that indeed happened. >> michael morell, thank you so much. >> you're welcome. and now we want to take a closer look at two names that feature prominently in the whistle-blower's complaint. they are attorney general bill barr and in particular mr. trump's lawyer, rudy giuliani. paula reid looks at how america's mayor has become the president's fixer. >> reporter: the whistle-blower singles out rudy giuliani as a central figure in the scandal. the president's personal lawyer is mentioned 30 times in the complaint, which cites meetings he had with at least seven ukrainian officials. in early august, just eight days after president trump's call with his ukrainian counterpart, giuliani flew to madrid to meet with one of the ukrainian leader's advisers. according to the complaint, they discussed cases the two leaders had raised. giuliani has admitted to pressuring ukraine into opening an investigation into former vice president joe biden and his son hunter. >> so you did ask ukraine to look into joe biden? >> of course i did.

>> reporter: the whistle-blower alleges starting in mid-may, u.s. officials were deeply concerned by giuliani's circumvention of national security decision making and efforts to relay messages between the white house and ukraine. president trump defended his personal attorney wednesday. >> rudy giuliani is a great lawyer. he was a great mayor. he is highly respected. >> reporter: responding to the whistle-blower's allegations, giuliani said it is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and i'm not, and i will be the hero. scott frederickson is a former independent counsel. >> we've never in the history of our country that i'm aware of ever seen a personal attorney engage in this kind of foreign diplomacy, especially with respect to these very specific requests. >> reporter: the complaint also singles out attorney general william barr. president trump told the ukrainian president barr would reach out to discuss investigating the bidens, but the justice department said the president never asked barr to contact ukraine. >> paula joins us tonight. this key question, the attorney

general, what role did barr play? >> it's interesting, norah. the whistle-blower didn't include a lot of details about barr in the complaint, but we know barr played a key role in preventing these allegations from getting to congress. so once again raises new questions about whether the attorney general is acting as the president's defender or the nation's top law enforcement official. you. what is the legal vulnerability for people around the president in this alleged cover-up? >> well, norah, if congress pursues impeachment, the justice department is going to be under a lot of pressure to pursue a parallel criminal investigation. and even if this justice department does not believe you can charge a sitting president, it could potentially charge accomplices. so if this turns out to be bribery, which is one of the things that's being looked at right now, giuliani could have some exposure. >> incredible report, paula. thank you so much. we've got continuing coverage on our streaming network, cbsn and at cbsnews.com which includes a copy of the whistle-blower's complaint so you can read it yourself. also, there is breaking news in the vaping crisis.

tonight the cdc is confirming at least 12 deaths linked to vaping in 10 states. that does not include a death that was reported just today in north carolina. the number of illnesses jumped to at least 805, and that's up more than 50% from last week. federal safety investigators have put out the first new guidelines since two deadly crashes forced the grounding of the boeing 737 max. now the ntsb found that boeing and the faa overestimated pilots' ability to handle the plane when the m-cas system malfunctioned. that flight control system designed to prevent the plane from stalling, misfired in both of those crashes. it forced down the nose of the plane and it set off a wave of alarms that likely caused confusion in the cockpit. the recommendations include rethinking how an average pilot would respond to multiple alerts. there is still much more news ahead. "eye on america." we're going follow the hunt for drugs on u.s. streets.

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tonight the dea is offering $10 million for information leading to the arrest of the mexican drug kingpin known as el mencho. he is wris blamed for a flood o narcotics into the u.s. in tonight's "eye on america," adriana diaz takes us on the hunt for this dangerous drug lord. >> reporter: it's just after sunrise, and on chicago's west side, we're out watching the morning rush for drugs. >> it's 7:15. >> reporter: 7:15 in the morning? >> yeah. >> reporter: and there is people in the alley back there. >> the seller is behind that boarded fence. >> reporter: the dea's brian mcknight showed us what's going on in broad daylight. >> there is literally a line. >> see the guy is putting his right hand in his possibility. >> reporter: last year in chicago alone, almost 800 people died from drug overdoses. what percentage of drugs in chicago do you think come from

mexico? >> a significant amount. probably about 90%. >> reporter: 90%? >> yeah. >> reporter: the dea says this man is a major part of the problem. he is a rising mexican drug lord named nemesio oseguera cervantes. known simply as el mencho. >> he is a number one priority for dea, and frankly federal law enforcement in the united states. >> reporter: matthew donahue is the dea's top agent in mexico, and has helped uncover dozens of el mencho's drug labs in the jungle. >> put your hands up! >> reporter: el mencho's cartel is responsible for roughly a third of the drugs entering this country by land and by sea. he has a $10 million bounty on his head. ironically, he lived in california some 30 years ago where he was arrested on drug charges and eventually deported back to mexico. >> he's got an enormous amount of weapons, rpgs, 50 caliber weapons. basically has his own s.w.a.t. teams. >> reporter: from shooting down a mexican army helicopter, killing six, to being implicated in a public hanging this summer,

el mencho protects his empire with impunity. back in chicago, the mexican drugs seized are so toxic, they can't be handled without protective gear. at the dea's lab, packs of cocaine are stamped with trafficker's brands. and more than a third can be traced back to el mencho. >> he is the one responsible for sending the poison that is actually killing innocent women and kids. so what happens when someone's child dies, you know? good chance it probably came from this organization. >> can you stay with me? open your eyes. open your eyes. >> reporter: this is the aftermath, an overdose in chicago. this man survived that day, but last year more than 67,000 americans did not. by flooding the u.s. with drug, el mencho's cartel makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year. the dea says part of the challenge in capturing him is that he has entire police departments in mexico on his payroll. norah, as one agent put it, if el mencho wants you to work for

him, you have two options, say yes or be killed. >> incredible reporting tonight, adriana. thank you so much. and still ahead, what uber is doing to keep riders like you safe.

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tonight the pentagon detailed plans to send 200 u.s. troops to saudi arabia to defend oil field that were attacked earlier this month. they'll be manning a patriot missile battery and sentinel radar units. a california businessman is the latest parent to be sentenced in that college admissions scandal. stephen semprevivo was given four months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and conspiracy. get this. he paid $400,000 to get his son into georgetown by posing as a tennis recruit. uber is making moves to improve safety for customers. the company today announced a new pin-based feature to make sure that riders get into the right vehicles. they'll also be able to text 911 using uber's app, and report troubles such as erratic driving in realtime. coming up next, why a lot of people compare this air force hero to a superman.

. >> this portion is sponsored by progressive's home surance.

we're going to end tonight with an air force hero who always seems to be at the right place at the right time. technical sergeant kenneth o'brien is a special ops pararescue man based in japan. pjs do everything, and it's always dangerous, but o'brien has been especially busy.g sum

with north korea's kim jong-un, he saved a civilian from a burning car. last year he helped lead the rescue of the thai soccer team trapped in a flooded cave. >> i was a little nervous, honestly. i have no training in cave diving. >> he also saved a fellow rescuer, a thai navy s.e.a.l. for his valor, he was honored as one of the outstanding airmen of the year. and then two weeks ago flying home for that award, an infant on the plane lost consciousness. o'brien again leapt into action, clearing the child's blocked airway, saving yet another life. his peers call him superman. we call him a hero. and that's the "overnight news" for this friday from the cbs broadcast center in new york city, i'm norah o'donnell.

this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome, everyone, to the "overnight news." i'm errol barnett. there are charges of a white house cover-up in the unfolding story of president trump's controversial phone call with the leader of ukraine. during the call, the president apparently pressured the ukrainian to investigate joe biden and his family. the bombshell of the day, a verbatim transcript of that all and records of it locked down in a secret server to preserve stop secret national security documents. the whistle-blower was delivered to congress just as the director of intelligence testified on

capitol hill, all as part of the house impeachment inquiry. nancy cordes begins our coverage. >> i think the whistle-blower did the right thing. >> reporter: the nation's top intelligence official told lawmakers today he has no reason to doubt the whistle-blower's intentions. in a detailed nine-page complaint, the whistle-blower says senior white house officials worked to lock down all records of a presidential phone call this summer out of fear that they had witnessed the president abuse his office for personal gain. >> and the allegation was determined to be urgent and credible by the inspector general. is that right? >> yes, it was. >> and if there is cover-up activity because the president is working improperly with a foreign government, that could compromise america's secrets, is that right? >> congressman, there is an allegation of a cover-up. >> reporter: the phone call in question took place on july 25th, just after mr. trump unexpectedly froze millions in ukraine aid. according to a summary of the call released yesterday by the white house, mr. trump asked the

president of ukraine for a favor, to look into campaign rival joe biden and biden's son hunter. the whistle-blower says white house officials were deeply disturbed and were directed by white house lawyers to remove a transcript of the call from the regular computer system, placing it instead in a separate system normally reserved for classified, sensitive information. he says aides saw this as an abuse of the system, but it was not the first time they had done this to protect the president. >> do you believe it is okay for the president of the united states to pressure a foreign country into helping him or her win an election? >> it is unwarranted. it is unwelcome. it is bad for the nation to have outside interference, any foreign power. >> thank you. and by extension, it would be equally unacceptable to extort that assistance as well? >> all i know is that i have the

transcripts as you have. >> i think it's wrong. and i think we all know it. it is illegal and it is wrong. >> it was referred to the federal bureau of investigation. >> reporter: "the new york times" reports the whistle-blower is a cia officer. republicans noted that this person by his or her own admission was not a direct witness to most of the events described. >> the whistle-blower tells us the officials that i spoke with told me and i was told that and white house officials told me that. in other words, all of this is second-hand information. >> reporter: but the acting director of national intelligence, chosen by the president himself, says some key details do check out. >> i would say that the whistle-blower's complaint is in alignment with what was released yesterday by the president. >> then why, director, when the president called the whistle-blower a political hack and suggested that he or she might be disloyal to the country, why did you remain silent?

>> i did not remain silent, mr. chairman. >> it's a sad week for our country. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi told scott pelley of "60 minutes" that this incident is now the primary focus of the house impeachment inquiry. >> what message do you have for the white house regarding cooperation? >> speak truth. speak truth. we're at a different level of lawlessness that is self-evident to the american people. >> democrats say that the whistle-blower's report gives them a whole new list of people they now want to talk to, plus, they're still working to nail down an interview with the whistle-blower, who they think will give them each more leads. some democrats want to move to a vote on impeachment very quickly, perhaps as early as next month, but speaker pelosi disagreed with them today. she said there is no rush. she wants more time to gather the facts. now president trump is outraged by all of this. he, again, called the investigation a witch hunt and

said he wants anyone who passed information to the whistle-blower exposed and treated like a spy. ben tracy has more on this. >> mr. president, do you care if you're impeached, sir? >> reporter: president trump did not answer questions as he returned to the white house. but at a closed door event in new york this morning, he had questions of his own. >> who is the person who gave the whistle-blower the information? because that's close to a spy. >> reporter: in audio obtained by "the l.a. times," the president suggested whoever spoke to the whistle-blower about his phone call with the president of ukraine might be a traitor, even though the whistle-blower claims they received the information through the course of official business. the president alluded to punishments such as imprisonment or execution. >> you know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart, right? the spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now. >> reporter: so far the white house is treating the fallout from the whistle-blower complaint as a pr battle. sources say there is no war room or army of lawyers. >> it's another witch hunt.

here we go again. >> reporter: the white house plans to discredit the whistle-blower by seizing on the fact that he had no firsthand knowledge of the call. cbs news has learned there was disagreement inside the white house about releasing the call summary, but ultimately president trump felt it shows he's done nothing wrong. >> my call was perfect. the president yesterday of ukraine said there was no pressure put on him whatsoever, none whatsoever. >> reporter: but the white house is not responding to the whistle-blower's allegation that senior white house officials intervened to lock down all records of the phone call, knowing how bad it looked. instead, today president trump lashed out at democrats' calls for impeachment. >> what these guys are doing, democrats are doing to this country is a disgrace, and it shouldn't be allowed. there should be a way of stopping it. >> a white house official told me today that impeachment now looks like a ball rolling down a hill with nothing to stop it. but other white house sources are saying with every passing day we get closer to the

election, and it becomes politically more difficult for democrats to impeach. norah? now the former acting director of the cia, that's mike morrell discussed the widening scandal with norah o'donnell. >> it is absolutely inappropriate, obviously. its probably a campaign finance violation he'll have to deal with later in his personal life. more interesting to me would be anybody else around him who was involved in this who worked for government, right. so the u.s. ambassador to eu who went to kiev the day after, those officials in the white house who might have covered it up, they may face criminal charges. >> and on that specific charge that is in the whistle-blower's complaint about moving the transcript of this call into another computer, what does that say to you? >> so i don't know if that's true. we'll figure it out. but the computer that the whistle-blower says it was moved to is for the most sensitive information in the united states

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this is the "cbs overnight news." >> a warm welcome back to the "overnight news." i'm errol barnett. the new movie "joker" is making headline, and it won't even hit theaters until next week. you see, the film centers on a psychopathic killer and it has set off posts online. warner brothers insists the movie does not endorse violence, but police in aurora, colorado say "joker" will not be shown at the heater where 12 people died in a mass shooting back in 2012. barry petersen is in aurora and at a memorial for the victims. >> reporter: as the studio says, this film is not an endorsement of any kind of real world violence and that the film, the

filmmaker, and the studio are not trying to make "the joker" into some kind of a hero. but emotions here are still pretty raw, especially considering the story line of "joker." >> when you bring me out, can you introduce me as joker? >> reporter: "joker" is expected to be one of hollywood's biggest blockbusters of the year, roaredly expected to break records for an october release. but cbs has learned authorities are concerned about the movie, possibly inspiring someone to commit a mass shooting. >> everyone laughed at me. well, no one's laughing now. >> reporter: the joker, played by joaquin phoenix is portrayed as a sympathetic protagonist dealing with internal emotional struggles who then turns to violence. phoenix believes it is not the responsibility of the filmmaker to teach the audience morality. >> if you have somebody that has that level of emotional

disturbance, i think that they can find fuel anywhere. >> reporter: in an alert sent by the military, which contained intelligence from the fbi, an army base in texas encouraged people to identify two escape routes in theaters and run, hide, fight if in an active shooting situation. the alert was apparently related to extremists, classified as incels, a group who describes themselves as being unable to find sexual partners, and whose members have on occasion resorted to excessive violence. >> we're all dealing, including our family with ptsd. >> reporter: tina marine coons' son was in the aurora shooting. 12 people were killed. 70 more injured at a midnight showing of another batman movie, "the dark knight rises" seven years ago. coon joined several relatives of

the victims expressing their concern in a letter to the film's distributors, warner brings, to take a number of steps to reduce gun violence. among them, ending political contributions to candidates who take money from the nra and giving money to survivor funds and gun violence intervention programs. are you concerned that a movie like this could trigger someone else to do what happened in aurora? >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: coon says it's possible someone could view the joker through a personal lens. >> i think it's sad that people react to a fake story and make it real. >> reporter: in fact, the controversy and the concerns could have some unintended consequences. it could spark curiosity that could in fact drive more people to want to go and see the movie. there are questions this morning about how uber deals with the safety of its passengers. you see the ride-hailing company

has a special investigations unit that handles some of the worst incidents reported by passengers, but a new report finds agents in that unit are told to put the company first ahead of passenger safety. uber denies this and points to new safety features itself its app. kris van cleave takes a look. >> reporter: uber hopes this new technology could help prevent the kind of fatal error police believe samantha josephson made when she mistook a car for her uber in march. >> uber really felt the responsibility to step up, even though that was not an uber driver. >> reporter: tracy breeden is a former police officer who now heads women's safety at uber. >> but to step up and see what more we could do to create a safer environment. >> reporter: soon a new optional verification system will require a driver to get a pin code from their rider before a trip can start. >> the driver enters the pin you. get an indication and a notification on your phone saying yes, this is the right car. >> reporter: but it's something to do before you get in the car? >> so that it's checking the

license plate, checking the name, and now with the pin verification, you should confirm that before you get in the car. >> reporter: uber wants to take this pin verification system a step further, so soon your phone will seamlessly talk to the phone of the uber you've called. it will then tell you when the ride vehicle has pulled up that your ride is verified and this is the car to get into. next month, first in los angeles and then elsewhere, riders can text 911 from inside the app, automatically sending the vehicle description, license plate, current locion and destination. you'll also be able to report safety issues to uber during a ride. >> i think these are smart changes. >> reporter: wired editor-in-chief nick thompson. >> with so many drivers and so many passengers, they're not going to make the entire problem of passenger safety go away. >> reporter: the new features come as the ride sharing industry faces scrutiny over passenger safety. just this month, more than a dozen women sued competitor

lyft, alleging it mishandled reports of sexual assault. lyft says safety is fundamental, adding it launched 14 new safety features this year. uber is facing similar lawsuits and there are new questions about the company's handling of sexual assault claims. "the washington post" reports the company has a three-strike system, but executives have made exceptions to keep drivers on the road. one former investigator says she was made to feel her first priority was to protect uber, not the customer. >> investigators do not report any of the incidents that happen on the uber app to law enforcement. the lack of communication between the ride share apps really puts people in a very dangerous position. >> reporter: but breeden told us as soon as a sexual assault or misconduct is reported, the driver is removed from the platform. how often do you receive a report of an alleged sexual assault or abuse? >> we're doing 17 million trips across the world every day, every day. and it does happen.

>> reporter: do you see tens of those roars a year? hundreds of those reports a year? >> those are numbers that i don't have, and that's why we're creating this transparency report, and that information is coming. >> reporter: that would be a first for the industry, but uber was not able to tell cbs news when that transparency report would be available. kris van cleave, san francisco. >> and the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. i'm alex trebek, here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase,

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for millions of americans, the beaches in cancun, mexico are the perfect vacation spot. soft sand, warm water and a string of beachside hotels. but the pristine shoreline is under assault from mother nature. jeff glor has more. >> reporter: it is the biggest algae bloom in the world. massive waves of seaweed called sargassum washing up on shore day after day. this beach was just cleaned today? >> yes. a couple of hours and the seaweed will be on the beach again. >> reporter: jose escalante has owned a small hotel in tulum, mexico for eight years. every day workers here and up

and down the peninsula remove tons and tons of decomposing sargassum from beaches. every night it comes back. rosa rodriguez martinez from mexico's national university is trying to figure out why. >> we are getting sargassum almost from march to october. so basically, more than half of the year we receive massive amounts. >> reporter: whereas before it was how long? >> before maybe two or three weeks during the summer. >> reporter: that's a huge difference. >> yes, it's impressive. >> reporter: impressive is one word for it, but a problem, a big problem is another. >> it's a problem, economical problem, ecological, and probably human health problem also. >> reporter: since 2011, the amount of sargassum in the atlantic has increased dramatically. it currently forms a 5,000-mile mass from africa to the caribbean. it is estimated to weigh 22 million tons. why is it so bad right now? >> i think it's because we have polluted the sea too much.

so now we have a lot of nutrients and the algae are taking advantage of it. >> reporter: fertilizer runoff from brazil, increased by deforestation is believed to be the largest fuel source for the sargassum. that combined with warming ocean water and changing ocean currents has put the yucatan squarely in the crosshairs. it has gotten so bad, the mexican navy has just been put in charge of dealing with this problem. they took us up in a reconnaissance mission to locate the largest sargassum waves. >> translator: we're fully aware that we're only addressing the effects of sargassum. >> reporter: rear admiral told us the navy will build new sargassum busting ships to reel in as much as they can. >> translator: but that does not solve any problems. in reality the causes have to be addressed. but given the lack of research, we're implementing actions. >> reporter: right now many

towns are using floating barriers to corral sargassum. >> including in porto morelos south of cancun. >> we are the first in the whole mexican caribbean with already a control about the sargassum. >> reporter: there is a lot of it, though. >> yeah. because this area, we are -- >> reporter: it doesn't look controlled. >> no, no. >> reporter: hector tomayo is in charge of tourism here. how many trucks go in and out each day? >> more than 50. >> reporter: more than 50 trucks? just of sargassum every day, carted in and out of here. >> yeah. >> and we start mixing that with the sargassum. >> reporter: some are developing novel ways to use sargassum, including omar vazquez, who is building homes with it. >> they're better than the other bricks. >> reporter: the sargassum is mixed with clay and compost by foot and then compressed into bricks. >> i mean, it's ironic, because i grew up without a house, without a home. we crossed the border to the

united states when i was 8 years old. >> reporter: and then came back? >> i came back to live the mexican dream. >> reporter: your mexican dream. >> yes. it does not even have a gram of cement. organic. >> reporter: even though the homes are 100% organic, there may be an issue what accumulates in the sargassum at sea. the latest research shows sargassum is high in heavy metals like lead and arsenic, and disposal is a major issue. this is one of the places we found where the sargassum is taken. it's a dump site miles into the jungle, far away from the ocean. it's unclear if the sargassum left here seeps into the ground, goes up in the air, or just sits here forever. sargassum is either being dumped inland or buried under the beach, which is illegal. it is a crisis stretching across the caribbean with no end in sight. for folks watching this who may not be familiar with this problem or what's happening here, what do you say? >> it's something that is

happening to the world, not just to the region. this is just a consequence of

i know listen to this. unless you buy your fish at the dock, you may not be getting what you're paying for. a study found that one in five bought in stores or ordered in a restaurant were mislabeled. that's a nice way of saying your expensive lobster roll may really be scrod. anna werner has the story. >> wherever we tested, we found mislabeled seafood. >> reporter: beth lowell with adversary group ocean jana has been working to stop it for a decade. >> instead they're getting the cheaper alternative when they're getting ripped off. >> reporter: the group collected 449 samples from restaurant, small markets and grocery stores in 24 states and d.c., and found one out of five samples were mislabeled. one in every three businesses visited sold at least one item

that was not labeledrrectly. the bi offendersss, with 42% an of the samples found to be fraudulent. >> well, the problem is seafood fraud can happen any time in the supply chain where one fish is swapped out for another. it could be because somebody wants to sell a cheaper fish at a higher price or they're trying to fill all the order for salmon, and there is not enough salmon, they may swap something else out. >> reporter: not only can that fraud cheat consumers, but oceana finds those who have been overfished mislabeled. some restaurants are focused on using only local sustainable fish. miyanoki is a small city in new york city where you won't find the threatened bluefin tona. >> i always make the joke we don't sell bluefin tuna and we don't sell cheetah. why are we able to have one

endangered species on our menu in new york city and not another one? it's confusing to me. >> reporter: so itead of the usual tuna and salmon, chef jeff mi cates sushi featuring regional species, like the one named blue runner, commonly known as bait fish. >> the perfect american sushi fish right here. and it's so overloaded that i feel like i'm in on a huge sushi secret. >> reporter: as a result, he doesn't have to worry much about fraud. >> that's what we say all the time is the fish that we're serving, nobody would want to fake. >> reporter: they're not interested? >> exactly. >> reporter: and it's a good thing for you? >> it isindeed, and for the guests as well.well. and let me be frank. there is no sacrifice in quality when it comes to eating these things. they are absolutely beautiful species that are just kind of underappreciated. >> reporter: but with most restaurants still serving imported seafood, oceana says the government needs to keep better track of which species are going more. >> we need to be tracking

seafood from the fishing boat or farm all the way t ough the supply chain. >> and that is the "overnight >> and that is the "overnight news" for this friday. captioning funded by cbs it's friday, september 27th, 2019, this is the "cbs morning news." whistleblower blow back. president trump goes into battle mode after the release of a complaint at the center of the impeachment investigation. it accuses the trump administration of a cover-up. >> it's another witch hunt. here we go again. new deaths related to vaping. this as the vaping industry pushes back in one state. and unruly passenger. an alaska airlines flight is diverted after a man allegedly made threats. what set him off. ♪