of course "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm mola lenghi. it's friday, december 27th, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." winter white. parts of the southwest look like a snow-covered wonderland, but the weather is wreaking havoc on traffic. the system is heading east. a medical emergency. what went wrong? and deadly plane crash in kazakhstan. a jet packed with almost 100 people hits a wall and building people hits a wall and building shortly after takeoff. captioning funded by cbs good morning from the studio

57 newsroom at cbs headquarters here in new york. anne-marie green is off. i'm wendy gillette. a powerful snowstorm in the northwest continues to cause headaches for millions of travelers. overnight snow and ice made for dangerous conditions in the mountains of southern california. a part of interstate 5 remains closed this morning because of icy roads, and part of interstate 15 is deep in snow. both lead out of los angeles. ameri marc liverman is following all of this in new york. the storm is causing a nightmare for many most-holiday travelers? >> reporter: it really is, good morning. yeah, this fast-moving winter storm caused major localized flooding on roads and freeway lanes in other parts of california. snow led to multiple traffic accidents. one town at the eastern end of the san gabriel mountains got up to 25 inches of snow by midday. it was a winter wonderland for kids in southern california. >> i love the snow.

i feel like it's a christmas miracle. >> reporter: but for holiday travel havoc in the mountains north of los angeles. >> once we got here, we started seeing a little snow started coming in, book, stopped. >> reporter: dangerous conditions forced part of interstate 15, the main road to las vegas, to shut down. >> they're not going to let us out? >> stuck 6.5 hours. >> reporter: on the other side of the closure people simply turned around. >> the snow, they were asking for chains and stuff, i heard in line. we decided we were turning around and going back to las vegas. >> reporter: back in southern california, drivers were caught offguard when interstate 5 also shut down. >> not like there's any signage. just suddenly everybody's getting off of here, and there's no instruction on what to do. >> reporter: the snow's expected to move east over the next few days. yesterday was a completely different story in the midwest. some cities saw record high temperatures. >> this is the warmest it's ever been for us. >> reporter: skiers on michigan's mt. holly were out in

t-shirts. the resort is using manmade snow for now. >> hard-pressed to be able to tell the difference, quite honestly. you pick it up, it packs like a snowball it acts like a snowball it skis like a snowball. >> reporter: a foot and a half could fall over the next two days. at least one death has been linked to the storm so far. in san diego county, a 60-year-old woman died when a car veered off a snowy road. a truck driver on interstate 5 was found dead in his rig, but it's not known if the cause was weather related. wendy? >> marc liverman in new york. marc, thanks. despite the stormy weather, much of the country could see mild temperatures as we ring in the new year. meteorologist alex biston of kcbs has the forecast through the weekend to the start of 2020. good morning. much of the u.s. is dealing with relatively quiet weather.

we are dealing with a major winter storm moving through southern california. this will continue to move out toward the east. and here is a look at this storm's track. it will move through the great plains, continuing to bring snow and rain. and then as we head into this weekend, by late this weekend, sunday morning the storm system moving over the plains, into the great lakes region. and then delivering more rain as we head toward the start of the week for the east coast. here is a look at what you can expect if you are traveling out of new york city today. a daytime high of 53 degrees. mostly cloudy skies. if you are traveling out of boston, temperatures in the upper 40s. chicago, mostly cloudy skies, could see some snow showers through denver. temperatures in the upper 30s in san francisco. lots of sunshine. temperatures in the mid 50s. all eyes are on new year's day. here's what you can expect for the start of 2020. if you are in miami, you will see a daytime high of 80 degrees. nice and warm. san francisco, in the upper 50s. salt lake city, you will see 36

degrees. lower 50s for kansas city. chicago, nice and cool at 39 degrees. and pittsburgh, you will see 40 degrees on new year' unlikely.

>> chip reid reporting. in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu will continue to lead the ruling likud party. netanyahu won a landslide victory in yesterday's likud primary election. it could give the embattled leader a chance to form a government after the next general election in march. neither likud nor the opposition blue and white party were able to form a coalition government after two elections this year.

netanyahu also faces of corruption. breaking overnight, a young girl died after a medical emergency on a delta airlines flight from l.a.x. >> reporter: they returned that aircraft as quickly as they could to the gate. >> the flight to seattle returned to los angeles yesterday when the pilot was alerted to the girl's condition. authorities say the girl, believed to be 10 years old, went into cardiac arrest. paramedics met the plane at the gate and tried to save her, but it was too late. officials say there was no immediate indication of anything suspicious about the death. passengers were rebooked on other flights to seattle. overnight in kazakhstan, a plane with 98 people on board crashed shortly after takeoff. the beck airplane hit a concrete fence and a two-story building after taking off from the international airport. at least 12 people were killed and 49 hurt. there was thick fog in the area at the time of the crash. there's been no word on the

cause. a 14-year-old suspect in the deadly stabbing of the barnard college freshman was released from new york city police custody after being questioned. investigators say the boy is still considered one of three suspects in the murder of 18-year-old tessa majors. she was stabbed earlier this month while walking through a park near the school. a 13-year-old boy was arrested two days after the murder and charged as a juvenile with felony in order.esday. that's up from 309 last year and four fewer than in 2017 and 2015. with more than 600,000 residents, baltimore's homicide rate could reach a record 57 per 100,000 residents if the death toll reaches 342. the news follows a week of violence in the city. eight people were shot in one day alone, and nine others another day. coming up on the "morning news," a day care owner in

colorado was arrested for alleged abuse and caught on video. an avalanche buries ski in the swiss alps. this is the "cbs morning news." mostly. you make time... when you can. but sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just won't go away. coolsculpting takes you further. a non-surgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells for good. discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. some common side-effects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. don't imagine results, see them. coolsculpting, take yourself further. save $100 on your coolsculpting treatment. text resolution to 651-90 to learn more. save $100 on your coolsculpting treatment. quitting smoking is freaking hard.st, like quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so, try making it smaller. and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small... ...can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette ( ♪ ) only tylenol® rapid release gels

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♪ a terrifying avalanche was caught on camera in the swiss alps. it happened at a busy ski resort yesterday morning. skiers were buried, and some had to dig their way out. after a search, all the victims were recovered. two people were airlifted to hospitals, but their injuries are not life threatening. the avalanche danger warning level had increased after recent heavy snow. gymnast simone biles has earned another award, and a colorado day care owner was arrested. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." the "denver post" reports a colorado springs day care owner was arrested after 26 kids were found behind a false wall.

58-year-old carla faith was arrested monday for investigation of misdemeanor child abuse charges. police went to the day care center last month after receiving complaints that it was housing more children than its license allowed which was reportedly six. police found the false wall in the basement. the 26 children were all under 3 years old. faith is due in court next month. the "washington post" reports on a deadly robbery at a denny's restaurant in manassas, virginia. surveillance video shows two masked men entering the restaurant and pointing a gun early yesterday morning. police say they ordered 23 employees and customers to the ground, demanding their cell phones and wallets. the suspects shot and killed a doordash delivery driver who was there picking up food. a customer was shot and seriously wounded but is expected to survive. and cbssports.com reports simone biles was named the "associated press" female athlete of the year for the second time. the 22-year-old gymnast won gold

medals in the individual all-around vault, balance beam,s she also shared in the team gold. she has won a record 25 world championship medals overall to go along with the five medals she won at the 2016 rio olympics. biles is the first gymnast to be named "ap" female athlete of the year twice. ahead, a party with your peppermint mocha. coffee giant starbucks is throwing popup parties this week, and you're invited. i love the new myww program, because it's tailored to you! take the personal assessment and get matched with a proven weight loss plan. find out which customized plan can make losing weight easier for you! myww. join for free + lose 10 lbs. on us. ♪ work so hard ♪ give it everything you got ♪ strength of a lioness ♪ tough as a knot ♪ rocking the stage ♪ and we never gonna stop ♪ all strength, no sweat. ♪ just in case you forgot ♪ all strength. ♪ no sweat secret. all strength. no sweat.

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on the cbs "money watch," the government has raised the age to buy tobacco, and you're invited to starbucks' popup parties. we have more from the new york stock exchange. good morning, naomi. good morning. stocks hit record highs at the end of 2019. yesterday the nasdaq closed above 9,000 for the first time. amazon led the gains after the e-commerce giant said the holiday shopping season broke all records. the dow was up 105 points, and the s&p 500 gained 16 points. the fda has officially announced the federal minimum age to buy tobacco is 21 years

last week president trump signed legislation increasing the age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. that does include e-cigarettes and vaping cartridges. before the president signed the measure, 19 states and washington, d.c., had already increased the minimum age. the fda has now six months to finalize the new law. u.p.s. returns returned packages to hit a record high following this year's holiday shipping season. the package delivery company says it expects to process 1.9 million consumer returns on january 2nd. that's up 26% from last year. the national retail federation says more than 55% of shoppers plan to return or exchange unwanted gifts within a month of receiving them. and starting today, starbucks will be throwing a popup party every day until new year's eve. the party will last one hour, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm each day.

customers can get a free tall espresso drink including holiday favorites like the carmel brulee latte and toasted white chocolate latte. each day, 200 stores across the country will throw these parties. the locations will change every day. so just check the list of stores. wendy? >> naomi, thank you so much. >> thank you. still to come, a dna test designed for healthy living. an experiment that uses your biology to help choose the best foods for you. at uses your biology to help choose the best foods for you. skin sin #17... too many after-parties. new neutrogena® bright boost with dullness-fighting neoglucosamine. boosts cell turnover by 10 times for instantly brighter skin. bright boost neutrogena®.

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new hope. a baby black rhino born at potter park zoo in lansing, michigan, has got conservationists excited. black rhinos are critically endangered. he was born christmas eve. the calf is bonding with his mother. he'll be ready to make his public debut next spring. the term "you are what you eat" may be true, but science appears to indicate that knowing who you are as in your dna may better determine what you should eat. riley carlson has the story from london. >> reporter: people are lining up for cheek swabs at this shop in central london called dna nudge. >> so we're effectively using your biology to nudge you to make healthier choices within what you eat. >> reporter: unlike other dna tests, there's no lab here, just a small machine that scans dna for health conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. dna is analyzed in about an hour and given to customers in a fitbit-style wristband synced to an app.

>> it's not just based upon your dna. it's also based upon your lifestyle. >> reporter: once you have your information, it's time to shop. scientists have loaded the app with thousands of food products at grocery stores across the uk. with a simple scan of the bar code, the wristband turns green when a food is right for you. red means try something else. the app won't just tell you to put down the cookie. it guides you to a healthier one. >> if you want to buy a biscuit, then let's find the better biscuit for you and your biology. >> reporter: families like the crown spencers have joined a clinical trial at imperial college, london, to see how much of an impact the small changes can have on people predisposed to type-two diabetes. >> i love the fact that when i go shopping, i can make sure that i'm making the right choices for all three of us. >> reporter: researchers hope the trial will prove that using your own biology really is the key to a healthier lifestyle. riley carlson, cbs news, london.

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vitamins, minels and herbs. our top story this morning, a powerful winter storm is making for dangerous travel conditions in the southern california mountains. yesterday drivers were stuck for hours on interstate 5. the storm is moving east and expected to bring blizzard-like conditions to the central part of the country this weekend. about 650,000 people are released from u.s. prisons each year. some ex-prisoners are being taught to write their own second act. at the south bend civic theater in indiana. dean reynolds paid a visit. i mean, think about it -- >> reporter: in this south bend, indiana, theater, an unlikely transition is taking place. >> we talking about a child born with no heart -- >> reporter: from the jail cell

-- >> i managed to keep mine -- >> reporter: to center stage and possibly to a second chance. >> see, most of the friends i grew up with sold their souls to the devil. >> reporter: current and former convicts tell their stories in the play "heartless" which features jamarcus fields. how long were you in? >> 26 years. >> reporter: for what? >> for murder. i understand i committed a crime, i had to do the time. i'm saying is we're still human, that fact don't change once we get incarcerated. >> reporter: fields finished his sentence in october at what's called a re-entry center which tries to reintroduce convicts to society. his fellow actors will end their decades behind bars in the coming months. >> explain to me how a guy in the joint gets involved in this sort of thing. >> as i began to get closer and i begin to see the finish line, then it's like, okay, how am i going to reintroduce myself to society, to the community, because for the last 26 years this is what they've known me

as. but that's not who i am. >> having no heart -- >> reporter: fellow convict-turned-actor john applegate. >> it makes doing time real easy. the pain that i've caused, that's going to haunt me until the day i die. >> this is a heartless human being -- >> reporter: antwan crockett wrote the play in prison. is it amazing to you to see it come to life? >> it really is. it's a surreal feeling. it's just the type of work i've been wanting to do. >> reporter: what does it mean? >> hope. >> hope for me. >> hope for others, yeah. >> reporter: 18-year-old harrison hayden was in the audience and got the message. >> i think it's two times more powerful because they went through what they went through, and they're able to do something like this, to share their story. >> reporter: because their story is bigger than a play, bigger than a stage. it's about life and death and choices. dean reynolds, cbs news, south bend, indiana. coming up on "cbs this morning," a new lawsuit is

over a dangerous carcinogen called ethylene oxide, used to sterilize about half of the medical supplies in the united states.we tk with astronaut christina cook who will make history tomorrow by setting a new record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. and the growing popularity of astrology. why millennials are turning to the ancient practice. that's "cbs this morning" for this friday. thank you so much for watching. i'm wendy gillette. have a great day. ♪