other candidates a joke. it's the donald who's the one they're really laughing at on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and good morning. it's tuesday, december 6th. ali and christine are off today. i'm alina cho along with carol costello who's well rested on this "american morning." thanks for joining us. >> i've had four days of sleep. so watch out. up first, what's red, white and blue and can't agree on how to save you money? congress, of course. offering a proposal to extend the pay roll tax cut before it expires at the end of the year, but republicans are not on board. without a deal, pay roll taxes will rise costing millions of americans $1,000 a year. the clock is ticking and president obama is keeping the pressure on. >> my message to congress is this -- keep your word to the american people and don't raise taxes on them right now. now's not the time to slam on the brakes. now's the time to step on the gas. now's the time to keep growing the economy, to keep creating jobs, to keep giving working americans the boost that they need. now's the time to make a real difference in the lives of the people who sent us here. so let's get to work. >> here's how republicans feel about the democrats' new offer. orrin hatch saying, "it's hard for the majority to call this a compromise when the other side hasn't been involved." kate bolduan is live in washington following developments. why aren't democrats calling this a compromise if republicans weren't involved? >> reporter: they call it a compromise offer because they say the proposal is smaller and comes with a different mix of measures to pay for it that they hope -- they hope will attract more republican support. it's not likely to win over enough support to pass it. here is what democrat are pushing. like the original offer that failed last week it would cut the pay roll employ tax to 3.1%. if congress doesn't act, it goes back up in january. in order to attract more republican votes, surtax from had 4.2% positive 3.1%. taying for economic stimulus. the plan no longer includes tax cuts for employers to bring down overall costs and adopt add provision from last week's republican proposal to extend the pay roll tax preventing wealthy americans from receives unemployment benefits and food stamps. it's not likely to move anywhere as the millionaire surtax is still included, dooming many democratic proposals in the past. >> we well know that. so if this plan is doomed and the deadline is fast approaching, how is this like to do play out? >> reporter: there's still, this changes day by day, check with me tomorrow, a general thought on capitol hill they will get this done. they will extend the pay roll tax at least for employees in the end, but that leaves us plenty of time for more political messaging and posturing on both sides before they really get to the point where they feel the need to negotiate. as you and i always talk about, when we always talk about capitol hill, congress loves and generally needs a deadline. seems they're working right up towards their next one. >> yeah. okay. i'll check back with you tomorrow. thanks, kate. coming up at 7:00 eastern, we'll talk with pennsylvania senator bob casey who drew up the compromise pay roll tax plan to see what he has to say about all this. >> look forward to that. the other top story we're watching, trying to save the euro. this morning u.s. treasury secretary tim li geithner is joining talks on how to prevent the collapse of the euro and financial panic from spreading. this after s&p warned it may carry out a mass credit rating downgrade of eurozone countries. cnn's diana magnay joins us live from berlin with more on that. good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, alina. well, you remember when s&p downgraded the u.s. in august citing the extremely political discussions going on at the time. this is pretty much the same thing. political leaders aren't managing to really get consensus on how to pull the eurozone out of its problems. that's why its put this ratings warning on 15 countries of 17 members of the eurozone. you can imagine the criticism has been fairly strong. why did it have to come out with this kind of warning. especially this week. especially after the leaders, france and germany, yesterday, said they were on track to try and enforce some kind of fiscal discipline across the eurozone ahead of this very important summit on thursday and friday? and it's this summit which is the reason why timothy geithner is over here. it's his third visit since september. sent by president obama, who's called the eurozone the strongest head wind that might slow down the u.s. economy, and he'll be holding talks not just with his finance minister counterparts but also with heads of state here really trying to put the pressure on europe to come to some kind of agreement, if europe is prepared to listen, alina. >> diana magnay live for news berlin. thank you very much. two bomb blasts rocking afghanistan. at least 54 people killed when a suicide bomb exploded at a shiite shrine in cobbkabul. in another city, a claim of four victims. a third blast in f afghanistan. this one in kandahar. who's responsible? >> reporter: the latest, the death toll has risen to 54 with the death toll 150. one suicide bomber targeted a collection of shia pilgrims tightly packed together near a shrine here. this was exactly in the heart of kabul, just down the road from the finance ministry, defense ministry, the presidential palace not far away. if this was the insurgency, they've yet to claim responsibility. penetrating what should be the secure heart of the capital. one eyewitness there describes the immediate aftermath which he witnessed saying, really, bodies blown away in direction, like a fan almost out from where this one suicide bomber detonated this device. children, it appears from the children, to be among the dead. women as well. this death toll troubling could rise further. it appears to have traveled according to some accounts as they begin to know the full scope of the damage in the hospitals around here. again, this happened on an important shia holiday. concerns perhaps it could spark sectarian unrest here. bear in mind, this is not iraq where the sunni/shia divide was a part of the conflict. afghanistan knew of these sectarian threats if this is exactly what it was, that have been tried to be initiated here. seriously, troubling scenes here. one of the worst attacks we've seen for a number of years here. two to three at least, and a death toll that does appear to be continuing to rise. >> reporting live in kabul, afghanistan. an update on the worst oil spill in u.s. history. oil giant bp is launching a lawsuit against one of its drilling partners halliburton after the deadly explosion in the gulf last year. saying they intentionally destroyed evidence after the spill about possible problems. the explosion killed 11 workers and dumped 200 million gal, of oil into the gulf. a halliburton spokesperson said it is reviewing the court filing but believes the allegations are not true. the third man to accuse former syracuse coach bernie fine of sexual abuse now admits he is guilty of the very same crime. zachary tomaselli is facing 11 charges including gross sexual assault in maine. he plans to plead guilty to molesting a young teenage boy at a summer camp in 2009 and 2010. tomaselli now 23 claims coach fine fondled him in a hotel room in pittsburgh in 2002. and jerry sandusky may soon face his accusers. all eight alleged victims of the former penn state football coach will reportedly testify again him in open court, according to abc news. the preliminary hearing is set to begin next tuesday. sandusky, as you know, is accused of molesting the boys over an eight-year period. the victims were part of sandusky's organization the second mile. meantime two men are suing the boston red sox alleging they were abused by former clubhouse manager donald mitts patrick who died in 2005. one of the alleged victims claims he was assaulted insided the clubhouse at fenway park when he worked there as a teenager in the early 1990s. the two are suing for $5 million. the team paid a $3.5 million settlement back in 2003 to seven men who said fitzpatrick abused them during spring training in the 1970s. a two-day sentencing hearing for ron blagojevich begins later this morning in chicago. former illinois governor was convicted last summer on 18 corruption related charges including trying to sell the president's former senate seat. prosecutors want the judge to throw the book at blagojevich, they're asking for as much as 20 years in prison. blagojevich is expected to make a personal plea for leniency. the judge's decision is expected sometime tomorrow. >> i had almost forgotten about him. >> he's back. still to come, speaker versus speaker. how two old political foe, newt gingrich and nancy pelosi, are preparing to clash once again. we'll explain. and caught on tape. a car smashes through the front door of a restaurant and end up in the dining room as people watch in horror. and do you have what it takes to be a high-tech spy? 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[♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. 14 minutes past the hour. welcome back. newt gingrich is on a roll with four weeks to go before the iowa caucuses. just take a look at this brand new "washington post" abc news poll. the former house speaker opening a 15-point lead over mitt romney and ron paul. on the issues of electability, empathy and handling the economy, gingrich topped romney in every single category. the godfather of gridlock. that's what president obama's top strategist, david axelrod, is calling gop presidential front-runner newt gingrich. on piers morgue's tonight, axelrod slammed gingrich's tv ad which launched in iowa yesterday saying the republicans' theme of working together to solve problems would be a hard sell given his past. >> i don't think there's any single person in this country that did more to create the kind of discord in washington that we see today than newt gingrich. he's really the godfather of gridlock. he was the one who really created an environment in which people started treating each other as enemies and not as opponents here in washington. he was the one who shut the government down three times when he was trying to close the department of education and to defund the epa and to cut medicare in order to give tax cuts to the wealthy. he was the one who led to the impeachment of a president, and now he's offering himself as someone who can bring the country together. i think that's going to be a hard sell. >> newt gingrich has heard it all before. he's been around long enough to know how the game is played in washington. when you're on top, things can get ugly. how he tangles for hearts and minds in iowa, he's also preparing attacks from the left, like from david axelrod, and also a familiar old foe, jim acosta has more. >> reporter: at a news conference in new york, newt gingrich insited he can go toe to toe with his chief rival mitt romney in the battle for the nomination even with a much smaller organization. >> we have all of these articles how business, getting leaner, how they're flattening hierarchies, how they're doing all sorts of things. people now work from home. you have virtual organizations. all of these cutting edge ideas, and then you have a group of consultants who believe you have to be slow, cumbersome and expensive. >> the donald has had the number one show in the country. okay? he is a genuine american icon in his own right. why wouldn't you want to come and hang out with him? >> reporter: part of the gingrich plan also include ad a visit rwith donald trump. in iowa, a new ad draws comparisons for reagan's. and the message is similar to, yes, we can. >> yes, working together. we can and will rebuild the america we love. >> reporter: team obama is sitting up and taking notice with gingrich surging to the top of the latest des moines register poll. >> i think a lot of people inside the beltway and outside the beltway woke up today to a very different political environment and one in which newt gingrich is very much for real. >> reporter: democrats seem all too eager to face gingrich in an interview with the block talking points leader nancy pelosi hinted she may dredge up the congressional investigations into the former speaker's leadership during the 1990s. i know a lot about him, pelosi said. i served on the investigative committee that investigated him. four of us locked in an undisclosed room for a year. 1,000 pages of his stuff i. want to thank speaker pelosi as an early christmas gift. >> reporter: gingrich accused her of using her office to damage his candidacy. >> we don't always see eye to eye, do we, neat? >> reporter: a sign the two former speakers aren't at chummy as battles climate change in this 2008 ad. >> turned over 1 million pages of material. we had a huge report. the total -- 83 charges were repudiated as false. it's one mistake we made was a letter written by a lawyer that i didn't read carefully. >> reporter: liberal occupy wall street protesters are champing at the bit after gingrich took them -- >>ing in nag gone filthy rich rolling around in filthy money and selling the government to the highest bidder. >> did a wonderful job in organizing that. brilliant. has lots of positives, but i still -- it would be -- i will have difficulty supporting him as president of the united states. >> reporter: newt gingrich is doing more than just meeting with the donald. he's also in search of campaign cash. he's drawn into a 50-state battle for the gop nomination with mitt romney, he'll need more than good poll numbers to come out on top. jim acosta, cnn, new york. >> never a dull moment. a terrifying crash caught on camera we want to show you. take a look at this. it happened in miramar, california, a car smashes through a restaurant, look at that, straight towards a group of customers. surprisingly, just one person was hit on his way out the door. thankfully, no one seriously injured. the driver said she accidentally hut the gas pedal instead of the brakes. >> i hate when that happens. >> that's happened before. >> the video is only like the first five or ten feet of the storefront, but this went stratd back to the kitchen as if they had a bad lunch or something. >> geez. blame the cook. >> exactly. hey, this video out of new mexico. yeah. we talked about snow yesterday at this time in new mexico. here's the proof in the pudding. they still have parts of i-10, which borders the mexican border, shut down this morning. i-25 south of albuquerque also shut down because of snow and in spots, record breaking. cedar crest, higher elevations, a foot of snow. even albuquerque seeing three, four inches of snow. that is record-setting. other spots seeing similar amounts. winter storm warnings out, mostly for blowing snow. it's stretching up to places like kansas city. across the northeast, in the form of rain. obvious lis temperatures well above freezing. 50s, lower 60s expected out ahead of this very slow moving front. down across the south. stagnant air. jacksonville through myrtle beach, through greenville and spartanburg looking at bad driving conditions. low visibility here. this may affect travel as far as air travel is concerned. there's your slow moving front. cold air behind it. also breezy across southern california. one more day of the santa ana winds and here's the chilly air in minneapolis. 16 degrees. there's your december. meanwhile, 61 degrees in new york city. feels more like september there. enjoy it. gets chillier and more wet. >> it's winter somewhere in america and i'm glad i'm not there yet. >> heading your way soon. >> thanks, rob. >> see ya. still to come, newt gingrich now the fifth republican candidate to seek a private audience with donald trump. some republicans are wondering whether an endorsement from the donald could actually backfire. we'll talk more about that when we return. it's 21 minutes after the hour. pacific life offers life insurance, annuities for lifetime income, mutual funds and retirement solutions. ask a financial professional about how pacific life's more than 140 years of experience can bring strength to your team. pacific life - the power to help you succeed. no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double miles on every purchase. impressive. chalk is a lost medium. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. was that really necessary? 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"minding your business" now, some are calling this the make or break week for the eurozone. it's not off to a good start. any confidence early in the day that the eu was moving forward to fix its problems was quickly erased after ratings agency standard & poor's put 15 eurozone countries on notice for possible downgrades. greater rick of a recession in 2012 in eurozone, the main reason. and stocks off their highs towards of end of the session once the s&p news broke. stocks trading higher ahead of the opening bell. keep a close eye on futures. a lot of market volatility. european and asian markets are down so far today. remember that europe is america's number one trading partner. whatever happens there will have a ripple effect here in the united states. today treasury secretary timothy geithner is in germany pushing for european officials to agree on a larger resolution to prevent any eu nations from defaulting. the big eu leader summit starts friday in brussels. back here in the u.s., that mass exodus from big banks not as big as we first thought. turns out far fewer people switched to credit unions from large banks after the uproar over debit fees. the credit union national association at mitts they're survey was misinterpreted and just 214,000 new customers switched to credit unions in october, not 650,000. credit union or not, americans are on the ball this year with holiday shopping. a new survey by america's research group says one-third of americans are already done buying presents for the holiday season. shoppers took advantage of last month's big deals on black friday and cyber monday. and online shoppers spent a staggering $6 billion according to online shopping tracker kpom score, and they're later report says cyber monday was the biggest online shopping day on record with $1.25 billion spent. wow. "american morning" will be back after a break. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whisper