>> mitchell: tonight, a new madoff tragedy. the oldest son of convicted swindler bernard madoff is found dead in his apartment. an apparent suicide. i'm russ mitchell. also tonight, the stigma of madoff. we'll talk exclusively with former employee whose had nothing to do with his fraud but say their years have been badly damaged. >>, you know, i lost my job. i lost my livelihood. >> mitchell: a final farewell to elizabeth edwards. in north carolina, hundred of family and friends pay tribute to her courage and fortitude. and charged up it's first all-electric nissan leaf is delivered to its owner but will it convince consumers it can go the distance? captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell.

>> mitchell: good evening, he was once considered a prince of wall street who lived large and was admired by his colleagues. but tonight, 46-year-old mark madoff, the oldest son of jailed financial swindler bernard madoff, is dead of an apparent suicide. it came on the anniversary the day the madoff scandal was first revealed. armen keteyian has more. >> reporter: on the second anniversary of his father's arrest, bernie madoff's oldest son was found dead early this morning can't help you.

>> reporter: his attorney called them baseless. mark madoff was said to grow more despondent in recent days disturbed by the fact his two youngest children had been named in a defendant in a civil lawsuit. >> mitchell: we know mark madoff was under investigation. were there any criminal charges? >> he was the subject of

criminal investigations but we were told today he had not talked to law enforcement recently. >> mitchell: in north carolina elizabeth e wards was laid to rest today. the 61-year-old estranged wife of former senator and vice presidential nominee john edwards died last tuesday before a long battle with breast cancer. from raleigh, north carolina, elaine quijano joins us with more on today's services. elaine. >> reporter: good evening to you, russ. well, it was an emotional funeral service today here for elizabeth edwards as family and friends paid their respects. ♪ ♪ in the same raleigh church where she once said good-bye to her son, wade, hundreds of mourners bid farewell to elizabeth edwards. her oldest daughter, 28-year-old kate, read from a letter her mother wrote to her children. >> "wherever i am, wherever you are, i have my arms wrapped around you." >> reporter: and with a mixture of sadness and laughter, she recalled her mother's strength, grace and wit. >> she was a consistent source

of wisdom from things big and small, from "you almost always regret prints but you'll never regret wearing solids." ( laughter ). >> reporter: edwards' estranged husband, john, attended the funeral but did not speak at the service. friends say he is focused on caring for his youngest children, 10-year-old jack, and 12-year-old emma claire. two of elizabeth edwards' closest friends also delivered eulogies. >> elizabeth was authentic. she was real. >> reporter: they spoke of edwards' son, wade, who died in a car crash in 1996 when he was 16. >> be with wade, next to beloved wade. it's been a decade and a half since you've lost him. >> reporter: and now, another painful good-bye for the edwards family. >> emma, jack, and i ended every conversation with our mom by saying, "i love you more." and she always responded, "no, i love you more." and as you can imagine, none of

us ever won that battle. but today i have the honor of being the last to say, "mom, i really, really love you more." >> reporter: in a private burial, elizabeth edwards was laid to rest next to her son, wade's grave. it's a place she visited often and where friends say she found comfort. russ. >> mitchell: elaine quijano in raleigh, morning, thank you. there is some severe weather to tell butonight. a major winter storm has dumped up to two feet of snow in the upper midwest. the storm is moving east and bringing some of the coldest temperatures of the season thus far. liz colin of our twin city station wcco joins us from downtown minneapolis with the latest. liz trk looks cold. >> reporter: it certainly is,erous. really a whopper here in minneapolis. you think it's minnesota, of course, and it's supposed to snow but it's been years since we heard the words, "blizzard" and "crippling snowstorms."

this drift was at least 10 feet high at one point. the cold and the wind are only going to make things worse. the large and powerful storm is blanketing the upper midwest with nearly two feet of snow. strong winds gusting at 50 miles per hour are creating blizzard-like condition conditim south dakota to minnesota. residents here in minneapolis are trying to stay ahead of the 18 inches expected to pile up by the storm's end. >> it's rough. it's really rough, and all the snow doesn't make it any better. >> reporter: it's complete white-out conditions. officials have ordered snow plows off the streets and are warning people to stay inside. three major highways are closed. along interstate 29 in des moines, winds and icy roads caused disbz of spinouts and accidents. in deliewght, tugboats are deps rattily breaking up a freezing lake superior. minneapolis international is shut down and more than 600 flights have been canceled. >> it's just getting for bad to worse right now. >> reporter: chicago is expected to get hit with three inches as the storm heads east,

dumping more snow long the great lakes and rain along the east coast but an arctic broadcast is not far behind. in the plains and upper midwests, temperatures will be near zero. >> we'll see a quick freeze-up. we'll go from some wet to pure ice and howling winds blowing snow. >> reporter: it has been 11 years since minnesota has seen this much snow in one storm. >> mitchell: all right, liz colin from wcco, up for combat pay tonight. overseas, american student amanda knox was in an italian court today appealing her conviction on a charge of murdering her british roommate. alan pizzey was in the courtroom in the central italian city of perugia. >> reporter: amanda knox used the first full day of the appeal to make an emotional plea for herself and her former boyfrie boyfriend. "we are innocent" she said in

italian, "and deserve to live our lives free." knox said she and raffaele sollecito were victims of an enormous mistake. and she reached out tearfully to the family of the victim, british student meredith kercher, who was found stabbed and with her throat slashed in a cottage she and knox shared. in a heartfelt article in a british newspaper, kercher's father, john, lamented while his daughter was a victim of horrific violence, knox has been accorded the status of a minor celebrity. but nox told a hushed room that it doesn't do justice to meredith and her loved ones to take our lives from us. and insisted she was not the dangerous, diabolical, jealous, uncaring and violent person portrayed by the prosecution. the base of the legal appeal will be the forensic evidence

was tainted, mishandled and insufficient to convict knox and raffaele sollecito. the prosecution wants the sentences increased to life, but in italy, 50% of criminal convictions are overturned or the sentences are reduce reducen appeal, tearful or otherwise. alan pizzey, cbs news, perugia. >> mitchell: in russia washington, the last several days sow contentious tax cut compromise, a mini-filibuster in the senate and an appearance by two presidents in the briefing room. let's begin with the appearance by president clinton in the briefing room of the white house-- bizarre, interesting, whatever word you want to use-- where the former president defends the current president. in your mind, did it help president obama or not? >> last spring, president clinton said when president obama asked him to stand in for him, before he finished the request president clinton said, "let me clear my calendar for three years." he certainly seemed happy

holding forth. it helps president obama. he is trying to sell the plan as reasonable. bill clinton is popular among democrats and more broadly. the economy was pretty good during his term so he can speak to the policy here but also he is a pretty good politician and can defend president obama against the idea that republicans took him to the cleaners. but this kind of tag team thing is odd, and it's particularly striking given how bitter things were between the obama and clinton camps during the 2008 democratic primary. >> mitchell: let's talk about the filibuster yesterday by bernie sanders, independent from vermont, gets up there for what's being described as an old-school filibuster beight hours where we goes off on everything including the tax cut bill. will this have any impact as congress moves forward? >> reporter: well, it's become a rallying point for liberals and progressive who are very angry with the white house, not just angry with the tax cut deal the president put together with the republicans but the way it was handlessed, leaving out the democrats in congress. but the white house thinks the democrats are getting their anger out, and it's that, a kind

of psychological exercise and it won't in the end impede this from going forward. >> mitchell: look ahead, where can we expect this to go in the coming days? >> reporter: the senate brings it up on monday and the white house feels pretty good about the situation there, although it could still be bumpy. the house is the real problem. they've tweaked the bill a little bit. they added in credits and grants to help with renewable energy and ethanol to try to buy some votes, essentially, from democrats. but democrats are very angry. they want substantial changes. the problem is republicans don't want to see this tinkered with too much and the republicans are the ones who made the deal with the president. >> mitchell: john dickerson in washington, as always, thank you. >> reporter: thanks, russ. >> mitchell: still ahead, an exclusive look at former madoff employees still damaged by their association with the firm.

>> mitchell: on this second an

various of stock swindler bernard madoff's arrest, some of his former employees say they are being penalized unfairly despite having had no involvement in his fraud. earlier this week, two of the madoff veterans spoke to anthony mason for this cbs news exclusive. >> path mark, stop & shop... >> reporter: john kelly has become an expert coupon clipper in the nearly two years he's opinion out of work. >> people losing their jobs for other reasons. mine is just somewhat unique. >> reporter: kelly worked for bernie madoff. he wasn't a high-level employee. his salary of $125,000 a year was modest by wall street standards. but for almost 10 years, up on the 19th floor of madoff's firm, he worked on the trading desk as a liaison to brokerage firms. how do you feel about having been caught up in all that? >> i still have nightmares or dreams, you know, that you-- that remind me of working there. >> reporter: do you think-- obviously, you know, when they

see the madoff name on your resume, do you think people are assuming you were part of this? >> i don't know what people think. i mean, i didn't have that type of a position. >> reporter: nearly two years ago, after madoff's $20 billion ponzi scheme collapsed, kelly lost his job and has not been able to find one since. do you think it's the recession or is it who you worked for? >> i believe it's definitely both. >> reporter: because of comment he's received from employers, like this one, "we'll need substantial convincing as to why someone who worked with the worst of scoundrels should be given any consideration at all." >> reporter: he's not alone. >> some agencies had been told don't even-- do not send me anybody that worked for the company. >> reporter: for more than a decade, elaine solomon was personal assistant to bernie madoff's brother, peter. >> when i read who has been charged, i still can't believe it.

i look at it and i go oh, my god. all those years. and you knew what was going on. >> reporter: solomon says she lost her family inheritance, about $200,000, to matof's scheme, and her job. >> now you look at everybody with a little cynicism and who do you trust any more? >> reporter: after more than a year of trying to find work in new york, solomon moved to florida to reinvent herself as a real estate agent. >> i'm happy that people down here are not obsessed by madoff, and that's important. , you know, you have to move on. i moved on. >> reporter: but john kelly hasn't been able to yet. >> in the name of the father, the son, the holy spirit, amen. >> reporter: how is your family holding up in this? >> it's been a strain. i don't even know how well i'm holding up. >> reporter: john, his wife, barbara, and their three kids live in a modest two-bedroom town house in a new york suburb. for now, they're surviving on unemployment and food stamps.

their church donated their thanksgiving turkey. the children, who used to visit the corporal headquarters and go on company picnics, were confused when madoff was arrested. >> the famous scene where they show him coming around the corner and he's being bombarded by the photographers and pushed away, my little child, he was upset when he saw that because he remembers him, you know, as a nice man. it's like knowing two different people all of a sudden now. >> reporter: how do you reconcile that, or can you? >> i don't know how. hopefully in time i will be able to. >> reporter: bernie madoff didn't just deceive his friends and investors. he deceived dozens of employees, too. >> i didn't lose any money. i lost my job. i lost my livelihood. >> reporter: and for john kelly, the madoff scandal isn't history yet. you just can't close the door on this thing. >> not yet. i'm trying. i need someone to open up a door before i can close that one and i've got to get that door open. >> reporter: anthony mason, cbs news, new york.

>> mitchell: the cbs evening news continues after a break.

>> mitchell: richard hole look, president obama's special envoy to afghanistan and pakistan, is in critical condition tonight at a washington hospital following surgery for a torn aorta. the 69-year-old holbrook became

ill at the state department yesterday. he helped broker the 1995 accord that ended the balkan's war. police say there was a car bomb in stockholm, sweden today. security police reportedly received e-mails 10 minute earlier protesting sweden's presence in afghanistan and drawings of mohammed by a swedish artist. a group of dallas fourth graders greeted troopsa they return from afghanistan today. still ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, the first electric cars arrive on the scenes today.

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finally here. >> this thing really is quiet. we did an early test drive of both cars. they break new ground by running on a rechargeable lithion ion batter. the all-electric nissan leaf and the almost-all-electric chevy volt. this is the future. >> this is definitely the future.

absolutely. >> reporter: the leaf is purely electric, with a range of 100 miles. the volt can go 40 miles on pure electric but 400 miles overall. see, the volt also comes with a nine-gallon gas engine. big difference between this volt and the leaf. this car's battery actually went dead and as you can see, it's still moving. here's how-- the volt's gas engine is now charging the car's battery. the dash board gauge says for another 240 miles or so. >> these are two appealing cars. >> reporter: but automobile magazine's jean jennings also sees potential problems. every 100 miles, and the leaf needs another charge. then again... >> 90% of the drivers in america do not go more than 100 miles in a day. >> reporter: the jolt with the volt-- it stickers for $41,000. the leaf, about $33,000. but for both, a federal tax credit gives back $7500, and both cars will run much cheaper

than conventional gas cars. on our early test drive, we took the volt to one of america's great car meccas, the henry ford museum near detroit. >> this is cool! >> reporter: gawkers were charged with questions like... >> how long does it take to charge the battery? >> four hours. >> are they going to make stations where you could plug?" >> reporter: yes, but... >> to pull in to a place for a quick charge and have to wait 30 minutes, you better be planning your life. >> reporter: both cars have waiting lists of buyers. they're eager to get behind the wheel of the most radical car technology in years. mark strassmann, cbs news, detroit. >> mitchell: and that was the cbs evening news. later on cbs, "48 hours mystery." i'm russ mitchell, cbs news in new york. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

the chan for the is second time in as many days, a missing child is found in the bay area. the chance encounter that led to the discovery of a shasta county teenager. gunman held up a book store at sonoma state. how thousands of students were alerted to the danger on campus. just surreal and you almost have to pinch yourself, wondering am i really watching this? >> and another first for the bay area. move over, preus. a new eco-friendly ride has arrived. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. ♪ ♪