>> tonight after the ambush. >> present arms. >> new york city honors two fallen police officers, one victim's family calls for calm. the nypd traces the killer's steps to baltimore. don dahler reports. holiday storm watch, rain, wind and snow impacting travel plans from coast-to-coast. eric fisher has the national forecast. juliannea goldman on the diplomatic steps the u.s. is taking to further isolate north korea following the sony hack attack. >> merry christmas. >> and 100 years ago today a bloody world war i battlefield turns into a christmas celebration, and perhaps even a soccer game between enemies.

mark phillips looks back. > captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> good evening. i'm anne marie green. the new york city police department son high alert tonight, one day after an ambush attack that killed two of their officers by a man who came to a city on edge with a mission to kill cops. before opening fire, police say the suspect told witnesses, watch what i'm going to do. he then shot the officers through a car window. the murders took place outside a housing project in brooklyn. don dahler is at the scene tonight. don? >> anne marie, the two officers were sitting in their parked police cruiser along this street. they were working an overtime shift to protect the people who live in that housing project. a newly released video shot from one of those windows shows what happened shortly after ismaaiyl brinsley opened fireance moments

after the officers were shot multiple times, emergency workers desperately tried to save their lives. liu, a seven year veteran had been married only two months. ramos, a father of two, was a former school safety officer who joined the nypd two years ago. ramos' family spoke late this afternoon. >> which would like to thank all those who have shared their sympathy and support for our beloved family member rafael ramos. >> police say the killer, 28-year-old ismaaiyl brinsley acted out of vengence over recent mens of black men during encounters with police. >> they were quite simply assassinated. >> earlier he shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend in baltimore. he posted this photo of his bloody pants. baltimore police took note of his other instagram postings with which included i'm putting wings on pigs today with the hashtag rip eric garner, rip mike brown and shoot the police. he also wrote, this may be my final post. >> cell phone tracking

showed he traveled by bus to new york city. baltimore police called the nypd at 2 p.m. and faxed an alert at 2:45. too late to warn ramos and liu. >> tragically, this was essentially at th same time as our officers were being ambushed and murdered by brinsleyment. >> brinsley had a considerable criminal history with 19 arrests in georgia-- georgia and ohio for robbery, domestic violence and weapons charges. >> condemnation of the murders was immediate including from members of eric garner's family. >> we want you to not use eric garner's name for violence. kuz we are not about that. >> but even as they mournd the loss of two of their own, some members of the nypd also condemn new york city's mayor bill de blasio as being anticop. because they say he's more sympathetic towards protestors than police. last night officers turned their backs on the mayor as he passed by.

today police said brinsley's mother told them he tried to commit suicide last year an may have been on medication for an unspecified mental illness. >> after the shooting, brinsley ran a few streets over to a subway station where police say he committed suicide. anne marie, the new york yankees baseball organization has offered to pay for the educations of officer ramos's two sons. >> all right, don, thank you. >> another police officer was killed overnight in tarpon springs, florida. officer charles kondek was gunned down while responding to a noise complaint. police say they arrested the suspect after he tried to get away in a car but crashed it. kondek was a former member of the nypd. and at least six people have been hospitalized after a lightning strike in tampa. it happened in the parking lot of raymond james stadium just after today's game between the tampa bay buccaneers and the green bay packers. according to the local fire department, all are in stable condition.

heavy rain and extremely high tides called king tides are bringing floods and possibly more mudslides to northern california. mark kelly of our bay area affiliate kpix has the latest. >> big waves in the pas civic ocean pummel the shore in california today. this week continued one of the wettest decembers on record. >> the king tides were likely overwhelm cities like mill valley where forecasters predict the tide will top seven feet. three inches of water has already cent through the local streets. for ashley, the weather here takes some getting used to. >> we moved out here a year ago. and saw no rain for the first month we lived here. so seeing all this rain for the first time was pretty overwhelming. >> reporter: a coastal flood advisory will stay in effect here through tomorrow. for cbs news, mark kelly in mill valley. >> it is the first day of winter, and prechristmas storms are expected to cause problems for holiday

travelers across the country this week. let us bring in chief meteorologist eric fisher from our boston station wbz. how bad is it going to get, eric. >> anne marie, i've been tracking a atmospheric river of moisture doution the northwest moving eastward. the rockies, wasatch over a foot of snow through tonight and into monday. some slick travel there. as we head into monday, some of that energy heads towards the midwest as light rain and snow, tuesday is when things really start to get going. the gulf opens for business, thunderstormses, heavy rains across the southeast lingering into wednesday morning. in terms of severe threat, around the gulf coast, new orleans eastward to the florida panhandle could see tornadoes on tuesday. certainly a lot of heavy rainfall. this is a very warm storm. if you like a white christmas in the east cannot what you want to see. wind and rain. and an upside down system, and rain well up north into canada. but snow on christmas eve not mountains in north carolina. >> eric fisher, thank you. >> wikileaks has struck again this time releasing

what it says is the secret cia handbook on how to get around security systems at international airports. our senior national security analyst juan zarate joins me to talk about this. juan, how dangerous is it that this information has been released. >> anne marie, this is problematic because it obviously reveals cia trade craft and gives america's enemies a road map as to how the cia thinks about these vulnerabilities. but more importantly, it gives terrorists and those who are trying to evade security at airports a road map as well to try to infiltrate and to do harmful things to the traveling public so this si dangerous leak by wikileaks and i would say a very irresponsible leak by that organization. >> is the concern, though, bigger than just the release of this one document? >> absolutely. i think part of the problem here is that this is new information that appears to come from perhaps a news source, perhaps a source within the cia. and if that means that wiki leaks will begin to release

more cia information, that means that there are trade craft, their secrets are now going to be on the internet. >> senior national security analyst juan zarate, thank you. >> thank you. >> president obama says he is reviewing whether to return north korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism as the administration plans a vigorous response to the sony cyberattack. here's julianna goldman. >> well, look. >> in an interview with cnn, president obama said north korea's attack on sony pictures is not an ago of cyberwarfare. >> i think it was an act of cybervand lism, that was very costly, very expensive. we take it very seriously. we will respond proportionally as i said. >> a senior administration official tells cbs news that the appropriate response to a cyberattack is not always a countercybereffort. in addition to bolstering digital defences, the officials said aides are putting together a package of options that includes diplomat eck and economic

measures. the u.s. believes the north koreans are using infrastructure and assets in other countries to stage their cyberattack. the administration has reached out to a number of nations including china for help identifying and disrupting those assets. >> officials are also exploring additional economic sanctions that includes targeting north korea's elite. similar to sanctions imposed in russia where the u.s. has cut off access to cash for those close to president vladimir putin. but republican critics say north korea did commit an act of war and the u.s. should respond in kind. senator lindsey graham. >> they attacked who we are. and when the president calls this an ago of vandalism, that just really bothers me greatly. it is an act of terrorism. >> an administration official said some measures will be loud. others more subtle. but caution it's not their intention to just run up the es you can la tory path because that's not in anyone' interest. >> thank you very much,

julianna. >> a florida state quarterback jammus winston has been cleared of sexual assault charges by a university panel. he was accused in 2012, prosecutesers declined to charge him criminally for lack of evidence. today's decision means will also not face any discipline from the school. >> last minute shoppers were out in force today. did they make it a record weekend for retailers? and muhammad ali hospitalized. the latest on his condition when the "cbs evening news" conditions-- continues.

>> retailers are counting on big sales this weekend, with just three shopping days left before christmas, but with more shoppers than ever waiting until the last minute, did they even make it to the malls? here's mark albert. >> the national retail federation found nearly one in four shoppers waited until deep into the holiday season to finish their shopping this year, hoping for better deals. jesse ferraro is one of them

making a final dash at the sunrise mall on long island. >> some of the things we put off just in case, now they are on sale. >> retailer-- planned their best deal of the season for the final days says manager martine edmond. >> and we pile it high and watch it fly. >> it's likely this weekend will set a record for spending. for the first time, the final saturday before christmas known as supersaturday was poised to be the biggest shopping day of the year, eclipsing black friday by almost a billion dollars says the firm shopper track. retail analyst jordan goodman thinks he knows why. >> more and more people feel that if they wait until the last minute they will save a lot of money and get better deals. to many extents, they're right. >> goodman says some retailers had to scramble this year with labor unrest at west coast ports slowing the delivery of hot items. and traditional retailers face other challenges, with foot traffic down a sharp 14% last year. >> consumers, though, are in a better mood, where confidence at its highest

since 2007. partially due to lower gas prices. one-third of shoppers tell america's research group, they're spending more because of those savings. but they're spending later at a cost to retailers bottom line. >> the retailer profits are going to be relatively lower this year because they have to give such enormous commercial discounts. >> tomorrow nielsen plans to release its updated holiday shopping forecast. it projects a conservative but encouraging sales increase of 1.9% over last year. mark albert, cbs news, new york. >> boxing legend a all syin an undisclosed hospital tonight according to a spokesman. the 72-year-old has a mild cay case of pneumonia but thing pro-- prognosis is good and is expected home soon. he has been living with parkinson's disease for the last 230 years. still ahead, the decline of russia's currency and what it could mean for american investors. -- for the last 30 years.

>> all eyes have been on russia as the country's national currency, the ruble went in an economic freefall so here to discuss just what this might mean forth u.s. economy at cbs news business analyst jill schlesinger. thanks for joining us. what is going on in russia. >> with oil prices down nearly 50% the russian economy which is so dependent on energy has really cratered. add to that western sanctions, and it looks like the russian economy could contract by up to 4.7% next year. it has investors very nervous. they started selling out of their positions and pulling up stakes in russia. >> what about the --an people, are they seeing inflation at this point? >> let me tell you, they have seen this movie before back in 1998. so what they are doing is very quickly trying to convert their rubles into dollars, taking any available are you el its and spending them before inflation kicks in, buying cars, furniture t has been amazing in that arement but things do look dim in russia. >> and how will this affect

us here? >> well, this is really a strange situation. kuz russia only represents 2.7% of the global economy. but there could be a contagion effect. could be other emerging markets that do business with russia. and that could have a spillover. people could get really nervous and just say i'm selling every emerging market. it's not clear that anything terrible like that has happened right now. i think when you add to it that putin is an unreliable person and we don't know how he is going to move forward in this next phase, it's a little nerve-racking. so far it is contained but we're keeping an eye on it. >> jill schlesinger, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> up next, a witness to history. >> when that trial was over, oj called you first. >> he did. >> a legendary trial reporter who covered a half century of notorious cases, when the "cbs evening news" continues.

>> associated press reporter linda deutsch mass covered

some of the most sensational trials of the past years ranging from charles manson to michael jacksonment she's retiring tomorrow. here's her exit interview with danielle nottingham. >> linda deutsch has spent nearly half a century covering several trials of the century. her face and bylines now well-knownment but on her very first day at the associated press. >> i was the only woman. i was replacing the only woman who was leaving to have a baby. the editor on the desk looked up and said oh no, another new one. and that was my welcome to the ap. >> deutsch was just 26 when she was assigned to cover the charles manson murder trial, using the same typewriter she got when she was ten. dozens of high profile cases followed including o.j. simpson which lead to her greatest scoop. >> when that trial was over, oj called you first. >> he did. >> why? >> he would say later that the reason he talked to me was because as he said, she

never said she thought i was innocent, but she never said she thought i was guilty either. >> michael jackson, did he reach out to you? >> he did. michael jackson called me and said he wanted to thank me for being fair. >> deutsch has covered at least 50 major trials. and almost all of them, she says, the jury got it right, with one notable exception. >> i covered the rodney king case. and it almost destroyed my belief in the justice system. the verdict was wrong. there is no question the verdict was wrong. and as a result, my city was almost destroyed. >> upon different scenes from her very first story in journalism, a 19-year-old intern covering the march on washington. >> it was one of the really main water shed events of my life. and after that, you never turned back. never. >> what i wound up being was

a social historian. it's an incredible privilege. and i hope that reporters today realize what a privilege it is. >> dan elle nottingham, cbs news, los angeles. >> coming up, reenacting world war i's christmas tree soccer game, but did it really happen?

>> we close tonight with a story of peace on earth, for a century now people have told the tale of a yuletide cease-fire soccer ghament middle of world war i. the question is, is it a fairy tale? mark phillips takes a look. >> merry christmas. merry christmas. >> the old line about never letting the facts get in the way of a good story could have been invented for the scene. the facts are as slippery as the field. and the story is so good it is still being told even embellished a hundred years later. >> it's the story of the world war i christmas truce

of 1914. when groups of german and british soldiers briefly stopped shooting at each other and met and mingled in the no-man's land between their lines. on the 100th anniversary the encounter has been restaged as one of the places along the old front line in belgium where the truce originally occurred. >> there was this like-mindedness, it's christmas, goodwill. let's just be friends for the day. >> and chris barker whose three great uncles were killed in the war not far from here says the troops should be remembered because it shows a different side to a war more known for wholesale slaughter than humanitarian gesture. >> i think it just shows the good in people that can be there, whereas before and afterwards it was savage. >> it's unclear who stuck their heads up first shall the british or the germans, but before long troops were flooding out of trenches on both sides of the line and moving through the wire into

no-man's land. and boys being boys, pretty soon, a ball appeared. >> the idea is so deeply engrained in the collective memory, it's been made into a feel-good christmas ad for a supermarket chain. there is only one thing wrong with this picture, it is probably not true. a british german soccer game likely never happened. at the imperial war museum in london, historians like alan wakefield say they have combed through the pictures and the diaries and the letters, and found not a single firsthand witness. >> if it happened, and there's very few collaborative accounts, of somebody hearing of a game going on somewhere, so i think something happened but it's probably more of just a big kick around. >> whether or not an actual soccer game took place here, is a matter of historic debate. but it almost doesn't matter. the game has become part of wartime mythology.

if people think it happened, it happened. and there's one other outstanding question, the score. >> we know who won, the war yes, the game know. >> well, actually there are a couple of reports which are uncorroborated but it said it was something like 3-2 to the german. >> merry christmas. >> but again, why let the facts get in the way. >> mark phillips, cbs news, belgium. >> and that is the "cbs evening news" for tonight. i'm anne marie green, in new york. later on cbs, "60 minutes." 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

stay away from the water. ae still haven't seen the peakf these dangerously high tide it's the latest in a stringf mysterious arsons in san francisco.. tonight: the search is on for whoever's running around torching car and could drones help save california we're about to the latest in arsons. tonight the search is on for who ever is going around torching places ning, i'm juliette

goodrich, in for ann notarangelo. i'm brian hackney. the phenomenon is called a tide. for the next two days, we'll experience extrs -- very high high becareful around the coast. >> the