>> axelrod: the democrats face off in their final debate of the year, but it's a computer breach taking center stage. the snow shuffles in to buffalo, finally, but no one's smiling at the weather out west. a hero's sacrifice: a high school football player dies in a shooting, shielding others with his body. and author mitch albom on the failure behind his grand-scale success. >> the effort that i put in, to achieve what i've been able to do in the world of writing, is a direct result of my failure. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening. i'm jim axelrod. and this is the western edition of the broadcast. with the first votes now set to be cast in a little more than six weeks, the democratic candidates for president are

getting ready for their third debate. hillary clinton and bernie sanders will take the stage tonight in manchester, new hampshire, but the campaigns have been battling each other all day. clinton aides accused sanders' staffers of stealing information about their strategy during a data breach. the democratic national committee punished sanders by cutting off access to its database for two days. julianna goldman is in manchester to sort it all out. >> reporter: with one side charging theft and the other alleging favoritism, both campaigns set the stage for what could be a fiery debate. >> obviously, it was totally unethical to steal our data. >> reporter: clinton campaign manager robby mook said they still don't know if the sanders campaign kept the voter data they accessed earlier this week. >> they've now agreed to have an independent audit to make sure they no longer have any of our data and provide a full explanation of what their staff did. >> reporter: sanders' campaign manager jeff weaver focused his fire on the d.n.c. for temporarily cutting them off

from their own voter files. >> the decision of the d.n.c. chairwoman to issue a death penalty to the sanders campaign is a real concern. >> reporter: he says they fired one staffer, and there could be others. >> there is no data we are aware of, that is in the possession of our campaign or the possession of any of our staffers. >> reporter: sanders and fellow democratic candidate martin o'malley have long argued the d.n.c. has favored clinton, by scheduling only a handful of debates, and at times of low viewership. but until this latest controversy, the democratic race has largely remained civil. like during the first debate, when sanders gave clinton a pass on her use of a private e-mail server while secretary of state. >> the american people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. >> thank you. me, too. me, too. >> reporter: the question is, will clinton return the favor tonight? >> we hope that this will be a debate about the issues. i don't think middle-class families are sitting in their living rooms wondering about what data bernie sanders stole.

>> reporter: in the wake of the paris and san bernardino attacks, we still expect the major focus tonight to be on national security. bernie sanders was criticized for avoiding this issue at the last debate. he now says he looks forward to discussing it. and, jim, hillary clinton has been emphasizing her national security credentials more and more on the stump. >> axelrod: julianna goldman on the campaign trail in new hampshire. thank you. john dickerson is cbs news political director and moderator of "face the nation." he joins us from washington. okay, john, six weeks and two days until the iowa caucuses. what kind of degree of difficulty does this data breach controversy present bernie sanders? >> reporter: well, bernie sanders already had a challenge going into the debate tonight, which is that he needed a keep a sharp line on the definition between his campaign and hillary clinton's, really get his message across. this puts a huge obstacle in front of him, not just because it's an unforced error but also because hillary clinton, who had nothing to do with it, is able to play the aggrieved party,

which brings sympathy to her as well. so sanders has to get around all of that, before he can get back to the central task which is drawing a distinction with hillary clinton. >> axelrod: let's turn to the g publicans. tomorrow morning you will have marco rubio on "face the nation." you had a chance to interview him. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> reporter: so when voters are making their decision on this, should they be thinking about "what does ted cruz think about immigration?" or should they be making a larger question, "is ted cruz being honest with me?" >> well, i think when you spend your whole time telling people you're a clear talker, and you say what you mean, and everyone else is a sellout but you're the only purist, i think it's fair to say, "hold on a second. here is where you have been in past on some issues, and here is where you are now." the truth is, everyone running on the republican side supports strong, conservative positions. we have some differences on some issues and we should discuss those. >> axelrod: we're seeing this uptick in intensity between rubio and cruz. what's going on there? >> that escalated quickly. it's getting very tense between the two of them, in part because the dates are drawing near, when people are actually going to do the voting. what's interesting about that

clip is marco rubio is saying they have more than just a discrepancy on their records on immigration. what he's saying essentially is, that ted cruz is not trustworthy and this is a larger claim he's making about whether he tells the truth about what he believed in the past. once you go to that, then you're really in serious territory. >> axelrod: john dickerson, moderator of "face the nation." thank you. and you can see more of john's interviews with marco rubio and jeb bush tomorrow morning on "face the nation." in san bernardino, california, the family of the husband and wife who killed 14 people at a holiday party, began clearing out the couple's home. syed farook's mother removed valuables from his town home in redlands, california. last night, president obama stopped in san bernardino en route to his holiday vacation in hawaii, to meet with the families of victims. carter evans reports. >> reporter: during his brief visit to san bernardino friday night, president obama and the

first lady met with each of the families of the 14 people killed in the december 2 massacre. >> despite the pain and the heartache that they're feeling, they could not have been more inspiring. >> reporter: among those, mandy pifer, whose boyfriend, shannon johnson, died while protecting others. >> i mean, it was a very intimate meeting. it wasn't just, "sorry for your loss. we're out of here." they were there for over two hours. >> reporter: more than two weeks after the attack, southern california remains on edge. ( screaming ) >> reporter: there was panic at an orange county mall last night when, during a fight between two teenagers, someone heard a loud noise and mistakenly thought it was a gunshot. extra officers are visible at los angeles international airport and security is very much on the minds of travelers like ari slauson. >> you think about what's going to happen next and where is it going to be, and there are so many people at airports right now, you never know. it's pretty scary. >> reporter: on friday, hundreds of l.a. law enforcement officers practiced responding to a paris-

style terror strike that targets several locations. l.a.p.d. chief charlie beck: >> all of us are constantly in fear and preparation for the day when we have to protect this city against multiple attacks. >> reporter: still, after meeting with the victims and first responders in san bernardino, the president made a plea for some perspective. >> even as we are vigilant about preventing terrorist attacks from happening, we have to remind ourselves of the overwhelming good that exists out there. >> reporter: carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> axelrod: winter doesn't officially begin until tuesday, but winter weather is already a problem on both sides of the country. heavy rain is falling along much of the pacific coast, causing mudslides as far south as the hollywood hills. and as marlie hall reports, snow is finally falling in parts of lye northeast where they've been waiting for it. >> reporter: nearly two feet of lake-effect snow blanketed

upstate new york. in the town of constableville, 24 inches and counting. in buffalo, a city known for snow, the wait for winter is over. the area hasn't seen measurable snowfall this late in the season for more than 100 years. the national weather service says up to a foot of snow could fall there before the weekend is over. >> i can't feel my toes. >> reporter: in northwestern washington state, the snow took many by surprise, including the state patrol. >> we just have a lot of snow out here on the roads and we have to turn everybody around. >> reporter: bad news for skiers stuck behind road closures trying to get to the slopes, and cause for celebration for those who made it. >> it's great, yeah, it's really nice. >> reporter: but in florence, oregon, landslides turned deadly. a 70-year-old woman was killed friday when a flood of dirt, trees, and debris hit her home. in nearby newport, landslides damaged several more homes after a hillside gave way.

fire chief robert murphy says crews rushed to evacuate residents. >> this is one of the more significant ones that we've had in newport that i can remember. >> reporter: rain and snow could cause delays for christmas travelers both on the roads and in the air, including both coasts. but for places in the northeast, temperatures will return to the 60s, and it could be one of the warmest christmases on record. jim? >> axelrod: marlie hall, thank you. extreme heat is fueling an epidemic of wildfires in australia. as jonathan vigliotti reports, nearly every part of that country is affected. >> reporter: the flames swallowed farmland and shut down the main road between melbourne and sydney. >> i just had to back out and get out of there as quick as i could. >> reporter: the fires raced through grass lands, destroying buildings, leaves thousands without power. entire neighborhoods were evacuated. >> i didn't know what to take, so we had to leave everything, pretty much, and just get ourselves and the animals out.

>> reporter: the country is in the middle of a four-day record heat wave with temperatures reaching 104 degrees. hundreds have been hospitalized due to the excessive heat. australian officials say lightning, combined with dry conditions and strong winds, sparked more than 300 separate wildfires in the state of victoria on saturday. 200 fire crews have been working day and night, supported by more than 50 aircraft. rain and cooler temperatures on sunday are expected to help, but authorities warned the danger is far from over. jonathan vigliotti, cbs news, london. >> axelrod: defense secretary ash carter says friday's airstrike by u.s. forces that killed a number of iraqi soldiers was "a mistake." the incident occurred near the city of fallujah, west of baghdad. iraq's defense minister said nine soldiers and an officer were killed. this is the last saturday before christmas, known, of course, as "super saturday" in some retail

circles, because of its recent history of outperforming black friday by a wide margin. meg oliver now, on who gets the bigger benefit, shoppers or shop owners? >> reporter: two purses, perfume and a few kitchen gadgets later, frank destra says it pays to procrastinate. did you find better deals? >> today i probably saved 500 bucks. >> reporter: frank is not alone. it's estimated 75% of americans are not finished shopping for christmas yet. >> i still have more to do. >> reporter: how many more presents do you have to buy? >> six or seven. >> reporter: deep discounts drive many to wait until the last minute, like jenny markham. >> this sweater, i wasn't going to buy because its expensive, and i came thinking, i'm going to buy it and it was actually discounted by half. so, yes, in this case it was probably worth doing. >> reporter: 80% of americans are looking for at least 60% off or more, nothing less. research analyst dana telsey says savvy shoppers will find those impressive bargains this year. >> i think overall, retailers have definitely trained

consumers that the longer they wait, the deeper the discount may be. this year in the apparel category, there is a lot of inventory and you can see discounts of 40% to 60%, and as we get closer to christmas day, outerwear, seasonal goods, we're going to see those big discounts. >> reporter: compared to last year, shopping at malls is down 20%, leaving retailers to count on this weekend to make up for lost sales. >> this weekend is very important, but i don't see malls on life support. you have occupancy rates that still remain quite high. you have retailers whose balance sheets are very strong. we need more traffic, but overall, when consumers are going, they're spending more this year than last year. >> reporter: they do a lot of that buying here at target. it tends to be one of the busiest stores the weekend before christmas. jim, one retail expert told us that more americans this year plan to wrap up their christmas shopping just before christmas eve. that would be the latest in 12 years. >> axelrod: meg oliver, six days before christmas. thank you. still ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, an n.b.a. star

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shielded from bullets have called the high school football standout a hero. >> if not for zaevion, we would probably have been shot. >> i have a military background. that's the action of heroes. >> reporter: david roush is knockville's police chief. he said zaevion was caught in the cross-fire of rival gangs. roush says one of the gang members who shot at zaevion was brandon perry. a group of men shot at brandon perry's home, and brandon perry went to retaliate, and in retaliating he shot this football star. >> that's absolutely correct. that's exactly what we know at this point. >> reporter: the chief said perry ended up being shot and killed by a rival gang, less than three hours after he shot at zaevion. this weekend at a candlelight vigil, classmates honored the sophomore, who grew up in a high-crime area of knoxville and became the football player with star potential. rob black was his coach: >> a great kid. a guy that, you know, worked harder than anybody, it seemed like, and a guy that made the right choices.

and that gave him a chance, you know, to be successful. and he is a success story. >> reporter: as zaevion's family and his football team prepare to bury him the day after christmas, knoxville police are still actively looking for three more gang members they say are suspects. that's because police believe, in total, five gang members all fired randomly at zaevion and the teenagers who were around him. jim, those three young girls who zaevion shielded were not hurt. >> axelrod: david begnaud with heartbreak in knoxville. thank you. up next: an epic battle. celebrating a film that's an unstoppable force at the box office. unstoppable force at the box office. new robitussin 12 hour delivers fast, powerful cough relief that lasts up to twelve hours. new robitussin 12 hour cough relief. because it's never just a cough. ♪ antlers on reindeer, gifts tied with laces ♪ ♪ polar bear noses, colorful faces ♪ ♪ candy canes wrapped up to the top, ♪

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so look for powerful cold medicine with a heart. coricidin® hbp. >> axelrod: christmas came early for a professional basketball player iman shumpert of t >> axelrod: christmas came early for professional basketball player iman shumpert of the cleveland cavaliers. >> axelrod: his fiance gave birth to a healthy baby girl, at home. >> axelrod: shumpert caught the child in his hands, and later called it an assist he will never forget. moviegoers are out in full force for the new "star wars" movie. heading into its first weekend, it has grossed more than a quarter-billion dollars at the global box office.

but for some fans, just watching the movie is not enough. this scene from san francisco where thousands gathered, attempting to set the record for the world's biggest lightsaber battle. no word yet if they did or did not. there is, of course, no try. mongolia is getting a piece of its history back. this skull from a tyrannosaurus bataar was poached in 2006, and later sold to actor nicolas cage for more than $230,000. this week, the u.s. government ordered it to be sent back. cage was apparently unaware the skull had been poached. a man dedicated to the healing power of music has died. ♪ ♪ as director of the new york philharmonic, kurt masur led a moving performance shortly after 9/11. as director of leipzig's orchestra during the collapse of east germany, he organized peace talks at his concert hall.

kurt masur was 88 years old. still ahead, author mitch albom. how failure changed his tune, and helped him write the book on success.

>> axelrod: when you've sold 35 million books, you're not used to talking about failure. author mitch albom is out with a new book, and another deep dive into some of life's most important lessons. this time: the capacity we have to touch another with our

talents, once we figure out what they are. like most good lessons, it's one the writer himself learned the hard way. before "tuesdays with morrie" became one of the best-selling memoirs of all time, and "the five people you meet in heaven" sold 10 million copies in 35 different languages, mitch albom's dreams had nothing to do with writing. >> i was a musician when i began, and i always wanted to be a musician. i thought that's where my talent lay, really. i never wrote anything. >> axelrod: the piano player moved to new york, booked any joint he could while he knocked on record companies' doors, and got them all slammed in his face. was it painful that it didn't happen? >> yeah, it was the first time in my life that all the lights hadn't turned green. >> reporter: failure became fuel. in large part, your trajectory was set by failure. >> yeah. the effort that i put in, to achieve what i've been able to

do in the world of writing, is a direct result of my failure. it took a long time before music wasn't a wound for me. time has healed that, and i can take joy in music again. >> axelrod: the result is his latest book, "the magic strings of frankie presto." >> i created this amazing character called frankie presto, who is so pure in his musical talent, that his guitar strings actually turned blue when he changes somebody else's life, and he gets six chances in life to sort of change six lives with his strings. >> axelrod: the message of frankie presto, this book, is what? >> there's a line that repeats itself often in the book. "everyone joins a band in life. only some of them play music." and that's the truth. you know, we all affect one another. >> axelrod: it's as much a project, as a book. the companion cd album gets real-life musicians to offer their takes on frankie's fictional songs.

>> every time he hit a note, his heart was breaking. >> frankie had a hit song career. he had a number of hits that i invented. i came up with the name. i came up with some lyrics. ♪ baby, i need you like a heart needs a soul. ♪ rt these artists, mat kearney, ingrid michaelson, they took the y me, the lyrics, and the year the song was supposed to come out, and they made a song. essentially, they remade songs that never existed. ♪ is there a chance that some day ♪ >> axelrod: among those playing on the cd, the author and his wife. finally, albom has an album. you can die happy. >> i was already going to die happy, but i can die happier, and with a soundtrack now. >> axelrod: author mitch albom. and that's the cbs evening news. i'm jim axelrod. for all of us here at cbs news good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

out what happened. a young man found dead in a frat house. tonight, police in berkeley are trying to figure out what happened. >> a speeding suv plunges into the oakland estuary and a good samaritan doesn't think twenty eight about diving in to try to help. >> and the bay area is really getting into the spirit of the season, football season. we are now just 50 days away from super bowl 50. >> kpix 5 news is next. ,,,,,,,,

live, from the cbs bay area studios. this is kpix 5 news. tonight, a cal frat house looks more like a crime scene after