it's monday, december 2nd, 2024. this is "cbs news mornings." breaking overnight, president biden pardons his son hunter,

sparing him possible prison sentences for gun and tax convictions. his reason for the change of heart. controversial choice. president-elect donald trump picks kash patel to lead the fbi. why some are calling him dangerous. and wintry wallop. a massive storm dumps feet of snow on the holiday rush home, and it's not over yet. good morning, i'm michael george. we start with breaking news from washington. president biden pardoning his son hunter, reversing his past promises not to use the powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family. the younger biden was weeks away from learning his punishment for federal felony gun and tax convictions. cbs' naomi ruchim joins us with the details. what's been the reaction to this so far? >> reporter: good morning, and no surprise here, republicans are blasting this decision with president-elect donald trump calling the pardon an abuse and miscarriage of justice.

the two irs whistleblowers who came forward to raise concerns about hunter biden in the first place say it's a sad day for law-abiding taxpayers. as president biden took off for a three-day visit to angola, he made his first public appearance after granting a full and unconditional pardon to his son, hunter. in a statement released sunday night, biden said in part, quote, i believe in the justice system, but as i have wrestled with this, i also believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice. the move comes in the final weeks of biden's presidency and after he and his advisers repeatedly denied he would pardon his son. >> i am satisfied that i'm not going to do anything -- i said i'd abide by the jury decision, i will do that and will not pardon him. >> reporter: hunter biden was

convicted of three felonies in connection with a gun purchase in delaware. in addition, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of tax fraud in a separate case in california. before the pardon was announced hunter biden was weeks from receiving his punishment. in sunday's statement president biden also said from the day he took office he would not interfere with the justice department's decisionmaking and said he kept his word even as he watched his son being unfairly prosecuted. biden said, quote, hunter was singled out only because he is my son, and said there has been an effort to break hunter who has been 5.5 years sober. hunter biden faced up to 42 years in prison for his convictions. he released his own statement saying he has admitted to and taken responsibility for his mistakes during the darkest days of his addiction, adding he will never take the clemency for granted and will devote his life to helping those who are sick and suffering.

more pardons to come before the end of the year i'm sure. >> we'll be watching. naomi ruchim, thanks for joining us. now to the massive snowstorm prompting emergency declarations and disrupting post-thanksgiving travel for millions of people. the snow intense and deep. some places in the northeast already hit hard, could see several more feet. cbs' rob marciano is in the thick of it in orchard park, new york. >> reporter: the people who live around the great lakes know snow. >> this ain't nothing. you get used to this weather living here. >> reporter: but the cold and snow slamming parts of new york and the midwest has meant trouble for anyone traveling through it. coming down as fast as three inches per hour in some places, the snow was burying vehicles and blinding drivers. parts of new york under a state of emergency. >> so many people traveled from out of town to see loved ones and family and friends, and now they're getting back on the roads in the middle of a major snowstorm. so we're there to help.

>> reporter: in pennsylvania, a disaster declaration after relentless lake-effect snowfall stranded drivers on interstate 90. back in buffalo, bills fans out in full force for the game at highmark stadium, working in bitter cold and low visibility to make sure their beloved home team could take on the 49ers. for conner kolb, the snow-removal service, the combination of football and snowfall means a busy start to the week ahead. >> it's been wild. to go from no snow to two feet in one weekend. obviously with the timing, you know, and people in from out of town for the bills game it provides, you know, different challenges i'd say. >> reporter: this event has been bad timing for anybody trying to get to that football game or trying to get home for this holiday season, driving through the snow. the lake-effect snow bands will be shifting to the south, but likely will be reinvigorated by more cold air coming into the northeast by the end of this week. rob marciano, cbs news, orchard park, new york.

president-elect donald trump's pick to lead the fbi is sending shock waves through washington. kash patel, who served in intelligence and defense roles in trump's first term, is a controversial figure even within trump's world. with one former u.s. official describing him as trump's most dangerous pick. cbs' weijia jiang has details from west palm beach. >> reporter: kash patel has stood by president-elect donald trump since his first term when he served in multiple roles including chief of staff at the pentagon. >> kash patel is here. one of our real warriors. >> reporter: in his announcement picking patel to lead the fbi, trump says he played a pivotal role in uncovering the russia, russia, russia hoax, referring to the doj's investigation of moscow meddling in the 2016 election. >> we're on a mission to annihilate the deep state. >> reporter: patel has vowed to dismantle the fbi which he sharply criticized in his book, writing, "it will remain a

threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken." >> i'd shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> reporter: democratic senator chris murphy is urging colleagues not to confirm patel. >> kash patel's only qualification is because he agrees with donald trump that the department of justice should serve to punish, lock up, and intimidate donald trump's political opponents. >> reporter: on "face the nation," republican senator ted cruz called patel a strong candidate. >> all of the weeping and gnashing the teeth, the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the fbi and clean out the corrupted partisans. >> reporter: the current fbi director, christopher wray, who was appointed by trump in 2017 still has three years left on a ten-year term. so he would have to resign or be fired for there to be an opening.

in a statement, the fbi says wray is focused on the people of the fbi and the work they are doing. weijia jiang, cbs news, west palm beach. trump also announced this weekend he picked two of his own family members for key diplomatic posts. the first, charles kushner, ivanka trump's father-in-law, as ambassador to france. nw kushner is a convicted felon who pleaded guilty to tax evasion and illegal campaign donations. he was pardoned by president trump. the second, massad boulous, tiffany trump's father-in-law and a billionaire businessman from lebanon, was named senior adviser on arab and middle eastern affairs. in the middle east the family of one of the american israeli hostages is pleading for help to bring their son home. it comes after hamas released a propaganda video, a first proof of life of new jersey native edan alexander. speaking under duress, alexander referred to being held for 420 days. his mother met with the president of israel saying he's

going through hell, but the video gives her strength. there is a new cease-fire and hostage release proposal on the table. hamas officials are in cairo for the negotiations. and unwra, the agency for palestinian agencies, says it's halting aid deliveries through the gaza crossing due to armed gangs looting convoys. the israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to gaza says it will continue to work with the international community to increase aid into gaza. and the charity world central kitchen says it's pausing his operations in gaza after an israeli air strike hit one of its vehicles saturday. the israeli military says the strike targeted a worker they say took part in the october 7th attack. the charity says it's heartbroken and has no knowledge anyone in the car had alleged ties to hamas. syrian and russian jets are stepping up strikes on opposition forces in northern syria. the action comes in retaliation for the sudden offensive that's cost the regime control of the

country's second largest city, aleppo. residents said one attack on the second day of raids on sunday hit a crowded residential area in the center of idlib. iran pledged to help the searion government counter -- syrian government counter the surprise offensive. iran has been a key political and military ally of syrian president bashar assad in the long-running civil war. coming up, click and save. how artificial intelligence can help you with your cyber monday shopping today. and flag fights. college football teams get into brawls over the weekend. awls ov. my mental health was better. but uncontrollable movements called td,tardive dyskinesia, started disrupting my day. td felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting. i asked my doctor about treating my td, and learned about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ ingrezza is clinically proven to treat td, quickly reducing td by greater than five times at two weeks. number-one prescribed ingrezza

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browsing for the best deals. cbs' kristine lazar looks at what you can expect from retailers. >> reporter: packages are on the move at amazon and other retailers as cyber monday is gearing up to hit a record. adobe predicts americans will spend just over $13 billion, up 6% from 2023. new mom audri pardo prefers shopping on line instead of in store. >> i'm much more on line than i am in person nowadays. so i see the online sales quicker than in store. >> retailers are offering plenty of sales and deals. >> on cyber monday we're expecting prices and products to be as low as 30% discounted. >> reporter: eric matisoff from adobe says some of the biggest discounts will be for electronics and apparel. >> i think consumers are savvy. they're finding new ways to make purchase that provide them value while getting a good discount, as well. >> reporter: for many shoppers,

that includes getting help from artificial intelligence. >> i use a.i. with the generators and stuff for ideas. so like that chatgpt -- >> reporter: chatgpt will offer a range of gift-giving possibilities. other platforms take shoppers direct to retail sites. >> we're seeing across all of our data, across every sector, that more and more people are finding websites through generative a.i. technology. >> reporter: whether you're using a.i. or classic search engine, remember christmas is only about three weeks away. >> if you're shopping on line, make sure to double check all of those delivery dates so you avoid any last-minute stress. >> reporter: and make sure those gifts get to their destination on time. kristine lazar, cbs news, los angeles. coming up ahead, the holiday blockbuster movies are back. a trifecta of films battle it out for box office supremacy this weekend. this weekend. still have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...or crohn's disease symptoms after taking... ...a medication like humira or remicade?

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the country. ♪ little sis! >> big sis! you were gone forever. >> it was three days. >> it was a blockbuster weekend for the thanksgiving box office. "moana 2" led the pack setting a new record on its opening five-day weekend by taking in $221 million in the u.s. alone. and "wicked" shows no signs of slowing down, raking in more than $117 million in ticket sales in its second week out. and "gladiator ii" taking in $44 million as it continues to slay audiences. check your fridge because there are two more big food recalls you need to know about. here's matt pieper with today's cbs "moneywatch." >> reporter: friday was an abbreviated trading day, but stocks still closed with solid gains as wall street put the

finishing touches on one of its best months of the year. the dow gained 188. nasdaq up 157. s&p gaining 33 points. in case you missed these, there are some important food recalls out there. first some costco eggs sold under the kirkland's signature brand are being recalled due to the risk of salmonella. the organic pasture-raised 24-count eggs were sold at 25 costco locations across several states. they're from handsome brook farm. an arizona produce company is recalling whole cucumbers dwibted in 16 -- distributed in 26 states and canada. the recalled cucumbers were sold between october 12th and november 26th. overseas, no deal. divisions between countries have stalled negotiations on the first treaty to tackle plastic pollution. it's after a terse week of talks in south korea and after two years of negotiations. they've agreed to meet again next year. first it was the banana duct

taped to a wall, then to try and upstage, cheetos auctioned off a snack duct taped to a wall on ebay. that went for $26,000. a far cry from the banana. that's your "money watch" report. i'm matt pieper, cbs news, new york. up next, painful fall. skier mikaela shiffrin is forced to hold off on a racing milestone. forced to hold off on a racing milestone. decade farxiga has been trusted again and again, and again. ♪far-xi-ga♪ ♪far-xi-ga♪ ask your doctor about farxiga. your parents have given you some amazing gifts, celebrate the ones you inherited with ancestrydna. explore the detailed family roots, cultures and traits that shaped who you are today for only $39. dupixent helps people with asthma breathe better

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ chaos erupted after some major upsets in college football this weekend. tensions flared after michigan upset arch rival ohio state, and michigan's derrick moore tried to plant the wolverines' flag into the buckeyes' logo. columbus police used pepper spray to stop the scuffle. the big ten conference fined both teams $100,000 for violating sportsmanship rules. another brawl in florida as the gators tried celebrating their 31-11 win over florida state by planting a flag on their field. and north carolina's wolf pack sparked a fight after one of its players tried to plant a flag to celebrate the teague -- team taking down

north carolina. have are calling a for flag -- a ban on flag planting. mikaela shiffrin is recovering after crashing in killington, vermont, saturday. >> oh, no! oh, no. >> really scary accident there. shiffrin was taken off the slope in a sled and hit multiple gates and suffered a puncture wound to her stomach. the 29-year-old updated fans on her condition in a video on instagram. >> scare everybody, and it looks like all -- all scans so far are clear. so thank you. >> shiffrin is supposed to compete in colorado in two weeks. coming up on "cbs mornings," actor cynthia erivo joins us live in the times square studio to discuss the movie "wicked." nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you.

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it is inevitable. chloe! hey dad. they will grow up. [cheering] silly face, ready? discover who they are. [playing music] what they want from this world. and how they will make it better. and while parenting has changed, how much you care has not. that's why instagram is introducing teen accounts. automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. ♪♪

♪ cue those trumpets in december. welcome to "cbs mornings." i'm gayle king. >> i'm tony dokoupil.