>> jeff: good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor. negotiators on capitol hill seemed determine to reach the very edge of the cliff. there was new negotiating today but there will be no vote tonight on a deal to avoid tax increases that would affect nearly every american starting this week. with late details, here's nancy cordes. >> reporter: good evening. the two sides were trading offers and counteroffers all weekend long but they hit a wall on saturday night. and at this point it's difficult to tell whether the holdup is the fact that they are too far apart or that they're very close. >> i'm concerned about the lack of urgency here. >> reporter: the most recent offer came from republican senate leader mitch mcconnell at 7:00 p.m. saturday night. democrats promised they would get back to him this morning. but they didn't. >> it's now 2 p.m., and we've yet to receive a response to our good faith offer. >> reporter: sell cratic leader harry reid said the gulf over taxes was still

too wide. and he signaled the white house might be tying his hands. >> i've had a number of conversations with the president. and this stage we're not able to make the counteroffer. >> reporter: so senator mcconnell called the vice president who he served with in the senate for 24 years. the two men spoke several times on sunday. >> i want em to know i'm willing to get this done. but i need a dance partner. >> reporter: democrats want to let the bush era tax cuts expire for household income over $250,000 a year. republican was rather set the cuttoff at around half a million dollars or keep the tax cuts in place for everyone. in an interview on nbc's meet the press president obama said the endless wrangling was not the democrat's fault. >> we have been talking to the republicans ever since the election was over. they have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers. >> at midday democrats suddenly declared that one

element of the republican offer was a deal breaker. a proposal to change the way social security benefits are calculated that would lead to smaller checks for many. >> we're not going to have any social security cuts at this stage. that just doesn't seem appropriate. >> so republicans quickly dropped that proposal and insisted the two sides were closer than they seemed. >> so hopefully the discussions between the vice president and senator mcconnell will get us back on track. >> reporter: this evening leader reid announced there would be no vote tonight and that the senate would reconvene tomorrow morning. at this point both the house and the sflat would feed to vote on a plan tomorrow to give the president something to sign before the deadline. nancy cordes, cbs news on capitol hill. >> jeff: the pressure on congress to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff is great. failure would be felt almost immediately in paychecks as taxes go up. and in financial markets as wall street reacts. even though the dow is up nearly 6% for the year if lost 2% this week as the

deadline looms. for more on the potential impact of wall street i'm joined by jim awad chairman of plimsoll. let's talk about the fiscal uncertainity is figuring on wall street. >> it is figuring in an increasingly negative way. the markets are become increasingly concerned that business and consumers will pull back due to the uncertainty about tax and spending. and it's affecting the financial markets and the economy. >> jeff: a slow day tomorrow but how do you think we open? >> i think that if there is any rally it will be a fool's rallyment would you only get a rally if they announce something tonight. but the reality is that anything they announce would be light on fact and long on symbolic-- symbolism it wouldn't have a lot to do with entitlements. it wouldn't address the debt ceiling. so you could get a relief rally but i think the market was see through it and not be enduring. >> jeff: looking back up 5.9% for the year 2012, is a pretty decent number. what are you are forecasting

for the first quarter ahead. >> some of it depend how they resolve this the economy in and of itself is to the doing badly. if people can get confidence in the government t won't be so bad. but if on the other hand we keep having this game being played in washington t will increasingly affect the markets negatively and the economy. >> jeff: jim awad, thank you very much. >> pleasure. >> jeff: in eastern oregon today a bus traveling on an ice and snow covered interstate 8 4 today crashed through a guardrail and tumbled down an embankment. at least nine were killed. more than a dozen others hurt. this was the second fatal crash due to icy road condition ms. that area today. >> in the east new england is digging out today after a winter storm blanketed the region with snow measuring a foot or more. that storm created problems across most of the eastern u.s. starting in the south on christmas day before move nooingt northeast. and then heading to sea. a new storm could bring wintery weather to the midwest for new year's eve. >> overseas the crash of a russian jetliner claimed a

fifth victim today. a flight attendant. that plane was carrying eight people, all crew members. barry peterson has new video captured during yesterday's landing atmos you could's nuke ofo airport. >> a video shows debris exproducting across the moscow highway as a twin jet tupolev 204 slammed into the ground. authorities said the plane had landed at one of moscow's airports but for some reason couldn't stop. and veered off the end. runway out of control. the first responders were people in cars without stopped to help. >> getting one woman out of the wreckage and searching for others. >> i heard a woman moan says nikita kasperchik, one of the first on the scene. he said he tried to get into the plane and search for survivors. >> i didn't think about herorism, he said, i just had to try and help. officials said the plane was flying from the czech republic back to moscow with only the crew on board.

had it been fully loaded t would have carried about 2 1350s injuries. strangers driven only by sadness left flowers as remembrances. authorities say they have the flight-data recorders, the so-called black boxes and hope that will tell them why a routine flight went so suddenly wrong. barry peterson, cbs news, london. >> jeff: its u.s. hasn't had a fatal air accident since a commuter plane crashed in buffalo, new york, in 2009. and globally despite what happened in russia, air travel is safer than ever. there have been 23 fatal crashes in 2012. that is compared to the 34 accidents the aviation industry averaged every year over the last decade. >> in india, hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in vigils in remembrance of a young woman raped and brutally beaten on a bus two weeks ago. the 23-year-old student died

yesterday. the attack has enraged the public prompting almost daily demonstrations. six men have been charged with her murder. >> still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news", a deadline for free foreclosure review looms for millions. a call for help sends rescuers crashing through thin ice. and some inmate goes free after california voters think twice about three strikes. >> happy holidays from cabul, afghanistan. i want to say happy new year to all my family and friends back home. mom and dad i will see new three weeks. i love you. i miss you, go pats,

>> jeff: with three weeks now to his secretary inauguration president obama insist he is committed to new gun legislation in the first year of his new term. and he expressed strong emotions about december 14th. the day 212-- 20 first graders and six staff members were killed at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut.

>> the question then becomes, you know, whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here. that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes. where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and drifts away. it certainly won't feel like that to me. this is something that that was the fertion worst day of my presidency, an it's not something i want to see repeated. >> in california for nearly 20 years a person convicted of breaking three law, no matter how minor would be sent to prison for life. no exceptions. john blackstone tonight reports on the young people who saw injustice in the three strikes law and set out to change it. >> reporter: at standford law school michael romano and his students don't just study justice, they go in search of it. seeking to free those who because of california's three strikes law are serving life sentences for minor crimes.

>> his third strike was shoplifting a pair of gloves and a spool of wire from home depot. >> that is one of the inmates ashley nicole davis is helping and another client. >> was arrested, attempting to steal a car radio. >> reporter: california passed its harsh three strikes law in 1994 after the high profile kidnapping and killing of 12-year-old polly klaus by a repeat offender. it was meant to keep serial murders, rapists and child molesters off the streets. but standford's students saw a disturbing pattern. >> not just a handful of people who were sentenced to life. this wasn't the exception, this is the rule there are thousands of people who have been sentenced to life in prison for nonviolent crime. >> reporter: they discovered more than 4,000 such cases says former student emily galvin. >> at every level there had been a prosecutor or a judge who thought it was okay to hand down a life sentence for shoplifting it was really hor.ing to me. >> armed with what they learned about three strikes the standford students began

a campaign for change. they gathered signatures and wrote a ballot measure. in the november election proposition 36 a major reform of the law was passed by 70% of california voters. >> the people have spoken and the people no longer want to hand down these ridiculously harsh sentences for minor crimes. >> with the change, three strikes inmates can now appeal to have their cases reviewed. the students are being repaid in gratitude by the prisoners they're helping. >> i'm very happy that prop 36 has passed. to now being on the verge of having my life back is overwhelming. thank you for your efforts in my favor. also, in treating me like a human being. >> the standford students have now brought hope to inmates who believe they have already done enough time for a minor crime. john blackstone, cbs new, san francisco. >> still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news" wa, could be in store at your local mall. >> happy holidays from

afghanistan. i want to say happy new year to all my family and friends back home especially george mason university and redskins. my husband and fannie harty. i miss, love you and i will see you soon

>> we are getting new indications tonight of how the holiday shopping season went. sales of items like home goods, electronics and clothing ticked up less than 1% over last year, especially flat given the rate of inflation. many shoppers made their holiday purchases at nearby malls but the recession brought construction of new malls to a near halt. and it's forcing many existing malls to reinvent themselves.

>> the camino nuevo charter academy in los angeles used to be a drab minimall. now this elementary school is a colourful anchor to a new street. a shuttered superkmart in a north atlanta suburbs has been born again as his hand, a megachurch with seats for 1500 worshippers. and in seattle these unused mall parking fields, transformed from dirt into thornton place, a residential community with a park, movie theatre and a bus station nearby. >> bert gregory's firm designed thornton place to be more green and less dependent on cars. >> you can walk to get your services. you can walk to the transit stop. you're actually using physical activity to move around. >> reporter: while there are still more than 1500 enclosed malls in the u.s., only two new ones have been built since 2009. >> an opportunity for designers, architects and planners to be innovative

again. >> june williamson an architecture professor at the city university of new york has written two books about our changing landscape. >> it comes down to making the suburban spaces pore livable for everyone, more walkable, pore vital, more economically productive and more environmentally sound and resilient. >> take voorhees, new jersey. a philadelphia suburb that was home to an underperforming mall. the developer demolished half of it. built 400 apartments and created this street. the town's offices moved inside what is left of the mall helping bring foot traffic to remaining stores. >> i think malls are not dedz, they're evolving. >> pennsylvania real-estate investment trust see joe core dino oversees 38 malls in 14 states. >> this is the only mall in the united states with a town hall as an occupant. >> which suits voorhees mayor just fichblt his 31,000 con

sit-- constituents have a down town for the first time, a growing restaurant row, a beauty school and a sports club. >> it really is creating a sense of community and giving people a reason to come here which was the idea that we wanted from the first place. >> voorhees says one of the 16 closed malls that have been retrofited in the u.s. and 120 more have announced plans to do so as well. still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news", help is available but time is running out for millions who have lost their homes to foreclosure. >> happy holidays from afghanistan. i'm major derek rynesmith from indiana. and i want to say happy new year to all my family and friends back home and especially to my wife kim, my daughter saddie and my son zeik. miss you, love you, see you soon.

>> it's a program designed to help home homer-- owners who may have wrongfully lost their home because of bad bank practise. the deadline to apply is tomorrow. the problem, critics say hardly anyone knows about it here's bill whitaker. >> 74-year-old dorothy paton raised herself enchildren in this south los angeles house. >> i wanted to live and enjoy my home. and then when i get ready to enjoy it, it's taken away. >> she was living alone after her husband died in 2007. she says that is when bank of america approached her with a new mortgage and a $110,000 home equity line of credit. she didn't understand her payments would jump 1200 dollars a month. paton and her bank could not work out a loan modification. she lost her home to

foreclosure. >> do you feel that you were cheated. >> i was cheated. i was cheated out of my home. >> paton is applying to the federal independent foreclosure review program. the government ordered 14 big banks to take part in the program after it was discovered they improperly processed foreclosure paperwork or made other misrepresentations about mortgage terms. harmed homeowners can be compensated up to 125,000. but critics like new jersey senator robert men ensdez complains the banks control the review process. >> who they choose are very often lawyers and consultants who have worked with the bank before. and so it's a little bit of the fox watching the chicken coop. >> the office of the comptroller which overcease the program told us independence has been a priority. >> this free program is monitored by federal bank regulators. >> reporter: others complain despite ads like this, few people even know about the program. only 10% of the 4.4 million

eligible homeowners have enrolled. >> west and less community development corporation held one of nine workshops around the country this month where people like dorothy paton signed up. tunua thrash is director. >> we know there are thousands more, hundreds of thousands more out there not only in los angeles but certainly in california and around the country. >> i'm hoping and praying that it will help. there's so many of us out there. >> reporter: the deadline to sign has been pushed back three times. with the response so low critics say it should be pushed back again. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> 150 years ago this week abraham lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation. today thousands lined up at the fat archives to see the original documents that freed the slaves. prot clamation is so fragile it's rarely seen in public. still ahead, a day of play

on a frozen lake turns into a panicked rescue after a man falls through thin ice.

>> finally ton a scary slip on a frozen lake in the mountains of southern california became a frantic effort to save a life. here's carter evans. >> it was a rare christmas experience in the mountains above los angeles. fresh snow and ice for people who rarely see it. so despite the warning signs. >> look at that big crack s that a big crack. >> few seemed concerned until -- >> we saw his arms flailing. someone said he can't swim. then it just turned into panic. >> michelle and mickey herman were there with a camera. >> at first all they could do was watch in horror as a man who rushed to help -- >> oh. >> fell through the ice, then another.

>> six would-be rescuers in all were now in the icy waters. >> it was hard to watch, it really was. we saw that go-go under three times and the third time we -- think he was coming back up. >> call 911 right now. >> the victims clamoured for inner tubes to stay afloat. from the shore onlookers including the her mans tried to toss a lifeline. >> after several fail add tempts, everyone made it to safety. the man who fell first had been in the frigid water for nearly ten minutes. >> we were just really thankful when they got out it was you know christmas day. we were thinking of this man being in the cold water and may die here. >> bystanders shed their own clothes to help the victim. a heartwarming end to a cold hard lesson on thin ice. >> carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> that is the "cbs evening news" tonight. i'm jeff glor. good night. captioning sponsored by cb

what police say was happeni that could result in charge fire takes three lives in a south bay townhouse. why witnesses say efforts to sa couple and a young child wen vain. " sund096 talks stall again just over4 hours from the fiscal cliff. hours from the fiscal cliff. what both sides are saying t the prospects for a deal. cbs 5 eyewitness news is ne. good evening, i'm ann notarangelo.,,,,,,,,

we begin with breaking newsn concord: a car --out of control -- slams into a fun home... anli