early december. captioning funded by cbs it's thursday, november 12th, 2015. this is the "cbs morning news." breaking news in the battle against isis. u.s. and kurdish forces launch a major offensive to retake an iraqi town controlled by the terror group for more than a year. wind, rain, and snow whips across the midwest and the powerful weather system threatens to hit millions more with severe storms today. death in police custody. a new investigation and lawsuit following the death of a virginia man repeatedly tasered by police. 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. good to be with you.

i'm anne-marie green. this morning, a major offensive is under way to retake a strategic iraqi town held by isis force. overnight and into the morning, u.s. war planes pounded isis targets near the northern city of sinjar. the u.s. jets are supported by some 7,500 iraqi kurdish iraqi fores on the ground. charlie d'agata joins you on the phone from sinjar. >> reporter: i'm looking over city of the sinjar, the mountainside, just above it. there is smoke rising from a series of air strikes launched by u.s. aircraft and coalition allies and partners. all night and throughout the morning, suspected isis targets. this morning, at dawn, we watched as thousands of kurdish peshmerga forces moving down the mountain and towards the city and the isis front lines. military officials say 7,500 forces in all closing in on

they are trying to push isis militants back, using overwhelming force backed by the u.s. air strikes and artillery that is being fired from peshmerga positions here on the mountain. the key is really to recapture the city and choke off vital supply roots from syria. but it is slow going. the peshmerga soldiers we spoke to said they face sniper fire. they examine boobytraps all over the place since it's been held by isis for so long. homemade bombs on the roads and in the buildings. and there is always the risk of suicide, car bombs, and suicide bombers on foot. but they say they are making progress this morning, slow and steady progress, advancing from the east and west of the city where fierce gun battles are under way. >> charlie, can you tell me a little bit more about the significance of this city? >> it's significant for two reasons. first of all, it sits essentially on a direct line

iraq. and it's also a major highway that runs south of the city. so they are trying to advance and choke that place off essentially to drive a wedge between these two lands that are currently being held by isis. symbolically, it is important. it is a kurdish city. it fell more than a year ago in august. this is the place where the this ethnic ezetia were driven out, tens of thousands of them. they found shelter here on sinjar mountain but the rest, there are reports that women and young girls were kidnapped and taken into custody. a number of men in the town locals were executed and beheaded. so this is -- if it comes, a major victory for kurdish forces and kurdish peshmerga forces working hand in hand with the u.s. military and its allies. >> charlie d'agata in sinjar, thank you very much, charlie. what is left of a fast moving storm system that hit the midwest with snow, rain and strong winds is headed toward

winter weather and freeze advisories remain in effect for parts of oklahoma and texas. heavy snow fell in nebraska and kansas and colorado. some areas face blizzard-like conditions. there was heavy rain elsewhere and travel continues to be treacherous this morning. the storm dropped about 5 inches of snow in parts of denver. strong winds damaged homes and downed power lines in southwest iowa. the gusts were strong enough to flip semitrailers. folks there say it's some of the worst damage they have ever seen. >> petrified. your house shakes and you think it's going to come off. you hear glass breaking and things being thrown against your house. >> it started raining really, really hard and then swirling and we saw a bunch of debris in the air. >> no severe injuries are reported. meteorologist paul deanno of our san francisco station kpix is following the severe weather. >> reporter: the same low pressure area that gave rainfall to san francisco and a blizzard to colorado is responsible for

more than 140 different severe weather reports over the past 24 hours in the upper midwest. now, the front, itself, has cleared the city of chicago, but the severe weather is not finished because behind the front with the strong area of low pressure, we will likely see wind gusts later today of 35 to 50 miles per hour in the city of chicago and for the entire upper midwest. everybody behind the front will have sunshine but will have also some very strong damaging winds. the hot spots later today for heavy rainfall include marquette, michigan, erie, pennsylvania, and watertown with heavy rain and thunderstorms likely. for cbs news, i'm meteorologist paul deanno. in california, a wildfire burning simi valley, northwest of los angeles, has been burning. 40 acres have burned but fire officials say no buildings have been damaged. now to politics. donald trump is defending his

trump said he would humanely deport immigrants from the united states. don champion is here with more. >> reporter: trump likens his program to a controversial president dwight eisenhower carried out more than 60 years. rivals are using the idea as another opportunity to attack trump. republican front-runner donald trump continues selling his controversial immigration plan on the campaign trail. wednesday, during an appearance on fox news, he, once again, invoked a program used by president dwight eisenhower in the 1950s. viewed as a dark time in american history, it ended with the deportation of millions of mexicans. >> i've heard it both ways. >> reporter: trying to gain momentum from the last debate, jeb bush took trump to task during an event in iowa. >> is that the america that

represents this extraordinary country? are those the values that people fought for? >> reporter: bush's chief rival marco rubio has been less vocal on the issue. the florida senator supported a 2013 bill that paved the way for amnesty, but later backed away from it. >> they are criminals. they have to leave. if they are not, they have to pay taxes and they have to pay a fine. they have to learn english and they get a work permit. >> reporter: pundits say the battle among the republican candidates over immigration could spell good news for democrats. >> the democrats benefit with minority voters when republicans boast about deporting undocumented workers. >> reporter: democratic front-runner hillary clinton tweeted a message about trump's plan wednesday, describing it as absurd and inhumane. now trump still has not said exactly how he plans to track down people living in the country illegally. clinton, in the meantime, will face bernie sanders and martin o'malley on saturday in the third democratic debate and it will air right here on cbs and

nation's" john dickerson. >> don champion in new york, thank you. coming up on "cbs this morning," a new poll on the race for the democratic presidential nomination. the cockpit voice recovereder from a private jet that crashed in akron, ohio, is being examined at a all aboutlab in washington. plane coming in for a landing and crashing into an apartment house. the jet reportedly clipped utility wires. all nine people on board were killed, including the two pilots. the jet's owners say they were an experienced crew and did not report any problems. >> it's typical for them to give us a door's open and door's closed message. we got them all, with no -- no messages of anything being wrong. >> all of the passengers worked for a florida real estate firm. no one on the ground was injured. coming up on "the morning news," laser strikes. several news helicopters are targeted by a green laser in new

york city. and improving online dating matches. an update on tinder is aimed at more right swipes. this is the "cbs morning news." advil cold & sinus is only behind the pharmacy counter. ask your pharmacist for fast, powerful advil cold & sinus. relief doesn't get any better than this. does your makeup remover take it all off? every kiss-proof, cry-proof, stay-proof look? neutrogena makeup remover does. it erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. need any more proof than that?

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which means your floors are always clean. you and roomba from irobot . better together . new video reveals what happened before a virginia man died in police custody more than two years ago. officers in south boston, virginia, used a laser on ray lambert about 20 times. i want to warn you now, this video is a bit graphic. >> don't kick the window! >> officers took lambert into custody in may of 2013 after respond to go a noise complaint. based on his behavior, they thought he needed medical care, but before they could get him inside the hospital, he kicked out the window of the squad car. video from inside the car shows lambert crashing into the doors of the e.r. police tased him multiple times.

then they put him in a patrol car to go to jail where he loses consciousness. his sister wants the officers fired and charged. >> very hard to watch it and to hear him plea for his life when he alerted them, his condition. and, you know, the things they were saying to him and how they ignored him when he asked for help. it was just shocking. >> lambert's family has filed a $25 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit. the faa is investigating laser strikes on three different planes wednesday night near dallas. the flights were headed for landing at dallas love field. two were southwest and virgin american jets and the third was a private business plane. a police helicopter sent to investigate came up empty. >> a laser strike hit close to home here at cbs. the helicopter for our new york station wcbs was hit tuesday by a green laser over brooklyn. it was one of three new york news choppers targeted. a nearby nypd chopper responded

two suspects into custody. in seattle, a small drone flew into a ferris wheel. the three-pound aircraft then crash landed on to a table at a restaurant below. no one was hurt and the ferris wheel was not damaged. a billionaire whose helicopter forced a new jersey youth soccer game to be cancelled is apologizing. josh harris says that he is sorry he parked his helicopter and blocked the field sunday preventing the 12-year-olds from playing. harris owns the nhl's new jersey devils. he was in new york to watch the team. harris says he will work with the private school where he parked the chopper to prevent further mix-ups. still to come, target's christmas controversy. the retailer is selling a holiday sweater that is accused of making light of mental illness. later, a victoria secret perfume that is designed to make you feel more attractive, while

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>> has to be a #thrown in there. stephen colbert has scored what is likely a ratings touchdown. cbs is handing the coveted super bowl late show spot to "the late show." his show will air after the big game in february and the spot is usually guaranteed mass i didn't have ratings. you can see super bowl 50 sunday february 8th here on cbs. on the cbs "moneywatch" target's controversial christmas sweater and tinder figures out how to get more right swipes. jill wagner is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning, jill. >> good morning. macy's stock plunged after the retailer announced lower than expected third quarter profits and sales. macy's stock dropped 14% and the worst performing stock in the s&p yesterday. macy's profit was down 46%. macy's is looking at real estate options for some of its most well-known locations, including

city. the good news for shoppers is more markdowns. stocks ended lower on wall street again. the dow lost nearly 56 points, the s&p fell 6, the nasdaq finished 16 points lower. jcpenney's agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleges false advertising for $50 million. the lawsuit on behalf of california customers claimed jcpenney marked down products from fake inflated prices. jcpenney denied the allegation but they settled to end the expense of further legislation. tinder is beating up its profiles. the new algorithm look to jobs and education and changes how they influence ranking. tinder says the results will be more relevant and meaningful. the new profiles shows users exactly what they have in common with someone else. retail target is taking some heat for a christmas-themed

the red, green, and white sweater reads ocd, obsessive christmas disorder. critics say it makes light of a mental illness, obsessive compulsive disorder. so far, no word from target. >> i'm annoyed we are talking christmas before thanksgiving. i like my holidays one at a time in order. can't we hold off just a little bit? >> they have been talking christmas since labor day, i'm thinking. >> i know. it's true. jill wagner at the new york stock exchange, thanks a lot, jill. coming up on our morning newsstand, birth control lawsuit. dozens of women blame the maker of a birth control pill for alleged faulty packaging that led to unplanned pregnancies. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast,

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here's a look at today's

the country. a birth control pill maker is sued over alleged mispackaging. and a magazine says it's done ranking women. those are some of the headlines on the morning newsstand. "the philadelphia inquirer" says more than a hundred women became pregnant because of a birth control mix-up and they are suing. in 2011, the fda pulled millions of birth control pills off the market. some of the pills inside were mislabeled, making them useless. now some women are seeking the cost of delivering, raising, and educating the children. >> under pennsylvania law, the benefits of having a healthy child are considered to outweigh the detriments of having an unwanted child. >> the pennsylvania based manufacturer could face millions in damages. "the hollywood reporter" is ending its annual ranking of the

entertainment after 23 years. it says the list contributed to the gender imbalance in an industry dominated by men. instead, it will provide a power ranking that combines genders. calls this the happiest mug shot in america. 19-year-old sara ferway was arrested on monday and accused of running a drug operation out of her apartment. in a new study, researchers at new mexico state university found repellants contain the deet were the most effective in warding off mosquitoes, but a few others, including a victoria secret's bombshell perfume, also worked for hours.

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what i'm talking about. yeah. yeah. >> former president george w. bush surprising a group of veterans. they were touring the george w. bush presidential center in dallas on veterans day. he thanked them for their service and took pictures. mr. bush told them he misses saluting those who wear the uniform. today, president obama will give the nation's highest military award to an army captain whose actions in afghanistan saved the lives of his fellow soldiers. florent groberg will become the tenth living person to be awarded the medal of honor. groberg was wounded when he tackled a suicide bomber. the bomb went off injuring groberg and killing four others nearby. groberg has undergone more than 30 surgeries and three years of recovery since his act of heroism. a dog in taunton,

massachusetts, is back home with his family this morning. he disappeared monday, triggering a frantic search. the next day, he was found at the bottom of a well. jim smith of our boston station wbz has the rescue. >> i was so happy that the dog was alive and okay. >> reporter: buddy the dog looks at a backyard well that nearly led to his doom. the dog had stumbled into the well and missing for hours and his loving family worried sick. >> all night long, we were calling for the dog and looking for the dog everywhere outside, down the street and we have an electrical fence. i didn't think he went past the fence so i thought somebody stole the dog. >> reporter: then buddy's canine daddy, the slightly smaller one, led the kids to the well and there he was. >> i looked down and he wasn't moving. and i called his name and he started moving and he was in a foot of water. >> reporter: we are not talking

it's more than 20 feet deep and buddy was in trouble, stuck at the bottom. taunton firefighters rushed to the scene and, in the end, they made it look relatively easy. >> we wrapped this around the dog and once i get it wrapped around, we got a rope secured. >> reporter: firefight jared jackson put a ladder down and slipped a harness around buddy and up he came. not a scratch. >> kind of felt bad. poor thing looked like he was sad being down there. they said he was there all night and kind of felt sad for him. >> you made it, buddy. good boy! >> good boy, good boy, buddy! freezing to death, huh? you want to say thank you? >> i was worried and my sister was crying. we didn't know what to do. we were all upset. it was so scary. we are just lucky to have them get the dog out of the well. >> indeed. that was wbz's jim smith reporting. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," eliminating artificial ingredients in our food. we will show you how companies are making over some popular products.

has a preview of "thursday night football," and singer actress vanessa williams joins us in the studio. that is the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green.

>> you're watching kcci eight news. eric: storm aftermath, severe weather tore through central iowa all afternoon. we look at the damage left behind in the storm's wake. elizabeth: by kcci exclusive, a local animal hospital under investigation. the charges a local veterinarian is facing and what he's accused of covering up. eric: a toddler tumbles from a three-story window, why police say she is really lucky to be alive. good morning and thanks for waking up with us today. elizabeth: it's 4:30 on thursday, november 12. metinka: it will be a white knuckle commute. if you are going east you'll make good time. wind gusting at 44 miles per hour. overnight we had it up to 60 across the state. the strong wind is shifting across eastern iowa and devonport reporting 52 miles to our.

high wind continues across