the political spotlight. that includes his recent release of the so-called twitter files, which allege bias in reporting on hunter biden's laptop and trump's ban. >> is there a smoking gun in the twitter files? >> there's no specifc smoking gun. there's a huge amount of hypocrisy from musk himself, where he will say that this is scandalous, but then he will use the exact same techniques against anybody who's critical of him. >> tweet by tweet, the brand of musk, i believe, has teriorated, and ultimately it's a black eye for tesla. >> reporter: now, musk has not responded to multiple requests from cbs. analysts say it's a really bad time for him to be alienating customers just as the ev market is really heating up and becoming competitive. ultimately critics believe musk is going to have to choose between running twitter or tesla. norah. >> carter evans, thank you so much. and cbs reports has a new documentary that offers an

in-depth look at elon musk's acquisition of twitter. be sure to check out elon musk incorporated on the cbs news app. the dramatic crash of a military fighter jet was caught on camera today in fort worth, texas. an f-35b which can land like a helicopter made a vertical landing onto the runway when it bounced and went into a spin. the pilot safely ejected as the $100 million jet came to stop in the grass. lockheed martin, which makes the plane, is investigating the cause of the wreck. earlier this year, an investigation into the military's fleet of f-35s found at least one ejection seat had a defective part. britain's prince harry is launching some of his most personal accusations so far in the new docu-series harry and meghan, including criticism of his brother, prince william. in the latest episodes released today, his wife, meghan markle, recounts the mental toll she suffered from the british press. we get details from cbs's ramy

inocencio in london. >> reporter: prince harry accused prince william of lashing out at him. >> it was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that simply weren't true. >> reporter: this in 2020, after he announced he and meghan would step back from royal duties. the pair also allege the palace plotted with the press to leak and lie. >> it's a dirty game. to see my brother's office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never, ever do, that was heartbreaking. >> reporter: meghan further claiming the negative media frenzy whipped up death threats, which she recounted. >> meghan just needs to die. someone needs to kill her. maybe it should be me. >> reporter: but also whittled her down so far to consider suicide. >> it was like all of this will stop if i'm not here. and that was the scariest thing about it, is it was such clear thinking.

>> reporter: p.r. week editor john harrington has advice for buckingham palace. >> i think the best thing they can do is try to move away, move the focus away from harry and meghan. >> reporter: and tonight they have, with a festive focus on christmas. kate and william arrived at westminster abbey for a carol concert, smiling and carrying on. and like when the first three episodes dropped on netflix last week, it has been no comment from buckingham palace yet again. business as usual. the title of the event tonight, "royal carols together at christmas," except of course without harry and meghan. norah. >> ramy inocencio, thank you. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

when cold symptoms keep you up, try vicks nyquil severe. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst cold and flu symptoms, to help take you from 9 to none. for max-strength nighttime relief, nyquil severe. well, a judge today handed down the longest prison sentences yet in the plot to kidnap michigan's governor. three members of a paramilitary group called the wolverine watchmen received sentences ranging from 7 to 12 years behind bars. they were convicted in october of providing material support for a terrorist act and other crimes. governor gretchen whitmer called their actions a threat to democracy itself. well, we do want to turn now to a growing trend in gun sales in america. so far this year, the fbi has conducted more than 28 million firearm background checks, and among them is an increasing

number of women. an industry trade group says women have account ford about 40% of gun sales in recent years. in tonight's eye on america, cbs's mark strassmann shows us how the industry is changing. >> got a good stance. >> reporter: in the heart of alabama, gun country, gracie barhill squeezed off round after round, warming to her month-old smith & wesson 9 millimeter. >> there are things you don't account for when you see it in john wick movies. i'm young. i'm a girl. i never know when a threat's going to come. that's probably my favorite one. >> of course. >> reporter: this 19-year-old's here for girls, guns, and gear at scott recio's gun range, it's a self-defense firearms course, targeting women wary of threats. >> it's absolutely undeniable. the world is changing and they want to be ahead of it. >> reporter: forget gun shy. nationally last year, 1 in 3

first-time gun buyers was a woman. >> all right. go ahead. >> reporter: like emma boutwell. >> i was definitely nervous when i first shot. i need to know how to defend myself. >> reporter: gun instructor beverly al ridge teaches these women marksmanship, gun safety, situational awareness. >> it's one more tool in a toolbox. >> how is instructing women different than instructing men? >> women listen better than men do. women are just quicker just to hear and take in what they're being told and applying that. >> reporter: akita gordon comes armed with another trend. among black women, the firearm homicide rate has more than tripled since 2010. today, nearly 30% of women gun owners are black. >> i have more confidence now that i'm carrying and i don't have to second-guess what i'm going to do. >> reporter: she showed us cute and cocky, her line of women's clothes and holsters designed to

hide a gun fashionably and show self-confidence. the bull's-eye of most women gun owners. >> to not only feel safer but empower ourselves. to be able to move freely in the world without immediate threats. >> reporter: many will never leave home without it. alabama has america's highest rate of concealed weapons. for "eye on america," mark strassmann, calara, alabama. thousands of the declassified documents on the declassified documents on the jfk restless nights fogging up your day? tonight, try new zzzquil pure zzzs sleep plus next day energy with melatonin to help you fall asleep naturally... plus extended-release b-vitamins. wake up feeling refreshed. pure zzzs. sleep better. wake up your best.

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a former fort worth, texas, police officer was found guilty of manslaughter today in the deadly 2019 shooting of 28-year-old atatiana jefferson inside her home. aaron dean said he fired in self-defense while responding to what police thought was a burglary, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw a gun in jefferson's hand before he fired through her bedroom window. today the national archives released nearly 13,000 secret files related to the assassination of president john f. kennedy in 1963. president biden issued an executive order authorizing the disclosure, but thousands of files are still being withheld. kennedy was shot and killed in dallas, texas, by lee harvey os wald. there were no new revelations in the documents, but they included some detail on correspondence

between oswald and the soviet embassy in the weeks before the assassination. two sailors who were lost and adrift in the atlantic ocean for ten days are back on land. their remarkable story is next. two sailors are feeling lucky to be back on land after they were lost at sea for ten days. the men and a dog were heading from new jersey to florida when they say a storm kicked up 40-foot waves that snapped their mast. a tanker crew spotted them 200

miles off delaware this week and brought them safely ashore in new york city. a brave little girl teaches us the power of positivity, spreading a when you humble yourself under the mighty hand of god, in due time he will exalt you. hi, i'm joel osteen. i'm excited about being with you every week. i hope you'll tune in. you'll be inspired, you'll be encouraged. i'm looking forward to seeing you right here. you are fully loaded and completely equipped for

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get gig speed internet for $50 a month for 2 full years when you add xfinity mobile with unlimited data. plus, get $200 back. switch today! the butterfly effect is the idea that even a small event like the flap of a butterfly's wings can cause widespread change. tonight we meet one young woman who made a big impact despite her beautiful life being cut short and how her love of butterflies inspired her family and friends to honor her memory. >> reporter: penny doerge lived every day with humor and bravery. at a young age, she was diagnosed with neurofine rome toesis, a condition that can cause tumors, and in her case led to terminal brain cancer. >> i've known you guys for a long time and never knew that penny was dealing with as many

medical issues as she was dealing with. she was always the face of positivity. >> you're not alone, norah. i think that that's sort of how penny lived her life. you know, she taught us a lot. she was quietly very brave. >> reporter: looking at her, you would never know she was sick. penny always chose positivity over pain and hoped to inspire others to find beauty in imperfection. >> it's not your lifespan, noaa rah, it's your wingspan. and penny lived a greater life in her 16 years than most people do in 100. for that, we could not be more grateful. >> reporter: her family launched a foundation and after just a week, the butterfly effect took off. her friends have spread her message across the country with help from people like jimmy fallon and eli manning. >> she was a gift to all of us, and we know she lived her life's purpose. >> teaching us to spread our wings and shine our light. those are the words penny doerge lived by, and with the penny's flight foundation, her memory will carry on.

i'm norah o'donnell. we'll see you back here tomorrow. good night. this is cbs news flash. i'm serena marshall in washington. nearly seven months after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in uvalde, texas, the family and friends of the victims headed to capitol hill for a hearing thursday focusing on tougher gun laws. and could puerto rico soon become the next u.s. state? the house voting thursday to approve legislation that would offer voters in the u.s. territory three options, including statehood or independence or independence with free association. but the legislation has little chance of passing in the senate. and mariah carey has all she wants for christmas this year. the singer's catchy tune hit the top of billboard's charts for the fourth year in a row. she was awarded a plaque for the

honor and showed a picture of herself on twitter with the caption "grateful." for more, download the nbc news app. i'm serena marshall, cbs news, washington. tonight about a military fighter >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." there are new details tonight about a military fighter jet that crashed in texas, including the condition of the pilot. plus, we've got the latest government move that could ban tiktok from all of its employees' phones. but we are going to begin with the week-long coast to coast storm that's turned deadly, now barreling towards the finish line in the east. some parts of the u.s. were blanketed in more than two feet of snow. tonight blizzard warnings are posted across the northern plains and upper midwest while millions of americans from the mid-atlantic to new england are getting a treacherous blast of ice and snow.

in the south, a massive cleanup is under way after a swarm of deadly tornadoes, 21 in louisiana alone, carved across at least four states. and more than 150,000 homes and businesses across the storm zones are without power tonight and crews are working around the clock to get the lights and the heat back on. tonight from just outside new orleans in marrero, louisiana. good evening, elise. >> reporter: good evening to you, norah. homes across louisiana are splintered like this one. and here in the new orleans area, this is the second tornado families have dealt with just this year. they tell us this ef-2 moved quickly, leaving them traumatized. >> now i have nothing. >> it just hurts to see everything that she worked so hard for just in a matter of seconds, just it all disintegrate. >> in less than ten minutes. >> reporter: margarita lopez and her son, manny, had just seconds to take cover in their hallway as the tornado hit. >> this hallway kept you and your mother safe? >> this is what kept us safe.

>> and you were down here and kind of shielding her or --? >> i was actually here, and i just had her held like this, and i didn't want her to see anything. but what i saw was from here their roof and shattered most windows. they had just bounced back from hurricane ida last year. >> i have faith. i do believe, and i'm going to management. >> reporter: the tornado outbreak had produced at least 40 twisters across the south this week, mostly in louisiana. in saint charles parish, one woman was killed and eight others hurt when a tornado struck their neighborhood. the storm also triggered this dramatic lightning strike near a nursing home in laplace. and in new orleans, strong winds knocked out power for thousands of residents. >> whoa, look at that. >> we dodged a bullet without having any fatalities. >> reporter: further north, the same storm system is producing heavy snow and dangerous

blizzard conditions from the dakotas to the great lakes. three people were killed near sioux falls when a driver lost control. more than two feet of snow fell in duluth, minnesota. not a problem for these surfers on a frigid lake superior. now, louisiana is under a state of emergency tonight, and while touring area damage today, the governor said based on the level of destruction, it's remarkable more people were not hurt. norah. >> elise preston, thank you so much. well, let's find out where the dangerous weather is headed next. mike bettes is tracking it all for us with our partners at the weather channel. good evening, mike. >> norah, good evening. winter storm diaz still causing major issues across the plains and the midwest. multiple states with blizzard warnings in effect. winds gusting 50 miles an hour or more. blowing snow an issue. obvious we're going to have some problems on the roadways. want to take you just outside the twin cities on route 36. notice the snow here. vehicles overturned in the median. now these travel problems working their way into the

northeast. we have snow across pennsylvania, new york, eventually into new england. we've got rain right along i-95. all of that pushes its way farther north and east going through the day on friday, wrapping up on saturday. i-95 should remain mostly wet, not snowy, but we expect major slowdowns at the airports. all those airports highlighted in red, anticipate lengthy delays. how much snow did we pick up? norah, in some places, we are shoveling out two feet or more. >> contribute. mike bettes, thank you. today, the biden administration says it is putting emergency health personnel on standby in case hospitals become overwhelmed by a covid winter surge. it is part of the white house's pandemic contingency plan. cbs's nancy cordes is there with the new details. >> congratulations on your first dose. >> reporter: with 90% of the country now seeing a covid surge, the administration is reinstating its free testing program. starting today, americans can order four covid tests per

household at covidtests.gov. according to the latest cdc numbers, covid cases are up nearly 50% in the u.s. in just one week. covid deaths are up nearly 62%. >> why are covid deaths spiking more dramatically than covid cases are? >> death numbers are just beginning to rise. we obviously want to make sure that does not go any further. we know we can prevent nearly every death from covid if people get their updated vaccines and people get treated. >> reporter: but so far, fewer than 16% of u.s. adults have gotten the new bivalent booster released this fall. among them, denise san miguel in dallas, who is acting now because her sister got covid. >> i was just scared that -- i don't want to get it. >> reporter: even before this covid uptick, hospitals were already overcrowded with flu and the respiratory illness rsv, though on that front, the white house covid coordinator says there is a bit of good news. >> there's still places that have very high levels of rsv.

you're still -- but nationally there's no question in my mind rsv is heading down. >> reporter: the white house has been warning for months that its covid operation is running out of money, and it's asked congress for another $9 billion. but republicans are pushing back. they argue the government has already spent too much on covid. they say if the white house needs more funds, it should repurpose them from somewhere else. norah. >> nancy cordes, thanks so much. well, amid growing national security concerns over tiktok, the senate has voted to ban the video-sharing app from all government devices. many u.s. officials fear that user data on the social media app could end up in the hands of the chinese government. it's not clear when the house might take up the same measure. the dramatic crash of a military fighter jet was caught on camera today in fort worth, texas. an f-35b, which can land like a helicopter, made a vertical landing onto the runway when it bounced and went into a spin. the pilot safely ejected as the

$100 million jet came to a stop in the grass. lockheed martin, which makes the plane, is investigating the cause of the wreck. earlier this year, an investigation into the military's fleet of f-35s found at least one ejection seat had a defective part. a former fort worth, texas, police officer was found guilty of manslaughter today in the deadly 2019 shooting of 28-year-old atatiana jefferson inside her home. aaron dean said he fired in self-defense while responding to what police thought was a burglary, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw a gun in jefferson's hand before he fired through her bedroom window. today, the national archives released nearly 13,000 secret files related to the assassination of president john f. kennedy in 1963. president biden issued an executive order authorizing the disclosure, but thousands of files are still being withheld. kennedy was shot and killed in dallas, texas, by lee harvey oswald.

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>> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." i'm jan crawford in washington. thanks for staying with us. the war in ukraine will continue through the holidays, a kremlin spokesman said moscow has now interest in a christmas cease-fire, and that the topic is not on their agenda. meanwhile, as russia continues its air assault on civilian targets, washington is expected to announce it's sending at least one battery of patriot missiles to ukraine. the patriot is the u.s. military's most sophisticated air defense weapon and could be

a game-changer. inside ukraine, a u.s. air force veteran captured by pro-russian forces months ago has been freed as part of a prisoner swap. emtee yaz tie yib reports from the war zone. >> reporter: a show of defiance as 64 ukrainian soldiers were released in a prisoner swap with russia. among them, sueti markese. >> my name is sueti markese and i'm well. >> reporter: the american air force veteran, who has live in the southern ukrainian city of kherson since 2018. it was occupied by russian forces at the start of the war, and he was taken into custody in early june before the city's liberation last month. markese was reportedly accused by moscow of taking part in pro-ukrainian protests and was held in a cell with americans and fellow veterans alex drueke and andy wynn before their release in september.

there's been a sharp increase in prisoner exchanges between russia and ukraine in recent months, even as the kremlin continues to target ukrainian towns and cities, including the capital, kyiv, where residents were showered with fragments of iranian-made drones. all 13 of the explosive-laden sha heeb 136s were shot out of the sky by ukrainian air defenses. alexi danalov is the head of ukraine's security council. >> russia has been using iranian-made drones to target sites here. "the russians are unable to defeat us on their own," he says. "i would advise iran to take that into account because if they also start supplying russia with missiles to attack us, they would be crossing a line." a line tehran appears willing to cross as russia continues to exhaust its missile supplies. but with the biden administration poised to announce it will provide ukraine with patriot air defense systems, well, that could be the

game-changer in this grinding war. closer to home, thousands of migrants are now sleeping on the streets of el paso, texas, as a flood of asylum seekers continues to pour across the border. more than 2,000 people a day are arriving at u.s. border facilities to be processed. city officials say there's nowhere to put them, and the situation is unsustainable. lilia luciano reports. >> reporter: after an 18-day trek spanning more than 2,200 miles, you can see the transformation in ingrid lopez's expression as she takes account of what her family has survived on the way here. >> reporter: and the sacrifices she and her husband, willston, has made without work and fleeing political persecution to offer their 13-year-old, emily, a safe life.

after crossing several borders, they boarded aus in mexico with about 40 others. but instead of the freedom to the north, they see the drivers deliver them and hundreds of others into the hands of armed kidnappers. >> reporter: the fear piled on. locked in a warehouse for days with more threats than food, praying to survive. starving, they say the group managed to escape by breaking down the doors and running to a neighboring town for help. then her smile fades, remembering a reality as cold as the crowded floors they slept on at the immigration processing center. >> you felt that the experience having been kidnapped by these criminal organizations in mexico felt the same as when you finally crossed and were detained? >> reporter: they were finally released and came to this

shelter as they make their way to baltimore to await their asylum hearing. but with local shelters at capacity, others wait for those next steps in the freezing cold. city manager tommy gonzalez says the city has already spent $9.5 million and needs millions more from the federal government to shelter, direct, and where needed, transport migrants arriving here. >> all hands need to be on deck. let's keep the migrants' needs in mind. they're not a project. they're people. >> reporter: the city of el paso just learned that they will receive $6 million from fema for costs related to manage the crisis. and local officials tell me they also hope that the federal government will open something that's done before as a shelter. as you can see that's something needed and will be desperately so in a week if title 42 expires. >> lilia luciano in el paso, texas. critics of the biden administration's immigration policy says mexen drug cartels may be using asylum seekers to

transport drugs across the border. the dea says mexico is the source of most of the deadly fentanyl that's flooded american streets. the drug is believed to be the leading cause of death for americans 18 to 45. fentanyl kills people who don't even know they're taking it. it only takes a small amount to kill someone and more than 150 people in the u.s. die every day from synthetic opioid overdoses. norah o'donnell reports. >> reporter: landon houseman was a popular basketball star, and at 16 years old, he took a fentanyl-laced percocet pill and died. >> sometimes with fentanyl, you don't get a second chance. >> beautiful. beautiful son. >> reporter: sadly, landon's story is all too common. last year, more than 100,000 americans died from an overdos. the majority from fentanyl, a nearly invisible poison. >> did lan had a sense he could be buying a pill that would be laced with fentanyl? >> i don't think he even recognized that that was going

to be a possibility. >> reporter: in january, the maryland high school sophomore bought pills from a dealer through social media. >> no longer are we talking about meeting on the street and making that connection. the dealer is in your kid's pocket along with the phone. >> reporter: deputy attorney general lisa monaco oversees the drug enforcement administration and says this is the dea's top priority. >> there were more deaths from fentanyl last year than from the wars in vietnam, afghanistan, and iraq combined. why isn't this a national security crisis? >> i think it is, norah. i authentic it's a national security issue. i think it's a public safety issue. i think it's a public health issue. this drug is manmade. it's mass-produced. it's done in largely in illicit labs in mexico, where the drug cartels are manufacturing from chemicals, precursor chemicals that come from companies we believe largely from china. they're pressing these pills,

and they're making them look like legitimate prescription drugs, things like percocet or add arecall or xanax, but they're not. >> reporter: deaths among teens have tripled, and in the last year, the dea says it is investigating more than 120 cases that involve social media. they even issued a warning of emoji code language dealers use to target young buyers. >> these are unsuspecting users thinking they're getting one thing, and they're getting something else in the form of fentanyl. so those really -- that's not actually an overdose, norah. that's a poisoning. >> why isn't there a crackdowndy the justice department on these social media companies? >> we're talking to the social media companies, and frankly we're asking them to do more. they need to do more. they need to be policing their platforms to detect those drug dealers that are on those platforms and pushing it out to kids. so they need to use, quite frankly, the same tools and the technology that allows them to

exquisitely serve up those ads for all sorts of things that we're buying online and identify those drug dealers and getting them off. >> reporter: the dealer who sold the fake percocets to lan don is facing federal charges. but for houseman, just one arrest isn't enough. >> what does justice look like to you? >> i can't go back and chang dothinsi mbe tap to someone else. >>eporter: i'm norah oon skin your face will envy? with olay hyaluronic body wash 95% of women had visibly-better skin from dry to moisturized in just 12 days. be fearless with olay hyaluronic body wash and body lotion.

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a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. you reach for the really good stuff. zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. its non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. hollywood is mourning the shocking loss of dancer and sbrarn stephen twitch boss. the lapd says boss died by suicide tuesday at the age of 40. errol barnett looks back on the life of a man known for his ever-present smile and seemingly boundless energy. >> i love your dance moves. >> thank you. i love your dance moves too. >> reporter: a pillar of positivity and motivation. ♪ stephen boss earned the nickname twitch as a child because he never seemed to stop moving.

a multi-talented and charismatic dancer, boss was best known as the deejay and occasional host on ellen degeneres' talk show. ♪ after performing in several seasons of "so you think you can dance." >> twitch, everybody. >> reporter: boss earned himself a guest deejay spot on ellen back in 2013 before making the show his permanent home, providing the soundtrack and trademark energy for the show. ♪ in 2020, he was named co-executive producer. there is shock across hollywood over boss' death. entertainment tonight co-host kevin frazier. >> he was a positive, shining ray of light. >> reporter: former first lady, michelle obama, wrote on instagram, quote, stephen was an incredible force, someone who radiated kindness and positivity. and from questlove, "i have no words. may his family find resolution in this dark time." sometimes the images seen by the

public don't match the reality at home, according to dr. laura erickson shroth. >> a lot of times people are really struggling with things under the surface that other people don't know that they're struggling with. twit, i'lel. utetl a >> tha y so much. >> reporter: boss was the father of three. he met his wife, allison holker, on "so you think you can dance." they kept dancing together on social media. the couple had just celebrated their ninth anniversary over the weekend. last month, they spoke about wanting to grow their family. >> i think we'd love to start trying for another one. >> oh. >> yeah. yeah, yeah. >> reporter: in a statement to entertainment tonight, holker called boss "the backbone of our family, the best husband and father." on instagram, ellen degeneres sid she was heartbroken. in may, the day before her show went off the air, degeneres paid tribute to her friend and deejay. >> something that i'll always remember is that you gave me a

place where i can just be myself. you know what i mean? i love you so much. >> we love you so much. you're a fake deejay, but you're a real good

jim mansfield: my job was more important to me than my family, and i started drinking a lot, staying out of town. it took a toll on me. dr. charles stanley: you may be as low as the prodigal, but you are not hopelessly, helplessly lost if you will listen to what i'm about to say. jim: sitting on that couch, watching that sermon, something had happened to us. i'm talking about the joy and love in our hearts. i want more of that.

an all-female skydiving team continues to set records. they say their goal is to honor the women who have broken barriers before them and to inspire young girls to reach for the stars. nancy chen reports. >> ready, set! >> reporter: not even the sky's the limit for these women as they leap headfirst at 160 miles an hour. 80 skydivers linking together midair. >> let's go up and try it again. >> reporter: skydivers from 22 countries came together over arizona to shatter the record for a jump of this kind. melanie curtis was among them. >> were you nervous at all when you were doing this? >> when wasn't i nervous?

>> reporter: the effort was organized by project 19 the skydiving group aims to inspire girls and women by honoring the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote. >> it's about doing things that have never been done. it's about saying, we're not going to be small and silent. we're going to speak up. we're going to vote. >> reporter: there are 35,000 active skydivers in the u.s., but only 14% are female. >> we want people to start practicing and using this inspiration as fuel for action in their own lives. >> whether or not it involves skydiving? >> that's correct. >> reporter: women soaring with each other to new heights. nancy chen, cbs news, new york. and that's the overnight news for this friday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back later for "cbs mornings" and follow us online anytime at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm jan crawford.

this is cbs news flash. i'm serena marshall in washington. nearly seven months after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in uvalde, texas, the family and friends of the victims headed to capitol hill for a hearing thursday focusing on tougher gun laws. and could puerto rico soon become the next u.s. state? the house voting thursday to approve legislation that would offer voters in the u.s. territory three options, including statehood or independence or independence with free association. but the legislation has little chance of passing in the senate. and mariah carey has all she wants for christmas this year. the singer's catchy tune hit the top of billboard's charts for the fourth year in a row. she was awarded a plaque for the

honor and shared a picture of herself on twitter with it and the caption "grateful." for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm serena marshall, cbs news, washington. tonight, state of emergency after tornadoes ravage parts of the deep south and the severe weather pushes east. americans across the south and midwest reeling in the aftermath of severe weather as snow forces drivers to battle whiteout conditions and more than 150,000 lose power. sounding the alarm. the warning from the white house. a surge of covid-19 is coming, and what president biden is offering for free to help overwhelmed hospitals. royal rift. as the prince and princess of wales celebrate christmas in england, a bombshell new episode of prince harry and meghan markle's netflix series makes stunning accusations. >> it was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me.

gun sales in america. stowing oup purchasi firearms. >> i'm young. i'm a girl. i never know when a threat's going to come. and the butterfly effect. a young girl's legacy. it's not about your lifespan but about your wingspan. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." there are new details tonight about a military fighter jet that crashed in texas, including the condition of the pilot. plus, we've got the latest government move that could ban tiktok from all of its employees' phones. but we are going to begin with the week-long coast-to-coast storm that's turned deadly, now barreling towards the finish line in the east. some parts of the u.s. were blanketed in more than two feet of snow. tonight blizzard warnings are

posted across the northern plains and upper midwest while millions of americans from the mid-atlantic to new england are getting a treacherous blast of ice and snow. in the south, a massive cleanup is under way after a swarm of deadly tornadoes, 21 in louisiana alone, carved across at least four states. and more than 150,000 homes and businesses across the storm zones are without power tonight and crews are working around the clock to get the lights and the heat back on. cbs's elise preston leads us off tonight from just outside new orleans in marrero, louisiana. good evening, elise. >> reporter: good evening to you, norah. homes across louisiana are splintered like this one. and here in the new orleans area, this is the second tornado families have dealt with just this year. they tell us this ef-2 moved quickly, leaving them traumatized. >> now i have nothing. >> it just hurts to see everything that she worked so hard for just in a matter of seconds, just it all disintegrate. >> in less than ten minutes.

>> reporter: margarita lopez and her son, manny, had just seconds to take cover in their hallway as the tornado hit. >> this hallway kept you and your mother safe? >> this is what kept us safe. >> and you were down here and kind of shielding her or --? >> ias actually here, and i stlike and diee hi looking that way, the roof kind of lifted three times. >> reporter: the tornado took their roof and shattered most windows. they had just bounced back from hurricane ida last year. >> i have faith. i do believe, and i'm going to manage. >> reporter: the tornado outbreak had produced at least 40 twisters across the south this week, mostly in louisiana. in saint charles parish, one woman was killed and eight others hurt when a tornado struck their neighborhood. the storm also triggered this dramatic lightning strike near a nursing home in laplace. and in new orleans, strong winds knocked out power for thousands of residents.

>> whoa, look at that. >> we dodged a bullet without having any fatalities. >> reporter: further north, the same storm system is producing heavy snow and dangerous blizzard conditions from the dakotas to the great lakes. three people were killed near sioux falls when a driver lost . not a problem foth on a frilake serior. now, louisias tonht, while touring area damage today, the governor said based on the level of destruction, it's remarkable more people were not hurt. norah. >> elise preston, thank you so much. well, let's find out where the dangerous weather is headed next. mike bettes is tracking it all for us with our partners at the weather channel. good evening, mike. >> norah, good evening. winter storm diaz still causing major issues across the plains and the midwest. multiple states with blizzard warnings in effect. winds gusting 50 miles an hour or more.

blowing snow an issue. obvious we're going to have some problems on the roadways. want to take you just outside the twin cities on route 36. notice the snow here. vehicles overturned in the median. now these travel problems working their way into the northeast. we have snow across pennsylvania, new york, eventually into new england. we've got rain right along i-95. all of that pushes its way farther north and east going through the day on friday, wrapping up on saturday. i-95 should remain mostly wet, not snowy, but we expect major slowdowns at the airports. all those airports highlighted in red, anticipate lengthy delays. how much snow did we pick up? norah, in some places we are solving out two feet or more. >> incredible. mike bet es, thank you. today, the biden administration says it is putting emergency health personnel on standby in case hospitals become overwhelmed by a covid winter surge. it is part of the white house's pandemic contingency plan. cbs's nancy cordes is there with the new details. >> congratulations on your first dose.

>> reporter: with 90% of the country now seeing a covid surge, the administration is reinstating its free testing program. starting today, americans can order four covid tests per household at covidtests.gov. according to the latest cdc numbers, covid cases are up nearly 50% in the u.s. in just one week. covid deaths are up nearly 62%. >> why are covid deaths spiking more dramatically than covid cases are? >> death numbers are just beginning to rise. we obviously want to make sure that does not go any further. we know we can prevent nearly every death from covid if people get their updated vaccines and people get treated. >> reporter: but so far, fewer than 16% of u.s. adults have gotten the new bivalent booster among thde siguel in beca cov. >> i was just scared that -- i don't want to get it. >> reporter: even before this covid uptick, hospitals were already overcrowded with flu and

the respiratory illness rsv, though on that front, the white house covid coordinator says there is a bit of good news. >> there's still places that have very high levels of rsv. you're still -- but nationally there's no question in my mind rsv is heading down. >> reporter: the white house has been warning for months that its covid operation is running out of money, and it's asked congress for another $9 billion. but republicans are pushing back. they argue the government has already spent too much on covid. they say if the white house needs more funds, it should repurpose them from somewhere else. norah. >> nancy cordes, thanks so much. well, amid growing national security concerns over tiktok, the senate has voted to ban the video-sharing app from all government devices. many u.s. officials fear that user data on the social media app could end up in the hands of the chinese government. it's not clear when the house might take up the same measure. there's a lot more news ahead on the "cbs ni

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and detects multiple variants including omicron ba.5. binaxnow™ the #1 covid-19 self test in the us >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." stocks took a dive today on news of lower retail sales, higher interest rates, and growing recession fears. the dow, nasdaq, and s&p 500 all suffered major losses. it's been an especially rough ride this week for tesla shareholders as the company's ceo, elon musk, cashed out more than $3.5 billion in shares. musk this week also lost his title as the richest person in the world. cbs's carter evans reports tonight on musk shifting his focus to twitter. >> reporter: elon musk's famous photo op, carrying a sink into twitter, has become fodder for fired employees now suing him. >> the sink made sense because

elon is now sending twitter down the drain. >> reporter: musk has slashed nearly half the staff, charged for checkmarks, and reinstated banned accounts, causing users and advertisers to flee. and his effort to shore up twitter may now be costing tesla. the automaker's stock down about 30% since he took over the social media company two months ago. >> he's using tesla as an atm machine to fund twitter. it's essentially selling diamonds to buy a $2 slice of pizza. >> reporter: musk made a name for himself as a visionary by ignoring the rules on the road and in space. >> he's a rockefeller, or he's a henry ford of this era. his effort to buy twitter, you know, really isn't that unusual in the age of billionaires trying to buy media properties. if jeff bezos has "the washington post," elon musk's got twitter. >> reporter: but the way musk uses his platform to attack opponents is thrusting him into

the political spotlight. that includes his recent release of the so-called twitter files, which allege bias in reporting on hunter biden's laptop and trump's ban. >> is there a smoking gun in the twitter files? >> there's no specific smoking gun. there's a huge amount of hypocrisy from musk himself, where he will say that this is scandalous, but then he will use the exact same techniques against anybody who's critical of him. >> tweet by tweet, the brand of musk, i believe, has deteriorated, and ultimately that's a black eye for tesla. >> reporter: now, musk has not responded to multiple requests from cbs. analysts say it's a really bad time for him to be alienating customers just as the ev market is really heating up and becoming competitive. ultimately critics believe musk is going to have to choose between running twitter or tesla. norah. >> carter evans, thank you so much. and cbs reports has a knew documentary that offers an

in-depth look at elon musk's acquisition of twitter. be sure to check out elon musk incorporated on the cbs news app. the dramatic crash of a military fighter jet was caught on camera today in fort worth, texas. an f-35b, which can land like a helicopter, made a vertical landing onto the runway when it bounced and went into a spin. the pilot safely ejected as the $100 million jet came to a stop in the grass. lockheed martin, which makes the plane, is investigating the cause of the wreck. earlier this year, an investigation into the military's fleet of f-35s found at least one ejection seat had a defective part. britain's prince harry is launching some of his most personal accusations so far in the new docu-series "harry & meghan," including criticism of his brother, prince william. in the latest episodes released today, his wife, meghan markle, recounts the mental toll she suffered from the british press. we get details from cbs's ramy inocencio in london. >> reporter: prince harry

accused prince william of lashing out at him. >> it was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that simply weren't true. >> reporter: this in 2020, after he announced he and meghan would step back from royal duties. the pair also allege the palace plotted with the press to leak and lie. >> it's a dirty game. to see my brother's office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never, ever do, that was heartbreaking. >> reporter: meghan further claiming the negative media frenzy whipped up death threats, which she recounted. >> "meghan just needs to die. someone needs to kill her. maybe it should be me." >> reporter: but also whittled her down so far to consider suicide. >> it was like all of this will stop if i'm not here. and that was the scariest thing about it, is it was such clear thinking. >> reporter: p.r. week editor john harrington has advice for

buckingham palace. >> i think the best thing they can do is try to move away, move the focus away from harry and meghan. >> reporter: and tonight they have with a festive focus on christmas. kate and william arrived at westminster abbey for a carol concert, smiling and carrying on. and like when the first three episodes dropped on netflix last week, it has been no comment from buckingham palace yet again. business as usual. the title of the event tonight, "royal carols: together at christmas," except of course without harry and meghan. norah. >> ramy inocencio, thank you. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

well, a judge today handed down the longest prison sentences yet in the plot to kidnap michigan's governor. three members of a paramilitary group called the wolverine watchmen received sentences ranging from 7 to 12 years behind bars. they were convicted in october of providing material support for a terrorist act and other crimes. governor gretchen whitmer called their actions a threat to democracy itself. well, we do want to turn now to a growing trend in gun sales in america. so far this year, the fbi has conducted more than 28 million firearm background checks, and among them is an increasing number of women.

an industry trade group says women have accounted for about 40% of gun sales in recent years. in tonight's "eye on america", cbs's mark strassmann shows us how the industry is changing. >> got a good stance. >> reporter: in the heart of alabama, gun country, gracie barhill squeezed off round after round, warming to her month-old smith & wesson .9 millimeter. >> there are things you don't account for when you see it in john wick movies. i'm young. i'm a girl. i never know when a threat's going to come. i mean that's probably my favorite one. >> of course. >> reporter: this 19-year-old's here for girls, guns and gear. at scott recchio's gun range, it's a self-defense firearms course targeting women wary of threats.

>> it's absolutely undeniable. the world is changing and they want to be ahead of it. >> reporter: forget gun shy. nationally last year, 1 in 3 first-time gun buyers was a woman. >> all right. go ahead. >> reporter: like emma boutwell. >> i was definitely nervous when i first shot. i need to know how to defend myself. >> reporter: gun instructor beverly allridge teaches these women marksmanship, gun safety, situational awareness. >> it's one more tool in a toolbox. >> how is instructing women different than instructing men? >> women listen better than men do. women are just quicker just to hear and take in what they're being told and applying that. >> reporter: nikkita gordon comes armed with another trend. among black women, the firearm homicide rate has more than tripled since 2010. today, nearly 30% of new women gun owners are black. >> because there's so many random attacks on women, i have more confidence now that i'm carrying and i don't have to second-guess what i'm going to do. so this is actually a holster system. >> reporter: she showed us cute & cocky, her line of women's clothes and holsters designed to

hide a gun fashionably and show self-confidence. the bull's-eye of most women gun owners. >> to not only feel safer but to empower ourselves, to be able to move freely in the world without immediate threats. >> reporter: many will never leave home without it. alabama has america's highest rate of co for "eye on america," mark strassmann, calera, alabama. thousands of the declassified documents on the jfk assassination were released today.

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a former fort worth, texas, police officer was found guilty of manslaughter today in the deadly 2019 shooting of 28-year-old atatiana jefferson inside her home. aaron dean said he fired in self-defense while responding to what police thought was a burglary, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw a gun in jefferson's hand before he fired through her bedroom window. today the national archives released nearly 13,000 secret files related to the assassination of president john f. kennedy in 1963. president biden issued an executive order authorizing the disclosure, but thousands of files are still being withheld. kennedy was shot and killed in dallas, texas, by lee harvey oswald. there were no new revelations in the documents, but they included some details on correspondence between oswald and the soviet embassy in the weeks before the assassination.

two sailors who were lost and adrift in the atlantic ocean for ten days are back on land. their remarkable story is next. two sailors are feeling lucky to be back on land after the were lost at sea for ten days. the men and a dog were heading from new jersey to florida when they say a storm kicked up 40-foot waves that snapped their mast. a tanker crew spotted them 200 miles off delaware this week and brought them safely ashore in

new york city. a brave little girl teaches us the power of positivity, spreading a message of faith over fear.

the butterfly effect is the idea that even a small event like the flap of a butterfly's wings can cause widespread change. tonight we meet one young woman who made a big impact despite her beautiful life being cut short and how her love of butterflies inspired her family and friends to honor her memory. >> reporter: penny doerge lived every day with joy, humor, and bravery. >> she made a choice to live her life with joy and optimism. >> reporter: at a young age, she was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a condition that can cause tumors and, in her case, led to terminal brain cancer. >> i've known you guys for a long time and never knew that

penny was dealing with as many medical issues as she was dealing with. she was always the face of positivity. >> you're not alone, norah. i think that that's sort of how penny lived her life. you know, she taught us a lot. she was quietly very brave. >> reporter: looking at her, you would never know she was sick. penny always chose positivity over pain and hoped to inspire others to find beauty in imperfection. >> it's not your lifespan, norah. it's your wingspan. and penny lived a greater life in her 16 years than most people do in 100. so for that, we could not be more grateful. >> reporter: her family launched a foundation and after just a week, the butterfly effect took off. her friends have spread her message across the country with help from people like jimmy fallon and eli manning. >> she was a gift to all of us, and we know she lived her life's purpose. >> teaching us to spread our wings and shine our light. those are the words penny doerge lived by, and with the penny's flight foundation, her memory will carry on. i'm norah o'donnell.

we'll see you back here tomorrow. this is cbs news flash. i'm serena marshall in washington. nearly seven months after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in uvalde, texas, the family and friends of the victims headed to capitol hill for a hearing thursday focusing on tougher gun laws. and could puerto rico soon become the next u.s. state? the house voting thursday to approve legislation that would offer voters in the u.s. u.s. territory three options, including statehood or independence or independence with free association. but the legislation has little chance of passing in the senate. and mariah carey has all she wants for christmas this year. the singer's catchy tune hit the top of billboard's charts for the fourth year in a row. she was awarded a plaque for the honor and shared a picture of

herself on twitter with it and the caption "grateful." for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or it's friday, december 16th, 2022. this is the "cbs morning news." all eyes on the border. the debate over a policy limiting migrants to the u.s. severe weather slams parts of the northeast. snow and ice battering the region as the south struggles to recoup from a deadly tornado outbreak. guilty. the verdict for a former police officer who shot and killed atatiana jerferson in her home in 2019. how much time he could get behind bars. and good morning. it is good to be with you. i'm matt pieper in for anne-marie green. our top story, we could find out today if a controversial trump-era policy will be allowed to continue.