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flooding again this weekend when monsoon rains are supposed to return. so they have now found two places where rain was entering the cave and they've blocked those up. bianna? >> a race against the rain. ben tracy, thank you. in court documents made

public this week a cleveland-area fertility clinic denies any legal liability for a freezer malfunction that destroyed more than 4,000 eggs and embryos. dozens of families are suing university hospitals for negligence. the clinic has apologized but said the families knew the risks involved. dr. tara narula spoke with a patient. >> at that time i wasn't really thinking about kids, and i wasn't trying to have kids. so it just gave me hope. >> reporter: sierra matthews was just 19 years old when she decided to freeze her eggs at university hospitals. it was 2014, and she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. she was one of hundreds of women who found out in march of this year that her eggs were destroyed when a cryo-preservation system like this one malfunctioned. >> i felt like i had to go back to a really traumatizing time in my life, when i really felt like i was alone because there was really no one my age going through something like that. >> reporter: following the incident, university hospitals ceo tom zenty released this

video statement. >> i can't say it any more plainly. we failed our fertility clinic patients. we are sorry. i am sorry. >> reporter: this week in response to a lawsuit university hospitals said women and families signed consent forms, writing in court documents, "plaintiffs were fully advised of the material risk, benefits, and alternatives available for treatment and therefore voluntarily assumed and consented to those risks." >> our clients are outraged. >> reporter: tom merr iyman represents more than 200 clients, including sierra matthews, who lost their eggs or embryos at the clinic. >> you can't have it both ways. you can't go on national tv and tell the world that you're sorry and that you're taking responsibility and then send an army of lawyers into a courthouse when people aren't paying attention and file answers where youll respsibi.oures they're saying behi andmi us in the same breath and saying that this is our fault and we should have

known better. >> reporter: dr. tara cbs news, new york. coming up next, what's behind a shortage of commercial airline pilots? still a chance here.

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they're super concentrated o . number one awarded. it's got to be tide the number of air travelers worldwide has been risingpilots. here's transportation correspondent kris van cleave. >> reporter: when a major airline needs somebody to fly

planes like this airbus, they often look to the regional airlines, those commuter jets over there, to find pilots. but that's making it increasingly challenging to find people to fly the smaller planes. since 2013 yuma, arizona, a largely agricultural region of about 200,000, has seen airline departures drop more than 50%. today the only flights out go to phoenix. >> yeah, the airport is definitely critical to our community. it means connectivity. it means convenience. it means economy. >> reporter: that yuma to phoenix route is operated by a regional carrier, just like 42% of the nation's air service. hose smaller airlines are being expansion at bigger carriers. recent studies predict a shortage of more than 14,000 pilots by 2026. on a scale of 1 to 10 where is the pilot shortage today? >> i think it's at least a 6. >> reporter: lyle hogg is prcht regional carrier piedmont airlines, which needs to train

and replace as many as 240 pilots a year. sqult pipeline for young aviators is drying up and it should be a national concern. >> reporter: that's because without enough pilots planes can't fly and flights would have to be canceled or service to some cities stopped. the cost of learning to fly is almost three times more expensive than it was in the '90s. and after this deadly crash in 2009 new pilots were required to fly for 1,500 hours before being eligible for hire. new hire corey cave spent tens of thousands of dollars to log enough hours. >> the cost, it just delayed me a little bit. >> many of our young pilots have $250,000, $300,000 of debt when they come work for a regional carrier. >> reporter: piedmont says they can cut down that cost by using flight simulators like these. >> we can simulate all different weather situations, all differenthaca i an aircraft and much more safely. >> airlines have been pushing congress to change that 1,500 training hour rule. but there's resistance to that. regional carriers have been aggressively increasing starting

pay to about $60,000 a year. a couple years ago it was closer to $40,000. kris van cleave, cbs news, reagan national airport, virginia. when we come back, a surprise guest at a holiday parade. ♪ get on up. ♪ get on up, mama. ♪ get on up. ♪ get on up. ♪ do what you want. ♪ do you want, let the record hop. ♪ ♪ nows the time to shake your fingers, pop. ♪ ♪ boogaloo, doing the flow. ♪ c'mon baby, go go go! degree motionsense. ultimate freshness... with every move.

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july 4th is all about the red, white and blue. and today the grand old flag was a high-flying flag at the international space station. back on earth 67 people from 35 countries became u.s. citizens today at thomas jefferson's home in monticello. and in brandon, florida naval officer luke mellenthin surprised his wife and three kids. he's home early from his deployment in africa. welcome home. up next, the special bond between the children of america's fallen heroes.

as we celebrate america's freedom, we end tonight with a group that has paid a very high price for it. they are the children of fallen service members. jeff glor went to arlington national cemetery to see how these children are helping each other deal with their grief. >> there he is. there's daddy. >> reporter: brinly and ainsley thomson come here often to visit their dad. >> tell him you made the all-star team. >> reporter: lieutenant colonel todd thomson served two tours in iraq. he died in 2015. >> i'm jeff. nice to meet you. ansley. >> reporter: we met the thomson girls here at arlington cemetery's section 60, the final resting place for the men and women who died in iraq and isn. , ansley.it >> when you come here, you think back at the funeral and when was the last time you said good-bye. >> reporter: there are more than

5,000 gold star kids around the country, grieving the death of a parent, sibling, or close relative. many of them come together each year at the good grief camp, run by taps, the tragedy assistance program for survivors. >> so when we help others, we feel bette better. >> reporter: here they find empathy from legacy mentors, kids who have experienced the rerkably helng os uno yot telltree foryou.>> repod daddloveim in. >> reporter: her mentor is allison loftis, a relative newcomer to the camp. >> that's my daddy. >> reporter: her late father, lieutenant colonel john loftis, was trying to help the afghan people when he was killed in 2012 by a local police officer. >> he was actually given a name in pashto. it was ehsan, which means the quality of being generous. when he died, people said that afghanistan lost its best

friend. >> reporter: she still has the letters he wrote her before he died. in them he explained his sense of service. >> "if i had stayed home and not volunteered to go, i would have always wondered what i could have contributed." >> reporter: corbin cabrera first attended the grief camp when he was 15, after losing his dad, lieutenant colonel david cabrera, in a suicide bombing attack. >> i was lucky enough to have a mentor who could get through to me in a way that helped me tremendously. how's it going? >> good. >> reporter: corbin is now brinly's mentor. >> does corbin help make you less sad? >> yes. t one in. >> at the end of the day when i can help someone else not have to go through some of the stuff i went through before i came to taps means the world to me. >> i think you're doing that with brinly. >> that's the goal. we can only hope. >> reporter: for these gold star kids grief and pride come in equal measure. >> he'd be so proud of you.

>> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." welcome to the "overnight news." i'm paula reid. americans celebrated the 4th of july in the traditional american fashion, with parties and parades, barbecues and concerts, fireworks and other festivities from sea to shining sea. but tens of millions of americans couldn't enjoy any of that because of the weather. deadly heat stretched from the desert southwest all the way through new england and now a string of powerful thunderstorms are rumbling out of the south. jericka duncan reports. >> reporter: in rhode island at least 40 people were transported to a field hospital after they were overwhelmed by the high temperature during their annual parade. emergency medical chief tom lawrence. >> ivs. we have a misting tent and a

cooling tub so we can soak people that are really hot, can be immersed in cold water. >> reporter: due to the excessive heat runners in minneapolis had to settle for a three-mile race on the 4th after organizers shortened what was supposed to be a 13-mile half marathon. >> we have to have the safety of the runners in mind first and foremost. >> reporter: more than 100 million americans from texas to maine are under a heat advisory with high temperatures hovering above 90 degrees. the hot weather is driving thousands to nearby beaches and local pools to cool off. >> the past three days we've been coming to this pool close -- it's like 96 degrees outside. >> reporter: the extreme heat is also causing problems for man's best friend. in rocky hill, connecticut la two daysor heat stroke. >> if it's too hot for you, it's probably too hot for your pets. >> reporter: the heat wave is expected to break later this week in the midwest and the

northeast. but bianna, it could be moving out west. meteorologists are predicting triple-digit temperatures there starting early as this friday. a lot of communities in the sweltering west canceled their 4th of july fireworks out of fear the pyrotechnics could cause wildfires. dozens of fires are already burning out of control. john blackstone reports. >> reporter: firefighting helicopters flew into thick smoke today, battling a massive wildfire that's burned more than 80,000 acres in three rural counties west of sacramento. nearly 3,000 firefighters have lighting backfires and building a containment line. in an effort to keep the flames at bay. the wildfire is threatening more than 1,000 homes and buildings. hundreds of residents were told ev >> it's a little nerve-wracking because grass fires move so fast. >> reporter: the fear now is that this fire could overtake a mountain highway that's used by travelers heading to nearby lake

berryessa, a popular holiday destination. intense smoke has already snuffed out 4th of july celebrations here. >> we have had zero launches, zero rentals, zero rusts. >> reporter: wildfires also continue to rage in colorado, where the spring fire alone has devoured an area larger than the city of detroit, as well as destroying more than 100 homes. and in utah officials ordered more residents to leave as firefighters struggled to contain fast-moving flames east of salt lake city. back here in california's yolo county chris turkovich worries about his family vineyard. >> the grapes will actually absorb some of that smoke and that's a big rob.r: penvy e is bin mo another challenge for firefighters who in this fire season are already battling many challenges. some 2.5 million acres across the country have already burned. that's well above the national average for this time of year. navy s.e.a.l.s continue to aid in the rescue of 12 young

soccer players and their coach, trapped in a flooded cave in thailand. the commander of the rescue effort says the boys cannot be all rescued at the same time. ben tracy brings us up to date. >> reporter: new video of the young boys from inside the cave shows them flashing peace signs and smiling. one by one they look at the camera and state that they are in good health. but outside the cave rescuers are struggling to come up with a plan to bring the boys out safely. the local governor says the children are being given a crash course in swimming. they have tried on dive mass thakz would allow them to breathe underwater if rescuers cacide tarar d yore ia black environment, which could potentially kill you inside a cave, it's not a good environment to learn in. >> reporter: so the plan for now is this. they are trying to furiously pump as much water out of this cave as possible. the hope is that they bring the water level down far enough.

it'll be more safe for the kids to either try to swim out or better yet they could wade or walk out. >> reporter: rescue crews had been staging rehearsals for how they would remove the boys by ambulance from the scene after they escape the cave. meanwhile, on wednesday a revered monk led prayers at the site for family and friends of the trapped children. they are worried about the cave flooding again this weekend when monsoon rains are supposed to return. so they have now found two places where rain was entering the cave and they've blocked those up. a fertility clinic outside cleveland is defending itself from lawsuits after a freezer malfunctioned and destroyed more than 4,000 eggs and embryos. in clints were aware of the risks involved with storing their material. dr. tara narula reports. >> reporter: since the incident university hospital says it's taken significant steps to enhance operations and equipment at its fertility center including increased staffing and

additional training. still, for some patients the changes come too late. >> at that time i wasn't really thinking about kids and i wasn't trying to have kids. so it just gave me hope. >> reporter: sierra matthews was just 19 years old when she decided to freeze her eggs at university hospitals. it was 2014, and she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. she was one of hundreds of women who found out in march of this year that her eggs were destroyed when a cryo-preservation system like this one malfunctioned. >> i felt like i had to go back to a really traumatizing time in my life, when i really felt lik really no one of my age going through something like that. >> reporter: following the incident, university hospital's ceo tom zenty released this video statement. >> i can't say it any more plainly. we failed our fertility clinic patients. we are sorry. i am sorry. >> reporter: this week in response to a lawsuit university hospital said women and families signed con sentd forms, writing

in court documents, "plaintiffs were fully advised of the material risks, benefits, and alternatives available for treatment and thereafter voluntarily assumed and consented to those risks." >> our clients are outraged. >> reporter: tom merriman represents more than 200 clients including sierra matthews, who lost their eggs or embryos at the clinic. >> you can't have it both ways. you can't go on national tv and tell the world that you're sorry and that you're taking responsibility and then send an army of lawyers into a courthouse when people aren't paying attention and file answers where you deny all responsibility. >> in a statement the hospital says it, quot answers to the complaints as required by court rules and says, quote, our fertility center patients trusted us for their care, and we know we need to regain t trust. >> it's something very trajic and heartbreaking we're all going through. so i just think it's important for me to use my voice to stand up for the people that either can't or just don't have

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>> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." on this 4th of july holiday we're honoring american heroes of years past. this morning second lieutenant john edwards james jr. it took 75 years and the determination of his daughter for james to finally receive his commission. jericka duncan has this story. >> this is me. >> reporter: 98-year-old john edward james jr. still remembers the day he was drafted by the united states military in 1941. he was just 21 years old. country is in his dna. b camp.> james says he comes from a lg line of men who worked with or served in the military dating back to the late 1700s. daughtes been documenting her family's history for years. >> this means so much to my father.

because of his ancestry. serving in the military. >> reporter: growing up, lane says she knew never to ask her dad about his service. >> when we used to attempt to ask pop about the war, my mother would always say that's very painful for him, don't ask him about that. so we never did. >> reporter: but in 2001, while cleaning out her father's closet at his philadelphia home, she came across this picture. dated 1942 in fort bening, north carolina, it shows james with over 200 other men who graduated from officer candidate school. james later explained to his daughter that shortly after that picture was taken he was denied the commission and title as second lieutenant and stayed a private. his superior broke the news. >> they took me into the office and that's when he said, you're being transferred. i'm not going to let you have your bars. and said go get your material, go get your stuff, and come back. and they had a jeep and they

just took me, took me out and took me where i was supposed to go. >> when he said that you would not have your bars, that means you wouldn't become second lieutenant. >> i wouldn't become a second lieutenant. >> even though you did the training. >> even though i finished the training. you're really brokenhearted to hear that. but what can you do? you just have to go. >> why do you think they didn't want to recognize you as second lieutenant back then? >> i don't know. i guess they just didn't want too many blacks as officers. i don't know what else. maybe they had their quota. who knows? >> did you ever ask why? >> no. who are you going to ask? you don't go by what you want to do or what you think. you know, you have to follow orders. the g said rur , y jump eporter: daughter lhast 2015, 14 years after finding the picture. that friend encouraged her to file what's called a dd-149 application, used to correct a military record.

>> so you start the process in 2015, but it wasn't easy. >> no, it wasn't. he was denied twice. >> fire broke out a little after midnight. >> reporter: the first time government officials said the records had been burned in a 1973 fire that destroyed upwards of 18 million official military personnel files. and when marianne submitted the picture she found the government said it wasn't enough proof. but then an aide to pennsylvania senator bob casey sent an inquiry to the national letter stating it found pay records and morning reports proving james was a student of an oicer candidate school and therefore should have been commissioned as a second lieutenant. lane remembers calling her father after returning from a speaking engagement overseas. >> yes, i was still on the plane, and i called my father, and i said, we just landed, i'm going to stop by your home before i go to my home. my father said, you can refer to

me as second lieutenant john edward james jr. and he said, i heard from senator casey's office and the government is going to give me my commission. and i started hollering on the plane. i couldn't believe it. you know, i was so happy, i couldn't get here fast enough. >> when you think back to that time, 1942, are you surprised that he didn't get that title? >> well, i guess we're not surprised in the light of history because we now know a lot more about how even in the military. e and advocated strong enough for him to have this commission. >> reporter: fast forward to june. standing tall with his right hand up, the 98-year-old who waited over 75 years for this moment was officially sworn in at the museum of the american revolution in philadelphia as

second lieutenant john edward james jr. >> things aren't per country always, but to be able to sort of right this wrong, what message does this send? >> i think it's the greatest country in the world. that's why everybody love america. >> reporter: jericka duncan, philadelphia.

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there's a new program that helps america's wounded warriors find their voices on one of the nation's biggest stages. jan crawford has this story of music healing broken souls. ♪ >> reporter: backstage at nashville's grand ole opry is always a night to remember. >> this is where josh, you come in here. ♪ >> reporter: but for retired army sergeant joshua gertz it's also a night he never thought he'd live to see. >> i feel like i won some kind of vip sweepstakes and i get to just be up there and watch. >> reporter: his long road to country music's hallowed hall started in september 2003, when he was finishing up his tour of duty in iraq. >> it was my last night in country. roadside bomb went off right next to my truck. >> reporter: he suffered a traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. but back home with his wife and

two children in upstate new york the psychological injuries became far worse. >> i just felt like a burden. it was like i walked in the room and it sucked the life out of that room. everyone got quiet. >> and you thought they would be better off without you? >> yeah. >> you attempted suicide. >> yeah. i knew when i was going to do it again. >> did you have a specific date or -- >> yeah. >> what was the date? >> november 7th. >> why was that? >> that's the day my friend was killed. >> reporter: that friend, army private first class thomas falk, died in a car accident a few years before the bombing. the two met in bas tg reike bers. ♪ s tw lifelines, a love of the harmonica and his wife lisa, who enrolled him in a music program for veterans. >> it's quite a view. >> it's about 100 acres here. >> reporter: darden smith and mary judd co-founded songwriting

with soldiers just over five years ago. they bring together vets and professional musicians at retreats like this one in northern virginia. ♪ don't you know it ain't free >> it's not songwriting for soldiers, not o'songwriting about soldiers. writing with. the collaboration, that is the key. >> reporter: the events are equal parts group therapy, writing workshops, and jam sessions. ♪ the vets share their feelings and experiences. the musicians help craft them into a song. >> the song is gigantic. it's so powerful. and they have it forever. and they see other people hear their song, and they see the other people tearing up or sing or laughing. they feel like their song is actually serving other people. ♪ sandy with an i [ applause ] >> reporter: at his first retreat in 2015 gertz connected with folk singer-songwriter mary

gaucher. >> and i looked out the window as the veterans were starting to arrive and i saw josh and lisa and i just see the pain. and i'm looking out my window, and my first thought was he's mine. i have to write with that guy. >> what did you see that made you think i want to write -- >> the suffering. it's almost like a red hot fireball was inside of him. and i knew that the song could take that red hot fireball and make it tangible and we could toss it out into the group and it would not only take some of the infection out oft would give courage to the group and be useful for other people. >> your pain is like medicine for other people. >> i think so. >> and you never thought of it like that. >> no. not at all. whatever it is, if it can help one other person, it's worth it. ♪ but it's not up to me >> reporter: the newly formed duo talked until the song became clear. >> there was one preeminent thing that really was bringing

him to his knees. and that was the one of the death of his best friend. >> i think the first line is kind of where you earned my trust. you know, she's trying to get the story. i'm like, i don't know, what comes to mind? i don't know. who the hell knows? and she said good. and you wrote down that first line. ♪ looking back now ♪ who the hell knows >> i was like, it's that easy? >> yeah. >> that's what i thought. like this is kind of cool. ♪ but it's not up to me ♪ who dies and who carries on >> if the music's right, it acts like a magnet, it just pulls that story. >> all of that stuff that i held in and was so afraid to let out just poured out. >> reporter: it poured into the song "still on the ride," now one of 11 on gauthier's new album, all co-written by songwriter with soldiers vets. and that album brings gertz

here, to the stage of the grand ole opry. >> this is retired army sergeant joshua gertz. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ looking back now ♪ who the hell knows ♪ where the soul of a dead soldier goes ♪ ♪ my guardian angel ♪ maybe it's you ♪ my and my guardian angel ♪ we're still on the ride ♪ >> the power of songwriting with soldiers to me is mirrored in the fact that josh gertz is with us. it's the proof right there that it works because it's civilians and military communities changing.

♪ >> i mean, on the surface you two cop nuld not be more differ. >> i know. >> so what does that say? >> that we need to get the hell away from the surface. >> so now when i think about my friend i think about playing the opry with mary and i think about that smile and my new family. [ cheers and applause ] >> they're standing up. >> reporter: jan crawford, nashville. >> there's a happy coda to that tune. since jan shot the story, josh gertz has been able to get out of his wheelchair for the first time in seven years. his wife says it was the constant visits to a chiropractor or maybe it could be the healing power of music. either way, the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

we end this half hour with the story of another wounded warrior. his injuries helped him discover a talent he never knew he had. david martin paints the portrait of an artist. >> reporter: peter damon turns out about 30 paintings a year and sells them for between $250 and $1,500. that's not enough to make ends meet. but it has made him whole again. >> painting with my left hook. >> reporter: after he lost both arms in iraq. >> having this skill that even babel-bodied people find difficult was something that really sort of gave me a feel fit in more in the world. >> reporter: he was an army helicopter mechanic working on a landing gear in 2003 when pressurized gas blew it apart, killing one soldier and gravely injuring him. >> i lost my right arm above the elbow, about three inches above the elbow, and my left about six inches below. >> reporter: he was a

blue-collar guy who had been an electrician before he joined the army. >> how am i going to make a living and take care of my family? i'd always worked with my hands. >> reporter: then with a simple little drawing a new future opened up. >> well, that was done very -- right after i lost my arms while i was still at walter reed. >> what was it like discovering that you had this way out? >> it was kind of miraculous in a way. something was telling me to focus on this and everything will be all right. >> reporter: notice, he doesn't have a state-of-the-art prosthetic arm. just a plain old hook, which he finds works best. >> i'm still struck by your prosthetic, which seems like a fairly crude deceouro with it. >> it may be crude, but it's some of the best technology i think is out there. this just feels more like it's a part of me. >> reporter: he and his wife jan run an art gallery in a small new england town where he showcases the work of local artis artists.

with his disability check from the va he can afford to be a starving artist. >> it had a lot of the elements that i like to paint. >> reporter: he is a man doing what he wants with his life. most people who saw you on the street would say boy, that guy got a tough break. >> yeah. i don't see it that way. suffering an injury like this sort of has a way of making you focus on what's important in life. >> late winter, sunshine. >> reporter: he believes his best work is still ahead of him. but wi depictions of simple american scenes, peter damon has already produced his most extraordinary work. david martin, cbs news, at the true grit gallery in middleboro, massachusetts. that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you the news continues. for others check back with us a little later for the morning news and of course "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new from the broadcast center in new york city i'm paula reid.

captioning funded by cbs it's thursday, july 5th, 2018. this is the "cbs morning news." a protester climbs onto the statue of liberty on independence day. what prompted the high drama standoff. extreme weather, massive wildfires out west, flash flooding in the south, and the sweltering heat wave across the country. and how america celebrated independence day coast to coast. good morning from the io