new york, i m christine romans. carol has the morning off this morning. here are the morning s top stories for you. herman cain heading home to atlanta today, and he says the decision about whether to continue his campaign could come by monday at the latest. it s a decision that could be in his wife s hands after another woman accused cain of having a 13-year affair. with a $1,000 tax hike looming, congress can t get it done. the senate defeating competing payroll tax cut bills, one from republicans and one backed by the president. president obama warning that failure could deal a massive blow to the economy. and the west coast blown away. the santa ana winds on a war path. 140-mile-an-hour gusts ripping trees out of the ground, knocking out power and crushing homes. let s get a first check of today s weather. rob marciano is with us in atlanta. the big winds out west continue, although they re a little more calm than at this time yesterday. the threat will contin
time of people demonstrating against the government. i still can t get over how many cameras are in china. jill dougherty, thank you so much, at the washington bureau for us today. thank you, jill. and now this here we go. hour two, welcome back. i m brooke baldwin. many holiday travelers are impacted at this hour by severe weather. also, police are investigating a student s sudden death. just how financially sound are the big banks? ted rowlands is riding an amtrack train to chicago. ted? reporter: brooke, we ve been talking to people all morning long. we started at st. louis at 4:30 in the morning. melvin joined us later on in the trip. you like the train? yes or no? yes. why? it s convenient, you know. it s just convenient for me. my daughter is in st. louis, i m in chicago. it s a quick trip. and cheaper, too. betty is on her way to virginia, eventually and betty, why do you like taking the train? well, it s a better ride. it s more economical. there s n