referred to the united states as the enemy and said his number one priority was protecting the castro regime. >> he would have had the ability to gain access to information that could cause great harm to the united states. >> reporter: john carlin is a former top national security prosecutor. >> so he had the ability to gain and then share information that would thwart u.s. agencies' ability to collect intelligence on cuba on the one hand. but on the other hand, he also was one of the key officials charged with forming our policy positions on cuba. >> reporter: rocha appeared in federal court today, but he has not yet entered a plea, and prosecutors have not revealed what kind of information they believe he may have shared. but they noted he was a top diplomat in havana in 1996 when cuba shot down two unarmed planes belonging to a u.s.-based anti-castro group, killing four men. norah. >> manny bojorquez, thank you so much. well, we want to turn now to

a deadly shark attack this morning near a popular tourist resort in the bahamas. the victim is a woman from boston. we get the tragic details now from cbs's elaine quijano. >> reporter: shortly after 11:15 this morning, police in the bahamas responded to reports of a shark attack near the sandals beach resort on nassau. >> according to our initial reports, the female along with a male relative were paddleboarding at the resort some three quarters out from the shoreline. >> reporter: police say a lifeguard on duty rushed out to help the victim, a 44-year-old woman from boston. she was brought back to shore in a rescue boat, where emergency medical personnel tried to resuscitate her. >> cpr was administered to the victim. however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body. they have thoroughly assessed the victim, and they observed she showed no vital signs of

life. >> reporter: while fatal shark attacks are rare, just two weeks ago a german woman went missing off grand bahamas west end after encountering a shark. elaine quijano, cbs news. tonight, more than 10 million people across the pacific northwest are bracing for another round of heavy rains, flooding, and snow. nearly 2 feet of snow fell in parts of washington state over the weekend. 4 feet in utah and colorado. flood watches are in effect tonight in western washington and oregon. several atmospheric rivers are expected to drench the region this week with as much as a foot of rain. back here in washington, the fate of a multi-billion dollar settlement for victims of the opioid epidemic hangs in the balance. the supreme court heard arguments this morning over whether the sackler family, the former owners of purdue pharma, should get immunity from future lawsuits. cbs's jan crawford reports on a case that some are calling billionaire justice. >> we want justice. we want the sacklers in jail,

but we want their money. >> reporter: cheryl lost two sons to opioids and holds purdue pharma, the manufacturer of oxycontin, and its former owners, the sackler family, responsible. she and most other victims' families are urging the supreme court to approve a 2021 multi-billion dollar bankruptcy plan that will provide up to $6 billion for treatment and programs to combat the opioid crisis, including $750 million to victims and their families. >> and i do believe that was the best deal. >> reporter: but that deal has a catch. it would shield the sackler family from lawsuits even though they are not bankrupt themselves, and that has divided families who share a tragic bond. >> they need to be held accountable. >> reporter: ellen isaacs, whose son died of an overdose, says the deal lets the sacklers off the hook. >> give me the ability to get a jury by trial of my peers. closing that door, it's not going to help anybody with healing. >> reporter: isaacs, along with the justice department, is

urging the supreme court to reject the plan, and in arguments today, the justices struggled. some were concerned rejecting the deal would leave many families with nothing. >> the opioid victims and their families overwhelmingly approve this plan because they think it will ensure prompt payment. >> reporter: but other justices pointed out the sacklers also would benefit, and only agreed to the plan because it protects them from lawsuits. >> the sacklers have taken the money and are not willing to give it back unless they have this condition. >> reporter: now, the outcome of this case could also have huge implications for how corporations use bankruptcy to try to protect owners from lawsuits. that's why you're seeing other organizations like the boy scouts and the catholic church filing papers in support of this agreement. a decision is expected by june. norah. >> such an important case. jan crawford, thank

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years even though i was homeless. >> reporter: james mcwhorter is a master barber in suburban atlanta and a gulf war veteran. mcwhorter registered to vote at the barbershop address because he was, for a time, homeless. in october at a public hearing, he defended his right to vote. >> for you to be able to challenge me, you have that right as a citizen of dekalb county. but i served to give you that right. >> reporter: mcwhorter is talking to gayle lee. lee believes former president trump won the 2020 election and spends hours scouring dekalb county voter rolls. she found that mcwhorter's registration was linked to this barbershop, not a residential address, and therefore invalid. >> i'm requesting that these challenges brought before you today -- >> lee says she's filed about 500 challenges and is one of many citizen sleuths in georgia and other states convinced the rolls are riddled with fraud. >> which is just not -- it's not true. >> reporter: we found more than

80,000 challenges to voter registration in georgia since 2021. the process is legal. one citizen can challenge an unlimited number of registrations. dekalb county election board chair carly swift told us the challenges tend to uncover administrative and technical errors that shouldn't deprive georgians of their right to vote. swift and her colleagues have spent hundreds of hours hearing voter challenges, a pattern, swift said, has emerged. >> it's young voters. it's people of color, and it's people that are unhoused. >> have you, in your mind, come up with an explanation of what the motive is? >> to disenfranchise a certain demographic. trying to put your foot on someone else's neck. >> all he had to do was call up the office and give them his address. it's not exactly a heavy foot. >> reporter: mcwhorter has a residence now, and after the hearing, updated his voter registration. gayle lee said his case is proof the system of citizen challenges

works. >> can you understand how people who are african american might feel this deeply in that your work feels threatening to them? >> i would think they would want their vote protected too. >> sometimes it's not if you could. if you should. >> reporter: so what might all this mean for 2024? consider this. joe biden won georgia in 2020 by just under 12,000 votes. our investigation found at least 12,000 of these challenges have led to names being removed from voter rolls. but, norah, election officials tell us most of the cases involve technical and administrative errors and are not evidence or even suggestions of widespread fraud. >> we should keep up this reporting. it's really interesting. major garrett, thank you so much. well, there's a desperate well, there's a desperate search for survivo ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop,

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a more than century old piece of cardboard is now the most expensive babe ruth memorabilia ever sold. the former home run king's rookie card from 1914, one of only ten still in existence, was auctioned off overnight to an unidentified buyer for $7.2 million. the card, showing ruth as a 19-year-old pitcher, is eclipsed by the $12.6 million that a mickey mantle card sold for last year. the kennedy center honors celebr

d d finally tonight, one of the most exciting weekends here in washington. the kennedy center honors. a night filled with speeches and performances recognizing artists' contributions to our society. [ applause ]

a night studded with stars, honoring the five shining brightest. from comedian billy crystal, who for years has made us laugh ♪ when we remember our favorite things ♪ ♪ there isn't a doubt that billy it had to be you ♪ >> reporter: and singer dionne warwick, who always has us dancing. ♪ >> say a little prayer. walk on by. anyone who had a heart, your voice was the soundtrack of our lives. >> reporter: to the supreme talent of opera star renee fleming. ♪ shining from the sky ♪ >> reporter: and the bee gees singer and songwriter barry gibb. ♪ stayin' alive, stayin' alive ♪ >> reporter: and of course american royalty, queen latifah. ♪ >> the culture, myself, we thank you. we thank you so much.

♪ >> reporter: a celebration of talent and the arts. and the kennedy center honors airs here on cbs on december 27th. and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back later for "cbs mornings." remember you can follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm norah o'donnell. this is "cbs news flash." i'm jarred hill in new york. police in arlington, virginia, are investigating a massive house explosion. officers were responding to a call of someone firing a flare

gun when police were trying to execute a search warrant, the suspect allegedly fired multiple rounds, and the house blew up. the rnc says four candidates have qualified for tomorrow night's fourth gop primary debate in alabama. they're ron desantis, nikki haley, chris christie, and vivek ramaswamy. >> how would you like to spend the holidays with santa? airbnb is offering one family the chance to stay in santa's cabin in finland. now, the cabin is free, but guests will be put to work answering santa's letters. for mnow, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm jarred hill, cbs news, new york. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." good evening and thank you for being with us.

we begin tonight with the dramatic escalation in gaza as israel and hamas engage in some of the most intense fighting since the beginning of the war. and that fighting is taking place in southern gaza, specifically around khan yunis, the city where israel reportedly believes the remaining hostages are being held. it's been four days since that cease-fire ended that allowed nearly 100 women and children to be released. and tonight the state department says one of the reasons hamas chose to end the truce and not release all the hostages is because the group doesn't want the women to talk about what is happening to them while in custody. hundreds of protesters rallied today outside the united nations, accusing its leadership of failing women. the u.n. did hold a special session to raise awareness about the use of sexual violence against women by hamas. as fighting intensifies, the u.s. is urging israel to create and obey no-strike zones so the nearly 2 million displaced gazans have a place to go. cbs's charlie d'agata is covering it all for us from tel aviv.

good evening, charlie. so what about that message of safe zones? is that getting to those in gaza? >> reporter: good evening, norah. well, that is the central question. there's been a near complete internet blackout across gaza. it means as israel widens its offensive, residents there are unable to receive instructions warning them to evacuate further south. i need to warn our viewers again tonight our report contains images some might find disturbing. residents ran in terror as israeli air strikes bombarded southern gaza, the very region they had fled to for their safety under order of israeli forces. but israel has now turned its firepower on the city of khan yunis, the home of hamas leader yahya sinwar, where smoke from explosions and the crisscross of rocket fire filled the skies.

2-month-old adnan fights for his life in one of the city's hospitals following an air strike. "we came here to the south just like they told us," his father says. "and this is what we found. what can we do?" young dalal told cbs news today how her family was forced to flee to gaza city south to rafah where they now live in a makeshift shelter by the road. the israel defense forces have now issued this interactive map outlining evacuation zones which residents can access via a qr code. not much use in neighborhoods struggling for electricity, let alone an internet connection. somewhere in the midst of this raging battle lies the fate of at least 130 remaining hostages. still unaccounted for, eight

americans like 19-year-old u.s. israeli citizen etai khen, whose parents are counting each day. >> we do not have proof of life even after 59 days. >> reporter: his father, ruby, told us his son, an idf soldier serving in a tank unit, was among those taken captive on the morning of october 7th. he carries an hourglass to serve as a reminder that time is running out. >> what's the first thought that goes through your mind in the morning? >> you wake up, and you get that slap in the face. you spend 18, 20 hours a day to find a way to get a chance to see my son and hug him again. >> reporter: they're both now worried the renewed fighting might imperil the safety of their son. >> you know, i'm just a mom that wants her son back home where he belongs. >> reporter: and they were both deeply critical of the red cross for not pushing hamas harder for access to the hostages,

including their son, just to see if he's okay or even alive. the president of the red cross visited gaza today and called for the release of all hostages. norah. >> we're thinking of those families. charlie d'agata, thank you. the escalating violence in gaza is raising tensions across the entire region today. today the white house pointed the finger directly at iran after an american warship was forced to shoot down multiple drones that were targeting various commercial ships in the red sea. cbs's david martin is at the pentagon with new details. >> reporter: iranian-backed houthi rebels in yemen had already hijacked one commercial vessel in the red sea, and now they have attacked three more, hitting them with anti-ship missiles. national security adviser jake sullivan. >> attacks on commercial shipping in international waters are totally unacceptable and have to stop. >> reporter: the houthis had vowed publicly to attack israeli shipping, but none of the vessels hit on sunday had a

current israeli connection. >> it goes to show you the level of recklessness that the houthis are operating on. >> reporter: sullivan blamed iran as much as the houthis. >> we are talking about the houthis here. they're the ones with their finger on the trigger. but that gun, the weapons here are being supplied by iran. >> reporter: three houthi drones flew toward an american destroyer in the red sea, which had answered the distress calls from the ships under attack. the "uss carney" shot the drones down even though it was not the intended target. >> if left unchecked, this could get more serious and more prevalent. >> reporter: retired admiral jamie foggo says with one carrier task force in the mediterranean and another in the persian gulf, the u.s. has more than enough firepower with which to retaliate. >> taking out the missile prior to hitting the target and taking out the launcher, we're perfectly capable of doing that. >> reporter: a u.s. official

tells cbs news the pentagon is considering striking targets in yemen but warns that would only give the houthis exactly what they want, which is to provoke a wider middle east war. there was one retaliatory strike in the region this weekend when a u.s. drone killed five iraqi militants as they were preparing to attack american troops. norah. >> david martin with all that new context and reporting at the pentagon, thank you. well, we want to turn now to a deadly shark attack this morning near a popular tourist resort in the bamhamas. the victim is a woman from boston. we get the tragic details now from cbs's elaine quijano. >> reporter: shortly after 11:15 this morning, police in the bahamas responded to reports of a shark attack near the sandals beach resort on nassau. >> according to our initial reports, the female along with a male relative were paddleboarding just at the rear

of the resort in western providence, some three quarter miles out from the shoreline. >> reporter: police say a lifeguard on duty rushed out to help the victim, a 44-year-old woman from boston. she was brought back to shore in a rescue boat, where emergency medical personnel tried to resuscitate her. >> cpr was administered to the victim. however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body. they have thoroughly assessed the victim, and they observed that she showed no vital signs of life. >> reporter: while fatal shark attacks are rare, just two weeks ago, a german woman went missing off grand bahamas west end after encountering a shark. encountering a shark. elaine quijano, cbs [stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. (inspirational music) - [speaker] at first, just leaving the house was hard.

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washington. thanks for staying with us. the presidential election is still 11 months away, and an army of right-wing activists is working overtime to shape the outcome by attempting to purge the voter rolls. it's a nationwide effort taking place at the grassroots level with activists sifting through registration lists to find reasons to question their fellow citizens' qualifications to vote. chief washington correspondent major garrett has the story. >> reporter: there is, indeed, a national effort under way to police voter registration rolls. now, what looks at first to citizen detectives as something fishy can often be an innocent or technical error. but that doesn't mean the right to vote isn't jeopardized. consider the case of 55-year-old gulf war veteran james mcwhorter of dekalb county, georgia. enter this kroger in suburban, atlanta, make a quick left, and you will find master barber james mcwhorter holding court. for 20 years, mcwhorter used this barbershop as his mailing

address. in october, the county sent him an unusual letter. his voter statuses with being challenged. >> i had to put on my glasses just to make sure it said what it was saying. >> reporter: mcwhorter was told to respond or risk the canlation of your voter registration. >> why would someone challenge my right to vote? >> reporter: the county was not challenging mcwhorter's right to vote. a citizen of dekalb county was. her name, gail lee. she filed this document alleging mcwhorter had improperly registered to vote using a commercial address. lee went to mcwhorter's barbershop and took pictures to prove the point. >> had you ever met gail lee? >> no. i didn't know mrs. lee from a can of paint. >> i think god has been leading me in this. >> reporter: gail lee is a retiree who lives with her husband. she invited us to the back porch of her suburban dekalb county home. >> what is your feeling about who won the 2020 election? >> i believe donald trump won the election.

>> reporter: lee became convinced something was wrong with voting in georgia. this despite three recounts confirming trump's loss. lee started scrutinizing voter rolls. >> they are bloated unnecessarily. >> reporter: lee and other citizen scluths devote hours each week to inspecting county rolls, looking for signs of what they suspect is is rampant fraud such as names that appear more than once or data suggesting a registrant is deceased. >> i am requesting that these challenges brought before you today be removed from the list of electors. >> reporter: each challenge requires a hearing to decide if the voter will be stricken from registration rolls. >> how many challenges have you filed? >> i think it's only about 500. >> reporter: she says only because some in her citizen network have challenged far more. we found more than 80,000 challenges have been filed against georgia voters since 2021, when the republican-led legislature changed the law,

allowing one citizen to challenge another unlimited number of voters. >> welcome to our weekly voter rolls working group. >> reporter: this is not just happening in georgia. cbs news obtained video of conservative activists strategizing how best to deploy voter challenges across the country. >> i truly believe that there is fraud in the system, which is just not -- it's not true. >> reporter: dekalb county election board chair carly swift tld us the challenges instead identify administrative errors and technical violations that shouldn't deprive citizens of their right to vote. her staff has spent hundreds of hours dealing with voter challenges that she said so far tend to target the same demographic categories. >> it's young voters. it's people of color. and it's people that are unhoused. >> it took a toll. >> reporter: in 1991, james mcwhorter returned from combat duty in the gulf and struggled with alcohol and homelessness.

when he last registered to vote in 2008, he used the only address he had, the barbershop. >> my friends, my family never knew i was displaced. they didn't know i was home lths. i would come back here, sleep here at the shop, get up an hour before we opened. >> reporter: ten days after mcwhorter learned his voter registration had been challenged, he defended his right to vote before the election board. >> i paid taxes here for 20 years even though i was homeless. >> reporter: and for the first time, faced gail lee. >> for you to be able to challenge me, you have that right as a citizen of dekalb county, but i served to give you that right. >> it was hurtful fa she would do something like that. >> have you in your mind come up with an explanation of what the motive is? >> to disenfranchise a certain demographic. trying to put your foot on someone else's neck. >> all he had to do was call up the office and give them his address. it's not exactly a heavy foot. >> reporter: after the hearing, mcwhorter, who is no longer

homeless, updated his address to bring it into technical compliance. gail lee said the system worked. >> can you understand how people who are african american might feel this deeply personally in that your work feels threatening to them? >> i would think they would want their vote protected too because someone who doesn't belong on the rolls would take away their vote. >> make sure we have fair, honest elections. >> reporter: republican secretary of state brad raffensperger oversees georgia elections and voter rolls. >> is that core assumption that the system is riddled with fraud valid? >> no. we have objective voter rolls. they're clean. they're accurate. >> reporter: gail lee told us she wants fairness, not partisan advantage. but raffensperger said elections in georgia have never been fairer. >> it's never been easier to vote. we are, we believe, the model

for what election integrity, election accessibility should look like throughout the entire country. >> reporter: we pressed raffensperger more than once on whether he supported mass citizen voter challenges. he says he's waiting on guidance from a federal court that is scrutinizing the practice. and until the court rules, citizens like gail lee can keep filing unlimited voter challenges. >> that was major garrett in washington. overseas, paris is getting ready to host the summer olympics next year, and if all goes according to plan, a historic monument will be ready to greet the world. elaine cobb reports. >> reporter: for the first time in nearly five years, the outline of a spire is again visible in the skyline above noter dam. workers on scaffolding high above paris are installing the new spire's wooden framework on the cathedral roof. it was april 2019 when fire engulfed the cathedral. the world looked on in horror as the spire made of oak and metal

collapsed in the flames. teams of architects and artisans have been working tirelessly to rebuild the spire to its original 19th century design. architect axle ponce net has been reproducing the spire's decorative finishings. >> it's a very complex structure and never today we are rebuilding such structures. and what's amazing is that we are really trying to be very specific in the way we rebuilt it. >> reporter: workers continue to set the oak framework of the 300-foot spire in place, shaping the outline that's been missing from paris since the fire. the framework will be covered in a sheath of metal, and the decorative finishings added. the cage of scaffolding will remain in place while that work is completed. then the spire will rise again over paris. work on the rest of the cathedral continues too. the public authority overseeing the reconstruction says it is on

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other sources. lee cowan reports. >> i hope a.i. will enable us to look at not just did it grow slower or bigger but every little change is going to tell us something. >> reporter: long before dr. david ache as became a doctor to steve jobs and senator ted kennedy and before hollywood's a-listers started sharing their personal health struggles with him on camera, a young dr. egas thought he had a book in him. it was 1992. he was fresh out of medical school. but his first try, he says, never really got off the ground. but in the years since, he's become a noted oncologist and biomedical researcher at usc, and he's written several bestsellers. they were as ready to read as he is affable, and as part of his rise, he became a contributor at cbs news. >> i wrote books because i wanted to get information to the public, and working with a collaborator enabled me to do that while still able to do my job, which is taking care of patients and doing research to find treatments for cancer.

>> reporter: his fourth, "the book of animal secrets," was slated to be published by simon & schuster this past march. >> we've been on the air a million years. so has every animal creature. their adaptations to live on this earth, the same either we're on, we can learn from. >> reporter: but it turns out it was agus who says he learned a lesson. >> i will say going forward, i'm going to do things myself. accepted that somebody said it wasn't plagiarized, and obviously that was a wrong assumption. >> reporter: just days before it was released, the "los angeles times" published the result of an investigation that alleged that at least 95 passages in the book appeared to be lifted, sometimes word for word from other sources without attribution. >> what was your first thought? >> i was shocked. i didn't know what to do. i called the publisher, and i said, i don't want to publish this book. i want to correct it before it comes out. >> reporter: kristen lowberg, his now former collaborator, apologized in a statement to the

"l.a. times," writing, i accept complete responsibility for any errors my work may have contained and for not appropriately crediting other people's work. cbs news reached out to lowberg but got no response. still, it was dr. agus' name on the cover, not hers. he accepted her sin as his own. >> are you sorry? >> i'm sorry this happened. i'm sorry it upset people. i'm sorry my reputation, you know, was damaged. i hope i can recover that. i hope people will trust me going forward. and i'm sorry i hurt patients and the mission. >> reporter: he said he made the corrections himself, and this week his "book of animal secrets" is being rereleased. when it comes to high blood pressure, for example, scientists say in giraffes, it's off the charts. but they generally don't suffer heart disease. why? scientists say dolphins who continue to socialize in pods decrease their chances of suffering dementia. so what does that say about human loneliness?

and most significant perhaps to an oncologist is that elephants rarely seem to get cancer. >> there's a gene called p-53 which corrects errors in the dna. you and i have one copy. every elephant on every continent have 20 copies of this gene. if we can recapitulate, we can prevent all cancers. >> reporter: but as the saying goes, elephants also never forget. dr. david agus doesn't necessarily expect his readers to forget, but he is hoping they can forgive. >> i write books ot for

(female) i grew up in a home that didn't have running water. my shoes always had holes in them. i know how it is to be poor. i listened to a message of dr. stanley's, talking about, you know, how you never really live your life until you actually give it away. he kinda gave me that push to get out there and really do something. ♪♪♪

a lot of people are looking to save money on holiday gifts, and some are turning to thrift talk. danya bacchus reports. >> 30 bucks.

>> i found gdior, vintage harle boots in my size. and juicy couture. >> reporter: thrift talk boasts billions of use and counting. we tagged along with influencer macy allay anyway. >> a good tip is to practice self-control. >> reporter: she teaches how to buy efficiently at twlift stores, estate sales. her typical shopping trip is less than 40 bucks. >> growing up, i couldn't imagine that i would be able to afford pieces like that. then i started going to the thrift store and realized, oh, my god, these items are here. it's not just like a random track and field t-shirt that someone donated years ago. >> reporter: attitudes about thrifting have changed with secondhand goods now seen as better for your budget and the environment. >> why do you think there have been so many emerging consumers? >> i mean it's really a generational shift in consumption. when you look at the young, they

care about the planet. they care about sustainability. they care about making good choices for their futures. >> reporter: top fashion designers are also taking note of the trend. more than 120 retailers now resell their clothes. for macy allayny, fast fashion will never beat the thrill of the hunt. >> it's been really amazing to watch it become this thing that isn't just like a little bit more accepted and, like, normal, but actually really cool and exciting. >> reporter: elise preston, cbs news, los angeles. and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm willie james inman. this is "cbs news flash." i'm jarred hill in new york. police in arlington, virginia, are investigating a massive house explosion. officers were responding to a call of someone firing a flare

gun. when police were trying to execute a search warrant, the suspect allegedly fired multiple rounds, and the house blew up. the rnc says four candidates have qualified for tomorrow night's fourth gop primary debate in alabama. they're ron desantis, nikki haley, chris christie, and vivek ramaswamy. former president trump opted out again. >> how would you like to spend the holidays with santa? airbnb is offering one family the chance to stay in santa's cabin in finland. now, the cabin is free, but guests will be put to work answering santa's letters. for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm jarred hill, cbs news, new york. tonight, israeli warplanes and tanks pushing further into gaza as tensions escalate in the middle east and an american warship takes down drones launched by iran-backed rebels. what it all means. here are tonight's headlines.

israel expands its ground assault into southern gaza as aid groups warn civilians are running out of places to flee. plus, the new details after america strikes back in self-defense. the concern tonight about the u.s. being drawn into a wider war. america's opioid crisis. will the supreme court uphold a multi-billion dollar settlement with the makers of oxycontin? >> do you blame the sacklers for ryan's death? >> i do. i absolutely do. breaking news. an american tourist killed after a shark attack at a popular bahamas resort. ♪ say a little prayer for you ♪ and a night of celebration. the kennedy center honors. ♪ dancin', yeah ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs

overnight news." good evening and thank you for being with us. we begin tonight with the dramatic escalation in gaza as israel and hamas engage in some of the most intense fighting since the beginning of the war. and that fighting is taking place in southern gaza, specifically around khan yunis, the city where israel reportedly believes the remaining hostages are being held. it's been four days since that cease-fire ended that allowed nearly 100 women and children to be released. and tonight the state department says one of the reasons hamas chose to end the truce and not release all the hostages is because the group doesn't want the women to talk about what is happening to them while in custody. hundreds of protesters rallied today outside the united nations, accusing its leadership of failing women. the u.n. did hold a special session to raise awareness about the use of sexual violence against women by hamas. as fighting intensifies, the u.s. is urging israel to create and obey no-strike zones so the

nearly 2 million displaced gazans have a place to go. cbs's charlie d'agata is covering it all for us from tel aviv. good evening, charlie. so what about that message of safe zones? is that getting to those in gaza? >> reporter: good evening, norah. well, that is the central question. there's been a near complete internet blackout across gaza. it means as israel widens its offensive, residents there are unable to receive instructions warning them to evacuate further south. i need to warn our viewers again tonight our report contains images some might find disturbing. residents ran in terror as israeli air strikes bombarded southern gaza, the very region they had fled to for their safety under order of israeli forces. but israel has now turned its firepower on the city of khan yunis, the home of hamas leader

yahya sinwar, where smoke from explosions and the crisscross of rocket fire filled the skies. 2-month-old adnan fights for his life in one of the city's hospitals following an air strike. "we came here to the south just like they told us," his father says. "and this is what we found. what can we do?" young dalal told cbs news today how her family was forced to flee from gaza city south to ra rafah, where they now live in a makeshift shelter by the road. the israel defense forces have now issued this interactive map outlining evacuation zones which residents can access via a qr code. not much use in neighborhoods struggling for electricity, let alone an internet connection. somewhere in the midst of this raging battle lies the fate of at least 130 remaining hostages.

still unaccounted for, eight americans like 19-year-old u.s. israeli citizen etai khen, whose parents are counting each day. >> we do not have proof of life even after 59 days. >> reporter: his father, ruby, told us his son, an idf soldier serving in a tank unit, was among those taken captive on the morning of october 7th. he carries an hourglass to serve as a reminder that time is running out. >> what's the first thought that goes through your mind in the morning? >> you wake up, and you get that slap in the face. you spend 18, 20 hours a day to find a way to get a chance to see my son and hug him again. >> reporter: they're both now worried the renewed fighting might imperil the safety of their son. >> you know, i'm just a mom that wants her son back home where he belongs.

>> reporter: and they were both deeply critical of the red cross for not pushing hamas harder for access to the hostages, including their son, just to see if he's okay or even alive. the president of the red cross visited gaza today and called for the release of all hostages. norah. >> we're thinking of those families. charlie d'agata, thank you. the escalating violence in gaza is raising tensions across the entire region today. today the white house pointed the finger directly at iran after an american warship was forced to shoot down multiple drones that were targeting various commercial ships in the red sea. cbs's david martin is at the pentagon with new details. >> reporter: iranian-backed houthi rebels in yemen had already hijacked one commercial vessel in the red sea, and now they have attacked three more, hitting them with anti-ship missiles. national security adviser jake sullivan. >> attacks on commercial shipping in international waters

are totally unacceptable and have to stop. >> reporter: the houthis had vowed publicly to attack israeli shipping, but none of the vessels hit on sunday had a current israeli connection. >> it goes to show you the level of recklessness that the houthis are operating on. >> reporter: sullivan blamed iran as much as the houthis. >> we are talking about the houthis here. they're the ones with their finger on the trigger. but that gun, the weapons here are being supplied by iran. >> reporter: three houthi drones flew toward an american destroyer in the red sea, which had answered the distress calls from the ships under attack. the "uss carney" shot the drones down even though it was not the intended target. >> if left unchecked, this could get more serious and more prevalent. >> reporter: retired admiral jamie foggo says with one carrier task force in the mediterranean and another in the persian gulf, the u.s. has more than enough firepower with which to retaliate. >> taking out the missile prior

to hitting the target and taking out the launcher, we're perfectly capable of doing that. >> reporter: a u.s. official tells cbs news the pentagon is considering striking targets in yemen but warns that would only give the houthis exactly what they want, which is to provoke a wider middle east war. there was one retaliatory strike in the region this weekend when a u.s. drone killed five iraqi militants as they were preparing to attack american troops. norah. >> david martin with all that new context and reporting at the pentagon, thank you. there's a lot more news ahead on the "cbs overnight news."

>> announcer: this is the "cbs

overnight news." well, now to one of america's former top diplomats, who is now under arrest and accused of betraying his country. as cbs's manuel bojorquez reports, the former u.s. ambassador is charged with spying on the united states for nearly four decades. >> this action exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the u.s. government by a foreign agent. >> reporter: attorney general merrick garland vowed the full force of the justice department against 73-year-old victor manuel rocha, a former ambassador to bolivia and career diplomat. federal prosecutors say after receiving a tip, an undercover fbi agent posed as a cuban foreign agent and contacted rocha on whatsapp. they allegedly met three times in this busy miami neighborhood. the criminal complaint includes images from video of their conversations in spanish. it says rocha claimed his involvement with cuban intelligence went back almost 40 years, that he boasted "what we have done, it's enormous, more

than a grand slam," referred to the united states as the enemy and said his number one priority was protecting the castro regime. >> he would have had the ability to gain access to information that could cause great harm to the united states. >> reporter: john carlin is a former top national security prosecutor. >> so he had the ability to gain and then share information that would thwart u.s. agencies' ability to collect intelligence on cuba on the one hand. but on the other hand, he also was one of the key officials charged with forming our policy positions on cuba. >> reporter: rocha appeared in federal court today, but he has not yet entered a plea, and prosecutors have not revealed what kind of information they believe he may have shared. but they noted he was a top diplomat in havana in 1996 when cuba shot down two unarmed planes belonging to a u.s.-based anti-castro group, killing four men. norah. >> manny bojorquez, thank you so much. well, we want to turn now to a deadly shark attack this

morning near a popular tourist resort in the bahamas. the victim is a woman from boston. we get the tragic details now from cbs's elaine quijano. >> reporter: shortly after 11:15 this morning, police in the bahamas responded to reports of a shark attack near the sandals beach resort on nassau. >> according to our initial reports, the female along with a male relative were paddleboarding just at the rear of the resort in west new providence, some three quarter miles out from the shortline. >> reporter: police say a lifeguard on duty rushed out to help the victim, a 44-year-old woman from boston. she was brought back to shore in a rescue boat, where emergency medical personnel tried to resuscitate her. >> cpr was administered to the victim. however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body. they have thoroughly assessed the victim, and they observed she showed no vital signs of life. >> reporter: while fatal shark

attacks are rare, just two weeks ago, a german woman went missing off grand bahama's west end after encountering a shark. elaine quijano, cbs news. tonight, more than 10 million people across the pacific northwest are bracing for another round of heavy rains, flooding, and snow. nearly 2 feet of snow fell in parts of washington state over the weekend. 4 feet in utah and colorado. flood watches are in effect tonight in western washington and oregon. several atmospheric rivers are expected to drench the region this week with as much as a foot of rain. back here in washington, the fate of a multi-billion dollar settlement for victims of the opioid epidemic hangs in the balance. the supreme court heard arguments this morning over whether the sackler family, the former owners of purdue pharma, should get immunity from future lawsuits. cbs's jan crawford reports on a case that some are calling billionaire justice. >> we want justice. we want the sacklers in jail, but we want their money.

>> reporter: cheryl lost two sons to opioids and holds purdue pharma, the manufacturer of oxycontin, and its former owners, the sackler family, responsible. she and most other victims' families are urging the supreme court to approve a 2021 multi-billion dollar bankruptcy plan that will provide up to $6 billion for treatment and programs to combat the opioid crisis, including $750 million to victims and their families. >> and i do believe that was the best deal. >> reporter: but that deal has a catch. it would shield the sackler family from lawsuits even though they are not bankrupt themselves, and that has divided families who share a tragic bond. >> they need to be held accountable. >> reporter: ellen isaacs, whose son died of an overdose, says the deal lets the sacklers off the hook. >> give me the ability to get a jury by trial of my peers. closing that door, it's not going to help anybody with healing. > reporter: isaacs, along with the justice department, is

urging the supreme court to reject the plan, and in arguments today, the justices struggled. some were concerned rejecting the deal would leave many families with nothing. >> the opioid victims and their families overwhelmingly approve this plan because they think it will ensure prompt payment. >> reporter: but other justices pointed out the sacklers also would benefit and only agreed to the plan because it protects them from lawsuits. >> the sacklers have taken the money and are not willing to give it back unless they have this condition. >> reporter: now, the outcome of this case could also have huge implications for how corporations use bankruptcy to try to protect owners from lawsuits. that's why you're seeing other organizations like the boy scouts and the catholic church filing papers in support of this agreement. a decision is expected by june. norah. >> such an important case. jan crawford, thank you. the "cbs overnight news" will be ah, these bills are crazy. she

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homeless. >> reporter: james mcwhorter is a master barber in suburban atlanta and a gulf war veteran. mcwhorter registered to vote at the barbershop address because he was, for a time, homeless. in october at a public hearing, he defended his right to vote. >> for you to be able to challenge me, you have that right as a citizen of dekalb county. but i served to give you that right. >> reporter: mcwhorter is talking to gail lee. lee believes former president trump won the 2020 election and spends hours scouring dekalb county voter rolls. she found that mcwhorter's registration was linked to this barbershop, not a residential address, and therefore invalid. >> i'm requesting that these challenges brought before you today -- >> reporter: lee says she's filed about 500 challenges and is one of many citizen sleuths in georgia and other states convinced the rolls are riddled with fraud

>> which is just not -- it's not true. >> reporter: we found more than 80,000 challenges to voter registration in georgia since 2021. the process is legal. one citizen can challenge an unlimited number of registrations. dekalb county election board chair carly swift told us the challenges tend to uncover administrative and technical errors that shouldn't deprive georgians of their right to vote. swift and her colleagues have spent hundreds of hours hearing voter challenges. a pattern, swift said, has emerged. >> it's young voters. it's people of color, and it's people that are unhoused. >> have you, in your mind, come up with an explanation of what the motive is? >> to disenfranchise a certain demographic. trying to put your foot on someone else's neck. >> all he had to do was call up the office and give them his address. it's not exactly a heavy foot. >> reporter: mcwhorter has a residence now and, after the hearing, updated his voter registration. gail lee said his case is proof the system of citizen challenges

works. >> can you understand how people who are african american might feel this deeply in that your work feels threatening to them? >> i would think they would want their vote protected too. >> sometimes it's not if you could. if you should. >> reporter: so what might all this mean for 2024? consider this. joe biden won georgia in 2020 by just under 12,000 votes. our investigation found at least 12,000 of these challenges have led to names being removed from voter rolls. but, norah, election officials tell us most of the cases involve technical and administrative errors and are not evidence or even suggestions of widespread fraud. >> we should keep up this reporting. it's really interesting. major garrett, thank you so much. well, there's a desperate search for survivors after a deadly volcano eruption. deadly volcano eruption. we've got those details next. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself.

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a more than century old piece of cardboard is now the most expensive babe ruth memorabilia ever sold. the former home run king's rookie card from 1914, one of only ten still in existence, was auctioned off overnight to an unidentified buyer for $7.2 million. the card, showing ruth as a 19-year-old pitcher, is eclipsed by the $12.6 million that a mickey mantle card sold for last year. the kennedy center honors celebrates s e of the biggest

finally tonight, one of the most exciting weekends here in washington. the kennedy center honors. a night filled with speeches and performances recognizing artists' contributions to our society. [ applause ]

a night studded with stars, honoring the five shining brightest. from comedian billy crystal, who for years has made us laugh -- ♪ when we remember our favorite things ♪ ♪ there isn't a doubt that billy it had to be you ♪ >> reporter: -- and singer dionne warwick, who always has us dancing. ♪ forever, forever, you stay in my heart ♪ >> "say a little prayer." "walk on by." anyone who had a heart, your voice was the soundtrack of our lives. >> reporter: to the supreme talent of opera star renee fleming. ♪ shining from the sky ♪ >> reporter: and the bee gees' singer and songwriter, barry gibb. ♪ stayin' alive, stayin' alive ♪ >> reporter: and of course american royalty, queen latifah. ♪ >> the culture, myself, we thank you. we thank you so much.

♪ you are the sunshine in my life ♪ >> reporter: a celebration of talent and the arts. and the kennedy center honors airs here on cbs on december 27th. and that's the overnight news for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back later for "cbs mornings." remember you can follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm norah o'donnell. this is "cbs news flash." i'm jarred hill in new york. police in arlington, virginia, are investigating a massive house explosion. officers were responding to a call of someone firing a flare

gun. when police were trying to execute a search warrant, the suspect allegedly fired multiple rounds, and the house blew up. the rnc says four candidates have qualified for tomorrow night's fourth gop primary debate in alabama. they're ron desantis, nikki haley, chris christie, and vivek ramaswamy. former president trump opted out again. >> and how would you like to spend the holidays with santa? airbnb is offering one family the chance to stay in santa's cabin in finland. now, the cabin is free, but guests will be put to work answering santa's letters. for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm jarred hill, cbs news, new york. it's tuesday, december 5th, 2023. this is the "cbs morning news." breaking overnight, a house