captioning sponsored by cbs >> mason: terror in london. isis takes responsibility for a bomb explosion on a crowded commuter train. >> i was just trying to run as fast as i could. there was just layers and layers of people screaming. >> mason: also tonight, after north korea fires a missile over japan, the u.s. fires a shot over kim jong-un's bow. >> we've been kicking the can down the road and we're out of road. >> mason: protesters take to the streets of st. louis after a white former police officer is acquitted in the shooting death of a black man. >> our streets! >> and liftoff of the "cassini" spacecraft. >> mason: a 20-year mission to saturn ends in a blaze of glory. and steve hartman with a

surprise letter. >> you know, just, you come home from work and in an instant your whole life changes. this is the "cbs evening news." >> mason: and this is our western edition. good evening. i'm anthony mason. a homemade bomb went off today on a crowded commuter train in london. no one was killed, but more than two dozen people were injured. isis claimed responsibility. it was the fifth major terror attack in britain this year, and the threat level was raised to critical, meaning another attack may be imminent, and british troops will be taking to the streets of london. charlie d'agata is there. >> reporter: on a packed subway train at the height of rush hour, a homemade bomb, a bucket in a freezer bag, burst into flames. panicked commuters describe a wall of fire and a flash. this man described seeing one woman on the ground.

>> like her legs were scraped off. there was blood, like, i mean, she had burn marks, her head-- like, you could see maybe she was on the floor. there was sand-- like, she just looked a complete mess. >> reporter: peter crowley showed where the flames seared his scalp. >> i heard a large bang from the doors on the other side of the tube train, and then this fireball above my head came, singed all my hair. >> reporter: it could have been worse. the detonator exploded but failed to ignite the main charge. it contained screws for shrapnel, a timer, and the same kind of explosions used in recent terror attacks. the hunt for the bomber had barely begun when president trump blamed the attack on "sick and demented people who had been in the sights of scotland yard," which drew a sharp rebuke from british prime minister theresa may. >> i never think it is helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.

>> reporter: although isis has claimed responsibility, this doesn't bear their trademark martyrdom tactics. cbs security correspondent richard walton: >> there are some odd aspects to this case. you know, we have not seen a bucket before. it's a fairly crude device in a bag left. in recent times attacks of this nature have been suicide bombers using backpacks. >> reporter: there are 12,000 cameras in the london security system subway system. police are hoping they'll be able to identify the suspect, but as of tonight, the bomber is still on the loose. anthony. >> mason: charlie d'agata in london. thanks. joining us now is john miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counter- terrorism for the new york city police department. and many of you will remember, a former senior correspondent for cbs news. john, what's your assessment of the attempted bombing in london? >> well, i think what we're seeing is likely a lone wolf actor, probably inspired by what

we've seen as now a juggernaut of propaganda coming from groups like al-qaeda and particularly isis. and we are seeing that as they are being pummeled in the war zone and losing more territory, having soldiers leave the battlefield, that they are beginning to turn up the propaganda machine that says if we are losing the war on the ground here, we have others to fight it where you live. >> mason: given the frustration isis is feeling in other parts of the world, do you feel the threat level here is higher now? >> in new york, we live with the reality that we are the most- targeted city in the united states by terrorist plots. we have a great relationship with the joint terrorism task force, our f.b.i. partners. and together we have managed to thwart almost 100% of the plots that have been levied against us since 9/11/2001. we don't kid ourselves though.

there is no such thing as total protection in a free society. you always looked at isis as a dangerous animal. now i think you look at isis as a dangerous wounded animal that comes with an element of desperation. and i think you also see al- qaeda waiting right behind in the shadows to see if isis rises or falls, and to fill that gap, we saw a message from osama bin laden's son yesterday, hamza bin laden, calling on people to not- - to not leave the fight and to do attacks where they are. so it's something of great concern to us, something that we follow every day, and something we believe we have prepared for as well as we can. >> mason: john miller, deputy commissioner of the new york city police department. thanks. in addressing another threat today, president trump said u.s. options for dealing with north korea are "effective and overwhelming." last night, the north fired another missile over japan. david martin reports this act of defiance marks a big advance.

>> reporter: until now, north korea had tested its intermediate and intercontinental range missile from fixed launch pads. this time, for the first time, an intermediate range missile was launched from a mobile transporter, a significant development, since it enables kim jong-un to fire a long-range weapon with little or no warning. in this case, though, spy satellites had seen the missile being rolled into position at an airfield near pyongyang, well before the actual launch. as if kim was deliberately trying to avoid catching the u.s. off guard. the missile flew more than 2,000 miles over northern japan and into the pacific ocean. a pentagon official said it was no coincidence the missile flew far enough to reach the u.s. airbase on guam, had it been fired in that direction. the launch came three days after the u.n. security council enacted new economic sanctions

against north korea. and it is becoming increasingly clear sanctions will not work fast enough to prevent north korea from acquiring a nuclear arsenal. earlier this week, a treasury department official showed conclude how easily north korea evades the ban on coal exports. in june, a ship left port in china. halfway to north korea, it turned off the transponder, which allows it to be tracked. it pulled into north korea, where it was caught by a satellite as it loaded coal. the ship returned to the point where it had turned off the transponder, switched it back on, and proceeded to a port in russia, leaving a track which look liked it had gone straight from china to russia. both u.s. and u.n. officials say the only way to make sanctions work is to give navies the power to stop and search vessels suspected the carrying banned goods to and from north korea. anthony. >> mason: david martin at the pentagon. thank you, david.

ben tracy, meanwhile, is following this from beijing. ben, these new u.n. sanctions aimed to cut north korea's oil imports, will they have any bite? >> reporter: not much bite. china supplies about 90% of north korea's oil, and it has already cut supplies, but these new u.n. sanctions that were passed on monday, they capped the supply at current levels. that's about four million barrels a year. and, anthony, that is likely enough to give the north korean military what it needs. >> mason: is it realistic, ben, to think that china will defuse the situation? >> reporter: no. this idea that china can somehow call up kim jong-un and just tell him to cut it out is not realistic. there is not a good relationship between these two countries right now. and if you need proof of that, there is no picture of kim jong- un, and chinese president xi jinping, and that is because the two have never met. so china is not happy with north korea, but it also does not want to see the regime collapse, mainly because it does not want a united korea that would be aligned with the west. that could mean u.s. military on

its border. so, anthony, the bottom line here is china wants to do enough to bring north korea to the negotiating table but it does not want to do enough to bring it to its knees. >> mason: ben tracy in beijing. thank you, ben. in what may be an unprecedented move, the white house appeared to call for a tv personality to be fired. that followed a tweet earlier this week by espn anchor jemele hill. she called the president "a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists." julianna goldman picks up the story there. >> reporter: the white house today put even more pressure on espn to fire anchor jemele hill. in an early-morning tweet, president trump called on espn to apologize for untruth, and press secretary sarah huckabee sanders repeated her earlier claims that hill's comments should cost her, her job. >> i think it is a fireable offense based on the standard that espn has set themselves.

>> reporter: that assertion, and president trump's insistence on an apology, highlight his own failure to apologize for initiating and pedaling the false claim that president obama wasn't born in the u.s. >> we're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers. >> reporter: asked if president trump would say sorry... >> i think the president has made plenty of comments on that front. >> reporter: but he hasn't apologized. >> i think the point is espn has been hypocritical. they should be consistent in whatever guidelines they set themselves on that front. >> reporter: couldn't you say the same-- but the anti-espn campaign is straight out of the trump playbook. as he wrote in 2007, "when people wrong you, go after those people because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. i love getting even." and the trump white house campaign to demonize jemele hill stands in contrast to his equivocation in response to the white supremacist violence in charlottesville. >> i think there's blame on both sides.

>> reporter: yesterday, he once again spread blame evenly between groups like neo-nazis and the people protesting them. >> you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side, also. >> reporter: the president today held a conference call with the jewish leaders ahead of the high holidays. he said he forcefully condemns those who seek to incite anti- semitism. his remarks were carefully worded and he made no mention of charlottesville. anthony. >> mason: julianna goldman at the white house. thanks. a program note. secretary of state rex tillerson and senator john mccain are john dickerson's guests this sunday on "face the nation." angry protesters took to the streets of st. louis this evening after a judge acquitted a former police officer of first degree murder in the shooting death of a drug suspect. dean reynolds is there. >> reporter: security was heavy in st. louis today as the city dealt with protests over the latest acquittal of a white cop in the killing of a black man.

>> shut it down. >> now! >> no justice. >> no peace! >> reporter: former st. louis patrolman jason stockley was charged with murder in the 2011 shooting of anthony lamar smith. the incident, caught on multiple cameras, occurred after a high- speed chase and a collision. stockley called it self-defense against a suspected drug dealer. smith, he said, was pulling a gun on him. prosecutors countered that stockley, seen here, retrieved a .38-caliber revolver from the backseat of his police car and planted the weapon in smith's car moments after shooting him five times, and that the gun bore only the policeman's prints. but judge timothy wilson said he was not convinced of stockley's guilt. and as for smith, the judge wrote that, "an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly." al watkins represents smith's fianceé, christina wilson. >> i find the ultimate disposition, the ruling, to be appalling.

>> reporter: neil bruntrager is stockley's defense attorney. >> at the end of the day the court applied the right standards to the facts and they came up with the right conclusion. >> reporter: the demonstrations today have been loud and increasingly confrontational. stockley is the fourth officer in four months to be acquitted of murder charges involving a black victim. anthony. >> mason: dean reynolds in st. louis tonight. thanks. slowly but surely, here comes hurricane jose. it's a category 1 with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles an hour. jose is about 600 miles southeast of cape hatteras, north carolina. it's expected to kick up rough seas as it moves north. too soon to tell if it will make landfall. nearly a week after hurricane irma slammed ashore in florida, the u.s. death toll is at least 28. more than 1.5 million florida homes and businesses are still without power. coming up next on the "cbs evening news," nasa celebrates

the final chapter of a remarkable voyage. and later, steve hartman with a letter that changed two lives for the better. we demand a lot from our eyes every day. i should know. i have chronic dry eye caused by reduced tear production due to inflammation. so i use restasis multidose. it helps me make more of my own tears, with continued use, twice a day, every day. restasis multidose helps increase your eyes' natural ability to produce tears, which may be reduced by inflammation due to chronic dry eye. restasis multidose did not increase tear production in patients using anti-inflammatory eye drops or tear duct plugs. to help avoid eye injury and contamination, do not touch the bottle tip to your eye or other surfaces. wait 15 minutes after use before inserting contact lenses. the most common side effect is a temporary burning sensation. your eyes. your tears. ask your eye doctor about restasis multidose.

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but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. >> mason: a journey that spanned two decades and nearly five billion miles came to a fiery ending today. nasa sent its "cassini" space probe, named for an italian astronomer, slamming into saturn's atmosphere at 77,000 miles an hour. here's jamie yuccas. >> reporter: for 13 years, "cassini" delivered stellar images of saturn, our first look inside the rings and at the planet's 62 moons, one of them showing oceans that could potentially support life. with "cassini" low on fuel, nasa decided not to risk the satellite crashing into and contaminating the moon's waters.

instead, the orbiter would disintegrate. >> we call loss of signal. that would be the end of the spacecraft. >> reporter: as "cassini" broke apart... >> oh! >> reporter: ...even normally stoic scientists broke down, like radio engineer dick french. >> seeing a spacecraft that i've come to think of as a member of the family disappear, really was wrenching to me. it just touched my soul. >> reporter: in the late '80s, "cassini" project scientist, linda spilker, worked to get the satellite off the ground while also starting her family. her daughters are now fully grown, and that's granddaughter, audrey. what was it like to have your daughters here with you? >> oh, it was so wonderful to share this moment, very special. >> the whole journey. we're so proud of her. we're so proud of you, mom. >> reporter: to daughters jennifer and jessica, "cassini" was more than just an object in was more than just an object in space. it was an inspiration. >> we're both engineers so math and science run in the family. >> after "cassini" we have to go back. we have to go back to saturn and keep exploring.

>> reporter: i feel like this is the ultimate girl power moment! nasa doesn't normally cheer when a spacecraft blows up, but this was for a mission accomplished. jamie yuccas, cbs news, pasadena. >> mason: "cassini" had quite a road trip. still ahead, cleveland rocks as the indians roll. . road trip. still ahead, cleveland rocks as the indians roll. ? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms.

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>> mason: the harvard university institute of politics has rescinded an invitation to chelsea manning to serve as a visiting fellow. manning, a transgender woman, served seven years in prison for leaking classified military documents to wikileaks. harvard withdrew the fellowship invitation today after current and former national security officials protested. a young fan of president trump wrote him a letter offering to mow the white house lawn. and the president took him up on it. 11-year-old frank giaccio, of falls church, virginia, who goes by "f-x," got to work today.

he usually charges eight bucks a lawn but he did this one for free. the president asked "f-x" what he wants to be when he grows up. he replied, a navy seal. the cleveland indians take on the kansas city royals tonight and will try to make it 23 wins in a row. number 22 came last night when jay bruce lined an r.b.i. double in the bottom of the tenth. that set off a wild celebration. the indians own the longest winning streak in american league history. they're just four wins from tying the major league record. steve hartman's on deck with the letter that changed their lives. each year sarah climbs 58,007 steps. that's the height of mount everest. because each day she chooses to take the stairs. at work, at home...

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>> mason: we end the week with a prayer. here's steve hartman "on the road." >> reporter: for 37-year-old marlene brooks, a property manager from park hills, missouri, this story came as a shock. >> you know, just you come home from work, and in an instant your whole life changes. that's literally what happened, so. >> reporter: it was last april when she says a letter arrived. >> i opened it, yes. >> reporter: such a heartbreaking letter, even five months later, she still has a hard time reading it. ( clears throat ) >> reporter: yet, such a heartfelt letter, she still carries it wherever she goes. it says, "mrs. question mark, would you consider to become my friend. i'm 90 years old, live alone, and all my friends have passed away. i am so lonesome and scared. please, i pray for someone." signed "wanda mills."

the return address was a house across the street and two doors down, a house so quiet, marlene didn't even think anyone lived there. >> the next day i went over there, and she pretty much was kind of shocked that i came over. >> reporter: it was the beginning of what has become a dear friendship. >> hi, honey! >> reporter: wanda is now in a nursing home, but marlene still visits her at least four times a week. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: she brings her husband and kids and all the energy that comes with them. so how has it changed your life? >> well, it helps. >> reporter: marlene says it helps her, too, says she always regretted not spending more time with her own grandma, and this feels a lot like redemption. she even started a group called, "pen pals for seniors" to help end the isolation for others. >> i mean it could be any of us and just nobody should feel that way ever. >> reporter: sounds like you found a calling. >> yes. >> reporter: amazing, how wanda just happened to write that letter to the perfect person. what a coincidence.

or not. >> somebody sent her. >> reporter: who sent her? >> god sent her. >> reporter: wanda mailed a letter two doors down but seems pretty convinced the reply came from above. steve hartman "on the road," in park hills, missouri. >> mason: marlene answered that letter and answered a prayer. that's the "cbs evening news." i'm anthony mason in new york. thanks for watching this week. i'll see you first thing tomorrow on "cbs this morning saturday." good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org captioning sponsored by cbs g captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

sanctuary state. the state assembly signs off on a divisive bill that would limit cooperation with federal . kpix 5 news begins a california. a big step forward to becoming a sanctuary state. a bill that would limit with federal authorities. i'm allen martin. it was last call today at the state capital for some ambitious bills. melissa live in sacramento where the bill for a sanctuary state got pretty emotional. >> all around the capital today, there was something odd, food, candy, chips. that's because the legislature has to stay here until they pass or fail about 100 bills. it's going to be a long night. >> it's been a historic session. it's been the.

>> assembly speaker says he's proud of what the legislature has already accomplished but he admits sometimes the controversial bill are voted on last. >> it's sort of the ebb and flow, the rhythm of the legislative cycle so that a lot of stuff ends up in the last couple of days. >> the sponsor says law enforcement will cooperate with immigration officials when it comes to fell ons. >> law-abiding citizens that have been here for decades. >> if immigration officials can't pick people up in jails they will go into the neighborhoods. >> it breaks those partnerships between the state and federal agencies and it will us like