>> reporter: roof has never apologized for all the grief he caused, but his family now has in a statement they released after the verdict. formal sentencing will come in the morning, and, scott, that's the time when family members will get the chance to tell roof what they think of him, to let him have it in open court. >> mark strassmann for us tonight. mark, thank you. in another big story today, the senate opened confirmation hearings for the man that president-elect trump has nominated to be the attorney general, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, republican senator jeff sessions of alabama. in the 1980s, the senate denied sessions' nomination to be a federal judge because of accusations of racism. but once he became a senator himself, sessions voted to extend the voting rights act and supported other civil rights legislation.

nancy cordes is on capitol hill. >> do you swear -- >> reporter: senator sessions went first for a reason. as a 20-year veteran of congress, he was well prepared for pointed questions like this one from iowa republican chuck grassley -- >> will you be able to stand up and say no to the president of the united states if in your judgment the law and your duty demands it? >> i understand that duty. i've observed it through my years here, and i will fulfill that responsibility. >> reporter: he was also prepared for this -- >> senator sessions is a racist. >> reporter: protesters who interrupted the hearing nearly a dozen times. the alabama senator has been dogged for decades by accusations that he once made racist statements. >> this caricature of me in 1986 was not correct. i did not harbor the kind of animosities and race-based

discrimination ideas that were -- i was accused of. i did not. >> reporter: republicans came to his defense. >> you're a good and decent and honorable man. >> reporter: democrats said they are more worried that the deeply conservative sessions won't be able to enforce laws he opposes. california's dianne feinstein -- >> you have referred to "roe v. wade" as "one of the worst colossal, erroneous supreme court decisions of all time. end quote. is that still your view? >> it is. i believe it's a -- it violated the constitution, and really attempted to set policy and not follow law. it is the law of the land. it has been so established and settled for quite a long time, and it deserves respect, and i would respect it and follow it. >> reporter: rhode island's sheldon whitehouse -- >> does waterboarding constitute torture? >> congress has taken an action now that makes it absolutely

improper and illegal to use waterboarding. >> hello there! >> reporter: sessions was the first senator to back mr. trump and a vocal clinton critic, but he made this unexpected promise today about any potential future clinton investigation -- >> with regard to secretary clinton and some of the comments i made, i do believe that that could place my objectivity in question. i've given that thought. i believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kind of investigations. >> reporter: sessions said today that he would focus as attorney general on drugs coming across the border and on bringing down violent crime. scott, republicans leaving this day-long hearing said that they felt he had done well enough to get confirmed without any problems. >> nancy cordes on capitol hill. nancy, thank you. today, mr. trump's choice to

head the department of homeland security said that securing the mexican border will be his top priority. at his confirmation hearing, retired general john kelly said a wall won't be enough. he called for a layered defense with increased patrols and sensors. kelly, the former head of the u.s. southern command, is expected to be confirmed quickly. millions of americans are signing up for president obama's signature health insurance program, even as president-elect trump is moving ahead with his plans to scrap it. the obama administration reported today that 11.5 million americans enrolled last year, nearly 300,000 more than the previous year. the average fine for not buying insurance more than doubled last year to $470. today, mr. trump stepped up pressure on congress to repeal obamacare, telling the "new york times" that it should happen next week and should be replaced very quickly. but with what, he did not say.

after talking with the president-elect, speaker paul ryan said that the house will aim to replace obamacare at the same time that it repeals it. coming up next, in the age of terror, british police may do something once unthinkable. and later -- a champion's dream beg mom, i just saved a lot of money

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americans -- the vast majority of police officers in britain are unarmed. but if her majesty's government has its way, the bobbies will soon be packing heat, and from london, here's mark phillips. >> reporter: it's a sign of the times -- at the changing of the guard ceremony at buckingham palace these days, the queen's guards need guarding by police officers who are dressed to kill at the palace, at the train station, on the street. things have come a long way from the way they used to be. >> the british policeman does not carry a gun. a truncheon is his only weapon of defense. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: not anymore, at least not for about 10% of the force now trained to carry arms, a number the government wants to increase. which is why ken marsh of the police officers' federation is polling its members on whether

they want to carry guns. >> i think the danger is very clear. if we carry guns, then those out there will carry guns and be more likely to use them. >> reporter: yet, recent truck attacks on the outdoor market in germany, and before that in france, showed that police with guns can stop terrorists, if in both cases, not soon enough. britain, too, has endured its own terror attacks, producing their own outcry for more protection. this is an argument between the way britain imagines it used to be and the way it is now, and that way is like most places -- complicated and sometimes dangerous and violent. >> when i joined the police, i never thought i would be having this sort of confidence. but as you quite rightly said, times have changed and we've got to act upon that. >> reporter: each at the palace. mark

in california, the national weather service is warning of a life-threatening blizzard tonight in the sierra nevada, and yet another round of flooding. john blackstone is there. >> reporter: the floodgates have opened in northern california, releasing billions of gallons of water. it's the first time in 11 years these on the sacramento river have been released to prevent flooding in downtown sacramento. in the wine country of sonoma

county, the volatile russian river has flooded some 500 homes, and roads have been turned into lakes. gusts up to 60 miles an hour have knocked down trees, even as crews pruned branches to give them a better chance of standing. john gulserian is a county emergency services manager. >> with the ground being so saturated with water right now, it's just really hard for the trees to hold on. >> reporter: in the sierra nevada mountains, the wind, along with heavy snow and avalanche warnings, have forced the closing of i-80, the main highway linking california and nevada. mountain towns are digging out from the heaviest snowfall they've seen in years. >> it's definitely a workout. >> reporter: these blizzard conditions could last until thursday. by then, as much as 10 feet of snow may have fallen in some places here in the mountains. but, scott, come spring, all of this snow should turn into some drought relief for california. >> john blackstone in truckee for us today. john, thank you.

up next, his route to the national championship began with a few swings of the hammer.,,,,,

clemson dethrones and avenges alabama! >> what a finish. clemson teammates mobbed number 4, deshaun watson, one of the mvps of the college football championship last night. and what a story about how he got there, as told by jim

axelrod. >> reporter: it was a dream-come-true ending for quarterback deshaun watson-- >> touchdown! >> reporter: -- a touchdown pass on the last play to win college football's national championship. >> i'm just thankful for, you know, the people i have around me just believing in me. >> reporter: but, actually, watson's dream came true long before this, in 2006, when he was 11, and his family was able to move to a better life. >> i was in, you know, government apartments where, you know, a lot of bad influence was around. you know, it wasn't something that, you know, everyone wanted to stay in for the rest of their life. >> reporter: deshaun's family -- that's him in the black hoodie -- was one of more than 150 helped by former pro football star warrick dunn's charity. >> congratulations. >> reporter: he partners with habitat for humanity to make home ownership a reality for single parents. >> i just try to provide an opportunity for stability. >> reporter: this is how dunn honors his mother's memory, an

off-duty baton rouge police officer killed during a robbery. at 18, warrick dunn became the guardian of five siblings, using his mom's life insurance to buy a home for them and learning early about the stability a home can provide. >> it gives an opportunity to reach for their dreams and to change their outcome, their future. >> reporter: a nice story a decade ago became a great story last night. >> my dream came true and, you know, all the success has been coming and blessings have been coming through. >> reporter: just ask the guy living the dream now building habitat houses with his teammates so that others can live theirs. jim axelrod, c news, new york. >> that's the "overnight news" for this wednesday. for some of you the news continues. for others, check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and be sure not to miss "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley.

this is the "cbs overnight news." president obama returned to his hometown of chicago last night to deliver his farewell address to the nation. it was in chicago that mr. obama declared victory eight years ago. the first african-american president swept into office on a platform of hope and change. he inherited two foreign wars, high unemployment, a collapsed housing market, and a worldwide financial crisis. all of that is in the past, but still, nearly half of those today say they are no better off than they were eight years ago. again, voters have cast their ballots for change.

mr. obama struck a tone for optimism as he bid farewell. >> my fellow americans -- [ cheers and applause ] michelle and i have been so touched by all the well wishes that we've received over the past few weeks. but tonight, tonight it's my turn to say thanks. whether we have seen eye to eye or really agreed at all, my conversations with you, the american people, in living rooms and in schools, at farms, on factory floors, at diners, and on distant military outposts, those conversations are what kept me honest and kept me

inspired and kept me going. and every day i have learned from you, you made me a better president and you made me a better man. if i had told you eight years ago that america would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history -- [ cheers and applause ] if i had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the cuban people, shut down iran's nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, take out the mastermind of 9/11 -- [ cheers and applause ] if i had told you that we would win marriage equality and secure the health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow

citizens -- [ cheers and applause ] if i had told you all that, you might have said our sights were set a little too high. but that's what we did. [ applause ] that's what you did. you were the change. you answered people's hopes and because of you, by almost every measure, america is a better, stronger place than it was when we started. [ applause ] in ten days, the world will witness the hallmark of our democracy. [ crowd boos ] no, no, no. the peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected

president to the next. [ applause ] i committed to president-elect trump that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as president bush did for me. [ applause ] because it's up to all of us to make sure our government can help us meet the many challenges we still face. after my election, there was talk of a post racial america. and such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic. race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. now, i've lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, no matter what some folks say. [ applause ]

you can see it not just in statistics, you see it in the attitudes of young americans across the political spectrum. but we're not where we need to be. and all of us have more work to do. if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hard-working white middle class and an undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. [ cheers and applause ] because of the extraordinary courage of our men and women in uniform, because of our intelligence officers and law enforcement and diplomats who support our troops -- [ applause ] no foreign terrorist

organization has successfully planned and executed and attack on our homeland these past eight years. and although boston, and orlando, and san bernardino, and ft. hood remind us of how dangerous radicalization can be, our law enforcement agencies are more effective and vigilant than ever. we have taken out tens of thousands of terrorists, including bin laden. [ cheers and applause ] the global coalition we're leading against isil has taken out their leaders, and taken away about half their territory. isil will be destroyed, and no one who threatens america will ever be safe. [ applause ] and all who serve or have served, it has been the honor of my lifetime to be your commander in chief. and we all owe you a deep debt

of gratitude. [ cheers and applause ] but for now, whether you are young or whether you're young at heart, i do have one final ask of you as your president. the same thing i asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago. i'm asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about change but in yours. i'm asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents, that ideal whispered by slaves and abolitionists, that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice. that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon. a creed at the core of every american whose story is not yet written. yes, we can. [ applause ] yes, we did.

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for most of the last century, school children were taught there were nine plan ets in our solar system. the smallest and farthest away was pluto. then mike brown came around to show that pluto was not a planet at all. now there are eight planets. brown has not stopped scanning the skies. he now says there's another ninth planet out there to take pluto's place. bill whittaker reports for "60 minutes." >> i would say at this point, i'm certain. >> certain? >> yeah. >> that's a rare thing to say for a prediction, for a scientist, and i'm willing to say it. >> you do know how mind boggle thing sounds? a new planet hasn't been discovered for -- >> 170 years. >> i believe you think it looks

like this animation over my shoulder here. >> we took a little artistic license and put some lightning on the dark side because it might have lightning on the dark side of it. we think it's between 10 and 20 times more massive than the earth. >> and we haven't seen it, we can't see it? >> it's so far away that it's actually just at the edge of what our biggest telescopes on the ground can possibly see, because it's so far away. >> reporter: 50 billion miles away. it's also hard to find because it has an enormous orbit. >> planet nine, we think, takes something like 15,000 years to go around the sun. >> 15,000 years? >> 15,000 years. >> so make oneorbit. >> reporter: to search for planet nine, brown doesn't look directly through the telescope. he monitors pictures it's taking of the same sections of sky on

successive nights. and then compares them hunting for movement. >> we have to very systematically look at every patch of sky here, here, here, here, and what we're looking for, it's actually kind of simple. we take a picture one night. we come back the next night, all the stars, all the galaxies are in the same spot night after night after night. and planet nine, when we see it, will slowly move across the sky. >> reporter: and will look something like this. brown's discovery 11 years ago that changed the way we think of the solar system. using pictures from successive nights, brown discovered this bruto-sized object, which led to the demotion of lovable pluto. >> you didn't love pluto growing up? >> i was totally fascinated by pluto growing up. i started looking at this region of the sky because i thought it was so interesting out there. >> when pluto was first

discovered, it was thought to be a big planet. >> you can find "the new york times" headline on the day the discovery was announced. it says ninth planet discovered in the solar system, possibly larger than jupiter. >> reporter: jupter is the biggest planet. but pluto it turned out, is no jupiter. >> these are all the planets and other objects at their real relative sizes. jupiter is huge compared to the other things. this is jupiter, this is saturn, uranus, neptune, mercury, venus, earth, mars. and at the edge is pluto. it's only wrong by a factor of 50,000. >> so went from being a monster planet to a dwarf planet. >> a dwarf planet, one of many. >> reporter: this region is the kiper belt at the edge of our solar system. a vast realm of frozen debris

created during the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. the kiper belt keeps brown up all night hunting for discoveries. >> it's the most exciting thing to do. it's not that it's hard to stay up all night, i'm excited every night i go out there about what i might find. >> reporter: when mike brown found that pluto-sized object, it was the biggest oh of a group of hundreds of pluto-like objects recently discovered. so brown wondered should pluto really be a planet? but demoting pluto would mean every textbook would have to be changed. that was fine with brown, who believes planets must be significant, and that the eight large planets are. their strong gravitational fields control everything around them. >> planets ignore everybody else around them and everybody else has to deal with the planets. those are what the planets are.

>> and pluto didn't fit that concept? >> neptune controls pluto's orbit. >> reporter: to resolve the issue, astronomers gathered all over the world in prague in 2006. the international astronomical union would decide whether to demote pluto or give planet status to hundreds of other objects. >> 6-a is concerned with pluto and pluto-like objects. >> reporter: astronomers voted overwhelmingly to go down to eight planets, and brown became known as the guy who killed pluto. >> i think that's probably true. >> reporter: the pluto vote was ill-timed for nasa. just seven months before pluto's demotion, nasa launched a mission to pluto to learn about its surface and origins. scientists are still analyzing spectacular pictures from that is aye's fly-buy.

they show pluto's icy surface and closeups of craters. now the spaceship is heading deeper into the kiper belt. although pluto was demoted ten years ago, pluto lovers still send brown hate mail and voice mail. he kept this one. >> hey, pluto is still a planet, you jackass. [ laughter ] >> reporter: even brown's 11-year-old daughter didn't like what he had done to pluto. >> what did you tell him he should do to make up for that? >> if he found a new planet, it might make up for the fact that he killed a planet everybody loved. >> seems he did that. >> yeah. what is do you think of that? >> it's really great. i'm very proud of him. >> and you can see the full report on our website, cbsnews.com. ♪living well rise above joint discomfort with move free ultra's triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20% better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill... get move free ultra, and enjoy living well.

new pantene doesn't just wash i wiyour hair, it fuels it.gain. making every strand stronger. so tangles don't stand a chance. because strong is beautiful. you most likely have seen his work but don't know his name. tyrus wong died last week at the age of 106. wong worked at disney and is credited with giving life to the legendary movie "bambi." tracy smith has our story. >> reporter: for decades, artist tyrus wong and his fantastic kites were a fixture on and above santa monica beach.

recognize his name -- ♪ a certain deer named bambi has tyrus wong to thank for the exquisite settings in the 1942 film. how much of an impact did tyrus wong have on the look of bambi? >> he basically created the look of the film. this is tyrus painting a mural. >> reporter: michael labrie in san francisco cure rated an exhibition of wong's work in 2013. >> everything you see on the screen, the other artists were trained to draw like tyrus for that film. ♪ >> bambi! >> reporter: wong was working a tedious entry level job at disney in 1938 when he heard about the plans to adapt the book into a movie.

>> he spent weekends doing hundreds and hundreds of drawings. >> reporter: walt disney himself decided the look of the film would be based on tyrus wong's drawings. >> this is a real special piece of "the prince of the for" where he framed what the piece was to say. >> reporter: the 74-year-old film is beloved by generations, including filmmaker pamela tom. >> tyrus really contributed to american culture. >> reporter: she was watching bambi in 1997 and got his name in the credits. >> chinese american working at disney in the 1930s. i just hand to find out who he was. >> reporter: and what she find out turned into a documentary, illustrating why tyrus wong was

the perfect leading man, with an epic life story. it's set to air on pbs this summer. >> my father, america has the better opportunity. >> reporter: wong came to the u.s. with only his father in 1920. >> did you get into a little bit of mischief? >> oh, yeah. i'm no angel. >> reporter: when wong was in junior high, one of his teachers noticed he was more interested in art than arithmetic. and so did his dad. >> he understood the value of your artistic talent, but it was unusual for an immigrant, a chinese immigrant to choose art. >> they didn't think very much of your being an artist. >> you have to remember the employment opportunities for chinese back then was limited to being a waiter, working in laundry. but the father, in his wisdom,

recognized his son's talents and borrowed money to get tyrus through his first year of art school. >> reporter: after graduation from otis art institute in los angeles, wong found work as an artist, and also worked at a restaurant in chinatown. there, he fell hard for a pretty co-worker, ruth kim. >> what moment in your life gave you the most joy? >> when i got married. >> reporter: they wed in 1937. and by 1938, had the first of three daughters. it was ruth who suggested tyrus apply for a job at disney. >> how long did tyrus work at disney? >> only for three years. >> why did he leave? >> it was to do with the strike. >> reporter: wong was let go after many animators went out on strike in 1941, a full year before "bambi" was finished. and his contributions to the film were minimized. >> when you talk to him, there's no bitterness?

>> that really reflexes tyrus' personality. not to say that he didn't feel racism or injustice, but he really picked his battled and just tried to not dwell on it. >> reporter: wong then spent 26 years at warner brothers, where he helped create the look of dozens of films. >> i think paul newman. >> shelly winter. >> our next legend had a brief but impactful disney career. >> reporter: but in 2001, disney honored him as a legend. >> reporter: though it took the world a while to acknowledge tyrus wong -- >> we can put up a centipede. >> yeah, try. >> reporter: today, like the kites he created, his reputation continues to soar. >> it's such a beautiful

metaphor for his life. after he retired, he was

>> >> some actors of a certain age are up in arms that their birth dates are posted online. they want their ages removed from the internet movie database. there's a law in california that allows actors demand their birthdays be removed, but imbd says the information is not only true and public, it's a matter of freedom of speech. mireya villarreal has that story. >> reporter: when gab rielle was cast on "beverly hills 90201," she says the shows producer's didn't know she was 29. >> the producers came to me and said if we had known your age, you would have never gotten the

role. >> reporter: that was two decades ago. >> this is a casting site, a hiring site. when the first thing that comes up is their able, it's like a subconscious bias that's created. >> reporter: now president of the actor's union, she's defending a new california state law which requires sites like imbd.com to remove age from a profile if they request it. the law is less than two weeks old and already getting support from hollywood. >> any change in the law that will enable talent to be recognized above any other discrimination, i'm in full support of that. >> i think it's very important that we end ageism for sure. >> reporter: ageism has long plagued hollywood's leading ladies. in 2015, it was found that female actors' career peaks at

30, the man at 46. movies like "pretty woman" with julia roberts, "as good as it gets" with helen hunt. >> i think age discrimination is a problem. that should be addressed in hollywood at the studios. >> reporter: michael beckerman's trade group represents some of the top internet companies. >> you're setting a precedent any state can sensor information off of a narrow section of websites. this has nothing to do with age discrimination in hollywood. >> reporter: imbd said they would not be moving any information while litigation is going after. they say this is rather to affect the working class actor who is just trying to get their foot in the door. >> that's the "overnight news" for this wednesday. for some of you the news continues. for others check back later for the morning news and "cbs this

morning." captioning funded by cbs it's wednesday, january 11th, 2017. this is the "cbs morning news." president-elect trump is set to hold a rare news conference in a matter of hours. he tweeted last night fire riri yaks to reports of russia having financial and damaging information on him but will he take questions this morning. and president barack obama gives his farewell address to the nati