>> glor: tonight the deep-freeze tightens its grip over the united states and a bitter cold is likely to go on for days. i am jeff glor, also tonight, after the attack on a cia in afghanistan, a rare revelation of the identities of murder erred asians. where america stands on food safety. how do we stack up against other countries and how do we prevent the most vulnerable americans from becoming dangerously ill? >> it got worse and worse, and it felt like killer pain. >> glor: and dashboard distractions, will the next generation of in car gadgets lure drivers into taking their eyes off the road? captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news" with jeff glor. >> glor: good evening, the new year has been a cold year for most americans and this weekend is no exception. a deep-freeze is forecast to engulf virtually all of the continental united states overnight. the south is particularly ill prepared for such bone chilling weather. mark strassmann is in atlanta tonight. mark, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, jeff. it was 12 degrees outside here first thing this morning, but with the windchill it felt like one degree above zero, very unsouthern but remember every state but hawaii has been experiencing freezing temperatures, it is just that some people feel it more than others. >> it is southern discomfort, places like metro atlanta, dallas, bitter, bracing cold that grips the deep south. >> no salt, no road crews, feels like temperatures across the south hovered around zero temperatures are running 15 to

25 degrees below normal in the deep south, you are going to get some relief mid and late week but chances are before the winter is done it is going to come back gang busters again grim news for florida citrus farmers for several hours overnight temperatures should drop below 28 degrees, the potential kill zone for the state's $8 billion citrus industry. texas city set record lows today, ten degrees in austin, waco's low hit eight. america's coldest spot, aberdeen, south dakota, minus 31. >> december noins was minus eight today and blown through all $3 million the city budgeted for snow removal, but there, people own winter can coats and gloves, not like meridian, mississippi, winter weather arrived inside the courthouse, the boiler is broken. >> we have to dress in there, but when we have to go down the hall or into the break room it is freezing.

it is over our socks. >> many people are just sick of it, this cold has been biting them for more than a week and this time, there is no escaping to florida. tomorrow's low in miami will feel like 24 degrees. jeff. >> glor: well, mark strassmann, braving the cold hat less, thank you very much. north america isn't the only continucontinent shivering toni, mark phillips in london faces the temperature of an icebound europe. >> reporter: britain's fabled green and pleasant land is white and cold, the space shot confirms something everybody on the ground knows. britain and the rest of europe are enduring the longest, deepest cold small in three decades and forecasters say temperatures may stay well below freezing for weeks to come. >> the cold and snow have severely disrupted transportation, just today in frankfurt, more than 200 flights were canceled, adding to the hundreds of others that have been canceled each day across

the continent, stranding tens of thousands of passengers. >> but more snow is forecast, and more snow is left to compress into ice, even movement on foot becomes a game of chance. >> hostile admissions for fractured bones are up by a third at places. he went straight underneath me and hit my head on the wall and twisted my ankle. >> reporter: the intense and persistent cold has spread services and fears that natural gas reserves may run out. the british government has cut back supplies to industries to protect supplies for houses. the prime minister even had to issue and internet message of assurance. >> we are working closely with the emergency services to minimize the disruption and most importantly to keep you save and warm. >> reporter: in the meantime, across europe, they are trying to make the best of it. mark phillips, cbs news, london. >> glor: funerals were held

today for two the cia employees killed in last month's attack on a base in afghanistan, the attackers brought agency secrets out in the open, to the dismay of former insiders. kimberly dozier has more tonight. >> reporter: family and friends gathered in massachusetts today to remember harold brown, one of seven cia employees killed by a suicide bombing in afghanistan on december 30th. with rare openness, the central intelligence agency has allowed five of the victims to be mourned publicly, a decision that angered some former officers like michael sawyer, i always think it is better not to tell a very intelligent, very observant enemy much of anything. >> others identified include security contractor dane bressy, agent employee elizabeth hanson, security officer and former policeman scott roberson and cia security officer and former navy seal, jeremy weiss. they have been gathered at forward operating base chapman on the afghan border to meet a

spy. they thought he would provide information on top al qaeda and taliban leaders, today the taliban released video of the alleged bomber jordanian dr. umar farouk abdulmutallab with the head of the pakistan taliban. >> in a letter to the washington post today cia director leon panetta defended the agents for letting the man in, he said the individual was about to be searched by our security officers, a distance away from other intelligence personnel, when he set off his explosives. critics contend they trusted and risked too much. >> one of the officers killed had nearly 15 years experience doing nothing but al qaeda. he is referring to the base's station sheet, a member of the clandestine service, former agents tell me in loss is going to have a chilling effect on the risks that agents on the ground are allowed to fake jeff. >> glor: kimber dozier, thank

you. since the attempted christmas airline attack, international attention has focused on yemen, which claims to be taking action against al qaeda there. but it is hampered by a civil conflict that could bring even more chaos to an already troubled country and potentially even more trouble for the u.s. terry mccarthy is in the yemeni capital tonight. >> reporter: yemen is fighting a war on three fronts, washington wants it to take on al qaeda here which has been linked to the attempted bombing of a u.s. airliner on christmas day, but already the yemeni military is fighting a civil war against shiite rebels in the north, where it claims to have killed dozens of militants in week, and against secessionists in the south, the army is over stretched. >> as long as the yemeni military is engaged in fighting in the civil war they are not engaged in fighting al qaeda. >> reporter: alarmed, the u.s. is training yemeni counter terrorist troops, the bulk of u.s. aid to yemeni is on

equipping the military on the fight against al qaeda and the u.s. says they will double the aid in the coming year but they made it clear they do not want american forces involved in combat. >> if the americans participate in the war in yemen, says in man, the local tribes will give more support to al qaeda. >> reporter: to cut down popular support for al qaeda, the u.s. will have to go beyond military training. we need to address long-term issues like education, like the economy. >> yemen is the poorest country in the middle east, fighting three wars at the same time is something it simply cannot afford. >> terry mccarthy cbs news san'a, yemen. >> glor: it took nearly a week but police in new jersey tracked down the man whose alleged breach of security shut down newark airport, thousands of passengers were stranded. we have more. >> reporter: 28-year-old was taken into custody friday night from his new jersey home. the ruckers university graduate

student from china is charged with defiant trespass, for allegedly causing a six hour shutdown in newark airport last sunday. his roommate says sea nice guy that didn't something, that did something in appropriate. he apparently wanted to be with his girlfriend who already passed through security. authorities say that is jung loitering in a roped off area, a tsa officers tells him to move away but the guard leaves his post, seizing the opportunity the man ducks under the rope. that move delayed 16,000 passengers at newark and had a ripple effect worldwide. new jersey senator frank says the potential punishment, a $500 fine but no jail time is too weak and jung should be deported. >> if he is here on a student visa i would say we can tell him to pack his bags and go home promptly we should do it. >> the government spent ate hundred million dollars on passenger screening equipment for the nation's 450 airports,

and the tsa now employs 49,000 security officers for 2000 checkpoints. critics say the screeners need more training. >> you can deploy all of the sophisticated and expensive technology in the world in our defenses can be defeated by something as simple as a screener being in attentive to the job and a passenger being in repid, that the exactly what happened here. >> the guard who left his post here at the airport, reuben hernandez is us is expensed without pay his representative says he has been a model employee. as for jung he will be in court next week. jeff. >> glor: all right, manuel, gallegos, thank you very much a controversial remark is shaking the political world tonight, senate majority leader harry reid called president obama to apologize today for a comment he made in 2008 that is quoted in a new book, game change which is due out monday. reid is quoted as saying mr. obama could win the election because he was light skinned and spoke with no negro dialect

unless he wanted to have one. the white house says the apology was accepted. you can see an exclusive interview with the book's authors tomorrow night right here on 60 minutes. still ahead on tonight's ab -- [ robin ] my name is robin. i am a wife. i am a mom... and i was a pack a day smoker for 25 years. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." and brian looked at me at eight years old and said, "promise me you'll quit." i had to quit. ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription for chantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it's proven to reduce the urge to smoke. seeing how chantix worked,

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thank you, osteo bi-flex. >> glor: it was a decade of well publicized food scares, ecoly, salmonella and more, tonight a cbs news poll on 75 percent give the u.s. an a on safeguarding our food supply, 24 percent give a grade of d or f, bill whitaker has more tonight as we continue our series cbs reports, where america stands.

>> when it comes to agriculture, america is indeed the land of plenty. foods raised here and imported from around the world provide greater abundance and choice than ever before, but while our foods are bountifully, they are also in consistently regulated. the u.s. has one of the safest food supplies in the world but the report card is mixed. every year, 33 percent of canadians get sick from what they eat, in the u.s. 25 percent. but in england, it is only two, and in france, just one percent, both countries where food is grown more locally and on a smaller scale than in north america. safety always comes first in 12-year-old riley gustav's kitchen. >> i need to wash my hands. that even good food can hurt you. >> in 2006, on her ninth birthday, she ate a entertain and a half salad and was infected with the virulent

strain of ecoly. >> it felt like killer pain, and my organs started to shut down. >> we panicked, you know, what is causing this? why is this happening? >> you felt that bad you really didn't think you were going to pull through? >> i really felt that bad. >> she spends 35 days in the hospital on dialysis. today, she is still wary of fresh fruits and vegetables and has a damaged heart, kidney and vocal chords. >> my voice is soft right now because i had this tube down my throat. >> her story is just one example of the problem of food safety. over the last few years, widespread outbreaks in spinach, tomatoes, peppers and peanut products sickened thousands and killed nearly a dozen americans. every year, there are 76 million cases of food borne illness in the united states, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. today, americans consume more

fresh produce, increasingly from imports around the world, but imported produce is inspected even less than homegrown harvests. >> 99 percent of the food that you are buying at the grocery store that comes from a foreign country has not been inspected by the fda. >> reporter: eric olson, head of food safety at the pew research center says the food and drug administration is simply not up to the task. the fda is responsible for 80 percent of the food supply, everything but meat and poultry, the number of food producers under fda jurisdiction has increased but the number of inspections is going down. >> they simply do not have the tools tcr really protect our fod supply. >> so what is the solution? to start with, more and more farmers are creating their own rules. >> i don't want -- i think of this as being on somebody's table right now. >> he is the fourth generation in his family to farm this land, 8,000 acres of leafy green.

after the 2006 spinach outbreak likely caused by unsanitary field conditions, he joined a farming cooperative which agreed to set up a voluntary standard in the field for irrigation, fertilization and sanitation, including hair nets, gloves and frequent hand washing. >> all current water tests? >> yep. we have about eight of them on this field. >> he hired a safety food manager and estimates the extra cost to keep his field contamination free is about $250,000 a year. >> but another ecoly outbreak could cost farmers billions in lost sales. >> we know that for us we do the best we can to provide a safe, reliable food supply we are going to spend the money. >> the california leafy greens marketing agreement has become a model for other states and other produce like tomatoes, the cooperative sends state inspectors for frequent even monthly inspection. >> we are focused on it and have the inspectors out here and making us do the right thing. >> another part of the solution

science, cutting edge research around the country to find how pathogens make it on to fresh produce and how to lessen that risk. >> we do work in a gross chamber where we can grow lettuce. >> at the center for produce safety, linda harris is focusing her research on irrigation. >> it is hard to prove, it is hard to measure, but i really think we do make a difference. >> reporter: and yet another part of the solution lies in washington, legislation which could be considered as soon as next month that could change the fda tease 100-year-old mandate, it hasn't been updated since the depression. mike taylor is senior advisor to the fda commissioner. >> we are hamstrung. we often find ourselves in a reactive mode. >> reporter: among the proposed changes the fda would be able to recall foods which ii can't do now. it would have access to farm and factory records, more inspectors and more funding to back it up. >> things will make foods safe

earnings not just regulation for regulation sake. >> she traveled to washington to a share her story with members of congress, she will probably need a kidney transplant when she is a teenager. until then she just wants to see this bill passed. >> we would like to see that? >> i would love to see that, so people don't have to take the risk, they know that it is probably not going to have that bacteria that will kill you or your child. >> reporter: having safe food, she says, is not too much to ask. bill whitaker, cbs news, henderson, nevada. >> glor: for more on the series in partnership with usa today go to cbsnews.com where we have more on food safety and where you can let us know where you stand on the issues we have been what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service.

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[music playing] when you take away all the canned chicken broth that adds msg, one stands alone. the secret is swanson 100% natural chicken broth. >> glor: i if you think texting while driving may be a dangerous distraction, consider the next big thing in car. display screens right on your dashboard. more now from science and technology correspondent daniel sieberg in las vegas. >> reporter: from flashy to eco friendly, to not exactly road worthy, cars at this year's consumer electronics show just aren't in the parking lot. never before have you seen cars so prevalent on the floor as this. >> he has logged a lot of miles, and he says thanks to the popularity of smart phones, like i phones or blackberries, car makers are looking to keep pace

and appeal to zero the next generation. >> genre rocks. >> younger people are fascinated by technology and connectivity, and it is very generational and to have a car that is innovating more rapidly, is important to things in their life, of course having all of this technology while on the road can be a great way to stay in touch and stay entertained, but are we all just being driven to distraction? >> one day ago -- >> in these controversial technologies continue to show up in new cars, despite laws in 19 states to ban texting while driving. >> they are showing us the exact same characteristics as someone who is under the influence of alcohol, and it is not that important that you are getting that twitter feed or that you are sending that text message right now. >> but companies like ford argue that digitaltal -- boards showing everything from weather updates to internet messages and voice commands will keep drivers plugged in without tuning out. >> everything is to enable us to

access the information that we want but we are absolutely a better driver because we are hands free and focused on the road. >> clearly going high tech means a boost to the bottom line car makers not going to take their foot off the gas any time soon but the distracted driver issue is not going away. and it could easily become one of the biggest legislative debates of 2010. jeff. >> glor: daniel sea berg from jeff. >> glor: daniel sea berg from the cvs i have a sororororororoe

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>> glor: finally, tonight, the final word on the year and the decade just past, the american dialect society has voted tweet, the word of 2009, as for the entire decade, the so-called nameless decade, the society weighed these nominees, 9/11, green, blog, text, and the war on terror. before settling on google as the word of the decade. go ahead, google it. that is the cbs evening news tonight, later on cbs 48 hours mystery. russ mitchell will be here tomorrow night, i am jeff glor, cbs news in new york. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ,,,,,,