>> axelrod: tonight, melting into more trouble. the buffalo area braces for severe flooding after the record snowfall. jericka duncan is there. seth doane on today's earthquake near the site of the 1998 winter olympics in nagano, japan. ( applause ) exoneration-- vicente arenas on two men now free after serving decades for a murder they did not commit. >> words can't express how i feel right now. just glad to be out, glad to be a free man. >> axelrod: and time honored-- how two master craftsmen are working hard to make sure a landmark manhattan clock keeps on ticking. >> it's almost like something-- like salt in a meal. if it's not there, you notice it. if it's there, you don't notice

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening. i'm jim axelrod. after a record-setting blizzard, you might think more snow would top the list of weather worries for the people of buffalo, nairk. guess again. the forecast in upstate new york now calls for temperatures that could rise into the upper 50s in the next 48 hours, and that means flooding is actually the big worry as all that snow starts to melt. at least 12 people were killed when seven feet of snow fell over three days this week. but with the warmer weather on the way, new york's governor andrew cuomo says we are preparing for now for flooding than we've seen nay long, long time. jericka duncan is there. >> reporter: snow is still stopping people from getting around western new york, days after two storms dumped more than seven feet of snow in some places. plows are out clearing streets. ars and even trucks remain burr ed under several feet of snow. officials say they've recovered

more than 500 abandoned vehicles. >> our motto is prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and we are preparing for the worst. >> reporter: this weekend's spring-like temperatures mixed with rain will melt the heavy snow and cause potential flooding, especially in low-lying neighborhoods like west seneca, that are surrounded by creeks. michelle pikula has been a resident for more than 20 years. so the last time there was a major flooding event here what, did this street look like? >> it looked like the niagra river. it was just flooded-- cars-- icebergs were floating down the street. >> reporter: she and her son are removing items from the basement, even though the town has provided sandbags. why not use sandbags? >> well, i feel the sandbags for us in this area will not help. >> reporter: flooding is also a concern for restaurant owner ron spinelli. i see you spray painted the word "open "on the mound of snow out in front. >> yes, yes, we did.

just trying to let people than we're open. >> reporter: he was closed nearly a week and says he lost thousands of dollars and isn't lookinged for to losing more because of flooding. >> but, again,un, there's nothing we can do about it. we're just going to have to go with the flow and see what happens. >> reporter: more than 50 boats and three helicopters have been made available for water rescues. jim, the last time this neighborhood saw water rescues was in january because of ice jams in the creek. >> axelrod: jericka duncan in snowy west seneca, new york, thank you. for more on the severe weather let's go to meteorologist eric firker of our boston station welcomes. i understand the next big weather shaper in buffalo could actually be a storm system down south. what you can tell ?us. >> this is a storm system bringing severe weather to places that were deal with snow and record cold earlyo in the week. tonight we're watching south texas, austin, san antonio, to houston. tornadoes possible, certainly damaging wind gusts, hail and heavy rain that will last into

the night and troofl east for tomorrow. so some dangerous traveling conditions across the gulf coast could see more damaging wind gusts and very heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes for our sunday. the storm is headed towards the great lakes. and that will bring temps to 60 degrees in buffalo plus some rainfall to start week, and snow and a lot of twoind start things off on monday. >> axelrod: buffalo is done with snow worries for the time being. who does have the the major snow worries? >> the west was quiet last winter, not the case so far in november. a series of steve hartmans coming across the rocky, another on monday, another on tuesday, another on wednesday, and this should continue all wait through the week and into the weekend. we'll be measuring in feet of snow across the highest peaks, a very active pattern for the northwest. >> axelrod: unsettled weather across much of the country heading into thanksgiving. thank you. strong aftershocks could continue for the next week after an earthquake today in central japan. at least 20 people were hurt and

close to 500 were forced from their home by the quake centered near nagano, the home of the 1998 winter olympics. seth doane has more. >> reporter: at least 10 homes collapsed in a ski resort town of hakuba, injuring people trapped inside and destroying belongings as a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck near nagano city. the shock radiated through homes and businesses. people at the local tv station scrambled for cover. it knocked out power to 1600 homes and triggered a landslide in nagano, locking and damaging roads. an emergency detection system temporarily shut down the local bullet train. the ground shook as far away as tokyo, more than 100 miles from the epicenter. but the quake struck too far inland to cause a tsunami. earthquakes are common in japan which is locateold the pacific ring of fire. in 2011, a magnitude 9.0

earthquake in & tsunami killed more than 15,000 people. that quake ravaged the fiewk fua plant. in this quake, the nearby nuclear plant escaped damage. more than 20 aftershocks have rocked central japan since the earthquake struck, and officials say there could be more. the military has been sent in to help with the cleanup. >> axelrod: seth, thank you. in ferguson, missouri, the tension keeps rising as the waiting continues. a grand jury has yet to render its decision in the shooting death of michael brown. mark strassmann is there for us tonight. mark, what are you hearing about when the grand jury may wrap up? >> reporter: there was no decision today. there will not be one tomorrow, and multiple sources tell us the grand jury will reconvene on monday which means the decision won't come until then at the earliest. in the meantime, communities like clayton and ferguson are

gearing up withald security. they installed more security barriers today along potential protest spots and you see police officers patrolling everywhere here. there have already been a dozen arrests over the last several days as police in riot gear have clashed with protesters. everyone expects more arrests in the days to follow. until this grand jury reaches its decision and it is announced, jim, the st. louis community will remain on edge. >> axelrod: mark strassmann in front of the courthouse in clayton, missouri, mark, thank you. the house intelligence committee has issued its report on the 2012 attack on the attack on the compound in libya. the committee said late yesterday it found no evidence of an intelligence farther prior to the attack, nor did the committee find evidence of a delay in sending a rescue mission that might have saved the lives of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. another attack by the terror group al-shabaab claimed 28 more lives in nairobi today.

19 men and nine women were dragged off a bus and executed for reportedly not being able to recite an islamic creed. the white house has condemned the attacks. secretary of state john kerry says, "big gaps" remain in the effort to wrawp the deal with iran over its nuclear program before a monday deadline. the talks are taking place in vienna, austria, and that's where margaret brennan joins us from now. margaret what, is on the table? >> reporter: jim, the u.s. and other world powers here are willing to gradually suspend their economic sanctions on iran if it agrees to further slow down its nuclear program. but iran wants all of the sanctions lifted immediately, and it's not willing to completely give up the components that could be used in a bomb. >> axelrod: so it sounds like the two sides are still very far apart. >> reporter: that's right. diplomats say it will be virtually impossible to reach a complete deal by the monday deadline, and as this is one of

the president obama's top foreign policy goals, secretary kerry is here working through the night. >> axelrod: margaret brennan from vienna, thank you. the plan the president announced this week to revamp immigration policy and shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation is attracting criticism from both flanges. as carter evans explains, immigration rights supporters are saying the president did not go far enough. >> reporter: vlad stiucescughica and mis mother liana came to the u.s. from romania when he was just nine years old. they're undocumented. they hope the president's executive action would change that. >> we just want the opportunity to not be afraid every day. >> reporter: and did the president's plan give you that? >> not for us. >> reporter: that's because the plan only covers families with children born in the u.s., which means almost 6 million other immigrants living here remain unprotected. >> we live under the fear every day. >> reporter: kit lee was five when she came to the u.s. for fr korea with her mother.

she now has temporary protection under a law called "dacca-- deferred action for childhood arrivals. that means she can work and attend school but her mother is still in danger. >> dacca means nothing if she gets deported. it sucks because i'm here on this island where i get these certain benefits and she's over there floating in the waters waiting for someone to save her. and i can't do anything. >> reporter: vlad and his mother were disappointed as they watched president's address this week. she was a lawyer in romania and was recruited by a u.s. company, but when they stayed after their visas expired, they knew they were taking a risk. a lot of people around this country view it as an illegal situation. they view your status here as one without permission. >> please, tell me how i can get permission. i would be more than happy to do whatever i can to get permission. >> reporter: for now, they say, they feel like outcasts inside the country they throng call home.

carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> axelrod: cleared of a murder charge after a record 39 years in prison. and another breakthrough for m.i.t., an undefeated football season when the cbs evening news continues.

>> axelrod: the university of virginia has now suspended all of its fraternities after reports of sexual assault. the action came after an article in "rolling stone" magazine which described an alleged gang rape from 2012. the school has also asked the police to investigate. after the announcement, students gathered to demand further response. in cleveland, two men are enjoying their first full day of freedom after their murder convictions were dismissed yesterday. one of the men had served 39 years in prison, the most time any exonerated prisoner has ever served in the history of the country. vicente arenas has their story.

>> reporter: does the air smell different? >> yes, it does. >> reporter: it was rickey jackson's first breath of fresh air as a free man after being wrongly imprisoned for 39 years. murder charges against jackson and his codefendant, wiley bridgeman, were dismissed yesterday after the key witness, just 12 years old at the time of the murder, said his testimony had been coerced by police. >> words can't even express how i feel right now. just glad to be out, glad to be a free man. >> reporter: jackson, wiley bridgeman, and his brother, ronnie, were convicted of murdering a cleveland businessman in 1975. the three men were put on death row. their sentence were later comuted to life in prison. then in 20 level, an in-depth investigation by a local magazine highlighted flaws in the investigation, prompting the ohio innocence project an organization dedicated to on

overturning erroneous convictions take up the case. last year, the witness testified to his minister the testimony was a lie. the minister urged him to comeed for and on tuesday he recanted his testimony. three days later, the men were set free. wiley bridgeman, who was paroled in 2003, was waiting outside the courthouse for his brother. >> you don't give up. everybody can take a fall. anybody can take a fall. and it's always the getting up that counts. >> reporter: jackson, now 57, says he's lookinged for to reuniting with his two old friends. >> i'm dying to meet them. i'm going to embrace them and hug them. excuse me. because we've been through a lot together, and we made it, you know. we're here, we made it. >> reporter: jackson says he's not angry with the eyewitness, adding that he was just a kid at the time. and it took a lot of courage for him to comeed for after all these years. jim. >> axelrod: the power of forgiveness.

vicente, thank you. a man in tallahassee, florida, set his house on fire today and fired on the emergency crews that responded. police say the first deputy to arrive was shot to death. the gunman then used the deputy's own gun to shoot a second deputy. the gunman was shot tho death. the second deputy was saveds by his bulletproof vest. up next. remember elizabeth smart. this well-known kidnapping survivor was at the u.n. and we'll tell you what she had to say when we come back.

report, sex traffic hag has become a million bl-industry. elizabeth smart talked about the trade and sat down with vinita nair. >> they are kidnapped, they are stolen, many times they are given drugs. many times they are manipulated through threat. just-- i mean, like me. i was manipulated 32 threats,

threats to my life and my family. >> reporter: elizabeth smart crisscrosses the country, speaking and talking to victims about her experience. >> i often think back on the nightmare of my own kidnapping to the very night, even, when i was taken at knifepoint from my bed. >> reporter: 12 years ago when smart was 14 years old, she was abduckedded, raped, and held in captivity for nine months. she's turning her ordeal into a powerful weapon against an exploding criminal enterprise-- human trafficking. training with navy seals to help with rescues, smart is merging her own foundation with operation underground railroad. the group sipts stings with local law enforcement to free children, like this mission in colombia that rescued 29 kids under 18. many are orphaned by war and in order disaster or lured with the promise of modeling and film jobs. what's the common thread, kids

that go through these situations what goes through their heads? >> there are so many feelings of worthlessness, of being devaled, of wondering if life will even be worth continuing to live, and then if you do survive, will people accept you back? >> reporter: at 26, smart says she has conquered that fear of acceptance. while she still has flashbacks when she speaks, she says sharing her story is now liberating. vanita nair, cbs news, new york. >> axelrod: and still ahead, one very ugly fish ready for its close-up.

>> axelrod: bill cosby sold out the house in melbourne, florida, last night, despite a seventh woman who has now come forward alleging cosby sexually

assaulted her. she told a tv station in west palm beach, florida, that cosby drugged and raped her in 1976. cosby before the show told the paper that he "doesn't have to respond to innuendo." he received a standing ovation at the end of his set. m.i.t. has had 60 winners of the nobel prize but never had a football team in the postseason-- not until today, that is. they went 9-0 this year exwabbing their of first-ever spot in the play-offs. they beat husson university out of maine, 27-20 in overtime. now what is believed to be the first video ever taken of one of the world's truly ugly fish swimming at its native death. this is the black sea devil, underwater off the coast of monterey, california. the sea devil is able to swallow creatures even larger than itself and can swim nearly two miles beneath the ocean surface.

hideous. coming up-- is time running out for this historic clock tower?

>> axelrod: we have time for one last story tonight. in new york city, there are a couple of men who wanted to turn back the clock as they spend hours and hours keeping it right on time. time is not just of the essence for marvin schneider. time is his essence. in 1979, schneider was a new york city employee working in what had been the new york life building in lower manhattan. he knew the clock had been abandoned for decades and was in desperate need of repair. >> everything looked dilapidated, and i thought it would reflect very poorly on the city to have this kind of clock not working. >> axelrod: schneider, who loved watches since he was a kid, immersed himself in the study of clocks and watches and

successfully lobbied the city to let him get the clocks back on time. so every week for the past 34 weeks, schneider-- now the official clock master of new york city and his trusty assistant forest merkowitz, have kept the gears greased and used this old-fashioned crank to wind this 19th century clock in lower manhattan, one of only a hand full left of its kind. >> what we're trying to do is to preserve this clock for posterity, so that new yorkers and visitors can appreciate what this is all about. >> axelrod: but marvin and forest are dealing with the distinct possibility that time may notob their side. earlier this year, a developer bought the building and has plans to convert the upper floors into a penthouse, which would block access to the clock's inner working. while landmark status means the clockface couldn't be touched, if marvin and forest can't

maintain the gears and crank the clock, time would be stopped by time marching on. and a treasure might well be lost to manhattan. >> it's almost like salt in a meal. it's not there you notice it. it's there, you tonight on notice it. and i think it clock is similar. you hear a chime pup don't say, gee, there's a clock out there chiming. you just hear the sound and it's a sound you know. >> axelrod: new york's landmark and preservation commission held a hearing last week on the developer's plans. a decision is expected some time soon. and that's all the time we have for the cbs evening news tonight. later on cbs, "48 hours." for now, i'm jim axelrod in new york, and for all of us here at cbs news, thanks for joining us. and good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

her eyes: i was 6 inches away from catching his hood, and i wad him tumble and fall. : a mother's nightmare plays out right in front of her eyes. >> i was 6 inches away from catching his foot. >> tonight, a brave little boy who survived a 21 story fall off a bay area cliff. >> recognize this guy? police say he tried to drag a seven-year-old child into a restroom at a bay area park. he is out there somewhere. >> and getting to the oakland airport just got a whole lot easier right in time for the holiday travel rush. >> kpix5 news is next. ♪ ♪ ♪

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