see you then. ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> mason: death in a nursing home. elderly patients who survived irma's initial blow die in the sweltering heat that followed. a criminal investigation is under way. also tonight, some airline seats are too close for comfort and a judge rules, safety. dr. jon lapook on a study that suggests a possible link between certain flu shots and miscarriage. senator tim scott talks to the president about his controversial remarks on the charlottesville violence. >> he's obviously reflected on what he has said, on his intentions and the perception of those comments. >> mason: and, born in a storm. when destiny calls, a mother

delivers. >> i can't tell you what was going through my mind. i just know she had to come out. this is the "cbs evening news." >> mason: and this is our western edition. good evening. i'm anthony mason. hurricane irma may be gone, but it is still taking lives. at least eight elderly residents of a nursing home in hollywood, florida, have died. the storm knocked out the electricity, leaving them to swelter without air conditioning. now, a criminal investigation is under way. here's jonathan vigliotti. >> reporter: by mid-morning the elderly men and women were carried out of the nursing home on stretchers and in wheelchairs. many looked dazed. they had apparently been inside the hot building since the power went out three days ago, some dying, others in obvious physical distress. family members arrived on the scene frantically looking for their loved ones. >> i just want to know if, god

forbid, he's one of the ones that passed away. i have no idea where he's at. >> reporter: ellie pena found her 96-year-old mother alive. she worried about the 90-degree heat when she visited the facility yesterday. what did it look like inside? >> inside it looked bad, and it felt bad. >> reporter: the rehabilitation center's power was knocked out sunday by hurricane irma, and fans powered by a generator could barely fight the heat. police say the second floor was extremely hot. of the eight confirmed dead, their ages range from 71 to 99. >> this was a terrible incident. >> reporter: dr. randy katz mobilized his team at the memorial regional hospital across the street, where more than a dozen are now in critical condition. >> this is something extremely sad and extremely unfortunate for the families and the patients. >> reporter: the nursing home was ranked much below average and only had a one out of five rating, according to federal records. the owner, jack michel, is president of larkin community hospital, which settled a $15 million federal healthcare fraud

complaint in 2006. hollywood police chief tomas sanchez says this incident is now a criminal investigation. >> it's really sad when something like this goes on. >> reporter: and in a statement, the center here says they are fully cooperating with this investigation. meanwhile, police here in the city of hollywood say they're going door to door to check on every single nursing home. we should mention, there are about 150 nursing homes currently without power in this state. and anthony, many of them don't have generators for air conditioning. >> mason: jonathan vigliotti in thanks, jonathan. more than three million florida homes and businesses are still without power, down from a peak of about 6.5 million. it could be a month before the lights are back in parts of the keys. we have two reports from the hard-hit island chain, beginning with elaine quijano. >> reporter: from the air the search and rescue campaign in response to irma's destruction is vast. on the ground, the effort is

about door knocking where there is one. >> fire department! >> reporter: fire and rescue teams are walking the debris- filled streets, marking homes that are safe and documenting the damage. carlos calvillo is with california task force 1, a group of 80 rescuers under fema's direction. >> as a team comes through, they're doing a rapid assessment of the area. >> reporter: with the help of canines, this team is looking for survivors. >> if they actually detect human remains or a live body, we'll be able to come in and then begin the process of taking the structure apart. in this case we haven't found anybody. >> reporter: close to 10,000 residents in the keys rode out the storm. 25% of homes here have been destroyed, while 65% have sustained damage. >> i have to put on a new roof. >> reporter: peter lauge's home in ramrod key was heavily damaged and lacks power and water. with temperatures soaring in the 90s and stifling humidity, he may have to evacuate. >> and we have to get the

electric and the water and everything back. i'm working on that. >> reporter: residents in devastated neighborhoods like this one in little torch key have told us that they are preparing and expecting not to have power for perhaps a month. and with no running water and no cell phone service, people in this area are facing some daunting challenges ahead. for more on the relief efforts, here's my colleague, manuel bojorquez in key west. >> reporter: i'm manuel bojorquez in key west, where relief arrived in the form of two chinook helicopters at this empty shopping center parking lot. >> we have plenty of food on its way, plenty of water on its way. ( applause ) >> reporter: for some, it's the first aid they've seen since hurricane irma struck four days ago. almost immediately after the helicopter took off, this line formed. there are dozens of people here waiting for food and water, and they've been told not to worry if they don't get it this time because more is on the way.

bobby ourada's home was destroyed. >> we tried to get something last night. we couldn't get anything. so thank god we finally have something. please, everybody, come help us. >> reporter: the sweltering heat only compounds the misery. ourada regrets staying behind. >> we should have evacuated, but we thought we would be okay. >> reporter: this tarmac at homestead air force base is a launching point for the relief mission which now includes all five branches of the u.s. military. anthony? >> mason: manuel bojorquez with the relief effort. thanks, manuel. most years, florida supplies about half of america's orange juice, but irma wiped out much of this year's crop in just a few hours. it's another body blow for farmers who battled a devastating crop disease for years. here's carter evans. >> we're down about a foot from where we were earlier this morning. >> reporter: more than 60% of paul meador's crop is either in

the water or in the dirt. thousands of trees were ripped out of the ground by hurricane irma's blistering winds. and it's not salvageable either. >> not any part of it. this would normally not be ready until april or may. >> reporter: his crop was destined to be orange juice, but now, with much of it floating in three feet of floodwater, it looks more like an orange soup. >> as you can see by the amount of fruit on the ground, this was more than an average crop. >> reporter: it was a banner year? >> it was a banner year. if we delivered this crop, we probably would have been back in the black for the first time if a long time. >> reporter: all that fruit made these trees top heavy, pushovers for irma. and trees left in the water for more than three days could also rot or die. meter's losses could be up to $9 million, and he's not the only one. >> we have 125,000 acres of citrus groves in this area. >> reporter: what percentage of those crops do you think was damaged? >> all.

every acre of that 125,000 acres. >> reporter: gene mcavoy is an agriculture expert with the university of florida. 95% of the oranges... >> 95% of the oranges in florida, particularly in this region, go for juice. >> reporter: what's going to happen to the orange juice market? >> you're going to pay a lot more for orange juice. >> reporter: now growers tell me that these trees were subjected to so much stress during the hurricane that even some of this remaining fruit may not survive. the damage here is so bad that the secretary of agriculture is now planning a trip to florida to see it for himself. anthony? >> mason: carter evans in the orange groves of south florida, thanks. hundreds of police officers from around the country gave a final salute today to houston police sergeant steve perez. he drowned in his patrol car on his way to work during hurricane harvey. perez was 60. he leaves a wife and two children. it happened again today, a shooting at a school, the 31st

of this year. this time it was at a high school in rockford, washington, south of spokane. one student was killed, three others wounded. here's mireya villarreal. >> the shooter may be on the second level. the suspect in his teens. >> reporter: chaos erupted after 10:00 a.m. at freeman high school just outside spokane. this high school freshman, aleshia, was on the second floor watching the shooter take aim. >> i just remember i crouched down, and i just... the girl next to me, she fell, and you could hear her screaming and screaming. she had been shot. >> reporter: inside, students were sheltering in place. outside, a nightmare for parents unfolded as they desperately waited for answers. several hours after the shooting, kori thurman reunited with her mother, sharing the horrific details of what happened feet away from her. >> in my head i was like, what's going on? what's happening? what am i seeing right now? >> reporter: sheriff ozzie knezovich says the male shooter had multiple weapons. a fellow student tried to stop the shooter early on.

>> fortunately one of the weapons jammed. he went to the second weapon. the other student did confront him. that's when he lost his life. >> reporter: the shooter is in custody, although the sheriff's department is not releasing a motive at this time. we do know a lot of lives were saved today after several courageous people stepped in to help, including a high school janitor, who helped take the shooter down. anthony? >> mason: mireya villarreal, thanks. senator tim scott of south carolina, the only african american republican in the senate, met today with president trump. they talked about the president's response to the racial violence in charlottesville, virginia, last month. then the senator talked to chief congressional correspondent nancy cordes. >> i went in there not expecting to change the president's mind. >> reporter: south carolina's tim scott says he was surprised by the reception he got today. after all, he came down hard on the president just last month. >> the president's moral

authority is compromised. >> reporter: after mr. trump appeared to defend nazi and ku klux klan marchers in charlottesville. >> you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people. >> my thought was, ouch. >> blood and soil! >> and then you think about the scene of torches and the klan. >> reporter: did you get the sense that he felt bad about what he had said? >> he's obviously reflected on what he has said, on his intentions and the perception of those comments. he was certainly very clear that the perception that he received on his comments was not exactly what he intended with those comments. >> reporter: scott has always been open about the pain of discrimination. >> in the course of one year, i have been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers. >> reporter: he said he tried to impart that feeling to mr. trump today. >> he asked questions about some

other incidents that found african american men in compromising positions through no fault of their own. >> reporter: do you feel like you changed the president's mindset? >> the president was very receptive to listening. that is a key to understanding. >> reporter: the president has not said publicly that he regrets his charlottesville comments. in fact, just this week, congress passed a resolution urging him to speak out against hate groups. the white house says that he'll sign it when it gets to his desk. anthony. >> mason: nancy cordes at the capital. thank you, nancy. we're learning more about how groups believed to be linked to russia used facebook to meddle in the 2016 election. jeff pegues has more on this. >> reporter: the language was intended to stir up hate using pictures and incendiary language. "they won't take over our country if we don't let them in." the group behind the messages called itself secured borders,

but investigators say it was part of a russian campaign to influence the 2016 election. to that end, secured borders used facebook's event and invitation tool to promote an anti-immigrant rally in twin falls, idaho, a city it called a center of refugee resettlement, responsible for a huge upsurge of violence toward american citizens. that was false, and the rally itself never happened in spite of the russian campaign. >> they were using these new social media sites, which was kind of a wild, wild west with very few rules, to influence the election. >> reporter: mark warner is the ranking democrat on the senate intelligence committee which is investigating russian interference in the election. >> i think what we've seen so far from facebook is only the tip of the iceberg. >> reporter: facebook shut down secured borders. there are other groups, including this one that worked out of texas. cbs news has learned that investigators believe there were

many more and are scrambling to identify them. just last week, facebook disclosed that an internal investigation identified about 3,000 ads costing $100,000 containing messages about divisive issues. those ads also were linked to russian internet trolls. a facebook official says because of federal laws and the ongoing russia investigations, the the company is limited in what it can say, but senator warner says the company has not been transparent enough and needs to step up its efforts. anthony? >> mason: jeff pegues, thanks. coming up next on the "cbs evening news," is the tight seating in coach a danger to air travelers? and later, a new study raises concerns about a possible link between the flu shot and miscarriages. and we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression,

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this delta flight veered off a snowy runway at new york's laguardia airport in 2015. the impact damaged the on board communication system and the evacuation took more than 17 minutes. >> this way is fine. >> reporter: and now there is a new concern, as airlines shrink seats to fit more people on board, passenger safety advocates worry evacuations will take even longer. the space between rows has shrunk from as much as 35 inches to 31. in some cases it's down to just 28 inches, even as passengers themselves are getting bigger. do you believe the shrinking of seats is making the flying public less safe? >> oh, definitely. >> reporter: paul hudson is president of flyers' rights, an advocacy group that sued to force the f.a.a. to regulate seat size and update decades-old safety standards. >> the biggest concern is you won't be able to get out in time before you're overcome by smoke or fire. you won't be able to engage in the brace position, which means your head will hit the seat in front of you. >> reporter: this summer, an

appellate court sided with hudson's group. it found a plausible life-and- death safety concern, and ordered the f.a.a. to look at the issue. the f.a.a. says it is still reviewing that decision. airlines and airplane manufacturers say they meet or exceed all federal safety standards and requirements. evacuation tests are done, but it is virtually impossible to truly simulate a real-world crash environment. anthony? >> mason: kris van cleave. thank you, kris. and coming up, a new study raises concerns about a possible flu shot risk for pregnant women. ...isn't it time to let the real you shine through? maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... ...with reduced redness,... ...thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has... ...no requirement for routine lab monitoring.

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>> mason: a new study out this week is raising concerns about the safety of a certain version of the flu vaccine, and a possible link to miscarriage. dr. jon lapook is here. jon, that sets off a lot of alarm bells for people. >> reporter: of course it does, and the key word here, anthony, is "possible" link. it's considered more of a hint. it's something that's worthy of further investigation, but

certainly no reason for panic. now, they studied two seasons from 2010 to 2012, and they did see more miscarriages in one very specific group, women who had been vaccinated in two consecutive seasons and had a miscarriage within 28 days of getting the vaccine. but the numbers were small, only 17 women out of 485 women who miscarried. miscarriage is defined as occurring before 20 weeks, and in this group, the median age of miscarriage was seven weeks. now, we spoke today to the c.d.c. and to the authors of the study, and they said this is considered what's called a signal. it needs further investigation, but they are not recommending changing any of the current recommendations. >> mason: what are the current recommendations, jon? >> reporter: anthony, pregnant women are at high risk for serious complications from flu, so the recommendation is to get the flu vaccine in any trimester, and there have been a lot of extensive studies previously, finding that the flu vaccine during pregnancy is both safe and effective. >> mason: dr. jon lapook, thanks very much. and coming up next, the stork makes it through a hurricane.

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>> mason: finally tonight, there is a time for everything. and for destiny knight, it was time to be born. but it was the worst possible time-- sunday morning during the height of hurricane irma in miami. her mom, 23-year-old tatyana watkins, had just gone into labor, but there was no way to get to the hospital. >> she's having a baby. >> mason: she and boyfriend david knight called 911, but emergency workers could not reach them, either. >> right now, we're having severe, severe wind in that area. >> i knew rescue couldn't get

out there in those dangerous winds. so i knew we had to do something else. >> reporter: so dispatcher desiree farrell became the calm at the center of a storm. walking the couple through the delivery of their daughter, then conferencing in dr. kendra gillespie to help complete the procedure. >> internally, my fear was just thinking of all the complications that, you know, could happen, and the fact that no one could actually go to the location. >> hello. >> mason: today they all met in person for the first time. >> i mean, i just thank god everything is all right. the birth was successful and everybody made it out safe. >> mason: amid all the destruction of irma, the miracle of birth. it was indeed destiny. welcome to the world, destiny knight. may the rest of your life be a little less stormy. that's the "cbs evening news." i'm anthony mason. thanks for watching. good night.

the team picks, where it wants to put down roots. now the battle over building the ballpark begins. good evening, i'm veronica de la cruz. . kkpix 5 news. the team picks where it wants to put down roots and now the battle for the ballpark begins. it's the first step in a long sag a for a new stadium. the team has settled on a site in downtown oakland. now the as just have to sell everyone else on the idea. what it's going to take to get that ballpark built. >> that's going to be an interesting story that we are all going to watch over the next couple of watch as the as try to pull off what no other sports team has done which is to build a new home right in downtown. the first pitch came today. >> we thought this was a perfect location. >> oakland as manager was clear on why they picked this for

their new 30,000 seat ballpark. close to downtown. >> you are going to have the opportunity to have a walkable downtown ballpark. >> and while the mayor praised the eithers. >> the as are going to stay and pay for their own facility. >> she wasn't exactly cheering the site that they picked. >> i have not said this is the best place for the as but i respect they are privately financing their ballpark and so this is the site that they feel is the most financeable. >> the rainy college site is also in the middle of a although income and heavily immigrant community that could be forced out. >> but the as have their work cut out for them. they are going to have to convince many communities that this project is going to be good for them. >> council man who represents the area said there were a lot of unanswered