clearance have a theory about where the drones come from. >> their concern is a mother ship has left from iran weeks ago, coinciding about the time somewhere along the area of the united states. it doesn't mean they're right off the coast. >> reporter: but in a briefing today, pentagon officials dismissed the claim outright. >> we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary. >> in mendham, new jersey, olivia's coffee shop is right near the locations where the drones have been spotted. how big are these things? are they different sizes? >> they are the size of small car, almost like a mini cooper or a ford escape size. so it's not something that a kid is buying off of amazon and flying around as a prank. it's way, way past that. >> reporter: and we're here in front of the picatinny arsenal which provides munition products

to all brampk branches of the m. it's a sensitive site that the drones have flown so close to. we spoke to two lawmakers today. both of them agree that one of the drones needs to be taken down safely to get some answers. tom hanson, cbs news, wharton, new jersey. turning now to the events in syria. the assad dictatorship has been deposed. and with rebels now in control of the capital and other major cities in the west of the country, there is growing concern now in the deserts of east, specifically what happens now to detention camps holding the families of tens of thousands of known terrorists. holly williams visited one of these camps where many still swear allegiance to isis. >> reporter: we drove into al hol camp today in an armored vehicle. the guards told us the security situation is deteriorating. the inmates of the camp are the family members of foreign isis fighters who were killed or captured. around 6,000 women and children.

this woman told us she's been locked up in the dust for six years but still loves isis. >> 6,000 women and children. >> reporter: the camp's manager says the collapse of the syrian regime has given her prisoners hope that they'll be rescued. how worried are you about increased violence inside the camp or an attempted escape? >> translator: if the inmates get together and cut through the wires, what can we do, she said? there is also concern about an attack from the outside. the camp's guarded by american-backed forces who control about a quarter of syria. they defeated isis in 2019 with u.s. help. we witnessed them recapture raqqah, the so-called isis capital. you thought it was clear, and now you think there is a sniper left there? >> yeah, we think. we think.

>> reporter: but isis is still lurking in the desert. in recent days, the u.s. military has pummelled isis hideouts with air strikes, trying to prevent the terrorist from using the collapse of the syrian regime to stage a comeback. syria is a dangerous cocktail. nobody's fully in charge, and 13 years of war made it a breeding ground for terrorists. like it or not, the u.s. is deeply involved, with multiple military bases here in eastern syria and around 900 american troops in the country. >> that was holly williams in syria. i'm jonathan lawson, here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price.

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president-elect donald trump has called tariff the most beautiful word in the dictionary, and he's vowed to impose 25% of tariffs on all goods coming from mexico and canada on his very first day in office. but most people don't understand what that might mean for them. here is david pogue to sort it out. >> the word tariff is the most beautiful word in the dictionary. >> i think it's more beautiful than love. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump has made his feelings about tariffs very clear. >> i love tariffs.

tariff! it's music to my ears. >> reporter: while tariff is a tax, in u.s. history we're basically only talking about import tariffs. >> reporter: according to dartmouth economic professor doug irwin, governments have all kinds of reasons for introducing tariffs. >> so sometimes it's to reduce the trade deficit. sometimes it's to bring back jobs. sometimes it's to punish other countries for their unfair trade practice. sometimes it's for revenue to cut income taxes. >> reporter: at its most fundamental, a tariff works like this. suppose we import a product from china. the price is $50. but before you can buy it, our government adds $25 to the price. that's the tariff. your final price is $75. china gets its $50. the extra 25 winds up going to the u.s. treasury. but who pays these tariffs? according to donald trump, it's the other countries. >> trillions and trillions of

dollars pouring into the united states treasury. china paid hundreds of billions of dollars during my term. >> of course, that's not exactly the way tariffs work. i think economists would say that's very misleading to say that's what's going on. of course, it's the u.s. final consumers that are paying those, not china itself. so china is not writing checks to the u.s. government. so it's a transfer from the consumers to the federal government. >> reporter: tariffs have been part of the international trade since our country was founded. the first was imposed george washington. and what we've learned over history is they often have unintended consequences. we have a tariff on sugar that has doubled the price of sugar. it has helped out our sugarcane farmers in florida and louisiana, but it's also driven 34% of american chocolate and candy making and jobs out of the country. then there was trump's 25% tariff on imported steel in 2018.

our steel makers strived. but companies who make things out of steel, like ford, gm and caterpillar, suffered dearly. just ask ford's then ceo jim hackett. >> the metals tariff took about a billion dollars of profit from us. if it goes on longer, there will be more tariffs. >> reporter: tariffs against one particular country can backfire. >> with the china tariffs, we're importing a lot more from vietnam and malaysia. if the idea was to bring jobs back home, instead we're shifting them from china to vietnam in some sense. >> reporter: and ps, tariffs don't just raise prices on the imported stuff. >> it's the price of the domestic substitutes as well. >> there is a tariff on imported steel, but i'm an american steel maker. i can opportunistically say now i can raise my prices too? >> absolutely. consumers don't have the choice anymore. they can buy the high-priced or one lower.

when we imposed the steel tariffs the european union and china got upset for us. what did they do? they raised tariffs on american farm goods. so all of the sudden american farmers who had nothing to do with steel sales per se had high fees overseas. >> even ronald reagan could have told you that. >> high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign companies and the triggering of trade wars. the result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher bariers and less and less competition. >> exactly what tariffs has donald trump proposed? >> we will phase in a system universal baseline tariffs. >> reporter: originally, he outlined tariffs across the board, every product, every category, every country in the world. >> we're going to charge them 10 to 20%. >> reporter: now every recent president has favored some tariffs. the biden administration, for example, retains some of the tariffs from trump's first term, and imposed its own 100% tariff on chinese electric cars.

but these tariffs have always targeted particular categories of products. >> across the board, that's not targeting a particular product or commodity. it's not targeting a particular country. it's saying all imports and sources get hit with that tax. that's a different type of tariff. >> reporter: and wouldn't we then notice that wow, prices are going up on everything? >> we definitely would notice. >> reporter: more recently, trump has proposed double-digit tariffs on everything reported imported from mexico, canada and china. they would raise the price we pay for things like fruit, lumber, electronics, oil, medicine, metals, and beef. studies have calculaed that those tariffs will cost 1% of all american jobs, raise average car prices $3,000, and cost every american household at least a thousand dollars a year. but donald trump's transition leader howard lutnick predicted

that his boss won't tax imported goods for which there are no american-made alternatives. >> tariffs are an amazing tool by the president to use. they're an amazing tool. but he understands don't tariff stuff we don't make, right. if we don't make it and you want to buy it, i don't want to put the price up. >> reporter: but maybe trump has no intention of imposing the tariffs for real. maybe he is playing a strategic game, tariffs as negotiating tactics. >> tariffs give you tremendous power over countries when they're doing bad things, including war. >> tariffs can be used as a threat and a bargain chip. and sometimes if you're really credible, just making a threat of a tariff is enough to bring another country to change a policy in a way you desire without your having to impose the tariff in the end. >> reporter: in the end, when the government wants to achieve some economic or geopolitical goal, it can use all different kinds of tools. accordng to economics professor doug erwin, tariffs are a powerful tool too.

they're just rarely the best one. >> what economists have concluded is terrorists have a lot of unintended consequences can lead to blowback where other countries retaliate against you. so were not a really good policy instrument for goals we as americans all want to achieve. >> that was david pogue crunching the numbers. "cbs news roundup" will be right back.

there are times when a chance encounter can turn a person's life around. steve hartman found this heartwarming story "on the road."

>> reporter: when those blue lights appeared in her rear view, then 20-year-old abbie rutledge knew she had done the wrong thing at the wrong place and time. but now two years later sees that run-in differently. >> i think it was the right person, the right time and the right words said. >> reporter: the cop who pulled her over for speeding that day was alabama state trooper j.t. brown. abbie told trooper brown she couldn't afford a ticket, that she was broke and in a dead-end job. >> and i told her, i said well, how about we talk about it then. >> it went on for about 10, 15 minutes, just talking about different career paths. >> you be safe. >> reporter: their conclusion? that abbie would make a really good nurse. so brown gave her a warning on this one condition. promise me you'll go to scrub or nursing school, and slow down, and i won't give you a ticket. could you have ever imagined she would take it as seriously as she did? >> never.

>> as soon as he left, an as soon as i got to where i was going, i started pushing myself toward that career, and now i'm here. >> reporter: and now she's here. working as a surgical technician at the university of alabama birmingham hospital. abbie says she loves her new job and gives full credit to trooper brown, who was at her graduation. >> i wanted him to see the impression he made on me. five minutes talking to anybody, even if you don't know them can make the largest impact of their life ever. >> reporter: and you never know when. >> you never know when it could happen, no. >> reporter: trooper brown went above and beyond license and registration to guidance and motivations. and by taking the advice written on that warning, abbie not only helped herself, she returned the exact same favor. >> she made my entire career worth it. she did. >> reporter: steve heart man, on the road in birmingham, alabama.

>> well, happy holidays to them both. and that's today's "cbs news roundup." for some of you, the news continues. for others, tune in later for "cbs mornings." and follow us online any time at cbsnews.com. reporting from the cbs broadcast center in new york city, i'm carissa lawson. ♪ hello and thanks for staying up with us. i'm carissa lawson in new york. here are the top stories on "cbs

news roundup." fbi director christopher wray says he will step down before president-elect donald trump takes office in january. police say a gun found on the suspect accused of killing unitedhealthcare's ceo matches shell casings discovered at the crime scene. and a wildfire in malibu has burned more than 4,000 acres, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. the head of the fbi, christopher wray, says he will be stepping down. he made the announcement wednesday to fellow members of america's premier law enforcement agency, saying he will leave next month at the end of joe biden's presidency. donald trump hired wray in 2017, but now the president-elect complains that wray, quote, invaded has home in the search that turned up classified documents. the resignation comes less than two weeks after donald trump revealed his choice to head up the fbi, kash patel. one of the most fiercely loyal associates of the former

president. cbs' ed o'keefe has more. >> reporter: fbi directors are supposed to serve tenured terms, overlapping presidencies to avoid politics. but chris wray will now be leaving about two years early. president-elect's attacks on him and the bureau taking their toll. >> my goal is to keep the focus on our mission, on the indispensable work each of you is doing every single day. in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray. >> reporter: trump nominated wray in 2017 after he fired the former director james comey. at the time, he praised wray's credentials. >> i think i've done a great service to the country by choosing him. >> reporter: but trump soured on him after several fbi-led investigations into his ties to russia, attempts to overturn the 2020 elections, and the 2022 raid of his florida home amid the classified documents probe. >> he invaded mar-a-lago. i'm very unhappy with the things

he's done. i have a lot of respect for the fbi, but the fbi's respect has gone way down. >> reporter: wray's fate was sealed earlier this month when trump announced plans to nominate kash patel, a loyal surrogate who has openly called for mass firings in the reorganization of the fbi. >> i'd shut down the fbi hoover building on day one. >> reporter: today patel met with republican senators who have mostly expressed support for him, despite having little direct experience to run the nation's lead law enforcement agency. >> we look forward to a very smooth transition at the fbi, and i'll be ready to go on day one. >> reporter: democrats unable to do much in a soon to be controlled republican washington cried foul. >> director wray's resignation is the result of raw political pressure that ought to be an anathema to all of us on both sides of the aisle. >> cbs news has learned wray wrestled with his decision to step down, but opted to go now because he's concerned if he stays, attacks on him could drag the fbi into another political fight it doesn't need.

ed o'keefe, cbs news, new york. new york city police say they've made a forensic breakthrough in the investigation into the murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. the city's police commissioner says the gun found on luigi mangione, the 26-year-old suspect, matches shell casings from the crime scene that had the words deny, delay and possibly depose written on them. cbs' lilia luciano has learned about fingerprint evidence allegedly placing mangione near the site of that murder in manhattan. >> reporter: for the first time evidence places the suspect at the location where unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson was shot and killed. >> we were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown at the scene of the homicide. we're also able in our crime lab to match the person of interest's fingerprints with

fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar near the scene of the homicide. >> reporter: nypd investigators say they collected that water bottle and wrapper near a starbucks where the suspect was seen on surveillance video about a half hour before the murder. they found a cell phone inial an alley near the hotel with a friendship that matches as well. cbs news contributor -- >> prosecutors are confident right now they have a solid case. but what they're doing is they're buttressing what they already have with further evidence. they'll try and find a 3d printer. if they can show a ping to a cell phone and a picture of him using a cell phone that time matched, they're going to present that. >> reporter: law enforcement sources tell cbs news mangione had a spiral notebook with him when he was arrested when he wrote about considering using a gun over a bomb to carry out an

attack, because it was targeted, precise, and didn't risk innocents. mangione's attorney said he will plead not guilty and is fighting his extradition to new york. nypd sources tell cbs news that when he is extradited to new york, there are plans to change his charges from second-degree murder to first degree premeditated murder. the same sources say that during his time here in pennsylvania in custody, mangione has not made any incriminating statements. we have also confirmed that mangione's mother made a missing person's report with the san francisco police department just days before the shooting. lilia luciano, cbs news, huntingdon, pennsylvania. turning now to southern california where the notorious santa ana winds are hindering the battle against a raging wildfire. it's near the world famous malibu coast that's forced thousands of people, along with a few celebrities, from their homes. it's known as the franklin fire. it started on monday, having now destroyed several homes along

with more than 4,000 acres. cbs' carter evans is there. >> reporter: southern california's majestic palm trees swayed in the menacing glow as powerful winds pushed the franklin fire through malibu, just west of los angeles. more than 4,000 acres have now burned. >> this is a 39% increase in acreage overnight. >> reporter: firefighters tried to contain the blaze as fast-moving flames threaten thousands of homes, including trailers in this rv park. >> i mean, you could see how fast it was coming. >> reporter: rivers redclay says she ran door to door, waking up neighbors when the fire exploded monday night. >> and i looked up over the mountain, and it was orange. and i just screamed and said "it's coming, we got to go." >> reporter: more than 19,000 people have been ordered or warned to evacuate, from ranchers to famous residents like dick van dyke and cher. >> i can't stop this. >> reporter: some malibu homeowners stayed including doctors, filmmakers, and even a

judge. community volunteers who worked with l.a. county fire to save homes. for tegan gibbs, it's personal. >> i've lost my house in 2018. so when there is a fire that is impacting our area, we make ourselves available. >> reporter: carter evans, cbs news, malibu. when "cbs news roundup" continues, the holiday travel rush is about to get under way. we'll have some advice on what you can do to avoid congestion at the airports. (train whistle blows) (mom:) i guess you're really goin' off to school. mom ♪ i will remember you ♪ ♪ will you remember me ♪ ♪ don't let your life ♪ i love you ♪ pass you by ♪ (daughter:) i love you too dad ♪ weep not for the memories ♪

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[veteran 2] it's hope, it's a new beginning. [narrator] visit hfot usa dot org. ♪ this is "cbs news roundup." i'm carissa lawson in new york. if you haven't made your holiday travel plans, you're running out of time. the end of year travel rush starts next week, and both

airfares and hotel prices are already sky-high. aaa expecting more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles during the holidays, and that includes a record number of air travelers. kris van cleave is at phoenix sky harbor airport, which is expected to be one of the top ten busiest over the holidays. >> time is running out. airfare tracker hopper says in the weeks leading up to christmas last year, on average, airfare jumped by $100 round trip. time's running out. atlanta area high school teacher jojo de guzman is heading to prague and austria during the upcoming holidays, a trip he has been planning for month. >> i go search for the best flights, the best rates in hotels. and if i do get to see a good package tour, then i take that opportunity. >> reporter: de guzman will be among the 103.9 million aaa expects to travel between next saturday and narrowly edging out

the record set in 2019. most will drive, finding gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon, nearly 15 cents cheaper than a year ago. >> we haven't seen gas prices this low in 3 1/2 years. >> reporter: the nation's airlines also expect a record, the travel rush starting next thursday and stretching until monday, january 6th. for united airlines, that means nearly ten million passengers. ceo scott kirby. >> december is likely to be the best december in the history of united airlines. >> reporter: what keeps driving these record -- i feel like we say like a holiday, pick a travel season. it's a record number of people. what's driving that? >> you know, i actually believe that coming out of covid created a new urgency, a new appreciation for travel and experience. >> reporter: but that experience will cost you more this year. domestic airfare for christmas is averaging $371 round trip, up 8% from 2023, and last-minute

flights to europe have surged 38%. for jojo de guzman, booking early and going somewhere new is the best gift he could give himself this holiday season. >> i've heard they have good christmas markets in vienna, as well as in prague. >> reporter: now the busiest days to fly the airlines expect the friday and sunday before and after christmas. on the roads, aaa says the busiest day to drive the sunday before christmas, december 22nd. >> that was kris van cleave >> that was kris van cleave reporting from phoenix. if you're frustrated with occasional bloating or gas, your body's giving you signs. it's time to try align. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional bloating and gas. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. this is our story

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the only topical with 4 powerful pain fighting ingredients that start working on contact and lasts up to 8 hours. the murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson has sparked an outpouring of anger online, and most of it is not against the shooter. cbs' mark strassmann reports. >> it's very hard for me to be empathetic. >> free floating outrage fuels this american moment. >> they're wolves who want to kill you for money. >> reporter: a targeted killing in midtown manhattan, a hooded gnman, and thousands of online posts like he is a hero overwhelmingly side with the shooter. >> this guy is bringing the country together. >> reporter: in new york city, a hooded shooter look-alike contest brought cheap laughs. when shooting suspect luigi mangione was arrested in pennsylvania, online hot takes

doubled down. >> which one of you mcdonald's employees ratted that guy out? >> reporter: the web's new hot sellers, free luigi shirts, deny, defend, depose coffee mugs, delivered before christmas. seemingly forgotten, brian thompson, unitedhealthcare's ceo murdered in cold blood. the 50-year-old husband and father of two sons was buried on monday. but online voices see him only as the face of a half trillion health conglomerate, in their eyes the obstacle to affordable health care. to many of these critics, it's a business model built on refusing to pay for services. in 2023, unitedhealthcare denied roughly 33% of all claims, the highest rate in the industry. the overall industry rate, 19%. >> i understand the kind of cultural wash, the response that has washed over a large segment of the population.

>> reporter: yolanda wilson is a health care ethicist. in january, she needed a hysterectomy. this letter from unitedhealthcare denied her claim two days before her scheduled surgery. >> i was surprised. it sent me into turmoil. >> reporter: were you angry? >> a little bit. >> reporter: maybe more than a little bit? >> probably more than a little bit. >> reporter: her surgeon fought for her. the claim was approved. but in a world that's often black and white, her take on the murdered executive has lots of gray. you don't agree with the shooting? >> i don't agree with the shooting. >> reporter: when it first happened, you weren't sad? >> no. >> reporter: were you sad for his family? >> yes. >> reporter: but you were also sad for other people his company had denied. >> yes. >> the decisions are made by multiple people, not just by one person. >> reporter: we heard more nuance from customers at pickles deli in downtown st. louis. sure, lots of health insurance horror stories, including kim's.

>> high premiums, high deductibles. >> reporter: high frustration? >> high frustration. >> reporter: but everyone we talked to here, like gary simms, repudiated the killing. >> i can empathize with the frustration that they may have with the insurance process, but that's no excuse whatsoever to gun that man down. >> reporter: in our recent round of elections, health care costs and companies got scant attention from politicians in both parties. now everyone's talking about it. >> i don't feel bad for this guy. >> reporter: in voices like that, any hint of compassion for a murdered man and his family denied. for "eye on america," mark

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caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta. find savings and support at caplyta.com. new year's eve is less than three weeks away, and a million people are expected to gather in new york's times square to watch the ball drop. that giant ball is 12 feet across, weighs 12,000 pounds, and is made up of 2700 waterford crystal triangles. if you're looking for your own piece of waterford crystal, well connor naughton paid a visit to the source. >> reporter: every piece of waterford crystal that ends up on a table begins in a fire. what starts as a molten mixture soon takes on any number of shapes, transformed into glasses and vases, buckets, bowls. one-of-a-kind sculptures and

championship trophies. it's a painstaking process refined over centuries, which the company claims makes its crystal a cut above the rest. >> if there is even the slightest flaw in waterford, it's smashed. we never do seconds. so there is no room for error in waterford. we're luxury. so with luxury, expect the finest crystal in the world. >> reporter: emily brophy is the marketing manager for waterford. founded in ireland. many employees like edgar evans have their own long histories with the company. >> my dad was here. i had four uncles here, two brothers. it's a family thing really. >> reporter: the chandeliers hanging in westminster abbey are made of waterford crystal. as is the ball that drops in times square. >> for the last 20 years, we've

actually had the times square ball in new york. so it's made up of many crystal panels. and each year those panels change to a new theme. it's a very special moment for a small harbour town to putting them up in such a way. >> reporter: today the bulk of waterford's products are actually manufactured in slovenia. in the 1800s, financial troubles shut down production all together. >> the company actually closed. that was 1851. it wasn't until 1947 that we reopened. >> reporter: closed for a century? >> closed for almost a century. there is hope for everybody, right? >> reporter: waterford was resurrected after world war ii, a new era of creativity led to a number of designs still in use today, including the best lizmore pattern inspired by the architecture of lizmore castle. waterford found great success in selling to america. >> my dad worked on one side. i was working on the opposite side, but they decided to put us in america and we were father

and son. so we used to go to the stores and independent stores and selling the crystal. >> reporter: david boies is a master wedge cutter, a title that requires eight years of training to learn. he now teaches the craft to others, including yours truly. >> this is where it gets tricky. >> gets tricky? since it started. >> reporter: let's just say i did not make the cut. >> not bad. >> terrible. but i would not get hired with that. >> reporter: if paul cody spots even the smallest flaw, he tosses the piece into the recycling bin so it can be melted down and reused. >> there is an indentation right on the rail there. >> reporter: oh, gosh, that subtle? >> yeah. >> reporter: wow. historically, glass has been mixed with lead to create cuttable eye catching crystal with its signature look and sound. but times are changing. waterford has started transitioning to a more sustainable lead institute.

some cutting is now automated. the company is trying to attract a younger demographic, emphasizing that crystal can be an everyday indulgence, not just something that sits on your grandmother's shelves. there are certainly cheaper ways to get liquid to your mouth. >> absolutely. >> reporter: why is someone buying waterford? >> i think sometimes you drink from waterford, you sit up straighter. when you hold it, it's very tactile. it's about the indulgence. to your point you could drink out of a $2 sippy cup, but actually, it doesn't elevate the experience. it's about buyin

it's thursday, it's thursday, december 12th, 2024. this is "cbs news mornings." twin tributes. special honors expected today for donald trump as he celebrates the resignation of the fbi director he appointed paving the way for his new pick to lead the bureau. forensic breakthrough. the new evidence police say directly ties the suspect to the