it is so far the sixth highest grossing movie this year. for more download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm matt pieper, cbs news, new it's monday, december 12th, 2022. this is the "cbs morning news." blockbuster storm. the west gets walloped with heavy rain and snow as the weather system moves east. when the rest of the country could see the effects. bombing suspect in u.s. custody. a man accused in the deadly 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103 is in american hands. how the victims' families are reacting. griner release details. we're learning more about what brittney griner did in her first moments of freedom following her prisoner swap last week. what she wanted to do immediately after her release. well, good morning, and good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with a monster storm that's making its way across the

country after bringing heavy snow and powerful winds to the west coast this weekend. winter weather advisories and storm watches have been issued. blizzard conditions and more than a foot of snow are possible in the northern plains and the midwest, as well as life-threatening tornadoes in the south. danya bacchus has more. >> reporter: the powerful cross-country storm dumping snow throughout the sierra-nevada winds causing dangerous whiteout conditions on roads, spurring avalanche warnings, and whipping lifts at ski resorts. heavy rains pummelling the golden state, knocking down trees and triggering fears of landslides like this one friday in los angeles county. in neighboring orange county, a swift water rescue this morning at a rain-swollen river. crews hoisted the man to safeti. as california's storm system moves east -- >> oh! >> reporter: a rare weather phenomena in iowa -- thunder

snow. the storm set to impact much of the country with blizzard conditions expected from colorado to minnesota with thunderstorms and tornado warnings in the south. while the storm is bringing much-needed rain and snow, california reservoirs are just over half full. not enough yet to pull the state out of its historic drought. danya bacchus, cbs news, los angeles. a libyan man accused of making the bomb that brought down pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland, in 1988 is in custody in the u.s. the act of terrorism killed 259 on the plane including 190 americans. 11 more people were killed on the ground. jarred hill is in new york with reaction from some of the victims' families. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. you know, those families who have been working on this for decades really have said that this arrest is a huge step and a long time coming. 34 years since that deadly attack.

34 years after the deadly bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland, the man suspected of building the explosive used in the attack, libyan national abu agila mohammed masud, is in u.s. custody. it remains the deadliest terror attack on british soil killing all 259 people on board and another 11 people on the ground, all just four days before christmas. >> 190 victims on the plane were americans. it's only right that it be prosecuted in the united states. >> reporter: kara weipz's brother rick minetti was one of 35 syracuse university students killed on that flight as they were returning from a semester abroad. so was jeannine boulanger's daughter nicole. >> i carry her with me. it's very important that the people who perpetrate these crimes are brought to justice. >> reporter: two years another former attorney general william barr announced new charges against masud citing a confession he made to libyan authorities back in 2012 as well

as his travel records which allegedly tied him to the crime. >> let there be no mistake, no amount of time or distance will stop the united states and our scottish partners from pursuing justice. >> reporter: in a statement, barr called the case, quote, unfinished business, and said he was happy the biden administration continued to pursue it. the justice department says the suspect will make his initial court appearance at a federal district court in washington, d.c. and another libyan operative was convicted in relation to that bombing back in 2001. back to you. >> jarred hill in new york. thank you so much. so we are learning more about brittney griner's first hours of freedom after being imprisoned in russia for nears ten months on drug charges. the american diplomat who helped secure griner's release and escorted her onto the 18-hour flight back home awe'red on cnn yesterday. >> when she finally got onto the u.s. plane, i said, brittney,

you must have been through a lot over the last ten months. here's your seat. please, feel free to decompress, we'll give you your space. she said, oh, no, i've been in prison for ten months listening to russian. i want to talk. first of all, who are these guys? and she moved right past me and went to every member on that crew, looked them in the eyes, shook their hand and asked about them, got their names, making a personal connection with them. >> griner was released last thursday in exchange for convicted russian arms dealer viktor bout. she remains at a military medical texas in texas for a health evaluation. meanwhile, the biden administration says it is continuing to negotiate with russia for the release of another imprisoned american, paul whelan. repair and cleanup efforts continue in kansas after the largest land-based crude oil spill in nearly a decade. the keystone pipeline which carries oil from canada to the texas gulf coast ruptured last week near the kansas-nebraska border. canada's tc energy shut down the pipeline after almost 600,000 gallons of oil spilled into a creek. the company says that it does

not know what caused the leak, and the epa said there's been no known effects yet on drinking water wells or the public. the holiday travel season kicks into high gear next week, and if you're hitting the road or catching a plane, get ready for lots of company. aaa estimates more than 112 million people will travel at least 50 miles or more away from home between december 23rd and january 2nd. 2022 is expected to be the third busiest year for holiday travel since aaa began tracking those numbers 22 years ago. more than 100 million americans are expected to drive to their holiday destinations this year, and more than seven million are expected to fly. it was a successful splashdown for nasa's "artemis 1" moon mission ship. the uncrewed orion capsule was divided -- was guided into the pacific oceans 350 miles

south of san diego yesterday. the 25-day test flight cost billions, but the payoff -- astronauts could be next. mark strassmann has more. splashdown -- >> reporter: a homecoming splashdown. the first of many that nasa imagines in its lunar dreams. >> orion is in great shape. >> reporter: recovery teams pulled the orion capsule from the pacific. >> i don't think any one of us could have imagined the mission this successful. >> liftoff -- >> reporter: 25 days ago nasa launched the test flight. in all, a 1.4 million-mile lunar roundtrip. from deep space, orion beamed back spectacular imagery of the moon and earth. twice the capsule flew within 80 miles of the moon's surface. the mission's biggest test came during sunday's return. orion slammed into the earth's atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour. the heat shield had to hold up against temperatures of 5,000 degrees. half as hot as the surface of the sun. >> we're going to look at the data carefully.

but i would say very happy with what we've seen so far on the heat shield. >> reporter: sunday's splashdown, 50 years to the day after another landing. >> and contact -- >> reporter: "apollo 17" touching down on the lunar surface. >> the "challenger" has landed. >> reporter: the last time humans moon walked. nasa wants to return with the "artemis" program. a crude test flight around the moon in 2024, a moon landing later this decade. >> it is the beginning of the new beginning, and that is to explore the heavens. >> reporter: a new era in moon voyaging just moved one test flight closer. mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. coming up, historic inauguration. los angeles' first female mayor, karen bass, is sworn in. and later, twitter blue relaunches today. how much you'll need to pay for a blue checkmark. this is the "cbs morning news."

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don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. a volcano emergency in hawaii is easing, and the city of los angeles made history. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." the "los angeles times" reports democrat karen bass was sworn in as the city's first female mayor. >> and that i will faithfully discharge the duties -- >> that i will faithfully discharge the duties -- >> of the office of mayor -- >> of the office of mayor -- >> according to my best ability. >> according to my best ability. >> madam mayor. [ cheers ] >> vice president kamala harris presided over yesterday's ceremonial swearing-in. bass formally assumes her duties today. she says that she plans to declare a state of emergency today to deal with the city's homeless crisis. the "honolulu star

advertiser" says that a lava flow from hawaii's mauna loa volcano continues to decrease. two weeks ago the volcano on hawaii's big island erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years. scientists have lowered the alert level from a warning to a watch. the lava flow has also stalled about two miles from a major highway. officials say no communities are in danger. and the "associated press" reports on the death of pioneering black feminist and child welfare advocate dorothy pitman hughes. the lifelong community activist died december 1st in tampa. hughes organized the first shelter for battered women in new york city. she ran a community center that offered day care and job training. and she also toured the country in the 1970s speaking with glorious steinem. dorothy pitman hughes was 84. and still to come, world cup semifinals. it's down to four teams going after the trophy after morocco makes history in the soccer tournament.

here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ the moroccan miracle is still on! >> morocco became the first african team to ever reach the world cup semifinals after defeating portugal in a stunning upset on saturday. now morocco goes on to face france. >> he's missed! brazil are out! the shock has happened! >> and in a tournament that has

been filled with unexpected results, croatia made its way to the semifinals by beating brazil in penalty kicks. croatia will now play argentina. and we could be hearing more about why a former cryptocurrency company filed for bankruptcy, and twitter is relaunching a feature that will cost you some money. matt pieper has that and more in today's cbs "money watch" report. >> reporter: the u.s. consumer inflation report tomorrow should set the tone for markets for the week. as for last week, on friday the dow lost 305. nasdaq down 77. s&p 500 losing 29. all eyes will be on congress this week not over a hot button issues but so that both sides can hash out government funding to avoid a shutdown. if a deal is not reached, a government shutdown could come on friday. both sides are about $26 billion apart in the approximately $1.5 trillion package. tuesday could be an interesting day on the u.s. house floor. ftx founder sam bankman fried has agreed to testify before the

house financial services committee. the cryptocompany's recent collapse left millions of creditors without their funds. the 30-year-old has been holed up in the bahamas since his company filed for bankruptcy last month. twitter is relaunching a revamped version of its twitter blue subscription service today, and it is more expensive for apple users. the service will allow people to edit tweets, upload higher quality videos, and get a blue checkmark for $8 per month through the web but for $11 a month through apple ios. blue was initially launched last month, but it was suspended over a bunch of quickly made imposter accounts. that is your cbs "money watch" report for this monday morning. i'm matt pieper, cbs news, new york. "black panther: wakanda forever" is not giving up the top spot. the blockbuster sequel has become the first movie since the original "black panther" in 2018 to top ticket sales for five weeks in a row. at number two is "violent night"

with $8.7 million and the animated adventure "strange world" in third place with $3.6 million. next, girl going somewhere. we're going to show the newest country music star inducted into the grand ole opry. moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective without topical steroids. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. plus, they felt fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪

congratulations, ashley mcbryde, you are officially a member of the grand ole opry. [ cheers ] >> the country star ashley mcbryde became the newest member of the grand ole opry saturday night. she first found out about the honor two months ago while she was visiting us at "cbs mornings" and got a surprise rt brooks. >> on behalf of the opry and myself as a member -- i'm going to try not to cry -- we would love for you to consider becoming the newest member of the grand ole opry. >> it would be the great joy and the great honor of my life. thank you, garth. goodness. >> pretty cool.

>> she's now the 228th member of the grand ole opry. the highest honor in football, college football that is, was also given out on saturday. >> and the winner for 2022, caleb williams. [ cheers ] >> university of southern california's quarterback caleb williams was announced at this year's heisman trophy -- as this yar's heisman trophy winner. the sophomore has been credited with leading the trojans to their best season since 2017 with 11 wins. in london, it was a howling good time as dozens of dogs paid tribute to the late queen elizabeth. at a christmas parade, corgis dressed in their finest holiday sweaters waddled past buckingham palace. corgis were the queen's favorite breed of dogs. she's says to have owned about 30 through her lifetime. coming up, singer-songwriter amy grant talks with vlad duthiers about her kennedy

center honor. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news." hey! did you hear? there are new covid-19 booster shots designed for recent omicron variants. thank you. pfizer. the more you want to do, the more we want to do. schedule yours at vaccines.gov. ♪♪ ♪ ♪ this year take the time to melt into your holiday moments with lindor. ♪ ♪ irresistibly smooth chocolate. from the lindt master chocolatier. what's the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists?

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on december 12. we are going to see clear conditions as we head into this work week we'll talk more about

that coming up in your full forecast in just a bit. and in oakland, police have been all hands on deck to try to crack down on crime. we bring you the latest numbers to see if the streets of the city are any safer. meanwhile, the financial decision looming. and we'll take you inside a high-tech mobile center that will bring needed services for our bay area farm workers. we first brought you this story for wraps for unveiling the bus. san francisco beat tom brady and the bucs. highlights of the match and the impressive performance from brock this our red and gold report. the weekend storm is on the way out. but it left some damage behind for us. this tree on your screen fell across the road in the east bay. a public works crew is currently on the scene to remove the tree and get lanes back open