for herman cain. here is part of his announcement, if you missed it yesterday. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters, not because i'm not a fighter. >> all right. but he won't be fighting on as a presidential candidate. the campaign is suspended. doesn't mean he's not still going to have some kind of impact. our political reporter shannon travis is here in studio with me. you've been following herman cain for quite some time. he can continue this fight. plan a was being president, plan b is starting a website. >> plan b is also still being a playmaker in republican presidential race. plan b is this website, the cain solutions, where he says he'll keep promoting the 9-9-9 plan, he's going to promote energy independence for the u.s. and you wants to be a little bit of a kingmaker. there's also the talk of endorsement, who's going to win herman cain supporters, of course. take a listen at what herman cain said about that. >> one other thing. i will be making an endorsement in the near future. i will be making an endorsement. and i can tell you right now, it will not be the current occupant of the white house. that will not be my endorsement. >> now we probably already knew that he wasn't going to endorse president obama. but let's talk about who he might potentially endorse. i know that the bachmann campaign and the cain campaigns have spoken. the bachmann campaign tells me that some of herman cain's supporters have already reached out to them and said, hey, we're going to support michele bachmann now. but does that mean that herman cain will endorse her? we don't know. that's up to him. we also know that some other candidates have had some kind things to say about cain right after -- right after he dropped out. rick perry sent a message, newt gingrich sent a message, few other people. it is going to be like a sweepstakes. >> you said he wants to be a kingmaker now. but with his drop in support does he have enough support to make a kingmaker, can he make a difference with his supporters? >> he may have fewer supporters but they're loyal. the travels that i've been on for the past year, even in the past few weeks since these allegations have surfaced, people are saying, you know what? this is our guy. we don't care so much about those allegations. some people don't even believe them. they feel like he is the guy, they feel like he has solid business experience and that he could have been the one. they will likely stay on cain train, as he likes to put it, and it will be hard fought for their support to switch from cain to someone else. >> all right. shannon travis, there it is, plan b, as he calls it, the cain solutions. dotcom. we'll see how he continues on. thanks so much. cain's decision comes less than a week after the georgia woman by the name of ginger white came forward saying she had a 13-year affair with the now-former presidential candidate. cain still says he didn't do anything wrong but here's what her attorney is saying now. and i quote, "mr. cain has repeatedly referred to miss white as a liar, as troubled, as being paid to speak out and in other disparaging terms. his website refers to miss white as a "loser" and the others who have courageously spoken out as vial liars, evil conspirators, socialist cohorts of obama, scum, and pathetic and shameful women. we continue to encourage mr. cain to retract these statements and apologize." coming up, more on this post-cain political landscape. our good friends lena mccallister and ma rria cardona will be hear to break this all down who the big winner could be now that cain is out of the race. stick around for that. five minutes past the hour now. uncomfortable to watch. that is what an attorney for one of jerry sandusky's alleged victims is saying about the former penn state coach's lengthy interview with the "new york times." susan candiotti has more on the four-hour interview and what people are saying about it today. >> reporter: in an interview videotaped by "the new york times," jerry sandusky not only repeats his denials of wrongdoing, he tells the paper youngsters in his second mile program, quote, might say i was a father figure, a father figure who stands accused of 40 counts of raiching and m inin inin ini molesting young boys. a few weeks ago nbc's bob kos st costa -- >> am i sexually attracted to underaged boys? i enjoy young people. >> reporter: in an intriguing exchange, an apparently uncomfortable sandusky tries to explain his answer. off camera you hear the voice of sandusky's lawyer prompting his client. >> if i say, no, i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth, because i'm attracted to young people, boys, girls -- >> yeah, but not sexually. you're attracted -- >> right. i enjoy. that's what i was trying to say. i enjoy spending time with young people. i enjoy spending time with people. i mean my two favorite groups are the elderly and the young. >> reporter: an attorney who represents victim number six named in the grand jury report, the boy whose mother came forward in 1998 saying sandusky had showered with her son and hugged him naked from behind, says the accused coach's latest explanations are hard to watch. >> his answer was really no different, frankly, than the answer he gave before and the sad part from his perspective, if we want to look at it from that perspective, that his lawyer had to intervene and give him some advice as to how to answer that question. he won't have that luxury in a courtroom. >> reporter: sandusky admits that after he was banned from taking young people on to penn state's main campus, following a 2002 allegation that he raped a boy in a locker room, he still had access. sandusky told the paper, then-athletic director tim curley never took away his keys. "i still have my keys, skandusk said, and i still went in there and worked out. >> any argument that these men are now making any of this up is really weak and if that is all that he has in terms of his defense, he is going to have really rough going in the courts. >> reporter: sandusky again denies that then-head coach joe paterno ever mentioned anything to him about the 2002 shower allegation. sandusky faces a preliminary hearing in a couple of weeks. among the expected witnesses -- at least one of his accusers. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. at eight minutes past the hour now, coming up -- we know a number of people -- nearly 2 million in fact -- americans will lose their unemployment benefits in january. and that impact could affect the nation's economy. stay with us for that. also, coming up next, we've got another bcs mess on our hands possibly? we know lsu is going to play for the championship. but who should they play? could the national championship be a rematch of a game we've already seen this year? that's coming up next. reynolds wolf also standing by. i know what you think about the bcs mess. >> guns firing. cowboys. got to be oklahoma state. alabama had their shot. it is time for oklahoma state. just my opinion. hey, it is also my opinion -- it is not just my opinion, it is fact. southern california's been ravaged by some strong winds. today it may happen again. there's potential for more tree damage, more power outings and possibly at the same time possibly some snow in the rockies. more coming up. wait a minute...i... [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. hey, hey, hey, hey. i can see who's on my network people! lance? lance? yes, yes you are next. all right. dave, i'm in. ♪ katie! what are you doing, sweetheart? supplementing my allowance. how long have we been gone? [ male announcer ] get low prices on the latest 4g phones, starting at $28.88. save money. live better. walmart. [ male announcer ] it has an hd webcam, killer audio, and lids that switch to start every semester fresh. but mostly it helps me try new moves on and off the court. ♪ [ male announcer ] powered by the 2nd gen intel core i5 processor: not just smart, visibly smart. for a limited time purchase select dell pc's and receive our holiday photo solution. our gift to you. spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. your core competency is...competency. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] as you wish, business pro. as you wish. go national. go like a pro. now through january earn a free day with every two rentals. find out more at nationalcar.com. 12 minutes past the hour. we want to check some stories that are making news cross country. we start in southern california. five high-ranking members of the afghan military and its security forces are at the marine's camp pendleton base. they are getting up to date on marine training techniques. u.s. military is set to pull out of afghanistan in 2014. the afghan brass is expected to be at camp pendleton for another week. soldiers get a rousing welcome from family and friends at ft. hood in texas. when you've been gone for months at a time in a war zone, one kiss from your daughter just isn't enough. >> i can have a kiss? give me one more kiss. one more. one more. in a denver shopping mall -- >> have you been good this year? >> a special santa with the ability to speak in sign language. where he learned how to do it? a bit special. >> last year two little boys asked me how i learned sign language. i told him santa had two elves that were deaf and they showed san santa. you should have seen the look on their face, there was deaf elves. that was my favorite moment. >> that has to be our special cross-country moment as well. at 13 minutes past the hour. let's say good morning it our good friend joe carter, hln sports. bcs? just take out the "c." a lot of people will tell you and that's what you got. we have another mess that will always be controversial. >> always. what we know for certain is lsu is without a doubt the best college team in football. they proved that again last night. they show even though they don't play a good first half they can come out in the second half and shock you. this team this season has beaten eight ranked opponents by an average of 28 points. last night they beat georgia handily meaning they win the s.e.c. title. they won their division. they're 13-0 now and by far and away the best team in college football. it seems like each and every week the team gets better. watching that lsu/alabama game a few weeks back, then the game last night, they just get better each and every week both offensively and defensively. yeah, without a doubt they are the number one team in the country. they are in the january 9th title game. but oklahoma state, number three oklahoma state sure made its case last night that they belong in the national championship game. they not only went out and beat oklahoma, they absolutely crushed them. they beat them 44-10. oklahoma state's had a really good season. they've beaten five ranked teams. they have one loss this year and it came in ames, iowa to an unranked iowa state team in double overtime. so that's where the discussion begins. who has the better loss? is it alabama losing at home to lsu in overtime? or is it oklahoma state losing to iowa state in double overtime? that's what's the matter with this system. we are now debating on who has the better loss. >> people need to know the top two teams according to the bcs rankings get into the national championship. we get the rankings -- >> we get them at 8:00 eastern tonight. right now the top two teams people would assume is going to be lsu/alabama but people don't want to see it because alabama didn't win their division, didn't win their conference. when you don't win your conference championship why are you allowed to play in the national championship game. then again people say why would you want to see a big 12 team go against a really dominant s.e.c. game. it won't and good game. >> that's the system. >> we haven't seen the game is my argument. let them play and let's figure it out. >> that's tonight. the controversy, as always, will continue. let's turn now -- we were talking about tiger woods wondering if he's back. holding his own after the third round. >> i know today is an nfl sunday but you know who you are out there, it gets to be about 5:00 eastern time. maybe i should flip over to golf, check in and see what tiger's up to. well, we've got a good one brewing at the chevron world challenge. there are six players going into today that are in contention, including tiger. he's in second place. he's one shot back of zach johnson. he blew his three-shot lead yesterday basically by bogeying a bunch of par 5s. he bogeyed three of them. zach johnson, beautiful eagle on 18 right here. that gave him the one-shot lead. he has today a one-shot lead ahead of tiger woods. tiger is in contention -- i don't know if you agree with me or not, but to me, it makes golf exciting. >> i check the leaderboard, i don't see him on it, i turn right back to football. >> i'm the same way. >> but a good sports sunday. joe carter, good to see you. we are 16 minutes past the hour now. want to turn back to politics. it was an announcement that didn't come as a surprise to a lot of folks yesterday. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> you hear some disappointment out there. but maybe there's somebody -- maybe another candidate -- who is happy to hear this news and maybe happy to get cain supporters. we want to get some thoughts from our political contributors maria cardona, lenny mccallister. these aren't just contributors, these are dear friends. they are in atlanta, in the house. stay with us for our conversation. what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. what's that? big piece of potato. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of 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 make a plan to pay off big stuff faster... or avoid interest on everyday things. 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. good morning, washington, d.c. thinks just getting going in the nation's capital. a lovely picture of the white house this morning. wonder if the president's thinking about herman cain this morning. >> probably not. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> yeah, we wonder. president obama really watching that yesterday? was he relieved, you think, guys, that herman cain is now out of the race? we'll never know. but herman cain, yes, a former presidential candidate, now made his announcement yesterday. the big announcement we were waiting on. he is suspending his campaign, now waiting for him to throw his support behind another candidate. he says that decision will be made in the next few days. meanwhile, newt gingrich has a little something to smile about this morning. look at this new poll number. look at that. comes in at 25%. this is "the des moines register" poll. also has ron paul in second, mitt romney coming in third. romney still maybe some good news for him, sioux city iowa journal newspaper endorsed him. the first major paper in iowa to pick a candidate. the iowa caucus is just a month away. newt gingrich has continued to surge. the latest poll numbers we have been seeing, the question now is can he hold on? can he turn those straw numbers as well into actual votes? our good friends, cnn political contributor and democratic strategist maria cardona and republican strategist lenny mccallister, not in chicago and d.c. where they normally are but spending the weekend here with us. so good to have you guys here. we'll get to newt -- is this the last time we will ever have to do a segment with a question about herman cain? is this it? >> as being the top person on that news cycle? yes. you'll hear something about him swinging some votes but by the time that comes around this percentage will be down to 3%, 4%, 5%. it will be a minimal amount of people going over that way. the only way that might change, t.j., is if somebody perhaps takes part of his message, something that they thought was effective on the campaign trail -- at this point you have to ask what would that actually be. but if something like that came about, then maybe his name comes back into the mix. but otherwise this is going to be it. >> i think so. what's interesting is that yesterday he tried to make it sound like he was going to continue to be part of the conversation, he wasn't going to go away. it was very sarah palin-like. but the fact of the matter is he can't command the kind of media, i believe, that sarah palin did and i don't think he's going to be able to continue to be relevant. >> what does this mean for -- we'll fine out later where cain supporters actually go. but which candidate, maria, was sitting back yesterday looking at that going, oh, yeah. >> i think newt gingrich. >> yeah? >> because essentially newt gingrich and cain and bachmann and, frankly, the rest of them, they are part of this group called "the anybody but romney." and so we've seen that republicans have been desperate to find the anybody but romney candidate who can actually surge and stay alive. and they have not been able to find that yet. we'll see if that -- right now that candidate is newt gingrich. we'll see if that it kin to be the case. >> still time for another surge? >> there's time for another surge. jon huntsman's trying to get that going right now. this may be ron paul's moment where he may actually do something in iowa. i'm not saying he will go further throughout 2012. but if you think about what's going on right now, people are looking for a conservative candidate, you are talking about a caucus dynamic. this may be a time. he's now in second place. this may be a time for him to do that. surprisingly, if romney can solidify third place, maybe creep back up into second place, that has to make newt gingrich nervous. because if you are looking at this and saying romney hasn't put a lot of resources into iowa, they don't want him because he is not conservative enough, and after herman cain gets out people say, you know what? newt does have the baggage, okay, he'll win iowa but you know what? maybe we're too hard on romney and now that cain's gone, maybe they slide that way. if romney ends up in second place and he comes back up on those polls, it changes the dynamic completely. >> the big challenge i think for the republican party as a whole is that -- we've seen this in some of the focus groups you all have reported on, there really is no enthusiasm for any of the