now, because the fbi has determined that that chattanooga shooting jeff just mentioned was terrorism, the navy said today that four marines and a sailor who were killed and a marine who was wounded will all receive purple hearts. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. almost sixty million americans are affected by mental illness. together we can help them

with three simple words. my name is chris noth and i will listen. from maine to maui, thousands of high school students across the country are getting in on the action by volunteering in their communities. chris young: action teams of high school students are joining volunteers of america and major league baseball players to help train and inspire the next generation of volunteers. carlos pea: it's easy to start an action team at your school so you, too, can get in on the action.

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homeland security was the focus last night at the republican presidential debate in las vegas. 18 million people watched it on tv, and major garrett was there. >> marco knows what he's saying isn't true. >> reporter: first-term senators marco rubio and ted cruz sparred over congress' decision toned the government's bulk collection and storage of phone records. rubio opposed ending the program, and cruz supported it. >> that tool we lost, the metadata program, was a valuable tool that we no longer have at our disposal. >> the old program covered 20% to 30% of phone numbers to search for terrorists. the new program covers nearly 100%. that gives us greater ability to stop acts of terrorism and he knows that that's the case. >> i don't think national television in front of 15 million people is the place to discuss classified information. >> reporter: the spat signaled rising tensions between the two

as they vie to challenge gop front-runner donald trump. today, cruz rebutted rubio's implication that he revealed classified information. >> what i said last night has been widely reported. it's been saturated in the public sphere. this is another example of the rubio campaign trying to spread misinformation. >> one of the most important things a president has to do is be able to handle both the role as the bully pulpit of the white house, but do so in a way that doesn't compromise our national security. >> reporter: after the debate, we asked trump how he would balance privacy and security. >> i have always come down on the side of security. to me it's the most important. >> reporter: even if it means doing something to encroach on the bill of rights? >> i hate it, i hate the concept of it, but we're dealing with some very, very bad dudes. >> reporter: jeb bush said trump's foreign policy proposals were not serious. >> he's a chaos candidate. and he'd be a chaos president. he would not be the commander in chief we need to keep our country safe.

accuse cruz of releasing classified information. he said he would leave that determination to the senate intelligence committee. scott, the committee said there was nothing to investigate. >> major garrett covering the campaign. major, thanks. tonight, we have a rare look at the battlefield in syria, where u.s. special operations forces are now on the ground fighting isis. the americans are supporting allied militias, including kurdish forces, that our charlie d'agata linked up with near the isis capital city. >> reporter: the thick fog meant the drive to the front line inside syria was slow. we were about 40 miles from raqqah, the headquarters of isis, but their fighters were just a few miles away and no one wanted to make a wrong turn. past deserted villages, we finally reached their line of defense. it wasn't much. one of the soldiers looked like he was barely into his teens.

u.s. is training and equipping. until a few months ago, this whole area was controlled by isis. gloomy days like these are a nightmare for rebel forces guarding the front lines. isis militants use the fog as cover to launch sneak attacks. they can't see them coming until it's too late to stop them. the group leader told us u.s. warplanes can't see them, either. and while he said he was grateful for american support, he hadn't actually seen any of the u.s. special forces now on the ground. but commander lewland rojava had. we met him at his base camp deep inside syria. what types of things are you discussing? "mainly coordination on the ground," he told us, "weapons and ammunition and who gets them, and they also wanted to see how successful we are in fighting isis on the ground." we also asked villagers what they thought of u.s. troops

"if they bring peace and stability" he said," they're welcome." when you found out u.s. troops were coming here, what did you think? 16-year-old omar told us he was simply happy. the commander told us, scott, once u.s. forces see for themselves what they're up against, they'll realize they need things like armored vehicles and heavy weapons, in addition to guns and ammunition. he also said, depending on how things go, maybe america will send even more forces. >> charlie d'agata with a report from america's new battlefield in syria. charlie, thank you. now the u.s. has also sent hundreds of troops to west africa, where islamic militants linked to isis are terrorizing villages in a campaign of murder and kidnapping. the americans are there to support cameroon's army, and debora patta went along. >> reporter: cameroon's elite

up for the day's patrol to the nigerian border. balaclavas provide scant relief against the choking dust. they're searching for boko haram, the extremist group that has aligned itself with isis and killed more than 20,000 in the past six years. border towns like kolofata have suffered a string of attacks by suicide bombers recently. boko haram fighters frequently hide weapons and ammunitions in villages. sniffer dogs look for explosives as soldiers go from hut to hut. the belief is boko haram could be in any of these homes and not even children are immune from security checks because in the past few months, the suicide bombs in this area have all been delivered by children. the new face of war. but today, they find nothing. major beltus kwene tells the village to be vigilant.

miles from the border. and you've been attacked here at this base. >> we underwent a massive attack at this base. >> reporter: kwene told us since boko haram has pledged allegiance to isis, their tactics have changed. their bombs are more sophisticated and deployed with deadly frequency. >> when i see how horrible they can be, i think i will never, ever feel tired to fight against them. >> reporter: now cameroon is getting help from the u.s. military that is setting up its first drone base in africa. here, cameroon soldiers are learning how to use their own drones for surveillance. the u.s. base won't be fully operational until next month. captain victor guzman--

>> the united states forces is providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to the cameroon forces to take the lead, fight the local threat, and not only is it local, but it's grown to a global threat. >> reporter: the u.s. will have as many as 300 troops on the ground in cameroon by the time it's fully operational. they're also training the soldiers to prevent suicide attacks. it's critically important, scott, just 12 hours after we left kolofata, it was hit by a suicide bomber killing nine people. >> debora patta, remarkable reporting from the heart of africa. debora, thank you. an attempt to save coral reefs creates an underwater wasteland. and preserving movie classics the "cbs overnight news" will be let's get these dayquil liquid gels and go. but these liquid gels are new. mucinex fast max. it's the same difference. this one is max strength and fights mucus. mucinex fast max. the only cold and flu liquid gel that's max-strength and fights mucus.

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an attempt to save florida coral is wrecking the reef instead. apparently they didn't think through what sea water does to metal. here's barry petersen. >> reporter: they're off before dawn. diver thomas pennypacker is on a rescue mission off the coast of ft. lauderdale, saving a piece of florida's natural coral reef, from this, a massive 35-acre graveyard of old tires.

of tires plugging up landfills back in 1970. up to two million tires bundled by metal clips were dumped here to create an artificial reef. the hope was that they would spur coral growth and attract fish, all good for the environment. really good idea? really bad outcome. the clips rusted away. the tires broke free. storms and constant ocean currents keep the tires moving, dragging across and damaging the fragile living reef nearby, says alex delgado, the dive coordinator. >> right now, it's just a wasteland. it's tires everywhere. and now we need to correct it before it does additional damage. >> reporter: down below here is the priority zone, where they had as many as 300,000 tires, but the tires have really spread throughout this area, all the way as far as the beaches of ft. lauderdale. >> how you doing down there? >> now, we're in a pretty good

spot. >> reporter: surrounded by a seemingly endless mound of tires, pennypacker slings them onto lines to be hauled up by a crane. until he and his team fetch as many as 600 on a good day. it's a race against time. pat quinn is the natural resources specialist for broward county. >> they won't break apart in our lifetime. >> reporter: so if you don't get them out of there, they're just going to be there. >> forever. >> reporter: so far, florida state funding will bring the number of recovered tires to about 160,000. not enough, say experts, to protect a reef 7,000 years in the making. barry petersen, cbs news, off the coast of ft. lauderdale. still ahead, years after his

setting records. see you on the other side, ray. >> nice working with you, dr. venkman.

>> bill murray and dan aykroyd in "ghostbusters," one of 20 classic movies added today at the film registry at the library of congress, films preserved due to their cultural importance. the list includes "top gun," "l.a. confidential," and "the shawshank redemption" with tim robbins and morgan freeman. >> i guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. get busy living...or get busy dying. >> fans of michael jackson got busy buying his 1982 masterpiece. today, "thriller" became the first album to go platinum 30 times over. 30 million sold in the u.s., more than a million since jackson died in 2009. next, the new star at the national zoo. woman: what does it feel like when a woman is having a heart attack?

severe shortness of breath. unexplained nausea. cold sweats. there's an unusual tiredness and fatigue. there's unfamiliar dizziness or light-headedness. unusual pain in your back, neck, jaw, one or both arms, even your upper stomach, are signs you're having a heart attack. don't make excuses. make the call to 9-1-1 immediately. learn more at womenshealth.gov/heartattack. while i was on a combat patrol in baqubah, iraq, a rocket-propelled grenade took my arm off at the shoulder. i was discharged from the army, and i've been working with the wounded warrior project since 2007. warriors, you don't have to be severely wounded to be with the wounded warrior project. we do have a lot of guys that have post-traumatic stress disorder. being able to share your story, i guess it kind of helps you wrap your mind around what did happen over there. my name is norbie, and yes, i do suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,

the new baby at the national zoo, a baby panda, made its public debut today, so we sent cub reporter chip reid for a look. >> reporter: getting introduced to the media at four months old is something usually reserved for royalty. well, that's exactly what bei bei is, the prince of cute. millions of panda lovers have watched him grow up on the national zoo's panda-cam, from birth when he was completely helpless to where he is today, which is just mostly helpless. doctors say he's in perfect health and give much of the credit to mom, who endlessly plays with him, carries him over rocks, slides him across the floor, and nuzzles him to sleep.

animal care at the zoo. >> right now, he is entirely dependent upon her, so he's not eating any solid food. she's nursing him. that's where he gets all of his nutrients. everything comes from mom right now. >> reporter: today mom, or may shong, spent much of her time outside, leaving bei bei in the media glare with his keeper, juan roddriguez, known to bei bei's adoring fans as the luckiest man in the world. do a lot of people tell you, "i want your job"? >> yeah, yeah. pretty much every day. being able to work with these guys, it just puts a smile on your face. i mean, you just can't get enough of it. >> reporter: the public will get to see bei bei in person starting next month. today, after most of the media throng left, may shong finally returned and those remaining were treated to this-- the soft embrace of a mother's love. chip reid, cbs news, washington. >> and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us just a little bit later for the

"cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

this is the "cbs overnight news." >> hi, everyone, and welcome to the "overnight news." public school students in los angeles are back in class after the entire school system was shut down for a day because of a fake terror threat. the high school kids will be wrapping up their finals with the holiday recess start thing weekend. and the threat of a terror strike took center stage in las vegas, as the gop presidential candidates squared off for their final debate of the year. major garrett has the story. >> reporter: the debate was an instant capsule. a primetime event which the specter of terrorism and the nation's fears about it overshadowed every other topic. the leading voices in the opposition party clashed over the details to be sure. in the end, offered an anxious nation a promise, one that could be distilled into one word, or phrase. >> we will keep america safe. >> safe. >> safe. >> safe. >> your safety and securitiy. >> we're talking about security.

>> reporter: the competition to be tougher on national security never ended, and jeb bush, running in low single digits, forced his way back into the conversation by repeatedly challenging donald trump. >> this is a tough business -- >> you're a tough guy, jeb. >> and we need to have a leader -- you're never going to be president of the united states by insulting your way. >> let's see, i'm at 43%, you're at 3%. so far i'm doing better. >> reporter: ted cruz and marco rubio clashed over national security and border control. cruz accused rubio for supporting a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, branding it amnesty. >> does ted cruz rule out legalizing people in this country illegally now? >> i've never supported legalization, and i do not intend to support legalization. >> reporter: calling the senator's fights irrelevant, chris christie said his experience as a post 9/11 u.s. attorney and new jersey governor makes him best prepared to be commander in chief.

states senate. i mean, endless debates about how many angels on the head of a pin for people that have never had to make a consequential decision in an executive position. >> reporter: after the debate, rand paul said trump's calls to shut down the internet and to target the families of terrorists were radical and ridiculous. >> i think when people discover he wants to get rid of the first amendment to the constitution, they might say, oh, my god. >> reporter: we asked trump what he valued more, security or the bill of rights. >> i've always come down on the side of security. to me it's the most important. >> reporter: even if it means doing something to encroach on the bill of rights? >> i hate it, i hate the concept of it, but we are dealing with some very bad dudes. >> reporter: trump also ended months of speculation about a possible third party candidacy if he doesn't win the gop nomination. >> i am totally committed to the republican party. i feel honored to be the front-runner.

advisers said trump had always been clear he would run as a republican, not consider a third party race. trump made the announcement tonight after reviewing polling data nationally. he now sees a clear path to the nomination. the city of flint, michigan is in a state of emergency. high levels of lead were found in the tap water. this week, foam -- fema sent more than 7,000 gallons of bottled water to the city residents. adriana diaz has a report on how this crisis unfolded. >> reporter: when officials tapped into the flint river here for the city's drinking water, the strong chemicals needed to clean the water corroded the pipes, contaminating the water with lead. by the time the city switched back to the original water source, families said the damage was already done. >> when i hear my son give up at night and cry because his bones hurt, and there's nothing i can give him, there's nothing i can do for him to take away his pain, i feel completely

>> reporter: for nearly five months, melissa maze and her family drank the water from their tap, unaware there was lead in it. maze says she noticed a change in her three children. convulsions, skin lesions, memory and hair loss. >> my heartbreaks, because i handed them the water. >> reporter: last month, maze and other residents filed a class action lawsuit, accusing officials of not proper monitoring or sampling the flint river water and delaying and notifying the publish of serious safety and health risks. they called the city's false denials about the safety of the water deadly and arrogant. >> they continually said the water is safe to drink. >> reporter: the water problems started in the spring of 2014 when flint moved its water supply from a source in detroit to the flint river. the switch was supposed to save the city about $15 million a year. but the lead levels detected in

of 5 nearly doubled, according to a study by a local medical center. in october, officials declared unfiltered water unsafe to drink. shortly after, flint had to switch back to the original detroit water supply. >> damage from lead is irreversible. we made the switch back to detroit water supply. there was no corrosion control in place. >> reporter: the world health organization declares any lead in the body unsafe. and particularly toxic to young children. severe cases of exposure may cause mental disabilities and behavior difficulties. with irreversible neurological effects. do you feel helpless in this situation? >> i can make nightmares go away and i can make speeders go away. i can't fix this and i can't make this go away. >> reporter: the mayor says

fixing the city's water system could cost $1 billion. she hopes declaring a state of emergency will unlock state and federal funding, but it's not her call. the cash strapped state and federal government have to approve her request. president obama has been telling people to enjoy the holidays and not to worry about a possible terror attack. experts say fear can have a real effect on your health, and our doctor, jon lapook, got the lowdown from a clinical psychologist, dr. justin sinclair. >> one of the things that is different about this, you know, this threat, is that, again, it's ongoing. people can't know when and where or how it's going to happen. it's this thing that never ends, it's everywhere. >> reporter: how does that affect their lives? >> they tend to avoid different aspects of their lives. they fly less, they ride on public transportation less. they go into public settings less. there's been research that's shown that they have a tendency to engage people from different cultural backgrounds less. they even consume media less, ironically.

>> reporter: what have you learned over the last ten years of studying this that might surprise people? >> how potent fear can be in terms of altering people's lives. and the impact that it can have in different aspects of life, whether it's making decisions about a president, whether it's supporting different policies that are important socially, or even down to sort of how people live their everyday lives. >> reporter: is there a danger their behavior because of terrorism? >> yeah, it changes the structure of our country. it changes the structure of our government. fear can maybe even change things in ways that weren't consistent how the country was founded originally. >> reporter: as a psychologist, is there some insight into that? >> i think fear moves people to become much more polarized in their viewpoints, and i think fear motivates people to go to further lengths to feel safe.

be right back. well, the wait is nearly over for "star wars" fans. "the force awakens" opens nationwide tomorrow. it's the first new "star wars" film in a decade and it's got a new director, j.j. abrams. as bill whitaker reports, abrams is under enormous pressure to make sure the movie hits all the right notes. >> reporter: six weeks before the premiere, we dropped in on a hollywood scoring session for "the force awakens." the composer, who won an academy award for the first film, was back. along with the iconic refrain he wrote 38 years ago. take a look behind williams. that's not some awe-struck groupie. that's the director, j.j. abrams.

video camera. >> this is momentous. john williams conducting his "star wars" music. as a fan, i can't believe i get to be here. >> reporter: abrams saw "star wars" when he was 11. and he never outgrew his passion for the film. on this day, he was racing around the sound stage. here the fan -- >> it's incredible. >> reporter: there the director. >> we may need to make the -- repeat those bars just because it might be a little longer before we get into the interior of the transport. >> reporter: i see you running around. you're very -- >> really? i felt so confident. >> reporter: this is you calm? >> yeah. >> reporter: is it intimidating in any way?

>> oh, yeah. oh, yeah. [ laughter ] it's moments of just abject terror as to what we're all taking on. >> reporter: what he's taking on is this, "the force awakens." disney is counting on him to expand the universe of "star wars" fans while staying true to george lucas' original vision. and the die hard fans, their expectations are out of this world. >> the force, it's calling to you. >> reporter: when the official trailer was posted online, it was viewed 112 million times in just 24 hours. >> nothing can stand in our way. >> talk about the force. the fans are a force to be reckoned with. it's intense. >> it is. >> reporter: it's not just the

fans here, this is global. >> it's not the movie. it's bigger than all of us. it's almost a religion for people. >> reporter: what grabbed you about "star wars?" >> the experience of it was so profound and so moving, and so funny and so sweet, that for me, as a kid, it blew my mind, and it was just -- it said anything is possible. >> reporter: abrams has been working on "the force awakens" nonstop for three years. he's managed to keep a tight lid on it. this is one of the few clips disney has released. he told us his movie is set about 30 years after "return of the jedi," the final film in the first trilogy. at the end of that movie, the good guys had vanquished the empire and subdued the dark side. or so it seemed. what has been going on in that galaxy? >> "return of the jedi" seemed to end happily.

but the walkoff to the sunset is always misleading, because then what? so one of the things you see in this movie is things didn't just end happily. and that the idea of the force, the dark and the light side, are at a classic "star wars" place, which is in a desperate moment. >> reporter: a moment which forces a new generation to step up. >> we can't outrun them. >> reporter: stepping into a new lead role, 23-year-old newcomer daisy. her character is rave, a desert scavenger. and john is another new face. he plays a disillusioned storm trooper. >> i've got nothing to fight for. >> reporter: your universe seems to be a more diverse place, by gender, by race. what do you think the impact of that is going to be? >> when we started casting the movie, it felt incredibly important to me that the movie look like the world in which this movie is being released.

>> reporter: abrams didn't just direct the movie, he wrote it with lawrence casden, who wrote two of the original "star wars" with lucas. he knew from the start he would tell a story that blended the new with the old. taking his cue from the first trilogy, he made authenticity paramount. the sets were built from scratch. the explosions were real. were there times when you stepped back from being the director and you were just the fan on the set? >> it was very hard to be in the 125 degree heat in abu dhabi with actual storm troopers running through this village we had built, and not have moments constantly of "holy, what the -- i can't believe i'm here." it was constantly happening. i had to suppress that and say

okay, let's do it and put that away, because the job was not to be a wide-eyed fan boy. the job was to be director of the movie. and action. >> reporter: as the director, he managed to cast a crew of almost a thousand. he set limits on computer generated imagery. most of abrams' creatures, like the new droid, bb-8, were crafted by hand, including his own. >> we knew we had to have a hero droid that was not a familiar one. >> reporter: you came up with the concept by sketching it out? >> i drew the dumbest little thing. i just drew something like this. >> reporter: he gave his sketch to the creature department, a group of about 100 artist and designers. they made a puppet. >> the puppeteer came out and i was like, oh, my god, it lives. >> where do you come from? [ robot noises ] >> reporter: we watched as abrams worked on a scene where the droid meets rave for the

>> maybe we could connect them so they're not so separate. >> reporter: so he's going to fit the pantheon of r2-d2. >> i hope so. >> reporter: only a handful of people have seen the finished film. one of them is abrams' wife of 19 years, katie. they have three children, a charitable foundation she oversees, and a harry met sally rapport. >> i love the movie, i really love the movie. and i'm sort of picky and i'm a little, you know -- >> be honest. >> i'm honest. at the end of the day, this is a movie. this is not curing cancer or eradicating poverty. this is making a movie, right? right? that's what you believe, right? >> i'm sorry, she lost me after "this is just a movie." >> reporter: jeffrey jacob

abrams grew up in hollywood's backyard, not far from the big studios. but when he took a tour of a movie back lot at age 8, he knew he had found his calling. what in particular drew you to it? >> i think the thing that was so cool is it felt like a magic trick. it was every aspect of illusion, of creating something that seemed like it was actually happening and real. >> reporter: he picked up the family's home movie camera and tried his own slight of hand. >> now we seek revenge. >> reporter: he admits his earliest works weren't that good. but he got better. he won a teen film festival and got written up in "the los angeles times." that's him in the middle. the article caught the eye of steven spielberg. he reached out to the young filmmaker who reminded him of himself. >> you can see bill whitaker's

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the airline industry has been having trouble finding new pilots. mostly because of the high cost of flight school. another problem -- kids don't know how much fun it can be to fly a plane. but this flight team is on a nation wide tour working to entice new recruits. john blackstone has this report. >> reporter: lifting off in formation, my life was in the hands of the pilot. >> it's okay. i had my two coffees in the

perfect. >> reporter: flying at speeds up to 565 miles an hour. at times, just ten feet apart, the seven powerful l-39 albatross jets. marshon has flown with the team for 12 years. >> i began flying gliders when i was 15 years old. >> reporter: air shows helped inspire you to fly? >> yeah, i began to attend air shows when i was a kid. >> reporter: with their brand prominently displayed, the company is spreading the word. but the president of the company says there's another mission here. you also want them to discover aviation? >> that's actually probably our number one goal. and when you see these pilots flying those planes at air shows all over the country, you inspire people. >> reporter: and that inspiration could prove critical.

in america within the next ten years. so recruiting young people to the profession has been paramount. >> we would like aviation to flourish and be a little more popular. >> reporter: it's estimated some and face mandatory retirement from the four major airlines. those jobs are often filled by military flyers or younger regional pilots moving up. but these days, fewer people are pursuing careers in the cockpit. in part, because of the increasing cost of education and flight time. an investment of up to $200,000 to qualify to become a commercial pilot. cbs news aviation and safety expert captain sully sullenberger says what's really needed is raising pilot wages at regional airlines. >> it really doesn't make sense for entry level jobs in aviation to pay sometimes less than $20,000 a year or just over

a lot of training. the major airlines must bear some responsibility for this current situation. >> reporter: what's on display here is the joy of flight. thomas, 17, and his 14-year-old sister cindy have their hearts set on becoming pilots. is this any part of what made you want to fly? >> yes. >> seeing them, maybe that can be me one day up there. >> reporter: and for one show i am part of the jet team, surviving tight turns, and loops. we're all upside down together. discovering that pulling 4 or 5 gs causes the blood in your head to rush south. >> we are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. >> reporter: hoping those extraordinary things makes someone else want to reach for the sky. john blackstone, above ventura,

california.ng pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv 678 . it's ryan's cell phone. gibbs: isolate calls from psy-ops, government-issued lines. there's five or six different numbers here. cross-reference with incoming calls to banks over the past month. when the engines failed on the plane i was flying,

but when my father sank into depression, i didn't know how to help him. when he ultimately shot himself, he left our family devastated. don't let this happen to you. if you or a loved one is suicidal, call the national suicide prevention lifeline. no matter how hopeless or helpless you feel, with the right help, you can get well. (franklin d. roosevelt) the inherent right to work is one of the elemental privileges of a free people. endowed, as our nation is, with abundant physical resources... ...and inspired as it should be to make those resources and opportunities available for the enjoyment of all... ...we approach reemployment with real hope of finding a better answer than we have now. narrator: donate to goodwill where your donations help fund

the dream of visiting mars could soon become a reality. nasa is planning a manned mission to the red planet sometime in the 2030s, and the space agency has started recruiting youngsters who might want to take the trip. jan crawford reports from the national air and space museum in washington. >> reporter: we're inside a model of the discovery shuttle. where touristks get a foal of what it's like to be an astronaut. if they like it, they may be able to apply. start thing week, nasa is opening up the application process for the next generation of space travel. >> going to mars, the human journey to mars is a renaissance. i think we've captivated not just the u.s., but the world. >> reporter: david newman hopes a record breaking number of qualified americans apply to nasa's astronaut class of 2017. what does it take to be an astronaut? >> the background is really

how are they as leaders? how are they on a team? we have a rigorous applicant board. >> reporter: applicants must be a u.s. citizen with a bachelor's degree in engineering or physical science and math. they should also have three years of experience, or 1,000 hours piloting a jet and the physical is another hurdle. is it a combination of highly intellectual but intensely physical? >> and also operational, and how you make decisions and work in teams. you're making critical decisions and if you're in space flight, you're making life and death decisions. >> reporter: there have been 338 nasa astronauts ranging in age from 26 to 46. of the 6300 who applied for the last class, only eight, four men, four women were chosen. that's about a 0.01% chance. pilot and nasa applicant melissa pemberton isn't discouraged.

has a passion for travel in aviation, i can't imagine a better job than being an astronaut. >> reporter: candidates will spend one year training for space walks, undergoing mission simulations and operating robotics, all with the possibility of one day going to mars. >> it will take us about eight months to get there. it's round trip, so just under a couple years round trip and we'll be on the surface of mars for about 500 days searching for evidence of life, of past life. >> reporter: newman says a lot of the applicants grew up dreaming about being an astronaut. they got advanced degrees, they flew jets in the military. if you think you've got the right stuff, nasa is taking applications till february 18th. >> that's the "overnight news"

hung jury. the first trial of a cop in the death of freddie gray ends with no verdict. >> the family wants everyone to remain calm. also tonight, the sale on money is ending as the fed raises interest rates. vicious in vegas. >> he's a chaos candidate. and he'd be a chaos president. >> he has failed in this campaign. it's been a total disaster. and meet bei bei, the little giant. >> reporter: how often do people say to you, "i want your job?" >> i think everyone does all the time. this is the "cbs overnight news." called for calm in baltimore after the trial of officer william porter ended with a hung jury. porter is the first of six cops to be tried in the death of gray, who was severely injured while in police custody. gray's death in april led to

riots in the streets. prosecutors today have not yet said whether they will try porter again. kris van cleave is in baltimore. >> reporter: baltimore sheriffs deputies took down a demonstrator outside the courthouse. it was a tense, but largely peaceful atmosphere after seven african-american and five white jurors were unable to agree on any of the four charges against officer william porter,including second degree assault and involuntary manslaughter. demonstrator archie williams was outraged. what do you think this says about justice? >> i say it looks like ronald mcdonald. it's a real bad joke. >> reporter: freddie gray died from injuries suffered while riding in a police van. officer porter was present at five of the six stops the van made. porter did not buckle gray in, despite police department guidelines, and prosecutors alleged porter did not call for medical help. lawyer billy murphy represents the gray family. >> if the family's not angry, no one else should be angry, and i think the family has a bigger stake in this than almost

anybody else. >> reporter: city officials have vowed to avoid a repeat of last spring's violent protests. today, baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake pleaded for calm. >> if we believe in justice, must have respect for the outcome of the judicial process. this is our american system of justice. >> when do we want it? >> now! >> reporter: demonstrators have gathered peacefully since this verdict came in. scott, the other five officers charged have their hearings set for the new years. >> kris van cleave on the streets of baltimore tonight. kris, thank you. in another important story, we have reached a milestone in the recovery from the great recession. the federal reserve raised a key interest rate for the first time in years. wall street took that as a vote of confidence in the economy and the dow rose 224 points.

>> reporter: the aftershocks from the financial crisis and the housing meltdown forced the fed to keep interest rates near zero for more than seven years, but today, janet yellen declared an end to the extraordinary era of easy money. >> the economic recovery has clearly come a long way, although it is not yet complete. >> reporter: it was back in december of 2008 that the fed slashed rates as low as they could go, the same month the economy was officially declared in recession and bernie madoff was arrested in a billion-dollar ponzi scheme. by april of 2009, foreclosures had soared to their peak, more than 200,000 that month. and by october, unemployment was at 10%. but now monthly foreclosures are down 80% from that high, and seven years later, unemployment has been cut in half. so the fed is raising rates a quarter of a point. >> and it reflects the committee's confidence that the economy will continue to

strengthen. >> reporter: future increases will be gradual, and the central bank made certain the markets saw this coming. >> this is the most telegraphed punch in the history of the world. >> reporter: max wolf is chief economist at manhattan venture partners. >> that being said, though, it's still symbolic. it's still closed, the bookend of a period. this is the most stimulation monetary policy has ever given to our economy, and hopefully we'll never need this much again. >> reporter: several major banks raised their prime rates immediately after the fed's move, and the cost of mortgages, car loans and credit cards could begin to rise. but it's good news for savers who will finally start to get higher returns on the money they've socked away. scott. >> a long hangover from the great recession. anthony, thanks very much. public schools in los angeles reopened today. they closed yesterday, abruptly, because of an e-mail terror threat that turned out to be a hoax. 640,000 students were shut out.

threat, but dismissed it. today, the federal government revised its system for warning americans of terrorist threats. the department of homeland security issued its first bulletin today. it was a statement of what is already painfully clear. jeff pegues has more on this. >> reporter: today's bulletin says the country is in a new phase in the global threat environment. law enforcement is concerned about self-radicalized individuals who could strike with little or no notice. it also warned of threats against communities based on perceived religion, ethnicity, or nationality. the new bulletin alert was added because the other two categories, elevated and imminent, required detailed information and were never activated. bulletins like today's can be sent without a specific threat. homeland security secretary jeh johnson. >> what we are concerned about, here in the homeland, are copycat-like attacks, and those who are self-radicalized who may

be inspired to commit terrorist attacks. and regrettably, we have seen that in recent months and recent -- recent weeks. >> reporter: the massacre in san bernardino, california, two weeks ago was one such attack. so were the july 16 shootings that killed five people at two military locations in chattanooga, tennessee. today, for the first time, fbi director james comey, said the shooter, muhammad youssef abdulazeez, was also self-radicalized. >> there's no doubt that the chattanooga killer was inspired, motivated by foreign terrorist organization propaganda. we've investigated from the beginning as a terrorist case. >> reporter: comey said before san bernardino shooter tashfeen malik came to the u.s., she only communicated about jihad using direct private messages and not publicly on social media. scott, that would have made it harder for immigration officials to see signs of her radicalization. >> jeff pegues, thanks, jeff.

now, because the fbi has determined that that chattanooga shooting jeff just mentioned was terrorism, the navy said today that four marines and a sailor who were killed and a marine who was wounded will all receive purple hearts. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. [ vocalizing ]

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homeland security was the focus last night at the republican presidential debate in las vegas. 18 million people watched it on tv, and major garrett was there. >> marco knows what he's saying isn't true. >> reporter: first-term senators marco rubio and ted cruz sparred over congress' decision toned the government's bulk collection and storage of phone records. rubio opposed ending the program, and cruz supported it. >> that tool we lost, the metadata program, was a valuable tool that we no longer have at our disposal. >> the old program covered 20% to 30% of phone numbers to search for terrorists. the new program covers nearly 100%. that gives us greater ability to stop acts of terrorism and he knows that that's the case. >> i don't think national television in front of 15 million people is the place to discuss classified information. >> reporter: the spat signaled

rising tensions between the two as they vie to challenge gop front-runner donald trump. today, cruz rebutted rubio's implication that he revealed classified information. >> what i said last night has been widely reported. it's been saturated in the public sphere. this is another example of the rubio campaign trying to spread misinformation. >> one of the most important things a president has to do is be able to handle both the role as the bully pulpit of the white house, but do so in a way that doesn't compromise our national security. >> reporter: after the debate, we asked trump how he would balance privacy and security. >> i have always come down on the side of security. to me it's the most important. >> reporter: even if it means doing something to encroach on the bill of rights? >> i hate it, i hate the concept of it, but we're dealingith w some very, very bad dudes. >> reporter: jeb bush said trump's foreign policy proposals were not serious. >> he's a chaos candidate. and he'd be a chaos president. he would not be the commander in chief we need to keep our country safe. >> reporter: rubio did not

classified information. he said he would leave that determination to the senate intelligence committee. scott, the committee said there was nothing to investigate. >> major garrett covering the campaign. major, thanks. tonight, we have a rare look at the battlefield in syria, where u.s. special operations forces are now on the ground fighting isis. the americans are supporting allied militias, including kurdish forces, that our charlie d'agata linked up with near the isis capital city. >> reporter: the thick fog meant the drive to the front line inside syria was slow. we were about 40 miles from raqqah, the headquarters of isis, but their fighters were just a few miles away and no one wanted to make a wrong turn. past deserted villages, we finally reached their line of defense. it wasn't much. one of the soldiers looked like he was barely into his teens. these are the syrian rebels the

u.s. is training and equipping. until a few months ago, this whole area was controlled by isis. gloomy days like these are a nightmare for rebel forces guarding the front lines. isis militants use the fog as cover to launch sneak attacks. they can't see them coming until it's too late to stop them. the group leader told us u.s. warplanes can't see them, either. and while he said he was grateful for american support, he hadn't actually seen any of the u.s. special forces now on the ground. but commander lewland rojava had. we met him at his base camp deep inside syria. what types of things are you discussing? "mainly coordination on the ground," he told us, "weapons and ammunition and who gets them, and they also wanted to see how successful we are in fighting isis on the ground." we also asked villagers what they thought of u.s. troops inside syria.

"if they bring peace and stability" he said," they're welcome." when you found out u.s. troops were coming here, what did you think? 16-year-old omar told us he was simply happy. the commander told us, scott, once u.s. forces see for themselves what they're up against, they'll realize they need things like armored vehicles and heavy weapons, in addition to guns and ammunition. he also said, depending on how things go, maybe america will send even more forces. >> charlie d'agata with a report from america's new battlefield in syria. charlie, thank you. now the u.s. has also sent hundreds of troops to west africa, where islamic militants linked to isis are terrorizing villages in a campaign of murder and kidnapping. the americans are there to support cameroon's army, and debora patta went along. >> reporter: cameroon's elite

up for the day's patrol to the nigerian border. balaclavas provide scant relief against the choking dust. they're searching for boko haram, the extremist group that has aligned itself with isis and killed more than 20,000 in the past six years. border towns like kolofata have suffered a string of attacks by suicide bombers recently. boko haram fighters frequently hide weapons and ammunitions in villages. sniffer dogs look for explosives as soldiers go from hut to hut. the belief is boko haram could be in any of these homes and not even children are immune from security checks because in the past few months, the suicide bombs in this area have all been delivered by children. the new face of war. but today, they find nothing. major beltus kwene tells the

village to be vigilant. the soldiers' base is just a few miles from the border. and you've been attacked here at this base. >> we underwent a massive attack at this base. >> reporter: kwene told us since boko haram has pledged allegiance to isis, their tactics have changed. their bombs are more sophisticated and deployed with deadly frequency. >> when i see how horrible they can be, i think i will never, ever feel tired to fight against them. >> reporter: now cameroon is getting help from the u.s. military that is setting up its first drone base in africa. here, cameroon soldiers are learning how to use their own drones for surveillance. the u.s. base won't be fully operational until next month. captain victor guzman--

>> the united states forces is providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to the cameroon forces to take the lead, fight the local threat, and not only is it local, but it's grown to a global threat. >> reporter: the u.s. will have as many as 300 troops on the ground in cameroon by the time it's fully operational. they're also training the soldiers to prevent suicide attacks. it's critically important, scott, just 12 hours after we left kolofata, it was hit by a suicide bomber killing nine people. >> debora patta, remarkable reporting from the heart of africa. debora, thank you. an attempt to save coral reefs creates an underwater wasteland. and preserving movie classics phil! oh no... (under his breath) hey man! hey peter. (unenthusiastic) oh... ha ha ha! joanne? is that you? it's me...

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an attempt to save florida coral is wrecking the reef instead. apparently they didn't think through what sea water does to metal. here's barry petersen. >> reporter: they're off before dawn. diver thomas pennypacker is on a rescue mission off the coast of ft. lauderdale, saving a piece of florida's natural coral reef, from this, as massive 35-acre

it started as a way to get rid of tires plugging up landfills back in 1970. up to two million tires bundled by metal clips were dumped here to create an artificial reef. the hope was that they would spur coral growth and attract fish, all good for the environment. really good idea? really bad outcome. the clips rusted away. the tires broke free. storms and constant ocean currents keep the tires moving, dragging across and damaging the fragile living reef nearby, says alex delgado, the dive coordinator. >> right now, it's just a wasteland. it's tires everywhere. and now we need to correct it before it does additional damage. >> reporter: down below here is the priority zone, where they had as many as 300,000 tires, but the tires have really spread throughout this area, all the way as far as the beaches of ft. lauderdale. >> how you doing down there? >> now, we're in a pretty good

spot. >> reporter: surrounded by a seemingly endless mound of tires, pennypacker slings them onto lines to be hauled up by a crane. until he and his team fetch as many as 600 on a good day. it's a race against time. pat quinn is the natural resources specialist for broward county. >> they won't break apart in our lifetime. >> reporter: so if you don't get them out of there, they're just going to be there. >> forever. >> reporter: so far, florida state funding will bring the number of recovered tires to about 160,000. not enough, say experts, to protect a reef 7,000 years in the making. barry petersen, cbs news, off the coast of ft. lauderdale. still ahead, years after his

setting records. see you on the other side, ray. >> nice working with you, dr. venkman. >> bill murray and dan aykroyd in "ghostbusters," one of 20 classic movies added today at the film registry at the library of congress, films preserved due to their cultural importance. the list includes "top gun," "l.a. confidential," and "the shawshank redemption" with tim robbins and morgan freeman. >> i guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. get busy living...or get busy dying. >> fans of michael jackson got busy buying his 1982 masterpiece. today, "thriller" became the first album to go platinum 30 times over. 30 million sold in the u.s., more than a million since jackson died in 2009.

national zoo. every day it's getting closer going faster than a roller coaster a love like yours will surely come my way hey, hey, hey babies aren't fully developed until at least 39 weeks. if your pregnancy is healthy, wait for labor to begin on its own. a healthy baby is worth the wait. o0 c1 travel is part of the american way of life. when we're on vacation,

we keep an eye out for anything that looks out of place. [ indistinct conversations ] miss, your bag. when we travel from city to city, we pay attention to our surroundings. [ cheering ] everyone plays a role in keeping our community safe. whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, be aware of your surroundings. if you see something suspicious,

the new baby at the national zoo, a baby pada, made its public debut today, so we sent cub reporter chip reid for a look. >> reporter: getting introduced to the media at four months old is something usually reserved for royalty. well, that's exactly what bei bei is, the prince of cute. millions of panda lovers have watched him grow up on the national zoo's panda-cam, from birth when he was completely helpless to where he is today, which is just mostly helpless. doctors say he's in perfect health and give much of the credit to mom, who endlessly plays with him, carries him over rocks, slides him across the floor, and nuzzles him to sleep.

brandie smith is in charge of animal care at the zoo. >> right now, he is entirely dependent upon her, so he's not eating any solid food. she's nursing him. that's where he gets all of his nutrients. everything comes from mom right now. >> reporter: today mom, or may shong, spent much of her time outside, leaving bei bei in the media glare with his keeper, juan roddriguez, known to bei bei's adoring fans as the luckiest man in the world. do a lot of people tell you, "i want your job"? >> yeah, yeah. pretty much every day. being able to work with these guys, it just puts a smile on your face. i mean, you just can't get enough of it. >> reporter: the public will get to see bei bei in person starting next month. today, after most of the media throng left, may shong finally returned and those remaining were treated to this-- the soft embrace of a mother's love. chip reid, cbs news, washington. >> and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us

just a little bit later for the morning news and, of course, "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new

this is the "cbs overnight news." is >> hi, everyone, and welcome to the "overnight news." public school students in los angeles are back in class after the entire school system was shut down for a day because of a fake terror threat. the high school kid also be wrapping up their finals with the holiday recess start thing weekend. and the threat of a terror strike took center stage in las vegas, and the gop presidential candidates squared off for their final debate of the year. major garrett has the story. >> reporter: the debate was an instant capsule. a primetime event which the specter of terrorism and the nation's fears about it overshadowed every other topic. in the end, offered an anxious nation a promise, one that could be distilled into one word, or phrase. >> we will keep america safe. >> safe. >> safe. >> safe.

>> we're talking about security. >> reporter: the competition to be tougher on national security never ended, and jeb bush, running in low single digits, forced his way back into the conversation by repeatedly challenging donald trump. >> this is a tough business -- >> you're a tough guy, jeb. >> and we need to have a leader -- you're never going to be president of the united states by insulting your way. >> let's see, i'm at 43%, you're at 3%. >> reporter: ted cruz and marco rubio clashed over national security and border control. cruz accused rubio for supporting a path to citizenship, branding it amnesty. >> does ted cruz rule out legalizing people in this country now? >> i've never supported legalization, and i do not intend to support legalization. >> reporter: calling the senator's fights irrelevant, chris christie said his experience as a post 9/11 u.s. attorney and new jersey governor

>> this is what it's like to be on the floor of the united states senate. i mean, endless debates about how many angels on the head of a pin for people that have never had to make a consequence shall decision. >> i think when people discover he wants to get rid of the first amendment to the constitution, they might say, oh, my god. >> reporter: we asked trump what he valued more, security or the bill of rights. >> i've always come down on the side of security. >> reporter: even if it means doing something to encroach on the bill of rights? >> i hate it, i hate the concept of it, but we are dealing with some very bad dudes. i'm committed to the republican party.

i feel honored to be the front-runner. >> reporter: trump senior advisers said trump had always been clear he would run as a republican, not consider a third party race. trump made the announcement tonight that he now sees a clear path to the nomination. the city of flint, michigan is in a state of emergency. high levels of lead were found in the tap water. adriana diaz has a report on how this crisis unfolded. >> reporter: when officials tapped into the flint river here for the city's drinking water, the strong chemicals corroded the pipes, contaminating the water with lead. by the time the city switched back to the original water source, families said the damage was already done. >> when i hear my son give up at night and cry because his bones hurt, and there's nothing i can give him, there's nothing i can do for him to take away his pain, i feel completely

helpless. >> reporter: for nearly five months, melissa and her family drank the water, unaware there was lead in it. maze says she noticed a change in her three children. convulsions, skin lesions, memory and hair loss. >> my heartbreaks, because i handed them the water. >> reporter: last month, maze and other residents filed a class action lawsuit, accusing officials of not proper sampling the flint river water and delaying and notifying the publish of serious safety and health risks. they called the city's false denials about the safety of the water deadly and arrogant. >> they continually said the water is safe to drink. >> reporter: the water problems started in the spring of 2014 when flint moved its water supply to the flint river. it was supposed to save the city about $15 million a year.

flint's children under the age of 5 nearly doubled, according to a study by a local center. in october, officials declared unfiltered water unsafe to drink. shortly after, flint had to switch back to the detroit water supply. flint's new mayor, karen weaver, says the city needs to fix its decaying infrastructure. >> we made that switch to the flimt water, we damaged the flights. there was no corrosion control in place. >> reporter: the world health organization declares any lead in the body unsafe. and particularly toxic to young children. severe cases of exposure may cause mental disabilities and behavior difficulties. do you feel helpless in this situation? >> i can make nightmares go away. i can't fix this and i can't make this go away. >> reporter: the mayor says

could cost $1 billion. she hopes declaring a state of emergency will unlock state and federal funding, but it's not her call. the cash strapped state and federal government have to approve her request. president obama has been telling people to enjoy the holidays and not to worry about a possible terror attack. experts say fear can have a real effect on your health, and our doctor, jon lapook, got the lowdown from justin sinclair. >> one of the things that is different about this, you know, this threat, is that, again, it's ongoing. people can't know when and where or how it's going to happen. it's this thing that never ends, it's everywhere. >> reporter: how does that affect their lives? >> they tend to avoid different aspects of their lives. they fly less, they ride on public transportation less. they go into public settings less. there's been research that's shown that they have a tendency to engage people from different

they even consume media less, ironically. >> reporter: what have you learned over the last ten years of studying this that might surprise people? >> how potent fear can be in terms of altering people's lives. and the impact that it can have in different aspects of life, whether it's making decisions about a president, whether it's supporting different policies that are important socially, or even down to sort of how people live their everyday lives. >> reporter: is there a danger of people in society changing their behavior because of terrorism? >> yeah, it changes the structure of our country. it changes the structure of our government. fear can maybe even change things in ways that weren't consistent how the country was founded originally. >> reporter: as a psychologist, is there some insight into that? >> i think fear moves people to become much more polarized in their viewpoints, and i think fear motivates people to go to

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well, the wait is nearly over for "star wars" fans. it's the first new "star wars" fill nm a decade and it's got a new director, j.j. abrams. as bill whitaker reports, abrams is under enormous pressure to make sure the movie hits all the right notes. >> reporter: six weeks before the premiere, we dropped in on a hollywood scoring session for "the force awakens." the composer, who won an academy award for the first film, was back. along with the iconic refrain he wrote 38 years ago. take a look behind williams. that's not some awe-struck groupie.

that's the director, j.j. abrams. i saw you up here with your video camera. >> this is momentous. john williams conducting his "star wars" music. as a fan, i can't believe i get to be here. >> reporter: abrams saw "star wars" when 4e6she was 11. on this day, he was racing around the sound stage. >> it's incredible. we may need to make the -- repeat those bars just because it might be a little longer before we get into the interior of the transport. >> reporter: i see you running around. >> really? i felt so confident.

>> reporter: this is you calm? >> yeah. >> reporter: is it intimidating in any way? >> oh, yeah. oh, yeah. [ laughter ] it's moments of just abject terror as to what we're all taking on. >> reporter: what he's taking on is this, "the force awakens." disney is counting on him to expand the "star wars" fans original vision. and the die hard fans, their expectations are out of this world. >> the force, it's calling to you. >> reporter: when the official trailer was posted online, it was viewed 112 million times in just 24 hours. >> nothing can stand in our way. >> talk about the force. the fans are a force to be reckoned with. it's intense. >> it is. >> reporter: it's not just the

>> it's bigger than all of us. it's almost a religion for people. >> reporter: what grabbed you about "star wars?" >> the experience of it was so profound and so moving, and so funny and so sweet, that for me, as a kid, it blew my mind, and it was just -- it said anything is possible. >> reporter: abrams has been working on "the force awakens" nonstop for three years. he's managed to keep a tight lid on it. this is one of the few clips disney has released. he told us his movie is set about 30 years after "run of the jedi," the final fill nm the first trilogy. at the end of that movie, the good guys had vanquished the empire, or so it seemed. >> the walkoff to the sunset is

always misleading, because then what? so one of the things you see in this movie is things didn't just end happily. and that the idea of the force, the dark and the light side, are at a classic "star wars" place, which is in a desperate moment. >> reporter: a moment which forces a new generation to step up. >> we can't outrun them. >> reporter: stepping into a new role, 23-year-old newcomer daisy. her character is rave, a desert scavenger. and john plays a disillusioned storm trooper. your universe seems to be a more race. what do you think the impact of that is going to be? >> when we started casting the movie, it felt incredibly important to me that the movie

this movie is being released. >> reporter: abrams didn't just direct the movie, he wrote it with lawrence casden, who wrote two of the original "star wars" with lucas. he knew from the start he would blend the new with the old, shooting in familiar far flung locales like this desert in abu dhabi. the explosions were real. were there times when you stepped back from being the director and you were just the fan on the set? >> it was very hard to be in the 125 degree heat in abu dhabi with actual storm troopers running through this village we had built, and not have moments constantly of "holy, what the -- i can't believe i'm here." it was constantly happening.

okay, let's do it and put that away, because the job was not to be a wide-eyed fan boy. the job was to be director of the movie. and action. >> reporter: as the director, he managed to cast a crew of almost a thousand. he set limits on computer generated imagery. most of abrams' creatures, like the new droid, bb 8, were crafted by hand, including his own. >> we knew we had to have a hero droid that was not a familiar one. >> you came up with the concept by sketching it out? >> i drew the bummest estmest estmest -- dumbest little thing. >> reporter: the sketch department made a puppet. >> the puppeteer came out and i

[ robot noises ] >> maybe we could connect them so they're not so different. >> reporter: only a handful of people have seen the finished film. one of them is abrams' wife of 19 years, katie. they have three children, a charitable foundation she oversees, and a harry met sally rapport. >> i love the movie, i really love the movie. and i'm sort of picky and i'm a little, you know -- >> honest. >> i'm honest. at the end of the day, this is a movie. this is not curing cancer or eradicating poverty. this is making a movie, right? right? that's what you believe, right? >> i'm sorry, she lost me after "this is just a movie." >> reporter: jeffrey jacob

abrams grew up not far from the big studios. but when he took a tour of a movie back lot at age 8, he knew he had found his calling. what in particular drew you to it? >> i think the thing that was so cool is it felt like a magic trip. it was every aspect of illusion, of creating something that seemed like it was actually happening and real. >> reporter: he picked up the family's home movie camera and tried his own slight of hand. he admits his earliest works weren't that good, but he got better. he won a teen film festival and got written up in "the los angeles times." that's him in the middle. the article caught the eye of steven spielberg. he reached out to the young

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...[inhale + exhale mnemonic]... ... , two more ways to breathe happy the airline industry has been having trouble finding new pilots. mostly because of the high cost of flight school. another problem -- kids don't know how much it can be to fly plane. but they are on a nationwide tour working to entice new recruits. john blackstone has this report. >> reporter: lifting off in formation, my life was in the hands of the pilot.

>> it's okay. i had my two coffees in the morning. perfect. >> reporter: flying at speeds up to 565 miles an hour. at times, just ten feet apart, the seven powerful l-39 albatros jets. marshond has flown with the team for years. air shows helped inspire you to fly? >> yeah. i began to attend air show when fs a kid. >> reporter: with their brand, the company is spreading the word. but the president of the company says there's another mission here. you also want them to discover aviation? >> that's actually probably our number one goal. and when you see these pilots flying those planes at air shows all over the country, you inspire people. >> reporter: and that inspiration could prove

some in the aviation industry are predicting a pilot shortage in america. so recruiting young people to the profession has been paramount. >> we would like aviation to flourish and be a little more popular. >> reporter: it's estimated some 21,000 pilot also be turning 65 and face mandatory retirement from the four major airlines. those jobs are often filled by military flyers or younger pilots moving up. but these case fewer people are pursuing careers in the cockpit. in part, because of the increasing cost of education and flight time. an investment of up to $200,000 to qualify to become a commercial pilot. cbs news aviation and safety expert captain sully sullenberg says what's really needed is raising pilot wages at regional airlines. >> it really doesn't make sense for entry level jobs in aviation to pay sometimes less than

$20,000 a year or just over $20,000 a year when it requires a lot of training. the major airlines must bear some responsibility for this current situation. >> reporter: what's on display here is the joy of flight. thomas, 17, and his 14-year-old sister have their hearts set on becoming pilots. is this any part of what made you want to fly? >> yes. sooz >> seeing them, maybe that can be me one day up there. >> reporter: and for one show i am part of the jet team, surviving tight turns, discovering that pulling 4 or 5 gs causes the blood in your head to rush south. >> we are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. >> reporter: hoping those extraordinary things makes someone else wan embarrassed by a prostate exam? imagine how your doctor feels.

so why do i do it? because i get paid. und... on this side of the glove i know prostate exams can save lives. so, if you are a man over 50, talk to you doctor to see if a prostate exam is right for you. if we can do it, so can you. cbs cares. want to do something special this holiday season? support i have a dream foundation. help a child achieve the dream of a higher education. cbs cares. organ donation can truly provide a second chance at life. find out how you can help someone in need be a real survivor. go to donatelife.net. cbs cares. want to do something special this christmas? support i have a dream foundation. help a child achieve the dream of a higher education.

the dream of visiting mars could soon become a reality. nasa is planning a manned mission to the red planet sometime in the 2030s, and the space agency has started recruiting youngsters who might want to take the trip. jan crawford reports from the national air and space museum in washington. >> reporter: we're inside a mod model of the discovery shuttle. if students like it, may they be able to apply. start thing week, nasa is opening up the application process for the next generation of space travel. >> going to mars, the human journey to mars is a renaissance. i think we've captivated not just the u.s., but the world. >> reporter: david newman hopes a record breaking number of qualified americans apply to nasa's astronaut class of 2017.

>> the back ground is really important. how are they as leaders? we have a rigorous applicant board. >> they must be a u.s. citizen with a bachelor's degree and three years of experience or 1,000 hours piloting a jet and the physical is another hurdle. is it a combination of highly intellectual but intensely physical? >> and also operational, and how you make decisions and work in teams. you're making critical decisions and you're making life and death decisions in space flight. >> reporter: there have been 338 nasa astronauts ranging in 26 to 46. of the 6300 who applied for the last class, only eight, four men, four women were chosen. that's about a 0.01% chance. pilot and nasa applicant melissa

>> for a pilot and someone that has a passion for travel in aviation, i can't imagine a better job than being an astronaut. >> reporter: candidate also spend one year training for space walks, undergoing mission simulations, all with a possibility of one day going to mars. it will take us about eight months to get there. it's round trip, so just under a couple years round trip and we'll be on the surface of mars for about 500 days searching for evidence of life, of past life. >> reporter: newman says a lot of the applicants grew up dreaming about being an astronaut. they got advanced degrees, they flew jets in the military. if you think you've got the right stuff, nasa is taking applications till february 18th. >> that's the "overnight news" for this thursday.