around the clock, dead set on saving this house that has been here since 1959. scott, some of this floodwater could reach memphis by friday. >> david, thank you very much. ben tracy is reporting much of this crazy weather is being driven by the warming pacific current known as el niño. >> reporter: el niño has already hit california's mountains. the latest snowpack survey found five feet of snow in the sierras, a welcome sight after four years of drought. southern california is now bracing for a series of storms.

josh rubenstein is a meteorologist at kcbs in los angeles. >> we're looking at about an inch to two inches of rain in the l.a. basin, and right on its heels, here's that third system that's moving in on wednesday. the rain from that could linger all the way into friday. >> reporter: el niño is an intense warming of the pacific ocean near the equator that changes weather patterns around the world. this is one of the largest on record. in glendora, california, eric erby was stocking up on sandbags. >> it could happen any time anywhere. it depends on how much. either way, i'll make sure i'm prepared. >> reporter: los angeles is designed to prevent flooding, which is why the los angeles river is encased in all of this concrete. it may look like a pathetic little stream tonight, but, scott, later this week you could have ten to 20 feet of water filling this channel. >> ben tracy, thanks. well, it was a wave of worry that swept world financial markets today after stocks in china plunged.

the dow was down as much as 467 points, but it recovered, ending with a loss of 276 or 1.6%. it is the worst start to a year since the great recession. the markets were also rattled by saudi arabia and iran. the two are rivals because the saudis represent the sunni branch of islam and iran is home to the shiite branch. over the weekend, the saudis executed a shiite cleric. after a furious iranian reaction, countries in the gulf are choosing sides. here's holly williams. >> reporter: in iran today, angry protesters denounced saudi arabia's execution of the shiite muslim cleric nimr al-nimr. his death has opened a 1,400- year-old wound, enflaming tensions between sunni and shiite muslims. in the sunni-led kingdom of

saudi arabia, al-nimr dared to demand equality for shiites and was shot and then arrested in 2012. it was in shiite-dominated iran that saudi arabia's embassy was ransacked and burned on saturday. around 40 people were later arrested, but iran made its feelings clear by renaming this street in honor of the executed cleric. saudi arabia and iran are already fighting two deadly proxy wars against each other in syria and yemen, taking sides along religious lines. now there are fears that al nimr's execution will fuel even more violence in the middle east. shiite muslims also clashed with police in bahrain. they used tear gas and rubber bullets against the protesters. blaming iran for the escalation, saudi arabia has severed diplomatic ties with tehran.

its ally, bahrain, has followed suit, while the united arab emirates has recalled its ambassador. with many countries in the middle east already torn apart by religious differences, these tensions could destabilize the region even more, especially, scott, if saudi arabia and iran try to use those religious divisions to further their own interests. >> holly williams reporting for us tonight in istanbul. holly, thank you. is man creating earthquakes in oklahoma? and they've discovered the wreck of "el faro," the worst u.s. and they've discovered the wreck of "el faro," the worst u.s. maritime disaster in 30 years. oh no... (under his breath) hey man! hey peter. (unenthusiastic) oh... ha ha ha! joanne? is that you? it's me... you don't look a day over 70. am i right? jingle jingle. if you're peter pan, you stay young forever.

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after a swarm of small earthquakes in oklahoma, the state has ordered oil drillers today to reduce the amount of wastewater they inject into the ground during a process known as "fracking." here's mark strassmann. >> reporter: oklahoma, not california, is now america's earthquake capital. >> who do you call if you feel an earthquake? >> reporter: until 2008, the state averaged one or two a year. now it's almost three a day. >> it was a big boom. and everything started shaking.

>> reporter: including you? >> including me. >> reporter: a 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit crescent, oklahoma, last july. grocery clerk lois gillette hugged a coworker. >> i thought i was going to fall. there was a lot of stuff fell off the shelves. >> reporter: oklahoma keeps breaking records for earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher. more than 900 last year alone. but why? most geologists connect the spike in earthquakes to the state's oil and gas industry and its disposal of massive amounts of water into underground caverns. geologist todd halihan teaches at oklahoma state. >> unfortunately there is a side effect and now we are generating seismicity due to the injection wells, they're startling when you feel them, and there are now a lot of people experiencing them on a pretty broad scale. >> reporter: lois gillette isn't taking sides. >> i don't know if it's manmade.

i don't have any idea. >> reporter: you would just like it to stop? >> i want it to stop. please. >> reporter: one geologist we talked to said no question something has reactivated fault lines here, fault lines that had been dormant for 300 million years. >> mark strassmann, thanks. and we'll be right back.

today the national transportation safety board said that it may press for more evidence in the sinking of the american cargo ship "el faro," lost this past october in hurricane joaquin. all 33 crew were killed. recently on assignment with "60 minutes," we sailed with the ntsb's investigator, tom roth-roffy as "el faro" was discovered 15,000 feet under the atlantic. this is where "el faro" came to rest, upright, hull largely intact, her name mangled on the stern. her depth markings reported that this, the bow, had sunk 15 feet into the mud. her autopsy revealed a body that had been savagely beaten, steel crushed, equipment collapsed. there was no sign of the 33 crew members. equipment and cargo litter the seabed.

that's a microwave oven, and on the right, that's a printer. here is the top of a car with a sunroof, part of the cargo. >> at the top of that white line there is the most surprising part of our video surveys. there's nothing above there. >> what should be there? >> there should be two decks above that. the lower navigation bridge deck and the bridge deck. >> the two top decks had sheered off, including the bridge, where captain davidson would have been fighting the storm. they were nowhere near the ship. also missing, the voyage data recorder, like a so-called black box on an airplane. the safety board says it may search again for that data recorder, which would have captured conversations on the bridge. our final story coming up next. [music]

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the government says we need 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. dr. jon lapook has one way to get it. >> reporter: this is considered vigorous? >> right. >> reporter: dr. carol ewing garber teaches the science of exercise at columbia's teachers college. how many calories a minute do you burn procrastinating? because i'm really good at that. >> i don't think you burn too many at all. >> reporter: for those who get tired just thinking about strenuous exercise without rest, there's a fitness approach called high intensity interval training or h.i.t. short bursts of high intensity exertion, say a minute or two of running as fast as you can,

followed by a slow period of recovery, maybe a slow jog for a few minutes. >> so i'll row for 100 meters. so that's a short row. it will be high intensity. i'm going to try to bring the power up. >> reporter: h.i.t. is the mantra at orange theory fitness where eddie diaz is a coach. >> this will be a recovery period here. get those nice deep breaths in, and after you're done with your ten seconds, you get back the work. >> reporter: the h.i.t. regimen varies from place the place. here the goal is to work out in what they call the orange zone, at a high intensity level for 12 to 20 minutes of an hour-long class. >> i felt completely out of shape. >> reporter: 36-year-old shelly ramsammy has asthma and used to be afraid of vigorous exertion. she tolerated the interval training well and last summer she had added incentive. >> i was trying to get fit for a trip. i'm going to be in a bikini. i have to get fit. >> reporter: after building up slowly, exercise experts recommend, she now runs

twice as fast as before. research shows high-intensity training stimulates the muscles to burn fat and sugar more effectively. why is it hot now? >> i think because research has been showing that it can be pretty powerful in improving people's risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. >> reporter: powerful, too, in getting some people off the couch. because at the end of the day, exercise works best if you actually do it. dr. jon lapook, cbs news, new york. that's the "overnight news" for this tuesday. for some of you, the news will continue. for others, check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome to the "overnight news." i'm elaine quijano. president obama fired the opening shot in the latest battle over gun control. he met with attorney general loretta lynch and fbi director james comey to come up with a strategy to reign in gun violence. the president plans a series of executive actions to make it more difficult for some people to purchase weapons. and he'll do it without going through congress. >> we have tens of thousands of people every single year who are killed by guns. we have suicides that are committed by firearms at a rate that far exceeds other

countries. we have a frequency of mass shootings that far exceeds other countries in frequency. and although it is my strong belief that for us to get our complete arms around the problem, congress needs to act. what i asked my team to do is see what more we could do to strengthen our enforcement and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands, to make sure that criminals and people who are mentally unstable, those who could pose a danger to themselves or others are less likely to get a gun. and i have just received back a report from attorney general lynch, director comey, as well as deputy director brandon, about some of the ideas and initiatives they think could make a difference. and the good news is, these are

not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority, and the executive branch, but they're also ones that the overwhelming majority of the american people, including gun owners, support and believe. so over the next several days, we'll be rolling out these initiatives. we'll be making sure that people have a very clear understanding of what can make a difference and what we can do. and although we have to be very clear this is not going to solve every violent crime in this country, it's not going to prevent every mass shooting, it's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of criminals, it will potentially save lives in this country. and spare families the pain and the extraordinary loss that they've suffered as a consequence of a firearm being in the hands of the wrong

people. i'm also confident that the recommendations that are being made by my team here are ones that are entirely consistent with the second amendment, and people's lawful right to bear arms. >> reporter: already it has a lot of people on capitol hill fired up. jan crawford reports. >> reporter: the president is going to be holding a series of events, then he's going to sign those executive actions he hopes will help curb some of this gun violence. but before we know the details, opponents are sharpening their attacks. >> my new year's resolution is to move forward on our unfinished business. >> reporter: president obama teased this latest round of executive actions over the weekend. >> we know we can't stop every act of violence. but what if we tried to stop even one? >> reporter: he signalled a november last month in an interview with norah o'donnell, after 14 people were killed in san bernardino by terrorists using legally purchased

firearms. >> there's some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently. >> reporter: nearly three years after the president side stepped congress with 23 executive actions on gun control, advocates are urging him to do more. the white house is now considering several steps to clarify existing laws, forcing more gun sellers to conduct background checks on potential buyers, and makes it more difficult for convicted domestic abusers to acquire firearms. democratic candidates for president were quick to praise the president's upcoming action. >> most gun owners in this country understand that people who should not own guns should not be able to buy them. >> what if it's republican that walks into the white house? within the first day, the executive orders will be reversed. >> reporter: the republicans immediately objected. >> on my first day behind that desk, those orders are gone.

>> the new president comes in, boom, first hour, first minute, you can rescind that. >> reporter: and they attacked the president for going around congress. >> this top-down driven approach doesn't create freedom or safety, it doesn't create security. >> reporter: now with all these legal questions swirling around whether the president even has the authority to do this, to do an end-run around congress, one thing is almost certain, this all is probably going to end up in court. in the wilds of oregon, a group of self-styled militiamen continue to occupy several buildings in a federal wildlife refuge. the group calls itself citizens for constitutional freedom. members are apparently armed and are protesting the way the government runs federal lands. there's no visible law enforcement presence in the area, and the fbi insists it's seeking a peaceful resolution. john blackstone reports. >> reporter: while the american

flag is draped over the sign here, that's the protester's signal that they are in charge here, they're calling on supporters from across the country to come and join them here. they say they'll stay here as long as it takes, until their demands are met. at the occupied compound, protesters are setting up camp and settling in for the long haul. ammon bundy is leading the occupation. he says they're fighting back against the government's expansion of the over 100-year-old federal wildlife refuge at the expense of local ranchers. >> this refuge here is rightfully owned by the people, and we intend to use it. >> reporter: back in 2014, bundy's father, cliven, was embroiled in a dispute with federal officials over grazing rights on federal land. that escalated into an armed confrontation. this group says up camp saturday after a march in a nearby town in support of two ranchers.

dwight hammond and his son steven were convicted of setting fires on federal land in 2001 and served jail time. they say it wasn't arson, but controlled burns to protect their property. in october, a judge added four more years to their sentence. 73-year-old hammond says this could be a death sentence for him. >> this makes it over for me. it just seems like a little overreach for having burned 127 acres. >> reporter: in a statement, the hammond's attorney reports they're not associated with bundy's group, saying -- >> reporter: but protesters say they plan to stay put until all local ranchers reclaim land they allege was stolen by the u.s. government years ago. >> we'll be here as long as it takes, and being as gentle as possible. but this is important. >> reporter: here outside the compound, armed guards are

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the ntsb has released underwater video of what's left of the cargo ship "el faro." it took on water and sank in a hurricane last october. the "el faro" sits in water deeper than the "titanic" in the heart of the bermuda triangle. all 33 crew members were lost at sea. the worst american shipping disaster in 35 years. the exact cause of the wreck remains a mystery. scott pelley has the story for "60 minutes." >> reporter: september 29th, "el faro" left jacksonville, florida. captain michael davidson, who had a long career, intended to steer 65 miles south of the storm's predicted path.

even in a hurricane, the ship could likely survive by using its turbine engine to keep the bow pointed directly into the waves. a ship's most survivable angle. but in 18 hours, joaquin spun into a category 3 and slid southwest toward "el faro." david made an emergency call to the ship's owner, tote maritime. what do we know from the captain's last report? >> we know that he had lost propulsion, that the engineers were unable to restart the main engine. the vessel was listing about 15 degrees and one of the hatches had popped or come open. >> reporter: he was taking on watter? >> correct. >> reporter: if the ship lost power as the captain reported, you would expect her to turn sideway to the waves, and that is her most vulnerable position? >> that's correct. >> reporter: the ship was

approximately here, miles from the eye of the storm. the forecast predicted gusts of 150 miles an hour, and seas of 30 feet. three weeks later, apache arrived in a search area of 198 scale miles. charles kapeka towed a side scan sonar for five days, when he spotted something you don't see in nature, a right angle. >> it's very straight with a shadow. at this point i'm calling over saying i think there's something coming up you want to seechlt>> reporter: as the sonar scan unfurled, the sound waves reflected the shape of a shift, about 800 feet long. >> at that point, we talked to the ntsb and said we believe we have found it. we then put our curve in the water and did a survey of the hull with moving and still photography. >> reporter: the cable

controlled underwater recovery vehicle can reach 20,000 feet. and these are the cameras? >> correct. so here's a pan and tilt camera. you have some lights right here. >> reporter: there is zero light at 15,000 feet. >> correct. >> reporter: total utter darkness. so any light you have, you have to bring with you. >> absolutely. >> reporter: apache dropped down 15,500 feet, nearly 3 miles. the pressure is more than 3 tons per square inch. flurries of tiny marine life drift by, by fish are rare in the impenetrable darkness. this is from "el faro" came to rest, upright, hull largely in tact. her name mangled on the stern. her depth markings reported that this, the bow, had sunk 15 feet into the mud. her autopsy revealed a body that had been savagely beaten.

steel crushed. equipment collapsed. there was no sign of the 33 crew members. equipment and cargo litter the seabed. that's a microwave oven. on the right, that's a printer. here is the top of a car with a sunroof. part of the cargo. what do we see there? >> that is a liquid storage container. you can see that it's kind of compressed, kind of imploded by the pressure of the sea. >> reporter: of its 400 cargo containers, only two remain on deck. and toward the stern, in the structure called the house where the crew lived and work, he discovered the most chilling evidence of the power of an unforgiving sea. >> at the top of that white line there is the most surprising part of our video survey. there's nothing above there. >> reporter: what should be there? >> there should be two decks

above that. the lower navigation bridge deck and the bridge deck. >> reporter: the two top decks had sheered off, including the ridge where captain davidson would have been fighting the storm. they were nowhere near the ship. also missing, the voyage data recorder, like a so-called black box on an airplane. it had been bolted to the top of the bridge and was the one piece he wanted most. >> because it would have told us what the crew was experiencing at the time in the minutes before the vessel sank, what they observed, the extent of the flooding, how they are responding. essentially the events leading up to the actual catastrophe. >> reporter: i'm curious. when you first saw the video of the ship, what did you think? >> we're looking, of course, for the bridge, and the voyage data recorder. we got up to that level and to see just openness was extremely

moving and difficult to -- it was a very big surprise to see that. >> reporter: moving in what way? >> just to see the violence of the sea and winds that would have had to have occurred to cause that kind of -- i'm sorry. to cause that kind of an event. >> reporter: because certainly there would have been people on the bridge. >> yes. >> reporter: when that happened. >> yes, quite certainly. and the shock and surprise to them, as waves and whatnot, and they're just washed into the ocean. >> reporter: when you found out the news, how did you tell your son and daughter? >> how do you say anything to your kids? >> reporter: jeremy reed left behind two children, 13 and 22, and his wife, tina.

>> and that was hard, because i guess i was in denial. i thought we had to tell my kids that it wasn't looking good for daddy's ship, and that was terrible. it was like my chest collapsing and i couldn't breathe. >> reporter: deb roberts lost her son, michael hohaelyou have where responsibility lies in this? >> i'm not a professional, i'm not an engineer. i'm a business manager. i think it was a series of unfortunate events, and without any other information, i truly blame it on hurricane joaquin. >> reporter: glenn, in your estimation, where does the responsibility for this lie? >> squarely on tote maritime. you've got to understand, commercial shipping, they've got to keep that ship moving to make money. that's the whole horror of this

tragedy. 33 people died so that frozen chickens could be delivered on time in puerto rico. that's it. >> reporter: the safety board told us that tote maritime, the owner, is cooperating fully. tote declined to talk to us, other than to say it created a fund for the families and that "el faro" was regularly maintained. the ship had past two inspections. a week after we left, the two bridge decks were located about a half mile from the ship. the windows were blown out. the voyage data recorder was not there. but based on the captain's last message, investigators have a lead on the loss of propulsion. >> i believe we have an understanding that it was actually the main turbine, the steam turbine, that was lost. >> reporter: one theory is in violent seas, the propeller

might have been thrust out of the water, causing it to spin too fast and shut down the turbine. the captain sailed into this hurricane, we know that much, but what we don't know is why. >> so we're looking at the oversight and the direction, the advice provided by the operating company, tote, to see what information was available to him. certainly also we're looking at the weather forecast. the accuracy and the timeliness of the information when he made his decision to sail where he did. >> reporter: to your knowledge was he receiving orders from the company to press on? >> no. from what we've identified so far in the information that we've reviewed, there has been no direct guidance by the company to sail on the route he chose. >> you can see scott's full report on our

♪

(cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there. are you taking a zumba class? boy now, you've probably seen a lot of christmas trees out on the curb waiting to be picked up by sanitation. steve hartman checked back in on the ugliest christmas tree he's ever seen to find out what's become of it. >> reporter: we returned to redding, pennsylvania to investigate reports that the world's ugliest christmas tree has been immortalized. you may remember back in 2014 it

was all the rage. and i do mean rage. >> i think charlie brown has a better tree than we do. >> everybody who brought this tree here should get fired. >> reporter: the tree is so ugly, the city decided to take it down before christmas. workers removed the lights and the pretzel of bethlehem and made arrangements to bring in a new strew. francis acosta told me this was like that tree in the charlie brown story. although the lesson had obviously eluded him. who was the moral of that story? >> being together. >> reporter: what did they do with the tree at the end? >> save it, embrace it. but it's not about charlie brown or not charlie brown tree, it's about a beautiful christmas tree for the city. >> reporter: they really were going to get rid of it. until the phones started ringing off the hook at city hall.

public opinion changed. and the mayor issued a stay of re-execution, if you will. >> we will keep this thing here. >> reporter: and that was the end of the story. or so i thought. >> i said we're going to do something with it. >> reporter: luke was on the crew that was supposed to mulch this tree after the holidays. but he didn't. >> i thought there was no way we were going to run it through a chipper. >> reporter: so luke turned that pull try pine into a piece of art. a bench as quirky as the tree it came from. today, it sits in city hall. a reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. and ugly, nothing more than attitude. steve hartman, on the road, in redding, pennsylvania. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

"star wars" continues to conquer the movie universe. for the third straight weekend, the film was number one at the box office. it's already the second highest grossing domestic movie of all-time. worldwide records will likely fall when "the force" opens in china. vlad dutiers reports. >> you might need this. >> i think i can handle myself. >> reporter: since the latest chapter the "star wars" franchise hit theaters three weeks ago, it's attracted enough moviegoers to sink the "titanic" and pass "jurassic world."

now it's climbing toward the top spot of the north american box office. >> shut up and fly straight. >> reporter: surpassing "avatar" as the biggest grossing domestic film of all time. >> when "star wars" passes "avatar," it will be the first time in 18 years that a james cameron film is not the top of the highest grossing film list. >> reporter: it's that star power that helped make 2015 hollywood's biggest year yet, pushing it past $11 billion in domestic sales for the first time. more than 20% of that came from the top five movies, as the film industry battles competitors like netflix and on demand cable. >> there is concern that so much of the money was in the so few of the big movies. i think as long as those smaller movies are still making money, i'm not as concerned about the top heavy nature of the industry overall. just because i think those big

films just overperformed. >> reporter: the top ten highest box offices of all time include 1999's "the phantom menace" and the original "star wars." a phenomena even critics of "the force awakens" can't deny. >> it's destined to be a hit. >> reporter: whether the latest installment will take the global record remains to be seen. >> it's not showing "avatar" legs, it's making so much money, who cares? >> reporter: what is clear -- >> may the force be with you always. >> reporter: -- is that the force is here to stay. >> that's the "overnight news" for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us a little later for the morning news and "cbs this morning."

from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm elaine quijano. ♪ >> it's tuesday, january january 50, 2016. president obama delivers a parting shot on gun control, using executive orders to expand background checks on fireman purchases. wild weather from the coast to the plains. flood waters rise in the mississippi, while a string of storms, powered by in an empty