and good morning, everyone. it's friday, december 2nd. ali and carol are both off today. i'm christine romans along with alina cho on this "american morning." >> so glad you got the memo. >> i know. we're both feeling a lot like christmas this morning. up first, the countdown is on for herman cain. he's heading back home to atlanta this morning in the decision to whether continue his campaign could be in his wife's hands. cain says we will know by monday at the latest whether he's in or out of the race, and yesterday for the very first time, cain admitted that getting out is an option. he okay knowledged he did give money to the woman he said she had a 13 jeer-year affair with . his wife only found out about ginger white when the rest of us did. >> that is correct, and she was hurt that she didn't know about this friend that i was helping financially. she was aware of many of the other friends that i have helped. >> ginger white spoke to lawrence o'donnell on msnbc last night and again insistented it was a lot more than just a friendship. and talked about why they texted each other dozens of times over the past two months. >> at the end of the day i nope that know that i am telling the truth. i would never come out with something like this if it wasn't true. honestly, i didn't want to come out with this, and i know that travel was involved and sex was involved. i would never lie about that. >> our sexual relationship had faded out a bit, which i was -- very fine with, and so the last 2 1/2 years, yes. we would text back and forth. he would help me monthly. most times he would be traveling, and when there were several texts, it was just he and i trying to get our schedules together to where we could meet, and he would, you they, help me out with -- with money for bills and various things. >> oh, boy. here to talk about all the latest developments is senior political editor mark preston. mark, good morning to you. so what are they saying in washington? is cain in or out of the race? >> reporter: i think they're saying, oh, boy. my god what a story this is, alina. look, bottom line for right now, herman cain's presidential candidacy is all but done. as he said last night on fox, he'll make the final decision on monday or at least let us know by monday, but the fact of the matter is, he's no longer a viable candidate. the question remains, rwas he ever a viable candidate? he certainly soared to the top of the polls and did very well for a period of time but never had any national infrastructure, alina. as he decides what to do motor on with the campaign or abandon it, three things he's going to look at. how the emotional toll is taking on his family. has supporters are saying. the fact is, can you raise enough money to keep the campaign going on? >> that's exactly right. when it comes right done to it, it's going to be that support and especially the money. having said that, our own polling shows that newt gingrich does stand to gain if herman cain quits. right? >> reporter: that's absolutely right. the big winner in all this and what has been a terrible family tragedy, the fact newt gingrich has shot through the polls. an important primary state of florida. a new poll that has just come out in the last 24 hours shows that newt gingrich has gone from basically zero to 100%. look at that. he has climbed 39 points in just a month. we've seen herman cain right the there drop 24 points. florida holds its primary january 31st. we've spent a lot of time talking about three very important contests held in january, iowa, new hampshire and south carolina but a lot of us looking to florida. >> do you think newt gingrich really has iing power at this point? it's so early. we're still several weeks from the iowa caucuses. >> reporter: you're absolutely right. has he really peaked too early at this point and can his presidential campaign sustain him and can he continue to move on? i'm someone who believes, yes, he can, but he needs to make changes. the unconventional campaign got him to where he's at, but the fact is he needs to put in a large national infrastructure in order to run a solid campaign. right now he does not have that in place. >> cnn's mark preston waking up early for us. thank you. congress has just 30 days this morning to pass the pay roll tax holiday extension or you could see your paycheck cut by at much as $1,000 next year. last night the senate blocked the republican and democrat plan from moving forward. the democrats' plan paid for this plan for working americans by taxing millionaires. the republican plan froze the federal pay for workers and then cut millionaires off from some benefits like unemployment insurance. apparently there are 2,600 millionaires getting this check. the president released a statement last night saying in part, the international republicans voted to raise taxes on hard working americans because they refused to ask a few 00,000 millionaires and billionaires to pay they're fair share. wall street protesters desperately trying to stand their ground in two cities. police moved in and barricaded screaming protesters as a noon deadline to leave the camp came and went. the city offered to move them to a new site, but many protesters refused. in oklahoma city, occupiers filed a suit to stay in their park. they asked a federal judge to stop the city from imposing an overnight curfew. protesters have been camping out in kerr park in oklahoma city nearly two months but were recently denied a new permit after there was a drunken brawl that trashed the camp. the city gave them until 11:00 p.m. last night to clear out. it's history in the making this morning in egypt. expecting results from the first round of elections. egyptians voted monday and tuesday for the very first time since president hosni mubarak was forced out of power in february. our jim clancy is live in cairo, egypt, this morning. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning to you. well, the protesters here in tahrir square are awaiting results us a well. today is scheduled to be a million-man march. they're about 990,000 people short. nats part of the problem. protests in the square are losing the luft they have had the past ten months. the reason may be the ongoing election, the process itself pap new cabinet is being announced that will include some young people and some of the people, perhaps, right from this square. at the same time there is a sense here that the military is needed. what people saw the first election results, more than one said if the islamists are winning we're depending on the military to protect the rights ever the minorities, meaning the secularists and christians that make up about 10% of the population, christine. so there's a reliance, if they will admit it, on the military. people are wondering here what is next. some of these protesters, i'm told, are going to leave after this march. a march that is calling for a civilian transitional government, and at the same time, commemorating those who have died or been wounded in this square over the past ten months. christine? >> jim, so interesting that that early wariness and mistrust of the military might be morphing into a reliance on them as the democratic process unfolds. >> reporter: you're exactly right. it's normal. look, everybody expected the muslim brotherhood to dominate in the elections, and that apparently they have done. what they did not expect is that the issalfa parties, linked to terror, called for sharia law, a reality like you see in iran. they have asked for a change. some of them even speaking out. they don't want any entertainment, no music. these are the kinds of things that are really concerning the secularists right now in egypt. what will be the outcome, some people say calm down. the muslim brotherhood, really in the driver's seat here. after all, they are becoming politicians for the first time. they will be moderate. they will not be doing things that will hurt the tourism industry. things that will alienate society away from their party. they are going for more support, not less. egyptians today just aren't sure. christine? >> all right. jim clancy in egypt. thanks, jim. for nearly nine years, camp victly that been the heartbeat of the u.s. military operation in iraq and now the iraqis are officially in control. the formal hand over took place overnight in baghdad. it follows yesterday's ceremony where vice president biden praised coalition and iraqi soldiers for their service. if the schedule holds that number will be zero three weeks from now. still to come, death and destruction, then chaos and confusion. you're going to hear the gripping just released audiotapes from emergency responders at that scene. the scene of last august's tragic stage collapse at the indiana state fair. the senate is passing tough, new sanctions against iran. why the white house says it could backfire and end up costing you money. and, yeah. rolexs, all part of a billion dollar money-making effort by the federal government to see that justice is served. you're watching "american morning." i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on top of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. 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[ male announcer ] enbrel. the #1 biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the typical financial consultation ttd# 1-800-345-2550 when companies try to sell you something off their menu ttd# 1-800-345-2550 instead of trying to understand what you really need. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we provide ttd# 1-800-345-2550 a full range of financial products, ttd# 1-800-345-2550 even if they're not ours. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 and we listen before making our recommendations, ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so we can offer practical ideas that make sense for you. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck, and see how we can help you, not sell you. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 welcome back to "american morning." hundreds of thousands of people from the rockies to the pacific coast are still without power this morning after powerful wind storms. southern california was the hardest hit with the worst santa ana winds in a decade. hurricane force winds as strong as 140 miles an hour toppled trees and brought do you power lines. the winds are expected to kick up again today. they've declared a state of emergency. exactly what they don't need. with more on that, bobby, good morning, rob marciano in the weather center. >> good morning. what makes this extraordinary, how widespread it was. you touched on it, across several states from utah which got some of the highest winds. centerville, utah, 102 mile winds yesterday. 69 mile-an-hour winds and along i-15 there is issues as far as crosswinds and some of the high-profile vehicles and southern california got it yesterday, of course. it's relatively calm right now, but throughout the next few hours we'll probably see the winds pick up again and strengthen tonight and into tomorrow morning briefly before this pattern breaks down sunday and monday. winds gusting 40 to 60 miles an hour. nothing like yesterday, but with weakened trees and tree limbs, could be more to take down more of that stuff. freezing rain. new mexico, texas panhandle, the other side of the system that tracks across the southern plains. meets up with another front. brings rain from dallas through the mid-mississippi valley and also into chicago, today gets up to about 40 degrees. 55, high temperature in new york city. everyone east of the mississippi for the most part will be quiet today. 64 degrees. rebounding nicely in atlanta and almost up to 70 in new orleans and houston. >> wow. >> guys, back up to you. >> that's where i was yesterday. yeah. nice weather there as well. thank you for all of it, bobby. rob marciano. want to be proper. >> that's right. we're very proper here. >> thanks, rob. when you think of the u.s. justice department, billion dollar money maker probably doesn't come to mind. crime doesn't pay, but purns out the ill-gotten gains of white collar criminals are paying off big time for the feds. deb feyerick goes inside for this story. >> reporter: name any luxury item, yachts, mansions, art collections, race car, diamonds, even ancient artifacts. chances are the u.s. government likely owns it. that's right. your government. it's all legal. in fact, it's justice. >> whether they're nar kacotics traffickers or standard security fraudsters, in every single type of case we bring we try to make sure we are looking at ways to take the profit of the crime and return money to the victims. >> reporter: it's called asset for fitch ch forfeiture. almost half of this money, $800 million, came from cases prosecuted in new york's southern district run by u.s. attorney fra ratherrara. >> we managed to bring in through the con set of of forfeiture, $800 million in funds or property which is about 16 times what our annual operating budget is, which i believe is better than most hedge funds these days. >> reporter: prosecutions of white collar crime, epic ponzi schemes and financial fraud are at an all-time high. >> criminals you're going after, bernie madoffs, mark dreiers, are you surprised what people own. do you think, oh, my god. >> you know, not much surprises us these days. oftentimes the motivation for engaging in the criminal conduct is greed. the fact these are ostentatious is the reflection of what the motivation was for engaging in those crimes in the first place. >> reporter: this is a small sample of what the government has. want a bentley? a new one costs a quarter million. like everything here, these two are auctioned off to the highest bidder. ponzi schemer bernie madoff's beach home sold for almost $9 million. julie given as a gift to actress anne hathaway, sold more more than $63,000. >> reporter: do you ever think about the cases you're going to do based on the amount of money you're likely to bring in? >> no. we pursue cases for one reason and one reason only. to hold people accountable for their crimes. >> reporter: this will be distributed to law enforcement programs. next year is expected to be equally at good financially. it's challenging to keep up the current case of these intensive investigation. deborah feyerick, cnn, new york. >> incredible. >> that's a lot of money. 19 minutes after the hour. here's what's new this morning. take a look at this. 32 tons of pot. that's worth about $65 million on the street. the marijuana was discovered when the feds busted a secret underground tunnel that ran all the way from mexico to san diego. the smuggling operation was so sophisticated the ntunnel was equipped with elevators and railcars. 72 hours underwater. the goal for florida diver alan sherid trying to break the current world record, the longest saltwater scuba dive. he began the dive yesterday. it's his second attempt at the record. last time, rough waters forced him to bail out early. the current record is 48 hour under water in a scuba dive. >> going to try to do 22 more. the world's first superman comic sets a new record. action com is sold at auction for more than $2 million. the highest comic book sale price ever. get this. it only costs 10 cents when published way back in 1938. according to "ed hollywood reporter," actor nicolas cage is the seller. he bought it 14 years ago for about $150,000. a good return on investments. >> yeah. still to come on "american morning," three years since the auto bailout. detroit's big three are celebrating a milestone. big news. we're going to tell you about that. why those new white coca-cola cans are getting a, shall we say, frosty reception from consumers. we'll tell you why. you're watching "american morning." nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. welcome back. "minding your business" this morning, that big november jobs report comes out this morning in about two hours from now. economists expect about 110,000 jobs were added to the american economy last month. they think the unemployment rate stayed steady at 9%. of course, too high. right? and on wall street, u.s. stock futures are right now trading higher after a minor, a very minor, pullback yesterday. the dow, the broader s&p 500 closed down slightly. the nasdaq up. futures looking higher this morning. a potential relief for homeowners facing foreclosure. mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac are putting foreclosures on hold during the holidays. they did this last year, too. we should note this only applies to mortgages held or controlled by fannie or freddie. about half of all mortgages. a number of banks have also said they would suspend evictions during the holidays. general motors announcing it will buy back a chevy volt. it will buy it back, from anybody who's concerned about your safety for driving this car. the move follows a federal investigation into possible post-crash fires started by the volt's battery. gm also conceding it won't sell the 10,000 volts it hoped to sell in 2011. the auto industry posting its best month for sales, though, since the cash for clunkers program back in 2009. those gains led by u.s. carmakers. chrysler reporting its sales soared 45% from a year ago. general motors, up 7% from a year earlier and ford up 13%. and if you've used ticketmaster in the past 12 years you could be getting money back. according to "business insider "a because of a proposed clash action settlement's, the ticket settlement is being asked to refund the $1.50 for every ticket pushed between october 1999 and this past october because customers caught on to the fact ticketmaster was profiting from those processing fees. 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