one thing is for certain -- he's qualified and eligible to be the prime minister of canada. >> reporter: cruz is in the middle of a week-long bus tour of iowa. hoping to avoid t t seeds of doubt trump is trying to plant. cruz's strategy is simple, harvest votes whenever and at whatever quantities he can. the math wor this way here in the county, population of about 7,000. four years ago, charlie, rick santorum carried this county with 101 votes. back in washington, vice president joe biden says he still thinks about what might have been. biden decided not to run for president because his heart wasn't in it. now he says "i regret it every day." julianna goldman has the story. >> reporter: the vice president did a round of interviews to talk about president obama's executive actions on gun contro but just months after announcing he wouldn't challenge

nomination, the vice president made clear it's still something he thinks about daily. >> i regret it every day, but it was the right decision for my family and me. >> reporter: in an interview with wvit, vice president joe biden conceded he still is conflicted about his decision not to run for president. >> i plan on staying deeply involved. we've got two good candidates. there's a real robust debate between hillary and bernie. >> reporter: biden's remarks come nearly three months after announcing he would not run for president. >> i believe we're out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. >> reporter: the vice president always said it was the grief over the death of his son, bo, from brain cancer that made the decision so difficult. >> i went out to denver and landed at a military base and met a whole group of militay

and a guy in the back yells, "major bo biden, served with him in iraq." all of a sudden, i lost it. how could you not? >> reporter: days after he announced he wouldn't seek the white house, he said how his son felt about him running. >> some people have written that, you know, bo on his deathbed said dad, you've got to run and there was this hollywood moment. nothing like that ever, ever happened. as a matter of fact, it was the -- almost the opposite at that point. it was almost, dad, you've got to stay strong, because the family is going to look to you, dad. winter has finally arrived on the east coast, and that's good news for ski resorts. the region still does not have much fresh powder. but at least it's cold enough to make snow. don dahler went for a couple of runs. >> reporter: these are the days i rerely hate my job. shawnee mountain was covered with snow by thanksgiving the

but now because of this heat wave we've been going through in december, they've had a hard time getting people on the slopes until january. now, though, it got cold and skiers are rejoicing. for this group of joyful skiers, you can mark january 6th as the best day of the year. that's because snow has finally arrived on the poconos' shawnee mountain. well, not real snow, but a machine made blend of water and compressed air that's now covering a third of the slopes thanks to frigid temperatures. >> we're anxious to get the season started. it's been a little tough go this year. >> reporter: jim tust is a managing partner and in his 35-year career here there hasn't been a season quite like this. >> tourism is the most important here. >> reporter: but from a cabin named hope, he looked toward the righter and colder future this winter and his machines could deliver.

and see these machines blowing snow. >> it's terrific. i live close by and i can hear them at night. i listen to that at home. i know just from experience when it's really making good snow. we're optimistic. three quarters of the season lies ahead, so we're looking forward to a good january and february. >> reporter: but december disappointed just about every ski resort in the northeast where the number of usable trails is only 43%. compare that to 99% that's skiable out west. this is footage of my family skiing in wyoming a few weeks ago, where the snow was over 11 feet deep. you can blame this boom or bust season on the el nino weather pattern, which kept temperatures high and dry in the east. this late-season freeze hasn't only held up those eager to hit the slopes, but nearly every local business connected to the ski economy.

last year. >> reporter: nicolette works at the starting gate action reports where sales have not only stalled but dropped 75% compared to a year ago. and for those resort employees as seasonal as the snow, it's been no vacation. >> the past year, to open this late, it took a toll on us. >> reporter: nicole fox is a seasonal employee who went more than a month without pay. what is it like for you when you haven't gotten that phone call and january comes around? >> what it's like for me, it's just hard. i'm not used to starting this late in the season. it's hard and there's bills to be paid. >> that's the one that hurts the most, having to tell people, gee, we just don't have work yet. >> reporter: but in winter's long awaited arrival, jim tust

looking to make up for lost time. >> calling in sick to school. i hope that's okay. take a snow day. it's all right with me. >> reporter: a lot of resorts are offering online incentives to convince people that even though it hasn't been snowing, it doesn't mean you cacat come skiing. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. but there's a difference between the omega-3s in fish oil and those in megared krill oil. unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body... ...which makes your heart, well, mega-happy. happier still, megared is proven to increase omega-3 levels in 30 days. megared. the difference is easy to absorb. (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom?

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when you think of men's fashion, you probably think of suits, ties, a nice leather

fastest growing trend in men's wear is the festive sock. >> very colorful. >> reporter: there is a revolution afoot. >> wow! these are great. >> reporter: a revolution deep in the sole of men's fashion. we just want to see your socks. a revolution in socks. oh, wow! banana socks. >> socks are really easy fix to spice up your wardrobe. >> i really love the gown. >> reporr: brad goreski is pleased with the statement he's seen. has it surprised even you that socks have become such a big thing? >> it has, actually. in terms of this trend specifically, it's kind of like the gateway drug to men's fashion. anything that gives guys the courage to want to be more daring in their fashion choices, that's a really cool thing. >> reporter: one man driving the

dapper dwyane wade. >> you think about socks and the black socks with the gold toe. >> that's all i used to have. >> right. >> wade, fadeaway. >> reporter: the 11-time all-star has his own line of fashion socks thatate helps design. >> this is an accessory for men that we can have a cool moment underneath our pants or on our feet that we feel a little extra about our outfit. when you're able to spend $14, $15 on socks different from a watch. >> reporter: wade's socks are created for the california based company stance. so this is the house that socks built. >> yes. >> reporter: which john wilson helped found after surveying the bland landscape below men's knees. >> the category itself was asleep. >> reporter: literally white space. white socks. >> white and black space. >> reporter: he filled that space with bold colors and patterns. they made mismatched pairs a

they went for fun and quirky and introduced a line for those looking to step into a galaxy far, far away. and then there is basketball. on the court, where shoes have always been king, stance wants fans to see beyond or underneath the sneaker. >> it is literally a game changer. >> reporter: as of this season, stance is the official sock supplier to the nba. and though the details aren't public, stance will have its logo on all the shins in basketball. how much has the nba deal represented to you as a company in terms of sales? >> it's been a huge contributor of growth, and it's a good chunk of our overall revenue. that's the kind of deal that you want. >> reporter: the sock market is a multibillion dollar business.

worldwide. so entrepreneurs are dipping their toes in. >> i think not a lot of people wake up on a certain morning and say, i'm going to refresh my whole sock drawer. >> reporter: but e-ta company nice laundry hopes to refresh sock collections. they only sell socks in bundles. designs range from the sut toll the loud. and they urge customers to dabble in them all. >> for us it never made sense to go buy socks one by one. you go through five or six pairs in a week, so we bundle them and sell them to customers. >> reporter: naturally, there are holdouts. not everyone has gotten the wear your fancily socks memo. which begs a question -- do you think this trend in men's socks is here to stay? >> i hope it is. i don't know. one thing about fashion is things come and go.

author mitch albom has sold 35 million copies of his book. his latest work focuses on how we can touch others with our & talents once we discover what those talents are. jim axelrod has the story. >> reporter: before tuesday's with my became one of the best selling memoirs of all time and the "five people you meet in heaven" soldld0 million copies in 35 different languages, mitch albom's dreams had nothing to do with writing. >> i was a musician when i began and i always quamt - wanted to be a musician. i always thought that's where my talent lay. i never wrote anything. >> reporter: the piano player moved to new york, booked any joint he could, while he knocked on record company's doors and got them all slammed in his face. was it painful when it didn't happen? >> yeah, it was the first time in my life that all the lights hadn't turned green. >> reporter: failure became fuel.

was set my failure. >> yeah. the effort that i put in to achieve what i've been able to do in the world of writing is the direct result of my failure. it took a long time before music wasn't a wound for me. time has healed that. and i can take joy in music again. >> reporter: the result is his latest book, "the magic strings of frankie presto." >> i created this character that is so pure in his musical talent that his guitar string turns blue when he changes someone's life. and he gets six chances in life to change six lives. everyone joins a band in life. only some of them play music. that's the truth. we all affect one another. >> reporter: it's as much a project as a book. for a companion cd, albom gets real-life musicians to offer their takes on frankie's fictional songs.

heart was breaking. >> frankie had a hit song career. he had a number of hits that i invented. i came up with the name and lyrics. these artists took the name, the lyrics, and the year the@song was supposed to have come out and made a song. essentially they remade songs that never existed. is there a chance that some day >> reporter: among those playing on the cd, the author and his wifefe finally, albom has an album. you can die happy. >> yeah. i was already going to die happy, but i can die happier and with a soundtrack now. >> that's the "overnight news"

investors head for the exits and stock prices plummet. what has wall street rattled? also tonight, a massive gas le in southern california. >> we call this the bp oil spill on land. lining up for painkillers. a landmark suit against drug distributors that allegedly got them hooked. uncle sam cooks up a menu to ke america healthy. what government research says you should and should not eat. >> if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. and saturday night fever. millions of americans chase the biggest powerball jackpot in history. >> why do i play? because i want money. this is the "cbs overnight news." >> retirement accounts are taking a beating this week.

loss. 392 points this time, or.3%. investors are worried that the chinese economy, second largest in the world, is slowing more than the chinese government is letting on, and that the government's haphazard attempts to intervene in its markets and devalue its currency are giving the impression that it doesn't know how to manage the trouble. our nior national correspondent anthony mason is following all of this. anthony? >> reporter: scott, it was a painful day to check your 401(k). the dow is down more than 900 points since monday, that's more than five percent. the catalyst for the sell-off once again was china. the chinese market shut down after less than half an hour this morning after plunging 7%. it was the second shutdown this week. investors are worried the chinese economy is slowing. gdp growth, which hit 12% five years ago, is now below 7%. if china's in trouble, that could d an trouble for the rest of the world.

shanghai markets, there are worries the chinese don't have handle on their own economy right now, scott. >> and anthony, the chinese are also the second largest consumer of crude oil in the world. and you've been looking into the impact of that. >> reporter: yeah. crude, scott, hit a 12-year low today. $33 a barrel. the price has fallen by nearly half just since may, when it was $60. if you drive to work, it's like a huge tax break, but it's pretty painful if you work in the oil industry in houston. there's just too much supply now. and if china continues to slow, there will be less demand and gas prices could stay low for a while, scott. >> anthony mason, thank you very much, anthony. the folks at dow jones told us today that the plunge this week in the 30 blue chip stocks alone represents a market value loss of nearly $0 billion. well ted cruz is watching his stock rise, in iowa. major garrt took a ride with the republican front-runner 25

first votes of campaign 2016. >> reporter: we rode with ted cruz on day four of a six-day bus tour of iowa and asked about his birth in canada, and donald trump's legal advice. >> this sue is a non-issue. the law is quite clear that the child of a u.s. citizen born abroad is a natural-born citizen. >> reporter: you perceive this as an attack. donald trump says he's trying to help you. >> the funny thing about politics, it's fairly unusual for your opponents, who are running for the same position, to be actually trying to help you. i will hear their prayer and forgive their sins, and i will heal their land. >> reporter: cruz has climbed to the top of the iowa polls by reaching out to evangelicals and social conservatives. in 2012, 57% of republican caucus-goers describe themselves as evangelicals. 47% said they were "very conservative." but cruz says his strategy does

hampshire, whose more moderate electorate h not been as welcoming. >> there are a lot of candidates in this race who have to win iowa. there are a lot of other candidates who have to win new hampshire. from our perspective, we don't view any one state as a must- win. we're going to compete hard and try to win everywhere. >> reporter: cruz has taken a harder line on immigtion than trump, opposing trump's willingness to allow deported immigrants to return to the u.s. does the fact you enter illegally permanently bar you from ever entering the country legally? >> i don't believe that anyone who has come here illegally should be eligible for citizenship. >> reporter: cruz faced the reality of that policy yesterday in storm lake when he met a woman protected from deportation by obama administration executive actions. cruz told the woman, under a cruz presidency, she would have to leave and he told her, scott, breaking the law creates human tragedies. >> major garrett in iowa for us tonight.

17 miners who were trapped for ten hours in a salt mine in lansing, new york, were rescued today. they had gotten stuck in an elevator 900 feet underground. they were lifted out by a crane just a few at a time. nobody hurt, but they were cold. the shaft was 20 degrees. today, there was a scare in paris on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on "charlie hebdo" magazine. mark phillips is there. >> reporter: this time the only body lying on the streets of paris belonged to the attacker. he had approached a police station carrying a butcher's knife and shouting t t islamist militant war cry "allahu akbar," god is great. police said there were wires coming out of his jacket, as if from a suicide vest, shot him dead. an examination of the body found no bomb, but police say they did fi a hand-written note claiming allegiance to isis. jawad rabi runs a clothing store nearby.

because there was a school, you know, just near the police station. >> reporter: the attacker was later identified as a local petty thief known to police but with no known connection to any terrorist group. he apparently acted alone. paris was already on edge before the incident. it took place as president francois hollande led a ceremony commemorating the victims of the "charlie hebdo" massacre a year ago. and the memories of the second wave of attacks less than two months ago are still vivid. prprident hollande said france was now living under a constant threat and "charlie hebdo's" typically defiant anniveveary cover suggested why. a god-like image carries an assault rifle -- murder in the name of religion. the killer, it said, is still on the run. as terror attacks go, scott, this one, an apparent lonewith

deadly than the others which have taken place here, but it still sends a message -- the enemy is among us. be afraid. >> mark phillips in paris tonight. mark, thank you. late today in oregon, the harney county sheriff met with the leader of a group of protesters who have been occupying buildings at a national wildlife refuge. the sheriff offered them safe escort out of town and is waiting to hear back. the protest is in support of ranchers who were sent to prison for setting a fire that spread to federal lands.

will be right back. today, we saw new evidence that the barbarity of syria's civil war has not lessened, even after five years. a town is being starved by the dictator's forces. men, women and children are "dying in slow motion" as one resident put it. here's elizabeth palmer. >>eporter: months of deprivation have pushed the smallest and t poorest to the very brink. a mother feeds her child with what looks like broth, but it's actually water, flavored with jam. in an online appeal, a man explains, "we have no food, no water and no power," and then he bursts io tears. "please, world," he says, "we are dying." activists say the most wretched

some have died of starvation. and all this just 30 miles from the capital, damascus, in fertile hill country. we traveled there in 2012 when it was still safe enough to visit the rebels who control the area. now they and more than 40,000 residents are trtrped, surrounded by syrian government forces who have sealed off all the roads. this video, posted by activists, shows the residents begging the government soldiers to let food supplies in. but the last aid convoy they allowed to pass was back in october. but suddenly today, scott, after those pictures of the starving people had caused international consternation, the assad government announced that it was going to allow one humanitarian aid convoy into madaya probably some time over the weekend. >> liz palmer reporting from the london newsroom tonight. liz, thank you. a runaway natural gas well