western weather. the southwest gets pounded with snow after the same storm makes a muddy mess of southern california. snow job. new york city mayor michael bloomberg takes the heat for the blizzard that paralyzed the big apple. and suicide defense. dr. conrad murray to claim the king of pop killed himself. this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 30th, 2010. good morning, everybody, good to see you this thursday morning. i'm terrell brown in for betty nguyen. the western part of this country cannot seem to catch a break. another monster storm pounded the region. wednesday parts of arizona were

hit by rare blizzards, high winds and heavy snow created near white-out conditions. more than two feet of snow expected to accumulate in the higher elevations. but it wasn't all bad. in flagstaff, the snow didn't stop some kids and their parents from hitting the slopes for a little fun sledding down a hill. earlier in the day the same system brought rain to water-logged southern california. the state is asking the federal government to declare it a major disaster area. at least one person is dead and another missing. the new storm brought more flooding and more fears of mud slides. kendis gibson reports. >> reporter: it is filthy, sticky, back-breaking work. in southern california, they're digging out from piles of mud. wednesday's storm brought heavy rain that flooded streets. >> right in the middle of a typhoon. >> reporter: and buried highways like this in orange county, miles of roadway are in need of repairs. >> might be a couple months before we can get the work physically done here. >> reporter: one woman was

killed when a tree fell onto her cabin at a nature preserve north of san francisco. the latest storm comes on top of record rainfall last week. this neighborhood east of los angeles was overrun by mud slides. despite the best efforts of homeowners and volunteers, who piled up thousands of sandbags. the crews working the cleanup here in highland say there's about 750,000 tons of mud that needs to be cleared away. this woman's house had two to three feet of mud on the floors. >> this is a difficult time for a lot of people, and i'm still very lucky. >> reporter: the rain is moving on now, but high wind could still cause problems. >> we are going to start seeing more winds all the way through thursday and friday, with very windy conditions all the way from the bay area down to san diego. >> reporter: in the mountains outside sacramento, more than a foot of snow has fallen. >> my first time driving in the snow like -- like a storm like this. it's very scary. >> reporter: all this rain and snow does have a positive side. it's helping to bring an end to three years of drought. kendis gibson, cbs news,

highland, california. safety officials trying to figure out how a plane went on a runway in jackson hole, wyoming. the american airlines boeing 757 had just flown in from chicago with 181 on board wednesday. the pilot said the brakes failed. a passenger on the plane took some photos of the wings and runway. the plane wasn't damaged, and no one was hurt. a huge and deadly explosion in a suburb of detroit, michigan. the blast destroyed a furniture store wednesday. witnesses say it was so powerful it felt like an earthquake rattling buildings and car up to a mile away two. store employees were killed but rescuers managed to pull the owner outs of the rubble alive. he's in serious condition this morning. officials believe a natural gas leak is to blame. lots of finger pointing in new york city after the massive blizzard brought the city to a standstill. days after sunday's storm, many of the streets are still unplowed especially outside of manhattan. the city pledge to have them all clear by 7:00 a.m. this morning.

hundreds of buses and ambulances were stranded bringing mass transit to a screeching halt. there was a backlog of 911 calls, possibly contributing to the death of a newborn baby. many people are blaming mayor bloomberg's handling of the snow emergency complaints that he dismisses. >> we had the same plan, with the same equipment, and the same well-trained and managed staff that we had every other time and it worked better the other times. and the question is, why did it not work as well this time? >> members of new york city council say they will investigate the slow response. and the frustration continues at airports in the east affected by the snowstorm. planes may be flying but still many passengers cannot get home this morning. manuel gallegus has the story. >> reporter: long lines. frustration. >> give me my old ticket. how mann -- many times do i have to tell you? >> reporter: and anger management for passengers at new

york's laguardia airport. >> what do you mean calm down? i need sympathy right now, don't tell me to calm down! >> reporter: many of these passengers trying to leave had been booked, rebooked and rebooked again. >> i'm ready to get out of here. i love new york but i'm ready to go home. >> reporter: there's still snow on the ground but the runways are open and the sky is clear and generally flights are coming and going on time but there are still delays and cancellations like any other day. and flight crews are still scattered all over the country. >> when they have cancellations and diversions of flights, the airlines end up with airplanes and air crews in cities where they don't belong. so, it takes them a while to shake that out. >> reporter: more than 5,000 flights at laguardia, jfk and newark's airport were canceled due to the blizzard. an estimated $150 million loss for the airlines. at new york's laguardia airport, employees have been working extra long shifts to keep this city within a city running, from janitors to food workers taking care of hundreds who spent the night. but, perhaps the toughest job --

>> okay? >> reporter: consoling annoyed passengers who missed their flights. manuel gallegus, cbs news, new york. turning to politics. potential hot water for christine o'donnell. federal authorities are reportedly looking into whether she violated campaign laws during her failed bid for the u.s. senate. the delaware tea party favorite has been dogged by allegations of using political contributions to pay personal expenses like her rent but o'donnell denies any wrongdoing and called the charges politically motivated. in a statement, she said, quote, given that the king of the delaware political establishment just so happens to be the vice president of the most liberal presidential administration in u.s. history, it is no surprise that misuse and abuse of the fbi would not be off the table. an american aid worker in haiti is out of jail. paul wagoner spent 18 days behind bars accused of kidnapping a baby.

he was cleared of charges after his lawyer says he gave a judge the death certificate from the hospital where the infant died. wagoner is receiving medical treatment at an undisclosed location and says he hopes to continue his work on the island. cbs moneywatch time now this thursday morning. stocks in asia mostly higher. ines ferre is here in new york with that and more. good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. asian markets saw a late-day rally. hong kong's hang seng gained a fraction. japan's nikkei bucked the trend, losing more than 1% on its final trading day of the year. today, wall street gets the weekly jobless claim numbers and the latest on home sales. wednesday, the market added to the year-end rally. the dow gained almost 10 points, the nasdaq added four. fewer homeowners in trouble are getting help with their mortgages. new numbers show, from july through september, 470,000 households behind on their payments got their loans modified, either through their bank or government programs. that's a 17% drop from the previous quarter and a decline of 32% from the same period last year.

that's helping push up the number of foreclosures, which rose 11% in the third quarter, nearly 1.8 million homes will be seized this year, with even more expected in 2011. also finding a job could get a little easier in the new year. 24% of businesses surveyed by career builder dot com say they expect to hire permanent full-time workers in 2011. that would be up from 20% this year. and that blizzard that rocked the northeast earlier this week took a big bite out of retailers' profits. the research firm shopper track estimates the storm cost or delayed a billion dollars in consumer spending but analysts say at least some of that will be recovered once everything is finally cleaned up and shoppers return to stores. and that it's not enough to derail a holiday shopping season that's expected to be one of the best ever. and skype is adding video calling to its iphone

app allowing users to make free calls to other skype users over wi-fi networks all over the world. video calls accounted for 40% of skype traffic the first half of the year and that was before the latest iphone was released. the app is available this morning through apple's itunes store, terrell. now you don't have to say, wait, let me get to my computer so i can skype you. >> it's can you see me now, can you see me now, can you see me now? ines ferre here in new york, appreciate it. thank you so much. a quick break this morning. just ahead on the morning news how a kidney donation figured in the parole of two sisters serving time for armed robbery. plus, a fine for football's brett favre in connection with a text messaging scam. this is the "cbs morning news." '? campbell's healthy request can help. low cholesterol, zero grams trans fat, and a healthy level of sodium. it's amazing what soup can do. the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down.

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and gets me right to my maximum refund, guaranteed. >> man: try turbotax online now. you don't pay unless you're satisfied with the results. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. a pardon for a kidney donation. jamie and gladys scott may soon be released from a prison in mississippi only if gladys donates a kidney to her sister. their life sentences were suspended by the governor wednesday. both have been in prison for 16

years for their part in an $11 armed robbery. lawyers for dr. conrad murray may claim pop star michael jackson killed himself. in a court hearing wednesday, attorneys for murray say he only injected jackson with a low dose of the drug that killed him in june of 2009. their theory in the trial may be that jackson later injected himself with a larger dose of the pain killer. >> the defense attorney hasn't come out and said we're going to show michael jackson tried to kill himself or gave himself these drugs but they're hinting at that. >> murray's attorneys could say jackson's death was an accident or suicide. dr. murray could face up to five years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter. the woman who made accusations against brett favre in a text messaging scandal said assist he got preferential treatment. the attorney for jenn sterger says the decision by the nfl to fine brett favre $50,000 shows it's still, quote, the good old boys league. favre was punished for not cooperating with the league's investigation.

sterger charged he sent messages and lewd photos to her when he was with the jets. >> both sides agreed to use an independent forensic expert who once again could not prove that brett favre sent these pictures. and that really is what it comes down to. >> favre denies sending the text messages but admitting leaving voice mails on her phone. jazz pianist billy taylor has died. ♪ ♪ >> taylor had a long career as a musician and composer. he founded jazz mobile in the 1960s to bring free music to urban fans and profiled musicians for the cbs show "sunday morning" he died of a heart attack tuesday. billy taylor was 89 years old. ♪ [ female announcer ] you see a mud stain. but new wisk sees a particulate stain.

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southwest and northern plains will be seeing snow and gusty winds of 15 to 25 miles an hour. sunshine is heading back into the west coast after a few days of wet weather. the east coast is looking great, as well. temperatures will rise and skies are sunny. in sports this morning, college football's alamo bowl game went to 16th ranked oklahoma state. to the highlights, the cowboys take on arizona, justin blackman, top receiver in the nation caught two touchdown passes for the cowboys. oklahoma state beat arizona 36-10. in the nba, the heat are hot. dwyane wade of miami here, 45 points against the rockets of houston. the heat, 125-119 over houston. they get the win there, their 16th win in their last 17 games. lamar odom of the lakers scores 24 points against the hornets in new orleans, not to mention some razzle dazzle in the fourth quarter. the 103-will 8 win ended a

three-game losing streak for los angeles. in college basketball, top ranked duke wins again for coach k. the blue devils had an easy game against the university of north carolina greensboro. the victory is number 880 for the coach, now in second place on the college basketball coaches list, the all-time victory list we are talking about here, the only one that is behind bobby knight. the roof of the metrodrome in minnesota won't be fixed until march. three panels of the fabric roof collapsed december 12th during that big snowstorm. the vikings had to move their final two home games of the year and lost both of them. hundreds of college baseball games will also have to be relocated. we'll take a quick break on this thursday morning. when we come back another look at morning's top stories and snow patrol, how one of the snowiest places in the world is getting a big economic boost. we'll be right back. who have lactose intolerance, let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium

and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. maybe it's because their department store makeup is so expensive. simply ageless with olay regenerist serum costs less and it won't glob up in lines and wrinkles. you'll look amazing and happy too. simply ageless, from olay and easy breezy beautiful covergirl. uh oh, sesame stir fry from lucky dynasty. oh, me too! but mine's lean cuisine, so no preservatives. wait, did you say? i did! no preservatives. [ female announcer ] only lean cuisine's got over 90 dishes with no preservatives like sesame stir fry with chicken. it's got crisp, farm picked broccoli and bell peppers, and 100% tender white meat chicken steamed in a savory sesame sauce. yum. mmm. yum is right. can i have a bite? uh huh. [ female announcer ] no preservatives, all delicious. lean cuisine. through an oakland apartmement.. several people have been sent to the hospital. we'll have a live report..

plus.. two police departments now investigating a deadly officer involved shooting in oakland. near freezing temps in the bay.. and a fresh dumping of snow overnight in the sierra. the avalanche danger.. that's snarling traffic. plus.. new troubles for the pacifica apartments teetering over the edge of a cliff. join us for cbs 5 early edition ... beginning at 4:30. two breaking news this hour: several people hurt.. afte,,,, on the "cbs morning news," a

a on the "cbs morning news," a look at today's weather. the west coast will see more sun today after a cloudy start. the southeast will get thunderstorms. skies sunny in the northeast and snow in the northern plains will be blowing around the next several days. here's another look at this morning's top stories on a thursday. another powerful storm in the west. heavy snow caused blizzard conditions in the southwest. torrential rain added to the muddy mess in southern california. at least one person was killed and another is missing. here in new york city, a promise to have all the streets plowed this morning. mayor bloomberg is under fire for failing to keep the city running during this week's massive blizzard. in some cases, it took officials hours to respond to 911 emergencies. and massive amounts of snowfall would bring any city to a crawl but in some places, snow like that is actually welcome.

to math moth mountain we go this morning in california, this makes has had record december snow totals helping actually boost the local economy. terry mccarthy reports. >> reporter: if you think new yorkers have it bad, welcome to mammoth lakes, california. 17 feet of snow has fallen in just the past 12 days. but, no one here is complaining. mammoth is home to one of california's most popular ski he resorts. >> amazing. absolutely the best you could ever imagine. >> reporter: the snow has beaten all records. more than three times the december average. >> i've been here 32 years. i've never seen this much snow ever in december. we stopped counting when i got snowed into my house monday. >> reporter: with so much snow dumping so fast, ski patrol has been on high alert. heading out at dawn to blast the snow with explosives. >> our goal is to create smaller avalanches so a big one doesn't come and hit a lift or hit a building. >> reporter: mammoth right now has got the most snow of any ski resort in the entire world, which makes local ski merchants

hopeful their businesses might recover after two pretty bad years for the ski industry. mammoth had 1.5 million skier visits the year before the recession hit in 2007. last year, that number was down by 300,000. business at her boutique fell 35%. >> i used to probably have six to eight employees for a small retail store like mine. and now, i have three or four. there were a lot of businesses that closed and a lot of real estate agents that left town. >> reporter: but now mammoth is smiling again. tony runs one of the biggest ski shops in town. >> this year's just been phenomenal. good snow. everyone's relaxed. their 401(k)s have come back, you know, they are ready to recreate. >> reporter: and the more snow, the better. >> it's sweet. >> reporter: in mammoth, at least, bad weather is welcome, particularly when it's cold, white, and very deep. terry mccarthy, cbs news,

mammoth lakes, california. actor matt damon on "the early show" this morning. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." this is norma. who knows how important it is to have her medicine in one place. so norma brings all of her prescriptions to walgreens where her pharmacist can watch out for interactions with her over-the-counter medicine. now norma thinks less about her medicine and more about her vacation. tell us what you take just once and we'll check for interactions every time. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens. and we'll check for interactions every time. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. oh, bayer aspirin? i'm not having a heart attack. it's my back. it works great for pain.

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from the battered auto industry to record unemployment, detroit, michigan has seen its share of economic downturn in recent years. thanks to some creative entrepreneurs, the city appears to be staging a promising revival. seth doane has the story. >> reporter: inside this downtown detroit office building, there may be more c carpenters than cubicles. how much of this building looks like this? >> most of it. >> reporter: but ceo tim bryan sees that low occupancy as a business opportunity to cut costs. he's moving part of his health care i.t. company, galaxy solutions here to a state which has lost more than 800,000 jobs in the last decade. they're planning to hire up to 500 new workers. >> every renaissance starts

somewhere. >> reporter: his company already has offices in india and considered expanding overseas to brazil. but, after crunching the numbers, they chose detroit, a cost of just 5% more than south america. >> for the first time, we can deliver services here in detroit at price points that are competitive with offshore. >> reporter: with no foreign governments, fluctuating currencies or time zone changes. and the city's 22% unemployment rate includes lots of laid-off but highly skilled workers from the auto industry. quicken, the software company just made downtown its new headquarters, bringing 3700 jobs here. and down the street, her crepe shop has a staff of just seven. but small businesses like hers make up 86% of private employers in the area. this former french teacher expanded good girls go to paris from 48 square feet to more than 2000 in just two years.

>> i've truly feel i couldn't have done it to this extent in another city the way i've done it here. >> reporter: affordable rent means the chance to take a risk and now there are more shops on the block. >> a book shop over here. >> reporter: banking on this mini neighborhood revival and next will open a bar on the corner. you've gone from french teacher to real estate developer. >> i don't know, i want, again, i want to do what i love. >> reporter: at paper street motors an old warehouse has become a new business incubator. taking advantage of short-term leases at $300 a month, casualties of the recession can ri in -- reinvent themselves >> when people lose their jobs and there's not a lot of jobs available, that they create their own business. >> reporter: in a city that's better known for these hulking reminders of the ghosts of its past is a renewed entrepreneurial spirit. seth doane, cbs news, detroit. coming up later on "the early show" an interview with

former delaware senate candidate christine o'donnell, facing allegations she misused campaign funds. plus don't get snowed in. a look at the newest tools to help you remove snow and ice. tact and actor matt damon takes on a classic western. he'll tell us about his new movie "true grit" all that and more coming up on "the early show." that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. i'm terrell brown. for this thursday. i'm terrell brown. have a great day, everybody! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

,,,, today, we gather to recognize the selfless decision of one of the most influential women of our time. the woman who, after having one too many drinks, chose not to drive home buzzed. here today to honor rachel is the family whose lives she spared.