york city, i'm jericka duncan. it is friday, november 16th, 2018. this is the "cbs morning news." a snowy surprise from the south to the northeast, the first major flurries of the season were much worse than expected. some areas are still digging out this morning. recounting by hand, florida's u.s. senate contest moves to another phase. the race still too close to call. and the grim toll rises in the aftermath of california's deadliest wildfire as the search deadliest wildfire as the search for the missing continues. captioning funded by cbs

good morning from studio 57 newsroom here at cbs news headquarters in new york. i'm brook silva-braga in for anne-marie green. storm of the season socked an area all the way through the northeast. a final blast is expected in new england today. winter storm warnings are expected today. from maryland to maine. the intensity of the storm caught many of us off guard. as much as 9 inches of snow piled up in pennsylvania, parts of philadelphia had 5 inches, and forecasters predict around 6 inches in parts of new england. at least eight deaths are blamed on the storm. tom hanson is here in new york. we took the punch as well. good morning. >> reporter: this storm spanned more than 900 miles and it packed a powerful punch bringing some areas to a stand still. a prewinter snowstorm brought traffic in new york city to a halt yesterday. >> i'm bored. i've been stuck in traffic for two hours. >> four hours.

>> five hours. >> six hours. >> a crash on the george washington bridge between new york and new jersey was partially to blame. there were no injuries, but for thousands of commuters, their evening trip home was a disaster. >> i wanted to get an uber, $220. it's either a room or an uber. >> two city buses still without chains on their tires collided in central park. >> this has been the worst i've seen it. >> reporter: the storm didn't just catch new york city off guard. in boston streetsturned into ice skating rinks. >> i didn't realize it was this bad. i can't move forward and whenever i take my foot off the brake i slide backwards. >> a fire truck in maryland, salt truck in missouri, drivers everywhere had a hard time navigating the roads. this driver was no match for the mixture of slush and ice.

>> when i slid off iwas scared. i ain't never hit no woods or anything like that before. >> reporter: washington, d.c. saw the earliest snowfall on record in 22 years. herein new york city that snow has switched over to rain. but other parts of the country are in store for more snow today, some parts freezing rain. brook. in florida, officials have until sunday to complete a legally required hand recount in that state's senate race. an initial machine recount showed democratic incumbent bill nelson trailing his republican republican rick scott by by 800 votes. but palm beach county missed the deadline so the county's recount results were not accepted. >> our machines failed because we were using them 24/7 and i think it was extraordinary. and so if the judge would allow us we'd like to continue to do the other recounts. >> two other counties also

missed thursday's deadline. broward county missed the cutoff by two minutes. this should all be resolved by the hand recount. in florida's governor race the machine recount appeared to confirm that republican ron desantis beat grat democrat andrew gillum. now there is some progress in the deadliest wildfire to ever strike the state, but the death toll from the campfire has risen to 63 and officials released a missing persons list with 631 names on it. at least 9,700 homes have been destroyed. one good number, the campfire is now 40% contained and its advance towards populated areas has been slowed. tomorrow president trump plans to travel to california to meet with victims and get a first-hand look at the destruction. this morning, north korea announced it's deporting an american citizen its held since october. bruce byron norris was detained

from illegally enter north korea from china. he said he told investigators he was under the control of the cia. meanwhile, north korea says it tested what it calls a newly developed ultra modern tactical weapon. kim jong-un was reportedly at the test. the weapon does not appear to be a nuclear device or long range missile. you may remember at a summit in june, kim made a promise to achieve complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula. the justice department inadvertently named julian assange in a court filing for a case not related to the wikileaks filing. it raises questions whether he has been charged on a sealed indictment. it's not clear why assange's name was mentioned in the case which involved a man of coercing a minor. the justice department says the

filing was made in error. assange has been living in london since 2012. it's being reported that president trump met this week with his legal team to discuss responses to questions from special counsel robert mueller. yesterday mr. trump tweeted that the russia investigation is a disgrace to our nation. rudy giuliani told "the washington post" mr. trump's answers to mueller's questions could come as early as today. meanwhile, lindsey graham has been told by acting attorney general matthew whitaker that the mueller investigation would be allowed to proceed. a bipartisan group of senators concerned about whitaker's past criticism of mueller is pushing legislation to protect mueller's job. nearly 2,000 migrants part of a caravan of central americans seeking asylum in the united states reached the u.s. border with mexico. the city of tijuana is trying to accommodate them as they wait to be processed, but that could take months. john blackstone reports. >> reporter: trying to bring order out of chaos, hundred of migrants lined up outside the

u.s. port of entry recording their names in a book determining who will be called next to cross the border and ask for asylum. so you put your name down in the book? >> yeah. >> anthony rosas has traveled more than 2,000 miles from guatemala. you think your life is in danger if you go back to guatemala? >> yeah. >> reporter: but you know the president of the united states has said the people in this caravan are dangerous. mexican volunteers have organized this effort to keep hundreds from applying for asylum at once, but those whose names are on the list could wait weeks to face a u.s. immigration officer and that is just another step in an uncertain ordeal. do you know what will happen to them when they do reach the point of entry? >> they're called, we're hopeful that they're found, cases will be processed. they'll be sent to detention centers where they'll probably wait for weeks.

>> reporter: is that better than where they are. >> if it's a few weeks in a detention center which is itture russ and then it's a life free from gang activity, being coerced into being drug mules for gangs and narco traffickers, yeah, that's a better life. >> reporter: the migrants are quickly discovering they may not be welcome in either the united states or mexico. there have been clashes between residents and migrants who set up camp in tijuana's playa district where the border fence meets the pacific. to reduce tensions, hundred of migrants were taken on buses to a sports complex that city officials currently turned into a shelter. john blackstone, cbs news, mexico. coming up, a twist in an alleged go fund me scam. how a homeless suspect may have recycled his bogus story. and why the government is moving to ban menthol flavored cigarettes. this is the "cbs morning news."

if you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. mitzi: with less joint pain, watch me. for less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx.

...perfectly seasoning our ohillshire farm smoked sausage. so by simply adding the right ingredient ...you can end each day crafting a perfectly delicious dinner. with the roomba robot vacuum. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes to clean all your floors. and with patented dirt detect technology, roomba finds dirt throughout your home. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba. am i willing to pay the price for loving you?. you'll make my morning, but ruin my day. complicated relationship with milk? pour on the lactaid. it's delicious 100% real milk, just without that annoying lactose. mmm, that's good. lactaid. the real milk that doesn't mess with you. and try calcium enriched lactaid. 100% real milk with 20% more calcium. still no lactose.

[ gunshots ]. dramatic pictures out of arkansas where a traffic stop turned into an almost minute-long shootout between a sheriff's deputy and a suspect. they pulled over a 29-year-old man last sunday for a traffic violation. as you saw the suspect got out of his car and began firing. he then drove off but let a female passenger out before he took off again. he was later arrested. and most importantly, no serious injuries. there's a new move to ban menthol flavored cigarettes and a new twist in a go fund me scam. those are some of the headlines on the morning newsstand. people reports the homeless man involved in an alleged go fund me scam told a similar

story back in 2012 about helping a woman who ran out of gas. prosecutors say they do not think that's a coincidence. johnny bobbitt is accused of conspiring with new jersey couple mcclure and d'amico to fraud people out of $400,000. they said they were raising money for the homeless veteran after he gave mcclure his last $20 when she ran out of gas on a pennsylvania highway last year. >> bobbitt conspired to pass up a fake, feel-good story that would compel donors to contribute to their cause, and it worked. >> worked for a time but investigators turned up evidence of a hoax when bobbitt accused the couple of spending the money themselves. all three have been charged with conspiracy and theft by deception. our partners over at the bbc report british prime theresa may is under pressure after environment secretary michael gove turned down her offer to become the new brexit secretary. the last one resigned in protest. earlier this week, may's

government unveiled the long awaited draft agreement on the united kingdom's withdraw from the european union. two ministers resigned over it. gove might quit as well. some members of the party are calling for a no confidence vote. the military times reports lawmakers on capitol hill grilled the department of veterans affairs over delayed payments to veterans under a new g.i. bill. last year president trump signed off on the biggest boost in g.i. benefits in over a decade. they were supposed to begin in august but the aging i.t. system wasn't upgraded in time. that delayed education and housing benefits for thousands of veterans. the v.a. said it will try to speed up the payments. npr reports on the food and drug administration announcing it will seek to ban the sale of menthol flavored cigarettes and cigars in order to fight teenage smoking. more than half all young people who use tobacco or who smoke use

menthol cigarettes and in african americans that number jumps to 70%. >> menthol is one of the primary vehicles by which kids are initiating on to tobacco, in large part because of the menthol cigarette itself masks some of the undesirable features of smoking. >> they say they plan to put new restrictions on e-cigarettes. the use of e-cigarettes by young people has sky rocketed in the last year. "sports illustrated" reports a pair of outfielders captured major league baseball's mvp awards. mookie betts of the world champion boston red sox was named the al valuable player. he led with a 346 average and became the first champion in history to record a 30-30 season, blasting 32 homers and stealing 32 bases. yelich led the league with a

rules.g average of ncide chemicals blamed for harming babies are temporarily ban from crop dusting in california. for me, chantix worked. it did. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix, without a doubt, reduced my urge to smoke. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery.

the most common side effect is nausea. i don't think about cigarettes anymore. talk to your doctor about chantix. i don't think about cigarettes anymore. fact: some of your favorite foods stain teeth. unlike ordinary whitening toothpaste, colgate optic white has hydrogen peroxide that goes below the tooth's surface for a smile that's 4 shades visibly whiter! colgate optic white. whitening that works. the statue of liberty's here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country.

the statue of liberty's original torch is on the move. they disassembled the torch from the base of the statue and moved it to another museum about a hundred yards away. the museum opens next year. i did not know this. the torch on the top of the statue was replaced with a replica back i the 1980s. on the "cbs moneywatch," new restrictions on a popular pesticide and buying gifts for the 12 days of christmas will cost you more. diane king hall is down at the new york stock exchange with that and more. >> good morning. the federal reserve says it's going to review how it tries to reach congressionally mandated goals of full employment and price stability. the fed says it will also review how it communicates with the public. meanwhile, stocks finished higher on wall street snapping a five-day losing streak led by gains in tech companies and banks. the dow rose 200 points, the s&p

rose 28, the nasdaq jump 1 twenty 2. an epa official was arrested on charges to help a coal company avoid paying for a toxic clean up. trey glenn denied the charges. a grand jury indicted glenn earlier this week. he was arrested yesterday in birmingham and released on $30,000 bail. california has recommended new restrictions on a pesticide linked to brain damage in babies. chlorpyrifos made by dow dupont is currently used on about 60 different crops. california's department of pesticide regulation issued temporary guidelines that include banning it from crop dusting and discontinuing its use on most crops. they ordered the epa to remove the pesticide from sale in the u.s. the epa is appealing the ruling. if you've started your holiday shopping and are thinking about buying all the

gifts in the 12 days of christmas, you'll have to pay more this year. all the gifts will set you back thirty nine thousand ninety 4 dollars ninety 3. that's 450 bucks more than last year. some items like the pear tree, two turtledoves are the same price. but the price of five gold rings went down. brook. >> someone needs to explain to me where you buy a leaping lord. >> i don't even know. >> thanks so much, diane. >> all right. still to come, an act of kindness. a school custodian is recognized for helping out a student in need.

thanks to move free ultra... i walk with this girl. ride with this crew. do the wave with these guys. and hang with this little one. that's because move free ultra is clinically proven to keep my joints moving better than glucosamine chondroitin. which means i'm free to rock on with this gang. move free ultra. movement keeps us connected.

here's another look at today's forecast in some cities around the country.

the country music world is mourning the death of legendary singer and guitarist roy clark. clark's publicist says the singer died at his home in oklahoma yesterday due to complications from pneumonia. he co-hosted the tv show hee haw for its 24-year run. he was inducted in the country music hall of fame back in 2009. roy clark was 85. a wisconsin school custodian is being honored for his act of kindness. earlier this week, melvin crawford saw a student with socks on his hands. the boy said he didn't have gloves, so crawford gave him his. >> the kid's got a pair of gloves, that's the main thing. kid's got gloves. no one should be without gloves on, no one should be in the wintertime. >> the school presented him with an honorary promise keeper pin

to commend him. coming up, john dickerson talks with cindy mccain in an interview to honor her husband john mccain for the first time. i'm brook silva-braga, this is the "cbs morning news." ning news." eutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells so it bounces back. neutrogena® so it bounces back. unlike ordinary toothpaste, colgate total fights bacteria on teeth, tongue, cheeks and gums for 12 hours. so you're totally ready for that big moment. colgate total. be totally ready for life. is your floor's best friend.

only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes to grab and remove pet hair. and the roomba filter captures 99% of dog and cat allergens. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba.

our top stories this morning. more snow is expected in new england today as the first major snowstorm of the season heads out to sea. an area from missouri all the way to the northeast got hit with wet, heavy snow and ice. the intensity of the storm caught many off guard. at least eight deaths are blamed on the system whic disrupted travel across a big section of the country. and in florida, officials have until sunday to complete a hand recount in the senate race. an initial machine recount showed bill nelson trailing his republican challenger governor rick scott by about 12,800 votes. more than 8 million votes were cast.

three counties missed yesterday's deadline so their updated counts were not accepted. it's been more than a month since hurricane michael devastated the florida panhandlt e stl living ints an under tarps. omar villafranca has an update. >> reporter: block after block giant piles of debris are rotting on the sidewalks in panama city and officials say it might not be cleared until the end of the year. hurricane michael slammed into the panhandle five weeks ago killing nearly 30 people and destroying thousands of homes and businesses. recovery here has been slow. how long have you been out here? >> about two days because it's been cold. >> reporter: after the storm, arieynna nichols went from living in the apartment to staying in shelters. she suffers from a chronic condition that keeps her in a wheelchair. >> my daughter had her first tee ball game five days before the hurricane hit.

we were living normal lives. >> reporter: for the last few days, she's been sleeping in this tent city with her 4-year-old daughter and more than 100 other hurricane survivors. more than 95,000 people in the disaster zone have asked fema for help. so far, just over 25,000 have been approved for housing assistance. a fema official told cbs news other applicants are waiting for insurance claims to be processed before they're approved for federal help. fema says the first mobile housing unit should arrive next week. >> do you kind of feel that people have forgotten about you? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: panama city mayor greg brudnicki says it's going to take a long time to rebuild. >> do you still need help? >> you betcha we need help. we were not planning on a catastrophic event that was going to carpet bomb this area, and it happened. >> reporter: omar villafranca, cbs news, panama city, florida.

coming up only on "cbs this morning," john dickerson talks with cindy mccain, the widow of john mccain in her first interview since her husband's death. she talks about her work with the mccain institute and advocating for victims of human trafficking. plus we're talk with sheryl sandberg about how the social network responded to russia interference on its platform. that's the cbs news for this friday, thanks for watching. i'm brook silva-braga. i'm brook silva-braga. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

a live look outside in san francisco this morning. again, hazy conditions as we continue -- there's a

continuous reminder of whatmana county. it's friday, november 16th. thanks for waking up with us. we're looking at another bad day of air quality. i'm kenny choi. >> and i'm michelle griego. so let's get to traffic and weather and talk about this air quality. we have more school closures, a lot going on. >> this morning, the air quality is worse than yesterday morning so we're talking unhealthy to very unhealthy air. this smoke is stuck over the bay area. what i'm concerned about is more offshore winds bringing in more of the smoke into the bay area and that would mean even worse air quality as we go through the day. the blue diamonds, that's very unhealthy air. red dots unhealthy. so unhealthy to very unhealthy. please be safe and limit your outdoor exposure. 30s and 50s to 40s this morning. un for the ninth day in a row,