all of us here, we'll see you at 6:00. this is "world news." tonight, big comeback. half of all american adults go shopping today. the stock market soars. is this the moment we've been waiting for? fighting back. republican contender herman cain denies he had a 13-year extramarital affair as someone he called a friend goes public. monumental day. the dream of democracy arrives in egypt, and our reporter is there. another coach, the new sexual abuse scandal in syracuse, this one fueled by secret tapes. and panda-monium. what happens when our reporter tries to convince a pack of pandas he's just one of them? good evening. we hope you had a wonderful

thanksgiving, and we have all been looking for a white knight to rescue the american economy, and today an army of holiday shoppers came riding in, some using shopping carts, some the click of a computer mouse. in fact, today half of all american adults shopped for bargains online. an estimated $1.2 billion shattering records giving a vitamin shot to wall street. the dow closing up nearly 300 points, so we set out to answer a question tonight, does this signal the start of the comeback for the american economy? and abc anchor david muir tackles the question for us again tonight. hey, david. >> diane, i know you've been tracking these numbers too all day long. they're coming in tonight. they show it could be a blockbuster cyber monday for this country. one estimate, sales up 20% over last year. and you might be wondering what happens after you click place order online? tonight we track here what happens next. cyber monday, once a made up event, is now the real deal.

sales figures skyrocketing tonight. shoppers online breaking records since thanksgiving. $816 million spent online. up 26% over last year. >> i love cyber monday because you get great deals. >> reporter: today "world news" viewers from florida to texas documented their hunt for bargains from peggy kaiser in midland, texas. >> there we go to the e-mail. >> reporter: to lea harding in gainesville, florida, buying for her family back home. she's on the hunt for a digital camera, a sony cybershot. she searched three retailers, prices ranging from $99 to $124. she chose walmart and the $99 price and one very big difference too. >> if you buy this item, you get $45 of store credit. >> reporter: for lea, it was a deal. >> hope this doesn't ruin the surprise for my sister, but i think i'm going to go ahead and get one from walmart for her for christmas, so i'm lea harding, abc "world news." >> reporter: our producer on this story, diane mendez, taking a break too looking for her own

deal, her glasses on reading the fine print buying two kindle fires from amazon.com. >> place my order. >> reporter: but we wanted to know what happens after she clicks. we went all the way to phoenix, arizona, to find out. 1 of amazon.com's 34 warehouses, workers holding portable scanners, and as soon as you hit send, that item pops up on one of their screens. they pull it off the shelf and put it in the bin and down the conveyer belt it goes to the person who will pack it and label it. her two kindles ordered this morning. >> from the time that the producer hits click and buy, it's just a mere hours before it's on a truck and sent to her doorstep. >> reporter: not only is her kindle on the move, so is wall street. why is it so important for these final few weeks of the year for retailers across the country? >> because they weren't profitable until now. they operate primarily in the red at a loss until the last few weeks of the year. >> reporter: in fact tonight amazon.com predicts they'll blast through the number last year, 14 million items ordered in one day alone. and those predictions tonight,

could they be the beginning of the comeback this economy needs? can this spark be sustained? >> that's the big question. it's all going to come down to the consumer and whether or not the consumer feels confident enough to go out and keep spending money. >> no question tonight, off to a huge start and we all know, diane, that retail makes up two-thirds of this economy, so so much riding on this continuing even beyond the holiday weekend. >> and you're going to be back tomorrow night. "made in america" returns. >> it is back, and tomorrow we go back to where it all began, diane, to that brave family in dallas, texas, with a simple question, every american spends on average $700 on holiday gifts, and we wondered how little of that could you spend on something made in america, one gift, not all the gifts, just one to create american jobs? you won't believe the number of people who are already jumping in on this one. >> and you'll be asking are you in, are you in, tomorrow night. thanks, david. and now "your voice, your vote. 36 days from now the first votes of the presidential campaign will be cast in iowa, and just this afternoon, republican contender, herman cain, came out

swinging, a kind of preemptive strike against a woman who has now come forward alleging she and cain had a 13-year affair. abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross has that story. >> reporter: her name is ginger white, described as an atlanta businesswoman. she told her story to waga tv which says there are documents to back up her allegations. >> it was pretty simple. it wasn't complicated, and i was aware that he was married, and i was also aware that i was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship. >> reporter: appearing on cnn even before the atlanta tv broadcast, cain said he knew the woman for the last 13 years but that there was no affair. >> i acknowledged that i've known her for about that period of time, but the accusation that i had a 13-year affair with her, no. >> there was no sex? >> nope. >> none? >> nope. >> reporter: cain said that he had told his wife gloria and family that the allegations of the affair were coming. >> the thing that i'm worried

about is the impact it's going to have on my wife and my family, because they should not be subjected to false accusations that cannot be proved. >> reporter: the accusations against the presidential candidate comes just as the furor was dying down over allegations he sexually harassed two women as the head of the national restaurant association. sharon bialek said cain groped her and asked for sex when she went to him for help with a job. karen kraushaar received a $46,000 settlement after alleging cain propositioned her for sex at the restaurant association office. cain's lawyer this evening did not specifically deny the allegations, instead calling them private and consensual conduct between adults and not, he said, a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public. but as a candidate and an ordained baptist minister, cain has spoken forcefully on the need for morality on the part of those in public life. >> now, if somebody breaks that guiding principle, then they're going to have to suffer the consequences. it's just that simple.

>> reporter: miss white is now the third woman to come forward publicly and the fifth overall who have made allegations about cain involving sexual harassment or extramarital conduct. she told the atlanta tv station she was bothered by the way she said cain demonized the other women, and that led her to come forward now, diane. >> she says that's her reason now. okay, thanks, brian. and also in politics, while one republican contender fought off an accuser today, another noticed that the democrats are sending him a rocket very early, and here's abc's jake tapper. >> reporter: republican voters have not yet decided who their presidential nominee is, but president obama apparently has with the democratic national committee running this tv ad against mitt romney. >> the creator of "i'm running for office for pete's sake" comes this story of two men trapped in one body, mitt versus mitt. >> reporter: the ad, running in five battleground states, aims to define romney, whom the obama campaign believes likely will be

the nominee before romney can define himself. the race is clearly on. on wednesday president obama will head to one of those battleground states, pennsylvania, for his eighth visit this year. a new analysis indicates that since january, president obama has held 54 public events in battleground states. that compares with 49 for george w. bush during the same period and 40 for bill clinton. >> it looks like the president is campaigning on the taxpayers' dime more than any other president has done. >> well, i reject the premise of that precisely because what happened in 2008 was barack obama, then senator obama, expanded the political map dramatically, made states battleground states that had not been for a very, very, long time. >> reporter: but before president obama and mitt romney start full-fledged campaign wars in any of those states, romney has to win. and standing in his way is newt gingrich, who joined in the democrats' criticism of romney today.

>> it's wrong to go around and adopt radically different positions based on your need of any one electorate. then people have to ask themselves, what will you tell me next time? >> reporter: diane, newt gingrich recently told me he is not worried about stopping mitt romney. he is worried about reaching out to the 75% to 80% of republican voters who have not yet committed to romney, and now newt gingrich has president obama helping him out in that regard. diane? >> from the white house, our jake tapper. thanks, jake. and a footnote now, one of the most familiar, powerful and colorful characters on capitol hill is calling it quits. barney frank, who has served in the house of representatives for 30 years, announced today that he will retire at the end of his term in 2012 saying he's had enough, especially of raising money. >> one of the advantages to me of not running for office is i don't even have to pretend to try to be nice to people i don't like.

>> frank, who is 71, faced redistricting in his home turf and the powerful congressman also, of course, made history as one of the first openly gay members of congress. and we have two big stories to tell you about from overseas tonight. a crisis in pakistan where protesters are burning american flags, and in egypt, the most popular arab country, today they finally held democratic elections. "this week" anchor christiane amanpour is right here to give us all the big picture on both. but first let's get the historic news from cairo with abc's lama hasan. >> reporter: even before the polling stations opened, they came in their thousands. >> we don't know what elections are. we have no idea. it's complicated for us because it's the first time. >> reporter: for the first time in nearly 60 years, longer than most here have been alive, the egyptian people are choosing their own leaders. have you ever seen anything like this before? >> no, no.

>> reporter: never? >> never. >> reporter: the line stretches as far as the eye can see, and everyone we've spoken to here tells us they don't mind waiting because for once they feel their voices will be heard. >> people have figured out that they have rights. people have figured out that they have dignity. >> reporter: back in january, when egyptians first rose up against hosni mubarak, few would have predicted this day. and then in recent days, violence flared again. it's the second revolution. the military did not hand over power as promised, and protesters went back to the streets making today's peaceful election that much sweeter. >> i have a voice. i have to use it. >> reporter: and one they will continue to fight for. lama hasan, abc news, cairo. >> there it is on the finger once again, and christiane amanpour is here. a hard-won day in egypt, but let me ask you the bottom line question for the u.s., is this

good for u.s. interests as the election seems to be heading? >> i think so. you know, that finger reminded me of when we were all together in iraq, and they raised their purple fingers, and everybody knew a new day has dawned. when we were there back nearly a year ago and saw these people lusting for freedom and democracy and all the kind of things we have here, now they're on their way to getting it. what's going to happen is the street is going to have more of a voice in foreign policy now, so the days of when the united states could expect the dictator to do its bidding are pretty much over, but, but there's no doubt that the people are also friendly to the united states. >> so a little more persuasion is going to have to be involved here. >> yes. >> let's move on to the crisis in pakistan, of course, because of the air strike that killed 24 pakistanis. where is this heading? >> this is a disaster. what's going on in pakistan between pakistan and the united states is really heading for a very bad place. now it looks like the united states is beginning to perhaps admit that it may have been at error here. it's launched a formal

investigation, but a whole year of diplomacy trying to get pakistan to help with the transition in afghanistan, which is why the u.s. needs pakistan, is potentially at risk because pakistan now saying it won't go to the big conference that's scheduled in bonn not so far from now. >> really complicated, getting more so. thank you, christiane. and still ahead on "world news," the bombshell recording in the sexual abuse scandal rocking syracuse university. the coach's wife on tape. and how fair is this? three really rich guys win the big powerball jackpot, $250 million? so humpty dumpty had a... great fall. ugh, it's my sinus congestion, and it's all your fault. naturally blame the mucus. he's funny. instead of blaming me, try this, advil congestion relief. often the real problem is swelling, not mucus.

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it means a lot that bernie will not be in position to use his power to hurt little kids like he hurt me." syracuse fired fine after a 36-year coaching stint, accused by davis and his stepbrother mike lange of sexually abusing them while they served as ball boys for the team as far back as 1978. at first syracuse head coach jim boeheim fiercely defended his longtime colleague. >> i've been here for years with coach fine, and that buys a lot of loyalty from me. >> reporter: espn's "outside the lines" obtained an audiotape which bobby davis recorded legally in 2002 of a phone conversation he had with fine's wife, laurie. on the tape laurie fine says she knew about the alleged abuse. >> i know everything that went on. you know, i know everything that went on with him. bernie has issues, maybe that he

is not aware of, but he has issues. >> do you think i'm the only one he's ever done that to? >> no. i think there might have been others but it was geared to -- there was something about you. >> reporter: these latest allegations of sexual abuse claim the job of yet another college coach after similar charges at penn state and recent allegations of coaches sexually abusing olympic swimmers and gymnasts. it's fair to ask just how prevalent sexual abuse has become in this nation's locker rooms. >> this is a watershed moment. penn state, syracuse, the other stories that are out there for us to look at these coaches, look at these institutions and find out what's going wrong because clearly something is going wrong. >> and where does this end, mark? good work breaking this story. and espn. give us a sense, are you hearing about other young men about to come forward? >> reporter: well, diane, eight years ago when we first met bobby davis, he told us he strongly suspected that others

were abused by bernie fine. he identified some of these individuals. we spoke with them. none of them would corroborate the story. well, 11 days ago in the wake of penn state, his stepbrother, 45-year-old mike lange did corroborate the story. because of the nature of this crime, child sexual abuse, many victims because of shame and other reasons are afraid to come forward and don't do so, diane. >> okay, mark schwarz reporting from espn, thank you. and still ahead, the unlikeliest lottery winners you'll ever seen. do they really need this money? what will they do with it? e bla, our pipes just don't work as well as they should. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night.

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suit himself. >> reporter: they are adorable, but almost extinct. so the chinese scientists working hard to preserve the giant pandas have come up with an unusual way to keep them company. it's sort of like a giant halloween costume, huh? black and white fluffy costumes, tailor made for china's wolong panda research center. complete with paws. rrrr! have you seen the panda suit thing? >> yes, i have. >> reporter: what do you make of it? >> it's funny looking, but, hey, you know, whatever works, right? >> reporter: and now to complete the effect. do you think they'll mistake me for a giant panda? believe it or not, this is how the researchers actually dress whenever they handle one of their panda cubs. they hope, in a few years, to release this cub into the wild, and they don't want him to grow too attached to humans. i mean, they go about it so earnestly. >> they are, and, you know, i think it's an interesting way of going about that. i feel that they can still smell a person no matter what they

look like. >> reporter: probably so. this little 4-month-old does seem to be slightly unsettled by his teddy bear doctors. do you think it will help those pandas if and when they are ever released? >> oh, yeah. the less human contact they have the better chance they'll have when they get released. >> reporter: a silly scene in the service of a worthy cause. david wright, abc news, at the wolong panda research center in sichuan, china. >> i'd know you anywhere, david. and we thank all of you for watching. great to begin the week with you. we're always there at abcnews.com. student leaders address brutality allegations but why police say their actions were justified. >> and south san francisco water main break and a problem it's causing for neighbors three days later. >> residents about to get the run around thanks to some caltrans road work. >> coupon savings are out

there if you know where to look. ahead, the top three money-saving coupon web sites. >> students and supporters interrupted today's meeting and officials had taken precautions but their action failed. good evening, i'm cheryl jenning autos and i'm dan ashley. regents could not escape the ire of students today, they made their anger very clear. and we have the story. >> there they feared demonstrations would lead to violence. still, today there were interruptions. for security reasons, uc regents attended meetings in one of four campuses. there were no large crowds gathered in one pl