it's tuesday, december 3rd, 2024. this is "cbs news mornings." the fallout one day after

president biden pardons his son hunter. criticism from both said of the aisle and why some find it so troubling. new allegations of misconduct. donald trump's pick to lead the defense department meets with senators as he faces new questions about his past. snowed in. millions of americans digging out after being buried under feet of lake-effect snow. t the. good morning. i'm michael george. we begin with the backlash for president biden to grant a sweeping pardon for his son hunter. republicans and some democrats are criticizing the move, especially since the president has said many times he wouldn't pardon his son. cbs's jarred hill joins us now with reaction. jared, many presidents, including donald trump, have pardoned family members before, but what makes this different? >> so there are a couple of things with this, michael. one of the things we're hearing from lawmakers is that they're balking at the scope of president biden's pardon for his son. not just for a specific

conviction. then there's the fact that, as you mentioned, the decision is a total reversal of what he said in the past. this morning president biden is facing criticism from across the aisle for a sweeping pardon of his son hunter. the pardon coming just over a week before hunter biden was set to be sentenced for illegally buying the gun in delaware and then days later on separate tax charges in california. >> his decision further undermines the public's confidence in our judicial system. >> it's troubling in terms of the signal it sends in terms of faith in our americn system. >> reporter: the pardon clears hunter biden of all crimes he committed or may have committed though repeatedly biden had said he would not pardon his son. arriving in cape verde, the president ignored reporters but unveiling christmas decorations at the white house, the first lady offered this.

a public approval of the decision. on paper president biden contends his son was targeted for political reasons. american university professor jeffrey crouch wrote a book about the power of presidential pardons. >> no president has a pardoned their child before. it's as broad as any pardon i'm aware of. >> president-elect donald trump said he plans to pardon people convicted on the attack on the u.s. capitol on january 6th. trump granted clemency to steve bannon, paul manafort and the father of his son-in-law, jared kushner. some congressional democrats say they are concerned this could embolden trump to go further once he is back in office. >> important context here. thanks. turning now to the dangerous wintry weather in the great lakes region where snow totals are approaching six feet and more stormy weather is expected this week. in michigan a 17 vehicle pileup

during whiteout conditions temporarily shut down an interstate highway and critically injured a driver. cbs's rob marciano is tracking it all from western new york. >> reporter: western new york has been walloped with more than 54 inches of snow in the last four days. in the rural town of cassadaga, the weight of the snow has caused a chaotic scene. animals are hurt and one of the firemen that was here had something collapse on him and he's hurt too. >> pauline and doug have owned their farm for nearly 20 years and nothing like this has ever happened. what went through your mind when you had realized that the roof collapsed here? >> like oh, my gosh. i mean, the worst -- i mean, it's just horrible. yeah. >> reporter: you just are in recovery mode now? >> right. >> reporter: how are you holding up? are you in shock right now? what's going through your head and heart? >> mostly lhow do we get throug the rest of the winter?

>> reporter: they lost four head of cattle and now they're climbing up to get the snow off another barn desperate to prevent another collapse. on average snow weighs about 6 pounds per cubic foot. on this roof that could mean over 80,000 pounds. clearing it is treacherous, back breaking work and it's a shared misery. lake-effect snow has buried michigan, ohio, pennsylvania and new york with over 3 feet piling up east of watertown. >> a lot of snow. trying to stay out here every couple hours to keep up with it. that's all we can do. >> reporter: rob marciano, cbs news, cassadaga, new york. president-elect trump's pick to lead the military is facing new scrutiny. the concerns stem from new reports that pete hegseth was forced out at two veterans groups because of alleged financial and sexual misconduct. the story from chief white house correspondent nancy cordes. >> talks to all the senators and

i look forward to those discussions. >> reporter: the newly resurfaced accusations followed pete hegseth to capitol hill. he was forced to step down as head of the nonprofit concerned veterans for america in 2016. the groups founders, billionaire republican donors charles and david koch pushed hegseth out after staffers accused him of financial mismanagement, sexual misconduct and repeated intoxication. according to "the new yorker," which first reported about the complaints, hegseth sometimes got drunk to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization's events. can you tell us why you resigned, sir? cbs's nicole killian asked hegseth about it. >> when you were at concerned veterans for america, were you ever drunk while traveling on the job? >> not going to dig any phi that with a response. >> reporter: hegseth who has been tapped by president-elect trump who overhaul the massive

department of defense was already dealing with allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a republican convention in monterey, california, in 2017, but he was never criminally charged. alabama senator, tommy tuberville, who met with him said it doesn't bother him. >> what i've talked to him about, what i've read, studied, being around him, i'll vote for him. >> reporter: hegseth is not the only contentious pick being weighed by senate republicans. over the weekend trump announced his choice to lead the fbi, 44-year-old kash patel. >> i'd shut down the fbi hoover building on day one. >> reporter: patel held leadership roles in defense and intelligence in the first trump term and has promised to use the fbi to go after those he says have targeted trump. nancy cordes, cbs news, west palm beach, florida. donald trump has issued a warning to hamas. in a post on social media the president-elect demanded the

release of the israeli hostages before he takes office or, as he put it, there will be all hell to pay in the middle east. his threat coming the same day israel said omare nutra who was believed to be taken hostage alive was killed during the october 7th attack. he was a new york native and he served in the israeli military. his parents have led a public campaign for his freedom. they say their hearts are saddened and they will not stop fighting to bring him home. the fragile six-day cease-fire is on shaky ground. israel unleashed the largest wave of airstrikes after the terror group sent is rales in. israel says its strikes are in response to hezbollah violations. coming up, new clues for the search of a missing hawaiian

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ask about vraylar. abbvie could help you save. help me. i don't want to go to united states. >> that's new video this morning of the stowaway who caused a disturbance after allegedly sneaking on to a delta airlines plane from new york to paris without a ticket. french officials were trying to return the russian national to the u.s. on saturday but she was removed from the plane. cbs news has learned the tsa is preparing a civil case as the agency investigates how she was able to get past security checkpoints at jfk airport. a driver pleads guilty in a crash that killed a newlywed and a twist in the search for a missing woman. those are some of the headlines on the morning newstand. the associated press reports a

hawaiian woman who vanished after landing in los angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily and traveled to mexico. surveillance video from the u.s. to mexico show her walking ac across the mexico border. investigators said she had expressed the desire to step away from modern connectivity. the family said she sent them cryptic messages suggesting someone was trying to steal her identity. her father died of apparent suicide while she was believed to be missing. a woman was stebsed to 25 years in prison for a drunk driving crash that killed a bride on her wedding night. she apologized and pleaded guilty yesterday to several charges including reckless homicide. she was driving more than twice the speed limit when she slammed into a golf cart last year carrying the newlywed couple shortly after their wedding on a south carolina beach. the bride, samantha miller, died

at the scene. her husband, who was seriously injured, cried as he spoke about his wife in court. >> i wish more than anything, i wish i had died that night so she didn't have to go alone. >> while i know an apology will fix nothing, all i can say is how incredibly remorseful i am. >> two other family members riding in the golf cart were injured. and "the new york times" says closing arguments started in the trial of a marine veteran in the chokehold death of a man on a new york city submarine train. daniel penny was putting jordan neely in a chokehold for several minutes. penny said he was protecting people on the subway car after neely began shouting and threatening them. prosecutors say he held onto the

chokehold too long. neely was homeless and had a history of mental illness. coming up ahead, run away car. how deputies saved a driver from a scary ending when her car wouldn't stop. as the people you love get older, their risk of severe flu and covid goes up. last year alone, those viruses hospitalized nearly 1 million people 65 and older. that's nearly 1 million moms, dads, favorite uncles, and grammas.

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>> now a deputy pulled in front, let the car hit the back of his patrol car and slowed down stopping both vehicles just in the nick of time. the car was stopped about a quarter mile before reaching a lake. thankfully the woman wasn't hurt. well, the holiday season is off to a record breaking start while one airline runs into tech trouble. here's carissa lawson with today's "moneywatch." >> the first trading session of december got off to a mixed start after november's hot streak. the dow lost 128 points with the nasdaq gaining 185 and the s&p 500 picked up 14. the. cyber issues on cyber monday for alaska airlines briefly grounded planes in pseattle, delayed flights and disrupted bookings. they requested a 40 minute ground stop monday morning and caused problems for people trying to book flights on its website. they would not say what caused the tech issues. is and cyber monday just may

have been the biggest online shopping day ever so far. adobe analytics, which tracks online shopping, expects consumers spent a record $13.2 billion. that's 6.1% more than last year. that would make it the scenes's and year's biggest ever shopping day for ecommerce. another record number at our airports. tsa said monday they handled 3.09 million travelers on sunday as families headed home after thanksgiving. that breaks the previous record by about 74,000. and that's your "cbs moneywatch" report for this tuesday morning. i'm carissa lawson, cbs news, new york. up next, elton john's health battle. the legendary singer reveals new details about his vision. your moments are worth protecting against rsv. rsv is a highly contagious virus if you're 60 or older with certain chronic conditions,

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rted] ..away. ♪ here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. sir elton john made a revelation about his health during opening night in london. the. >> my husband, who's been my rock because i haven't been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, i've lost my eyesight. it's hard for me to see it, but i love to hear it.

the the voice sounded good tonight. >> after the performance the singer/songwriter addressed the fact that he's lost hess eyesight. the 77-year-old revealed in september that an eye infection caused him to lose some of his vision in one eye. '80s child star danny pintauro is posting pictures after a thanksgiving day accident. he called the extremely painful incident the worst moment of his life. and actor ted danson will be honored by a group where everybody knows his name. the golden globes announcing the "cheers" star will receive the carol burnett award. he is a three times globes

winner. the carol burnett award was firsthanded out in 2019. and by the way, you can watch the globes january 5th right here on cbs and streaming on paramount+. coming up only on "cbs mornings," oprah winfrey joins us live in the times square studio to reveal her latest book club selection and tell us about her latest podcast launching today. i'm michael george. this is "cbs news mornings." i won't let my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis symptoms define me... emerge as you, with clearer skin. with tremfya®, most people saw 100% clear skin... ...that stayed clear,

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