wrong track, even some democrats are questioning the president's jobs bill. >> he is going to have to work a lot harder if he want toss get re-elected again. >> mitchell: new questions for some air travelers. mark strassmann has an airport security check. and step inside the electric and step inside the electric garage with an innovator called gadget turns gasoline-powered cars green. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. we begin tonight with the rising death toll from yesterday's air show accident in nevada. the crash at the national chance air races outside reno killed the pilot and at least eight people on the ground and left dozens of others injured. karen brown has the story and the terrifying pictures. >> reporter: it was the third lap of the race when a p-51 vintage world war ii plane

soaring at speeds of up to 500 miles per hour suddenly took a fatal nose dive towards the stands, terrorizing a crowd of thousands, all in front of the pilot's friends and family. >> oh, my god! >> some things i can't even describe. it looked like a war zone. >> reporter: dr. jerry lent raced from the stands to help. >> at the time you don't have time to think. you just think of all the injured people and the stretchers. >> reporter: nurse and pilot also jumped in to assist the nearly 60 injured. >> they had pieces of issue on their hair and blood on their clothing. >> reporter: the pilot was veteran racer and hollywood stuntman 74-year-old jimmy leeward. he spoke just the day before the crash about his beloved plane "the galloping ghost." >> right now i think we've calculated out we're as fast as anybody in the field or maybe even a little faster. >> reporter: you saw jimmy the

night before this race? >> yes, he stopped by my hangar. >> reporter: and jimmy gave his friend, rex mcbride, his own racing cap. >> not only is it jimmy it's the whole race scene i'm feeling sad for, and all the other people, but i'm worried that they're going to stop the races over this. >> reporter: 22 people have died since the races began in 1964, but this is the first crash to ever kill spectators. >> he would not be able to tolerate the fact if there was anybody hurt, much less died. i-- i know he would-- that's-- that wouldn't be jimmy. >> reporter: the n.t.s.b. says its investigation will take months and there is suspicion a part of the plane came off before impact. investigators also say they'll be relying heavily on that video captured by spectators. russ. >> mitchell: karen brown in reno, nevada, thank you. and there is word this evening of a second air show crash. this one in martinburg, west virginia.

the plane, also of world war ii vintage, crashed and burned on the runway. officials say the civilian pilot was killed. no spectators were harmed. cbs news has learned tonight minimum tax rate on people making more than $1 million per year. the new rate is intended to guarantee that millionaires will pay at the same mr. obama the name the tax after warren buffet who often points out he pays taxes at a lower rate than his secretary. mr. obama called for quick passage of his jobs bill in his weekly media address. a cbs news/"new york times" poll puts his approval rating at 43%, his lowest yet and as whit johnson tells us, his jobs plan is proving to be a tough sell even to some democrats. >> reporter: to sell america on his plan for the economy, president obama will need support from democrats like

joshua scannell. >> he hasn't done much since he has been in office. >> reporter: a former obama '08 campaign activist, scannell has little faith in the president's new jobs bill. >> i think that it's a bad bill. i think that it's a bill that doesn't actually produce the kind of jobs that we need. >> reporter: in a recent cbs news/"new york times" poll, 47% of americans say they are not confident that the american jobs act will put people back to work still, president obama is crisscrossing the country. >> hello, everybody. >> reporter: arguing his combination of tax cuts and investments is the best way forward. >> everything in the american jobs act is the kind of idea that has been supported by democrats and republicans before. >> reporter: but some democrats on capitol hill aren't convinced. oregon congressman peter defazio says, as the bill stands now he won't vote for it. >> more than half of it is tax cuts, and quite frankly tax cuts don't work. we have been doing tax cuts for 11 years.

>> reporter: joe marchion of west virginia doesn't like the price tag. >> the ugly part of that act is $450 billion of spending after we've spent, spent, spent. and i've said if spending would have cured our problems we'd have no problem. we wouldn't be talking about it right now. >> reporter: 68% of americans seem to agree, saying president obama has made no real progress on the economy. if that doesn't change, even lifelong democrats like scannell might stay home come november 2012, putting the president's reelection in jeopardy. >> i will probably vote for obama, but i-- if i don't have to, i won't. >> reporter: on monday, president obama will reveal how he plans to pay for the jobs act. despite the criticism, nancy pelosi said this week that her caucus is united in support of the bill and that congress should act on it right away. russ. >> mitchell: whit johnson at the white house, thanks. in another worrisome cyb for president obama

for presidential candidate michele bachmann it took just one line to fire up the republicans at their california state convention this weekend. >> pentagon, we will make barack obama a one-term president. >> reporter: even in this bluest of states, it's no longer an unthinkable idea. >> he is going to have to work a lot harder if he wants to get reelect again. >> in 2008, then-candidate obama won california in a landslide with 61% of the vote. now, for the first time in his presidency, fewer than half the state's voters approve of mr. obama's overall job performance, and only 49% say they will vote for him in 2012. >> three things are behind president obama's decline in california, the economy, the economy, and the economy. >> reporter: at 12.1%, california has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation.

it's why democrat alley shaddel won't vote for the president again. >> the middle class is suffering and the extreme poor is suffering and i want the president to be who he presented and to stand for me. >> reporter: independents and liberal democrats are also frustrated with the war in afghanistan and little progress on issues like clean air regulations and immigration reform. the president may need to spend valuable time just trying to hold on to golden state support, especially when it comes to fund-raising. hollywood is a major source of campaign cash. >> he's already lost wisconsin, and we're going to be very energetic make sure that happens. >> reporter: but recent history is still on the president's side. no republican presidential candidate has won california since 1988. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> mitchell: for more perspective on the political landscape facing the president we are joined by our political analyst in washington john dirkerson. good evening. >> good evening, russ. >> mitchell: with the election 13 months away do the latest numbers for the president have any implication for his

reelection bid? >> well, pollsters look at two numbers when they want to measure, take a rough measure of a president's electability. they look at his approval rating and they look at the number of people who think the country is either on the right track or the wrong track. in our poll, 72% said the country was on the wrong track. that's not as bad as the doomsday at the end of the george w. bush administration but it's as high as the number has been in the obama administration. only 43% approve of the job the president is doing. that's as low as that number has been for president obama. so he is in the danger zone. if he can't get his approval rating up to something close to 50 about a year from now, it will be tough for him to keep his job. >> mitchell: when you look at all of the numbers in this poll, is there any good news there for the white house? >> there are a few little embers. as much as people may not approve of the job the president is doing, they disapprove of the job the republicans in congress are doing even more, only 19% is the approval rating for republicans in congress. the president also does better

on specific issues than republicans do and they trust the president over republicans on who to handle the economy best. so if the president can get people to vote based on their worries about a potential republican nominee and not based on their disappointment about the job he's done, then he has a chance. it's a case his advisers will be making for the next almost 14 months. >> mitchell: okay, john dickerson in washington, thank you very much. >> thanks, russ. >> mitchell: later, question time for air passengers as the t.s.a. shifts focus. a mechanical wizard who converts gas-guzzlers into electric green machines. and the push to pump up oil production in war-torn libya. those stories when the cbs evening news continues.

>> mitchell: overseas, libya's

new government is having a tough time ousting what remains of the qaddafi regime from their strongholds in the towns of surt. the resistance is especially strong in surt, with house-to- house combat reported. as elizabeth palmer tells us another test for libya's new rulers is to get oil exports flowing again. >> reporter: libya's dictator is almost history but he's left behind a country that needs rebuilding fast, so libyans don't lose faith in this revolution. the billions to do it have to come from libyan oil profits. if all goes well, within just a very few days, oil flow through giant pipelines from the western desert into the refinery and production can begin. the engineers say it's crucial to get this refinery up and running to show libyans they can run their country without qaddafi. at the zawiya refinery near tripoli, engineers are already optimistically back at work.

the only wild card is when the oil is going to come, right? >> yeah. >> yes. that's coming soon. >> reporter: libya used to produce 2% of the world's oil. 1.8 million barrels a kay in a country with only six million people. at today's prices, that means they could be very rich. the problem right now, though, is that the oil infrastructure was looted and sabotaged during the fighting, and nobody really knows how bad the damage is. dr. nuri beruinn is the chairman of libya's national oil company. how much are you selling now? >> nothing. >> reporter: when can you start? >> now. i mean, maybe tomorrow, after tomorrow. >> reporter: it all depends on the libyan government-- how fast can they guarantee the safety of the oil crews who have to go out into the desert and fix the infrastructure to get that oil pumping again? russ. >> mitchell: elizabeth palmner tripoli, thank you.

ahead, a new approach to airport security. that story is next.

>> mitchell: more than 40 screeners at the honolulu airport have been fired or suspended because the t.s.a. says they did not properly screen bags for explosives. transportation correspondent mark strassmann has more on the t.s.a.'s air travel safety record. >> reporter: t.s.a.positive has screen 5 billion air traveler, anyone a potential threat. the agency has a daunting mission-- be ever vigilant for signs of organized terror. >> we know they we face an enemy that is determined, that is resourceful, creative in their design and how they construct and conceal devices. >> where are you off to today?

>> reporter: and the t.s.a. is also adjusting its approach. at this terminal at boston's logan airport, they have started questioning every passenger about their travel plans. if the latest way for the agency to size up passenger behavior and risk. 9/11 security failings helped create the t.s.a., which has never allowed a successful terrorist strike, but the agency itself has often come under attack. critics see over-zealous agents patting down children and screeners, full-body scanners that invade privacy and inefficiency. >> taking your shoes off, i mean, come on. >> reporter: soon kids 12 and under going through security will be able to keep their shoes on and only rarely will they be patted down. in a recent cbs news/"new york times" poll most americans support the t.s.a., but since 2002, an increase percentage, almost one in four people, believe t.s.a. techniques go too far. >> some of them are just stupid, time wasting. >> clearly, we are safer now

than we were ten years ago. >> reporter: but the u.s.m. government accountability office, the g.a.o., recently faulted the t.s.a. for failing to update equipment to screen checked waggage. >> clearly, we're not perfect and we're going to have to continue to work hard to be ahead of anyone who is attempting to do us harm. >> reporter: no security system is fool proof and the push is on to make the t.s.a. screen itself for potential trouble to make sure america's skies stay safe. mark strassmann, cbs news, boston. >> mitchell: ahead this saturday evening, the simulator that offers virtual training for surgeons. that story is next.

>> mitchell: a popular saying in medical school has long been, "see one, do one, teach one." meaning that young doctors are expected to learn as they go.

but one new technology is changing the way doctors prepare for surgery. as we hear from our medical correspondent dr. jon lapook. >> reporter: dr. neel kantak is a first-year plastic surgery resident at harvard medical school. >> i don't think that anything we do in surgery is natural. i think most of these movements are things that people are not born with the coordination to do. >> reporter: so dr. kantak and others come here to beth isreal deaconess medical center's skills lab to practice laparascopic surgery, procedures done through tiny incisions. >> good. >> reporter: the hope is extra surgery training can lower complication rates for patients and costs for insurers. >> when you make the right move, the tissue gets split in the way that it would if you're in the operating room. >> reporter: the virtual surgery simulator uses touch feedback to help surgeons hone motor skills, like picking up small objects and knot tying they will need in an operating room. >> what the simulation lab allows us to do is develop the coordination so when someone tells us, "this should be your

next move" you have the ability to actually do it with your hands." >> reporter: the virtual training taking place in labs such as this breaks away from methods students have traditionally used, including practicing on live patients. >> we're able to let surgeons in a safe environment do these operations and get feedback on how they're doing. some will do very well, some not so well. >> reporter: the hope is to bring these kind of simulators to hospitals and medical centers across the country. >> i think that the only way to get good at doing a particular surgery, doing a particular type of operation is to do it over and over again. >> reporter: and now with virtual simulators, he can do just that. of course, these simulators teach doctors nothing about clinical judgment. for that, russ, they're going to have to learn the old-fashioned way-- one flesh-and-blood patient at a time. >> mitchell: okay, dr. jon lapook, thank you very much. the doctors of two prominent american political leaders have died. eleanor mondale, the daughter of the former vice president walter mondale died today of brain cancer. once an aspiring actor she worked as an entertainment

reporter and radio show host and she was a former contributor right here on the cbs "this morning" program. and kara kennedy, oldest child of the late senator edward kennedy, died after working out at a washington health club. in 2009 she accepted the medal of freedom on her father's behalf. kara kennedy once battled lung cancer. both women were 51 years old.

>> mitchell: the frankfurt auto show opened this week with more than 900 exhibitors from all over the world and stealing the show are nearly 100 new electric car models, either already in production or close to it. which is not to say that going electric means having to trade in your old gas guzzler. in fact, making the switch could be a matter of simply going to the right garage. greg abbott may look like just another mechanic in an l.a. garage, but he's the spark of an underground movement. >> the business that i've gotten is taking existing cars and converting them to electric. there's actually a huge market there. >> mitchell: he is known as "gadget." >> i am the pied piper. i'm the instigator and will get other people to come in and make

things happen. >> mitchell: and he's the unlikely film of "revenge of the electric car" which tracks the death and rebirth of an industry that has struggled along for more than a decade. >> i have another car just for parts. >> mitchell: filmmaker chris pain royalsed gadget's role in getting the technology on the road. >> somebody has to be first one out there. >> people at gadget keep studying the example so i think this is a much more powerful seed in the way things change than maybe people give credit for. >> mitchell: gadget's been in the forefront of electric conversions long before there was silicon valley upstart tesla. >> until we see every car on the road being electric, you know, we will not stop. >> mitchell: long before g.m.'s famed car guy, bob lutz, would

see the light and launch production on the chevy volt. even before nissan's leaf. >> zero emissions, zero particles, zero noise, zero oil. >> reporter: gadget was there. patiently working out the technology. >> it's at its own pace because it takes a while to develop this stuff. >> mitchell: along with his wife, scarlet, gadget suffered many setbacks, including a major fire. >> everything had burned. i thought everything was lost, and them as i started prying the cars open. >> the light's still on, the controller's still good-- and i seed lit l.e.d.s and i went wow. with that i can build a car. i never had that mindset that something's going to stop me. >> mitchell: despite that bump in the road, gadget kept moving. >> we were living in a bus in the parking lot for two months. it still didn't stop us. >> mitchell: today with a new shop and upgrading tools he's a month away from packaging a kit for mechanics across the country to convert everyday cars to electric. >> we do a little bit here, a little bit there, and, you know, subtle changes.

the next thing you know the whole system is changed. it's a slow revolution. it's not a giant, bloody revolution. >> mitchell: gadget's movie "the revenge of the electric car" opens across the country next month. and that is the "cbs evening news." i'm russ mitchell in new york. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org discovery. "...i just couldnt believe my own eyes" (butt) nats crash in just the past half-hour -- new information from the feds. the latest on the air race tragedy, in a live report from the crash scene. "...and then everyone like come outside and was like is that a gunshot" and bay area police open fire - but strike the wrong targets. the response from the department

after innocent bystanders are shot. cbs five eyewitness news is next. good evening, i'm ann notarangelo. ,,,,,,