what was that all about? i told him he missed the boat on sylvia moon. now that she's an admitted killer, he could've made a fortune off her paintings.

yesterday charlie rose gave us an inside look at the secret of the world of apple. he sit down with tim cook to discuss one of the company's most confidential trade secrets, encryption. it let's terrorist communicate without fear of getting caught. here is charlie with tim cook for 60 minutes. >> in the government they say it's like you have a s srch warrant but you can't unlock the trunk. >> here is the situation, on your iphone, there's likely health information, there's financial information, there are intimate conversations with y yr family or your coworkers. ere's probably business secrets and you should have the ility to protect it.

do that is to encrypt it. why is that? it's because if there's a way to get in, then somebody will f fd a way in. there have been people that suggest that we should have a back door, but the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door is for everybody, good guys and bad guys. >> does the government have a point in which they say, if we have good reason to believe in that information is evidence of criminal conduct or national security behavior? >> well, if the government lays a proper warrant on us today, then we will give the specific information that is requested, because we have to by law. in the case of encrypted communication, we don't have it to give. and so if your i messages are encrypted weon't have access to those. >> help me understand how you

>> i don't believe that the trade off is privacy versus national security, i think that's an overly simplistic view. we're america, we should have both. >> please stand and raise your right hand. national security isn't the only battle tim cook has been fighting with washington. apple earns two-thirds of the revenue overseas. rather than bring it back, apple like many, parks billions of dollars in overseas income in sub sid dares and countries like ireland. the practice is not illegal, but it's at the heart of a battle that has been unfolding in washington to reform the corporate tax code andnd bring that moneyey home. >> how do you f fl when you go before congress and they say, you're a tax avoider? >> what i told them and what i'll tell you and the folks watching tonight is, we pay more taxes in this country than ananne.

because of how much money you make. >> well, i don't deny that. we happily pay it. >> you probably also have more money overseas. >> we do. i said before, two-thirds of our business is over there. >> why don't you bring that home, is thequestion? >> why don't y bring it home? >> it would cost me 40% to bring it home and i don't think it's a reasonable thing to do. this is a tax code, charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. it's backward. it's awful for america. it should have been fixed many years ago. it's past time to get it done. >> but here is what they concluded, apple is engaged in a sophisticated scheme to pay little or no corporate taxes on 74 billion in revenues held overseas. >> that is total politicalcrap. there'e'no truth behind it. apple pays every tax dollar we owe. >> reporter: tim cook has spent much of the last decade

the world nowhere more than in china. >> thank you. october, cook made his ninth trip there since becoming ceo four years ago -- >> i am as certain as i can be of that. >> the numbers simply tell us that. >> the nbers tell us that, but not just the number of people, but the numbers of people moving into the middle class, that for a consumer company is the thing that really begins to grow the market in a big way. >> reporter: and most americans would be surprised to know that nearly all apple products are manufactured by one million chinese workers in the factories of apple contractors, including its largest fox con.

vast and labor force is not the primary reason for manufacturing there. >> if it's not wages, what is it? >> it's ill. >> reporter: skill?l? >> they have more skills than american works? >> no. >> let me b clear is, china put an enormous focus on manufacturing in what we would call, you and i would call vocational kind of skills. the u.s., over titi, began to stop having a a many vocational kind of skills. you can take every tool maker in the united states and put them in every room we're sitting in room. in china you'll have multiple football fields because it's a focus of their educational system. so that is the reality. >> reporter: manufacturing in china has brought serious labor concerns to apple about low wages, long hours, and unsafe conditions.

con in 2010, a company installed safety nets outside its employees' dormitoryiesdormitories. >> reporter: do you have a responsibility to look at the labor conditions and make sure atever might be for people to commit suicide is eradicated? >> the answer to your question is, yes. we have a responsibility and we do it. we are constantly auditing our supply chain, making sure that safety standards are, you know, the ghest, working conontions are the highest. all of the things that you would expect up to look for and more, we're doing it. >> reporter: according to it's most recent internal review apple has limited the work week to 60 hours, raised pay and cracked downwnn childlabobo but 30% of the facilities that make its products around the world still do not meet apple's own safety standards.

that has values and acts on them, can really change the world. >> reporter: since taking over apple, tim cook has broadened his company's mission beyond making products. they have invested millions to power data centers. cook has become a strong advocate for human rights.. hihi motivesesre personal. he grew up in segregation and last year he made a bold public announcement that he is gay. >> no other ceo of fortune 500 company that might be gay has come out. >> reporter:r:ou said it was god's greatest gift to you. when you're in a minority group, pit gives you a sense of em papathy of what it's like to be in the minority and you begin to look at things from different point of views and i thihi it was a gift for me.

>> honestly, i value my privacy. i'm a very private person. but it became increasingly clear to me that if i said something, that it could help other people. and i'm glad because i think that some kid somewhere, some kid in alabama, i think if they, just for a moment, stop and say, if it didn't limit him, it may not limit me, or this kid that's getting bullied or this kid -- worse, i've gotten notes from people contemplating suicide. so if i could touch just one of those, it's worth it. and i couldn't look myself in the mirror without doing it. >> reporter: before we finished reporting our story, cook wanted

steve jobs use tosay, a a glimpse of apple's future, so we packed into four by fours and with cameras, drones and technicians supplied by gulf prowe aasinded this giant mound of dirt. it is the company's biggest project ever. >> this is like a small city. >> it is. it's about 3,500 people working here right now and this is what people are commonly calling the spaceship. >> reporter: yes. >> we're going to have about 13,000 people that are working in this circle and it's going to be a center for invasion for generations to come. >> reporter: some have said it's a $5 billion project. >> it's a lot. it's a lot. it's somewhere near there. >> reporter: i knew 5 billion is a lot. >> we think it's important to have a place that inspires you.

on apple, just click on our web site. we'll be right back. i'm good all day. [announcer:] mucinex keeps working. not 4, not 6, but 12 hours.

>> nasa says it is scrubbing the plan to launch next march of the inside spacecraft that was supposed to be bound for mars. the earth and mars won't be lined up for another launch for two years, meanwhile they weren't drinking champagne over at space x, the private company

orbit t d bring it back to e eth for picture perfect reports. >> you might call it a high cost move. getting the rocket back to earth means that space x can use it again, saving the company millions of dollars. the successful launch of the new falcon 9 rocket was the first obstacle for space x to over come. >> space x has cleared a resume space station cargo deliverly flight which has been on hold since the spectacular failure last june. >> that ill fated mission wasn't the company's only failure, two previous landing attempts ended in disaster include thgis one back in april.

launch and reentry space trails with the caption "there and back again" jeff basos founder of amazon and founder of blue region responded with this tweet adding "welcome to the club" and liftoff. >> amazon founder successfully recovered the rocket used to launch one of his spacecraft earlier this fall, but that rocket was going to be much less extreme in terms of velocity and altitude. >> but to be successful, space x needs to be profitable, which includes being able to reuse those $60 million rockets. >> pulling off this landing was a major achievement, perhaps a historic achievement it could be the first for dramatically lowering cost. >> this rocket is the tester. it will be studied and inspected to see how it weathered the

space x hopes to start reusing the rockets next year. >> the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. 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.

>> if you are the type who waits till the last minute to do your holiday shopping, amazon.com has something for you this season. amazon prime customers can order their holiday essentials and get them delivered to their doorr in just two hours. paid a visitit to one o amazon's fulfillment centers to see how they conjure up this christmas time magic. holiday shoppers on 34th street dart in and out of retail stores to bring some of the seaeans joy to your door. using the prime, last minute shoppers can choose over 4,000 hours, amazon guarantees deliver gifts and electronics until christmas eve until the clock strikes midnight. we're talkingngbout one hour,

change the competition? >> it changes the game being ableo get stuff delivered for you in an hour. it's also changing the game for our company too, we're adding more shopping days. >> reporter: the centers now available in more than 20 citieses including places like san francisco, houston, miami and atlanta are purposely centrally located. >> it's no way we can get them in an hour. >> as soon as the order arrives it's processed, bagged and handed off to a delivery associate. amazon prime customers willing to shell out 8 bucks to have their order in an hour. for those willing to wait two hours, their service is free. here in new york deliveries are done by subway, bike or on foot. shannon says the prime now app marks amazon's latest attempt to gain the upper hand on the competition's attention. >> it's like amazon is one to

>> you call prokrast nay tor's eam. >> we don't judge. >> sylvester will work from 6:00 a.m. to midnight on christmas eve despite his family's wishes. >> i told them i will do work and i will get off when i can and see them when i get home. >> rushing to get it there on time. >> on any given window, you can do maybe fourur five deliveri. >> wel not at all. that's the traditionally holiday colors cooperate with the holiday cheer. >> and in case you're wondering what if i wonder something it's sold out, amazon insist that can't happen. they say the quick delivery a a only shows merchandise that's in stock and ready to go. and that's the overnight news for this wednesday, for some of you the news continues, for others check back with us a little later for the morning

broadcast city -- o'donnell: the storms before christmas, floods and snow in the west, tornado threats in the south, and t-shirt weather in the east. also tonight, a visa application tells us more about the san bernardino terrorists. donald trump hits below the belt in a new attack on hillary clinton. >> she was favored to win and she got ( bleep ). >> o'donnell: and riding the joy of christmas on the snowball express. >> i just wish we could stay here for a year. >> reporter: a year? >> i wish we could s sy here forever. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs overnight news" scott is off tonight. i'm norah o'donnell. there's a rough few days ahead for anyone traveling for the holidays. in the northwest, violent storms have sent trees into houses and on to cars. heavy snow has been falling in

tornadoes are forecast from the deep south to the ohio valley as east heats up to spring-like weather for christmas. we have a team of correspondents covering this, beginning with john blackstone. >> reporter: harsh weather in the west has left communities buried in snow, soaked by heavy rain, and battered by powerful wind. in portland, oregon today, crews were cleaning up trees blown over in the storm. >> i heard a loud boom but didn't really know what it was. and then the whole house, it was like it was on a little trampoline, like, it almost bounced. the cookies -- everything went flying. >> reporter: the power was still out today for thousands in the portland area. a line came down near heather kurmas. >> the power lines were turning green, blue, orange, and everything was shaking. it was pretty crazy. >> reporter: at snoqualmie in the mountains outside seattle, deep and heavy snow stopped traffic. a search for a missing back- country skier resumed today after being called off yesterday because of weather.

search-and-rescue. >> you see the conditions, it's bad. avalanche danger is really extreme. >> reporter: the same storm buried the town of kamas 40 miles from salt lake city under a foot of fresh snow. in california, on the road to lake tahoe, mountain traffic came to a near standstill as plows worked to clear the snow. on these roads, trucker bill brown is in no hurry. >> my only concern is a guy in a four-wheeler who's doing way -- 50 miles per hour and hydroplanes in the rain and i have to dodge him. >> reporter: in southern california's mojave desert, more than 15 tractor trailers were blown over by winds gusting 60- 80 miles an hour. in the mountains east of los angeles, enough snow fell to open the slopes for night skiing. another cold storm from up in the gulf of alaska is coming towards the west coast. it could bring snow on christmas eve to seattle and portland, two

white christmas. and, norah, we could even get snow in some of the high hills here in the san francisco area. >> o'donnell: how about that. john blackstone, thank you so much. >> as the west cools down, the eastern half of the country is heating up. jericka duncan h h that story. >> reporter: on the busiest shipping week of the year, mail carrr valerie dickson has some spring in her step. >> usually i have my big coat, two pairs of gloves, a scarf around my throat, mouth, nose and all that. i have a scarf on but i don't need to be wrapped all up. >> reporter: in chicago, where dixon s making her rounds, temperatures were in the 50s, but this was dixon last year with wind chills at 20 below. >> snow, cold -- i'm dressed for it. >> reporter: seeing green means more green at this golf course in massachusetts. manager dick murphy thanks mother nature. >> now, we're going to be open right through sunday, so we're beyond christmas.

>> reporter: but other businesses in the northeast, like ski resorts, are watching profits melt away. new yorkrkity is bringing in winterern a high note. central park is on pace to break a december record for fewest days below freezing. the macleod family of scotland is visiting the city for the first time. >> we brought big, massive winter jackets, expecting to have to keep warm going for walks and that, but as you can see, they're back in the hotel and i'm wearing a t-shirt. >> reporter: the high on christmas eve is expected to break a record, and, norah, if the temperature gets above 64 degrees on christmas day, well, that, too, would be historic. >> o'donnell: historic, indeed. jericka duncan, thank you so much. eric fisheheis chief meteorologist at our cbs station in boston, wbz. so, eric, i understand the south is in for some heavy storms. >> very stormy times here as we head through this holiday week. norah, the ingredients are there for a potential severe weather outbreak tomorrow.

down across the plains and unusually warm, moist air being lifted up out of the gulf of mexico. we're really watching this area in particular, could see several tornadoes during the day tomorrow and into tomorrow night. it's those nighttime tornadoes that are the most dangerous because folks are asleep, and sometimes you don't see it coming. a couple of rounds of storms. they'll all be racing off to the east-northeast. a lot of heavy rain goes along with all of this. so certainly we want people to stay weather aware here as we head through wednesday and into christmas eve. of course, all of this is fueled by the incredible warmth, just dozens and dozens of records set up and down the coast from maine all the way down to florida. norah, for the southeast many cities will set record highs every single day until monday of >> o'donnell: incredible, thank you. also heating up is the feud between the republican and democratic front-runners in the race for president. today, hillary clinton responded to some crude comments made about her by donald trump. and major garrett is following this. >> we love michigan. >> reporter: donald trump's final rally before christmas was

>> you're a bigot! >> bye-bye. >> reporter: and insults for hillary clinton. >> she's terrible. "donald trump is on video, and isis is using him on the video to recruit!" and it turned out to be a lie. she's a liar. i'm watching the debate, and she disappeared. where did she go? i know where she went. it's disgusting. i don't want to talk about it. >> reporter: pretty standard foror trump -- abrasase, accusatory, slightly bizarre. but nolhing compared to thisn >> hillary, that's not a president. even a race to obama, she was going to beat obama. she was favored to win and she got [ bleep ]. she lost. >> reporter: that yiddish vulgarism prompted hililry clinton's spokeswoman jennifer palmieri to tweet, the campaign would not respond.

humiliation this degrading inflicts on all women, should. you are looking at somebody who has had a lot of terrible things about me >> reporter: campaigning in iowa today, clinton cast trump's insults as a form of bullying. >> it's important to stand up to bullies wherever they are and why we shouldn't let anybody bully their way to the presidency. >> she's great at being a victim. >> reporter: in new hampshire, trump's g.o.p. rival, jeb bush, took a swipe at both candidates. >> there has to be a level of decorum to win. it's not a sign of strength to insult people with profanity. it's not a serious thing. >> reporter: a new quinnipiac national poll found clinton ahead of trump, and clinton 47 to 50%. effectively tied with marco rubio and ted cruz. norah, that survey also found 50% of voters say they would be embarrassed to have trump as president. >> o'donnell: all right, major garrett, thank you. the "cbs overnight news" will l

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 eaea to start an action team at your school so you, too, can get in on the action.

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>> president obama took a rare swipe at donald trump in an interview with national public radio. the president said trump is capitalizing on the resentment of working class men who have seen their bills go up while their wages stay flat. >> you comomne those things and it means that ththe's going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. some of it justified but just misdirected. and, you know, i think somebody like mr. trump's taken advantage of that. i mean, that's what he's explplting during the courur of his s mpaign. >> o'donnell: mr. obama also claimed some of the republican resentme toward him can be chalked up to his status as the first black president. tonight, we're learning more about the american service members killed yesterday by a suicide bomber in afghanistan.

forces there this year. margaret brennan is at the pentagon.. >> how you doing? >> reporter: after his first tour of afghanistan, joseph lemm came home to surprise his children and his wife. but his second tour came to a tragic end this week. he was among the six u.s. service men killed by a taliban suicide bomber who drove a motorcycle packed with explosives into the american patrol. lemm was a 15-year veteran of the new york police department and a member of the air national guard. major adrianna vorderbruggen was the highest ranking officer openly gay female air force officers killed in action. special agent peter taub also lost his life. restaurant and posted a note on the door saying they were closed to mourn this horrible loss. a regular customer, vivienne christmas tree at the front door. >> i'm grieving for my friends.

devastated. >> reporter: the three other airmen killed were michael cinco, chester mcbride, and louis bonacasa. only a day after the american ambush, u.s. and british soldiers went to the aid of the struggling afghan army trying to hold off the taliban takeover of a crucial southern province. the taliban has been gaining strength ever since the end of the u.s. combat mission and draw-down. today they released a photograph of the bomber they claimed attacked the americans. tonight, the pentagon will release officially the names of the fallen. but, norah, these deaths are especially heartbreaking for so many families coming right before christmas, and just months after president obama decided to extend the longest war in american history. >> o'donnell: margaret brennan, thank you. a grim milestone has been reached in europe's refugee crisis. the u.n. refugee agency said today more than one million people have entered europe this year after fleeing war and poverty in the middle east and

half came from syria. nearly 3,700 died on the journey or went missing. today, f.b.i. director james comey visited the bureau's l.a. field office to thank agents and police who investigated the massacre in san bernardino in which 14 people were killed. and for the first time, we're getting a look at the visa application filed by one of the terrorists to get into this country. here's homeland security correspondent jeff pegues. >> reporter: eight months before syed farook entered the united states with his bride-to-be, he applied for a fiance visa for pakistani-born tashfeen malik. in the document dated december 31, 2013, farook, an american citizen, wrote that they had met through a matrimonial web site. when asked for more information, farook wrote in a statement that after several weeks of e- mailing, he and malik decided to meet each other. that happened when they both attended the hajj pilgrimage in mecca saudi arabia, n october

and it is on this day, he says, that we got engaged. he signed that statement january 20, 2014. immigration officials asked for and received proof. visa stamps that both were at the hajj. ultimately, the application was approved, clearing the way for the san bernardino killers to come into the country. in a statement, the u.s. citizenship and imimgration services says, whahathey didn't -- they were subjected to numerous background checks and those did not reveal any derogatory information about malik. what they didn't know about what the f.b.i. discovered aftererhe shooting were malik's direct private messages abobo jihad, and evidence that both farook and malik had been showing signs of radicalization long before the couple got engaged. the k-1 visa application relies on self-reporting, and in a separate part of malik's immigration file she reportedly

activity. norah, obama administration critics believe there were major gaps in the vetting of that application. >> o'donnell: all right, jeff pegues, thank you. today, army sergeant bowe bergdahl was arraigned in military court on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. he could face life in prison if convicted, or of the latter. he did not enter a plea. bergdahl walked off his post in afghanistan in 2009 and was held as a taliban prisoner for five years before being swapped for five guantanamo detainees. a grand jury in texas has decided not to indict anyone in the sheriff's office or jail in connection with the death of sandra bland. she was found dead in her cell in july, three days after her confrontational arrest during a traffic stop. her death was ruled a suicide. coming up, what's taking so long to clean up this radioactive mess?

world cup skier. and a christmas surprise when the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time.. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there.

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too late, we're about to take off. ese dissolve fast. they're new liquid gelel and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. >> o'donnell: we've reported extensively about an unusual mber of cancer casesesorth of st. louis, where several have

contamination. tonight vinita nair reports even more sites have tested positive and now there's a federal health investigation. >> reporter: 300 residents of north saint louis county crowded into a local gym last week, anxious about what they would hear. soil near theieilocal creek was contaminated by improperly stored nuclear weapons waste in the 1960s and 70s, and people have been getting sick. the army corps of engineers delivered the latest test results. >> seven additional parcels that have been identified. >> reporter: those seven new areas of low-level nuclear contaminatiowere discovered as crews tested the creek this summer. the new sites include four commercial properties and three homes. add in the five sites already slated for cleanup, and that is 12 places around the creek with contamination. >> they found the tumor, about the size of a golf ball. >> reporter: last fall, angela powers lost her nine-year-old

tumor that is rare in children. >> if it came from this, wow, we want some answers because it's making me angry. she was my only grandchild. >> there it is right there. >> reporter: it was a variety of re illnesses that caught the attention of resident jenelle wright and her neighbors. four years ago, the group created a facebook page that has since logged 2,700 cancers and autoimmune conditions around town. they begged federal health authorities to investigate. >> we've had to go through many battlele i don't even know if i can recount all of them, all the different agencies, literally calling an agency 30 times and not returning yourhone call. >> reporter: this month they finally got results. the centers for disease control sent a health assessment team to help document the residents' stories. >> you must advocate for yourself. >> reporter: mary oscko has stage four lung cancer and blames it on the contamination. why is the government getting involved now? >> do you notice that the

if i shake the table enough, you can't eat your meal off of it. if i make enengh noise, you want to l lten to me. we're standing up and saying, "hi, i'm mary. i'm dying of cancer." >> reporter: residents are hoping the health study might help them in their legal fights over compensation for medical bills but the assessment could take two years, and, norah, some folks like mary are worried they won't be around long enough to see the results. >> o'donnell: such an incredible story, vinita nair, thk you. >> o'donnell: someone stole a secret service agent's gun in washington.

>> o'donnell: police in >> o'donnell: police in washington say a secret service agent's gun was stolen from his car outside headquarters yesterday. the agent, a member of the

division, had gone inside for 45 minutes. when he returned, a bag containing his gun, i.d., badge, anana thumb drive were gone. the agent will likely face disciplinary charges. a world cup skier was nearly hit by a drone today during a race in italy. the drone fell from the sky and crashed just inches from marcel hirscher. he was carrying a tv camera and was shooting the race. hirscher didn't seem to notice and came in second, but afterwards he said this can never happen again. a surprise homecoming in oklahoma. kim gornick wasn't expecting to see her son, wyatt, this christmas. [ screaming ] >> o'donnene: but as you can see he made an unexpected appearance after returning home from marine infantry training in san diego. she called the momt priceless. a nice, big hug, too. still ahead, why are these

back. chest pain, like t tre's a ton of weight on your chest. 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'u' having 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,

>> o'donnell: finally tonight, the holidays are supposed to be the happiest time of the year for kids, and some eager volunteers are making sure that it is. here's chip reid. >> reporter: more th 1,000 kids were in dallas recently for four days of nonstop joy. there was no limit to the games, the rides, and the fun. >> lightsabers up! >> reporter: and it was all free. if you're wondering why these kids and their parents were treated like such heroes, well, they earned it, the hard way. every child here lost a parent in the military. every parent here lost a spouse. chase sullivan is seven, his brother jake is five. theieimother bree can't remember the last time thth were this happy.

what it's like to lose a parent. >> reporter: michelle karnoski brought her 13-year-old daughter, sammie. >> it's heartbreaking knowing that all these kids have lost a parent while on active duty military. it's hard. >> reporter: this is the tenth anniversary of the snowball express, a nonprofit charity named for an old disney movie. some families return every year, like carol baruch and her daughter, amelia. her husband, john, did two tours in iraq. >> he had a larger-than-life personality. and when he came back from his second tour, that personality had changed. >> reporter: suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, two days after christmas in 2007, he took his own life. >> around christmastime, like, a classmate will complain about a present they get, their dad gave them, that they didn't like and it's kind of frustrating because

present from my dad. >> reporter: snowball express is always held during the holiday season because for many here it's the most difficult time of the year. >> because-- >> i can't imagine not coming. like, i can't imagine not ever having this in my life. >> reporter: chase and jake sullivan feel pretty much the same way. >> i just wish we could stay here a year. >> reporter: a year? >> i wish we could stay here forever. >> reporter: forever in a place where everyone understands. ( applause ) chip reid, cbs news, dallas. >> that's the overnight news for this wednesday for some of you the news continues, for others check back with us a little later. for other news join anthony for cbs this morning.

york city, i'm nora o'donnel. >> this is the "cbs overnight news". >> hi everyone, welcome to the overnight news i'm demarco morgan. winter has only just begun it's already a season of weather extremes the northeast isasken in recorddigh temperatures. and the pacific northwest and mountain states a much different story, driving rain along the coast and heavy snow in the higher elevations. john blackstone begins our coverage in california. >> much of the country is having a somewhat mild winter, it's not happening here in northern california or much of the west. the mountain that feeds this stream has received 7 inches of rain, in fact more than 7 inches of rain since sunday. up in the portland area they're

mountains of the west are being pummelled with snow, certainly the winter is roaring in the west. a powerful storm system making its way across the northwest is packing it dangerous mix of blinding snow, rain and violent winds strong enough to knock down powerlines. >> you can see the conditions, it's bad. >> reporter: several drivers were left stuck and stranded just outside east of seattle when portions of interstate 90 were buried under snow. >> we went off the first exit, if we would have known this, we would have turned around and went back. >> he used his truck to help drivers stuck in the side of the road. >> sf you don't have a guy like me that comes along, you'll sit there for hours and hours and hours, if i can help you out, why not >> reporter: the threat of an avalanche forced crews to suspend a search for a skier who

in oregon winds gusts for miles an hour toppling trees and crashing into homes. >> i heard a loud boom and then the whole house, it was like it was on trampoline like it bounced. >> reporter: the winds were strong enough to blow this tractor-trailer off the road. more than 35,000 people in the portland area were without power. now up in the mountains where there has been no snow, there was no snow last winter, we had feet of snow already this winter. a heat wave across the deep south is about to turn dangerous. meteorologists predict violent storms will rumble from louisiana to georgia packing high winds, driving hail and possible tornados. in the northeast there still is the need for winter coats and hats. records have been falling up and down the seaboard. >> reporter: i can't believe we're talking about the 70s. right now i'm not wearing any hats, any gloves. the temperature right now about 50 degrees here at central park.

extended heat wave for the winter, having many people here in the northeast pleasantly surprised. >> it's beautiful here. it's incredible. >> reporter: at 52 degrees in buffalo it was beautiful enough for waiters and walks in the park. in a city that was slammed by 7 feet of lake effect snow l lt year, temperatures this week are more likely to inspire long walks on the beach. >> certainly a look at buffalo, up to 61 degrees. the focus on christmas eve moves to the northeast and we're talking 60s and 70s, the warmest christmas eve anyone alive has seen in that area. >> reporter: more than 2,600 record high temperatures have been tied or broken across the lower 48 states this month. in washington, d.c., cherry blossoms arrives months ahead of schedule. in chicago, christmas shoppers

>> i'm not complaining that it's not snowing right now. but it doesn't feel like christmas yet. >> reporter: but nowhere is this tail of two climates more obvious than the ski slopes. the connecticut resort can't keep the fake snow from melting. while in colorado the real snow just keeps coming, skiers there are enjoying being on the edge of a much larger cold weather band stretching from park city up to spokane. >> this is a tail and we're just watching to see if it's possible the stormy and snowy conditions out west will eventually come eastern on us. >> reporter: and meteorologists say the el nino factor is the main reason behind this unseasonably warm, beautiful weather. >> things are also heating up on the campaign trail. g.o.p. frontrunner donald trump is taking the gloves off. in his criticism of hillary

shots ever since clinton called some of trump's comments a recruitment tool for isis. a poll shows prefer clinton to trump 47% to 40%. here is more on n w the two frontrunners are squaring g f. in case you just awoke and were wondering, though, the general election hasn't begun. but trump would like republicans to imagine him going toe to toe with hillary clinton. that's what this confrontation is all about. and other republicans are, as has been so often this the case in the campaign, just trying to t a piece of the increasingl obnoxious trump action. >> you're a loser. you really are a loser. >> in a rally monday night, donald trump fought through more than a dozen interruptions. >> there's another guy up there. they're very noncombative people. >> that's a very weaeavoice. >> he's holding up his hands like he's mike tyson, he would never throw a punch. >> found plenty of time to challenge rival hillary clinton,

isis used trump's words about muslims to recruit followers. >> turned out to be a lie. she's a liar! and the last person she wants to return against is me, believe me. >> reporter: trump made a mad reference to clinton's debate to the bathroom that lasted longer than the commercial break. >> sorry. [ laughter ] >> where did she go? i thought she quit. i thought she gave up. i know where she went. it's disgusting. i don't want to talk about it. >> >> he hit clinton for losing the 2008 nomination. she was favored to win. >> besides trump's lewd leap towards yiddish, he was accused of accepting the targeted killing of journalists. >> i would never kill them. i woulnever do that. let's see. no, i qouldn't. i would never kill them.

of her criticism remains true. >> the hateful rhetoric that we're hearing from donald trump is blaing in the hands of other terrorists and other groups. rubio comes close to tying clinton. a new poll has it 43-44%. and clinton and texas senator ted cruz are tied at 44%. the new numbers come a day after lindsey graham, a candidate eesz whose numbers didn't register dropped out of the

"will be right back. yesterday charlie rose gave us an inside look at the secret of the world of apple. this morning he's sits down with apple's ceo, tim cook to discuss one of the company's most confidential trade secrets, encryption. some say it let's terrorists communicate without fear of getting caught. here is charlie with tim cook for 60 minutes. >> in the government they say it's like you have a search warrant but you can't unlock the trunk. >> here is the situation, on your iphone, there's likely health information, there's financial information, there are intimate conversations with your family or your coworkers. there's probably business secrets and you should have the ability to protect it. and the only way we know how to do that is to encrypt it.

it's because if there's a way to get in, then somebody will find a way in. there have been people that suggest that we should have a back door, but the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door is for everybody, good guys and bad guys. >> does the government have a point in which they say, if we have good reason to believe in that information is evidence of criminal conduct or national security behavior? >> well, if the government lays a proper warrant on us today, then we will give the specific information that is requested, bebeuse we have to by lala in the case of encryed communication, we don't have it to give. and so if your imessages are encrypted we don't have access to those. >> help me understand how you get to the government's delima. >> i don't believe that the

national security, i think that's an overly simplistic view. we're america, we should have both. >> please stand and raise your right hand. national security isn't the only battle tim cook has been fighting with washington. apple earns two-thirds of the revenue overseas. rather than bring it balk back, apple like many, parks billions of dollars in overseas income in sub sid dares and countries like ireland. the practice is not illegal, but it's at the heart of a battle that has been unfolding in shington to reform t t corporate tax code and bring >> how do you feel when you go before congress and they say, you're a tax avoider? >> what i told them and what watching tonight is, we pay more taxes in this country than anyone. >> they know that and you should because of how much momoy you

>> well, i don't deny that. we happily pay it. >> you probably also have more money overseas. >> we do. i said before, two-thirds of our business is over there. >> why don't you bring that home, is the question? >> i would love to bring it home. >> why don't you bring it home? it would cost me 40% to bring it homomand i don't think it's a reasonable thing to do. this is a tax code, charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. it's backward. it's awful for america. it should have been fixed many years ago. it's past time to get it done. >> but here is what they concluded, apple is engaged in a sophisticated scheme to pay little or no corporate taxes on 74 billion in revenues held overseas. >> that is total political crap. there's no truth behind it. apple pays every tax dollar we owe. >> reporter: tim cook has spent much of the last decade expanding apple's reach around

>> thank you. in october, cook made his ninth trip there since becoming ceo four years ago. in the last year apple sales in china have doubled. >> will there be at some point in the near future a bigger market than the united states? >> yes. i am as certain as i can be of that. >> the numbers simply tell you that. >> the numbers tell us that, and not just the number of people, but the numbers of people moving into the middle class, that for a consumer company is the thing that really begins to grow the market in a big way. >> and most americans would be surprised to know that nearly all apple products are manufactured by one million

of apple factories including fox con. yet tim cook insist that china's vast and labor force is not the primary reason for manufacturing there. >> if it's not wages, what is it? >> it's skill. >> reporter: skill? >> they have more skills than american works? >> no. >> let me be clear is, china put an enormous focus on manufacturing in what we would call, you and i would call vocational kind of skills. e u.s., over time, began to stop havg as many vocational kind of skills. you can take every tool maker in the united states and put them in every room we're sitting in room. in china you'll have multiple football fields because it's a focus of their educational system. so that is the reality. >> reporter: manufacturing in china has brought serious labor concerns to apple about low wages, long hours, and unsafe conditions. after series of suicides at fox

safety nets outside its employees' dormitories. >> reporter: do you have a responsibility to look at the labor conditions and make sure whatever might be for people to commit suicide is eradicated? >> the answer to your question is, yes. we have a responsibility and we do it. we are constantly auditing our supply chain, making sure that safety standards are, you know, the highest, working conditions are the highest. all of the things that you would expect us to look for and more, we're doing it. >> reporter: according to it's most recent internal review apple has limited the work week to 60 hours, raised pay and cracked down on child labor. but 30% of the filities that make its products around the world still do not meet apple's own safety standards. >> we believe that a company that has values and acts on

world. >> reporter: since taking over apple, tim cook has broadened his company's mission beyond making products. apple has invested billions in renewable energy to power data centers an operations. cook has become a strong advocate for human rights. his motives are personal. he grew up i isegregation and last year he made a bold public announcement that he is gay. >> no other ceo of fortune 500 company that might be gay has me out. >> reporter: you said it was god's greatest gift to you. when you're in a minority group, it gives you a sense of empathy of what it's like to be in the minority and you begin to look at things from different point of views and i think it was a gift for me. >> reporter: why didn't you come

i'm a very private person. but it became increasingly clear to me that if i said something, that it could help other people. and i'm glad because i think that some kid somewhere, some kid in alabama, i think if they, just for a moment, stop and say, if it didn't limit him, it may not limit me, or this kid that's getting bullied or this kid -- worse, i've gotten notes from people contemplating suicide. so if i could touch just one of those, it's worth it. and i couldn't look myself in the mirrororithout doing it. >> reporter: before we finished reporting our story, cook wanted

steve jobs use to say, a glimpse of apple's future, so we packed into four by fours and with cameras, drones and technicians supplied by gulf prowe ascended this giant mound of dirt. it is the company's biggest project ever. >> this is like a small city. >> it is. it's about 3,500 people working here right now and this is what people are commonly calling the e spaceship. >> reporter: yes. >> we're going to have about 13,000 people that are working in this circle and it's going to be a center for innovation for generations to come. >> reporter: some have said it's a $5 billion project. >> it's a lot.t. it's a lot. it's somewewre near there. >> reporter: i knew 5 billion is a lot. >> we think it's important to have a place that inspires you. >> to see charlie's full report

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>> nasa says it is scrubbing the plan to launch next march of the inside spacecraft that was supposed to be bound for mars. they discovered a leak in a key research instrument. the earth and mars won't be lined up for another launch for two years. they weren't drinking champagne at space x, they managed to

bring it back to earth. >> you might call it a high flying high-tech cost saving move. getting the rocket back to earth means that space x can use it again saving the company millions of dollars. the successful launch of the new falcon 9 rocket was just the first obstacle for space x to over come after lifting off to put 11 satellites into space the big challenge was getting the rockets first stage booster back on earth in one piece. >pace x is nowow clear to resume deliverer flights which have been on hold such a spectacular failure last june. >> that ill fated mission wasn't the company's only failure, two previous landing attempts ended in disaster including this one back in april.

x tesler ceo who tweeted thiss photo of launch and reentry, there and back again. jeff bezos founder of amazon responded with this tweet congratulating space x adding, welcome to the club. amazon founder recovered the rocket use to launch one o o his spacecrara earlier this fall, that rocket was only going to sub orbital altitude, in other words, much less extreme than the falcon 9 experience going to orbit. >> but to be successful, space x needs to be profitable, which includes being able to reuse those $60 millili rockets. >>ulling off this landing wasas a major achievement, perhaps historic it could bi the first dip for dramatically lowering launch cost. >> this rocket is the tester. it will be studied and expected to see how it weathered the launch and landing.

the rockets next year. the "cbs overnight news" will be e ght back. 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 higher education.

(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 joyment 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

>> if you are the type who waits till the last minute to do your holiday shopping, amazon.com has something for you this season. amazon prime customers in some cities can order their h hiday esesntials and get themm delivered to their door in just two hours. i paid a visit to one of amazon's fulfillment center right here in the heart of manhattan to see how they conjure up this christmas time magic. shoppers dart in and out of retail stores five floors above employees bringome of the yield tide joy to your door in two hours or less. >> one hour. >> using the prime now app last minute shoppers can choose from over 4,000 items. amazon guarantees delivery of gifts until the clock strikes midnight. how does this change a retailer

>> it changes the game r customers being able to get something deliver td to you in an hour. it is changing the game for our company too. we're adding more shopping days to the holiday season. >> urban fulfillment centers available in places like san francisco, houston, miami and atlanta are purposely centrally located. >> there's no way to get things in an hour if it weren't in the center of the city. >> as soon as the order is arrived it's processed and bagged. amazon prime customers will shell out an extra eight bucks to have their order in an hour. for those willing to wait for two hours, the service is free. here in new york deliveries are done by subway, bike or on foot. annon says the prime now app marks amazon's latest attempt to gain a upper hand on the competition. >> most of the competitors you're looking at five to seven day shipping. amazon is always one to two

>> you call it the procast nay tor screen, is that sending a bad signal. >> we like to serve customer's needs and we don't judge. >> he'll work from 6:00 a.m. to midnight on christmas eve despite his family's wishes. >> i told them i will see them when i get home. >> the pressure to get it there on time. >> on any given window you can do maybe four or five deliveries. >> well, not atall, that's if theraditional hololay colors cooperate with the holiday cheer. >> and in case you're wonder what if i order seasoning and they don't have it, amazon insists that can't happen. they say the quick delivery app only shows merchandise that's in stock and ready to go. and that's the overnight news for this wednesday. for some of you the news continues, for others check back with us a littlee later for the morning news and cbs this

center here in new york city. o'donnell: the storms before christmas, floods and snow in the west, tornado threats in the south, and t-shirt weaer in the east. also tonight, a visa application tells us more about the san donald trump hits below the belt in a new attack on hillary clinton. >> she was favored to win and she got ( bleep ). >> o'donnell: and riding the joy of christmas on the snowball express. >> i just wish we could stay herereor a year. >> reporter: a year? >> i wish we could stay here forever. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs overnight news" scott is off tonight. i'm norah o'donnell. there's a rough few days ahead for anyone traveling for the holidays. in the northwest, violent storms have sent trees into houses and on to cars.

the mountains. severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are forecast from the deep south to the ohio valley as east heat up to spring-like weather for christmas. we have a team of correspondents covering this, beginning with john blackstone. >> reporter: harsh weather in the west has left communities buried i isnow, soaked by heavy rain, and battered by powerful wind. in portland, oregon today, crews were cleaning up trees blown over in the storm. >> i heard a loud boom but didn't really know what it was. and then the whole house, it was like it was on a little trampopone, like, it almot bounced. the cookies-- everythingngent flyi. >> reporter: the power was sll out today for thousands in the portland area. a line came down near heather kurmas. >> the power lines were turning green, blue, orange, and everything was shaking. it was pretty crazy. >> reporter: at snoqualmie in the mountains outside seattle, deep and heavy snow stopped traffic. a search for a missing back- country skier resumed today

because of weather. alan labissonier of king county search-and-rescue. >> you see the conditions, it's bad. avalanche danger is really extreme. >> reporter: the same storm buried the town of kamas 40 miles from salt lake city under a foot of fresh snow. in california, on the road to lake tahoe, mountain traffic came to a near standstill as plows worked to clear the snsn. on these roads, trucker bill brown is in no hurry. >> my only concern is a guy in a four-wheeler who's doing way-- 50 miles per hour and hydroplanes in the rain and i have to dodge him. >> reporter: in southern california's mojave desert, more than 15 tractor trailers w we blown over by winds gusting 60- 80 miles per hour. in the mountains east of los angeles, enough snow fell to open the slopes for night skiing. another cold storm from up in the gulf of alaska is coming towards the west coast.

eve to seattle and portland, two places that don't usually get a white christmas. and, norah, we could even get snow in some of the high hills here in the san francisco area. >> o'donnell: how about that. john blackstone thank you so much. as the west cools down, the eastern half of the country is heating up. jericka duncan has that story. >> reporter: on the busiest shipping week of the year, mail carrier valerie dickson has some spring in her step. >> usually i have my big coat, two pairs of gloves, a scarf around my throat, mouth, nose and all that. i have a scarf on but i don't need to be wrapped all up. >> reporter: in chicago, where dixon was making her rounds, temperatures were in the 50s, but this was dixon last year with wind chills at 20 below. >> snow, cold-- i'm dressed for it. >> reportete seeing green means s more green at this golf course in massachusetts. manager dick murphy thanks mother nature. >> now, we're going to be open right through sunday, so we're beyond christmas.

>> reporter: but other businesses in the northeast, like ski resorts, are watching profits melt away. new york city is bringing in winter on a high note. central park is on pace to break a december record for fewest days below freezing. the macleod family of scotland is visiting the city for the first time. >> we brought big, massive winter jackets, expecting to have to keep warm going for walks and that, but as you can see, they're back in the hotel and i'm wearing a t-shirt. >> reporter: the high on christmas eve is expected to break a record, and, norah, if the temperature gets above 64 degrees on christmas day, well, that, too, would be historic. >> o'donnell: historic, indeed. jericka duncan thank you so much. eric fisher is chief meteorologist at our cbs station in boston, wbz. so, eric, i understand the south is in for some heavy storms. >> very stormy times here as we head through this holiday week. norah, the ingredients are there for a potential severe weather

we've got cold dry air coming down across the plains and unusually warm, moist air being lifted up out of the gulf of mexico. we're really watching this area in particular, could see several tornadoes during the day tomorrow and into tomorrow night. it's those night time tornadoes that are the most dangerous because folks are asleep, and sometimes you don't see it coming. a couple of rounds of storms. they'll all be racing off to the east-northeast. a lot of heavy rain goes along with all of this. so certainly we want people to stay weather aware here as we head through wednesday and into christmas eve. of course, all of this fueled by the incredible warmth, just dozens and dozens of records set up and down the coast from maine all the way down to florida. norah, for the southeast many cities will set record highs every single day until monday of next week. >> o'donnell: incredible, thank you. also heating up is the feud between the republican and democratic front-runners in the race for president. today, hillary clinton responded to some crude comments made about her by donald trump. and major garrett is following this. >> we love michigan. >> reporter: donald trump's

full of interruptions. >> you're a bigot! >> bye-bye. >> reporter: and insults for hillary clinton. >> she's terrible. "donald trump is on video, and isis is using him on the video to recruit!" and it turned out to be a lie. she's a liar. i'm watching the debate, and she disappeared. where did she go? i know where she went. it's disgusting. i don't want to talk aboutt. >> reporter: pretty standard for trump-- abrasive, accusatory, slightly bizarre. but nothing compared to this. >> hillary, that's not a president. even a race to obama, she was going to beat obama. she was favored to win and she got ( bleep ). she lost. >> r rorter: that yiddish vulgarism prompted hillary

palmieri to eet, the campaign would not rereond. you are looking at somebody who has s d a lot of terrible things about me.. >> reporter: campaigning in iowa today, clinton cast trtrp's insults as a form of bullying. >> it's important stand up to bullies wherever they are and why we shouldn't let anybody bully their way to the presidency. >> she's great at being a victim. >> reporter: in new hampshire, trump's g.o.p. rival, jeb bush, took a swipe at both candidates. >> there has to be a level of decorum to win. it's not a sign of strength to insult people with profanity. it's not a serious thing. >> reporter: a new quinnipiac national poll found clinton ahead of trump, and clinton effectively tied with marco rubio and ted cruz. norah, that survey also found 50% of voters say they would be embarrassed to have trump as president. >> o'donnell: all right, major

the "cbs [ vocalizing ] [ buzzing ] [ tree crashes ] [ wind howling ]

president obama took a rare swipe at donald trump in an interview with national public radio. the president said trump is capitalizing on the resentment of working class men who have seen their bills go up while their wages stay flat. >> you combine those things and it means that there's going to be potential anger, , ustration, fear. some of it justified but just misdirected. and, you know, i think somebody like mr. trump's taken advantage of that. i mean, that's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign. >> o'donnell: mr. obama also claimed some of the republican resentment toward him can be chalked up to his statat as the first black president. tonight, we'rereearning more about the e erican service members killed yesterday by a

it was the worst attack on u.s. forces there this year. margaret brennan is at the pentagon. >> how you doing? >> reporter: after his first tour of afghanistan, joseph lemm came home to surprise his children and his wife. but his second tour came to a tragic end this week. he w w among the six u.s. service men killed by a taliban suicide bomber who drove a motorcycle packed with explosives into the american patrol. lemm was a 15-year veteran of the new york police department and a member of the air national guard. major adrianna vorderbruggen was the highest ranking officer killed and one of the first openly gay female air force officers killed in action. ecial agent peter taub also lost his life. his mother runs this washington restaurant and posted a note on the door saying they were closed to mourn this horrible loss. a regular customer, vivienne ramgeet, left a teddy bear and a christmas tree at the front

>> i'm grieving for my friends. and i'm -- i'm -- i'm truly devastated. >> reporter: the three other airmen killed were michael cinco, chester mcbride, and louis bonacasa. only a day after the american ambush, u.s. and british soldiers went to the aid of the struggling afghan army trying to hold off the taliban takeover of a crucial southern province. the taliban has been gaining strength ever since the end of the u.s. combat mission and draw-down. today they released a photograph of the bomber they claimed attacked the americans. tonight, the pentagon will release officially the names of the fallen. but, norah, these deaths are especially heartbreaking for so many families coming right before christmas, and just months after president obama decided to extend the longest war in american history. >> o'donnell: margaret brennan, thank you. a grim milestone has been reached in europe's refugee crisis. the e n. refugee agency sa today more than one million people have entered europe this year after fleeing war and poverty in the middle east and

half came from syria. nearly 3,700 died on the journey or went missing. today, f.b.i. director james comey visited the bureau's l.a. field office to thank agents and popoce who investigated the massacre in sasabernardino in which 14 people were killed. and for the first time, we're getting a look at the visa application filed by one of the terrorists to get into this country. here's homeland security correspondent jeff pegues. >> reporter: eight months before syed farook entered the united states with his bride-to-be, he applied for a fiance visa for pakistani-born tashfeen malik. in the document dated december 31, 2013, farook, an american citizen, wrote that they had met through a matrimonial web site. when asked for more information, farook wrote in a statement that after several weeks of e- mailing, he and malik decided to meet each other. that happened when they both attended the hajj pilgrimage in

2013. and it is this day, he says, that we got engaged. he signed that statement january 20, 2014. immigration officials asked for and received proof. visa stamps that both were at the hajj. ultimately, the application was approved, clearing the way for the san bernardino killers to come into the country.y. in a statement, the u.s. citizenship and immigration services says, what they didn't know about that the f.b.i. discovered after the shooting were malik's direct private messages about jihad, and evidence that both farook and malik had been showing signs of radicalization long before the couple got engaged. the k-1 visa application relies on self-reporting, and in a

immigration file she reportedly answered no when asked if she had ever engaged in terrorist activity. norah, obama administration critics believe there were major gaps in the vetting of that application. >> o'donnell: all righgh jeff pegues, thank you. today, army sergeant bowe bergdahl was arraigned in military court on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. he could face life in prison if convicted, or of the latter. he did not enter a plea. bergdahl walked off his post in afghanistan in 2009 and was held as a taliban prisoner for five years before being swapped for five guantanamo detainees. a grand jury in texas has decided not to indict anyone in the sheriff's office or jail in connection with the death of sandra bland. she was found dead in her cell in july, three days after her confrontational arrest during a traffic stop. her death was ruled a suicide. coming up, what's taking so long to clean up this radioactive mess?

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extensively about an unusual number of cancer cases north of st. louis, where several have low-levels of radiological contamination. tonight vinita nair reports even more sites have tested p pitive and now there's a federal health investigation. >> reporter: 300 residents of north saint louis county crowded into a local gym last week, anxious about what they would hear. soil near their local creek was contaminated by improperly stored nuclear weapons waste in the 1960s and 70s, and people have been getting sick. the army corps of engineers delivered the latest test results. >> seven additional parcels that have been identified. >> reporter: those seven new areas of low-level nuclear contamination were discovered as crews tested the creek this summer. the new sites include four commercial properties and three homes. add in the five sites already slated for cleanup, and that is 12 places around the creek with contamination. >> they found the tumor, about the size of a golf ball. >> reporter: last fall, angela

tumor that is rare in children. >> if itame from this, wow, we want some answers because it's making me anary. she was my only grandchild. >> there it is right there. >> reporter: it was a variety of rare illnesses that caught the attention of resident jenelle wright and her neighbors. four years ago, the group created a facebook page that has since logged 2,700 cancers and autoimmune conditions around wn. they begged federal health authorities to investigate. >> we've had to go through many battles. i don't even know if i can recount all of them, all the different agencies, and gate keepers to different agencies to even have our phone calls returned, literally calling an agency 30 times and not returning your phone caca. >> reporter: this month they finally got results. the centers for disease control sent a health assessment team to help document the residents' stories. >> you must advocate for yourself. >> reporter: mary oscko has

why is the government getting involved now? >> do you notice that the table's shaking? if i shake the table enough, you can't eat your meal off of it. if i make enough noise, you want to listen to me. we're standing up and saying, "hi, i'm mary. i'm dying of cancer." >> reporter: residents are ping the health stududmight helplphem in their legal fights ovov compensation for medical bills but the assessment could take two years, and, norah, some folks like mary are worried they won't be around long enough to see the results. >> o'donnell: such an incredible story, vinita nair, thank you. >> o'donnell: someone stole a secret service agent's gun in

that story is next. >> o'donnell: police in washington say a secret service agent's gun was stolen from his

yesterday. the agent, a member of the presidential protective division, had gone inside for 45 minutes. when he returned, a bag containing his gun, i.d., badge, and a thumb drive were gone. the agent will likely face disciplinary charges. a world cup skier was nearly hit by a drone today during a race in italy. the drone fell from the sky and crashed just inches from marcel hirscher. he was carrying a tv camera and was shooting the race. hirscher didn't seem to notice and came in second, but afterwards he said this can never happen again. a surprise homecoming in oklahoma. kim gornick wasn't expecting to see her son, wyatt, this ristmas. ( screaming ) ( screaming ) >> o'donnell: but as you can see he made an unexpected appearance after returning home from marine infantry training in san diego. she called the moment priceless. a nice, big hug, too. still ahead, why are these kids

we'll show you when we come want to do something special this holiday season? support i have a dream foundation. help a child achieie 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. cbs cares. 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.

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,

>> o'donnell: finally tonight, the holidays are supposed to be the happiest time of the year for kids, and some eager volunteers are making sure that it is. here's chip reid. >> reporter: more than 1,000 kids were in dallas recently for four days of nonstop joy. there was no limit to the games, the rides, and the fun. >> lightsabers up! >> reporter: and it was all free. if you're wondering why these kids and their parents were treated like such heroes, well, they earned it, the hard way. every child here lost a parent in the military. every parent here lost a spouse. chase sullivan is seven, his brother jake, five. their mother bree can't remember the last time thth were this happy. >> they get to be with other

what it's like to lose a parent. >> reporter: michelle karnoski brought her 13-year-old daughter, sammie. >> it's heartbreaking knowing that all these kids have lost a parent while on active duty military. it's hard. >> reporter: this is the tenth anniversary of the snowball express, a nonprofit charity named for an old disnenemovie. some families return every year, like carol baruch, and her daughter, amelia. her husband, john, did two tours in ira >> he had a larger-than-life personality. and when he came back from his second tour, that personality had changed. >> reporter: suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, two days after christmas in 2007, he took his own life. >> around christmaste, like, a classmate will complain about a present they get, their dad gave

it's kind of frustrating because i'd do anything to get a bad present from my dad. >> reporter: snowball express is always held during the holiday season because for many here it's the most difficult time of the year. >> because-- >> i can't imagine not coming. like, i can't imagine not ever having this in my life. >> reporter: chase and jake sullivan feel pretty much the same way. >> i just wish we e uld stay here a year. >> reporter: a year. >> i wish we could stay here forever. >> reporter: forever in a place where everyone understands. ( applause ) chip reid, cbs news, dallas. that's the "overnight news for wednesday. for some of you check back with us. from theroadcast center in new

i'm nora o'donnel. >> this is the "cbs overnight news". >> the mountain that feeds this stream has received 7 inches of rain, in fact more than 7 inches of rain since sunday. up in the portland area they're having the wettest winter on

are being pummelled with snow, certainly, the winter is roaring in the west. a powerful storm system making its way across the northwest is packing it dangerousix of blinding snow, rain and violent winds strong enough to knock down powerlines. >> you can see the conditions, it's bad. >> reporter: several drivers were left stuck and stranded just outside east of seattle when portions of interstate 90 were buried under snow. >> we went off the first exit, if we would have known this, we would have turned around and went back. >> he used his truck to help drivers stuck in the side of the road. >> if i can help you out, why not. >> reporter: the threat of an avalanche forced crews to

disappeared over the weekend. >> i heard a loud boom and then the whole house, it was like it almomo bouncece >> reporter: the winds werer strong enough h blow this tractor-trailer off the road. more than 35,000 people in the portland area were without power. now up in the mountains where there has been no snow, there was no snow last winter, we had feet of snow already this winter. a heat wave across the deep south is about to turn dangerous. meteorologists predict violent storms will rumume from louisiana toto georgia packing high winds, driring hail and possible tornados. in the northeast there still is the need for winter coats and hats. records have been falling up and down the seaboard. >> reporter: i can't believe we're talking about the 70s. right now i'm not wearing any hats, any gloves. the temperature right now about

and you can almost call it an extended heat wave for the winter, having many people here in the northeast pleasantly surprised. >> it's beautiful here. it's incredible. >> reporter: at 52 degrees in buffalo it was beautiful enough for waiters and walks in the park. in a city that was slammed by 7 feet of lake effect snow last year, temperatures this week are more likely to inspire long walks on the beach. >> certainly a look at buffalo, up to 61 degrees. the focus on c cistmas eve moves to the northeast and we're talking 60s and 70s, the warmest christmas eve anyone alive has seen in that area. >> reporter: more than 2,600 record high temperatures have been tied or broken across the lower 48 states this month. in washington, d.c., cherry

in chicago, christmas shoppers wore light coats. >> i'm not complaining thatt's not snowing right now. but it doesn't feel like christmas yet. >> reporter: but nowhere is this tail of two climates more obvious than the ski scloeps. the connecticut resort can't keep the fake snow from melting. while in colorado the real snow just keeps coming, skiers there are enjoying being on the edge of a much larger cold weather band stretching from park city up to spokane. >> we oar watching to see if it's possible the stormy and snowy conditions will eventually come eastern on us. >> reporter: and meteorologists say the el nino factor is the main reason behind this unseasonably warm, beautiful weather. >> things are also heating up on the campaign trail. g.o.p. frontrunner donald trump is taking the gloves off. the candidates have been trading

some of trump's comments a recruitment tool for isis. a poll shows prefer clinton to trump 47% to 40%. here is more on how the two frontrunners are squaring off. in case you just awoke and were wondering, though, the general election hasn't begun. but trump would like republicans to imagine him going toe to toe with hillary clinton. and other republicans are, as has been so often the case trying to get a piece of the increasingly obnoxious trump action. >> you're a loser. you really are a loser. >> in a rally monday night, donald trump fought through more than a dozen interruptions. >> there's another guy up there. >> that's a very weak voice. >> he's holding up his hands like he's mike tyson, he would never throw a punch.

challenge rival hillary clinton, availing her accusation that isis used trump's words. she's a liar! the last person she wants to return against is me, believe me. >> reporter: trump made a mad reference to clinton's debate to the bathroom that lasted longer than the commercial break. >> sorry. [ laughter ] >> where did she go? i thought she quit. i thought she gave up. i know where she went. it's disgusting. >> he hit clinton for losing the 2008 nomination. she was favored too win. >> beside trump's lead towards yiddish, he was accused of accepted the targeted killing of journalists. >> i would never kill them. i would never do that. let's see. no, i wouldn't.

i do hate them. >> reporter: she said the thrust of her criticism remains true. >> theateful r r rick is playing into the hand o isis and other terrorist groups. >> others have kept the focus on clinton. a new poll has it 43-44%. cruz are tied at 44%. these new numbers come a day after lindsey graham, a candidate's whose numbers didn't register dropped out of the race.

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yesterday charlie rose gave us an inside look at the secret of the world of apple. he sit down with tim cook to discuss one of the company's most confidential trade secrets, encryption. it let's terrorist communicate without fear of getting caught. here is charlie with tim cook for 60 minutes. >> in the government they say it's like you have a search warrant but you can't unlock the trunk. >> here is t t situation, on ur iphone, there's likely health information, there's financial information, there are intimate conversations with your family or your coworkers. there's probably business secrets and you should have the ability to protect it. and the only way we know how to

why is that? it's because if there's a way to get in, then somebody will find a way in. there haha been people that suggest that we should have a backckoor, but the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door is for everybody, good guys and bad guys. >> does the government have a point in which they say, if we have good reason to believe in that information is evidence of criminal conduct or national security behavior? >> well, if the government lays a proper warrant on us today, then we will give the specific information that is requested, because we have to by law. in the case of encrypted communication, we don't have it to give. and so if your i messages are encrypted we don't have access to those. >> help me understand how you

>> i don't believe that the trade off is privacy versus national security, i think that's an overly simplistic view. we're america, we should have both. >> please stand and raise your right hand. national security isn't the only battle tim cook has been fighting with washington. apple earns two-thirds of the revenue overseas. rather than bring it back, apple like many, parks billions of dollars in overseas income in sub sid dares and countries like ireland. the practice is not illegal, but it's at the heart of a battle that has been unfolding in washington to reform the corporate tax code and bring that money home. >> how do you feel when you go before congress and they say, you're a tax avoider? >> what i told them and what i'll tell you and the folks watching tonight is, we pay more taxes in this country than anyone.

because of how much money you make. >> well, i don't deny that. we happily pay it. >> you probably also have more money overseas. >> we do. i said before, two-thirds of our business is over there. >> why don't you bring that home, is the question? >> why don't you b bng it home? >> it would cost me0% to bring it home and i d d't think it's a reasonable thing to do. this is a tax code, charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. it's backward. it's awful for america. it should have been fixed many years ago. it's past time to get it done. >> but here is what they concluded, apple is engaged in a sophisticated scheme to pay little or no corporate taxes on 74 billion in revenues held overseas. >> that is total political crap. there's no truth behind it. apple pays every tax dollare owe. >> reportete tim cook has spent much of the last decade

the world nowhere more than in china. >> thank you. in october, cook made his ninth trip there since becoming ceo four years ago -- >> i am as certain as can be of that. >> the numbers simply tell us that. >> the numbers tell us th, but not just the number of people, but the numbers of people moving into the middle class, that for a consumer company is the thing that really begins to grow the market in a big way. >> reporter: and most americans would be surprised to know that nearly all apple products are manufactured by one million chinese workers in the factories of apple contractors, including its largest fox con.

vast andabor force is not the primary reason for manufacturing there. >> if it's not wages, what is it? >> it's skill. >> reporter: skill? >> they have more skills than american works? >> no. >> let me be clear is, china put an enormous focus on manufacturing in what we would call, you and i would call vocational kind of skills. the u.s., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of ills. you can take every tool maker in the united states and put them in every room we're sitting in room. in china you'll have multiple football fields because it's a focus of their educational system. so that is the reality. >> reporter: manufacturing in china has brought serious labor concerns to apple about low wages, long hours, and unsafe conditions.

con in 2010, a company installed safety nets oututde its employees' dormitoryiesdormitories. >> reporter: do you have a responsibility to look at the labor conditions and make sure whatever might be for people to commit suicide is eradicated? >> the answer to your question is, yes. we have a responsibility and we do it. we are constantly auditing our supply chain, making sure that safety standards are, you know, the highest, working conditions are the highest. all of the things that you would pect us to look for and more, we're doing it. >> reporter: according to it's most recent internal review apple has limited the work week to 60 hours, raised pay and cracked down on child labor. but 30% of the facilities that make its products around the world still do not meet apple's own safety standards.

that has values and acts on them, can really change the world. >> reporter: since taking over apple, tim cook has broadened his company's mission beyond making products. they have invested millions to power data centers. cook has become a strong advocate for human rights. his motives are personal. he grew up in segregation and last year he made a bold public announcement that he is gay. >> no other ceo of fortune 500 company that might be gay has come out. >> reporter: you said it was god's greatest gift to you. when you're in a minority group, pit gives you a sense of em papathy of what it's like to be in the minority and you begin to look at things from different point of views and i think it was a gift for me. >> reporter: why didn't you come

>> honestly, i value my privacy. i'm a very private person. but it became increasingly clear to me that if i said something, that it could help other people. and i'm glad because i thihi that somomkid somewhere,ome kid in alabama, i think if they, just for a moment, stop and say, if it didn't limit him, it may not limit me, or this kid that's getting bullied or this kid -- worse, i've gotten notes from people contemplating suicide. so if i could touch just one of those, it's worth it. and i couldn't look myself in the mirror without doing it. >> reporter: before we finished reporting our story, cook wanted

steve jobs use to say, a glimpse of apple's future, so we packed into four by fours and with cameras, drones and technicians supplied by gulf prowe aasinded this giant mound of dirt. it is the company's biggest project ever. >> this isis like amall city. >> i iis. it's about 3,500 people working here right now and this is what people are commonly calling the spaceship. >> reporter: yes. >> we're going to have about 13,000 people that are working in this circle and it's going to be a center for invasion for generations to come. >> reporter: some have said it's a $5 billion project. >> it's a lot. it's a lot. it's somewhere near there. >> reporter: i knew 5 billion is a lot. >> we think it's important to have a place that inspires you. >> to see man (sternly): where do you think you're going? mr. mucus: to work, with you. it's taco tuesday.

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>> nasa says it is scrubbing the plan to launch next march of the inside spacecraft that was supposed to be bound for mars. the earth and mars won't be lined up for another launch for two years, meanwhile they weren't drinking champagne over at space x, the private company

orbit and bring it back to earth for picture perfect reports. >> you might call it a high cost move. getting the rocket back to earth means that space x can use it again, saving the company millions of dolllls. the successful launch of the new falcon 9 rocket was the first obstacle for space x to over come. >> space x has cleared a resume space station cargo deliverly flight which has been on hold since the spectacular failure last june. >> that ill fated mission wasn't the company's only failure, two previous landing attempts ended in disaster include t tis one back in april.

launch and reentry space trails with the caption "there and back again" jeff basos founder of amazon and founder of blue region responded with this tweet adding "welcome to the club" and liftoff. >> amazon founder successfully recovered the rocket used to launch one of his spacecraft earlier this fall,, but that rocket was going to be much less extreme in terms of velocity and altitude. >> but to be successful, space x needs to be profitable, which includes being able to reuse those $60 million rockets. >> pulling off this landing was a major achievement, perhaps a historic achievement it could be the first for dramatically lowering cost. >> this rocket is the tester. it will be studied and inspected to see how it weathered the

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>> if you are the type who waits till the last minute to do your holiday shopping, amazon.com has something for you this season. amazon prime customers can order theirr holiday essentials and get them delivered to their door in just two hours. i paid a visit to one of amazon's fulfillment centers to see how they conjure up this christmas time magic. holiday shoppers on 34th street dart in and out of retail stores to bring some of the seasons joy to your door. using the prime, last minute shoppers can choose over 4,000 hours, amazon guarantees deliver gifts and electronics until christmamaeve until the clock strikes midnight. we'ree talking about one houou two hour delivery, how does this

>> it changes the game being able to get stuff delivered for you in an hour. it's also changing the game for our company too, we're adding more shopping days. >> reporter: the centers now available in more than 20 cities including places like san francisco, houston, miami and atlanta are purposely centrally located. >> it's no way we can get them in an hour. >> as soon as the order arrives it's processed, bagged and handed off to a delivery associate. amazon prime customers willing to shell out 8 bucks to have their order in an hour. for those willing to wait two hours, their service is free. here in new york deliveries are done by subway, bike or on foot. shannon says the prime now app marks amazon's latest attempt to gain the upper hand on the competition's attention. >> it's like amazon is one to

>> you call prokrast nay tor's dream. >> we don't judge. >> sylvester will work from 6:00 a.m. to midnight on christmas eve despite his family's wishes. >> i told them i will do work and i will get off when i can and see them when i get home. >> rushing to get it there on time. >> on any given window, you can do maybe four, five deliveries. >> well, not at all. that's the traditionally holiday colors cooperate with the holiday cheer. >> and in case you're wondering what if i wonder something it's sold out, amazon insist that can't happen. they say the quick delivery app only shows merchandise that's in stock and ready to go. and that's the overnight news for this wednesday, for some of you the news continues, for others check back with us a little later for the morning

broadcast city -- o'donnell: the storms before christmas, floods and snow in the west, tornado threats in the south, and t-shirt weather in the east. also tonight, a visa application tells us more about the san bernardino terrorists. donald trump hits below the belt in a new attack on hillary clinton. >> she was favored to win and she got ( bleep ). >> o'donnell: and riding the joy of christmas on the snowball express. >> i just wish we could stay here for a year. >> reporter: a year? >> i wish we could stay here forever. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs overnight news" scott is off tonight. i'm norah o'donnell. there's a rough few days ahead for anyone traveling for the holidays. in the northwest, violent storms have sent trees into houses and on to cars. heavy snow has been falling in the mountains.

tornadoes are forecast from the deep south to the ohio valley as east heats up to spring-like weather for christmas. we have a team of correspondents covering this, beginning with john blackstone. >> reporter: harsh weather in the west has left communities buried in snow, soaked by heavy rain, and battered by powerful wind. in portland, oregon today, crews were cleaning up trees blown over in the storm. >> i heard a loud boom but didn't really know what it was. and then the whole house, it was like it was on a little trampoline, like, it almost bounced. the cookies -- everything went flying. >> reporter: the power was still out today for thousands in the portland area. a line came down near heather kurmas. >> the power lines were turning green, blue, orange, and everything was shaking. it was pretty crazy. >> reporter: at snoqualmie in the mountains outside seattle, deep and heavy snow stopped traffic. a search for a missing back- country skier resumed today after being called off yesterday because of weather.

search-and-rescue. >> you see the conditions, it's bad. avalanche danger is really extreme. >> reporter: the same storm buried the town of kamas 40 miles from salt lake city under a foot of fresh snow. in california, on the road to lake tahoe, mountain traffic came to a near standstill as plows worked to clear the snow. on these roads, trucker bill brown is in no hurry. >> my only concern is a guy in a four-wheeler who's doing way -- 50 miles per hour and hydroplanes in the rain and i have to dodge him. >> reporter: in southern california's mojave desert, more than 15 tractor trailers were blown over by winds gusting 60- 80 miles an hour. in the mountains east of los angeles, enough snow fell to open the slopes for night skiing. another cold storm from up in the gulf of alaska is coming towards the west coast. it could bring snow on christmas

white christmas. and, norah, we could even get snow in some of the high hills here in the san francisco area. >> o'donnell: how about that. john blackstone, thank you so much. >> as the west cools down, the eastern half of the country is heating up. jericka duncan has that story. >> reporter: on the busiest shipping week of the year, mail carrier valerie dickson has some spring in her step. >> usually i have my big coat, two pairs of gloves, a scarf around my throat, mouth, nose and all that. i have a scarf on but i don't need to be wrapped all up. >> reporter: in chicago, where dixon was making her rounds, temperatures were in the 50s, but this was dixon last year with wind chills at 20 below. >> snow, cold -- i'm dressed for it. >> reporter: seeing green means more green at this golf course in massachusetts. manager dick murphy thanks mother nature. >> now, we're going to be open right through sunday, so we're beyond christmas. that's unheard of.

businesses in the northeast, like ski resorts, are watching profits melt away. new york city is bringing in winter on a high note. central park is on pace to break a december record for fewest days below freezing. the macleod family of scotland is visiting the city for the first time. >> we brought big, massive winter jackets, expecting to have to keep warm going for walks and that, but as you can see, they're back in the hotel and i'm wearing a t-shirt. >> reporter: the high on christmas eve is expected to break a record, and, norah, if degrees on christmas day, well, that, too, would be historic. >> o'donnell: historic, indeed. jericka duncan, thank you so much. eric fisher is chief meteorologist at our cbs station in boston, wbz. so, eric, i understand the south is in for some heavy storms. >> very stormy times here as we head through this holiday week. norah, the ingredients are there for a potential severe weather outbreak tomorrow. we've got cold dry air coming

unusually warm, moist air being lifted up out of the gulf of mexico. we're really watching this area in particular, could see several tornadoes during the day tomorrow and into tomorrow night. it's those nighttime tornadoes that are the most dangerous because folks are asleep, and sometimes you don't see it coming. a couple of rounds of storms. they'll all be racing off to the east-northeast. a lot of heavy rain goes along with all of this. so certainly we want people to stay weather aware here as we head through wednesday and into christmas eve. of course, all of this is fueled by the incredible warmth, just dozens and dozens of records set up and down the coast from maine all the way down to florida. norah, for the southeast many cities will set record highs every single day until monday of next week. >> o'donnell: incredible, thank you. also heating up is the feud between the republican and democratic front-runners in the race for president. today, hillary clinton responded to some crude comments made about her by donald trump. and major garrett is following this. >> we love michigan. >> reporter: donald trump's

>> you're a bigot! >> bye-bye. >> reporter: and insults for hillary clinton. >> she's terrible. "donald trump is on video, and isis is using him on the video to recruit!" and it turned out to be a lie. she's a liar. i'm watching the debate, and she disappeared. where did she go? i know where she went. it's disgusting. i don't want to talk about it. >> reporter: pretty standard for trump -- abrasive, accusatory, slightly bizarre. but nothing compared to this. >> hillary, that's not a president. even a race to obama, she was going to beat obama. she was favored to win and she got [ bleep ]. she lost. >> reporter: that yiddish vulgarism prompted hillary clinton's spokeswoman jennifer palmieri to tweet, the campaign would not respond.

humiliation this degrading inflicts on all women, should. you are looking at somebody who has had a lot of terrible things about me. >> reporter: campaigning in iowa today, clinton cast trump's insults as a form of bullying. >> it's important to stand up to bullies wherever they are and why we shouldn't let anybody bully their way to the presidency. >> she's great at being a victim. >> reporter: in new hampshire, trump's g.o.p. rival, jeb bush, took a swipe at both candidates. >> there has to be a level of decorum to win. it's not a sign of strength to insult people with profanity. it's not a serious thing. >> reporter: a new quinnipiac national poll found clinton ahead of trump, and clinton 47 to 50%. effectively tied with marco rubio and ted cruz. norah, that survey also found 50% of voters say they would be embarrassed to have trump as president. >> o'donnell: all right, major garrett, thank you. the "cbs overnight news" will be

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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>> president obama took a rare swipe at donald trump in an interview with national public radio. the president said trump is capitalizing on the resentment of working class men who have seen their bills go up while their wages stay flat. >> you combine those things and it means that there's going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. some of it justified but just misdirected. and, you know, i think somebody like mr. trump's taken advantage of that. i mean, that's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign. >> o'donnell: mr. obama also claimed some of the republican resentment toward him can be chalked up to his status as the first black president. tonight, we're learning more about the american service members killed yesterday by a suicide bomber in afghanistan.

margaret brennan is at the pentagon. >> how you doing? >> reporter: after his first tour of afghanistan, joseph lemm came home to surprise his children and his wife. but his second tour came to a tragic end this week. he was among the six u.s. service men killed by a taliban suicide bomber who drove a motorcycle packed with explosives into the american patrol. lemm was a 15-year veteran of the new york police department and a member of the air national guard. major adrianna vorderbruggen was the highest ranking officer killed and one of the first openly gay female air force officers killed in action. special agent peter taub also lost his life. his mother runs this washington restaurant and posted a note on the door saying they were closed to mourn this horrible loss. a regular customer, vivienne ramgeet, left a teddy bear and a christmas tree at the front door. >> i'm grieving for my friends.

devastated. >> reporter: the three other airmen killed were michael cinco, chester mcbride, and louis bonacasa. only a day after the american ambush, u.s. and british soldiers went to the aid of the struggling afghan army trying to hold off the taliban takeover of a crucial southern province. the taliban has been gaining strength ever since the end of the u.s. combat mission and draw-down. today they released a photograph of the bomber they claimed attacked the americans. tonight, the pentagon will release officially the names of the fallen. but, norah, these deaths are especially heartbreaking for so many families coming right before christmas, and just months after president obama decided to extend the longest war in american history. >> o'donnell: margaret brennan, thank you. a grim milestone has been reached in europe's refugee crisis. the u.n. refugee agency said today more than one million people have entered europe this year after fleeing war and poverty in the middle east and

half came from syria. nearly 3,700 died on the journey or went missing. today, f.b.i. director james comey visited the bureau's l.a. field office to thank agents and police who investigated the massacre in san bernardino in which 14 people were killed. and for the first time, we're getting a look at the visa application filed by one of the terrorists to get into this country. here's homeland security correspondent jeff pegues. >> reporter: eight months before syed farook entered the united states with his bride-to-be, he applied for a fiance visa for pakistani-born tashfeen malik. in the document dated december 31, 2013, farook, an american citizen, wrote that they had met through a matrimonial web site. when asked for more information, farook wrote in a statement that after several weeks of e- mailing, he and malik decided to meet each other. that happened when they both attended the hajj pilgrimage in mecca saudi arabia, n october 3, 2013.

that we got engaged. he signed that statement january 20, 2014. immigration officials asked for and received proof. visa stamps that both were at the hajj. ultimately, the application was approved, clearing the way for the san bernardino killers to come into the country. in a statement, the u.s. citizenship and immigration services says, what they didn't -- they were subjected to numerous background checks and those did not reveal any derogatory information about malik. what they didn't know about what the f.b.i. discovered after the shooting were malik's direct private messages about jihad, and evidence that both farook and malik had been showing signs of radicalization long before the couple got engaged. the k-1 visa application relies on self-reporting, and in a separate part of malik's immigration file she reportedly answered no when asked if she

activity. norah, obama administration critics believe there were major gaps in the vetting of that application. >> o'donnell: all right, jeff pegues, thank you. today, army sergeant bowe bergdahl was arraigned in military court on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. he could face life in prison if convicted, or of the latter. he did not enter a plea. bergdahl walked off his post in afghanistan in 2009 and was held as a taliban prisoner for five years before being swapped for five guantanamo detainees. a grand jury in texas has decided not to indict anyone in the sheriff's office or jail in connection with the death of sandra bland. she was found dead in her cell in july, three days after her confrontational arrest during a traffic stop. her death was ruled a suicide. coming up, what's taking so long to clean up this radioactive mess?

world cup skier. and a christmas surprise when the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there. are you taking a zumba class?

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contamination. tonight vinita nair reports even more sites have tested positive and now there's a federal health investigation. >> reporter: 300 residents of north saint louis county crowded into a local gym last week, anxious about what they would hear. soil near their local creek was contaminated by improperly stored nuclear weapons waste in the 1960s and 70s, and people have been getting sick. the army corps of engineers delivered the latest test results. >> seven additional parcels that have been identified. >> reporter: those seven new areas of low-level nuclear contamination were discovered as crews tested the creek this summer. the new sites include four commercial properties and three homes. add in the five sites already slated for cleanup, and that is 12 places around the creek with contamination. >> they found the tumor, about the size of a golf ball. >> reporter: last fall, angela powers lost her nine-year-old grandchild, jordan, to a brain

>> if it came from this, wow, we want some answers because it's making me angry. she was my only grandchild. >> there it is right there. >> reporter: it was a variety of rare illnesses that caught the attention of resident jenelle wright and her neighbors. four years ago, the group created a facebook page that has since logged 2,700 cancers and autoimmune conditions around town. they begged federal health authorities to investigate. >> we've had to go through many battles. i don't even know if i can recount all of them, all the different agencies, literally calling an agency 30 times and not returning your phone call. >> reporter: this month they finally got results. the centers for disease control sent a health assessment team to help document the residents' stories. >> you must advocate for yourself. >> reporter: mary oscko has stage four lung cancer and blames it on the contamination. why is the government getting involved now? >> do you notice that the

if i shake the table enough, you can't eat your meal off of it. if i make enough noise, you want to listen to me. we're standing up and saying, "hi, i'm mary. i'm dying of cancer." >> reporter: residents are hoping the health study might help them in their legal fights over compensation for medical bills but the assessment could take two years, and, norah, some folks like mary are worried they won't be around long enough to see the results. >> o'donnell: such an incredible story, vinita nair, thank you. >> o'donnell: someone stole a secret service agent's gun in washington.

>> o'donnell: police in >> o'donnell: police in washington say a secret service agent's gun was stolen from his car outside headquarters yesterday. the agent, a member of the

minutes. when he returned, a bag containing his gun, i.d., badge, and a thumb drive were gone. the agent will likely face disciplinary charges. a world cup skier was nearly hit by a drone today during a race in italy. the drone fell from the sky and crashed just inches from marcel hirscher. he was carrying a tv camera and was shooting the race. hirscher didn't seem to notice and came in second, but afterwards he said this can never happen again. a surprise homecoming in oklahoma. kim gornick wasn't expecting to see her son, wyatt, this christmas. [ screaming ] >> o'donnell: but as you can see he made an unexpected appearance after returning home from marine infantry training in san diego. she called the moment priceless. a nice, big hug, too. still ahead, why are these kids so happy? we'll show you when we come

woman: what does it feel like when a woman is having a heart attack? chest pain, like there's a ton of weight on your chest. 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,

>> o'donnell: finally tonight, the holidays are supposed to be the happiest time of the year for kids, and some eager volunteers are making sure that it is. here's chip reid. >> reporter: more than 1,000 kids were in dallas recently for four days of nonstop joy. there was no limit to the games, the rides, and the fun. >> lightsabers up! >> reporter: and it was all free. if you're wondering why these kids and their parents were treated like such heroes, well, they earned it, the hard way. every child here lost a parent in the military. every parent here lost a spouse. chase sullivan is seven, his brother jake is five. their mother bree can't remember the last time they were this happy. >> they get to be with other

what it's like to lose a parent. >> reporter: michelle karnoski brought her 13-year-old daughter, sammie. >> it's heartbreaking knowing that all these kids have lost a parent while on active duty military. it's hard. >> reporter: this is the tenth anniversary of the snowball express, a nonprofit charity named for an old disney movie. some families return every year, like carol baruch and her daughter, amelia. her husband, john, did two tours in iraq. >> he had a larger-than-life personality. and when he came back from his second tour, that personality had changed. >> reporter: suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, two days after christmas in 2007, he took his own life. >> around christmastime, like, a present they get, their dad gave them, that they didn't like and

present from my dad. >> reporter: snowball express is always held during the holiday season because for many here it's the most difficult time of the year. >> because-- >> i can't imagine not coming. like, i can't imagine not ever having this in my life. >> reporter: chase and jake sullivan feel pretty much the same way. >> i just wish we could stay here a year. >> reporter: a year? >> i wish we could stay here forever. >> reporter: forever in a place where everyone understands. ( applause ) chip reid, cbs news, dallas. >> that's the overnight news for this wednesday for some of you the news continues, for others check back with us a little later. for other news join anthony for cbs this morning.