tv CBS News Roundup CBS December 31, 2024 2:42am-3:30am PST
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targeting the players, including wenstrup. it felt like a war zone? >> oh, totally. it was a wild west battle. >> reporter: these weren't just any players. it was a practice of congressional republicans preparing for an annual charity baseball game. >> they were under cars, and they were hiding behind trees while the shooting was going on. i could see what everyone was doing. >> reporter: one congressman couldn't get off the field. louisiana republican steve scalise was gravely wounded. after police finally took down the shooter, scalise lay dying near the outfield grass. scalise needed an emergency doctor, and there was only one nearby. >> first thing i said is somebody give me a belt. it's what do you do when you have nothing as far as medical equipment. and so i put the tourniquet on. well, then things started to arrive. >> reporter: you put a tourniquet on? >> i put a tourniquet on his leg.
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>> reporter: before winning a seat in congress from southwest ohio in 2012, wenstrup was a military doctor. >> that day i wasn't alarmed. i just went into mode. >> reporter: he raced to scalise and quickly realized how dire the situation was. >> he had an entry wound, a small entry wound, but there was no exit wound, and that's when i knew he was the priority. i knew it went up. so that meant it hit his internal organs. i don't know what, i can't see that, but i know he is bleeding out in there. >> reporter: he insisted scalise drink fluids to reduce the risk from internal bleeding and kept scalise alert and talking. >> he probably wouldn't have made it, but a helicopter landed. >> reporter: a medevac airlifted scalise to a hospital where he was stabilized. wenstrup says as he made his run out towards second base to help scalise, he was overcome by images in his mind of something he experienced 12 years earlier on a much different field.
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in 2005, deployed in iraq, wenstrup treated the battlefield wounded, including a day wenstrup's team was called to save a u.s. service member with the same type of grave injury wenstrup would see on the ball field 12 years later. >> and all of the sudden he started dropping. we opened up his belly, and he had bled out inside, and we didn't save him. >> reporter: how hard was that for your team in iraq to experience? >> oh, we cried. we cried. >> reporter: the lessons from that tragedy in iraq would prepare wenstrup for the moment in 2017. >> he's my hero. he is a man of just great compassion. >> reporter: scalise remembers wenstrup at his side. >> it's amazing how in that moment, i mean, my body is shutting down. i'm in severe trauma, but i wasn't feeling that kind of pain. >> reporter: he has recovered through several surgeries and now serves as the number two leader in the u.s. house. he says he'd be dead without
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wenstrup. >> brad had that sense of urgency saying hey, this guy doesn't have that much time. we need to put a tourniquet on him. >> reporter: you saved a life. but you also stopped a assassination from succeeding. have you reflected on that? >> i've reflected on that quite a bit. he could have killed 20 to 30 people, members of congress and their staff. and especially from one party. and so what i thought about that was you could change the balance of power in the house of representatives in one day. >> reporter: his medical background scored wenstrup a powerful committee chairmanship this year, investigating the origins of covid. at times he frustrated democrats, frequently echoing donald trump in blasting dr. anthony fauci. >> so was the covid vaccine 100% effective? >> i don't believe any vaccine is 100% effective. >> reporter: but his departure is part of a larger shift in congress. at a moment when newer members of congress capitalize on social media and draw crowds of cameras and millions in donations by
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making provocative statements, wenstrup and dozens of other retiring democrats and republicans remain far from household names, keeping a lower profile. >> and i'm not sure what i'm going to next, but i hope i can be involved with things that make a difference for a lot of people. >> reporter: instead of fame from preventing an assassination, wenstrup won a new friend. >> so brad, where are you at? >> right down front, right down front. >> reporter: scott macfarlane, alexandria, virginia. this is our story
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i was born with idiopathic infantile scoliosis. i've had 17 surgeries. i was born missing my lower right foot. i was born ten weeks early without my left arm. i have osteogenesis imperfecta. i've broken over 70 bones in my lifetime. with my polio, i have tough days and my pain just pops out out of nowhere. there's nothing to be afraid of because all the doctors are all so nice. most people think, oh, it's the medical side of things at shriners hospital. but for me, it's a confidence that i've gotten. when somebody sees these commercials. there'll be a phone number on the screen and all they have to do is call and make a donation to help kids like me. thanks to a generous donor, every dollar you give will go three times as far to help more kids. when you join with us. we'll send you
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a new face will be running the show at this sunday's golden globe awards, comedian nikki glaser. she sat don for a talk with our luke burbank. >> you're a white girl and you get a spray tan, everyone is nicer to you. they think ewe been on vacation. they think things are going well in your life. and they're not. you've just stood naked in front of a teenager. >> reporter: nikki glaser thought she had her january all planned out. >> in the middle of her spraying me, seeing my butt, she goes "i'm such a fan." >> so for january 2025, i was going to possibly have a brow lift or some kind of really invasive surgery that i've been looking into getting. >> reporter: that you disappear from the republic for and reemerge. >> yes. >> reporter: but then she got a phone call from two of her agents. when it's two, you know it's good news.
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when it's bad news, they make one person. because no one wants to do that. >> reporter: hollywood pro tip. >> absolutely. this operation, is there any way you can push it to the second week of january? >> here's to challengers, the only movie to ever capture the raw sensuality of tennis. >> reporter: that's because january 5th, glaser is hosting the golden globes on cbs, just another big gig in a year that's been filled with them. >> it's easy to be a bad mom. that's so easy. but to be a good mom is hard. to be a bad mom, that's as easy as being a great dad. >> reporter: her 2024 special, "some day you'll die" was nominated for an emmy, a grammy, and a golden globe. but it's the special's theme song that glaser wrote that she's most proud of. ♪ some day you'll die ♪ >> honestly, it might be one of the things that i'm most proud of in my life.
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i got lucky. >> reporter: it couldn't be more different than joke writing in terms of the vulnerability? >> yes, yes. because everything with joking is i get vulnerable and then i cut wit some kind of line. i'm just kidding. i was talking about my depression. we're not going get emotional here. there is just something so embarrassing about being emotional for me. so i think i just have to reframe it as you can't do it, nikki, it's too hard. and i'll be yes, i can. >> reporter: glaser made her name in celebrity roasts with a searing joke style. jewell is here, or as i call her, trailer swift. >> reporter: deadpanning at her own expense and the expense of others. >> everyone is telling me, nikki, at your age, just freeze your eggs. freeze them. freeze your eggs. i'm can i burn them? is that an option? >> reporter: jokes that we mostly can't play for you on network tv. >> orgasms feel as good as kids are -- that is they're directly correlated. >> reporter: all of which came in handy earlier this year when
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she roasted nfl great tom brady live on netflix. >> tom also lost $30 million in crypto. tom, how did you fall for that? even gronk was me no, that not real money. >> reporter: glaser says though she's mostly done with roast, she actually asked netflix for the job. >> i was tell tom brady i'm the tom brady of roasting. it's flattery, but it's also true. i meant it. i really feel like tom brady is a guy that worked hard enough to become how great he is. >> reporter: the same could be said about glaser, and the golden globes will be her biggest audience to date. >> i'm going nail it. here is the thing. maybe i won't nail it in some people's eyes, but i will have nailed it in my eyes because have i set up a system leading up to it that i couldn't possibly work harder on it. >> reporter: more on that system later, because confidence is not something that's always come easy to glazer. >> i drink every single night of my life, and it was the only thing i looked forward to in my life.
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>> reporter: she's talked about struggles with self-medicating, eating disorders and alcoholism. >> for me drinking is the worst. it's been whac-a-mole with all of those. but those have never caused me as much pain as drinking did. so i'm glad drinking is not an option. >> in recovery they call the the thing called the dis-ease. >> oh, yeah. >> the general state of not being at ease. >> yes. that's the obsession with work is just not wanting to feel. my therapist always says there is this middle ground where it's like you feel good about things, and then there is this anxiety and then there is the depression down here. and you love being here and love being here, but you do not like being here, because at least something is happening here. >> i was wondering if i could run some jokes for you. that would be awesome. >> reporter: will the pressure of hosting the golden globes get to glaser? she says she hopes it does. >> i thrive on anxiety. i thrive on feeling what's going to happen. i like that feeling. i kill it when i'm anxious. >> i'm nikki glaser.
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>> reporter: glaser's system, which she first developed for the tom brady roast, is working with a team of writers. >> there is certain people that you can -- >> you have a past to make fun of. >> yes. but they haven't done anything horrible. >> no. >> they're not criminals. >> people gasp when you say their name. >> reporter: writers that include sean o'conner, jessica dweck, and glaser's long-time boyfriend and collaborator chris convy. >> you have to think too much for this one. >> maybe you do. >> reporter: the jokes they come up with are tested over and over, both on the road and in small l.a. clubs to see what real audiences think. >> i did have a bunch of epic jokes i was going to tell, but i lost them. the natural way. i swear. i just cut out soda. >> reporter: the golden globe audience will decide on january 5th if all this preparation by glaser has paid off. but she says in a certain way, she's already working on her
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next project, an offstage one at that. >> i think my new challenge is i want to be known for being a nice celebrity. and i just want to be someone that people go, oh, she is really great to work with us she was really nice to us. and not in an inauthentic way. >> reporter: you want to spread kindness to people while you're eviscerating their entire existence in their periphery. >> that's the paradox of it. i want to spread honestly. >> thank you so much. >> that was luke burbank with nikki glaser. "cbs news roundup" will be right back.
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and can find a health plan that's right for you. covered california. this way to health insurance. thursday is the last day of hanukkah, and for a young man in california it's been a great time to sell a home-made game. rina nakano has the story. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: 13-year-old oz gaslin enjoys playing the drums.
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but there is something he loves even more. >> i've always been into games and creative stuff. >> reporter: not video games. we're talking the traditional stuff. at age 4, he began creating mazes. by kindergarten he was inventing card games. and for his fifth grade family history project, he presented a board game chronicling his grade great grandfather's escape from nazi-occupied poland to freedom. >> it is very difficult to win, because we want to show that it was very hard for jews in poland at that time. >> reporter: that hanukkah he and his family were playing the traditional dreidel game where players take turns spinning a four-sided top to try to win chocolate coins. if it lands on nun, you do nothing. gimel, you take everything. hey, you take half the pot, and shin, you put one back in the pot. >> the rules weren't complex. it's all luck. i guess i thought i wanted to make it better. >> reporter: so he began prototyping with a sharpie and blank cards. his goal was to try to add a challenge and strategy component. >> take three coins from someone else. >> reporter: after a year of
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testing the game, his dad took him back the same print shop where he made his fifth grade project to turn his new concept into a real game. all 200 boxes sold out immediately at local hanukkah boutiques. >> we took all the profit, it was over a thousand dollars last year, and we donated them to the kitchen that gives food to people in need. >> reporter: in the last year, oz added a few upgrades and made 5,000 boxes of super mega ultra dreidel, now available on amazon. his mom says she is most amazed at the fact that through this game, oz is able to show that he is unapologetically proud of being jewish. >> it's not such a great, awesome time to be jewish right now. there are people who are taking down their mezuzahs from their door. people who are hiding who they are, and he's not doing that. he is really standing up and saying this is who i am, it's great. sit down at the table with me and let's play. >> i'm going spin the dreidel. >> reporter: because of hefty
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up-front costs, this year the gaslins are not expecting a profit. but one day they're hoping that oz's new spin on an ancient game can pay for his college education. >> my goal i think is for people to have a more fun time at hanukkah playing dreidel with their families. a fun thing that's like part of people's lives. >> reporter: in palms, i'm rina nakano. >> yes! >> reporter: kcal news. and that's today's "cbs news roundup." 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.
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here interest top stories on "cbs news roundup." in the small town of plains, georgia, and around the world, people are remembering former president jimmy carter. a federal appeals court upholds a ruling against donald trump in a civil sexual abuse and defamation case. and u.s. investigators travel to south korea to help determine what caused a catastrophic plane crash that killed 179 passengers and crew. tributes are pouring in from around the world for jimmy carter, the nation's 39th president who died on sunday at 100 years old. plans are being announced for his national funeral, and a period of mourning so that people from coast-to-coast will be able to pay their respects. cbs' cristian benavides has more from atlanta. >> reporter: jimmy carter, the former peanut farmer, navy veteran, state senator, governor, president, and nobel peace prize recipient is being remembered as a peacemaker, a humble man of faith and
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integrity, tirelessly dedicated to the causes of democracy and helping other. following his term in the white house, the single-term president helped hundreds across the country with habitat for humanity. this man lives in a home jimmy and rosalynn carter helped build. >> thank you, jimmy carter. i'm very grateful for what you did for me and my family. >> i've always been a christian. i think one of the key things we learn from christ is we should help people in need. >> reporter: the national funeral for jimmy carter will be held at the washington national cathedral on january 9th. president biden has declared that day a national day of mourning and ordered the nation's flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days. while tributes are pouring in from around the world, perhaps the most notable came from ca carter's five living successors. >> he was a statesman and humanitarian. and jill and i lost a dear friend. >> former and president-elect trump said while he strongly disagreed with carter, the late president worked hard to make
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america a better place, and for that i give him my highest respect. bill clinton said carter worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world. george w. bush said he was a man of deeply held convictions and that he dignified the office. and barack obama said carter vowed to always tell the truth, and he did, advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. cristian benavides, cbs news, atlanta. >> jimmy carter called plains, georgia home for most of his life, and it's where he will be buried next to his wife, rosalynn. friends, family and neighbors in plains are mourning as well as celebrating the life of the former president. in that small community, residents say he was friendly and approachable. they refer to him simply as mr. jimmy. cbs' mark strassmann is there as the town prepares to lay mr. carter to rest. >> reporter: for all the deserved global attention on the death of jimmy carter, you also have to remember that for the carter family, this is a deeply personal loss.
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he had four children, 11 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, and they are doing their grieving in private. much of the grief here in plains where he lived for most of his 100 years, most of that grief is also very personal, very heartfelt. he knew virtually everybody in this town of 540 people. there is not a single stoplight in this town. eventually you're going to meet your neighbor here. and that's what he was to most of the folks who live here. he was neighbor, a friend, the man they called mr. jimmy. and they're paying their respects by giving the carter family its space, the space that they deserve right now. america will get its chance to say goodbye to mr. carter over the next ten days. he is going to have observances in both atlanta and in washington, d.c. he will lie in state in the u.s. capital. and then there will be a funeral service for him on january 9th at the national cathedral in washington. jimmy carter dead at 100. mark strassmann, cbs news, plains, georgia.
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in another big development, president-elect donald trump has lost a bid to overturn a $5 million judgment against him for sexual abuse and defamation. a federal appeals court on monday upheld the damages awarded to e. jean carroll, the columnist, hailed the decision in an online post, writing "2024 ends with a win." carroll accused trump of raping her in a department store dressing room about 30 years ago. a jury found president-elect liable for sexual abuse but not rape. trump also owes carroll more than $83 million from a follow-up defamation lawsuit. south korea's embattled president is facing arrest after being issued a warrant by the nation's anti-corruption agency. president yoon suk yeol was impeached after he declared a stunning martial law decree earlier this month. the agency says it wants to determine if yoon's actions amounted to rebellion. yoon's lawyers have called the warrant illegal.
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staying in south korea now, u.s. federal investigators are headed there to help discover exactly what caused the fiery crash landing of a boeing jet on sunday. this is the scene of the crash where all but two of the 181 people on board were killed. south korean officials now say they'll inspect all of the boeing 737-800 aircraft operating in the country. we get details now from cbs' elizabeth palmer. >> reporter: jeju air flight 2216 was already in trouble on its final approach. the pilot had reported a bird strike and sent a mayday signal, and the plane's landing gear wasn't down as it raced to the end of the runway and crashed into a concrete wall. all 175 passengers died, along with four crewmembers. two others, the only survivors, were pulled alive from the tail section.
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inside the airport, a fire official read out the victims' names to stunned family members and friends. all of the passengers were south koreans except for two thai citizens. at a memorial center set up in the city of muan where the crash occurred, people came to pay their respects. one of them was south korea's interim president, who has only been this the job four days. the crash site was combed for evidence to add for information that will eventually come from the cockpit and flight recorders. one tv station is reporting today that the same boeing 737-800 was involved in another minor accident back in 2021, but it will be months or even years before investigators understand the complex factors behind sunday's catastrophe. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. linda lavin, the actress best known for playing the title
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carriage on the cbs sitcom "alice" has died. lavin won two golden globes and receive and emmy. lavin also won over audiences on broadway earning a tony for the play "broadway bound." linda lavin died sunday from complications of lung cancer. she was 87 years old. coming up on "cbs news roundup," after leaving the white house, former president jimmy carter found a passion, building homes for those in need. we'll take a look at his contribution to habitat for humanity. that's straight ahead. our kids spend hours a day glued to their screens. but social media is addictive by design. hooking our kids on content full of lies, extremism, hate, drugs and violence. youtube, tiktok, facebook and instagram make billions of dollars by exposing our children to danger and face no consequences. these companies don't care, and congress won't act. so, it's up to us. we at the center for countering digital hate are
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holding these companies accountable. join us at protectingkidsonline.org for decades, i've taught you everything i know... but only you can prevent wildfires. aj: multiple studies have shown that marijuana can slow both driver reaction and response time... which can be really dangerous! he's here, he's here! connor: wait, wait, wait! aj: what? connor: i can't drive. aj: what, why? connor: i'm high. aj: oh. ♪♪
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it's kyle's last spin on his turntable. yea. and the first day of kierra's new career in it. when you donate to goodwill, you help provide skills training and career placement. and the things you loved, start a new life too. ♪ this is "cbs news roundup." i'm carissa lawson in new york. former president jimmy carter's legacy is often defined by his accomplishments after leaving office. first he returned to his peanut
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farm in plains, georgia and founded the carter center to promote and expand human rights around the world. that won him the nobel peace prize. carter and his teams monitored elections around the world, helped eradicate a disease in africa. he built his presidential library, published books, caught taut college classes and sunday school. he also dedicated most of his time to building homes for those in need. john dickerson has more on his legacy. >> reporter: almost a decade before his death, jimmy carter learned he had brain cancer and that he would not have long to live. >> i've had a wonderful life. i've had thousands of friends. i've had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence. >> that equanimity and poise was not the product of some pill or treatment. it was built on a foundation of the faith carter has practiced all his life. the diagnosis turned out to be better.
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and three years later, i visited with carter while he was building homes for habitat for humanity. mr. president, you are 94. it is nearly 94 degrees outside. what you doing here? >> well, i'm building habitat houses. >> reporter: i asked about the presidency, of course, and politics, but i wanted to know about that foundation he built his life on. >> i have always been a christian, and i think one of the key things we learn from christ is that we should help people in need. >> reporter: he'd been building houses for habitat for 34 years by the time we met. i asked him how the diagnosis had changed his world view. >> it's made me appreciate life more. it's made me value the things that never change much more. i remembered quite often what my superintendent used to say, she used to say we must accommodate changing times in which we are involved right this moment, but we must cling to principles that
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never change. so i think each person has to find those principles that for them never change. like truth and honesty. >> reporter: carter kept at it. a year after we talked, he took a fall. and even though he had to get 14 stitches, the 39th president was drilling and hammering the very next day, as he'd been taught. those the circumstances had changed, he still clung to the circumstances that never change. tonight people will eat dinner and sleep between the walls carter helped raise during his life, a life which in its selflessness, faith and example leaves behind a blueprint of how leaves behind a blueprint of how to build a foundation for one. (singing) i'll be home for christmas. you can plan on me.
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please have snow and mistletoe. and presents on the tree. right now all over the country kids at shriners hospitals for children™ are able to go home and be with their families for the holidays. and that's only possible because of the monthly donations from people like you. thanks to a generous donor every dollar you give will go three times as far to help more kids. with your gift of just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue® blanket as a thank you. and a reminder of the care you'll be providing so kids can be with their families. (singing) christmas eve will find me. where the love light gleams.
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it only takes a moment to call the number on your screen. or you can visit loveshriners.org. your gift of $19 a month will have three times the impact in the lives of kids like me. because every child just wants to be home for the holidays, and your gift makes that possible. your call is the best gift of all. your gift will be my favorite christmas present this year. please call the number on your screen or go to loveshriners.org to give whatever you can. and when you become a monthly donor your first gift will be tripled! thank you for giving!
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online romance scams bilk lonely-hearted americans out of more then a billion dollars each year. by now, you're familiar with the story. criminals pose as potential partners on dating apps and work their way into a person's confidence only to drain them of their life savings. so what's congress doing about it? jim axelrod found out. >> reporter: at 66 and single, sue, as she wants to be called, wasn't done looking for love. >> like whoa, i didn't know romance was still in the world. who doesn't like romance? >> reporter: she had seen more than $2 million for her
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retirement, and wanted to travel the world. >> man, i really would do better if i had a male companion. >> reporter: sue turned to the dating app match.com and quickly connected with this man, who used stolen photos, claimed to be a private equity investor in the united kingdom, and called himself santos. after weeks of nonstop romance from the man she matched with -- >> i'd get a poem that he said he wrote for me. i mean, have you ever had poems written for you? >> reporter: santo said he needed help renewing a professional license and asked sue for $40,000. did any part of you think wait a minute, i'm not going to send $40,000 to a guy i've never met? >> i was in a position i could help a person. why not? i never thought he was stealing or scamming. there was no reason. >> reporter: it was full speed ahead into what sue says was an elaborate and relentless stream of lie, deception, and emotional abuse that drained her of the $2 million she had saved.
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what do you say to people who would look you in the eye and say i'd never get taken like that. >> and i would say that's because you're coming from logic. it's all about getting you hooked with emotions. >> reporter: during our year-long investigation into romance scams, we learned that more than 64,000 americans were taken for more than a billion dollars last year, double the $500 million just four years earlier. >> 50% of people who are using dating websites say they've come across somebody whose tried to scam them. >> reporter: democrat brittany pedersen, and california republican david valadao told us the tech platforms need to do a better job protecting their users. >> no matter how advanced you think your ability to understand what's out there, they're going to deceive so many people, and we really have to get in front of this. >> reporter: this bipartisan team introduced the online
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dating safety act, requiring apps to notify users if they've been in contact with a scam account. you're telling me if a dating company identifies somebody as a scammer, there is no requirement to let other people they've been in contact know? >> no. businesses don't like being told what to do. >> reporter: after passing the house, the bill didn't get a vote in the senate. so they'll have to try again next congress. if the dating app had gotten in touch with you and said this guy's a known scammer, would you have lost all your money? >> no. i could go tick, tick, tick, oh my god, what's going on. >> reporter: match told us they've already begun rolling out fraud notifications and will work with senators to finalize the bill. new laws are too late for sue, but she's not done fighting. why you telling this story? >> because i don't want anyone to go the hell that i've gone through. i don't want anybody to be in the hell hole that i dug with
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machines, these volunteers in northern california are pounding grains of rice into a new form in preparation for the new year. they're making mochi, a doughy rice cake that's just water, steamed sweet rice, and a whole lot of elbow grease. >> this is an event called mochi suki. mochi and suki. that means making mochi, or pounding mochi. >> reporter: rusnak can know is a member of the mountain buddhist temple where each december hundreds of helpers spanning generations use the temple's gymnasium to stage a bake sale of sorts, one that doesn't involve any actual baking. even though we're in a place of worship, this is not a religious tradition, necessarily. >> no, no, not at all. just having a japanese tradition. >> reporter: while mochi is
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eaten year-round in japan and increasingly here in the u.s. where mochi-wrapped ice cream can be found in grocery store freezers, it takes on special significance on new year's day. >> if you're going to go home to see your family, new year's is the time to do it. it's the most important holiday in japan. and eating mochi is a really important part of the most important family-oriented day. >> reporter: emily anderson is the curator of the japanese american national museum in los angeles. when japanese laborers arrived in the u.s. in the late 1800s, they brought their foods and their traditions with them. it's certainly easier to just buy mochi in japan, but it's more than that. in the u.s., mochi suki, like this one in oakland, california. >> you want to try it? >> reporter: is a way for a community to come together. >> for a lot of japanese americans, the actual making of mochi is a way of reclaiming pride and appreciation for who
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they are and saying that these are things not to be ashamed of. these are things to celebrate. >> i think the tradition should continue. it's it's going for our young people to know some of the old traditions, you know. >> reporter: during world war ii, when more than 120,000 people of japanese descent were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in camps, there was still mochi for the new year. the families insisted on it. >> in this time when they've lost everything, when they feel abandoned by their own country, where they're going fight back and say, like, i know we can't get much from you, but this much we're going demand of you. bring us our mochi rice. we need this for our new year's. >> reporter: when it comes to flavor, mochi is more of a texture than a taste. >> mochi itself is very bland. you have to have something about it. >> reporter: on new year's day it's often eaten in a savory
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soup. it can be stuffed with red bean paste or toesd. >> i recommend this one. it's soy sauce and sugar. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: it's common to stack mochi as an offering before consuming it and hopes for health and prosperity in the year ahead. but for those who grew up making and eating it with their families, it also offers a taste of nostalgia for years gone by. >> it reminds us of who we are, who we come from, who our friends and family are of like happy memories. and all of that can be sort of
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