>> tonight surviving the twisters. with more severe weather on the way, anna werner has a story of one family's survival in a neighborhood swept off the map. the irs scandal, the white house gets grilled over who knew what about targeting conservative groups. share il attkisson reports. this store in florida sold the ticket for the biggest single payout in u.s. lottery history. and the civil rights legacy of medgar evers, randall pinkston shares the very personal history of how evers helped integrate tv news in mississippi making room for african-american reporters like him. >> more blacks are registered to vote now than ever before in mississippi's history. captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening, i'm jim axelrod, jeff glor is off tonight. from oklahoma city to minneapolis severe weather is threatening the nation's midsection tonight there are tornado warnings up in kansas and iowa, oklahoma and missouri could also be hard hit. forecasters say a supercell of thunderstorms packing baseball sized hail, heavy rain and tornadoes could do a lot of damage. already a tornado has touched down this afternoon in edmund, oklahoma, and another on the southwest side of wichita, kansas, that police are calling large and violent. meteorologist jeff beradelli of wfor is tracking the storms tonight. who is facing the greatest danger? >> the greatest risk tonight is across oklahoma and kansas. we have a lot of tornado watches and warnings ongoing as we speak. in fact we have already had a touchdown of tornadoes across the plain states.

here is the setup. we have a strong and cold upper level low destabilizing the atmosphere across the rockies and plain states. at the same time we have a strong jet stream on the eastern side of that meeting up with moist gulf air. and the danger zone right now, oklahoma, eastern kansas, also into western parts of missouri. take a look at the radar. lots of rotating supercells already just exploding across the plain states. and all of the red watch boxes are tornado watch boxes spread from south to north across the plain states. the threat is going to be pretty of the same area again during the day tomorrow. oklahoma city, tulsa and joplin could see more severe weather tomorrow with the likelihood of tornadoes. and some of these tornadoes, jim, could be on the strong side tonight, tomorrow. the severe weather threat could continue through the middle of the upcoming week. >> jeff, thank you. texas has been hit hard by tornadoes as well. six people were killed last week by twisters.

anna warner is there with a riveting story of survival. >> reporter: bobi parsons spent sunday picking through the pile of debris that used to be her family's home. wednesday fight as the tornado swirled around the house, she huddled in a bathtub with her 16-year-old son and husband eddie. as an older son took cover with a friend in the bathroom next door. >> i grabbed him and i held on to him as tight as i could. i was holding my son on the other side. and we were ducking and it was just really scary. >> reporter: eddie parsons is her husband. >> she reached through the blanket and things, i was holding the mattress down. and she reached through and she grabbed my arm. and it was probably the biggest and hardest grip i ever felt in my life by anybody. and it was amazing. >> reporter: when they merged, the only thing left standing was the two bathrooms.

the rest of the house was gone. >> i broke down because you know, i looked around and it was just amazing that, you know, all of this, this wiring and-- no electricity fell and hit my kids. they were okay, you know. it was amazing. just to see that god put his arms around these two walls, you know, and saved-- i mean he kept us safe. >> reporter: the only possessions bobi parsons wanted to find today were her grandparent's wedding rings. and on the floor next to the bathroom there they were. >> they were sitting on the ground over there still in the box, both of them together. >> reporter: sunday afternoon friends put up an american flag in the tree next to their demolished home, a sign of hope and survival. well, the family, all five of them turned out fine. they're all well but there are 110 homes in that subdivision

and nearly all of them were damaged by the tornado. for many residents it will be months before they can get back to living in the area. >> very moving, thank you. today the white house made its most extensive comment so far about the irs practice of targeting tea party groups and other conservative organizations. a senior member of the obama administration visited all the sunday talk shows to lay out what the white house knew and when. but as sharyl attkisson reports, that did nothing to quiet republican critics. >> reporter: according to testimony at a congressional hearing on friday, a deputy treasury secretary knew about the i.r.s. investigation a year ago. but obama senior advisor dan plieffer told bob schieffer today the white house only learned of the probe this month. >> are you trying to tell me that a wisp of this didn't get over to the white house during an election year, that there may be something going on over there at the i.r.s., that we ought to find about that. >> yes, i'm telling you that. the first the white house was made aware of it from the treasury department a few weeks

ago. not the details what happened, not the results of the investigation but that an independent investigation was about to conclude. >> if the president was so up set about this when he found out about it, why did he wait three days to say anything. >> because we waited for the facts. >> reporter: friday treasuries inspector general told congress the cincinnati office unfairly targeted some conservative groups but the investigation didn't pinpoint who exactly was responsible. the i.r.s. is conducting a 30 day review of the entire organization. republican senator john cornyn: >> i have a very hard time believing this is something cooked up it cincinnati from midlevel employees at the i.r.s. that is just implausible. >> reporter: i.r.s. commissioner steven miller testified on friday that his technical advisor told him the name of the person responsible for targeting tea party and patriot groups but he said he doesn't remember it. there are two more hearings this week at which congress will try to get its answer. jim? >> axelrod: sharyl, thank you. five numbers and the powerball.

tonight it adds up to more than $590 million dollars. and the biggest powerball jackpot ever. a single ticket with the winning number was sold at a supermarket in zephyrhills florida. ashley porter is there. ashley? >> reporter: well, jim, this winning ticket was bought at this publix in zephyrhills 30 miles outside of tampa. we don't know who the lucky winner is yet but even if this person wanted to come forward today to officially claim that prize, they couldn't. because the florida lottery office doesn't open until tomorrow. but once this person does come forward, they will be the winner of one of the largest lottery jackpots ever. and also the biggest single ticket payout in american history. now to give you an idea of just how much money this is, the average household income here in zephyrhills is about $30,000 a year. and this jackpot of about $590 million is about 20,000 times that. jim, this person will be the 6th powerball winner from florida,

more than any other state. >> axelrod: ashley porter, reporting for us tonight from zephyrhills, florida, thank you. it will almost certainly be an ugly commute on the east coast for tens of thousands tomorrow morning. train service on part of the country's busiest rail line is out of commission. crews are starting to rebuild hundreds of feet of track south of new haven, connecticut, following a train collision friday night which sent 72 people to the hospital. don dahler has the latest. >> reporter: investigators are focusing their attention ton a section of broken rail as the possible culprit in the accident. they don't yet know if the crash broke the rail or the rail caused the crash. metro north workers removed a jagged piece of metal from one of the damaged trains before an engineer slowly eased it down the tracks. the national transportation board gave metro north permission to move the trains even as their investigation continues. once they remove the trains they still have to repair the tracks

and the overhead lines. and that is not a quick process. >> we have about 2,000 feet of track that was in some cases completely destroyed by the force of what happened here. that all needs to be replaced. the track, new overhead power, new signals it in some cases. it's going to be a lengthy job. we're essentially building a railroad from scratch. >> reporter: adam is spokesman for the metropolitan transportation authority. when you say lengthy are we talking days. >> yes, several days. the only advice we can give right now is we don't expect to have service back on this line until well into the coming week. >> reporter: which means the derailment will affect thousands of lives. the m.t.a. say 30,000 people each day ride on this section of rail. they plan to offer bus service to help those commuters. but they also expect a large number to take their own car to work joining the tens of thousands of other commuters on v already a traffic nightmare at rush hour. don dahler, cbs news, bridgeport, connecticut. >> axelrod: today is graduation

day at hofstra university on long island. typically the happiest day of the year on campus. not this year. the community is morning a student accidentally killed by a police officer confronting an armed suspect accused of breaking into the student's house. terrell brown is there. students wore white ribbons at the university's graduation ceremony. in memory of junior andrea robella. university president stuart rabinowitz: >> our hearts and our thoughts and our prayer goes out to her family, her friends and her classmates. >> reporter: just before 2:30 friday morning police were called to the home she shared with her twin sister and other students because of an alleged armed robbery. >> reporter: victoria lives four doors down. >> i heard the screams and i looked outside and there were

police officers everywhere and it was the girl screaming, the most horrifying scream i ever heard in my life, awful, awful. >> reporter: police say the gunman identified as dalton smith demanded money and jewelry from the students. when police arrived smith put robello in a head lock. then aimed his 9 millimeter pistol at one of the officers. nassau county police detective john azzata. >> at that point the police officer fires several rounds. the officer eventually fired eight rounds in total. seven of those rounds struck our subject, one of those rounds struck the victim. >> reporter: smith was killed. robello later died at the hospital. today mourners left flowers at the home as a crime scene cleanup team worked inside. police won't release the name of the officer who fired the shots but say he is a 12 year veteran of the force. he's on leave and the department has opened an internal investigation. >> police have been asked

whether that officer followed protocol but said they won't be answering those questions until after the investigation. as for smith, he had served nine years in prison and was wanted for parole violations. >> axelrod: terrell, thank you. president obama gave the commencement address today at martin luther king's alma mater, morehouse college, a historically black, all-male school in atlanta. mr. obama challenged the graduates to stay focused on family. >> be the best husband to your wife. or your boyfriend or your partner. be the best father you can be to your children. because nothing's more important. >> later, remembering how civil rights pioneer medgar evers helped clear the way for african-americans on television. that accused u.s. spy leaves russia and far from florida the story of one couple's bittersweet lottery win.

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that's allstate home insurance with claim free rewards. talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] and let the good life in. >> axelrod: next month marks 50 years since civil rights leader medgar evers was shot and killed in jackson, mississippi. evers is best known for fighting to gain voting rights. less well-known is his role desegregating tv news in mississippi. randall pinkston reports on a ground breaking moment that happened 50 years ago tomorrow. >> reporter: when medgar evers was fighting for civil rights in mississippi he could to the get on local news in his home state. his wife myrlie evers. your husband was the field secretary of the naacp. was he ever asked to comment on civil rights matters by tv stations? >> in mississippi? >> reporter: yes. >> no, of course not. >> reporter: as the civil rights movement grew, the dominant point of view on wlbt was from

the segregationist citizen's council. >> the civil rights proposals currently being studied by the congress, these range all the way from black male to bribery to threats. >> reporter: evers wrote letters pleading for equal time but was turned down for six years. what kept your husband going? >> his determination to do whatever he could possibly do to turn this state, and help the nation accept us as citizens, as full rights of citizenship. >> reporter: he sued the city of jackson to desegregate schools and call for equal access to public accommodation. then on wlbt jackson mayor alan thompson criticized the naacp as outside agitators. evers was finally granted time to respond may 20th, 1963. >> the setting is different but this is the room where medgar evers made his historic speech at wlbt. it was the first time

mississippians had seen a local african-american perspective on civil rights. evers spoke for 17 minutes. many white viewers who flooded the station's switchboard were outraged. >> reporter: myrlie evers believes her husband's ground breaking speech made him a more visible target. >> if you challenged any tradition, certainly in mississippi, their life was on the line. >> reporter: one month after his tv appearance evers was killed by an assassins bullet. his efforts began the process that opened the doors to people who had been shut out. >> that's me in the blue blazer and orange shirt. i got my first on-air job at wlbt in 1971 anchoring the 10:00 news. more blacks are registered to vote now than ever before in mississippi's history. >> reporter: the station became and remains an industry leader

in diversity. and it began with medgar evers. randall pinkston, cbs news, jackson, mississippi. >> axelrod: randall pinkston is leaving us after 33 years with cbs news. he's always been one of the true gentleman in this business and we will miss his warmth, his grace and his class. next up, prom night in alabama, at last. canceled 50 years ago at the height of the civil rights controversy. [ slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium-rich tums starts working so fast you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

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>> axelrod: alaska's remote pavlof volcano is still shooting lava hundreds of feet into the air. the volcano is 625 miles from anchorage. although scientists are not expecting the eruption to end any time soon, airplanes are once again being allowed to fly over the region. the u.s. embassy worker accused by the russians of spying is on his way home. russian tv showed fogle passing through airport security in moscow today. the government ordered him out of the country after releasing pictures that allegedly showed him wearing a blond wig while trying to recruit a russian counter terrorism agent. neither the state department nor

the cia is commenting. it's been an historic weekend for former high-school students in birmingham, alabama. hundreds of people from the class of 1963 finally had their prom. 50 years ago birmingham canceled proms at all segregated schools because of civil rights protests. a remarkable reversal of fortune for a family who had fallen on hard times, next. [ other merv ] welcome back to the cleaning games.

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>> axelrod: we've got just the ticket to end with tonight, a winning lottery ticket. this one in chicago. not florida. dean reynolds has a story of multimillion dollar payout that saved a home in foreclosure. and the guardian angel who the winner swears is behind it all. >> reporter: for two years rick and bonnie worried every day they would lose their home. >> our lawyer had been telling us for a while to prepare for the worst. >> reporter: their house in near chicago was in foreclosure and in february a judge told them to be ready to leave. >> what are we going to do if they throw us out. what are we going do if when we come not house it's a lock on the door and we can't get in. >> reporter: their money problems started when their 12 year ald daughter savannah was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder. after rick quit his job to care for savannah and the medical bills piled up, money got tight. >> so when it comes to your children, you give it all.

you just don't care. you give it all. >> savannah told her mom she knew. >> how can i ever repay all of what you guys have sacrificed to give me a chance at a good life. >> reporter: last august savannah died suddenly of seizures. still grieving, rick kept buying four lottery tickets a week. a month ago bonnie got sick of seeing the tickets gathering dust in a cookie jar and told rick to check the tickets or she would toss them. the first nine were losers. the 10th worth three bucks. the 11, though, was worth $4.8 million dollars. rick and bonnie are convinced it's savannah repaying them. >> i would imagine that the second that she took her last breath and i delivered her to god and god grabbed her hand, she was immediately nagging him about start, start doing something for them. >> reporter: the first installment check came the day after mother's day. another will come every

february. >> we have 26 years of knowing that every year on savannah's birth month, our gift is there. >> for me, the real win is that i don't have to pack up my daughter's room. that her existence won't be confined to a box marked savannah's room. >> some people call them lucky, but the cerezos know they've been given a gift. dean reynolds, cbs news, chicago. >> jackpot. and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. later on cbs, "60 minutes." scott pelley will be here tomorrow. for now, i'm jim axelrod in new york. for all of us here at cbs news, thanks for joining us. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

safety concern over the new span. a new plan to make the disa pay for parking. who's proposing the change... and who's surprisingly on board. "nats of bells" and runners take off in the annual bay to breakers. hows year's race was about more n just the crazy costumes. kpix 5 news is next. od evening, i'm runners take off. how this year's race is was more than just about the costumes. the news is next ,,,,,,,,

brush fire is burning right in martinez. you can see the good evening. breaking news. a four-acre brush fire is burping right now in martinez. thu can can see the smoke.