this is the third this is "world news." tonight, trapped on a plane. how did it happen? more than 100 people, seven hours, no food, no water, no restrooms. even a diabetic unable to get help. and jetblue blames the snowstorm, while passengers say, not good enough. halloween canceled? cities call off trick or treating across the snow-blasted east. >> halloween has been rescheduled for friday, november 4th, 2011. cain fights back. the gop front-runner denies accusation of sexual harassment more than a decade ago, calling it a witch hunt, singing a hymn. ♪ he looked beyond made in america. how to get tourists from other countries to spend $600 billion right here in america. and spy games.

new fbi tapes of that sleeper cell of russian spies, trading secrets at starbucks and macy's? good evening and a good new week to you. and in the middle of the mess of a snowstorm on the east coast this weekend, an outrage. the kind of problem for airline passengers we thought had been fixed. 123 people trapped on a plane on a tarmac near a gate for more than seven hours, rescued by the fire department after the pilot begged for someone to help them get off. we had so many questions about all of this today, why passengers, including some with illnesses, were blocked from getting out of the plane. and abc's lisa stark brings us the first answers tonight. >> reporter: this is what greeted passengers when they finally escaped their parked planes. a foot of snow and a long walk.

>> we've been here now for seven and a half hours. >> reporter: that was the captain of jetblue flight 504 with 123 passengers. one of those planes stuck in the snowy tarmac at the hartford, connecticut, airport. >> chaotic. uncomfortable, disorganized. just a mess. >> reporter: andrew carter was on that flight, normally a quick two-hour jog from ft. lauderdale, florida, to newark, new jersey. but the plane couldn't land at newark after the airport lost critical navigation equipment. the pilots, low on fuel, diverted to the hartford airport, 100 miles away. jetblue says that airport was overwhelmed with nearly two dozen other diverted flights. and today, we learned why the passengers were trapped. flight 504 was boxed in on the tarmac. a delta plane behind, another jetblue flight to the right, a broken jetway on the left. inside the plane, snacks and water ran out, toilets backed up. >> i have a paraplegic on board

that needs to come off. i have a diabetic on here that's got an issue. i just got to get some help. >> though the airport was overwhelmed, there should have been a plan to be able to get the passengers off the plane. >> is there any way you can get a tug and a tow bar out here to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something? i don't care. take us anywhere. >> reporter: a nightmare that jetblue teenagers experienced before, during another storm in 2007, which helped convince the government to ban long tarmac delays. and it did take fire and rescue to get those poor passengers off of that flight. jetblue now faces possible government fines of $3.4 million for that one lengthy tarmac delay alone. millions more for other flights and other airlines are under investigation, as well. diane? >> all right, lisa, thank you tonight. and now we have more on that monster storm, which left the east with fallen trees, broken

power lines all across the region. millions still without power tonight. hundreds of schools closed, neighborhoods turned into a hazard for trick or treaters. some of them forced to spend halloween seeking candy from stores at the mall. abc's linsey davis is out in the snow. and is that a power line near you tonight, linsey? >> reporter: good evening to you, diane. a true fright night throughout much of the northeast. just take a look at this tree, dangling precariously across the road. the only thing holding it up right now? these power lines. but what makes this especially dangerous, as you saw just a few seconds ago, cars are still driving underneath it. frightening images from an historic storm. a massive tree slams down onto this house. tree limbs, weighed down by snow on top of green leaves, collapse into power lines. sparking up the night sky and knocking out power. the storm is being blamed for at least 12 deaths.

and tonight, 765,000 customers here in connecticut alone are spending halloween in the dark. 81-year-old jean peterson is one of them. >> this is hanging from the edge of the garage roof. >> reporter: with power lines dangling in her backward, she's drinking three-day-old coffee and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. it's colder inside than it is outside. >> yes, it the. it's very cold upstairs. it's 40 degrees upstairs. >> reporter: she's bracing for up to a week in the dark and cold. with states of energy emergency declared across the region, tonight, towns are making the painful decision to call off halloween. too dangerous for children to be out with downed power lines and trees. in bloomfield, new jersey, the automatic calls went out to break the news. >> halloween trick or treat activities in the township of bloomfield have been canceled for this evening. halloween has been rescheduled for friday, november 4th, 2011. >> reporter: still, some

children would not be deterred. trick or treating at a new haunt. the mall. >> i like trick or treating outside a little better. >> i'm okay with it. >> i'm happy to be in the mall. >> reporter: initially, 3 million people were without power. initially 3 million people were without power as a result of this storm. that number is now down to about 2 million. diane? >> a lot of people out there wrestling with their power. i don't know about moving halloween to november 4th, but thanks to you, linsey. and now we turn to a turbulent day of politics. your voice, your vote. at the center of it all, republican front-runner herman cain. as this day began, he came under fire, facing news reports about allegations of sexual harassment in his past. as the day ends, he's been challenging the press, singing a hymn and swinging back. abc's jon karl has the story. >> reporter: he's the center of attention now. >> 9-9-9 on a cupcake. >> reporter: herman cain is on

top of the polls, but he's facing the first crisis of his campaign. >> as a result of today's big news story, i really know what it feels like to be number one. >> reporter: the allegation, first published by politico, is that he sexually harassed two women back in the 1990s, when he was the head of the national restaurant association. a few specifics include conversations filled with innuendo and that he asked questions of a sexually suggestive nature and that he invited one of the women to his hotel suite. speaking at the national press club, cain called it all a witch hunt. >> i have never sexually harassed anyone. >> reporter: he said that he had been falsely accused and that an internal investigation cleared him of wrong doing. >> i am unaware of any sort of settlement. i hope it wasn't for much because i didn't do anything. >> reporter: but in an interview to air tonight on fox news, cain said there was a settlement of about three months salary.

>> i was standing close to her and i made a gesture, "you're the same height as my wife" and brought my hand, didn't touch her, up to my chin and said, "you're the same height as my wife" because my wife comes up to my chin. my wife of 43 years. and that was put in there as something that made her uncomfortable, as part of the sexual harassment charge. >> reporter: in washington today, cain seemed to be taking it all in stride. closing out an appearance at the national press club with a little gospel singing. ♪ i'll never know why jesus came ♪ ♪ to love me so >> reporter: now that may have been a first for the national press club. as for cain's wife, she stays out of the limelight and rarely appears in public, but cain told abc news today that she is traveling with him here today in d.c. and has been surprised by how the story has been told. his wife, diane, he told us, supports him 100%. >> okay, jon, thank you so much

for reporting in on that tonight. and for almost a year, we at "world news" have been reporting on the growing drug shortages in this country, chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, heart medications, even those crash cart drugs used in emergencies. well, today president obama took action, signing an executive order, no congressional approval necessary, to force drug companies to take action when there's a shortage on the horizon. the most immediate change, a crackdown on price gouging due to the shortages, and that will kick in, starting tomorrow. and you'll remember it was a jaw-dropping headline, straight out of a tom clancy novel. a sleeper cell of russian spies living and working out of the u.s. suburbs. one of them, a glamorous woman posing for provocative photos. and it led to the biggest spy swap since the cold war. well, today, the fbi released their tapes, showing the spies in action. here's abc's pierre thomas. >> reporter: russian spies in america, conducting convert

covert missions to steal defense secrets, in broad daylight. watch as one spy meets another in a long island railway station. they make a quick handoff, right there. the transaction? $300,000 and a computer disc. remember russian femme fatale anna chapman, the spy who clubbed at new york city's trendiest spots? watch her go to work using james bond high tech. there's chapman, hanging out in a department store. butch she's using a hidden computer to transmit an encrypted message to this russian spy outside. >> these were the cream of the crop, hand picked out of the russian intelligence academy. >> reporter: the russians stole the identities of dead americans and used tactics out of a spy novel. as the fbi surveillance camera rolls, this spy digs in a forest in upstate new york. he's hunting for his payoff, $60,000 in cash. >> they played by moscow rules with a little bit of high tech technology on top of it. >> reporter: all the russians were sent packing to the mother land.

a clear reminder that spy games are still alive and well. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. and now, we turn to a made in america investigation. we have been saying here that if each of us spent just $3.33 more every year on something made in the u.s., we could create 10,000 new jobs. but is there another possibility for powering up the u.s. economy? the tourists, eager to come here and spend their money, who can't get in. abc's david muir set out to find out what's going on. >> reporter: they're lining up all over the world. tourists who want to come and spend money in america. the exploding middle class in china, proudly showing us their passports, as they wait, hoping to get a tourist visa to come visit her. the average chinese tourist who visits the u.s. spends $6,200 while they're here. visitors from india, $6,100. brazilian tourists coming to the u.s. spend $4,900 each. listen to this brazilian man we

found waiting in line for his visa in rio de janeiro. >> i want to go to new york and california, maybe las vegas. >> reporter: and there was this young woman, hoping to come here with her family. >> to go to disneyland. >> reporter: but there's no guarantee they'll get a visa to come here, to buy things made in america. in fact in brazil, tourists had to wait up to 145 days last year just for an interview. in china, only five places where you can get an american visa. the wait time? up to 120 days. and you often have to fly or take a train just to get to the visa office. this husband told us about the big plans for his family during their christmas trip to the u.s. >> we want to go shopping. >> reporter: and while he was approved, his wife and son were denied. that family, not coming. you're talking about visas, simply to visit the u.s., not to stay here. >> this is not about people staying here. these are people who come, may spend two weeks, may spend a lot of money, creating american jobs and then go back to the countries where they came from.

>> reporter: in the last decade, the number of foreign tourists traveling overseas jumped to 60 billion. you would think that would happen in the u.s., but look at this. 26 million overseas visitors to the u.s. last year. this year, nearly the same number. we don't have the people to process them? >> we don't have the facilities in the locations to process them. this could be changed and create literally millions of jobs in the united states. >> reporter: jobs like the ones created at w hotels, where we went just today, after learning they're hiring, as they try to cater to the chinese. they have entire menus in mandarin, tea kettles in the rooms. slippers -- chinese custom. >> u.s. is the number one outbound destination of choice for chinese travelers today. >> reporter: and because they can't get here -- >> they'll go to europe. >> reporter: he's right. and some economists estimate in the last decade, the u.s. has lost out on 78 million overseas visitors. $606 billion in spending here. enough, they say, to add nearly a half million american jobs here every year.

so, why the opportunity lost? the state department told us today, safety and security come first. but they acknowledge they are working on this. 109 days you have to wait in brazil just for an appointment to talk about a visa. is that money lost that could be spent right here in america right now, creating jobs? >> we don't want anyone to wait. but we believe that most of those who are waiting will be coming. >> reporter: tonight, the state department tells me that the wait times are coming down in brazil and china slowly. they are sending about 100 workers to those two countries combined in the year ahead. and you heard disney mentioned there, of course, our parent company, just one of the many destinations where these travelers want to spend their money, right here in america. and diane, one more number tonight, in the next couple of years, 100 million why noo will go travel. the question is -- where they will travel to? >> and where they spend that money? thank you, david. and we'll tell you now what's still ahead on "world news." a tense day in the trial of michael jackson's doctor. did the star witness for dr.

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day for his testimony. dr. paul white, who says dr. conrad murray may have just forgotten a detail when he did not tell emergency room doctors he was giving michael jackson propofol. >> it was obviously overlooked. he didn't -- >> well, not obviously, it could also be a lie, correct? correct? that's another option. >> if you say so, i guess, yeah. >> reporter: deputy d.a. walgren back on the attack over dr. murray's delay in dialing 911, because the jackson mansion had no land line. >> conrad murray had a cell phone in his hand by his own statement. are you saying he was not capable of pushing 911? >> reporter: in the end, the expert who helped dr. murray so much last week, explaining how jackson could have taken his own life, today conceded dr. murray should never have taken the job. >> it's something that no amount of money could convince me to accept or take on as a responsibility. >> reporter: it became so combative today, the judge had to step in, fining dr. white $1,000 for not responding to the

prosecutor's questions directly. >> and the judge did that. okay, jim avila, following it day by day, as we said. and still ahead, the mozart effect. does listening to mozart make rtur doctor a better doctor? effect. does listening to mozart make your doctor a better doctor? thef simpler than ever. click on the robitussin® relief finder. click on your symptoms. get your right relief. ♪ makes the cold aisle easy. robitussin® has a new look, new simpler names, but the same effective relief. robitussin®. relief made simple.

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have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. good job girls. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. and now, a milestone for all of us on this planet today. the united nations declared that today, the world's population reached 7 billion people. so, was it this girl born in india? or peter, who was born in russia. or this new arrival, to parents

in the philippines? any of them could have been the 7 billionth person on this planet, and for all our differences, so much in common. here's abc's dan harris. >> 7 billion. >> 7 billion. >> 7 billion. >> 7 billion. >> 7 billion. >> 7 billion people. >> reporter: at this landmark moment for mankind, we wanted to paint a portrait of the planet. the average earthling weighs 140 pounds and is 5'4". most of us have brown eyes, only 8% of us have blue eyes. there are more men than women, just by a hair. and way more righties than lefties. more of us have cell phones than bank accounts. and more than twice as many of us speak mandarin chinese than either english or spanish. >> i guess he's the 7 billionth child. look at him. >> one of the. >> reporter: by the time this little baby born today at new york presbyterian hospital or this one in israel or russia or japan, turns 14 years old, we

will likely be at 8 billion people. and by the way, a baby born today in a wealthy country like america has a 50/50 chance of living to 100. as a reporter for abc news, i've seen those income disparities up close, from people living in huts in the amazon to teeming slums in india to mansions in los angeles like this one that belonged to paris hilton. but despite our differences, there are things we have in common. we all want to be happy and most of us have a favorite food. >> my favorite food is dumplings. >> pizza. >> ice cream oreos. >> reporter: and a dream. >> to fly on a plane. >> i want to go to college. >> i wish to be a lawyer. >> reporter: humanity at 7 billion tonight, each of us painting our own portrait of how we want our future to be. dan harris, abc news, new york. >> and we thank you for watching. we're always there at abcnews.com. and don't forget, "nightline" later. and we thought we'd leave you

tonight with some of the tiny pirates and lady bugs who may be ringing your doorbell. thanks to all the trick or treaters who sent us pictures today. and we will see you right back here again tomorrow night. ♪ tonight a market forced to closed because of an accident. >> a high-speed pursuit leaves one person dead. second fatal chase in more than a week. >> i'm nannette miranda in sacramento. the administration handed out

billions of dollars in stimulus money back in 2009 to help create jobs. unbelievably california is still sitting on some of that money. >> and the challenge, a journey of hope for families trying to heal the scars of war in africa. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> we'll start off with a strange accident in san francisco that could have killed someone. >> no one was hurt but a lot of stood going to waste as a result and a local cab company is being blamed. it happened at the new russian hill market when a car came crashing through the store. mark matthews is there live with the story and the surveillance tape. >> reporter: we're at pacific and jones right across the street from the market which you can see behind me. it's boarded up because of that traffic accident. >> the owners of russian hill market are throwing away tomatoes, ltu