and good morning to you. this is your "a.m. wake-up call" for wednesday, november 16th, from the time warner center in new york, i'm carol costello. here are this morning's top stories. a penn state assistant coach fighting back this morning, saying i stopped jerry sandusky. coach mike mcqueary reportedly e-mailing former teammates and speaking for the first time about the alleged child sex assault he says he witnessed. wall street protesters allowed back into their home base at new york zuccotti park. a judge saying no more tents or generators allowed. occupy members saying it will only make their resolve stronger, and they plan to shut down wall street tomorrow. president obama arriving in australia this morning. he's expected to announce that he's boosting the u.s. military presence there as china eyes a bigger role in the pacific, but the white house saying this isn't a turf war. let's get a check of the forecast now, shall we? jacqui jeras is in this morning. good morning. >> good morning, carol. real soupy start across much of the east. foggy conditions, rain and mist. look at that, those are tornado watches across louisiana, mississippi and alabama. damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes are going to be possible. and this line is going to be intensifying as we head throughout the day today. so as those severe storms will spread eastward into atlanta, charlotte and even into raleigh. now, we're looking at rain in the northeast, carol, but nothing severe there, we don't think. though you will hear a few rumbles of thunder. that's going to affect your drive in and drive out. temperatures much colder behind this front. take a look at the highs today in minneapolis. 37, 42 in chicago. you can really see the difference of where that cold front is with 75 today in atlanta. and 85 in new orleans. we'll talk more about what this big mess is going to do to your travel plans today. heads up, it's not looking good. i'll tell you about that in about 15 minutes. >> can't wait. thank you, jacqui. a penn state assistant coach fighting back this morning. mike mcqueary speaking out for the first time about the child rape he says he witnessed as a graduate assistant back in 2002 allegedly at the hands of the retired coach jerry sandusky. mcqueary's reportedly been e-mailing former teammates saying the grand jury got it wrong when it concluded he did nothing to stop the abuse. he also says he went to the cops, which is huge. in an e-mail obtained by "the morning call" newspaper of allentown, pennsylvania, mcqueary writes, "i did stop it. not physically but made sure it was stopped when i left that locker room. he said he did have discussions with police and with the official at the university in charge of police." cbs's armen katayan also caught up with the coach. >> reporter: do you have any idea when you might be ready to talk? >> this process has played out. i just don't have anything else to say. >> reporter: one last thing. just describe your emotions right now. >> all over the place. just kind of shaken. >> reporter: crazy? >> crazy. >> reporter: you said what? like a -- >> snowblower. >> that new e-mail raising all kinds of questions about the wall of silence surrounding penn state. and it turns out that taxpayer-funded school is legally allowed to keep some records a secret. cnn's drew griffin has more in this exclusive special investigation. >> reporter: carol, it's the type of information we would normally get in the united states from any public institution, especially a police department, the records, the incident reports, all the information you rely on to get the facts to know who knew what when and where. but penn state, you will not find that because penn state got itself an exemption from this state's open records act. at the same time in 2000 to 2008 when the legislature was discussing this new law, penn state's president personally went to the legislature and asked to be exempt to make sure the records were kept private. >> what that means in essence is that while every other commonwealth agency, governor's office, police departments, townships, school districts, are subject to this law and would be required to provide public record, penn state is exempt. that came as a result of a series of lobbying efforts through the house of representatives that was taking a look at rewriting pennsylvania's right-to-know law which was really among the worst in the nation. and at that juncture, the president of penn state was one of the key lobbyists testifying before the house committee on -- i believe it was august 7th, 2007, seeking an exemption for penn state. >> reporter: carol, we did try to reach graham spanier at his home. we did not get an answer from the former penn state president, but we know what he told the legislature when he was seeking this exemption. he said he wanted penn state to be exempt from the records because he needed to protect the competitiveness of the university. that he was concerned about the cost of compliance and that a huge bureaucracy would have to be built to answer questions and open those public records. looking back on it now, it has a whole different look. carol? >> drew griffin reporting. thanks. occupy wall street protesters back in lower manhattan's zuccotti park overnight, but they're not as comfy. last night a judge ruled the protesters who were cleared out of the park in a surprise raid by police hours earlier could come back but without the tents, the tarps, generators and camping equipment. protesters say they were not allowed to lie down or even sit. one tweeted they're wandering around like ants. it's getting tougher for the 99% across the country, even the continent. it looks like it could be the beginning of the end for occupy dallas. the mayor there saying they have one more night after a federal judge cleared the way for the eviction of protesters near city hall. north of the border, a judge siding with protesters who set up camp near toronto's financial district. they were all put on notice yesterday, but a last-minute injunction stopped police from moving in at midnight. and in boston, hundreds marched to preh protest the eviction of wall street protesters in new york city. but the boston mayor is saying there no no plans to give them the boot out of dewey square as long as things remain peaceful. just a few hours ago, president obama arrived in australia. it is his first time on australian soil as commander in chief. he's there to announce an expanded u.s. military presence in the country. the move coming as china expands its military reach in the pacific. china's first aircraft carrier hit the water a few months ago. the white house saying it's important to the peaceful development of the region. cnn's white house correspondent dan lothian is traveling with the president. he joins us live from canberra, australia. good morning, dan. >> reporter: good morning. president obama along with prime minister gillard made that announcement earlier today here in australia. under this agreement, some 250 u.s. marines will, in the middle of next year, head to the northern part of australia in darwin. and in that northern region. and then that number, over the next several years, will increase to about 2500 marines as part of a task force. this is all part of this new arrangement that the u.s. and the australians believe is critical in order to secure the asia-pacific region. president obama saying that this deepening relationship shows the u.s. commitment to that region. >> our u.s. marines will begin rotating through darwin for joint training and exercises. our air force will rotate additional aircraft through more airfields in northern australia. these rotations which are going to be taking place on australian bases will bring our militaries even closer and make them even more effective. it will enhance our ability to train, exercise and operate with allies and partners across the region. and that, in turn, will allow us to work with these nations to respond even faster to a wide range of challenges. including humanitarian crises and disaster relief as well as promoting security cooperation across the region. >> reporter: now, carol, as you pointed out, the looming chinese military presence is one of the big concerns. and a senior administration official saying that that is part of the reason why this agreement was forged. but president obama made it clear that fear -- having any fear of china was not behind this. i should point out, though, that china has been pushing back since that announcement was made, at least according to an afp report. they're showing some skepticism, saying -- a chinese official saying that this deal may, quote, not be quite appropriate. so i asked a senior administration official to comment on that. this official telling me that it's not only appropriate but necessary to deal with some of the challenges in this region. carol? >> dan lothian reporting live from australia this morning. thanks so much. a new effort on capitol hill, a team effort to end the gridlock to get america working again. republican senator marko rubio and democratic senator chris coons unveiled a new bipartisan jobs proposal. they say it includes tax, immigration and other proposals that could boost hiring and that the bill can prove that congress isn't really so dysfunctional. >> people want to see jobs being created. they want government to do what it can. and most importantly, people of all persuasions look at us and say at least work together on the things you agree on. there's plenty to fight on, plenty of disagreement on other issues. that's why we have elections. these are the things we agree on. there's broad bipartisan support. if we agree on them, we should pass them. >> this new effort comes as senators butt head over key parts of president obama's $447 billion jobs bill. house gop leaders now lining up calling for attorney general eric holder's job. they want him to resign over his hole in the botched fast and furious gun-running operation. >> mr. holder, tell us what you knew. tell us who else knew. do the right thing and take responsibility for the actions you authorized. >> fast and furious allowed thousands of illegally sold weapons to cross into mexico in an effort to track them. two of the guns were found at the murder scene of a border patrol agent named brian terry. those guns found last december. still to come, the gop's new favorite, newt gingrich. his campaign is getting lots of steam and money, but can he keep it going? and another big bank says it will make the switch. jpmorgan chase ending its controversial debt card usage fee along with a couple of other fees. details straight ahead. plus, a big congrats this morning for coach k. he's made it into the record books. 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 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. 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. 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[ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? i was gonna say that. uh huh... what's in your wallet? ♪ we're centurylink ... we're committed to improving lives and linking americans to what matters most with honest, personal service... 5-year price-lock guarantees... consistently fast speeds ... and more ways to customize your technology. ♪ it is 15 minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." here's what's all new this morning. the penn state assistant coach who witnessed an alleged sexual assault by former penn state coach jerry sandusky speaking out for the first time. in an e-mail octobbtained by "morning call," mike mckwequear said he handled the matter immediately. the place where occupy wall street is pretty deserted. a judge says protesters can't sleep there anymore. he said to leave their tents, tarps and generators behind. jpmorgan chase is scrapping three bank fees it had been testing. among the charges being pulled, a $10 and a $15 monthly checking account fee and a $3 fee to use your debit card. in the world of sports, duke basketball coach k. making history. last night he set the record for the most wins by a division i coach. the win number 903 of his coaching career broke a tie with bobby knight. let's get a check of today's weather. jacqui jeras is in atlanta with kind of bad news if you're traveling this morning. >> yeah, it really is. take a look at this picture, carol. this sums it up for you. this is downtown atlanta. you can see just kind of the gloom lingering over the city. there's going to be a lot of rain, especially across the southeast today. that's going to be heavy. when you get a low cloud deck like that, you know it means trouble at the airport because all of those planes have to line up and shoot that approach to go ahead and land. we're expecting major delays today, over an hour. not just in atlanta but also in the northeast airports. looking for new york city, d.c., philadelphia seeing those big delays. also places like memphis and nashville will see some thunderstorms. some of those could be on the strong side. and then boston and charlotte also looking for delays. probably under an hour there. there is a severe threat today. those storms could be producing tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail. and that threat stretches from the deep south on up towards, say, the mid-atlantic states. and that includes the carolinas. so be aware of that as you have travel plans for today. and the system goes all the way up the east coast, but we don't think the thunderstorms will be severe across the northeast. much colder air on the backside of it. get ready for that big change in the season as we take a look at a map like this, i like to say it doesn't take a meteorologist to figure out where the cold front is, does it? 37 in minneapolis and 75 in atlanta. that's quite the swing there. >> you're not kidding. jacqui jeras, thank you. chaos in syria this morning as the leading opposition group is now calling for thank you peacekeepers. the plea coming amid a backdrop of new violence. at least ten people were reportedly killed yesterday. our reporter is live in abu dhabi. give us the latest. >> reporter: carol, activists and opposition members are saying that 400 people have been killed since november 2nd when the arab league proposed a peace initiative. and we're talking two weeks ago. and the casualties, carol, are coming from two sides. the biggest number of deaths is coming from the opposition. however, armed groups are also firing at the syrian army and government security forces and killing some of them. carol? >> so how are arab countries helping the syrian people? >> reporter: over the past one week, we've seen very active diplomacy coming from arab countries and the international community. now, let's start with the u.s. position and here mark toner, the foreign service officer, what he said. >> i think what we're seeing here and continue to see is that, you know, the drumbeat of international pressure is increasing on us. >> reporter: so the u.s. position has been very clear. arab league is meeting today in a few hours and will take more measures to help the people on the ground and the civilians. king of jordan, king abdullah, said a few days ago, if i were asad, i would step down. so indeed, pressure is mounting. carol? >> pressure is mounting, but you've got to wonder, though, is diplomacy enough? >> reporter: it may not be enough. casualties are taking place every day in syria. the opposition has become armed over the past few weeks. however, who's going to help the opposition with arms, with money, with medical supplies? and now the opposition is saying, why don't you apply a no-fly zone like you did in libya? so indeed, decisions are not enough for those people in syria. >> reporting live this morning, thanks so much. the time is now just about 20 minutes past the hour. still ahead, president obama pledges to stick to his new rule when it comes to the gop presidential hopefuls. plus, you may have noticed something different at your local starbucks. the coffee giant forced to make at least one price adjustment after a consumer agency discloses a little secret. we'll have details for you straight ahead. stay with us. ♪ ♪ mom? dad? guys? 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[ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. holy cow, the markets squeak out a win. a batch of better than expected news about the economy temporarily overshadowed concerns about the european debt crisis, and that helped push all three indexes higher. the dow was up 17 points. the nasdaq gained 29 points. and the s&p 500 was up 6. welcome back to "a.m. wake-up call." in other money news this morning, the postal service reports an annual loss of $5.1 billion. declining mail volume is one reason for the loss. the other, an increase in health care costs. shares in the professional social networking company linkedin are about to flood the market. one of the company's early backers is selling its entire 3.7 million shares in the company. starbucks is making price changes all across the country. this after a consumer agency