♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> diaz: tonight, breaking news in nashville. authorities name the christmas day bomber. >> anthony warner is the bomber. >> diaz: new details about the attack and the mysterious man behind it, two days after an r.v. exploded, devastating the city's downtown. also tonight, stimulus standoff. the president golfs while the covid relief bill is unsigned. a government shutdown looming, will congress agree to more money for struggling americans? plus, the deadliest month. covid's toll surges across america. >> we have a grim month ahead of us. right now, the cases are being led by the coast. >> diaz: the situation in california, critical. the heartland, hurting. a new warning that holiday travel could spark a viral

wildfire. violent carjackings surge across parts of the country. is it a side effect of the pandemic? >> police departments across the country are struggling to deal with this violence. >> diaz: and later, a mysterious lenolith delights san francisco, this one made of gingerbread. will the big cookie crumble? this is the "cbs weekend news" this is the "cbs weekend news" from chicago. here's adriana diaz. >> diaz: good evening. there is breaking news from nashville. tonight the authorities named the bomber behind the violent christmas day blast in the city's downtown. he is identified as 63-year-old anthony warner. cbs's mola lenghi is in nashville with the fast-breaking developments. mola, good evening. >> reporter: adriana, investigators say they were able to match d.n.a. samples obtained from the blast scene with examples from warner's property. cbs news learned they also matched the samples with d.n.a.

they gathered from warner's mother. now, as far as a motive goes, authorities say they are still looking into that, but they are considering the possibility that warner may have been targeting the communications infrastructure here in nashville. this r.v. was parked outside an at&t transmission building in downtown nashville when it exploded, knocking out cell and wi-fi service from tennessee to alabama. the r.v. is similar to the one seen here in this google maps image, parked at anthony quinn warner's home just outside nashville. law enforcement sources tell cbs news, witnesses say warner may have had an interest in conspiracy theories around 5-g technology. one source confirmed that warner's late father had worked at at&t. former f.b.i. assistant director for counterintelligence frank figliuzzi said on "face the nation" that this act was personal. >> i think it's quite likely this was a suicide mission for this individual. >> reporter: today,

investigators continued their search for evidence around the crime scene, anything to help explain the explosion. initially responding to reports of gunfire on christmas morning, officers heard a countdown begin through a p.a. system on the r.v. >> reporter: as they rushed to evacuate people nearby, the song "downtown" by petula clark blared in between the minutes in s in thetdown. countdown, then the music stopped. then the music stopped. ( explosion ) >> i just see orange and then i hear a loud boom. as i'm stumbling-- because it rocked me that hard-- i tell myself to stay on my feet and stay alive. >> reporter: officers james wells and amanda topping worked the scene together. >> i grabbed him, he grabbed he me and we ducked into a doorway because we didn't know what was coming afterwards.

>> reporter: an uncertainty eased by leaning on one another. well, of course, authorities say they continue to investigate all leads, but at this point, it does not appear that anyone else was involved in this bombing, adriana. >> diaz: mola lenghi in nashville, thank you. >> millions of americans found themselves on the edge of an economic crisis after unemployment benefits lapsed. it lapped after trump didn't support the sweeping bill by congress. that support them barreling )flé toward toward a shutdown. paula reid has late breaking details. >> reporter: we learned the president just signed this covid relief bill. this is notable because the president, for weeks now, has been pressing lawmakers to triple those payments to individuals, but by signing this, he is agreeing that

individuals will receive $600, not the 2,000 he was calling for. the demand he's making it from his own party. his republicans were calling for smaller payments. last week democrats tried to put forth a provision to increase payments. the republicans were the ones to block this. for months the bill has been negotiated. the president has been mostly on the sidelines, and aides helped craft the bill. the president's 11th hour demands angered members of bothert pas who called on him to sign the bill as is. trying to make sense of this last minute flip flop by the president, his official statement by the white house, they insist they've gotten some consegs. they insist the senate will start a process to repeal some protections for social media companies and potentially start an investigation into voter fraud.

but adriana, we have no evidence those things will happen or more than a distant effort by republicans. it appears at the white house is trying to save face as the president backtracks on the threats to veto the legislation by signing this late tonight, even though some unemployment benefits lapsed, certainly a relief for americans waiting for assistance. >> paula, if those concessions are not locked in, does the president gain anything, or is he essentially standing down? >> let's see if the republican promises are actually fulfilled. if so, yes, the president's hard ball tactics to get things he wanted. it doesn't appear there's changes to the bill. he's signing it as is. >> paula reid in west palm beach, thank you. to america's covid crisis marked a new milestone today. totl confirmed cases topped 19 million. at least one in 17 people have contracted the virus. the death toll now nearing

333,000. december has been the deadliest month so far. more than 65,000 lives lost. yet the worst may lie ahead. here's cbs's lilia luciano. >> reporter: 2020 is almost over, but the new year threatens what experts call a surge upon a surge. >> as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse. >> reporter: tonight, millions head home, after defying warnings not to travel. experts caution it could spark a viral wildfire. >> it's really not going to be till the end of january that the burden on hospitals begin to lessen and we start to see deaths plateau. >> reporter: six states, still hot spots. the epicenter, california, where nearly 20,000 are hospitalized and i.c.u. capacity is zero. in l.a. county, some hospitals report they're running low on oxygen and p.p.e. those on the frontlines, still at risk. a recent report found nearly 3,000 health care workers nationwide have died since the

start of the pandemic-- almost two-thirds, people of color. and many patients aren't well months after infection, like sacramento firefighter matt rogge. he got sick in july and is still in lung rehab. >> i didn't think twice about putting my gear on, grabbing the hose and going up four, five flights of stairs, and now it actually takes a lot more effort to get that done. >> diaz: for everyone, this will be a new year's eve like no other-- parties canceled, crowds banned, hope hard to come by. but, in times square, the ball will drop. instead of the usual crowds, the party will be only be online. with concerns of a more contagious new strain of the coronavirus found in the united kingdom, starting tomorrow, anyone flying in from the u.k. must have a negative covid test. adriana. >> diaz: lilia luciano in los angeles, thank you. today, the european union began vaccinating the first of its

450 million people across 27 nations. nearly two million americans have already received the first dose of the vaccine, and over 9.5 million doses have been disributed here. but as cbs's manuel bojorquez reports from wisconsin, most people in rural areas are still waiting. >> reporter: the rush of vaccines may soon start to trickle into places like fort atkinson, wisconsin, which is tucked away from the big city traffic and noise, but also lacks what other large cities have-- ultra-cold freezers needed to store pfizer's covid vaccine. ann lewandowski, with the southern wisconsin immunization consortium, is helping rural hospitals secure doses. is daunting the right word? >> yes. there will be communities that aren't going to see vaccine in these initial shipments. >> reporter: in fact, many states have chosen to reserve their limited supply of pfizer's vaccine for more-populated areas. so moderna's vaccine, which does not require ultra-cold storage, is considered a lifeline.

distribution delays could have deadly consequences. nearly 15% of u.s. covid deaths have occurred in rural areas. health officials in georgia, michigan and texas are already sounding the alarm about getting vaccines outside the big cities. >> in the history of epidemics, the rural communuities, the epidemics tend to linger longer in the rural areas. >> reporter: dr. james martin is medical director at fort atkinson's fort healthcare hospital. getting the doses is one problem but so is vaccine hesitancy. a new survey says 35% of rural residents won't take the shot. your biggest concern is what, going into this rolling out of the vaccine? >> convincing people to get the vaccine is my biggest concern and priority. >> reporter: all while the virus leaves no part of the country unscathed. manuel bojorquez, cbs news, fort atkinson, wisconsin. >> diaz: a u.s. serviceman was charged today in a deadly shooting at a rockford, illinois

bowling alley. it happened last night. three people were killed, three others wounded. the suspect is identified as 37- year-old duke webb of florida. police are calling it a "random shooting." police in some major cities across the country are reporting a skyrocketing surge in auto thefts, especially violent carjackings. cbs's charlie de mar, here in chicago, has that story, and rare footage from minutes after a carjacking attempt. >> reporter: in the middle of state street in downtown chicago we met luv randhawa, moments after he fought off a crew of armed teenagers who tried to steal his rental car. >> they put their gun on my chest and they were hitting me. four or five people. >> reporter: randawha, visiting from las vegas, says one of the would-be carjackers pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. >> i'm, like, dude, if you're going to shoot me-- befor shooting me, i will take this car off and i will smash it on the wall and you're going to die with me. >> i call it the lazy man's auto theft.

>> reporter: christopher herrmann is a former n.y.p.d. crime analyst and assistant professor at the john jay college of criminal justice in new york city. >> there's a small group of people that think they can get away with more crime now. the police are not being as aggressive or not doing as much of their job as they normally do. >> reporter: in minneapolis, carjackings have spiked roughly 320% compared to this time last year. carjackings in new orleans up 150% year to date. new york city has seen 311 carjackings, up from 129 a year ago, an increase of 141%. here in chicago there have been at least 1,400 car jackings this year, more than double all of than double all of last year. that works out to about four every day. >> reporter: brendan deenihan is the chief of detectives for the chicago police department. his theory as to why there's been a dramatic jump in carjackings?

>> there seems to be a remarkable amount of emboldened criminals who are committing acts, and it's the combination of the pandemic and the civil unrest. and police departments across the country are struggling to deal with this violence. >> reporter: a carjacking ring was after retired chicago firefighter dwain williams' red s.u.v. earlier this month, caught on surveillance video with guns. the firefighter fought back, pulling his own. the 65-year-old was shot and killed. a 15-year-old among those arrested. >> we've arrested several younger offenders and repeat offenders. i believe half of our arrests this year for the carjackings have involved juvenile offenders. >> reporter: a property crime on the rise that can turn deadly in seconds. charlie de mar, cbs news, chicago. >> diaz: and, baseball has lost a legend. phil niekro pitched in the majors for 24 years, 20 of them with the atlanta braves. his nickname was "knucksie," a take on his signature pitch, the knuckleball. he won 318 games and recorded more than 3,000 strikeouts. phil niekro had been battling cancer and was 81 years old.

straight ahead on the "cbs weekend news:" cbs news gets rare access to the world's newest, and largest, eye on the sky. and in san francisco, another mysterious monolith-- this time, it's edible. nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. it's just a cold. if you have high blood pressure, a cold is not just a cold. most cold medicines may raise blood pressure. choose coricidin hbp. the brand with a heart. for powerful cold relief without raising your blood pressure.

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when they're sick, they get comfortable anywhere and spread germs everywhere. nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. >> diaz: the collapse of the arecibo radio telescope in puerto rico earlier this month marked the end of an era in astronomy. the massive 57-year-old structure, a victim of years of under-funding and neglect. now, the world's largest telescope is on the other side of the world, in remote china. our ramy inocencio made a rare visit there. >> reporter: nestled shining in silence in the forested limestone hills of remote southwest china, the world's biggest single-dish radio telescope, more than five football fields across, is scanning beyond our skies. its chinese name, "tian yan," means "eye of heaven." 12 families were first relocated

out of this natural depression. engineers laid down more than 4,000 aluminum panels over a year to detect faint, mysterious, fast radio bursts, ripples in time, and to search for extra terrestrial life. this telescope is some 26 years in the making and became fully operational last january. cbs news gained television access on a cold december weekend, only because the telescope was offline for maintenance. "we've got the highest sensitivity in the world," says wang qiming, fast's chief inspector. "see that huge steel ring? see those six towers piercing the clouds? they're spectacular and gigantic. we're all so happy." this is the apple of this cosmic eye, the 30-ton "feed cabin" hoisted by those towers nearly 500 feet up. its job, to collect data from the universe reflected from the dish. breathtaking to see it all physically complete.

what we don't see is also super interesting-- a mandatory "radio-quiet zone" that stretches more than three miles in every direction right from here. scientists want to listen to very faint radio waves coming from millions of light years away, not from someone's cell phone down the road. "astronomy has no borders," says wang qiming. "this kind of science includes us all." ramy inocencio, cbs news, in remote guizhou province, southern china. >> diaz: still ahead on the "cbs weekend news," the discovery of an ancient roman fast food joint. what they snacked on, coming up. to ask yourself, e 'are my bones strong?' life is full of make or break moments. that's why it's so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months.

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since a rare but serious genital infection may be life-threatening. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems or are on dialysis. other serious side effects include dehydration, genital yeast and bacterial infections in women and men, urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and sudden kidney problems. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis which is serious

and may lead to death. answer the alert. ask your doctor if farxiga could do more for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ far-xi-ga >> diaz: san franciscans woke up christmas morning to a delicious-looking treat. a nearly seven-foot tall monolith made of gingerbread appeared on a hilltop over the city, a nod to the mysterious t tall monoliths that have made of gingerbread appeared on a hillto popped up worldwide. but this one was held together with icing and adorned with gumdrops. and as cookies do, it later crumbled. now to a new discovery, of old fast food. archaeologists in italy are dusting off a 2,000-year-old eatery in pompeii. the ancient roman city was buried under volcanic ash in 79 a.d. inside terra cotta jars in this hand-painted stand were

delicacies like fish, pork, snails and wine. the counter looks like a modern salad bar. and who doesn't love a salad bar. next on the "cbs weekend news"-- road trip! we look back at some of the people who made sure viewers got the news this pandemic year.

>> diaz: finally tonight, this course, been a been a cha ear.lenging year. so much has changed -- including so much has changed-- including how the "weekend news" gets to you. back in march, covid forced us

so we scrambled, c from of the cbs broadcast center in new york. so we scrambled, confident we'd om back soon. nine months later, most of us still work from home, writing, producing, and editing, from the kitchen, living room and anywhere else you can put a laptop. who knew that was possible? but with no studio or control room, we got creative to get on the air. cbs stations and our affiliates stepped up. and tonight, we want to say "thank you" for what we call our "cross-country road shows" with a look back. >> good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm demarco morgan reporting in los angeles. >> i'm doug dunbar reporting tonight from cbs 11 news in dallas fort worth. >> jim benneman, reporting from cbs news 4 news in denver. >> karen leigh, reporting from cbs 4 news in denver. >> mia grandy, reporting from the khou11 news studio in houston. >> i'm rick folbaum, reporting from wgcl cbs 46 in atlantis. >> i'm sean gabels, reporting from cbs 46 in atlanta. >> good evening, i'm lesli foster reporting from wusa9 in washington, d.c. >> i'm monique ming laven,

reporting from cairo 7 in seattle. >> i'm debbie knox reporting from wttv cbs 4 in indianapolis. >> and i'm bob at wttv cbs 4 reporting in indianapolis. >> i'm jeff juno, reporting from koin tv in portland, oregon. >> i'm tony lopez reporting from cbs station klbr in sacramento. >> i'm elizabeth kling at cbs station kovr in sacramento. >> i'm samantha jones reporting from kmov in st. louis. >> that's the "cbs weekend news" for sunday. i'm steve savard reporting from kmov in st. louis. >> tonight, a grim new milestone. the u.s. now leads the world in coronavirus deaths. >> around here, the month of may is very special, but for the first time since world war ii, there are no festivities leading up to the greatest spectacle in racing this month. >> 40 years ago tomorrow, mount st. helens erupted, changing the landscape in the northwest forever. >> tonight, frustration and fury sweeps across america. >> anger and anguish, with

america on edge tonight. protests erupting in dozens of cities following monday's arrest and death of george floyd in police custody in minneapolis. >> that's the "cbs weekend news" for this sunday. i'm doug dunbar reporting from ktvt in fort worth, dallas. and for all of us at cbs news, take care of each other. have a good night. >> diaz: enormous thanks to our cbs family. we are also so grateful to our colleagues in d.c. and l.a. who led this broadcast the past few months, especially our jamie amieas and major garrett. that is the "cbs weekend news" for this final sunday of 2020. i'm adriana diaz in chicago. have a happy and healthy new year's eve. see you next year. good night. r. goodn captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

now at 6:00, with california now leading the nation in per capita case counts many bay area businesses are falling even further behind on their bills. >> we learned within the last hour, help is under way. i'm dahl lin we spoke to businesses who say help can't come soon enough. we're watching showers sitting right off the coast. we're going track that and show you how it might not be as impressive for us. but we're getting rain nonetheless. and how some east bay bans took some physically distanced stages to ben nit local food banks. within the past hour

president trump signed the $900 billion pandemic lifeline meant to keep millions of american workers and businesses from drowning in debt. new at 6:00, kpixs dahl lin spoke to neighbors and businesses who say the help can't come soon enough. >> reporter: they hope this latest round of money will buy them some time. business is so slow at the san francisco legacy restaurant they're only opening three hours a day. five days a week. >> we are not surviving. we are on the verge of closing down. we are the longest running indian restaurant in the city of san francisco. >> reporter: owner ron jon daj has poured his heart into the restaurant in the last 32 years. >> taking loan out on my house to pay my staff. to stay open. >> reporter: from struggli