has her playing a monster of a different kind. on screen, she's as busy as ever. and off? are you dating anybody now? not that i'm coming on to you. our conversation with charlize theron later. harry belafonte has so many firsts to his credit that it's hard to keep track of them all. this morning russ mitchell will give it a try. >> reporter: he was the first black man to win a tony, an emmy and to sell a million albums so it's no surprise that 84-year-old harry belafonte has a few stories to tell. good memories when you come here? >> mostly mischief. >> reporter: mostly mischief. >> a lot of mischief. >> reporter: do tell. harry belafonte, mischief and more later on sunday morning. >> it's a wrap as you look bee neat the surface of a gift- giving custom that keeps on giving year after year. as rita braver shows us, 'tis the season. >> reporter: wrapping holiday presents is a cherished tradition. >> you will have exactly ten minutes to wrap the gift. >> reporter: but also it turns out a competitive sport. >> my girlfriends tell me i've got the best bows around. they call them rosy bows. >> reporter: later on sunday morning, the gift of gift wrap. >> josh landis takes in summertime in antarctica. steve hartman shows us a restaurant showman at work and susan spencer masters the unicycle and more. first here are the headlines for sunday morning the 4th of december, 2011. there is one fewer republican presidential contender this morning: candidate herman cain is putting his campaign on hold. jan crawford has the details. >> reporter: at first it was like a campaign rally. hundreds of supporters gathered here for the opening of herman cain's campaign headquarters cheering as he and his wife arrived holding hands but then came the announcement. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. because of the continued distraction. >> reporter: supporters like erica daniel were devastated. >> i'm very sad. mostly i'm sad for the american people. >> reporter: the former godfather's pizza executive enjoyed broad appeal as an inspiring speaker with a simplified tax plan. >> 9-9-9. >> reporter: but allegations of sexual harassment and an affair were too much after his announcement cain told cbs news he made the decision to suspend his campaign on his own. >> my wife didn't say do it or don't do it. she just said i'll support you whichever way. i recognized the pain in her. >> reporter: is there anything you would have done differently looking back? >> no, no, nothing. i have no regrets. >> reporter: now cain said he will continue to be a voice for conservative causes, and that he will be endorsing a candidate. for sunday morning i'm jan crawford in atlanta. >> where does that leave the remaining republican contenders? a just-released des moines register poll of iowa voters home of the first in the nation iowa caucuses puts former house speecher newt gingrich in the lead followed by texas congressman ron paul and second place and mitt romney placed third. george mcgovern is said to be resting comfortably in a south dakota hospital after falling and suffering a head injury on friday. mcgovern lost the 1972 presidential race to richard nixon. he's 89 years old. in an interview with the "new york times", accused penn state defensive coordinator jerry sandusky is insisting that he never sexually abused children calling himself a father-like figure to kids. attorneys for his alleged victims call the interview an unconvincing denial. this morning, half the city of in germany was evacuated while engineers diffused world war ii bombs in the rhine river. they were discovered when the river fell to a record low level. here's today's weather. mild in the east but rain likely in the midwest all the way down to the texas coast. snow expected out west. that rain is an east coast problem in the week ahead. everywhere else it will be mostly cool and dry but sunny. >> action. >> ahead.... >> hey, do you remember we used to make out to this song? >> acting out with char ease they are on. >> i don't know. everything seems to be a little more intense. >> and >> cowan: when a church is divided over a matter of faith, there is no easy answers particularly when the divide is over very fundamental principles, principles that sometimes involve matters life and death. our cover story this morning is reported by barry petersen. >> reporter: it is a battle between catholic and catholic. between the past and the present. a battle centuries old that rages yet today. in phoenix, arizona.... >> and the son of man.... >> reporter:... it's a battle between bishop thomas olmstead and the city's hospital st. joseph's whose staff includes a respected nun. it began in november 2009 when a pregnant 27-year-old mother of four in her 11th week was admitted with severe pulmonary hyper tension. her doctors say it was dramatically worsening because of the pregnancy. dr. charles alfono is st. joseph's chief medical officer. >> the hormonal changes of pregnancy, the changes in blood flow in this patient created a situation where her heart began to fail, and that failure, despite the efforts of the physicians progressed. she was very near death. >> reporter: modern medicine presented two equally grim options: terminate the pregnancy and save the mother or lose both mother and child. >> as a result we made the difficult decision but the decision that we had to make to terminate the pregnancy. >> reporter: no matter who you guys would have done, the child would have died. >> correct. >> reporter: before moving forward, doctors consulted the hospital's ethics committee which included sister margaret mary mcbride. the committee approved terminating the pregnancy which doctors did, saving the mother's life, losing the fetus. in the months following, word of events at st. joseph's reach bishop olmstead whose role includes being the moral leader of catholics in his diocese. he began his own inquiry speaking with, among others, sister margaret. >> i sat down and visited with her. i gathered information from her directly. that didn't involve her giving me the charts and things. but in that description, i did not hear an equal concern for the mother and for the child. the child was not... what was directly intended was to kill the unborn child. >> reporter: the bishop ultimately found that officials at st. joseph's, quote, had not addressed in an adequate manner the scandal caused by the abortion. for that, he decreed st. joseph's hospital is no longer catholic. as for sister margaret, bishop informed her she had been ex-communicated. that prompted a lot of comments in the press but as she has consistently in this matter sister margaret said nothing. >> the ex-communication of the sister i thought was an extremely cruel act. i can't describe it in any other way. >> reporter: father thomas doyle specializes in church law and wants once worked for the vatican's embassy in washington d.c. he is now an outspoken critic of the church and says what happened in phoenix points to an unfolding trend within the church. >> it tells me that within the hierarchy there is a great deal of fear, that there is almost an obsession with control, that there's an inability i think to deal with the 21st century and the bishop in phoenix is not unique. there are many many like him. >> reporter: take archbishop allen in detroit who has spoken against the american catholic council. a group promoting change within the church including the order nation of women. or the u.s. conference of bishops. they've critiqued and investigated the writings of sister elizabeth johnson, a temperature tonight theologian whose book has become popular among liberal catholics. some see these events taken together as symptomatic of a larger effort to reverse reforms set down by the 1960s advisory council that came to be known as vatican 2. reforms which back then were seen as an effort to bring the church closer to modern times. >> there was a sense that we should try to bring catholicism up to the 20th and then the 21st century sthrt gary macy is a professor of theology at california's jesuit santa clara university. >> in all kinds of ways, in scholarship, how do we relate to psychology? how do we relate to political science? how do we relate to modern ethics? all of those questions were opened up. there was much more involvement of the laity in the liturgy so people felt much more involved. there were less spectators and more participants. >> reporter: catholics were no longer expected, as some put it, to simply pay, pray and obey. now they can make their own decisions about their faith. another reform of vatican 2 was use of the english language mass. >> these offerings we make gathered from among your gifts to us. >> reporter: the cat... vault can has directed american churches to institute a new mass featuring an english translation more faithful to the original latin. a mass critics say is harder to understand, less english- speaker friendly. but perhaps the most striking example of the vatican's apparent about-face on reforms may center on american nuns. >> i think sisters actually ironically literally took vatican 2 seriously perhaps more than other segments of the church. that is what is causing some friction. we're doing exactly in a sense what the document on the religious life asked us to do. >> reporter: this sister is a matter of the... member of the order of the immaculate heart of mary. >> what does the catholic teach about this particular controversial issue? shoort. >> reporter: she's at a professor of theology at boston college. >> there's a tendency particularly when it comes from the roman curia to think they are the church and they're in control. >> reporter: and not long ago, the church in rome exercised that control launching what's called an apostolic visitation, a process shrouded in mystery allowing it to investigate orders of nuns here in the united states. we asked phoenix bishop olmstead why the probe was ordered. >> i think that was the visitation of the religious sisters in our country was prompted primarily by a concern about the decline of the number of we have in our country. it's on a steep decline. it's on a grave concern. >> reporter: we reached out to many orders of nuns across the country hoping to get their viewpoints about all of this. in most cases someone would agree to be interviewed. but when the interview was imminent we would be called and it would be canceled. in the end, sister mary ann agreed to speak with us, partly she said out of concern that if she didn't, no one would. do you think this apostolic visitation was something that nuns like yourself, who are out there in the world, should be worried about? >> i really don't know. but i think the most problematic aspect of it is that we are not going to see a report. we don't know what is going to be done with this. we were never told what was going to be done with this. we think this is, you know, a travesty really, and insulting even, about who we are in the church because we think we're trying to be loyal to the church. we're trying to make, you know, plausible explanations where people are saying, well, why is the church doing this? why are they ex-communicating people who are, you know, seem to be wanting good for the church?" >> why the nuns? this is my suspicion. they can. >> reporter: theologian gary macy. >> it's interesting that they would take the women religious orders and not the men's religious orders although, you know, for so many centuries and centuries and centuries in christianity women have taken a hit first. >> reporter: phoenix's bishop olmstead admits he sees no future role for women in the priesthood. still he says they are valued members of the church. >> we wouldn't have all the catholic hospitals if it weren't for the sisters. we wouldn't have a lot of our catholic universities if it wasn't for them. >> reporter: it's a battle between catholic and catholic, between past, present and future. yet even with these differences, some things endure. why do you stay? >> because it's my church. i have a responsibility to speak the truth that's been given to me. there's a lot of pain and suffering, i think, in belonging to the catholic church today. but i think that i'm following as best i can what i think god is asking me to do today in this church as we have it. >> reporter: as we told you earlier in our story, sister margaret mary mcbride in phoenix has consistently declined to discuss the events at st. joseph's hospital. but not long ago she did speak out in an event sponsored by an organization that often challenges catholic hierarchy. >> as we move forward in this very disappointing time in our church, i think it's the time when we need to be the example of mercy and forgiveness and love. >> reporter: in fact, her ex-communication has now been lifted. but bishop olmstead also asked that she resign from the hospital's ethics committee. she has. as for the hospital, to regain its catholic status, the bishop insists that it must say the medical procedure that resulted in the abortion and saved the mother of four was in violation of religious and ethical policies and will never happen again. so far, the hospital has refused to do so. it's still... it still cannot call itself catholic. >> cowan: next when pan am ruled the skies. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. ♪ just say hello ♪ to a brand new world ♪ it's just outside your door ♪ >> cowan: now a page from our sunday morning almanac. december 4, 1991, 20 years ago today journey's end for a legendary airline. ♪ say hello to a brand new world ♪ ♪ say hello to pan am >> cowan: that was the day pan american world airways shut down operations. pan am got its start in 1927 as a small airmail carrier between key west and havana. under the leadership of aviation pioneer juan trip, pan am expanded throughout latin america and then around the world. >> the job now was to put international trade on a regular basis. >> cowan: first came a fleet of flying boats. the legendary pan am clippers. and then after world war ii, bigger airliners. and eventually jets. at its height in the 1960s pan am was our country's unofficial flag carrier to the rest of the world. the beatles flew pan am on their first trip to the united states. a pan am sky scraper towered over midtown manhattan. and the airline basqued in the glow of jet set glamor as captured in the 2002 film "catch me if you can" with leonardo decap pre-owe. >> are you a real-life pilot? >> i surely am little lady. what's your name? >> lisa. >> a pleasure to meet you. >> reporter: in the movie "2001" stanley kubrick imagined pan am flying into space. but in the 1970s, a very down-to -earth troubles were clipping the wings of the pan am clippers. the energy crisis hit pan am hard. and with virtually no domestic route until the 1980s, pan am found itself at a tough competitive disadvantage. the december 1988 terrorist bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie scotland resulted in the loss of all 259 on board took its own heavy toll on the faultering airline. >> pan american airways has suspended operations. >> reporter: finally after years of downsizing and selling off assets, pan am declared bankruptcy. that was in early 1991. after 11 more months it stopped flying for good. no more clippers, no more glamor. today's harryed air travelers feel that loss almost every day. ahead, meet the rap stars. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. [ man ] we've been in the business over the course of four centuries. [ woman ] it was a family business back then, and it still feels like a family business now. the only people who knew about us were those in new england, that moment that we got our first web order... ♪ ...we could tell we were on the verge of something magical. all of a sudden it just felt like things were changing. we can use this to advertise to bakers everywhere. [ man ] browns summit, north carolina. crescent city, california. we had a package go to kathmandu once. the web has been the reason this entire section of the warehouse exists today. we were becoming more than this little flour company in vermont. [ woman ] we're all going after one common goal, which is to spread the joy of baking throughout the whole world. ♪ ♪ ♪ is is the artic. join coca-cola and world wildlife fund. to help to protect it. so the polar bear always has a place to call home. to donate and help create a safe refuge for the polar bear look for white coke cans and caps. >> cowan: 'tis the season for gifts but only after they've been suitably wrapped. rita braver shows us exactly how it's done. >> reporter: who doesn't love a beautifully wrapped holiday gift? >> you will have exactly ten minutes to wrap the gift. >> reporter: but wrapping as a competitive sport? >> my girlfriends tell me i've got the best bows around. they call them rosy bows. >> reporter: at the annual "most gifted wrapper" contest in new york, the battle is fought with paper and ribbon. >> very unique folds and pleats. unique bows and designs. >> reporter: wrapping packages is such a christmas tradition that many of us keep a stash of supplies. i mean i get excited just looking at all the wrapping. >> that's right. it will be such fun, fun, fun. >> reporter: historian carol ann has written a whole book on american tradition traditions. you write people begin to think of how they wrap a gift as an extension of themselves. >> i think that's true. i took terrible pains to do this for you, you ungrateful wretch. even if it does contain socks and underwear, look at it. it's beautiful. >> reporter: but surprisingly, she says, gifts were exchanged unwrapped until the 1870s, and the advent of the paper board box. >> this is typical of the sort of boxes that ladies made at home. >> reporter: those early packages were often fast ened with pins. >> the trick with this pinning process was to try to hit other wrapping paper and not the box. >> reporter: as for color? >> everybody got white. no matter who you were. >> reporter: until, so the story goes, the day in 1917 that joyce hall, who went on to found hallmark, ran out of white paper at its kansas city shop. >> so his brother rolly went to the warehouse, found a stack of these french envelope liners. that's the beginning of gift wrap. >> reporter: that's right according to hallmark archivist, these papers had been used only to line christmas cards but suddenly a new industry was born. >> by the 1920s we were coming up with our own designs and manufacturing gift wrap to be sold in the stores. >> reporter: then she says charting a history of american culture. >> it's reflective of what's going on in our society at the time. >> reporter: foil paper was cheek in the '30s. >> this is 1949. this is when we began to start putting things like flocking. >> reporter: there were papers designed to appeal to children. and this one which would never be seen today were all the rage. by the 1950s,.... >> an unglamorous skillet can become a jaunt owe clown. >> reporter: women got helpful hints on creating the perfect present. >> holding the ends is just like doing hospital corners on a bed. >> reporter: this is skipy wrapping paper by hallmark. the '60s and '70s brought us psychedelic colors, not to mention giant bags that could fit a whole birth cage. >> not everything worked. it evolved. >> reporter: evolved into those bags so beloved of gift- giving men. in fact, women wrap twice as many gifts as men. >> $10,000 on the line. >> reporter: and at this year's gift wrap contest, seven of eight contestants were women. rosy of gardena california took home the $10,000 prize. but gift wrap, says historian carol ann, is is not about money. but love. >> the thing that really matters-- and this sounds really sapy-- but it's the thought that counts. and the thought is what is represented by the wrapping paper. ♪ >> cowan: coming up.... >> the dream was never this big. >> reporter: it really wasn't? >> no. god no, are you kidding me. >> cowan: a talk with actress charlize theron. and later, we're just wild about harry. >> can i just give it to you straight? the truth is i'm a hooker. i'm trying to clean my life up here and go straight and christian and all. >> it's sunday morning on cbs and here again is lee cowan. >> cowan: charlize theron starred in the 2003 movie monster won her an oscar. for an actress who has been dubbed one of the most beautiful women in the world she's played rather unglamorous character. she wouldn't have it any other way, as she told me when i caught up with her for some questions and answers. how often do you come up here? >> at least three or four times a week. >> reporter: even in a tank top walking her dogs in the hollywood hills charlize theron is is radiant, disarmingly so. and so is her sense of humor. >> when people refer to you as a movie star or a mega star, what do you think about that term? >> that's how it should be. >> reporter: okay, miss star. i'll remember that. you learn very quickly that despite her a-list status, charlize theron is is as grounded as ever. >> the greatest thing i've learned on my journey in doing this is that if you come with your own agenda and with your own ego and you try to kind of force something and control something, you can't make a good movie. >> reporter: it's a philosophy she carried on the set of her new film "young adult" where she seemed up with director jason reich. >> action. >> hey, do you remember we used to make out to this song? >> reporter: she plays mavis, a ghost writer of young adults who returns to her small hometown to reclaim her high school flame. but there's a catch. >> i'm pretty sure he's married with a kid on the way. >> i'm cool with it. i've got baggage too. >> i would keep all of this to yourself. i would find a therapist. >> it's a woman who just never grew up. she doesn't have the tool set to really cope ordeal.... >> reporter: it's sad. >> in a way it is but in a way, you know, somewhat refreshing. >> welcome to hampton inn. >> reporter: in a departure for char leads, it's also funny. >> is that a dog in your bag? >> nope. >> we actually allow small pets with a cleaning deposit. >> good, good, because i have a small dog in my vehicle. >> there's definitely a moment where especially in my career because i tend to have people in tears or throwing up in bathrooms like. to hear them giggle definitely after almost 20 years of doing this, a new experience for me, yeah. where i looked at my producing partner. i was like they're laughing. they're laughing at me. >> reporter: were you surprised? >> yeah, i don't think when you're making a film you really know what people are going to tap into. >> reporter: the characters she has passed into in the past are anything but glamorous. >> he attacked me. >> who attacked you? >> in the powder room just now. >> reporter: like her oscar-tom natured portrayal of minor josy amess in north country. the characters that you portray so often are troubled and challenged and are facing some.... >> i'm very troubled. >> reporter:... some loss or tragedy. >> lee, i am really troubled. look.... >> reporter: what is it? what is it that draws you to those kinds of characters? at least the ones that tend to be the most memorable? >> i guess i respond to those characters because when i read them, they're familiar to me. i know them. they feel human to me. they feel real to me. they don't feel like movie people. >> reporter: perhaps that's why her most famous role wasn't fictional at all, portraying real life serial killer eileen in monster. >> we can be as different as we want to be. you can't kill people. >> says who? i'm good with the lord. i'm fine with him. >> reporter: it was a performance that earned her the oscar for best actress. but there were plenty of skeptics early on. >> at the time we were financing that film i would never forget he calld me at 3:00 a.m. in the morning and said we saw the first dailys. we don't understand what you're doing. why are you not smiling? and why do you look like that? they didn't understand why i gained weight. >> reporter: she's appeared in more than 30 films and yet even now she says the great performance is still a puzzle. >> a lot of it i don't understand. i don't. a lot of it is a mystery to me. >> reporter: do you like it? >> i love the mysteries of the world and of life. i don't necessarily want to figure it out. >> reporter: do you ever worry though that the mystery might not show up? >> every day. are you kidding me? every day i go to work it's like i'm sitting in my car going, oh, god, i think every actor has that. >> reporter: it's all a long way from if small south african farming community where charlize theron was born. it's a country she still calls home. but it's also a place of tragedy. at 15, she saw her mother in an act of self-defense shoot and kill theron's abusive, alcoholic father. as huge a moment as that was obviously in your life, it seems as though you've not let it define you. >> i couldn't change it. no matter how much i wanted to. tragic. i was just never going to define myself as a victim. maybe that's what i love about my characters. that's maybe what i love about eileen or what i love about mavis, you know, they're not victims. they don't try to lean on those crutches. >> reporter: she left home at 16, became a model and studied ballet before launching her movie career. >> i loved acting so much that i... all i dreamed for was that i could support myself just doing that, that i didn't have to do a second job. >> reporter: how much money did snuff. >> nothing. i was literally living from paycheck to paycheck. there was a time that i stole bread from a bread basket in a restaurant. >> reporter: you really stole bread? >> yes, i put the bread in my bag. i cherish those moments. i cherish them. >> reporter: she ended up putting down roots in california and became a u.s. citizen. >> i'm not a passive person. if i feel like if i'm going to be living here i want to contribute to my community. i want to contribute to elections. i want to feel like i'm truly a part of it. >> reporter: at 36 she says her life is right where she wants it. >> my life is amazing. i'm just really blessed, a blessed person. i have amazing friends. >> oh, my god. i just have a really good life. you know, i come from a country where there's an awareness for me every single day of how blessed i am. >> did you miss me? ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: south africa is never far from her heart. four years ago she started a charity. the charlize theron africa outreach project. >> you all get to decide what you want to do to make something in your world better. >> reporter: the goal is to reduce sexual violence and educate the young about how to prevent the spread of h.i.v. and aids. >> there is no way that you can take a trip to south africa and work with the kids that we work with that you don't come home and open your fridge and you realize circumstances somehow worked out for you. they didn't work out for everybody else in the world. if that doesn't ground you. >> cowan: in fact, she says she never expected it to work out quite as well as it has. >> i mean, the dream was never this big. >> cowan: really wasn't? >> no. god no, are you kidding me? >> cowan: she lives in these hills just a few miles from her mother whom she says is a model for the kind of mom she'd like to be one day. but not yet. her nine-year relationship with actor stewart townsend ended two years ago. are you dating anybody now? not that i'm coming on to you. >> wait a second. no, i'm not. i'm singing single. i haven't been single since i was 19. >> cowan: she is after all busy working and going from one unlikable protagonist to another. >> mirror, mirror on the wall. >> cowan: this summer she'll be on the big screen again as the evil queen in snow white and the huntsman. she may once again surprise audiences and herself. that, she says, is her favorite part. >> if there was anything that was guaranteed in this industry we'd be doing it over and over and over again. that's what's amazing is about being in this business. it's creative. there is no recipe. it's all a stroke of luck sometimes. >> cowan: just ahead, a matter of interest. that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups that's logistics. ♪ an investment opportunity you didn't see before. 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. hey. hey mom! what is this? it's a special paste i invented to replace socks. why? because we can't find socks that shape to our feet. we're sick of it! try hanes socks with the smooth comfort toe seam. a better fit your whole family will love. yoohoo, hi. i noticed you used the largest cash back card... why is that? they give me 5% cash back at department stores this quarter. but only on up to $300 worth of merchandise. so the most you can earn is $15 dollars. chase freedom also gives you 5% cash back at department stores this quarter but on up to $1,500 worth of purchases. that is $75. that's 5 times more! woo. get your cash back. activate today at chase.com/freedom. ♪ give it way now >> cowan: now a look at the infamous big bank bailout by the numbers. according to documents released from the freedom of information act and published by bloomberg's market magazine in its upcoming january issue the bailout was far bigger than the federal reserve left the public or members of congress know at the time. in fact, from the start of the financial crisis in 2007 through march tv 2009, the fed loaned or guaranteed the bank some $7.7 trillion. about half the value of all the goods and services produced by the u.s. economy. that's 11 times the $700 billion in aid provided by treasury department, better known troubled asset relief program, or tarp, on one just day december 5, 2008 america's banks borrowed $1.2 trillion from the fed. further more, says bloomberg, the banks borrowed that money from the fed in as little as 1 hundred of percent of interest. the banks sold off assets that paid much higher rates of interest. bloomberg estimates that the banks made a $13 billion profit on money they borrowed virtually free from the fed. bottom line: the nation's six largest banks saw their assets grow by 39% from september of 2006 to september of this year. from 6.8 trillion dollars then to $9.5 trillion now. the fed says its loans to the banks were all backed by collateral. almost all of the loans have now been repaid. alright everybody, get your heads up. now when i was in the military, i learned that if you stand together, you can stand up to anything! no matter where i was deployed, i always knew that somebody had my back! you boys are your own band of brothers! you have each other! just like i had navy federal credit union... 24/7... live customer support! let's go! let's go! 3 1/2 million members. 3 1/2 million stories. navy federal credit union. >> cowan: 100 years ago this month two teams of explorers raced to the most remote inhospitable destination on earth, the south pole. one man went swiftly across the antarctic ice. the british rival under the command of robert scott trailed behind. almondson and his men claimed victory on december 14, 1911. unaware that they had been bested, the british team arrived at the pole just over a month later. only to discover almondson's tent and norwegian flag. second place was cold comfort indeed. on their return, humbled by storms and starvation, scott and his companions would go on to perish in the freezing cold just 11 miles from a supply depot where they might have taken refuge. getting yourself to destination antarctica is quite a bit easier and safer these days. our josh landis of the fast draw worked there a few years ago. for the centennial we sent him back. >> this is the ultimate in southern exposure. antarctica. down at the south pole is another balmy day. the temperature hovering around 15 degrees below zero. across the continent, the antarctic summer which runs november through february is in full swing. and the sun is shining 24 hours a day. a load of scientists, journalists and supplies has just arrived at the south pole's new almondson-scott research station. it's the pride and joy of the national science foundation which is in charge of america's presence in antarctica. more than 200 researchers enjoy creature comfort you might not expect at the end of the earth. >> look down at your toes. >> reporter: pilates classes to help keep in shape and gourmet meals to keep caloric intake as well as morale high. and should the selections from the station's outdoor freezer become monotonous, there's even a little greenery on the vine. >> we have cantelope, peppers, tomatoes, bassil, thyme. >> reporter: if the polar station resembles a space station it's no coincidence. this is the closest you can get to being out of this world without leaving the planet. although the landscape appears flat the pole actually sits atop an ice pack almost two miles high. the climate is dryer than the sahara desert. this is the purest air on earth. the high altitude, the clear air, and the fact that winter is months of 24-hour darkness all make the south pole an astronomers' paradise. >> the south pole is just a great place with this beautiful window to look out through our galaxy and far away and see the origin of the universe. >> reporter: astrophysicist john carl strom is use inning giant dish telescope to spot cosmic radiation createded when the universe was formed 14 billion years ago. >> essentially developing a baby pick, a snapshot of the universe when it was an infant. >> reporter: while some look toward outer space, others at the poles have turned inward. for project ice cube, researchers are planting sensors more than a mile into the ice, searching for evidence of nutrinos some of the smallest particles known to science. detecting them has proven to be next to impossible, but they may be the key to proving or disproving einstein's theory of relatively. and that explains why dennis and his team have come so far to attempt something so unique. >> we're the best of the best because we're the only ones. you know, it's easy to be the best in your field when you're the only ones doing it. >> reporter: the same can be said for much of what goes on at antarctica. 850 miles from the pole, scientists surveyed the dry valley, a sweeping landscape of rock and sand that defies the image of a continent completely buried in ice and snow. this is an other worldly place. that's no exaggeration. scientists are studying these valleys for clues as to what it may be like on other planets. >> it's frozen all year round. and a cold day in antarctica is like an average day on the surface of mars. >> reporter: lessons learned here could help in the search for alien life. >> the coldest, highest driest place where predators prey on primary producers, on the herbivores and on algae. so it's a lab where we can really understand the fundamentals of how eco-systems work. >> reporter: but if you're looking for some more familiar life forms.... >> these penguins are undaunted by anything. and they have just a really good attitude. they don't have self-doubts. that's like a combination... if they were human. >> reporter: mariney kolgs has spent the past 25 years keeping tans on these penguins. the southern most colony of penguins in the world. even a seasoned scientist like him can be awed by what it takes to survive in this place. >> the thing about antarctica is the forces are incredible. there's no like comfortable warm evenings. >> reporter: no. this is not a place you come to for comfort or for ease of travel. antarctica is a place you come to experience and study nature and its most extreme and its most awe-inspiring. >> cowan: reflections on the end of an era, next. >> cowan: you can admire these steuben glass works all you want. what you won't be able to do though much longer is to buy steuben glass. in a sad reflection on our cash short times the company that bought steuben from corning glass three years closed its upstate new york factory this past weekending a glittering tradition that is 108 years old. often mispronounced but rarely mistaken, steuben glass is regarded by many as the finest glass crafted in this country. from practical to whimsical, from simple to simply extraordinary. no wonder steuben glass has often been a white house gift over the years presented to visiting diplomats, royalty and american heroes. steuben glass is a fiery fusion of lead, potash and above all sand, near perfect sand from the black hills of south dakota. >> steuben, the glass is a little softer. it holds its temperature longer. >> reporter: when we visited the steuben factory back in 2004, jeff babcock had already been sculpting glass there for more than 30 years. >> i think we're the only factory in the state that are still doing the hand made krystal. >> reporter: not to mention making sure it's flung. according to the craftsman wally. >> this is the best glass in the world. we don't let any perfections go by it. if there's anything in the glass we throw it away. (glass breaking) >> reporter: indeed roughly one out of every five pieces of steuben glass is destroyed. many of the finest pieces to survive inspection were on display a few years back at the museum of the city of new york. it was called glass and glamor marking a century of steuben glass. the life span though that was almost cut short in the 1920s. according to the curator donald aldridge. >> in the early years of the depression the company was doing badly like a lot of companies were. from 1903 up until the early 1930s they were using colored glass, frosted glass in a very decorative style. >> cowan: a style that looks more and more dated when compared to the art deco and other modern designs that were sweeping through europe. with bankruptcy looming, steuben desperately searched for a brand new look. and found it. right at home in new york city. >> basically what steuben said in the 1930s, '40s and '50s if you bought a piece of that glass you bought manhattan glamor. >> reporter: it was only intended for optical use, the future of steuben glass suddenly was krystal clear. housed in an avant-garde building with a facade of what else glass, suben opened its first manhattan store on fifth avenue in 1934. soon world renown artists began recognizing there was art in steuben glass. >> it was ma advertise who said the glass that you're doing is so beautiful, i would love to do a drawing for you. then you can have the steubenen grafers engrave the designs into the vase. >> reporter: the company invited other contemporary artists such as good o'keefe and dali to use steuben glass as their canvas. >> this piece is by the american artist grant wood who is best known for the famous painting known as american gothic. >> reporter: for her part, georgia o'keefe used her steuben glass plate as a chopping board. >> this one i was told by people at corning did arrive with cut marks because she actually did use it to cut cheeses, fruits, vegetables, whatever. she actually did use it. >> reporter: shurly o'keefe was the exception. this week's closings behooves all owners to be more careful than ever with their steuben glass treasures. after all, there will be no more where they came from. next, listen up. [ male announcer ] how are we going to make this season better than the last? how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. can you smell those savings? fresh cut christmas trees are arriving weekly. can you smell those savings? this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. we can't wait to see you. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. >> cowan: can you find a restaurant where ordering a meal is anything but routine? it's a challenge made to order for steve hartman who put him on the road to spartan burg south carolina. >> reporter: the beacon diner will never get the american heart association seal of approval. but it does have the approval of most everyone else. >> love it. >> reporter: folks come here from across the country and line up out the door pardonly for the food you order, of course,. >> two hot dogs! >> reporter: but pardonly for how you order your food. his name is j.c.strobel. he's 70, legally blind from glaucoma and has been working here 54 years. >> how are you, sweetheart. >> reporter: how do you have fun on the job that many years. >> number one you have to love people which i do. have a blessed day. >> reporter: he is what they call here the caller. customers tell him their order and he calls it out to the cooks. often using this bizarre language he invented. >> people love him. >> reporter: general manager kenny church. >> they'll stand there and watch him for 15 or 20 minutes. they're amazed. >> i like how he hollers out the order for you. >> i can't believe it. >> j.c.is the man. he keeps order in this place. he keeps the line moving. >> reporter: his popularity is something no fast food worker has ever attained. presidential candidates even stop by to see him. still, for j.c.in the end being all that is not the end- all/be-all. what are you most proud of in your life? >> sitting right here by me. >> reporter: his wife says family has always trumped fame. >> he's a good father. the best father for my kids. >> i wanted my kids to get an education. >> reporter: three out of four listened and graduated from college. but his oldest, kiki, she was a different story. >> i felt like i didn't need the education. >> reporter: kiki was convinced. but her father, the one who never quits on anything, refused to give up on his daughter either and just kept telling her, "go to college." >> every day. >> reporter: everyday? never let up on her. >> the older she got, the more i lean on her and the harder. >> reporter: for nearly 30 years this went on. still just a few months ago guess who finally got her degree. what did you study in college? >> philanthropy. >> reporter: in the end her motivation was to start the j.c.strobel glaum oak a awareness foundation. her vision, to save other people. she'll no doubt be successful as long as she keeps listening to her dad. >> put your heart and soul into it. heart and soul. ♪. >> cowan: next, singing his praises. what do you mean? it ends december 7th. if you haven't reviewed your medicare plan choices yet, well, it's getting late. medicare gives you free cancer screenings and wellness visits, and 50% off brand name prescription drugs when you're in the donut hole... it's all part of the health care law. december 7th? i better get goin'! [ male announcer ] medicare open enrollment ends soon. call 1-800-medicare or visit medicare.gov to learn more. [ man #1 ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ man #2 ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ man #3 ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ woman ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day. [ man #4 ] i would love to see this thing fly. it's a dream, honestly. there it is. awesome. that's so cool! yeah, that was awesome! [ cheering ] i wanna see that again. ♪ i wanna see that again. ♪ fa la la la la la la la la.... ♪ find savings worth singing about all month long at petsmart®. save $4 on select iams® cat food and look for specially marked bags with over $35 worth of coupons inside. only at petsmart®. ♪ matilda >> cowan: harry belafonte caught the nation's ear with that hit song matilda. alongside his long career in movie and film he's often tried to catch the social conscience of the nation as well. russ mitchell has this sunday profile. >> reporter: at age 84, harry belafonte still enjoys a visit to his old haunts, like new york's greenwich village. good recommendees when you come here? >> mostly mischief. >> reporter: mostly mischief. do tell. and what stories he has. for harry belafonte has been at it now for more than six decades as an actor, activist, and... ♪ this is my island ♪ in the sun ♪ matilda > singer of a song or two. in fact he's the first recording artist to ever top the charts with a million album sales. but as he explains in his new book "my song: life didn't start easy" you say poverty was a constant companion going up. >> constant companion and it still nourishs my thinking and my passion. >> reporter: born harold george belafonte jr. in new york city to immigrant parents from the caribbean, belafonte says as a child they were so poor his mother, a domestic worker, sent him and his brother to live for years in her native jamaica. >> it gave me a lot to work with in life. but my mother left. >> reporter: he returned to new york. and at age 17 and a high school dropout, belafonte joined the navy to fight in world war ii. what did it teach you? >> to give you an environment where things were disciplined. there was an objective, a purpose and an enemy. >> reporter: there was the hope that the discrimination bell belafonte says he experienced as a black man would end with the war. >> i came back home to find out that nothing had changed. black people were still being lynched, still being denied, still being relegated to second class experiences. >> reporter: he became a janitor at this harem apartment building. one day a tenant gave him an unusual tip for doing a repair. >> i had never seen the theater before. i walked in to see what was going on. it was an epiphany. something so inordinately powerful just sucked me in. >> reporter: belafonte was hooked. and began taking acting classes. >> and i walked into my class on the first day. i saw my classmates, i saw a group of the greatest misfits i've ever seen. there was a guy named marlon brando, a woman named bea arthur and a very pretty kid nameded tony curtis. we all looked at one another wondering, you're aspiring to be in the theater? you'll never make it but look at what turned out. ♪ everybody asks me how i know ♪ > he sang to pay for classes. when did you start singing? >> i always sang as a kid. everybody did in jamaica. singing was our recreation. ♪ she kisses me > it paid the bills but belafonte says the memory of the tra digal songs of his childhood made him hungry to explore folks music. >> i went to the library of congress and endlessly listened to tapes and created a repertoire of folks songs. and i built this repertoire. ♪ like a gypsy ♪ strong like a lion >> reporter: in many ways this is where it all started for you, right? >> for me and for a lot of other wonderful artists. >> reporter: he tried out his material at new york's famed village vanguard. >> it was in this place that the approval of this audience and those who came after charted my course and gave me validation. as a singer. >> reporter: from a jazz singer to a folk singer. all started right here. >> that's right. ♪ i'm on my way > belafonte landed a recording contract. in 1956 he released calypso, a collection of caribbean songs. were you surprise at the success of calypso? >> i didn't quite understand what had happened. it was not slated to go anywhere other than to satisfy a tenacious appetite i had for wanting to do that album. >> reporter: but the album went everywhere. hitting a million in sales and launching a song high into pop culture. ♪ >> the whole world was singing deo. >> reporter: can you walk down the street without someone saying, harry belafonte sing deo. >> not only someone on the street but i can't walk into the courthouse where the judge won't say it. it is just amazing. >> reporter: the song was immortalized in the 198 film beetlejuice. and even got the muppet treatment. ♪ deo). >> they got to really give deo a challenge. it was absolutely wonderful. and i built on that. to do island of the sun and all the other songs. very popular. ♪ leave a little girl in kingston town ♪ > that voice, those looks were too much for hollywood to pass up. and he was cast in films like island in the sun. >> these are my people. this is where i belong. >> reporter: yet hollywood's account did not know what to do with its new black star. they're casting you in movies where you're the leading man. the leading lady is white. you guys are supposed to have a relationship but you can't kigs. >> that's right. >> reporter: belafonte says the studio executives for the film, the world the flesh and the devil were so alarmed at the chemistry between him and his co-star.... >> they pulled the script. >> they said we have to do a rewrite. when they came back, the last part of the script completely destroyed. all romance taken out. i was just furious. so my thought was you can't change hollywood. what you've got to do is change america. >> reporter: so belafonte began to spend more time on social causes. and there's one cause and one man, martin luther king jr., that belafonte remembers above all others. it began with a phone call. >> belafonte, my name is martin luther king jr. i couldn't quite believe it. he said, "you don't know me but..." and he started to tell me who he was. i said, "dr. king, i know who you are. i think the whole world is getting to know who you are." he asked to me with me. >> reporter: they spoke for four hours. king asked for his help. >> i told at the end of that meeting that i would be of service as long as it took. >> reporter: belafonte became one of king's confidants and a big contributor to the civil rights movement. helping to organize the march on washington. >> i have just left mrs. king and the children. i was in their bedroom. they're going to view the body today for the first time. >> reporter: when king was assassinated in 1968, belafonte grieved the loss of a friend. >> my brain was reeling with, what do we do? where do we go from here? what's next? and what's next? >> reporter: in the years that followed belafonte threw himself into humanitarian work. witnessing famine firsthand in africa, he had an idea. >> the culture and community needs to step to the plate. we need to let our voices be heard. ♪ there comes a time when we heed a certain call ♪ >> reporter: so he helped gather some of the biggest recording artists of the '80s to perform "we are the world." ♪ we are the ones to make a brighter day so let's start giving ♪ > raising millions for famine relief. >> it was a night of great joy, a night of great thrill. >> reporter: and during a recording break, the famous singers even broke out into a spontaneous version of belafonte's signature song. ♪. >> reporter: and belafonte began to speak out, sometimes surprisingly, about u.s. foreign policy. >> i think the patriotic citizen is commanded and demanded to raise his or her voice on issues that he thinks are in the best interest of the nation. that's what i do. >> reporter: are you an easy guy to live with? what are you like as a guy? >> you have to ask one of my wives. >> reporter: twice divorced and a father of four, belafonte lives with his third wife pamela. and this singer, actor, and witness to history pronounced himself a content man. 84 years young. sounds like life is pretty good for harry belafonte. >> well, if it can be much better, i'd be hard pressed to define what that could be. >> cowan: rolling along. >> go, go, go, go, go. >> cowan: just ahead. a polar bear cub is born with no sense of sight. help ensure they're born with a sense of home. to donate, look for white coke cans and caps, and join coca-cola and world wildlife fund in helping to create a safe refuge for the polar bear. for a medicare plan? you only have 3 days left. the medicare annual enrollment period ends wednesday, december 7th. call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions today. consider enrolling in a medicare advantage plan. it combines your doctor and hospital coverage and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today. and you want to pass along as much as possible to future generations. at northern trust, we know what works and what doesn't. as one of the nation's largest wealth managers, we can help you manage the complexities of transferring wealth. seeking to minimize taxes while helping maximize what's passed along. because you just never know how big those future generations might be. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust. >> cowan: the saying goes you're never too old. now susan spencer of "48 hours" puts that maxim to the test. >> reporter: about two months ago i made a command decision that before i hit a certain unspeakable milestone birthday, i would learn to ride a uni- cycle. yes, that. that's a uni-cycle. and riding it is sort of like doing the river dance on a very slippery beach ball. my friends greeted this news with, huh? are you nuts? or simply a declaration, "you are nuts." and always a prediction as "soon you'll be juggling. soon you'll be wearing a clown suit" or more often "soon you will kill yourself." then the inevitable," why?" that last why? is a legitimate question. especially when you actually exam one of the things. you notice right off the bat that a uni-cycle is missing certain key components, like brakes or handle bars or a chain. there's no such thing as coasting. unfortunately stopping often means falling off. unless, of course, you're as good as my teacher lisa whom i found on the internet under -- what else---- uni-cycle lady dot-com. i called her up. >> i thought you were a stalker. why? i don't have that many people out of blue just contact me about uni-cycle lessons on the internet. >> reporter: our first lesson was along this wall, learning an important skill: how to get on it. from the wall i graduated to this basketball court and to this pole. sometimes it's very hard to let go of this pole. but the hardest thing of all, i find, is going from a dead stop to having enough momentum to actually keep your balance. that's where we are now. whoa! lisa is very encouraging and no wonder. she's been doing this for 37 years. she loves it. she makes her living performing. she calls this artistic uni- cycling. but if that's not challenging enough there's always this to aspire to. mountain uni-cycling here demonstrated by a guy named chris holmes considered one of the best around. do not try at home. seeing what he and lisa can do it's hard not to agree with fans who argue that uni-cycling, requiring, as it does athleticism, balance and training, is a legitimate sport. but i digress. obviously i'm not quite ready for the cirque du soleil. i don't care. i made it through that dreadful birthday and i am getting better. i'm also unlikely ever again to be intimidated by the idea of trying something completely new, something totally off the wall. and to return to my friends' persistent question: why, why, why the uni-cycle? i have a simple answer. it is enormous fun. and if you don't believe me, you try it. (laughing). >> cowan: susan spencer on quite a roll. happy birthday, susan. good morning, bob schieffer. what's ahead for us on face the nation today? >> well, good morning, lee. today we'll try to answer the question with herman cain out, newt gingrich leading, what happens next in the whackyiest republican presidential primary yet? >> cowan: bob, we'll be watching. thanks. by the way bob is wearing his country music hat next week right here on sunday morning. ♪ country music >> cowan: he meets brad paisley next sunday. because we can't find socks that shape to our feet. we're sick of it! try hanes socks with the smooth comfort toe seam. a better fit your whole family will love. i joined the navy when i was nineteen. i was a commissioned officer at twenty-three. i was an avionics... tactical telecommunications... squad leader. i think the hardest transition as you get further into the military is... you know it's going to end one day. chase hired me to be a personal banker. i'm a business analyst... manager. i'm very proud to work for chase. when you hire a veteran, you get... great leadership... decisiveness... focus. chase knows, when you hire a veteran, you're hiring america's best. chase is proud to help 100,000 veterans find jobs at home. >> cowan: i'm lee cowan. have a great sunday. we hope you'll join charles osgood here next sunday morning. do you have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctors approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion,stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. for more information or help paying for pradaxa, visit pradaxa.com. captioning made possible this sunday morning moment of nature is is sponsored by... >> cowan: we leave you this sunday morning back in antarctica where penguins are showing off their formal wear. ]]uá by johnson & johnson, captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations today on "face the nation" the republican roller coaster claims another victim. he broke the hearts of the late night comics. >> i've already lost trump. i can't lose you too. >> schieffer: but jon stewart will just have to get over it. herman cain made it official yesterday. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> schieffer: the one-time frontrunner is out so who knows what is next in a week when donald trump signed on to moderate an upcoming debate, a new poll shows newt gingrich has surged into the lead in iowa. >> i'm going to be the nominee.