a security breach at one of the nation's biggest retailers. millions of credit and debit card numbers may have been swiped from target stores across the country. another record close on wall street after the federal reserve announces it's scaling back but not ending its economic stimulus program. and a seeing eye dog that saved his master from being run over by a subway finds a place to spend his golden years. >> he's a senior citizen. he's got grey hair, you know, so he's looking forward to, you know, enjoying life. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs mor this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 19th, 2013. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green.

the secret service is investigating a credit and debit card security breach at one of the nation's largest retailers, target. the data theft could potentially involve millions of target customers. tara mergener is in washington. tara, good morning. >> good morning, anne-marie. >> this is believed to be an extensive security breach that took place at thousands of target registers from coast to coast, but this morning most customers don't know it. cbs news has confirmed the secret service is investigating a security breach that involves stolen credit and debit card information from potentially millions of target customers. >> i almost never use cash anymore. i almost use credit cards all the time, so that scares me. >> reporter: a closely watched security blog says the breach started on black friday and lasted until this week. the report states investigators believe thieves stole the data from credit card machines in

almost all of target stores nationwide. >> it sounds like the actual payment software was hacked with a piece of malware or some other kind of security breach in the credit card processing itself. that's not very common. >> the magnetic strips on credit and debit cards are full of information. >> your address, your date of birth, your social security number. so once they access that, it's very easy for them to open up other credit cards or gift cards. >> american express says the company is aware of the incident and is putting fraud controls in place. representatives for visa and mastercard have declined to comment. target officials have not made a statement about the investigation. and right now there is reportedly no indication online target shoppers are affected. anne-marie? >> tara mergener in washington. thank you, tara. a presidential advisory panel is recommending significant limits be imposed on the national security agency's surveillance programs.

the five-member panel concluded that the country would not be put at any more risk if there was more oversight of nsa programs. it remains unclear just how many of the proposals the obama administration will agree to. ko im has our report. >> reporter: an advisory task force is telling president obama if he wants to restore public trust, he must make changes at the nsa. the group of intelligence and law experts gave the president 46 recommendations. among them, the nsa should no longer store americans' phone records, and the agency would need a court's okay to access phone and internet data. the report also calls for limits on how much information the spy agency can collect. the white house will review the suggestions over the next few weeks. >> including sorting through which recommendations we will implenty, which might require further study, and which we will choose not to pursue. >> reporter: the president

informed the advisory group shortly after edward snowden explained how the agency tracked americans' phones and internet use. critics of the nsa methods are applauding the panel's recommendations. >> the message is very clear. nsa, you've gone too far. the bulk collection of americans' data by the u.s. government has to end. >> reporter: the president is expected to announce the recommendations he will implement next month. ko im for cbs news, washington. well, a just-approved two-year budget deal awaits president obama's signature. the senate passed the bipartisan agreement yesterday. it cleared the house last week. the agreement is backed by the white house. it rolls back some of the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration and boosts spending by $63 billion over two years. on the "cbs moneywatch" now, the federal reserve curbs its bond buying program, and how a mega millions jackpot winner found out she is now a multimillionaire. wendy gillette is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning, wendy. >> good morning, anne-marie.

citing an improving economy, the federal reserve says it's beginning to pull back on its stimulus program. the fed says it's cutting the amount of government bonds it's buying from $85 billion a month to $75 billion beginning in january. at its final news conference before he steps down next month, chairman ben bernanke says the fed's efforts to boost the economy have worked. >> it is the assessment that the economy is continuing to make progress, that it has much farther to travel before conditions can be judged normal. >> when the latest round of stimulus started in 2012, unemployment stood at 8.1%. today it stands at 7%, a five-year low. the fed plans to keep short-term interest rates at record lows until well past when unemployment falls below 6.5%. here on wall street the news from the federal reserve sent stocks soaring to another record high. the dow jones industrial jumped nearly 293 points.

the nasdaq composite rose 46 points. asian markets finished mostly higher on the fed news. tokyo's nikkei jumped more than 1.5%. the hong kong's hang seng lost more than 1%. the holiday shopping season has been a disappointment so far for retails. from november sales are up just 2%, according to shoppertrak, a company that analyzes shopping data. those huge sales signs are to blame. the amount of discounts stores are offering is up 13% from last year to the highest level since 2008. ira curry can shop wherever and whenever she wants. curry is one of two winners of the $636 million mega million jackpot. she'll take home a lump sum of about $120 million after taxes. curry bought just one ticket at an atlanta newsstand. lottery officials say she learned she won wednesday morning while driving to work and heard on the radio that the mega ball number was 7.

>> she realized that that was her pick, and so she called her daughter. she woke up her daughter. her daughter checked the winning numbers and sure enough they were the big mega millions winner for georgia. >> the other winning ticket was sold at a san jose, california, gift shop. the holder of that ticket has not come forth. anne-marie, cannot imagine how her life will change. >> i know. i know. living is really good for ira curry. congratulations. wendy gillette at the new york stock exchange. thanks a lot, wendy. as early as today president obama is expected to nominate montana senator max baucus to be the next u.s. ambassador to china. the relationship between china and the u.s. has been strained recently. baucus, a democrat, chairs the powerful senate finance committee which oversees taxes and trade. he's been a vocal critic of china's trade policies. >> and a u.s. attorney is defending the treatment of an indian diplomat who was arrested and strip searched.

devyani khobragade was arrested in new york last tuesday. she was charged with paying her nanny less than minimum wage and visa fraud to get the nanny into the u.s. she was strip searched, something the u.s. attorney says is standard procedure. her arrest and search has sparked outrage in india which retaliated by removing the safety concrete barriers in front of the u.s. embassy there. the u.s. attorney says khobragade was treated better than other defendants. coming up on the "morning news," crime fighting of the future. we will go on patrol with a robot designed to spot trouble before it happens. this is the "cbs morning news." >>ounc >> announcer: this portion of "cbs morning news" sponsored by airborne, awesome immune system support, now with a new formula in gummies. support, now with a new formula in gummies. support, now in a new form, in gummies. some are giant. some not so giant.

when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! [ female announcer ] symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. [ man ] with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today we're ready for whatever swims our way.

ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. ♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells ♪ ♪ all seem to say throw care away ♪ ♪ from everywhere, filling the air ♪ [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. like caramel chocolate drizzles. happier holidays. chex party mix. overnight crews

overnight crews battled a massive fire in a los angeles area strip mall. witnesses say the flames reached 100 feet in the air. the fire destroyed several businesses in hawthorne. at least one roof collapsed. no word on the cause. and honda leads the way on the insurance industry's annual list of safest new vehicles. the civic hybrid, accord, and odyssey all earned the highest rating. so did two models from acura, which is owned by honda, the rlx and the mdx. overall the insurance institute for highway safety gives 39 vehicles top ratings, far fewer than last year. but that's because standards are tougher. there's a new emphasis on crash prevention warning systems and automatic braking. and the future of police work could go way beyond solving crimes after they've happened. a california company has create add robo copp it says can predict and prevent crime. cnet's kara tsuboi takes a look. >> reporter: in future trips to

the mall it may not be a security guard on patrol but a k-5 robot. >> it sits 5 foot tall, 300 pounds and it can see, hear, smell, and roam around 24/7. >> reporter: the robot was developed by california-based nightscope. it's designed to be a surveillance tool for law enforcement, schools, and anyone else who wants an extra set of eyes and ears on the ground. >> thermal imaging, license plate recognition, behavioral recognition. >> reporter: onboard the k-5 are an array of sensors, cameras, and laser map technology. the k-5 that can go up to 18 miles an hour would scan an area for potentially troubling signs. for example -- >> we don't know why, two are going this level and the ambient noise levels are high for this time of day.

>> reporter: the realtime onsite data would be come binned with historical factors and run through an algorithm to determine whether danger might happen. >> you put out a heat map or crime map for an area. >> reporter: it would send an alert to law enforcement security. could it scare off the people it's trying to protect? >> what puts people on edge is not necessarily privacy. what puts people on edge is being shot at. our plan is to be able to cut crime by 50% in the area. >> reporter: the k-5 robot will cost around $36,000 a year. in san francisco, i'm kara tsuboi, cnet for cbs news. >> i don't know if it work, but it's kind of cute. straight ahead, your thursday morning weather. and in sports, snow problem. that's what super bowl organizers are saying, if a winter storm impacts the big game. [ female announcer ] now your most dazzling accessory can be your smile.

colgate optic white dual action shines and whitens over 2 shades more than a leading whitening toothpaste. and whiten even more, with optic white mouthwash and the whole colgate optic white line. no, i'm good. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, you celebrate a little win. nicorette mini delivers fast craving relief in just 3 minutes. double your chances of quitting with nicorette mini. in just 3 minutes. ♪

we'll take something tasty and healthy. ♪ must be the honey! ♪ there's a party going on in your cereal bowl ♪ ♪ o's can help lower cholesterol ♪ ♪ oh why does it taste so great? ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! here's a look at today's forecast in some cities toward country. new york will be sunny today a high of 44. sunny also in miami, but rain in chicago. cloudy in dallas and showers in los angeles today. time now for a check of the national forecast. there will be light snow across the northern plains and upper midwest today, but most areas will get less than 3 inches. milder temperatures with highs in the 30s and 40s move into the northeast, a prelude to a much warmer weekend. most of the south will be dry today. out west there will be periods

of snow from southern montana to wyoming and scattered showers across southern california. the nfl is taking a risk by scheduling the super bowl outdoors in a cold weather city for the first time ever, but officials in new jersey say metlife stadium will be ready if it snows. they plan on having thousands of trucks and hundreds of extra workers ready to go if there is snow or ice on the ground during the big game, and they showed off a machine capable of melting 600 tons of snow per hour. >> the reality is that many others in the new york and new jersey area are accustomed to it. a snowstorm could hit at any tierjs but that doesn't mean people shouldn't be able to move around or football be played. we just have to have the resources in place and clean up the snow efficiently. >>despite all of the preparations, officials say it's still possible the game could be rescheduled in the event of a storm.

super bowl sunday is february 2nd. in another meeting of the two best teams in the nba's eastern conference, indiana traveling to miami to take on the heat. lebron james overcomes an injured ankle to score 20 points and the heat rally from an 18- point deficit to beat the pacers, 97-94. indiana still holds the best record in the east at 20 and 5. the top team in the west running into some problems on the road. minnesota's kevin love scores 29 points and grabs 15 rebounds as the timberwolves beat the portland trail blazers 120-109. the blazers' record dropped to 22-5. and two daredevils go for a walk in the clouds in the french alps. they tightrope walk on a wire connecting two cable cars with nothing between them and the ground. more than 1,200 feet below. the stunt was celebration of the tenth anniversary of the cable car line that connects two alpine ski resorts.

and if you think that was gutsy, take a look at this. wingsuit pilot brian drake flying impossibly close to the ground. drake is a few feet from the bottom of a gully as he sails down the side of a mountain in france. when we return, a happy future for a hero dog. we will tell you why a guide dog who helped save his owner in a subway accident won't need a new home. when we return, a happy we all have our tricks. mom swaps my snack for a piña colada yoplait. and when mom said i was going out too much, i swapped it for staying in.

[ shouts ] guess who's going out tomorrow. [ female announcer ] swap one snack a week for a yoplait. it is so good. [ female announcer ] swap one snack a week for a yoplait. they're not freaking out, they're gifing out. gif-ing out? ...because of the great deals they got at kmart. right. this week, members get $30 back in points on a keurig elite brewer. plus, other small kitchen appliances are up to 25% off. kmart. get in. get more christmas. major retailer. how the thieves may be using that information. the wildfire burning in big has now scorched a square m the latest in the effort to bring it under control. plus, we'll introduce you te san jose store owner who's a million dollars richer thano selling the winning mega millions ticket. join us for kpix 5 news this morning... beginning at 4:3 good morning. it's

,,,, here's a look at today's forecast in some cities toward country. washington, d.c., a mix of sun and clouds today. atlanta will be sunny, though, and some sun in st. louis. mostly cloudy in denver today, a high of 43. seattle, sunshine. "duck dynasty" is without its patriarch. phil robertson has been taken off the hit reall serieses indefinitely for making anti-gay remarks.

a & e sate's disappointing and the comments don't reflect that of the network or the show. he disparaged gay people akin to sinners and akin to swindlers. a black lab helped save his owner from a new york city subway train this week. both man and dog survived but their future together wasn't assured until now. vinita nair has the story. >> reporter: orlando helps his blind owner, 61-year-old cecil williams, get around on daily basis. >> he's always watching out for me, looking out for me. that's his job. >> reporter: on tuesday orlando went above and beyond the call of duty when williams lost consciousness on the platform of a new york city subway station. >> we tried to keep him on the tracks and stay with him the whole time. >> reporter: williams fell in front of an oncoming train and the dog went with him. several cars passed over them. amazingly williams only suffered minor injuries. the first time you were reunited with the dog, what was that like

for you? >> when he came back to me, i was glad to see him, and i'm glad he wasn't even hurt. >> reporter: orlando will retire next month. williams is getting a new service dog and couldn't afford to keep him as a pet -- until now. >> as of this morning all of those expenses have been covered through anonymous donations. >> reporter: that means orlando can enjoy his golden years with his best friend. >> he's a senior citizen. he's got grey hafrmt you know, he's looking forward to enjoying life now. >> reporter: and so is cecil williams. vinita nair, cbs news, new york. well, after months of turmoil the atmosphere was a little lighter at toronto state hall on tuesday. ♪ let's get together and feel all right ♪ >> embattled mayor rob ford feeling all right. dancing to bob marley's "one love" and joined by city council members as well.

ford admitted last month he smoked crack in a drunken stupor, but since the scandal erupted, he's given up alcohol and exercises daily and he's lost 26 pounds. this is the "cbs morning news." ... and juliet is the sun good night! good night... parting is such sweet sorrow... that i shall say good night 'til it be morrow. - whoa...t - it's cute, isn't it? (female announcer) celebrate the joy in giving! save up to 50% on all pet holiday™ items and save 50% on select dog winter apparel. through december 24th only, at petsmart®! [ female announcer ] let betty do the measuring and get a head start on delicious homemade cookies.

visit bettycrockercookies.com for fun holiday ideas. betty crocker cookie mix. just pour, mix...love.

here's another look at this morning's top stories. the secret service confirms that it's investigating a data breach at target. the potentially massive threat involves customers' debit and credit card information. security says the debit breach began on black friday and took place at nearly all of

target's 1,900 stores in north america. in a panel appointed by president obama recommends major changes to the government's surveillance programs. it says the national security agency should not be allowed to store bulk phone data and they want the agency to obtain court orders before searching the information. now the nation's health insurance industry decided wednesday to extend the health care deadline. they now have until january 10th to pay for coverage that begins on new year's day. meantime uninsured are weighing the cost of signing up. carter evans reports. >> reporter: you ended up with a premium of about $160 a month. are you happy with that? >> i am happy with it. he signed up in october and signed up for a government subsidy of $152 a month to pay for the premium. >> when i saw the preventive options, i actually started getting emotional. all these things covered under my premium i thought were amazing.

why wouldn't i take advantage of that. >> reporter: according to the cbs news/new york times poll, 50% of the uninsured say getting insurance will make their health better. >> so would you consider yourself a success story? >> yeah, i'd definitely consider myself a success story. >> reporter: but 57% of the uninsured told us the healthcare.gov website was difficult to use. 59% sate getting health insurance will hurt them financially. beverly cena is a freelance journalist in los angeles. >> it's going to cost us, even with the tax break they say they will give you. it's going to cost us $409 a month for the lowest priced plan. >> reporter: more than a third in the poll say they'll pay a penalty of either $95 or 1% of their annual income instead of signing up for coverage under the affordable care act. >> i'd rather pay the fine than spend a lot of money and have a health care plan that really isn't going to do much for me. >> california's goal is to enroll a half million people by march.

about 110,000 had already signed up by the end of november and were told the pace of enrollment has increased this month. carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," an exclusive interview with the widow of ronnie smith, an american teacher killed in benghazi this month. that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>> >> your realtime captioner is mrs. linda m. macdonald good morning, it's thursday, december 19. i'm michelle griego. >> i'm brian hackney. here we go again. frank is off this morning. it is 4:30. and here is meteorologist lawrence. it seems like we just did this about 40 minutes ago.

>> it does! >> welcome to our world! [ laughter ] >> you notice some winds blowing cars around today coming in today. we have some strong winds expected around the bay area especially over the east and north bay hills. wind advisories up, some gusts maybe up to 60 miles per hour. more on your weather coming up. >> there are some wind advisories on some bridges, including the san mateo bridge and bay bridge so we'll tell you about that coming up. some breaking news now. a car ignited this fireball when it crash into a gas pump in east oakland this morning around 2:30 at a 76th station on the 98th and edith. it's under control. the gas pump was crushed and knocked down. the front of the car was wrecked. the driver was carried off on a stretcher. no word on the extent of his injuries. breaking news overnight. the retailer target confirmed about 40