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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 volunteersf america and major league baseball players to help train and inspire the next generation of volununers. rlos pea: it's easy to start an action team at your school so you, too, can get in on the action.

if you were a hippie i the '60s, you need totonow. it's the dawning of the age of aquarius. yeah, and something elel that's cool. what? osteoporosis is preventable. all: osteo's preventable? right on! if you dig your bones, protect them.

another major story developing tonight, the historic flooding in the midwest. rivers are still rising in missouri and illinois. at least 21 people have been killed there. homes have been evacuated. the national guard called out. ananthe rivers are expececd to crcrt near st. louis tomorrow or friday. anna werner is in fenton, missouri, tonight. anna? >> reporter: good evening, jim. and this is what many neighborhoods in the st. louis metro area look like tonight. some are even getting out the boats to use for transportation. floodwaters here are rising more than one inch per hour, and residents are desperately trying to save their homes or simply escape. the sterling estates subdivision in arnold,outh of st. louis, sits ininhe spot where the overflowing meramec and mississippi rivers meet. as of this afternoon, half a

joining hundreds of others submerged in the st. louis area. and volunteers filled and stacked sandbags trying to save the rest. >> thanks. >> reporter: resident carla bryant helped organize the effort. >> there are homes, these are my neighbors. we've done everything we can, and we still can't beat it. >> reporter: december rains swelled rivers around st. louis and pushed water into nearby communities. the water was so high in this neighborhood, rescuers had to pluck a man and his dog off a rooftop. dozens of others were also rescued from stranded vehicles. officials issued evacuation orders for several communities, including valley park and west alton, on the banks of the mississippi, north of st. louis. in branson, the army corps of engineers opened the spillways at table rock dam in an effort to ease flooding along the white river.

waste water treatment plants with little success. there was simply too much water. this plant in fenton, missouri, had to be closed, and that meant untreated sewage was flowing into local streams and into the meramec. that the same river overflowing into carla bryant's neighborhood. >> tomorrow's another day. new year's is at the end of the week, so 2016's got to be better. >> reporte right now, the meramec river is expected to rise another foot and a half to a record 47 feet. that crest is expected to occur some time tomorrow afternoon, jim. >> anna, thank you very much. there were long lines again today at the nation's airports. bad weather delayed more than 5,500 flights. more than 370 were canceled all together. today, a mexican judge granted ethan coach, the "affluenza kid," a three-day delay in his deportation. his mother was sent back to texas. couch and his moer were arrested in mexico on mondnd after he skipped a probation

weeks on the run. couch killed four people in 2013 while drunk drivivg, avoiding jail with the defense that his wealthy parents hadn't taught him right from wrong. after a series of deadly police shootings, today, chicago mayor rahm emanuel said officers should only use guns as a last option. adriana diaz reports the mayor is revamping police training. >> reporter: rahm emanuel utepped before the cameras as a mar under a spotlight,ith a police department in crisis. >> ultimately, what we are doing is injecting some humanity into the work of our police department and the pole officers. >> reportete the mayor called the new policies a dramatic shift in police practices. he is doubling the number of tasers for officers to 1,400. increasing desk duty for police involved in shootings from three days to 30. and focusing on de-escalation training to reduce the number of police-involved shootings. tensions boiled over last month

video showing officer jason van dyke killing 17-year-old laquan mcdodold in october 2014. protesters have taken to the streets, demanding the mayor resign. andy shaw,w,ho heads the better r government association, says that's not likely to happen. >> he's trying to save his reputation and his legacy, and he's also trying to save a city in crisis. >> reporter: one made worse by this weekeke's fatal shooting of 55-year-old bettie jones. she was accidentally shot as officers opened fire on 19-year- old quintonio legrier during a domestic disturbance call. >> what about the taser? taser him down. don't t art shooting people, innocent people! >> reporter: that's a problem the mayor hopes today's announcement will solve. >> there's a difference between whether someone can use a gun and when they should use a gun. and we as a city must train for that difference. >> reporter: on average, one

police in chicago. jim, this month, the justice department stepped in to investigate patterns in the police department's use of force. their initial report should be out in a year. >> adriana diaz covering fors tonight in chicago. thank you. four secect service agents were seriously hurt in a head-on collision in new hampshire last night. the driver of the other car was killed. the agents had been assigned to a hillary clinton campaign event. in the presidential campaign today, the republican front- runner kept on firing at the top democrat and her husband. here's major garrett. >> reporter: at a rally in south carolina, donald t tmp said he's ready for a woman president, just not hillary clinton. >> i love, love, love having a woman president. can't be her. she's horrible. >> reporter: accused by clinton of using sexist rhetoric, trump again brought up former president bill clinton's marital infidelities. >> and she wants to accuse me of things, and the husband's one of the e eat abusers of the world? give me a break. give me a break.

>> reporter: trump invited reporters aboard his elegant private jet tuesday. >> try not to crash the woodwork if possible. >eporter: to announcecee would start spending $2 million a week on tv ads. >> we're going to be talking about a lot of things, including the border, including trade, including isis and security for the country. >> reporter: with a little over a month before the first voting begins, republicans hoping to be the mainstream alternative to trump have turned on each other. the superpac supporting jeb sh attacked marco rubio for missing nate votes to campaiai and fund-raise. >> politics first. that's the rubio way. >> reporter: chris christie joined in, saying rubio should have flown to washington to vote against the fecently passed budget bill. >> the vote happened and that's my observation, and it's-- it's hardly an attack. if marco's that thin-skinned, he doesn't belong in this business. >> reporter: rubio said his fellow candidates are getting increasingly desperate. >> chris chrisise is a funny guy but he's never in new jersey. he's gone half the time. >> reporter: a recent c-span

votes than any senator running for president. and jim, bush pulled a a tv ads in iowa and south carolina, and sent most of his national staff to those early voting states to help save his flagging campaign. >> major garrett, thank you very much. in new york city today, a final salute for a fallen hero. thousands of police officers and u.s. service members linedhe streets near st. patrick's cathedral for aiaiforce national guardsman and nypd detective joseph lemm. he and five others were killed last week in a bombing near bagram airbase in afghanistan. lemm's four-year-o-o son wore his father's hat and saluted his dad. california's drought has killed mlions of trees. we've got the highech pictures torove it. and why y many seals and sea a lions are in distress.

right back. some undeniable good news s from the recent storms in the western u.s. the snow pack in the sierra nevada mountains is significantly abovthe average for this time of year. t that's not enough h reverse the damage from california's historic drought. as ben tracy reports, a staggering number of california's trees are dying. >> reporter: this high-tech flyingngaboratory has been soaring over california, measuring the impact of four

>> there's a lot of red on ts screen. which is a sign thth we're over ananrea that's in trouble. >> reporter: scientist greg asner says his team has made a startling discovery-- 888 million trees in california's forests have seen measurablele water loss since the drought began. you're basically saying the drought has impacted nearly one billion trees in california. >> that's correct. >> reporter: they can be this precise because their plane is equiuied with state-of-the-art lasers that scanned 15 acres of forest every second. it's like having x-ray vision that produces these first-of- their-kind 3d imagag of the health of every single tree in the forest. the red areas on this map show severely drought-stressed trees. blue areas are healthier. your equipment reads how much moisture is in each individual tree?? >> yeah. the measurement is focused on how much water is in the foliage itself. it's like getting a blood test. it's really one of the key indicators of the health of a

>> reporter: the u.s. forest service says more e an 29 million trees have already died. asner's team has determined that 58 million more are on the brink. these severely stressed trees, are ey passed the point of no return or are they recoverabab? >> we don't know whether a stressed tree is going to absolutely succumb and be gone or if it's going to bounce back over time. >> reporter: the hope is that el nino-fueled storms will bring much-needed rain. in the meantime, these new maps will help the forest service know which areas are most vulnerable and wildfire officials know where the greatest risks are. ben tracy, cbs news, sacramento. >> the white house is sharing

that's coming up. the north pole is famous for extreme temperatures, but not these kind of extremes. 34 drees today in north pole,

alaska. even at the real north pole it was 33 degrees. that is 50 degrees above normal and the first time it's been above freezing in december in 13 years. off california, thwarm waters of el nino have chased away the fish that seals and sea lions rely on for food. at least 4,200 starving sea lions have washed ashore this year and the situation is expected to get worse this winter as ocean temperatures rise. today, the white house released the gallery of president obama's year in pictures. among the chief photographer's favorite shots, this snuggle with the first lady. the father-daughter chat where malia tells dad he's got something ononis face. the selfie two brothers will never forget. a bride and groom greeting an unexpected guest at their wedding. and the one where jerry seinfeld came knockinin two kids may have figured out ththbest way to honor america's service members.

chest pain, like there's a ton of weight on your chest. severehortness 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 e gns 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 onon combat patrol in baqubah, iraq, a rocketetropelled 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 totoe with ththwounded warrior projojt. 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 norore, and yes, i do suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,

we end tonight with a salute to a pair of determined young ladies. chip reid tells us they've been saluting american heroes and their families for years. >> reporter: 10 years ago, rachel okun, then 10, and her ster, kelsi, who wasight, told their parents they had a big idea. they wanted to say t tnk you to the troops in iraq and afghanistan by offering scholarships to their spouses and children. th some parental asstance, the precocious girls created their own charity y lled t.h.a.n.k.s. usa, and soon they were online asking for money. in 2009, when cbs news paid a

raised a stunning $5 million. >> i've been able to see that really any person can make a difference, and what you give out to the world you get back 10 timeme you know, fold. >> reporter: now, rachelle is in college, kelsi is a high school senior, and t.h.a.n.k.s. usa is still going strong. how much money have you raised so far?? >> we just cleared the $10 million mark. >> reporter: $10 million. >> yeah. >> reporter: y, $10.3 million from an idea that began in a didier table conversatioio the money is raised through individual and corporate donations, golf and tennis tournaments, and an annual treasure hunt. so far, t.h.a.n.k.s. usa has given militaryryamily members more than 3,400 scholarships of $3,000 each. what do you think about that organization? >> i love it. >> reporter: with the help of t.h.a.n.k.s. u u, kelly estep will soon get her bachelor's degree and then plans to get a

her husband was killed in iraq in 2005. >> from my experience, i want to flip that into something positive and give back to the military and be there for other families that lose a loved one, son or daughter, husband, you know, wife. >> r rorter: it's a story of giving back that began 10 years ago with two young girls. >> you can change the world. >> one heart at a time. >> reporter: and a message that's as true today as it was then. chip reid, cbs news, mclean, virginia. and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from the broadcast c cter in new

thisiss the "cbs overnightht news." hi, everyone. welcome to the "overnight news." i'm demarco morgan. for years, comedian bill cosby has beaten back dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct by pointing to a simple fact -- he had never been charged with any crime. well, that's all charged. jericka duncan reports. >> mr. cosby, do you want to say anything? >> reporter: this afternoon, attorneys for comedian bill cosby walked him into this small courthouse in elkins park, pennsylvania, to hear the criminal, sexual assault charges against him. his accuser is andrea constand, a former temple university employee who first told police about the alleged incident over a decade ago. constand says in the winter of

fofocareer advice. cosby offered, and she took, three blue pills and wine to relax. in the criminal complaint released today, e told police within a half hour, she experienced, "blurred vision and difficulty speaking." her legs felt rubbery, like jelly, and she had no sense of time. she says though she was unable totoove or speak, she fefe cosby fondle her breasts and vagina, and woke up about 4:00 the next morning, still in his home. prosecutor kevin steele: >> the victim came to consider mr. cosby hehementor and her friend. today, after examination of all the evidence, we areble to seek justice on behalf of the victim. >> reporter: when cosby was questioned by police back in 2005, he admitted the two had sexual contact but said he had given constand the allergy pill nadryl and that the e ntact was consensual.

attorney announced no criminal charges, citing lack of evidence. but investigators reopened her case this past summer after a judge unsealed portions of depositions from the civil suit constand filed in 2005, in which cosby admitted giving drugs to women. constand's attorney asked cosby, "when you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women you wanted to have & sex with?" cosbreplied, "yes." he later said he misunderstood the question. the civil suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount of money. in the past year, more than 50 women have accused cosby of sexual assault, many of whom posed for this cover story in "new york magazine's" july edition. victoria valentiono is one of the accusers. >> w wl, we were absolutely

and just elated. i can't-- i can't find a better wordor it. >> mr. cosby, did you drug that woman? >> reporter: 78-year-old cosby was able to leave jail after posting 10% of his $1 million bail and giving up his p psport. cosby didn't have anything to say when he left this courthouse, but later this evening, his attorneyseleased a statement that reads in part: it could be a whe before the affluenza teen ethan couch and his mother return to texas. couch family attorneys convinced a mexican judge to delay his deportation for at least three days, claiming his rights were being vielated. couch and his mother fled to

showed him violating his probation after he killed four people driving drunk. omar villareal is in ft. worth. >> reporter: according to reports, couch a his mother made a call to domino's pizza. thatat what tipped off u.s.s investigators. mexican officials went to the location of the call, which happened to be a resort. once they were there, they were to the pair relocated to a $350 a night apartrtnt in a more discrete location. officials say ethan couch had a going away party of sorts before fleeing town with his mother. during the three-week chase federal and state investigators followed dozens of sightings. some of which were false, and a tip that the mother and son had drdren this pickup truckcko the mexican border. >> christmas eve is about the time that i think the really concrete information came in. the problem with it was, as you can imagine, a tremendous amount of tourists at christmastime.

mexican authorities helping with the investigation to this apartment comple according to reports, couch and his mother moved here after first staying at a resort. a picture reveals that he had dyed his blonde hair black. couch disappearereearlier this month, shortly after this video was posted to twitter. it appears to show him at a party with drinking, possibly violating his ten-year probation. in 2013, when couch was 16, he killed four people and paralyzed another in a drunk driving crash. during the trial, his defense argued that he suffered from affluenza, a controversial condition of his privileged, wealthy upbringing that failed to teach him responsibility. todd clement is an attorney representing the victim's families. >> there's no question that ethan couch was raised in a way ere he was taught to avoid responsibility, that he was taught that the rules don't apply to him and his family.

that indeed they do apply. millions of americans are bracing for a tragic new year as rain and swollen rivers threaten to burst their banks throughout the midwest. the b bgest is the mississippi, which is poised to crest at or above record levels. three days of downpours dumped about a foot of rain and led to the deathsf at least two dozen people in missouri, arkansas, oklahoma. several towns have been evacuated. anna werner is in texas. >> reporler: the water has surrounded west alton, missouri, where residen were told tuesday it's time to lve. >> wemptied our basement out of anything important. we cleaned out the house o o clothes.s. >> reporter: as the mississippi river threatens st. louis county, it took teamwork to fill 20,000 sandbags. officials pleaded for help and the community responded. >> just like the movie "field of dreams." if you buiui it, they'll come. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers is monitoring 19

mississippi river and tributaries. in the shadow of the gateway arch during the city's wettest year, the mighty mississippi is expected to crest at over 43 feet, close to its second highest level ever. missouri governor janixon -- >> water levels in some locations are predicted to exceed the historic crest during the great flood of 1993. >> reporr: this was hannibal, missouri, in july 1993 when the river crested 22 feet above flood stage. nine states saw flooding, 50 people died. nearly 150 major rivers and tributaries before affected. d the flood waters c csed a spectaclcl >> i drove in from kansas just just to come over here and look at this. >> reporter: after flooding pushed untreated sewage into tivers and streams, residents of high ridge, missouri fortified their trtrtment plant to keep the flood out of the drinking water supply to thousands.

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>the flooding in the e dwest along with heavy snowfall in the pacific northwest and record high temperatures in the northeast are all being attributed to the weather phenomena own as el nino. mark strassman has a look at el nino and what comes next. >> reporter: last christmas, buffalo looked like the north pole. this year, santa wore shorts. a few flakes finally fell last week, smashing a 116-year record for the longest streak with no snow. >> ho, ho, ho. >> reporter: in cities up and down theheast coast, christmasas eve was the warmest ever. it felt like summer in the big apple, with temperatures in the 70s. >> where's the nearest beach? >> oh, this is awesome. being able to see 70-degree weather in new york city on

cool to experience. >> o o of many record highghto be set. >> here in oregon, record-shattering rain. >> reporter: this month's wacky warm weather has broken more than a thousand records from coast to coast. >> this december has been exceptional for a lot of areas of the country. you look into the northwest where the rain and snow has been nonstop. the northeast, upper midwest, mid-atlantic, winter completely on pause and temperatures that are so far above average, they'll bebemashing records before we're done. >> eric, what's in store? >> reporter: eric fisher is chief meteorologist for cbs station wbz tvn boston. >> to me this is the most staggering thing. in the boston area, we'll see the coldest winter month ever recorded and the warmest winter month ever recorded in the same year in 144 years of records. >> reporter: take a look. essentially the nation's weather map is divided in half. in many eastern cities, temperatures are as high as 30 degrees above normal.

an it's been in years. two weeks ago, dangerous floods in oregon swallowed homes and prompted terrifying rescue missions. scientists say what's behind this weather madness, in part, is a phenomena that goes back millenia. you've heard its name -- el nino. >> el nino is about a ar-long warming that takeseslace along the equator in the eastern half of the tropical pacific. it's related to changes in the trade winds. they are weaker when that ocean warms up, and this is from the ast of south americacall the way out to the middle of the pacific ocean. >> reporter: nate mantua is a climate scientist with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration in santa cruz, this rain, when is the last time you saw this rain? >> you know, we've had very little of this in the last four yeyes. >> reporter: four years?

of el nino for 30 years. every four to seven years, he says those pacific trade winds weaken. >> and when that happens, there's a massive shift in rainfall patterns in the tropics. so wet places tend to be really dry. and normally dry places end up getting lots of rainfall. >> reporter: and this el nino, how significant or intense is it? >> the current el nino is among the three strongest since 1950, at least. >> r rorter: so strong, the effects of this el nino can be seen on every weather forecaster's radar the world over. >> this warm pattern, which is nonoonly at the surface e we're showing here, is over the pacific ocean and provides a tremendous amount of heat capacity to ive the whole circulation pattern, not only across the united states, but around the globe. >> reporter: howi >> reporter: louie is the director of the national weather

he says el nino causes the temperature of the pacific ocean to increase up to ten degrees and triggers a ripple effect across the globe. so simplistically, wetter than usual over here, warmer r an usual over here. >> yes. wetter than normal in here. and as we see the el nino pattern develop, we should see a more active storm track along the south. so wetter and warmer up in this area here. >> reporter: as if right on cue, over the last five days, killer tornados swept a aoss the south, killing more than 20 people from texas to tennessee. the house is gone? >> yes. >> reporter: what are you going to do? >> i'm going to try to rebuild. >> here? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: what to you is woreysome about l this? >> there are parts of the globe that are impacted by el nino that do suffer from those

increased drying in brazil and indonesia with the possibility of forest fires. increased precipitation over africa, , ntral africa to eastst africa, which lends itself to the increased likelihood of disease outbreaks like malaria and dengue fever. >> reporter: but can these alarming weather events also be blamed on climate change? scientists say not so fast. >> maybe it adds a couple more warmer days or makes the wmest temperatures a little warmer. i don't think you can say just because it's a warming world - we're seeing a record warm december. we might be enhancing the pattern by a l ltle bit. >> reporter: in california, oceans that were already warming are getting even hotter. and that has created a crisis for e creatures who live in it. >> 2015 has been one for the record books. typically, we rescue 60, 100 animals. we're almost to 1800.

here. he says in the past two years, 90% of california's sea lion and first seal pups have died. give me a sense of what is going on out in their natural habitats that has brought about this crisis? >> because this water is so warm, it's pushed all the feeder fish, the foraging fish for r e mothers further out to sea, deeper out in the water. what it's come down to is all the animals have a lack of food. there's not enough food in this area f f them right now. >> reporter: relief will come eventually. because historically, el nino is followed by la nina, characterized by cooler ocean tempererures. but at least for the next few months, the world will continue to feel el nino's effects, both on land and in the ocean.iquid that lasts for twelve h hrs? trtrdelsym twelve hour cough liquid.

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on the campaign trail, donald trump continues to lead the pack in the race for the gop presidential nom -- nomination. and so far, the billionaire has been doing it without spending a lot of his own money. that's all about to change. major garrett hahathe story. >> reportete donald trump played squire aboard d s private jet, inviting reporters for an on board press conference, but reminding them not to scratch anything. trump promised to spend $2 million a weekn campaign ads over the next month.

far behind trump ignored the front-runner and started attacking each other. >> madame president, can you imagine? oh, oh. believe me, women -- if it's got to be a woman, which i'm all in favor of some day, it shouldn't be hillary. >> reporter: at a rally in iowa last night, dona trump aimed most of his barbs at hillary clinton, but made a noteworthy pitch to evangelical christians, who made up more than half of the gop caucus turnout in 2012. >> to o e best of my knowleded, not too many evangelicals come out of cuba. just remember that. just remember. in all fairness, here we are. >> reporter: senators marco rubio and ted cruzuz bothh of cuban descent, are trump's closest competitors in iowa. aboard his personal jet earlier -- >> try not to crash the woodwork, if possible. >> reporter: trump says he will soon hit the airwaves. because he d dsn't want to risk losing momentum. >> i'll be spendndg a minimum of $2 million a week, big ads in

carolina. >> reporter: republicans vying to become the main stream alternative to trump battled each other. the superpac supporting jeb bush denounced rubio's senate absenteeism. >> rubio has missed impornt national security hearings and missed more total votes than any other senator. >> reporter: rubio pointed to millions already wasted by bush backers. >> millions of spending and not change his fortunes. he'secome increasingly negative in his attacks. this i inot new. >> reporter: anothererd criticized chris christie and john kasich for expanding obamacare in their states. >> which governor led the fight to stop obamacare expansion in his state? >> reporter: chris christie joined the jousting, questioning his rival's qualifications. >> we do not want another president who sits in the chair in the oval office on the first day and spins around and says, gee whiz, isn't it great i'm president? >> reporter: former new york governor george pataki quit the gop race yesterday, reducing the field of remaining republican

pataki registered 1% in some iowa polls and rarely made a ripple in the undercard televised debates. >> the presidential field stands at 15, three democrats and a dozen republicans. and as they scramble for airtime, the candidates have statements. fact cheheers are having field day. jan crawford reports. >> read my lips, no new taxes. >> if you like your plan, keep your plan. >> reporter: in presidential politics, the whoppers can be legendary. >> i did not have sexual relations with that woman. >> those people got to know whether or not their president is a crook. well, i'm not a crook. >> reporter: in this year's presidential campaign, the fact checkers say one candidate has achieved truth bending royalty. >> this is the first time we have named someone the king of whoppers.

that crown, says eugene kylie of factcheck.org with the biggest whopper of 2015. >> and i watchededn jersey city, new jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. >> reporter: the fact checkers found evevence of only a few celebrating. but that wasn't the only trump tall tale of the year. >> he's certainly keeping us busy. it is the worst wee seen in the 12 years we've been doing this. >> you k kw, the president is thinking about signing an executive order where he wants to take your guns away. >> reporter: but in 2015, trump didn't have the whopper monovoly. >> that was a mistake, i'm sorry about that. i take responsnsility. >> reporter: democratic front-runner hillary clinton had her share. most notably her attempts to explain why she had a private e-mail server. >> i saw it a matter of convenience, and it was allowed. others had done it. >> none of them had a private server. >> reporter: and then she told a

whoppers. >> he's becoming isis' best t recruiuir. they are going to people, showing videos of donald trump insulting islam mnd muslims in order to recruit mororradical jihadists. >> reporter: trump wasn't alone in calling that false. so did the fact checkers. republican contender ted cruz got dinged for disininfellow candidate marco rubio on immigration. >> one of the most troubling aspes of the gang of eight bill is it gave president obama blanket authority admit refugees, including syrian refugees. >> that's simply not true. >> reporter: and bernie sanders linked climate change to terrorism. >> climate cnge is directly related to t t growth of terrorism. this is what the cia says. >> reporter: with so many candidates, 2015 has kept fact checkers working around the clock.

they want to know the facts.ng pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 ybcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 690 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing p p17 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.esting pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnmnqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrststwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testing pc- cbs captn test !!! maint. testing pc-17 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test !!! maint. testingngc-17 f1 ababefghijklmnopqrstuvwxwx 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- f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 678 's ryan's cellllhone. gibbs: isolate calls from psy-ops, government-issued lines. there's five or six different numbers here. cross-reference with incoming g lls 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'tnow how to help him.m. 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 prevenenon 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.

it won't b b longg now before a million people start pouring into the crossroads of the world, new york city's times square. it's the biggest new year's eve party in the world and requires a massive security operation to keep things safe. don dahler is in times square where the nypd unveiled its plans. >> reporter: the new york police department began preparations for this year's new ye's eve. when the last piece of cfetti fell last year, with the threat of global terrorism looming, security is more inten than ever before. some measures you can see. some measures you can't. when the clock strikes 12 this new year's eve, the new york police department wants times square to be the most secure place in the world. >> we are very, very confident that newewear's eve in new yoror city will be the safest place in

>> reporter: roughly 6,000 police officers will guard the heart of manhattan. hureds of police officics with long guns,s,adiation detectors and bomb sniffing dogs. snipers and helicopters will also be on patrol. at a new operation center in manhattan, officers will monitor thousandndof camera feeds. this y yr, the nypd set up a a specialized counterterrorism unit with more than 500 highly trained cops. officials say there are no credible threats to new york city, but deadly attacks in paris ansan bernardino have raised the level of fear. >> we are aware that the t teat picture has changed because of isis. that's why we have enlarged our capabilities here in the city with these additional units. >> reporter: spectators will not be allowed to bring in large` bags, backpacks nor alcohol. the nypd issued some 20,000 smartphones to officers so that they could have quicker response and share information about any potential threats. that's'she "overnight news" " for this new year's eve,

continues. for others, check back with us a little later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center here in new york city, i'm demarco

criminal charges against a man n ce known as "america's dad." bill cosby, accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman. >> the reaction of the victim-- frozen, pararazed, unable to moveve also tonight, the furious effort to hold back rising rivers in missouri. donald trump keeps firing at hillary and bill clintnt. and two kids, one big idea-- helping thousands go to college. >> what you give out to the world you get back 10 times, you know, fold. this is the "cbs overnight news." >> scott pelley is off tonight. i'm jim axelrod. dozens of women have accuseded bill cosby of sexually assaulting them, but today for the first time, the comedian, actor, and longtime moral crusader was charged criminally, a felony c cnt of aggravated

before the statute of limitations was due to ruv out. if convicted, cosby, who is 78 years old, could face five to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. tonight, he's free on $1 million bail. jericka duncan reports from suburbun philadelphia. >> mr. cosby, do you want to say anything? >> reporter: this afternoon, attorneys for comedian bill cosby walked him into this small courthouse in elkins park, pennsylvania, to hear the criminal sexual assault charges against him. his accuser is andrea constand, a former temple university employee w first told police about the alleged incident over a dedede ago. constand says in the winter of 2004, she went to cosby's house for career advice. sby offered, and she took, three blbl pills and wine to relax. in the criminal complaint released today, she told police within a half hour, she

difficulty speaking." her legsgselt rubbery, like jelly, and she had no sense of time. she says though she was unable to move or speak, she lt cosby fondle her breasts and vagina, and woke up about 4:00 the nexex morning, still in his home. prosecutor kevin steele: >> the victim came to consider mr. cosby her mentor and her friend. today, after examination of all the evidence, we are able to seek justice on behalf of the viim. >> reporr: when cosby was questionededy police back in 2005, he admitted the two had sexual contact but said he had given constand the allergy pill benadryl and that the contact was consensual. at the time, the district atatrney announced no crcrinal charges, citing lack of evidence. buinvestigators reopened her case this past summer after a dge unsealed portiononof

constand filed in 2005, in which cosby admitted giving drugs to women. constand's attorney asked cosby, "when you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women you wanted to have sex with?" cosby replied, "yes." he later said he misunderstood the question. the civil suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount of money. in the past year, mofe than 50 women have accused c cby of sexual assault, many of whom posed for this cover story in "new york magazine's" july edition. victoria valentiono is one of the accusers. >> well, we were absolutely elated, vindicated, validated, and just elated. i can't-- i can't find a better word for it. >> mr. cosby, did you drug that woman? >> reporter: 78-year-old cosby was able to leave jail after

bail and giving up his passport. cosby didn't have anything t say when he left this courthouse, but later this evening, his aorneys released a statement that reads in part: jim, cosby is expected to appear back in court for preliminary y hearing on january 14. >> jericka, thank you. cosby's arraignment comes at the beginning of the criminal judicial process, not the end. but the idea of cosby charged with a sex crime would have been unfathomable a generation ago when he out-polled ronald reagan, billy graham, and pope john paul ii as america's most trusted and admired man. more than 30 million people tuned in each week to watch "the

>> why, sir? >> the first african-american male lead in a tv drama, "i spy," in 1965. >> how much? >> hey, hey, hey! >> the creator of the beloved kid show "fat albert." i'm going to sing a song for you >> if you're in there, you sure are terrific. >> the pitch man who was madison avenue magic. >> you mean it was. >> and a man who at one time held more than 50 honorary degrees. bill cosby is now center stage as the subject of a great american fall from grace. >> bill cosby never seemed like he was playing a character. he was this, you know, great husband. he was this wonderful family n. >> renee graham is a contributing opinion writer for the "boston globe." >> he was a finger-wagging moralist criticizing comedians who used profanity or young black men whose pants were too low. and you have this man who seems to represent this way to live and how to be a good citizen of the world, and meanwhile, you now have allllhese allegations, and on top of the allegations, you now have a charge of sexual

>> and you think that makes this more significant, actually makes this historic? >> i think it does. everyone knew bill c cby. and i think generally, everyone had a really positive opinion of bill cosby. so when you have someone who is that high, the fall is going to be, you know, that much more devastating. >> now, of those 50 or so schools that gave cosby honorary degrees, at least a dozen have since rescinded them. there is breaking news tonight in calgary, canada. an air canada jet made an emergency landing after severe turbulence caused at least 20 injuries on board. fire officials say some passengers were taken off the plane by stretcher and taken to hospitals. the jet was bound from china to toronto when the problem occurred.

will be right back.

[ buzzing ] [ tree crashes ] [ wind howling ]

another major story developing tonight, the historic flooding in the midwest. rivers are still rising in missouri and illinois.s. at least 21 peopleleave been killed there. homes have been evacuated. the national guard called out. and the rivers are expected to crest near st. louis tomorrow or friday. anna werner is in fenton, missouri, tonight. anna? >> reporter: good evening, jim. and this is what many neighborhoods in the st. louis metro area look like tonigig. some a a even getting out the boats to use for transportation. floodwaters here are rising more than one inch per hour, and residents are desperately trying to save their homes or simply escape. the sterling estates subdivision in arnold, south of st. louis, sits in the spot where the overflowink meramec and mississippi rivers meet. as of this a aernoon, half a dozen homes here had been lost,

submerged in the st. louis area. and volunteers filled and stacked sandbags trying to save the rest. >> thanks. >> reporter: resident carla bryant helped organize the effort. >> there are homes, these are my neighbors. we've dodo everything we can, , and we still can't beat it. >> reporter: december rains swelled rivers around st. louis and pushedater into nearby communities. the water was so high in this neighborhood, rescuers h h to pluck a man and his dog off a rooftop. dozens of others were also rescued from stranded vehicles. officials issued evacuation orders for several communities, , including valley park and west alton, on the banks of the mississippi, north of st. louis. in brans, the army corps of engineers opens the spillways at table rock dam in an effort to ease flooding along the white river. workers tried sandbags at the

little success. there was simply too much water. this plant in fenton, missouri, had to be closed, and that meant untreated sewage was flowing into local streams and into the meramec. that's the same river overflowing into carla bryant's neighborhood. >> tomorrow's another day. new year's is at the end of the week, so 2016's got to be better. >> reporter: right now, the meramec river is expected to rise another foot and a half to a record 47 feet. that crest is expected to occur some time tomorrow afternoon, jim. >> anna, thank you very much. there e re long lines again n today at the nation's airports. bad weather delayed more than 5,500 flights. more than 370 were canceled all together. today, a mexican judge granted ethan coach, the "affluenza kid," a three-day delay in his deportation. his mother was sent back to texas. couch and his mother were arrestst in mexico on mondayay after he skipped a probation

weeks on the run. couch killed four people in 2013 while drunk driving, avoing jail with the defense that his wealthy parents s dn't taught him right frfr wrong.p after a series of deadly police shootings, today, chicago mayor rahm emanuel said officers should only use guns as a last option. adriana diaz reports the mayor is revamping police training. >> reporter: rahm emanuel stepped before the cameras as a mayor under a spotlight, with a police department in crisis. >> ultimately, what we are doing is injecting some humanity into the work of our police department and the police officers. >> reporter: the mayor called the new policies a d dmatic shift in police practices. he is doubling the number of tasers for officers to 1,400. increasing desk duty for police involved in shootings om three days to 30. and focucung on de-escalation n training to reduce the number of

tensions boiled over last month with the release of dash cam video showing officer jason van dyke killingng7-year-old laquan mcdonald in october 2014. protesters have taken to the streets, demanding the mayor resign. andy shaw, who heads the better governmentssociation, says that's not likely to happen. >> he's trying to save his reputation and his legacy, and he's also trying to save a city in crisis. >> reporter: one made worse by this weekend's fatal shooting of 55-year-old bettie jones. she was accidentally shot as officers opened fire on 19-year- old quintonio legrier during a domestic disturbance call. >> what about the taser? taser him down. don't start shooting people, innocent people! >> reporter: that's a problem the mayor hopes today's announcement will solve. >> there's a difference between whether someone can use a gun and when they should use a gun. and we as a city must train for that difference. >> reporter: on average, one person per week is shot by

jim, this month, the justice department steppededn to investigate patterns in the police department's use of force. their initial report should be out in a year. >> adriana diaz covering for us tonight in chicago. thank you. four secret service agents were serioioly hurt in a head-on collision in new hampshire last night. the driver of the other car was killed. the agents had been assigned to a hillary clinton campaign event. in the presidential campaign today, the republican front- runner kept on firing at the top democrat and her husband. here's major garrett. >> reporter: at a rally in south carolina, donald trump said he's ready for a woman president, just not hillary clinton. >> i love, love, love having a woman president. can't be her. she's horrible. >> reporter: accused by clinton of u ung sexist rhetoric, trump again brought up former president bill clinton's marital infidelities. >> and she wants to accuse me of things, and the husband's one of the great abusers of the world? give me a break.

[ applauau ] >> reporter: trump invited reporters aboard his elegant private jet tuesday. >> try not to crash the woodwork if possible. >> reporter: to annoce he would start spending $2 million a week on tv ads. >> we're g gng to be talking about a lot of things, including the border, including trade, including isis and security for the country. >> reporter: with a little over a month before the first voting begins, republicans s ping to be the mainstrere alternative to trump have turned on each other. the superpac supporting jeb bush attacked marco rubio for missing senate votes to campaign and fund-raise. >> politics first. that's the rubio way. >> reporter: chris christie joined in, saying rubio should have flown to washington to vote against the recebtly passed budget bill. >> the vote happened and thas my observation, and it's-- it's hardly an attack. if marco's that thin-skinned, he doesn't belong in this business. >> reporter: rubio said his fellow candidates are getting increasingly desperate. >> chris christie is a funny guy but he's n ner in new jersey. he's gone half the time. >> reporter: a recent c-span

for president. and jim, bush pulled all tv ads in iowa and south carolina, and sent most of his national staff to those early voting states to help save his flagging campaign. >> major garrett, thank you very much. in new york city today, a final salute for a fallen n ro. thousands of police officers and u.s. service members lined the streets near st. patrick's cathedral for air force national guardsman and nypd detective joseph lemm. he and five others were killed last week in a bombing near bagram airbase in afghanistan. lemm's four-year-old son wore his father's hat and saluted his dad. california's drought has killed millions of trees. we've got the high-tech pictures to prove it. and why so many seals and sea lions are in distress. the i did everything i could to make her party perfect. almost everything. you know, 1 i n 10 houses could get hit by

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some undeniable good news from the recect storms in the western u.s. the snow pack in the sierra nevada mountains is significantly above the average for this time of year. but that's not enonoh to reverse the damage from california's historic drought. as ben tracy reports, a staggering number of lifornia's trees are dying. >> reporter: this high-tech flying laboratory has been soaring over califorora, measuring the impact of four

>> there's a lot of red on this screen. which is a sign that we're over an area that's in trouble. >> reporter:cientist greg asner says his team has made a startling discovery-- 888 million trees in california's forests have seen measurable water loss since the drought began. you're basically saying the drought has impacted nearly one billion trees in california. >> that's correct. >> reporter: they can be this precise because their plane is equipped with state-of-the-art lasers that scanned 15 acres of forest every second. it's like having x-ray vision that produces these first-of- their-ki 3d images of the health of every sisile tree in the forest. the red areas on this map show severely drought-stressed trees. blue areas are healthier. your equipment reads how much moisture is in each individual tree? yeah. the measurement is focused on how much water is in the foliage itself. it's like getting a blood test.

indicators of the health of a tree. >> reporter:r:he u.s. forest service says more than 29 million trees have already died. asner's team has determined that 58 million more are on the brink. these severely stressed trees, are they passed d e point of no return or are they recoverable? >> we don't know whether a stressed tree is going to absolutely succumb and be gone or if it's goingo bounce back over time. >> reporter: the hope is that el nino-fueled storms will bring much-needed rain. in the meantime, these new maps will help the forest service know which areas are most vulnerable and wildfire officials know where the greatest risks are. ben tracy, cbs news, sacramento. >> the white house is sharing

that's coming up. the north pole is famous for extreme temperatures, but not these kind of extremes. 34 degrees today in nonoh pole,

alaska. even at the real north pole it was 33 degrees. that is 50 degrees above normal and the first time it's been above freezing i idecember in 13 years. off california, the warm waters of el nino have chased away the fish that seals and sea lions rely on for food. at least 4,200 starving sea lions have washed ashore this year and the situation is expected to get worse this winter as ocean temperatures rise. todada the white house released the gallery of president obama's year in pictures. among the chief photographer's favorite shots, this snuggle with the first lady. the father-daughter chat where malia tetes dad he's got something on his face. the selfie two brothers will never forget. a bride and groom greeting an unexpected guest at their wedding. and the one where jerry seinfeld came knocking.

the best way to every day it's getting closer going faster than a roller coaster a love e ke 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.

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 y yr surroundings. if you see mething suspicious,

we end tonight with a salute to a pair of d%termined young & ladies. chip reid tells us they'veveeen saluting american heroes and their families for years. >> reporter: 10 years ago, rael okun, then 10, and her sister, kelsi, who was eight, told their parents they had a big idea. they wanted to say thank you to the troops in iraq and afghanistan by offering scholarships to their spouses and children. with some parental assistance, the precocious girls created their own charity called t.h.a.n.k.s. usa, and soon they were online asking for money.

visit, t.h.a.n.k.k. usa had raisis a stunning $5 million. >> i've been able to see that really any person can nake a difference, and what you give out to the world y y get back 10 times, you know, fold. >> reporter: now, rachelle is in college, kelsi is a high school senior, and t.h.a.n.k.s. usa is still going strong. how much money have you raised so far? >> we just cleared the $1010 million mark. >> reporter: $10 million. >> yeah. >> reporter: yes, $10.3 million from an idea that began in a dinner table conversation. the money is raised through individual and corporate donations, golf and tennis tournaments, and an annual treasure hunt. so far, t.h.a.n.k.s. usa has given military family members more than 3,400 scholarships of $3,000 each. what do you think about that organization? >> i love it. >> reporter: with the help of t.h.a.n.k.s. usa, kelly este will soon get her bachelor's degrgr and then plans to g g a

her husband was killed in iraq in 2005. >> from my experience, i want to fl that into something positi and give back to the military and be there for other families that lose a loved one, son or daughter, husband, you know, wife. >> reporter: it's a story of ging back that began 10 years ago with two young girls. >> you can change the world. >> one heart at a time. >> reporter: and a message that's as true today as it was then. chip reid, cbs news, mclean, virginia. and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us later for theorning news and "cbs this rning." from the broadcast center in new

this is the "cbs overnight news." hi, everyone. welcome to the "overnight news." i'm demarco morgan. for years, comedian bill cosby has beaten back allegations of sexual misconduct by pointing to a simple fact, he had never been charged with any crime. well, that's all charged. he is free after posting a $1 million bail. jericka duncan reports. >> reporter: this aftftnoon, attorneys for comedian bill cosby walked him into this small courthouse in elkins park, pennsylvania, to hear the criminal, sexual assault charges against him. his accuser is andrea constand, a former temple university employee who first told police about the alleged incident over a decade ago. constand says in the winter of

for careererdvice. cosby offered, and she took, three blue pills and wine to relax. in the criminal complaint released today, she told police within a half hour, she experienced, "blurred vision and difficulty speaking.g. her legs felt rubbery, like jelly, and she had no sense of time. she says though she was unable to move or speak, she felt cosby fondle her breasts and vagina, and woke up about 4:00 the next morning, still in his home. prosecutor kevin steele: >> the vicm came to consider mr. cosby her mentor and her iend. today, after examination of all the evidence, we are able to seek justice on behalf of the victim. >> reportete when cosby was questioned by police back in 2005, he admitted the two had sexual contact but said he had given constand the allergy pill benadr and that the contact wawaconsensual.

attorney announced no criminal charges, citing lack of evidence. but investigators reopened her case this past summer after a judge unsealed portions of depositions from t t civil suit constand filed in 2005, in which cosby admitted giving drugs to women. constand's attorney asked cosby, "when you got ththquaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women you wanted to have sex with?" cosby replied, "yes." he later said he misunderstood the questionon the civil suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount of money. in the past year, more than 50 women have accused cosby of sexual assault, many of whom posed for this cover story in "new york magazine's" july edition. victoria valentiono is one of the accusers. >> well, we were absolutely

and just elated. i can't-- i can't find a better word for it. >> mr. cosby, did yoyodrug that womama >> reporter: 78-year-old cosby was able to leave jail after posting 10% of his $1 million bail andiving up his passport. cosbsbdidn't have anythingngo say when he left this courthouse, but later this evening, his attorneys released a statement that reads in part: > could be a while before the affluenza teen ethan couch and his mother return to texas. attorneys convinced a mexican judge to delay his deportation for threee daysysclaiming his rights were being violated.

mexico of a video showed him violating his prorotion after he killed four people driving drunk. omar villareal is in ft. worth. >> reporter: according to reports, couch and his mother made a call to domino's pizza. that's what tipped off u.s. investigators. mexican officials went to the location of the call, which happened to be a resort. once they were there, they were told the pair relocated to a $350 a nightpartment in a more discrete location. officials say ethan couch had a going away party of soror before fleeing townwnith his mother. during the three-week chase federal and state investigators followed dozens of sightings. some of which were false, and a tip that the mother and son had driven thihi pickup truck to the >> christmas eve is about the time that i think the really concrete information came in. the problem with it was, a aou

of tourists at christmastime. >> reporter: their search led mexican authorities helping with the investigation to this apartment complex. according toreports, couch and his mother moved here after first staying at a resort. a picture reveals that he had dyed his blonde hair black. couch sappeared earlier this month, shortly after this video was posted to twitter. it appears to show him at a party with drinking, possibly violating his ten-year probatatn. in 2013, when couch was 16, he killed four people and paralyzed another in a drunk driving crash. during the trial,is defense argued that he suffered from fluenza, a controversial condition n his privileged, wealthy upbringing that failed to teach him responsibility. todd clement is an attorney representing the victim's families. >> there's no question that ethan couch was raised in a way where he was taught to avoid responsibility, that he was taught that the rules don't apply to him and his family.

that ieed they do apply. millions of americans are bracing for a tragic new year as rain and swollen rivers threaten to burst their banknk the mississippi is poised to crest at or above record levels. three days of downpours dumped about a foot of rain and led to the death of a dozen people in missouri, oklahoma and arkansas. several towns have been evacuated. anna werner is in texas. >> reporter: tpe water has surrounded the town where residents were told tuesday it's time to leave. >> we emptied our basement out of anything important. we cleaned out the house of clothes. >> reporter: as the mississippi iver threatensns st. louis county, it took team work to fill 20,000 sandbags. officials pleaded for help and the community responded. >> just like the movie "field of dreams." if you build it, they'll come.

engineers is monitoring 19 vulnerable levees on the rising tributaries. in the shadow of the gateway arch, the mighty mississippi is expected to crest at over 43 feet, close to its second highest level ever. missouri governor jay nixon -- >> water levels in some locations are predicted to exceed the crest ofhe historic flood of 1993. >> reporter: nine states saw flooding, 50 people died. nearly 150 major rivers and tributaries before affected. and the flfldaters caused a spectacle. >> i drove in from kansas just to look at this. >> reporter: after flooding pushed untreated sewage into rivers and streams, resididts of high ridge, missouri fortified their treatment plant to keep the flood out of the drinking water supply to thousands. did you know there's a cough liquid that lasts for twelve hours?

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the flooding in the midwest along with heavy snowfall in the pacific northwest and record hi temperatures in the northeast are all being atatibuted to the weather phenomena known as mel. mark strassman has a look at el nino and what comes next. >> reporter: last christmas, buffalo looked liki the north pole. this year,anta wore shorts. a few flakes finally fell last week, smashing a 116-year record for the longest streak with no snow. >> ho, ho, ho. >eporter: in cities up and down the east coast, christmas eve was the warmest ever. it felt like summer in the big apple, with temperatures in the 70s. where's the nearest beach? >> oh, this is awesome.

weather in new york city on christmas eve, it's something cool to experience.. >> reporter: one o o many record highs to be set. >> here in oregon, record-shattering rain. >> reporter: this month's wacky warm weather has broken more than a thousand records from coast to coast. this december has been exceptional for a lot of areas of the country. you look into the northwest where the rain and snow has been nonstop. the northeast, upper midwest, mid-atlantic,inter completely on pause and temperaturerethat are so far above average, they'll be smashing records before we're done. >> eric, what's in score? >> reporter: eric fisher is chief meteorologist for cbs station wbz tv in boston. >> t t me t ts is theost staggering thing. in the boston area, we'll see the coldest winter month ever recordednd the warmest winter month ever recorded in the same year in 144 yearsrs of recordrd >> reporter: take a look. essentially the nation's weather map is divided in half. in many eastern cities,

degrees above normal. t west, it's c cder and wetter than it's been in years. two weeks ago, dangerous floods in oregon swallowed homes and prompted terrifying rescue missions. what's behind this weather madness, in part, is a phenomena that goes back millenia. you've heard its name -- el nino. >> el nino is about a year-l-lg warmrmg that takes place along the equator in the eastern half of the tropical pacific. it's related to changes in the trade winds. they are weaker when that ocean warms up, and this is from the coast of south america all the way out to the middle of the pacific ocean. >> reporter: nate is a climate scientist with the national oceanic a atmoseric administration in santa crcr, californrn. this rain, when is the last time you saw this rain? >> you know, we've had very little of this in the last four years. >> reporter: four years?

of el nino for 30 years. every four to seven years, he says those pacific trade winds weakak. >> a a when that happens, there's a massive shift in rainfall patterns in the tropics. so wet places tend to be really dry. and normally dry places end up getting lots of rainfall. >> reporter: and this el nino, how significant or intense is it? >> the current el nino is among the three strongest since 1950, at least. >> reporter: so strong, the effects of this el nino can be seen on every weather forecaster's radar the world over. >> this warm pattern, which is not only at the surface as we're showing here, is over the pacific ocean and provides a tremendous amount of heat capacity to drive the whole circulation pattern, not only across the united states, but around the globe. >> reporter: louie is the

he says el nino causes the temperature of the pacific ocean to i irease up to ten degrees and triggers a ripple effect across the globe. so simplistically, wetter than usual over here, warmer than usual over here. >> yes. wetter than normal in here. and as we see the el nino pattern develop, we should see a more active storm track along the south. so wetter and warmer up in this area here. >> reporter: as if right on cue, over the last five days, killer tornados swept across the south, killing more than 20 people e om texas to tennessee. the house is gone? >> yes. >> reporter: what are you going to do? >> i'm going to try to rebuild. >> reporter: here if >> uh-huh. >> reporter: what to you is worrisome about all this in >> there are parts of the globe that are impacted by el nino that do suffer from those impacts. increased drying in brazil and

of forest fires. increased precipitation@ over africa, central africa to east afafca, which lends itselel to the increased likelihood of disease outbreaks like malaria and dengue fever. >> reporter: but can these alarming weather events also be blamed on climate change? scientists say not so fast. >> maybe it adds a couple more warmer days or makes the warmeme mperatures a little warmer. i don't think you can say just because it's a warming world we're seeing a record december. we might be enhancing the pattern by a little bit. >> reporter: in californiaia oceans that were already warming are getting even hotter. and that has created a crisis for the creatures who live in it. >> 20155as been one for the record books. typically, we rescue 60, 100

wee almost to 1800. >> rorter: shawn johnson directs the marine mammal center here. he says in the past two years, 90% of california's sea lion and first seal pups have died. give me a sense of what is going on out in their natural habitats that has brought about this crisis? >> because this water is so warm, it's pushedll the feeder fish, the foraging fish for the mothers further out to sea, deeper out in the water. what it's come down to is all the animals have a lack of food. there's not enough food inhis area for them right now. >> reporter: relief will come eventually. because historically, el nino is followed by la nina,( characterized by cooler ocean temperatures. but at least for t t next few months, the world will continue to feel el nino's i absolutely love my new york apartment, but the rent is outrageous. good thing geico offs affordable renters insurance.

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meanwhile, republicans running far behind trump ignored the front-runner and started attacking each other. >> madame president, can no imagine?e? oh, oh. believe me, womenen- if it's got to be a woman, which i'm all in favor of some day, it shouldn't be hillary. >> reporter: aa rally in iowa last night, donald trump aimed most of his barbs at hillary clinton, but made a noteworthy pitch to evangelical chris chance, who made up more than half of the gop caucus turnout in 2012. >> too the best off my knowledge, not too many evangelicals come out of hubcuba. ju remember that. >> reporter: senators marco rubioond ted cruzzre trump's closest competitors in iowa. aboard his personal jet earlier -- woodwork. >> reporter: trump says he will soon hit t t airwaves.

$2 million a week, big ads in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. >> reporter: republicans vying to become the main stream alternative to trump battled ch other. the superpac supporting jeb bush denounced rubio's senate ababnteeism. >> h hs missed more total votes than any other senator. >> reporter: rubio pointed to millions already wasted by bush backers. >> millions of spending and not change his fortunes. he'secome increasingly negative in his attacks. >> reporter: another ad criticized chris christie and john kasich for expanding obamacare in their states. > which governor led the fight to stop obamacare expansion in his state? >> we do not want another president who sits in the chair ininhe oval officic on the firir day and spins around and says,

>> reporter: george pataki quit sterday, r rucing the f fld to 12. pataki registered 1% in some iowa polls and rarely made a ripple in the undercard televised events. >> the presidentialield stands at 15, three dademocrats and a dozen republicans. and the candidates have been king some outrageous statements. >> read my lips, no new taxes. >> if you like your plan, keep your plan. >> reporter: in presidential politicscsthe whoppers can bee legendary. >> i did not have sexual relations with that woman. >> those people got to know whether or not their president is a acrook. ll, i'm not a crook. >> reporter: in this year's presidential campaign, the fact checkers say one candidate has achieved truth bending royalty. >> this is the first time we

>> reporter: donald trump earned that crown, says eugene kylie of factcheck.org with the biggest whopper of 2015. >> and i watched in jersey city, new jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. >> reporter: the fact checkcks found evidenen of only a few celebrating. but that wasn't the only trump tall tale of the year. he's certainly keeping us busy. it is the worst we've seen in the 1 1years we've b bn doing this. >> you know, the president is thinking about signing an executive order where he wants to take your guns away. >> that was a mistake, i'm'morry about that. >> reporter: democratic front-runner hillary clinton had her share. most notably her attempts to explain why she had a private e-mail server. i saw it a a matter of convenience, and it was allowed. others had done it.

reporter: and then she told a whopper about the k kg of whoppers. >> he's becoming isis' best recruiter. they are going to people, showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslili inn order to recruit more radical jihadists. >> reporter: trump wasn't alone in calling that false. so did the fact checkers. republican contender ted cruz got dinged for dising fellow candidate marco rubio on immigration. >> one of the most troubling aspects of theheang ofight bill is it gave president obama blanket authority to admit refugees. >> that's simhly not true. >> reporter: and bernie sandersrs linkededlimate change to terrorism. >> climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism. this is what the cia says.

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it won't be long before a llion people start pouring into new york city's times square. it's the biggest n n year's eve party in the world and requires a massive security operation to keep things safe. don dahler is in times squar where the pd unveiled its plans. >> r rorter: the new york police department began preparations for this year's new year's eve. when the last piece of confetti fell last year, security is more intense than ever before. some measures you can see. some measures you can't. when the clock strikes 12 this new year's eve, the new york police d dartment wants times square to be the most secure place in the world. >> we are very, very confident that new year's eve in n w york ty will be the safest place in

>> reporter: hundreds of police officers with long guns, radiation detectors and bomb sniffing dogsgs snipers anan helicopter also be on patrol. at a new operation center in manhattan, officers will monitor thousands of camera feeds. this year, the nypd set up a specialized counterteteorism unit with more than 500 highly trained cops. officials say there are no credible threats to new york city, but deadly attacks in paris and san bernardino have e raised the levelelf fear. >> we are aware that the threat picture has changed because of isis. that's why we have enlarged our capabilities here in the city with these additional units. >> reporter: spectators will not be allowed to bring in large bags, backpacks nor alcohol. the nypd issued some 20,000 smartphonenetofficers so that they could have quicker response and share information about any potential threats. that's the "overnjght news"

for some of you the news continues. for others, c cck back with us a little later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from t t broadcast center here new york city, i'm demarco