more than two dozen are confirmed dead in california. thousands of homes are wiped out in the most destructive wildfire in the state's history. the dangerous weather fueling the firestorms is not letting up. also tonight, america's endless elections. still no decisions in major races in arizona and georgia-- and in florida, where recounts are now underway. >> never been a recount that's changed in florida or any or state-- any sort of win like that. >> morgan: president trump, in paris, gets lectured on the dangers of nationalism. online shoppers in china shatter records in a 24-hour, $30

billion shopping spree. and, bells toll-- and wreaths are laid honoring american veterans-- and all who died 100 years ago in the first world war. >> hi everyone and thanks a lot for joining us. i'm demarco morgan. the combination of powerful winds and brittle trees and shrubs whipped up another day of blowtorch conditions in the california fire zones. 250 people have been chased from their homes. the death toll has jumped to at least 25 with all but two of the fatalities in northern california. a wildfire there has wiped out more than 6400 homes. it's the most destructive fire in the state's history. and we have team of correspondents covering california's fire emergency-- beginning in the north, with mireya villarreal. >> reporter: the battleground today for firefighters in butte

county is to force the flames north, away from the few homes still standing. more than 109,000 acres have been scorched, leaving the landscape dangerous and filled with tragedy. >> reporter: sheriff kory honea says more than 100 people are still unaccounted for. the u.s. department of justice's mobile d.n.a. lab has been brought in to help identify human remains burned beyond recognition. evacuation centers are at capacity, because more than 6,000 homes are in ashes. >> my parents lost their house, in-laws lost their house, my wife's grandpa and uncle lost their house, and then my sister-in-law-- so there's five households that are staying in the house together. >> reporter: jake olsen's staying with a friend, who returned with him to his home to search for the wedding ring his wife left behind. >> there it is. it's just amazing. uh-- i just didn't think that we were going to find it, but we

had to try. >> reporter: it's a small miracle beneath a pile of ashes. firefighters also had a break overnight when the wind died down, but now changing conditions could pose an imminent threat. >> so we're expecting big winds tonight. and we're going to try to get ahead of it and put everything out that we can. >> reporter: the red flag warning in place right now will expire on monday morning. so that is a good thing. but take a look around me. this is one of the only places you can get groceries in town. and this entire shopping center, it is gone-- burned to the ground from front to end. everything that makes a city a city is now gone in this town. we're talking about businesses, churches, gas stations. there is no cell service in town, so while conditions might be more favorable to fight the fire, the city of paradise is far from being back to normal. demarco. >> and the danger is far from over. mireya villarreal, thank you. outside los angeles, two fires are threatening thousands of homes. jamie yuccas is there.

>> reporter: clouds of thik black smoke have engulfed the picturesque california hillsides. santa ana wind gusts started to pick up in southern california-- putting people near the woolsey fire on edge. more than 83,000 acres have burned, and at least 170 homes were wiped out. matt armbruster survived the fire. we met him friday, when he told us he and his dog laid in a creek to stay safe. >> and this was all burning. >> reporter: we met back up with him today. you're still nervous. >> yes i am. >> reporter: he was told to evacuate, but didn't. then, when the fire looked like it was coming for his home, he panicked and headed to a nearby creek. >> this brush here is completely filled up high. >> reporter: he stayed here for almost two hours as the fire burned around him. did you think you were going to die? >> i thought-- for sure. >> this is the concern. one small hot spots can turn

into a much larger blaze. >> this is a wind-driven event, and the winds are coming back just as we said. >> reporter: john benedict is with the los angeles county sheriff's department. >> i been evacuated twice, so i totally understand the -- just the heartache and the stress that's involved in the evacuation process. >> reporter: while firefighters battled on the front lines, they also found themselves fighting a twitter war with the president, who blamed forest mismanagement. >> reporter: the president of the association of california professional firefighters fired back, calling president trump's message "ill-informed, ill-timed, and demeaning to those who are suffering." >> reporter: armbruster was reluctant to talk to us, because not only did he survive, but so did his house, when many here are returning to scenes like this. >> thank you. lx night in america dragged into the weekend. in a number of states, they're still waiting for results. in others, they're moving on with recounts and run-offs. here's tony dokoupil. >> reporter: five days after the

midterm elections, officials in arizona are counting mail-in ballots in its u.s. senate race. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: where democrat kyrsten sinema opened up a lead saturday night over republican rival martha mcsally. mississippi's u.s. senate contest will end with a post-thanksgiving run-off election between republican cindy hyde-smith and democrat mike espy. military and provisional ballots in the georgia governor's election are still being counted. democrat stacey abrams is refusing to concede in the race against republican brian kemp. >> we did not need to sit down and take the trump agenda. >> reporter: democrat harley rouda, a real estate executive, declared victory against 15-term pro-russia republican dana rohrabacher in their california house race. cbs news has not yet projected that race. >> we have boxes of votes just appearing out of nowhere. >> reporter: the trump administration is alleging fraud in florida. state election officials are

reassuring voters, while ordering machine recounts of the governor's race and the u.s. senate race. senate republicans, like the re-elected ted cruz, are in lockstep. >> any time you have a recount, you have an invitation for people to ah-- to-- to violate the law and try to advance their partisans. >> reporter: republican governor rick scott's u.s. senate race is under review. and he's accusing his opponent of election fraud. >> senator nelson is clearly trying to try and commit fraud to try to win this election, that's all this is. >> the senator himself is committing fraud? >> well, it's his team. somehow they came up with 93,000 votes afterwards-- how did they, chris, how did they do it? >> reporter: democrat chuck schumer, who sits on the senate rules committee, which oversees federal elections-- threw cold water on scott's accusation. >> saying it's going too slowly is one thing. saying you have concerns about how legitimate the count is-- is another. >> reporter: this midterm brought the biggest democratic

gain in the house since the post-watergate election of 1974. but demarco, the senate will remain in republican hands. president trump in paris was >> thank you for that report.

this is "cbs overnight news." president trump in paris was lectured by a key ally about the dangers of nationalists and had a brief encount er with vladimi putin. weijia jiang is there. >> reporter: at the arc de triomphe in paris, dozens of world leaders commemorated the end of world war i, exactly 100 years ago. french president emmanuel macron seemed to target president trump, who recently declared himself a nationalist. >> translator: patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism.

nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. >> reporter: the president has had a rocky relationship with european allies, while warming up to adversaries like russian president vladimir putin. the two shook hands and attended a luncheon. afterward, putin said they spoke, but did not have a formal meeting as previously planned. later, mr. trump visited a cemetery where american soldiers are buried. >> the american and french patriots of world war i embody the timeless virtues of our two republics. >> reporter: president trump left paris for washington, where he faces questions about acting attorney general, matt whitaker. whitaker will oversee special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election. >> if he stays there, he will create a constitutional crisis by inhibiting mueller or firing mueller. so, congress has to act.

>> reporter: top congressional democrats sent a new letter to the chief ethics official at the department of justice, demanding whitaker recuse himself from the probe, because he has publicly criticized it. on "face the nation," republican senator lindsey graham said there's no need. >> i don't think he has to recuse himself. i'm confident that mr. mueller will be allowed to do his job without interference. >> reporter: democrats and even some republicans are calling for legislation to put restrictions on president trump's ability to fire mueller. but texas senator ted cruz says that would be unconstitutional. demarco? >> coming up next, in one of the first state's to legalize recreational marijuana, teens are taking part in an educational program you could call "weed 101."

>> michigan last week became the tenth state to approve recreational marijuana. missouri and utah legalized medical marijuana. and colorado was among the first states to legalize pot smoking. last year, denver brought in nearly $45 million in taxes from pot sales. more than $3.6 million of that will go to a new marijuana awareness program for teenagers. here's barry petersen. >> false! >> reporter: it's like jeopardy for juveniles, and the topic is pot. this slickly-produced game show

is shown where teens get their information-- on social media. >> false. >> that is correct! >> reporter: and the same quiz-show format plays out in classes across the city. >> what percentage of denver youth see regular marijuana use as a risky behavior? >> reporter: like vince trujillo's north high school classroom. >> the only two teams to get it right were these two teams. >> reporter: and learning more is making kids use marijuana less, says ashley kilroy, who runs the pot education program for the city. so, what are the numbers showing in terms of teen use with teenagers in denver? >> the numbers are showing that youth has dropped significantly. >> reporter: the city's point of pride is a survey showing the number of kids who have reported using used pot in the last 30 days dropped from 26% to less than 21% over the last two years. >> that means that 79% of your friends aren't using marijuana. that using marijuana is not the

social norm. >> reporter: but from the students, we got a big dose of teenage doubt about the program -- that the adults aren't trusting kids with all the facts, says junior isaiah diaz. >> there's obviously medical benefits to it, otherwise it wouldn't be legal. >> reporter: so, it doesn't seem fair or balanced. >> it's not properly balanced. >> reporter: hana elghoul is a senior. >> i think they are afraid to tell us the good side, because they're afraid they might influence the way we think. >> reporter: encourage. >> yeah, they might encourage us to use it. >> reporter: it's a tough call for teachers like trujillo. if you were allowed to give more information not just about the bad-- would that make you more credible, do you think, in the eyes of these teenagers? >> yeah, because i think at the end of the day, they want the whole truth. so if you were able to bring both sides, i think more students would be in tune with that. >> reporter: in truth, the

program is a lot like marijuana laws in america: a work in progress. but so far, it's hitting the key goal it set: persuading more and more kids to give pot a pass. >> up next the online shopping event that just set an incredible new record. know what turns me on? my better half, hors d oeuvres and bubbly. and when i really want to take it up a notch we use k-y yours & mine. tingling for me, warming for him. wow! this holiday season get what you want

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an autopsy this weekend confirmed that the gunman who killed 12 people this week at a country bar in thousand oaks, california, died from a self-inflicted gunshot. the 28-year-old ex-marine's motive for the attack is still not known. today is veterans day, where we honor the sacrifices of those who have served in the u.s. armed forces. the 65th annual wreath-laying ceremony was held today at the tomb of the unknown soldier in the arlington national cemetery. with president trump overseas, veterans affairs secretary robert wilkie did the honors. and today was "singles day" in china. it's an online shopping event bigger than black friday and cyber monday combined. it's called "singles day," because it's held every year on november 11th, or 11/11. well, shoppers rang up a record $30 billion in sales in 24 hours. $1 billion in purchases were

made in the first 90 seconds. well, still ahead, long before they became n.f.l. teammates, these twin brothers made a pact to stick together no matter what. their story is next.

>> shaquem and shaquill griffin share much more than a last name. the twin brothers are now both on the seattle seahawks. sharyn alfonsi has their remarkable story tonight on "60 minutes." >> the twins became high school football stars: shaquill with finesse, shaquem with the speed of a running back and a ferociousness that earned him the nickname "beast." >> 'quem would tackle you on top of the gatorade and give you a cup. >> but when college scouts came calling, they only offered a football scholarship to shaquill. what those coaches didn't know is that shaquill wasn't going anywhere without shaquem. the twins had made a pact to stay together. >> when did this happen? how old were you? >> we probably had to be, like, eight. >> okay, but eight-year-olds say a lot of things and don't mean it. >> but we-- we made every word

of it. >> that-- that made perfect sense when you were eight years old. but the offers start coming in. and what did-- you wanted to go to miami. is that right? >> yeah. >> that was the dream? >> uh-huh. >> and? >> i remember doing the interview, and i was talking about, you know, "just don't offer me. if you don't offer my brother, don't offer me. because i'm not leaving him." >> why? why wouldn't you leave without him? >> i don't know. i think i wouldn't be the same if i went alone. >> and he was offered florida state, miami-- >> l.s.u. >> l.s.u. the top schools in the country. and shaquem was like, "look, man, go ahead. i'll be all right." and 'quill said, "no, we made a pact. we promised each other. nothing will stop us. nobody will interfere in what we want. and that's to be together." >> it was the university of central florida that gave the griffins what they wanted: twin scholarships. >> what a fascinating story. when we return: the stunning torchlight tribute to those lost in world war i. denny's super slam is just $6.99.

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buttermilk or pumpkin pancakes. ♪ pumpkin pancakes are you out of your mind? ♪ still very much out of our minds. denny's $6.99 super slam. upgrade to new pumpkin pancakes. >> the british royal family attended an armistice day service today at westminster abbey. and another dazzling ceremony was held in london last week honoring those lost in what was supposed to be the "war to end all wars." mark phillips takes us there. >> reporter: a bugler plays the last post on the tower of london wall. a flame appears, carried by one of the tower's ceremonial beefeater guards. one flame becomes two. then, three. civilian volunteers begin lighting others. first, tens, then hundreds, then thousands. until a river of fire surrounds

the ancient tower. 10,000 lights fill the dry moat, a tribute to the hundreds of thousands who fell in a war that ended a century ago. >> the flames, to me, represent both the kind of spirit and the energy of all those lost men, but also the hope of peace. >> reporter: flickering flames that represent something else, too, says the tribute's designer, tom piper. >> but also how fragile peace is and how we have to safeguard our democracy, even now. >> reporter: the commemoration has a soundtrack of powerful poetry that speaks of love and death, written by a long forgotten american. mary borden was a wealthy chicago socialite who had moved to england with her british husband. when the first world war broke out, she set up and worked at a field hospital on the frontlines.

there meeting a british officer, who would become her second husband, and to whom she wrote the words that now compliment the flames. >> "you would not falter at the last, my friend, nor put to shame your clear courageous mind under the menace of the desolate end." >> reporter: mira calix is the sound artist who discovered mary borden's poems. >> i'm totally in awe of this woman. i'm so glad the world has sort of woken up to her a little bit, because too often female artists seem to vanish from history. >> reporter: now-- like those she wrote about-- mary borden is again part of the history of that terrible time. mark phillips, london. >> we'll never forget. that's the "cbs weekend news" for this sunday. you can check back with us later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from the broadcasten center in new york city, i'm demarco morgan.

hi, everyone, welcome to "cbs overnight news." the combination of winds whipped up another day of blow torch conditions in the fire zones. 250,000 people have been chased from their homes by two large fires in southern california. the death toll jumped to 25 with all but two of the fatalities in northern california. a wildfire there has wiped out more than 6400 homes. it's the most destructive fire in the state's history. we have a team of correspondents covering the fire emergency

beginning in the north. >> the battleground for firefighters is to force the flames north away from the few homes still standing. more than 109,000 acres have been scorched, leaving the landscape dangerous and filled with tragedy. >> 14 additional bodies were loektsed which brings the total number to 23. >> reporter: sheriff kory honea says more than 100 people are still unaccounted for. the u.s. department of justice's mobile d.n.a. lab has been brought in to help identify human remains burned beyond recognition. vascular wait evacuation centers are at capacity, because more than 6,000 homes are in ashes. >> my parents lost their house, in-laws lost their house, my wife's grandpa and uncle lost their house, and then my sister-in-law -- so there's five households that are staying in the house together. >> reporter: jake olsen's staying with a friend, who returned with him to his home to search for the wedding ring his wife left behind.

>> there it is. it's just amazing. uh-- i just didn't think that we were going to find it, but we had to try. >> reporter: it's a small miracle beneath a pile of ashes. firefighters also had a break overnight when the wind died down, but now changing conditions could pose an imminent threat. >> so we're expecting big winds tonight. and we're going to try to get ahead of it and put everything out that we can. >> reporter: the red flag warning in place right now will expire on monday morning. so that is a good thing. but take a look around me. this is one of the only places you can get groceries in town. and this entire shopping center, it is gone -- burned to the ground from front to end. everything that makes a city a city is now gone in this town. we're talking about businesses, churches, gas stations. there is no cell service in town, so while conditions might be more favorable to fight the fire, the city of paradise is far from being back to normal. demarco. >> and the danger is far from over. mireya villarreal, thank you. outside los angeles, two fires are threatening thousands

of homes. jamie yuccas is there. >> reporter: clouds of thick black smoke have engulfed the picturesque california hillsides. santa ana wind gusts started to pick up in southern california-- putting people near the woolsey fire on edge. more than 83,000 acres have burned, and at least 170 homes were wiped out. matt armbruster survived the fire. we met him friday, when he told us he and his dog laid in a creek to stay safe. >> and this was all burning. >> reporter: we met back up with him today. you're still nervous. >> yes i am. >> reporter: he was told to evacuate, but didn't. then, when the fire looked like it was coming for his home, he panicked and headed to a nearby creek. >> this brush here is completely filled up high. >> reporter: he stayed here for almost two hours as the fire burned around him. did you think you were going to die? >> i thought-- for sure. >> this is the concern.

in these high winds, just one small hot spot can turn into a much larger blaze. >> this is a wind-driven event, and the winds are coming back just as we said. so everybody needs to remain diligent still. >> reporter: john benedict is with the los angeles county sheriff's department. >> i been evacuated twice, so i totally understand the -- just the heartache and the stress that's involved in the evacuation process. >> reporter: while firefighters battled on the front lines, they also found themselves fighting a twitter war with the president, who blamed forest mismanagement. >> reporter: the president of the association of california professional firefighters fired back, calling president trump's message "ill-informed, ill-timed, and demeaning to those who are suffering." >> reporter: armbruster was reluctant to talk to us, because not only did he survive, but so did his house, when many here are returning to scenes like this. >> morgan: let's get the latest now on the weather conditions fueling the fires. julie watts is at our cbs san francisco station, kpix, julie?

>> yeah, demarco, you know those strong offshore santa ana winds have returned. the red flag warning has been extended through tuesday for ventura and los angeles county. looking at wind guests up to 60mph, with a low humidity creating critical fire weather conditions. overnight we anticipate wind gusts in the area in woolsey fires, and winds 20 to 30mph with better news up north at the camp fire burning near paradise. up here, we're looking at wind speeds decreasing. so, the national weather service has allowed that red flag warning to expire today. still, critical fire weather does continue, along with unhealthy air quality, and thick-smoke being carried across the state. demarco. >> morgan: julie watts, thank you. "cbs evening news" anchor jeff glor will report from the southern california fire zone-- beginning monday on "cbs this morning." election night in america dragged into the weekend. in a number of states, they're still waiting for results. in others, they're moving on with recounts and run-offs.

here's tony dokoupil. >> reporter: five days after the midterm elections, officials in arizona are counting mail-in ballots in its u.s. senate race. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: where democrat kyrsten sinema opened up a lead saturday night over republican rival martha mcsally. mississippi's u.s. senate contest will end with a post-thanksgiving run-off election between republican cindy hyde-smith and democrat mike espy. military and provisional ballots in the georgia governor's election are still being counted. democrat stacey abrams is refusing to concede in the race against republican brian kemp. >> we did not need to sit down and take the trump agenda. >> reporter: democrat harley rouda, a real estate executive, declared victory against 15-term pro-russia republican dana rohrabacher in their california house race. cbs news has not yet projected that race. >> we have boxes of votes just appearing out of nowhere. >> reporter: the trump administration is alleging fraud in florida. state election officials are reassuring voters, while

ordering machine recounts of the governor's race and the u.s. senate race. senate republicans, like the re-elected ted cruz, are in lockstep. >> any time you have a recount, you have an invitation for people to ah-- to-- to violate the law and try to advance their partisans. >> reporter: republican governor rick scott's u.s. senate race is under review. and he's accusing his opponent of election fraud. >> senator nelson is clearly to try to win this election, that's all this is. >> the senator himself is committing fraud? >> well, it's his team. somehow they came up with 93,000 votes afterwards. how did they, chris, how did they do it? >> reporter: democrat chuck schumer, who sits on the senate rules committee, which oversees federal elections, threw cold water on scott's accusation. >> saying it's going too slowly is one thing. saying you have concerns about

how legitimate the count is is another. >> reporter: this midterm brought the biggest democratic gain in the house since the post-watergate election of 1974. but demarco, the senate will but demarco, the senate will remain in republican hands. once i started looking for it was a no-brainer. i switched to geico and saved hundreds. that's a win. but it's not the only reason i switched. the geico app makes it easy to manage my policy. i can pay my bill, add a new driver, or even file a claim. woo, hey now! that's a win-win. thank you! switch to geico®. it's a win-win. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ heartburn, ♪ indigestion, ♪ upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. ♪nausea, heartburn, ♪ indigestion, upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... try pepto with ultra coating. know what turns me on? my better half, hors d oeuvres and bubbly.

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most of the the focus of last tuesday's midterms was on the races for the house and senate, but oters in a dozen states considered ballot questions and some of those got a strong push from a dedicated team of professional football players. >> it's up to us to stay foc

focused. that's what this all started from. that's what we'll continue to fight about. >> philadelphia eagles safety malcolm jenkins has been fighting for change. two years ago he formed an alliance of players to go to the state capital. >> we're changing minds as we go while we educate our fan base. >> reporter: former nfl player anquan boldin helped create the players coalition. he and ex-nba coach stan van gudy supported measure four to restore voting rights to felons who have served their time. >> we have done a lot of work over the past year to try to get away from what we call anthem protests and try to focus on the issues. voting rights is definitely one of those issues. >> amendment four needed 60% support to pass on election day. it got more than 63%. as a result, about 1.5 million

people will have the right to vote in florida's next election. the players coalition also advocated for amendment 2 in louisiana which requires unanimous jury verdicts to convict people charged with felonies. in michigan voters supported proposal 2, it allows a redistricting commission to draw voter maps, not politicians or lobbyists. proposal 3 also passed allowing automatic and same day voter registration. this past off season, the players coalition including chris long, successfully lobbied for criminal justice reform bills in three states. >> if we stuck to sports, the world would be a lot less productive. >> once we were able to lend our platform, our voices and be able to sit down with legislators, it made a big difference. >> is all you're doing good for the game of football? >> not my concern. we talk about it. football provides a livelihood for not only us, but the other 2,000 players that are in the

league and those to come. so we never want to do anything that's going to damage the game. but at the end of the day, the lives of everyday americans are more important. thousands of u.s. soldiers spent veterans day along the border of mexico. president trump ordered them there to intercept what he calls an invasion of mite grans walking up through mexico. >> reporter: we were with the troops all day yesterday as they put up the barbed wire. if you look over my shoulder, you'll see the big border wall chrks is why some locals are questioning what will the barrier do that agents and the wall can't? in less than a week, the u.s. mi military turned nearly 40 acres of barren land in the small border town in texas into a fully operational military base. captain lauren helps run it. >> what it takes is teamwork to make something like this run. >> reporter: more than 600 soldiers staffed the base.

set up by the trump administration o to support customs and border patrol agents. in the middle of this base, there's a makeshift parking lot that's been created for the dozens of military vehicles you can see next to me. right now we have a bunch of cargo trucks, humvees, anything that can go in rural parts of the valley. a from what we know, more are still coming. the camp is a fortress equipped with massive housing tents and endless yards of barbed wire fence. >> i'm 5'2". is it supposed to stop somebody or slow them down? >> it's supposed to impede their movement and halt them. >> reporter: it also features a fully functioning hospital. first lieutenant lee says the hospital can hold up to four trauma patients. but could be expanded. >> i have four physicians, two pas and a nurse. >> that's more than an urgent care sometimes. >> reporter: in part the personnel gear are prepare iingr

a caravan expected to arrive before year's end. it consists o of 5,000 asylum seekers from central american countries. >> republicans want strong borders, no crime, no chaos and no ka ra sans. >> reporter: critics accuse president trump of using the military move as a political stunt. >> when they hear things like it's a stunt, that matters to these guys. >> it matters to the american citizens. we are too. so the same way we ask every informed citizen to go and do research, ask questions, listen to what's going on. then have a real conversation. we ask our soldiers to do that as well. >> reporter: more than 5600 troops right now are along the border. 2800 of them right here in texas. every soldier that i spoke to yesterday i asked them how long will you guys be here. every one of them said until the mission is done, ma'am.

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as america marks veterans day, it's important for some to remind us that war is hell, even for the victorious. seth doane has one soldier cease story. >> reporter: this 94-year-old's journey from pennsylvania all the way to a tiny grave in germany is deeply personal.

>> i never forget you. >> reporter: he never met kat recent na, yet always feared her death might be his fault. >> what were you thinking when you were at her grave? >> i ask her forgiveness if it was my shots that harmed her. >> reporter: a shot that still haunts him more than 70 years after he fired it in world war ii. at the time clarence was a gunner with the u.s. army's third armor division. he'd come ashore in normandy three weeks after d day. in march of 1945 the fight to. capture the key city of cologne lay ahead. >> our lieutenant got on the radio and he said, gentlemen, i

give you cologne. let's knock the hell out of it. >> reporter: incredibly the army photographer jim bates filmed clarence matter's tank in a batt battle in a fight that's sered into his mind. >> i saw movement over on my left side. so i fired through the corner of the building thinking maybe i'd get a lucky hit that it would knock the tank out. this little german car came around the corner right down the street in front of us. and i think i may have hit the car. i might have been the one that hit the car and wounded katar a katarina. a young girl that was take on out and laying in.

the street there still alive, but she was shot in the chest. i saw the medics were there and treated her and left her lying beside the car on the highway there. she didn't deserve to die that way. all the time i see her lying in the street. >> we went to that street now bustling and to him almost unrecognizable. >> was it the film that jogged your memory? >> et yes. >> reporter: he admits he's a little confused between what he recalls from that day versus what he later saw in the film stored away frr decades at the national archives. >> i could see her hair. >> you remember seeing her hair? >> yeah, and i remember seeing her eyes blink.

>> i think that's your tank. he plugged it into. his vhs player and the war came back to him. >> author and historian adam macos is writing a book out in february, which chronicles clarence's battles through europe. >> he had seen a lot of death and destruction, but it was this moment in cologne that stayed with him. >> i think there was something about cologne that's the narrow streets. it was close, urban warfare. they are worried about german guns dug into the basement. you have soldiers and snipers move i moving through tunnels through the walls of the houses. then on top of that, you have to worry about a german tank coming around the corner. >> reporter: inside the german tank, which also fired toward his car, was a bow gunner, whom he met years after the war. and befriended. the former fighters from both.

sides were united by the fear they'd been the one who killed the woman. while working on the book, the author also developed a friendship with him and tried to help the man he sees as a war hero come to terms with the past. >> so the more he watches the film, the more rehe plays it in his mind, the deeper it sinks. now it's part of him. you don't think a world war ii veteran is holding on to something like this, but they suffer just like the guys in the modern wars. >> i'm the grandson. >> reporter: makos set up a dinner so he could meet some of her extended family. including her niece who is 83. they shared stories and toasted to her memory. >> history becomes real. >> reporter: mark has a ph.d. in history and is a relative of esser. >> it was a nice, friendly

meeting, but this is a man responsible for taking the life of your great aunt. >> yes and no. is there really responsible in the war like the second world war. there's never been a war like this before. is there responsibility for the death of one person i don't think so. >> reporter: more than 70 years later on what he acknowledged was likely his last trip, he went up to the top of cologne's cathedral. to look out over a new peaceful city that's been rebuilt. down in the nave, he took another moment to reflect. >> i ask for her to forgive me if it was my shots that harmed her. >> you probably have to forgive yourself. >> yeah.

it just don't go away. >> he still has nightmares and admits there are still tears. this veteran is proud here's to the stair takers, breakfast makers, step counters, outdoor explorers, faith restorers, appointment keepers, fantastic creatures. farmer's market goers, cholesterol lowerers cell phone silencers. the new lease on lifers,

and the positive thinkers. here's to you all that see every day as an opportunity to thrive your way.

here in the united states we celebrate veterans day on november 11th. it honors those who serve d in the armed forces but marks the end of world war i. it's known as a flames lit the night around the tower of london. mark phil leadershlips was ther. >> >> reporter: a bugler plays the last post on the tower of london wall. a flame appears, carried by one of the tower's ceremonial beefeater guards. one flame becomes two. then, three. civilian volunteers begin lighting others. first, tens, then hundreds, then

thousands. until a river of fire surrounds the ancient tower. 10,000 lights fill the dry moat, a tribute to the hundreds of thousands who fell in a war that ended a century y ago. >> the flames, to me, represent both the kind of spirit and the energy of all those lost men, but also the hope of peace. >> reporter: flickering flames that represent something else, too, says the tribute's designer, tom piper. >> but also how fragile peace is and how we have to safeguard our democracy, even now. >> reporter: the commemoration has a soundtrack of powerful poetry that speaks of love and death, written by a long forgotten american. mary borden was a wealthy chicago socialite who had moved to england with her british husband. when the first world war broke

out, she set up and worked at a field hospital on the frontlines. there meeting a british officer, who would become her second husband, and to whom she wrote thwos that now compliment the flames. >> "you would not falter at the last, my friend, nor put to shame your clear courageous mind under the menace of the desolate end." >> reporter: mira calix is the sound artist who discovered mary borden's poems. >> i'm totally in awe of this woman. i'm so glad the world has sort of woken up to her a little bit, because too often female artists seem to vanish from history. >> reporter: now-- like those she wrote about-- mary borden is again part of the history of that terrible time. mark phillips, london. >> we'll never forget. you can check back with us later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm demarco morgan.

it's monday, november 12, 2018. this is the "cbs morning news." the death toll rises as wildfires in northern and southern california rage on leaving behind miles of devastation. recounts and undecided midterm races leave voters in several states hopeful their candidate could still pull out a win. and others crying foul. and, fresh strawberries spiked with needles leads to a nationwide scare in australia as nationwide scare in australia as a suspect is arrested.