you. it is monday, november 21st from the time warner center in new york, i'm carol costello. an accused terrorist behind bars in new york city this morning. 27-year-old jose was a u.s. citizen who was taken into custody on saturday and arraigned late last night. he's accused of building homemade bombs and plotting to plant them in police cars and they say he planned to target u.s. troops arriving home from iraq and afghanistan. the supercommittee ending up like all the other mere mortal committees announcing they failed and the trigger about to go off to an automatic across the board budget cuts. 20 people killed as protesters returned to cairo's tahrir square and things take an ugly square just one week from elections. let's head to atlanta and get a check of today's weather. meteorologist bonnie schneider is in. good morning. >> good morning. we are looking at some wet weather for this busy week. a lot of folks getting started with their holiday travels. we do have rain across the mid-south. plenty of heavy downpours working across memphis. we'll be watching for that across much of western tennessee this morning and rain working into indiana to the north and into kentucky, southwest missouri. it's going to be a little stormy out there to get your day started. with all this rain comes flood threat. up to 3 to 5 inches between little rock and memphis. be careful for those driving on i-40, you'll face those downpours. if you're flying today, delays where we don't want them. some of the busiest airports in the country. new york, philadelphia, atlanta, washington, down through the south and out west due to fog in san francisco. we'll talk more about your travel forecast for this busy holiday week in a bit. carol? >> okay. can't say we're looking forward to it after that forecast but who knows. bonnie schneider, many thanks. just as new york begins dressing up for the holidays, the city is announcing it's foiled a serious terrorist plot. he was arraigned and denied bail late last night. investigators say he was an al qaeda sympathizer and muslim convert who planned to bomb nypd police cars, post office and u.s. returning troops. an affidavit shows he was building a homemade pipe bomb with materials he bought at home depot. mayor michael bloomberg playing a video showing the damage the bombs could have happened. >> they designated it in a way he intended to use his weapon. we wanted to show you a video about the resulting damage. >> i'm waiting for it. there it goes. the city described him as a lone wolf but police commissioner ray kelly said he was apparently infired by. he was following instruction says on how to build a bomb from al qaeda magazine called "inspire." cnn national security expert says even though he was considered a lone wolf, this is a sign that al qaeda is reeling. >> clearly this guy didn't have his act together. you know, he was -- there was an informant involved. he obviously wasn't following a tarlly sophisticated operational security. he had kind of a -- obviously, he was acquiring the makings of a bomb, but, i mean, up, there's a natural ceiling to what a lone wolf can do. you know, we saw major nadal hassan, an army officer at ft. hood, texas, kill 13 people. he was a classical lone wolf. he was also in touch with anwar al a alwaki. it's a sign al qaeda is weakening. >> mayor bloomberg also said the suspect was motivated by his own resentment of the presence of american troops in iraq and afghanistan. on the brink of failure it looks like the so-called congressional supercommittee will not be able to come up with a deal to cut more than $1 tril by wednesday. members spent the final hours pointing fingers at each other. our congressional correspondent kate baldwin has more. >> reporter: the so-called supercommittee is on the brink of failure as talks have fallen apa apart. the conversations as many members took to the sunday morning talk shows shifting from they are pushing for a deal, pushing for an agreement and hopeful they would reach it to now who should be to blame if and when the committee does fail. >> nothing new came out of this, from the democratic side, the same thing, raise taxes, pass the president's job deal. on the republican side, you had the one true breakthrough and that was this new concept of tax reform, which could generate revenue from the upper brackets for deficit reduction. >> the truth is at this point today, democrats have made some really tough decisions and come to some tough choice that we're willing to put on the line, on entitlements, spending cuts, but only if republicans are willing to cross the line on the bush tax cuts and be willing to say, revenues are to be a part of this solution. >> both sides clearly blaming the other for not being able to reach agreement of the minimum required $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over the next ten years. the talks breaking down, largely on the issue that has held up negotiations to this point. the issue of taxes. democrats insist real revenue, tax increases need to be part of any balanced approach or a balanced deal as they like to say. but republicans on the flipside are very much opposed to tax increases, unless they are part of an overall broader effort to reform the tax code that would bring down tax rates. with such little time left, it seems likely the committee has failed and the question now, barring a dramatic shift or a dramatic breakthrough, the real question is how and when does the committee make a formal announcement. many believe that announcement could come as early as today. we'll be waiting for it. two university of california davis police officers are on administrative leave after the video surfaced of cops casually pepper spraying peaceful occupy protesters in their faces at point-blank range friday night. the university says the officers were trying to clear out the occupy camp and felt trapped by protesters. the uc-davis police chief says it was one officer's decision to unload. >> this was a decision made from within that group by the officer in charge. i see pepper spray as a tool for officers to use. and like any other tool we carry and utilize, you hope and pray that it's used correctly and within policy. >> 11 people required treatment, two were hospitalized, hundreds of protesters came out calling on the school's chancellor to resign. a congressman from michigan denying allegations he molested a young relative more than 50 years ago. democrat dale kildee says family members are trying to blackmail. he was already leaving congress. he announced his retirement in july after serving 18 terms in the house. egypt erupting again this morning. protesters killing cairo's tahrir square. 20 people have been killed in flashes, hundreds of army officers firing tear gas and rubber bullets. military rulers say elections will go on in seven days but egyptians worry they have traded one tyrant for another. ben wedeman reports from cairo. >> reporter: much am changed in egypt in the last ten months but sunday in cairo was a day of deja vu. running street battles between protesters and security forces in a growing revolt against the supreme council of the armed forces which took over from hosni mubarak last february. tear gas and rocks flew fast and furious. security forces fired upon protesters with hard rubber pellets like these. this is with the police of egypt are using against us, she says. they're killing the youth of egypt, shooting them in the eyes. i tell her, we were here on january 25th. it was the same scene. what has changed? nothing has changed, she responds. we've gone backwards. the military council is garbage. mubarak is still alive and well and the people are dying. shouts this man, mubarak is running the military council and the whole country from prison. mubarak and all the corrupt businessmen around him. motorbikes rushed wounded to a makeshift field hospital, the same one that treated those injured during the uprising of mubarak. to protesters the new military rulers look an awful lot like the old one. >> on january 25th we were on this very street and we were also tear gassed. now months and months later it's november and the same thing is happening all over again. so now, of course, here you see some of the services provided by the revolutionaries, they're putting saline solutions in our eyes, giving us clean exto wipe it off. >> reporter: what has changed is the once silent people of egypt have found their voice. whoever ends up running this country will have to contend with a politicized vocal and demanding population that has learned to fight back. in a statement the government said, people have the right to protest peacefully as long as they don't commit acts to threaten egypt's stability. >> ben wedeman reporting. still to come, mcdonald's and target take action after an activist group releases disturbing video of what it says are animal being mistreated. allegations of phone hacking in london enter a new phase. we're expected to hear from witnesses and some are celebrities. details in a live report from london. then in today's money news, the link between women's heels and what they say about the economy. control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life... especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint. i can create my own plan to pay down large purchases faster... or avoid interest on everyday items. that saves me money. with slate from chase, i'm always in control. financially, anyway. get slate with blueprint and save money. call 855-get-slate today. congratulations. congratulations. today, the city of charlotte can use verizon technology to inspire businesses to conserve energy and monitor costs. making communities greener... congratulations. ... and buildings as valuable to the bottom line... whoa ! ... as the people inside them. congratulations. because when you add verizon to your company, you don't just add, you multiply. ♪ discover something new... verizon. it is 15 minutes past the hour. here's what's all new. a terror plot busted. new york city say jose pimentel planned to bomb police cruisers post offices and u.s. veterans. they say he's an al qaeda sympathizer but appears to be a lone wolf. pipe bomb and materials were found in his home. disturbing animal cruelty caught on tape. hidden cameras captured hundreds of hens crammed into small cages or swung around on ropes at facilities in iowa, minnesota and wisconsin. the they supply eggs for mcdonald's and target. they have fined four workers. money news, sending packages will cost you more. u.p.s. announcing they're boosting shipments 6%. they blame demand and investments in new technology for the increase. the new rates begin january 2nd. in sports, the university of miami bans its -- bans -- is bans its football team from bowl consideration this year. the school is still under investigation by ncaa over allegations that a former booster and convicted ponzi schemer gave cash, jewelry and even supplied prostitutes to players. the team plays its last game on friday. let's get a check on today's weather, head to atlanta, bonnie schneider is in. so, on the subject of flight delays -- >> well, so far we're okay but it's so early out there, unfortunately there's a lot of rain in the mid-south, so if you're getting in your car and you want an early start, maybe driving to memphis or little rock, you'll probably encounter wet roads. we're also looking at the threat of severe storms in texas so severe thunderstorms with lightning and heavy downpours across i-20. north and eastward memphis that's where the rain will be pretty heavy. storms moving through on our future cast there just north of dallas into oklahoma city, but heavy rain that will accumulate through wednesday. whether you're traveling on tuesday or wednesday, you'll face downpours on i-40, heading from little rock to memphis. that's where the rain is right now, also across paducah, kentucky, into louisville and we'll see that across areas of nashville as well as the system slides continually to the east. a little wet weather in the mid-south and that will impact air travel. some of the other busy airports also facing airport delays. so, an early start on your thanksgiving travel. we'll tell you more in a bit. >> bonnie, thank you. another big hit for penn state's joe paterno. the former coach announced he's battling lung cancer only a couple weeks after a sex abuse scandal rocked the school's football program. in the meantime, we're waiting to hear from a special investigative committee expected to hold a news conference in philadelphia later this morning. a report from cnn's national correspondent susan candiotti. >> reporter: for the second week in a row, game day giving penn state fans something to cheer about. but a lung cancer diagnosis for their already embattled coach is one more cross to bear. >> it's very unfortunate. and certainly not needed at the end of what we've been dealing with. >> reporter: outside joe paterno's home, a quiet day, visitors and strangers stopping by. someone leaves an inspirational by by billy graham, one woman drops off comfort food, sharing a smile and a hug. this couple takes snapshots after driving 100 miles from home to pay their respects. >> for all he did for the university, you know, i really looked up to him. still think a heck of a lot of him. i think he did good. he just made a mistake. >> reporter: this woman is a cancer survivor. >> it's so sad because all he had brought to the university. and as far as his health, i just wish that, you know, he could go into it with a positive mind. >> reporter: there isn't much positive news these days. jerry sandusky's accusations may have dealt a fatal blow to the second mile charity he founded. because donations are drying up, the charity announced friday the program that's helped thousands of underprivileged kids might have to shut its doors. sandusky is charged with recruiting his alleged victims from the second mile. he denies he harmed anyone. this weekend someone broke a second window at san dwrufk's home. investigations are mounting. the ncaa ordering penn state to answer pointed questions about its oversight and policies in handling sex abuse allegations. the federal department of education wants to know how the university reports sex assault crimes. results could impact student aid. so many investigations, so many questions, so few answers. but some might come by december 16th when penn state must respond to the ncaa. >> susan candiotti reporting. we're finding out more about the officer caught on camera shooting pepper spray at a group of college students. plus, what do shoes say about the economy? shoes! a group of researchers say they have established a link between high heels and the economic climate. find out what they are predicting for the u.s. economy next. [ child ] it's so cool! you can put a force field on him and be invisible! [ child 2 ] i call first player. no. i already called it. [ dad ] nobody's playing anything until after we get our homework done. thank you. hello? test drive's not over yet. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. [ louder ] hello? but we still need your signature. right now during sign then drive it's never been easier to get the all-new passat, the 2012 motor trend car of the year, for practically just your signature. that's the power of german engineering. visit vwdealer.com. stocks ended mixed on friday after a shaky week. the dow finished up with a small gain of 25 points. the s&p 500 and nasdaq both closed down but three indexes closed at their worst levels in nearly two months. they remain nervous about debt talks overseas and here in washington. it's all about the u.s. debt deadline, jobs, italy and spain this week. right now overseas all the markets, as i say, all markets are down as are dow futures. we're joined live from london with our money headlines. this supercommittee in the united states, if somebody comes out and says, we failed, what will this do to stocks? >> yeah, obviously we saw all the wrangling back in august, didn't we, over exactly what to do about the debt ceiling in the united states, and it seems as though we've come back to square one, at least that's how investors here in europe are viewing this situation. and it really is affecting the markets. as you saw, asia closing down on the day and markets here in europe down to the tune of in excess of 2%. u.s. futures are poised to open, roughly speaking, about 1%, if not more, lower, when they start trading later today on the latest indications we're seeing from the futures. so, there's a lot of concerning about the debt lock and stalemate surrounding the super committee and that impending deadline when it comes to cutting the u.s. deficit but we should mention that political politics as well as is affecting the markets here in europe, too, because we have a new government in spain which is center right government and a government that says it's going to be doing plenty of deficit cutting itself. the jury is out on what they could be cutting first. those are things moving the markets at the moment, including a statement by a chinese vice premier saying to the world's economy, brace yourselves because we're in for a recession now. >> so, in the end, this means that women won't be wearing high heels much longer? i say that only because we're going to talk about this new study that supposedly the height of a woman's heels is an economic indicator. >> yeah, this is really interesting, carol. this is a study conducted by those computer buffs at ibm. it had been devising software, and it came to the conclusion broadly speaking when the economy sinks and economy goes down, heel heights go in the opposite direction, soar to the stratosphere. it has evidence for previous trends. in the 1920s it says low heeled flapper shoes eventually gave way to much higher heels for the great depression and then we saw a similar situation when relatively benign economic times of the 1960s gave way to enormous platform heels in the 1970s following the oil shock. so ibm is saying, brace yourselves, eventually heel highs will come back down. i bought a barometer of my own. this is the kind of thing i wear on my business shows today. for the moment, that's not going anywhere any time soon. >> no way. this is mine. so, mine's an indicator of the economy is going down. put you're the business gal. thanks so much. coming up at 5:30 eastern time, detective describe him as a lone wolf, young man accused of plotting to detonate pipe bombs around new york city. a michigan congressman claims he's being blackmailed after sexual assaults claims. did you see this? two cops on leave after blasting peaceful protesters with pepper spray on the campus of uc-davis. students saying the failure goes all the way to the top. this is your "am: wake-up call." good morning to you. this is your "am: wake-up call" for monday. happy monday, november 21st. i'm carol costello. here are this morning's top stories. a new york. joe pimentel was aarraigned. he was accused of plotting to bomb nypd police cars and post offices and u.s. ret rans returning from iraq and afghanistan. they call him a lone wolf and an al qaeda sympathizer. members of the supercommittee appeared to come up short. six democrats and six republicans were tasked with coming up with a deal to reduce a $1.2 trillion deficit. now it appears they're simply working on the best way to say they failed without a deal. automatic across the board spending cuts will go into effect in 2013. protesters and security forces are clashing for a third day in cairo's tahrir square. hundreds of army officers and police firing tear gas and rubber pellets. more than 1700 injured since saturday. egyptians are frustrated at the slow pace of reform and demanding the military transfer authority to a civilian government. let's head to atlanta and check in with meteorologist bonnie schneider. good morning. >> good morning, carol. outside your window in new york city we have rain this morning. and you can see a lot of it, sliding across into long island and up towards massachusetts to the north and down through south, plenty of rain on the jersey shore. all this moisture is impacting travel today. look for early rain and fog to slow you down in new york and philly. and fog, it's a foggy start here in atlanta. we're also looking at storms. that will hold true for dallas and memphis. that will cause delays possibly over an hour. seattle out west facing delays as well as san francisco, carol. this is a busy travel week. so far for this monday, the weather's not cooperating. hopefully we'll get better as we get closer to thanksgiving. >> of course it will. it's the holidays. >> yes. >> thank you very much, bonnie. he's accused of building homemade bombs and plotting to plant them in police cars. new york city announcing it's foiled a serious terror plot. 27-year-old jose pimentel is behind bars this morning. he was arraigned and denied bail just hours ago. investigators say he was an al qaeda sympathizer and a muslim convert who plotted to bomb nypd patrol cars, post offices and returning u.s. troops. he was apparently doing more than just talking about it. we have the latest. >> reporter: carol, this is the neighborhood where jose pimentel had lived and authorities say they had been monitoring him the last two years. mayor bloomberg described him as an al qaeda sympathizer even though they don't believe he had any type of training by the terrorist organization. pimentel is originally from the dominican republic, according to police he moved here at a very young age. and lived in new york for most of his life. now, police believe that he learned how to make pipe bombs by reading an online al qaeda propaganda magazine and they moved in on him saturday afternoon. that's when they arrested him because police say that he allegedly was drilling holes into a wood-be pipe bomb. authorities say that he was allegedly going to be testing out these part-time bombs in mailboxes before using them against other targets. carol? >> on the brink of failure, congressional leaders getting ready to announce the supercommittee could not put their differences aside and find $1.2 trillion in cuts. cnn's congressional correspondent takes a look at how we could end up paying for the gridlock in washington. >> reporter: carol, this isn't just another annoying police mess. supercommittee failure could have consequences across government and the economy. take a look at where supercommittee failure could foul. john langford's aviation business. >> looks like a normal airplane. on the inside, this is the equivalent of r2d2. >> reporter: a drone and across the board cuts hitting the pentagon in 2013 could hit this aircraft and this business, too. >> the employees are incredibly nervous. i think everybody is. in a small business it's a very hand-to-mouth type of thing. >> reporter: let's stop here. specifics. supercommittee failure triggers about 8% to 9% automatic cuts for the defense department. but cuts could also hit here, social programs that help the poor. and other places like border patrols and hurricane readiness, because the nondefense side of government also gets an 8% to 9% cut. some call that catastrophic. dan mitchell from the conservative cado institute says something else. >> if there's no deal, taxpayers win because we get a sequester. that means in washington budget talk, there are automatic reductions in the projected growth of government spending. >> reporter: how much red ink would automatic cuts stop? >> the maximum amount it can be under the law is $1.2 trillion over nine years. obviously, $1.2 trillion is a lot of money. >> reporter: that's stan coland colander, he said $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts. sound like a lot? >> over a nine-year period it's not that great. >> reporter: the bottom line? back at aurora flight services they look like across the board cuts that will knife defense but barely scratch the debt problem. >> even as we're talking about bringing overall spending down, you have to do it wisely. >> reporter: and there's another possibility. across the board cuts coming from supercommittee failure wouldn't go into place until 2013, so congress could have a year to try to water them down. if that happened, it could have consequences on wall street and it could extend this messy debate into a messy campaign year. carol? li lisa, thank you. the university of uc-davis has put two officers on leave after this video of cops casually pepper spraying peaceful occupy protesters in their faces at point-blank range on friday. the university says the officers were trying to clear out the occupy camp and felt trapped by protesters. the uc-davis police chief says it was one officer's decision to unload the pepper spray. >> this was a decision made from within that group, from within the -- by the officer who was in charge. i see pepper spray as a tool for officers to use. and like any other tool we carry and we utilize, you hope and pray that it's used correctly and within policy. >> 11 people required treatment, 2 were hospitalized. hundreds of protesters came out, calling on the school's chancellor to resign. a congressman from michigan denying allegations he molested a young relative more than 50 years ago. democrat dale kildee says family members are trying to blackmail him and there's not a shred of truth to the claims. he was already leaving congress. 'founsed his retirement in july after sevening 1 terms in the house. mitt romney picks up another major endorsement. to talk about this and what's happening on the campaign trail today, our deputy political director paul steinhauser joins me live from washington. good morning, paul. >> good morning, carol. it looks like mitt romney is stacking them up in new hampshire. this is a state where everybody knows him as he was governor of new hampshire. today he'll get endorsement from congressman charlie bass, republican. yesterday he got the endorsement from the republican senator up there, elected last year. mitt romney by far the front-runner in new hampshire. it's been that way for over a year. he has company up there today in new hampshire and that is newt gingrich. you know about the former house speaker, rising in the polls. a big event up there. he'll lay out his plan to reform social security. it's all about iowa but right now, at least today, there's a lot of action in new hampshire. >> well, at least mitt romney can say, somebody really, really loves me, and it's apparently the voters of new hampshire. we'll see. let's talk about the big debate, i guess it's tomorrow, right? >> it is tomorrow. tomorrow -- remember, tomorrow is six weeks until the first votes in the iowa caucus so time is clicking, no doubt about it. our debate right here in washington, d.c., all the major presidential candidates showing up. it's going to be a foreign policy, national security and economy, you cannot forget about the economy, all those topics. cnn is teaming up with the heritage foundation and the american enterprise institute. two conservative, two republican, you could say, think tanks. guess who's monitoring? wolf blitzer will be hosting and giving questions. they'll also come from audience members and social media. should be very, very interesting. >> paul steinhauser, many thanks to you. once again cnn hosting the debate right here live on cnn at 8 p.m. eastern. 39 minutes past the hour. let's get a check of what's coming up at the top of the hour on "american morning." alina cho is in. good morning. >> good morning to you. coming up in about 20 minutes on "american morning" we'll be joined by the man many blame for holding up the budget talks in congress. his name is grover norquist, the man who got republicans to sign that no tax pledge. critics are calling him gridlock grover. so, what does he think now that the supercommittee's doomed to fail? we'll have new details on the new york city pipe bomb plot. a man called an al qaeda sympathizer now under arrest. cnn national security contributor fran townsend will tell us what this means about the state of al qaeda. and cnn goes in depth this week. who is newt gingrich? new political baggage emerging for the former house speaker, including ties to the health care industry and a mortgage giant. can he convince the tea party he's really an outsider? we'll ask his former spokesman and a democratic congressman, who served with the speaker. those stories and much more coming up in about 20 minutes on "american morning" including an interview with christie turlington, the supermodel, about her latest project. this is your "am: wake-up call." can i help you? yeah, can i get a full-sized car? for full-sized cars, please listen to the following menu. for convertibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak to a representative, please say representative now. representative. goodbye! you don't like automated customer service, and neither do we. that's why, unlike other cards, no matter when you call chase sapphire preferred, you immediately get a person not a prompt. chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. (phone ringing) chase sapphire preferred, this is julie in springfield. gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] just about 45 minutes past the hour. this is your "am: wake-up call." a terror plot busted. new york city police say 27-year-old jose pimentel planned to blow up nypd cruisers, post offices and u.s. veterans. the mayor says he's an al qaeda sympathizer but appears to be a lone wolf. pipe bombs and materials were found in his home. penn state university celebrating a win on the road at rival ohio state over the weekend, the first win since the sex scandal rocked the program two weeks ago and also hit with news joe paterno is now battling lung cancer. a special committee appointed by penn state will hold a news conference today. wasn't the warm welcome they were expecting. first lady michelle obama and dr. jill biden were greeted by a chorus of boos at nascar race in florida yesterday. they were the grand marshals of the season's last race. they were also there to honor u.s. troops and their families and bring awareness to the first ladies joining forces program. in money news, potential new tax hike in california, some billionaires hope to get a $10 billion tax increase on the ballot in 2012. about half of that money would go to the state's public schools and the rest divided among public universities and local governments. the tax proposal is expected to move forward in the coming weeks. in sports, a dramatic face-off between the los angeles galaxy and houston dynamo for mls title in what could be david beckham's last u.s. game. the superstar led galaxy to a 1-0 win. the only goal happened in the 72nd minute. beckham's contract is set to expire at the end. year. let's head to atlanta and check in with bonnie schneider. good morning. >> good morning, carol. we're looking at wet weather in the northeast and the mid-south. both of these areas will impact your travel for today. heavy downpour across new york city into long island as well as into connecticut. so, much of the tri-state area facing a wet start to the day. that will impact your airport delays today. not just in the northeast but atlanta it's a foggy day. we're looking at strong storms in dallas and in memphis. seattle faces rain and wind. in san francisco, early fog could slow you down. temperature, though, are on the rise after a chilly weekend in the southeast, atlanta today will climb to 77 degrees. that may break a record. 82 in new orleans. it's even mild in dallas after those storms roll through. we'll see temperatures cool down. but look for some cold weather. there was some snow in minnesota. temperatures today, 36 degrees. new york city, 51. boston, 46. carol? >> not bad. >> not bad at all. >> no, i'll take it. thanks. it's a chance to turn the tables, big stars will confront the tabloid who poked into their personal lives for years. actor hugh grant is among the celebrity witnesses testifying this week in the uk phone-hacking hearing. the father of the missing girl, madeline mccann, will also give evidence against the now defunct "news of the world" tabloid. these hearings could be very interesting now. >> reporter: well, certainly could be. the first people we heard from were actually bob and sally dowler, their daughter went missing nine years ago and it was her case that uncovered the hacking scandal. the reason is when she went missing all those years ago there was a frantic search for her by police, by her parents. they had no idea where she was. and then when her mother accessed her phone -- her daughter's voice mail messages and found several of them to be deleted, this gave the family false hope that she was alive. we've just heard inside court now of that sort of euphoria her mother felt, only to learn years later that, of course, her daughter had, in fact, been abducted and murdered and that the people who had deleted those voice mail messages were, in fact, "news of the world" who were hacking into her voice mail to try to get a scoop. really what we're looking at here is not just "news of the world" but british tabloid journalism on trial. we've just started hearing from those witnesses today. >> atika shubert live in london for us, thanks. here's what we're working to bring you at the top of the hour. outrage and violence in the streets of cairo. protesters claiming nothing has really changed since they took to the streets earlier this year. but first the debate is on about who should play steve jobs on the big screen. yeah, there's a movie in the works already. this is your "am: wake-up call." progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. will be giving away passafree copies okay is there a woman i can talk to? of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. just about ten minutes till the top of the hour. gop presidential candidate jon huntsman went for a few laughs on "saturday night live". >> isn't it true that nationally you're currently polling in the low single digits? >> it is true, seth. but only a few months ago i was polling at margin of error, so to have any digit at all is a pretty big deal. >> thank you so much for coming. >> are your parents registered voters? >> my mom's a democrat and my father's an independent. >> say hi to your dad for me. >> all right. >> actress mila kunis kept her promise to a marine. she attended a marine corps ball in north carolina last night as the date of sergeant scott moore. isn't that cute? he asked her out via youtube this past summer and she accepted. justin timberlake attended a similar ball in virginia a week ago and the pictures were just as lovely as this. it even looked like they were having a good time. although they didn't like like they were exactly talking to each other. but i bet they did at some point during the night. forget black friday. this christmas shopping season is well under way. before you buy anything, christie romans takes a look at the most common and costly mistake shoppers make in this week's "smart is the new rich". >> hello to the holiday hype machine. retailers will do whatever they can to separate you from your money. so, holiday buyers beware. five steps to outsmart them. don't open a store credit card. most have very high interest rates and credit limits are too low. even applying for them hurts your credit score. that one-time 10% off may not be worth it. if they aren't pushing the store credit card they're pushing extend the warranty. don't waste your money. >> in fact, you very seldom should take the extended warranty. probably never is okay. >> consumer reports mandy walker says your credit card may already cover you. >> seldom break during the extended warranty which is two or three years past the time you bought it. >> gift cards are not always a great gift. a quarter of gift cards are lying and in your purse or desk drawer ten months after you get it, according to "consumer reports" and two-thirds of people who get them spend more than the card's face value so they're paying for their own present. unless you know for a fact the recipient want it and will use it, you're probably buying the retailer a gift. also, beleary of layaway. there are up-front fees. what if the item goes on sale? if you miss a payment, the retailer could cancel layaway and you lose money. finally, don't pay full price. beware of retailers who jack up a price before lowering it again. hunt through the online sites like retailmenot for coupon codes you can plug in for online shopping. never pay for shipping. there are always free shipping deals just around the corner. don't buy the hype. black friday prices are not always the lowest of the season. >> that's right, but you can bet thousands -- hundreds of thousands of people will wake up on thanksgiving day ready not to eat but to go shopping. so, black friday is approaching. some stores are opening on thanksgiving. bonnie schneider is in the weather center. what kind of weather may we expect? >> if you're driving to the store, i think most people wait until friday, usually turkey's on your mind, if you are going shopping, yes, you need good weather, whether inside or out. we're looking at not so great weather to start off week. today it's stormy out there. memphis, tennessee, heavy rain. we may even see flooding because the system will bring strong downpours. it's a stationary front so it's not going anywhere. severe storms may fire up today in dallas, texas. watch out for that with lots of lightning. this will move into areas of northwestern louisiana. chilly conditions across much of the midwest to the north. cold temperatures. in fact, minneapolis only 36 at the high today. 50 in chicago. 51 in new york city. it will be warmer in the southeast. it was a chilly weekend here in atlanta, for example, but we'll see a high today of 77 degrees. so, so far so good in terms of air travel but we are anticipating lots of delays as i mentioned and we'll be tracking that throughout the day for you here on cnn. carol? >> so, i hope your flight -- i hope your flight takes off early. that's the ticket to -- >> absolutely. >> -- not experiencing a delay today. bonnie schneider, we appreciate it. that's it for this monday edition of "am: wake-up call." "american morning" continues right after a short break. you make it one great day. congratulations. congratulations. today, the city of charlotte can use verizon technology to inspire businesses to conserve energy and monitor costs. making communities greener... congratulations. ... and buildings as valuable to the bottom line... whoa ! ... as the people inside them. congratulations. because when you add verizon to your company, you don't just add, you multiply. ♪ discover something new... verizon. let's do it, let's go to vegas. vegas baby! maybe we should head back to the dealership first? vegas! no, this is a test drive. vegas! [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get zero first month's payment, zero down, zero security deposit and zero due at signing on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com. with listerine® total care. its multi-action formula works to restore enamel, help prevent cavities, and kill bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. whooo... [ male announcer ] listerine® total care. the most complete mouthwash.