destruction. we have the latest the search for victims and take a look at where the wicked weather is headed next. protesters promise a day of disruption in major cities across the nation and threaten to shut down wall street with massive show of support on the streets of new york. we will have more on the demonstrations on this two-month anniversary of the occupy movement. >> the secret service tracks down oscar ortega-hernandez may be in court today to face charges of attempted snaeng assassination. we have the latest from the white house. >> reporter: what mike mcquichy saw and what he did about it. penn state police say he never record the alleged abuse to law enforcement. we will the latest on the scandal "early" this thursday morning, november 17th, 2011. captioning funded by cbs

good thursday morning to you. i'm erica hill. >> good morningship i'm chris wragge. >> we begin this morning with the wicked weather in the southeast. deadly really. the tornadoes blamed for five deaths this morning. >> more than a hundred reports of severe weather. tornadoes, gusty winds and hail from louisiana to the carolinas on wednesday. reporter ron lee of wbtv is in rockhill, south carolina, with the latest on this this morning. >> reporter: residents tell me when this happened, the sky turned absolutely black. it was a very eerie feeling. they say they could hear this thing coming from miles away and then, suddenly, it was literally right on top of them! they tell me this tornado was so big and so massive, it overturned cars and leveled buildings! a strong deadly storm system with more than a dozen reported tornadoes tore across the southeast wednesday from the carolinas to the gulf coast. three people were killed and five others injured when a twister swept through a rural community mere rockhill, south

carolina. a mobile home was scooped up and thrown 300 yards. >> maybe another two minutes went by and it touched down. it may have been on the ground. maybe two minutes. three minutes at the most. >> as soon as i see it coming toward the house, we went to the back closet to try to avoid it and started praying to the lord. >> reporter: in north georgia another suspected tornado uprooted a tree that came crashing down on an suv and killing the owner inside. >> this is just a freak accident, you know? we've had a very dry season up here in forsyth county and north georgia and quite possibly could have been the heavy rains we got loosened the earth with the heavy winds we took during the last storm and could be the factor to cause the tree to come down. >> reporter: louisiana and southern mississippi were hit hard. >> you heard wind and lightning. it just lit up the whole sky and then, all of a sudden, the wind just burst through and the trees fell into the house. >> reporter: now, we are being kept back two miles from the scene because state highway

patrol tell us duke energy, the local energy affiliate, will be reenergizing the power lines and when it happens the lines may explode so it was too dangerous to get our trucks down here. we are hold di the highway officials they are out here at first light to look for more survivors. back to you in new york. >> ron lee, thanks for that report. two months ago, the occupy wall street protests began in morning. demonstrators this morning plan the biggest protest today. >> this happened as police in sever cities have been cracking down on the protests. national correspondent jim axelrod is in lower manhattan where it all began as chris mentioned. jim, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we should get a pretty good read on the health of the occupy wall street movement. today, two months since these demonstrations began, protesters are promising what they call a huge turnout as they, quote, shut down wall street. it's been two days now since the raid of zuccotti park which new york city mayor michael

bloomberg citing cleanup concerns. >> they took everything we had and the home we built is gone now, the spirit of it is still there. >> reporter: while the raid seems to have targeted morale, about 50 people were in the park the first night no tents were allowed. organizers are promising, quote, thousands upon thousands taking action in 30 cities across the country on what they are billing as a day of international action. >> i think it's an attempt to get people who are working aware of the issues and get people involved. >> reporter: the crackdown on new york was the third in a span of four days. police in portland, oregon, and oakland, california, have dismantled occupy wall street enxampmentes. >> there is not a huge visual presence but still are still here and very much involved. >> reporter: the occupy movement has a new face also. tuesday night, seattle police

used pepper spray to break up a protest after demonstrators defied orders to move. among those sprayed is dorley rainy and a scene was posted online and quickly went viral. a rally advertised as putting an end to, quote, wall street's rein of terror, will be held this morning in new york. then this afternoon, demonstrators say they will spread out among the city. >> this is just the beginning. he can't stop this. he can take our park away but he can't destroy our idea. >> reporter: but the biggest event planned for today here in new york city is a march tonight at the brooklyn bridge. demonstrators say they expected tens of thousands, maybe but looking at around zuccotti park this morning that would appear to be a tall order. erica, chris? >> jim axelrod for us this morning, thanks. >> now to the latest on that

shooting at the white house. an incident that is now being described as an assassination attempt. >> this morning, oscar ortega-hernandez the man suspected of firing the shots on friday, is under arrest in western pennsylvania. homeland security correspondent bob orr is in washington with the latest. how was he apprehended so quickly? >> it was quick. >> reporter: the court hearing you're talking about is at 2:00 this afternoon in federal court in pittsburgh in connection with the bizarre shootings that happened near the white house on friday night. he was arrested in pennsylvania after a clerk in western pennsylvania hotel recognized him from pictures that the secret service recently distributed in that area. the fbi believes that ortega-hernandez was the man who fired a rifle in the direction of the white house with six to ten spent shell casings and found along with the rifle in the suspect's car a short distance away. at least two of the bullets, as we have reported, hit the white

house. agents are still looking for other possible bullets on the south lawn. and the fbi this morning continues to use ballistics test trying to match the recovered bullets from the white house with the gun taken from the suspect's car. >> give us a sense how serious of a threat did this man potentially pose? what is the thinking there? >> reporter: well, it's kind of a split call there. investigators are looking into his background say it appears that or teg a-hernandez is a bit mentally disabled. he tells the dislike for president obama and sources say he often prefers to the president as the anti-christ. the theory he may have targeted the white house as a way of acting out on the anger. we have to say the shooting present no actual threat to the president. he was out of town on his way to hawaii and the apec summit. besides that, the weapon recovered from the car is said to be a knocked-off ak-47 and we said that is not effective at 700 or 800 yards, the proximate

distance from the car to the white house. turning to the republican presidential race. talk about a roller coaster of a race for newt gingrich. >> he is getting heat over the work he has done as a consultant with freddie mac. >> reporter: for these candidates it seems like any rise in the polls is going to translate into a rise in scrutiny and now that newt gingrich has moved into the top tier, his record is getting a hard look. on the campaign trail in iowa, newt gingrich wanted to talk about how his washington experience would make him a strong president. >> just tried four years of amateur ignorance and it didn't work very as well. >> reporter: but that message got lost in question after question about what exactly he did for freddie mac to be paid $1.6 million. >> what do you do to actually -- >> strategic advice over a long

period of time. >> reporter: his time advising freddie mac began after he stepped down as speaker of the house and ended as the housing market started to crash. gingrich said he did not use his contacts as former speaker to lobby members of congress. >> some of it was aimed at how do you explain what you're doing and how you're doing it but i did no lobbying of any kind. >> reporter: he is responding. the mere association with freddie mac may not go over well with conservatives, especially tee party supporters who blame the company for helping trigger the housing market crash and see taxpayers forced to bail it out. it's an important moment for the former speaker, as polls continue to show he is running near the top of the field, essentially tied with mitt romney. that's put a bull's-eye squarely on his back. i. >> there is a real difference in the candidates. i opposed fannie and freddie and didn't take money from them like gingrich. >> reporter: wednesday, members

of congress grilled fannie and freddie's ceos who were called to justify why they both receives millions of dollars in bonus. >> but you made $9.23 million the last two years, while the president made $800,000 but you think that is okay. >> reporter: gingrich said he expected a story about his consulting work to blow over soon but this is a controversial issue and that could just be wishful thinking on his part. chris, erica? >> you touched upon it but let me ask you how is this news going to sit with the tea party some. >> reporter: that's a great question. this is coming at a time when people, especially the tea party, are just sick of washington. so this all reminds people, gingrich was right there in the middle of that tight-knit washington circle, he's an insider. he is saying that a plus because he knows this place and knows how to change it, but we are already seeing his opponents, saw michele bachmann there, characterize this as just politics as usual. >> cbs' jan crawford in

washington, thanks. good talking to you. we check in now with jeff glor who is at the news desk with the headlines we are following on this thursday. good morning. gas prices will be up this thanksgiving holiday. the national average for a gallon over thanksgiving weekend is expected to be $3.37. that is up 51 cents from last than thanksgiving. next spring, prices expected to be higher to $3.99 a gallon due so seasonal and overseas demand. president obama so bali this morning. he'll attend two pacific region summits concluding his tour of asia. the president blew to bali from darwin, australia. cbs news senior white house correspondent bill plante is there. bill, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. the president's last stop was here at this military base in the remote northern territory. the outback. crocodile dundee country where u.s. marines will soon be trading with australian forces.

♪ i remember when rock was young ♪ >> reporter: warmed up by elton john's "crocodile rock," the audience gave the president a rock star welcome. australian's prime minister seemed happier than some democrats back home to be seen with him. >> i know you all have a great australian cheer. i want to hear it, so let me say, first, aussie, aussie, aussie! >> reporter: the u.s. australian alliance began after a japanese air raid sunk a ship in darwin's harbor. the president is promising that the u.s. will expand its military presence in the pacific, despite constant defense spending, a mood seen in the region as a counterweight to china. >> we have the power to protect and guard our own here in the asian pacific and all around the world. >> reporter: earlier today, back

in australia's capital, a student asked the president if he had ever thought about teaming up with a celebrity like justin bieber to appeal to more people. the president answered that if he was going to be successful, it would be because of his own ideas, not because he was hanging out with justin bieber, but i'll tell you something. the kid who asked that question may have a future in politics. jeff? >> indeed. bill plante, thanks very much. tiger woods had an interesting night. that is him in the dark blue shirt, shaking hands with the guy in the yellow shirt, steve williams at the president's cup in australia. the first time the two men appeared in public after a bitter falling out last summer. you see them shaking hands. what is very tough for tiger, williams' new employer adam scott helped hand woods the worst loss in president's cup history last night. woods and his partner did not win a single hole.

hybrid cars save gas and may save lives according to a new report now. the insurance institute for highway safety says drivers and passengers in hybrids are less likely to be hurt in a crash than people riding in conventional models of the same vehicle. >> that line grabs me. why, you ask? here with those answers for you is cbs news national correspondent chip reid who joins us from washington this morning. chip, why? >> reporter: i'll get to that in a second. first, i don't know if you've noticed gas prices are a little high lately and have been for quite some time. that has millions of americans looking into fuel-efficient cars. one thing that concerns lots of people and it's concerned them

for decades is fuel-efficient cars are lighter and smaller and considered less safe. take a look at this. what this shows is the smaller more fuel-efficient car, in this case the one on the right, generally doesn't fare as well in a crash and the people inside are likely to be injured. now an exception to the general rule that lighter, more fuel-efficient cars tend to be less safe and that is the hybrid car. according to the highway loss data institute the odds of being injure inside a crash are 25% lower for people in hybrid cars than they are for people in the same model car if it's not a hybrid. here is the answer to your question, erica. this is a hybrid car. take a look here. back behind this panel, you can't see it, but, trust me, it's back there, are the massive batteries that are in all hybrid

cars. they are very heavy. in fact, the average hybrid car is 10% heavier than the average nonhybrid car and that extra mass helps these cars survive a crash better. now, there is also a downside. walk this way. in terms of safety for hybrid cars. not for the people inside, but for pedestrians. why? well, listen to this. you might be able to hear some street noise here, but this car is running and you cannot hear it. so you're walking along the street, you're reading your blackberry, you're on the phone, you step off the curb onto the street and you get hit by a hybrid car because you didn't hear it coming. in fact, hybrid cars are 20% more likely to be involved in pedestrian accidents. it's such a serious problem that the department of transportation is looking for a way to make these cars noisier so you can hear them coming. my vote is you put a bell on it like you do with a cat so the birds hear it coming. >> or maybe we should all stop reading our devices as they cross the street. >> good point!

>> sounds like you got a bunch of ice cream trucks on the street if you put a bell on it. sometimes i get picked up in the morning with a guy who has a hybrid. >> you can't hearing anything. it's wild. >> stop texting and start walking. >> i walked into a air-conditioner before. still ahead this morning, new questions in the sexual abuse scandal at penn state. we will take a closer look at the reports coming out involving mike mcqueary. what he did and what he did with the information and why it could have major implications. millionaires are pegging congress to raise their taxes and we will tell you who they are and why they are doing it and why it would really make a difference. this is "the early show" on cbs. [ mom ] i thought i heard reindeer. mom... i mean, mrs. nelson, i have the perfect gift for you. he must've gotten my letter. ♪ oh...santa. [ male announcer ] levian jewelry

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show." i'm chris wragge along with erica hill. a couple of of millionaires went to capitol hill on wednesday. actually volunteering to pay higher taxes. >> they were there and met with members of congress and spoke with a critic who said if they want to pay more they should pay a contribution on their own instead of raising taxes on all millionaires. is that an option as well? we will check in one of the patriot millionaires, a name they have given themselves, to ask him why he feels millionaires don't pay their fair share and how it thinks it should change. we turn to the penn state case. >> there are conflicting this morning accounts of why mike mcqueary did after allegedly seeing sandusky raping a child. armen keteyian has more. >> reporter: from the start, mike mcqueary has been the other penn state assistant coach drawn into the scandal as a witness.

mcqueary told the grand jury in 2002 that as a 28-year-old grad assistant he saw former assistant coach jerry sandusky raping a young boy in a football facility shower. according to the grand jury report, mcqueary left immediately distraught but was never questioned by university police and no other entity conducted an investigation. now mcqueary's story seems to be shifting. in an e-mail obtained by the associated press, mcqueary claims when he witnessed the sexual assault, i did stop it and had a discussion with police. but late wednesday, college police had no report that mcqueary reported an alleged sexual report by sandusky. describe your emotions right now. >> all over the place. >> reporter: earlier this week, following a brief interview, mcqueary declined to discuss any aspect of the case. >> this process has to play out. i just don't have anything else to say.

that's all. >> reporter: okay. the now 37-year-old mcqueary will undoubtedly be a key witness against sandusky, accused of raping and molesting eight boys dating back 15 years. on wednesday, attorney jeff anderson told cbs news at least ten more alleged victims have now come forward, forced to relive part of their pain in sandusky's public denials. >> the emotions of the survivors and their families right now are really a retraumatizeion. >> reporter: pennsylvania state university they say is experiencing an all too familiar fate. >> when institutions try to put their good -- protecting their good name ahead of protecting kids, they always get it backwards. we can keep kids safe by focusing on prevention and accountability and the first part of that is making sure you have the right rules and

policies in place. >> reporter: armen keteyian, cbs news, state college, pennsylvania. with us in the studio this morning is cbs news legal analyst jack ford. good to have you with us. this is a difficult case for so many people to even think about. looking at this apparent inconsistency in the story we are hearing from mcqueary based on the grand jury report which is not the full testimony. >> the testimony doesn't get released. people have to understand the report is a compilation, accumulation, general observations of what happened inside. >> reporter: when we look at the conflicting statements there from the university police, from this e-mail that mcqueary reportedly sent to a friend, what is it all of that tell it you? >> i think the important part, as you said, the apparent inconsistency. the reality is we haven't heard everything yet from mike mcqueary or anyone else for that matter. more facts are always better than less facts before you start reaching conclusions. you look at mike mcqueary. there is an e-mail and seems to suggest he went to law enforcement folks. it may well be that what he is

saying -- we won't know until he is able to answer questions in detail -- may well be what he is saying in his mind, i went to the vice president of the university who is in charge of the university police. so perhaps in his mind he is saying that gets me there. because, clearly, the state college police are saying we don't have any record of it, so where did it possibly happen some it may well be -- we haven't heard all of the details from him or from anybody else for that matter. >> jerry sandusky, talk about him for a second. he does a telephone interview on nbc. would you as your attorney advised him to do that? >> that's an awfully tough question. a friend of mine said if you're trying to get out of a hole, do you dig deeper to get out of the hole? generally speaking, defense lawyers don't like to get their clients out there. two reasons. one, you lose control of it and as a defense attorney you want as much control as you have. the second is you're not exactly sure what is going to be said and how it's going to come across. occasionally, you might if you have a client who you believe in their innocence or feel they have a compelling story to tell

and they can tell it well. i suspect what happened here they looked at this and said we are pummeled out there and depicted as a monster and we have got to at least somehow get our story out there. and maybe it will help. it certainly won't hurt any more. my guess is that what their theory was, get him depicted as a person -- it's tough to tell. >> but it's interest, too on the same night he gives that interview his attorney gives an interview to cnn and he says do i think it's okay to shower with young boys? no. this is the attorney general saying. >> the defense is he odd? yes. is he doing things you and i would not consider doing? yes. is it awkward? do you feel uncomfortable hearing him talk about it? yes. but the defense will argue he didn't think he was committing a crime. he didn't intend to commit a crime. obviously that is up to the jury to decide and a whole different slew of facts coming. >> this is open to penn state to a lot of civil litigation. >> a docket of civil litigation

now. people might say how can penn state be sued? they are an employer and their situations when a employer can be held responsible for the conduct of an employee, if it's negligent or willful conduct. i'm sure they are circling their legal wagons how will we handle this because there are so many out there. >> this is only the beginning. here is jeff glor at the news desk with a check of today's other headlines for us. a series of tornadoes is blamed for at least five deaths in the southeast. the severe weather included high winds and golf ball-sized hail. homes and buildings were damaged by at least 15 tornadoes. the first gun bill taken up by congress this year and the first since gabrielle giffords was shot. the bill allowed anyone with a concealed weapon to take the weapon across state lines and making them valid in nearly every other state in the country. the bill sponsored bill passed

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traumatization. ..yeah the taxman ♪ >> a live shot for you of lower manhattan. some of the occupy wall street protesters here in new york city where that movement began. as we mentioned to you earlier they are promising more demonstrations today on the two-month anniversary of their movement. not just hear in new york city but across the country. >> planning to make major disruptions in lower manhattan today and see what happens with that. in washington their message may not be getting through. congressional republicans have drawn a line against raising taxes on anyone including the 1% of the occupy protesters object to. one group is telling congress the unthinkable. they are ready to pay more. >> reporter: appearing on capitol hill wednesday, former google executive doug edwards urged lawmakers to end the bush era tax cuts for his fellow millionaires. >> we believe the 0.1%, we should pay more taxes.

we want to pay more taxes. >> reporter: according to one study, millionaires now pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than ever before, down more than 50% in the last 50 years. >> the whole world is watching! >> reporter: occupy wall street protesters charge that the dramatically lowered tax rate has created the greatest disparity in income. former labor secretary robert reich agrees. >> the 400 richest americans now own more of america than the bottom 150 million americans. >> reporter: reich says america's wealthiest have a moral responsibility to their country. >> the fundamental problem is that we are losing equal opportunity in america. we are losing the moral foundation stone on which this country -- >> joining us is now someone of

the lawmakers who told lawmakers to raise his taxes. good morning. good to see you this morning. >> good morning. >> after yesterday, how was the message received? >> well, as you might imagine, progressive members of congress blik speaker like speaker pelosi and kerry were receptive of our message. i would say they were polite and receptive and listened to what we had to say since we are the ones who are going to have to pay for this mess. >> i'm sure some people out there are saying you want to pay more taxes? go ahead. you have the money you do it. what do you say to people who say if you want to pay more taxes, you take karp of care of. you got millions of dollars. >> i don't think the united states government is a charity, nor do i think that a few dozen or a few hundred individuals

donating is really going to help the country solve its physical problems. so asking people to voluntarily donate to the government is like asking one person in a row boat to row. >> so you've got these other millionaires together and you come up with this plan of getting all millionaires to pay more taxes. how do you get that message out? how do you cast a wider net? >> first of all, our message is very simple which is just let the bush tax cuts expire. as any nation in history cut taxes to its wealthiest citizens while launching two open-ended foreign wars? so we have dug ourselves a hole than the one in world war ii which was paid off by the taxes to 70% to 90% and that was under republican president eisenhower and certainly nobody wants to see that. so i think in the short term, paying 39.6%, which we paid

under the tremendous economic expansion of the '90s, there is no evidence that the low tax environment that we have experienced for the last ten years has created any jobs at all. >> we have got an unemployment problem right now. jobs is a huge issue across the board. how do you respond to the criticism of those who say that raising taxes on the job creators, the wealthy, kills jobs? >> but that is simply a lie. people who create jobs create jobs because of demand for their products and services, not because of taxes. taxes are never a factor in deciding to hire someone. >> so what is the next move now? what can you do? >> well, we are hoping that to add our voices to those that legislators are hearing and specifically that the super committee is hearing and we are saying, you know, wealthy people are often not heard from. we like to operate in secret. so our group is raising our hands and saying, yes, we are wealthy and we are the people who are going to pay those larger taxes and we are willing to do it to have the healthy

economy and a healthy country. >> charlie fink, thanks for taking the time this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> good luck in your effort and see what happens. stay with us. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. we're going to give all the top brands. like kenmore, craftsman, nordictrack, die hard, samsung... and our gifts will be top notch. our wrapping? that's another story.

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♪ welcome back to "the early show." some terrible weather across the

country over the past 24 hours and as the sun is coming up, we are seeing more of the damage. this is storm damage you're looking at from the south. powerful thunderstorms and suspected tornadoes making their way through the region. at least six people are dead as of this morning. there were more than a hundred severe storm reports from louisiana all the way up through north carolina. meanwhile, the pacific northwest is being hit by a powerful snowstorm there. this is a pass east of seattle. it's the second major storm of the week out there. we will have the latest on the weather and where it's headed next coming up in just a couple of moments. first the latest on the occupy wall street protests. organizers across the country are planning large demonstrations today. this is the two-month anniversary of the began in new york city. jim axelrod is here with the latest. >> reporter: we are going to get a good sense today of what the current health is of the occupy wall street movement because,

today, it marks two months since the protests started is a day of promised international action. tens of thousands have been promised to march on new york city at various points infant day. right now, we are seeing, counting demonstrators more in the hundreds. they are planning on marching over to wall street to the new york stock exchange and shut down wall street, in their words. a small group is making its way over right now. we are told, so far, and countering some police resistance. no arrests so far. later today spreading out to the subway platforms and at 5:00 they will disrupt the evening commute they say at the brooklyn bridge in their words with tens of thousands. so far, again, we are seeing more like dozens and hundreds and not these big numbers that have been promised today. erica? >> jim, thanks. for the latest let's get over to jeff glor at the news desk with another check of the headlines. a deadly series of tornadoes touched down in the southeast and spread across four states

and bringing strong winds and hail and killing at least six people. the storms hit through the day yesterday. power outages continue this morning. out west, a snow watch. heavy snow through the mountain passes around seattle is making road travel treacherous there. rick price of our seattle station kiro reports. >> reporter: right now, at sn snoqualmie pass, light snow is falling. since we got here at 12:30 it's snow mixed with rain or plain old rain falling on top of the snow and making the snow and slush on the roads very slick. the borderline temperatures are giving the crews to get in shape. a total of about a foot expected and a weather advisory kicks in until 6:00 p.m. tonight and

those are pacific time. i-90 has been wet with compact snow and slush on the road surface. we saw a lot of plows working from about 1:00 a.m. on, but what is falling from the sky has not been improving traction here. one of the truckers told us this looks like a little bit of a replay of last year. he said it was snowing up here pretty much like this a little bit before thanksgiving last year. so snow and winter have begun in earnest in washington state and doesn't look like we get much of break from that until spring. there was a security scare on board a delta regional jet triggered by a rather embarrassing misunderstanding. during the flight from ash shil, north carolina, to new york city the pilot took a bathroom break and stuck in the bathroom. the captain told the passenger who was trying to alert to help. the co-pilot heard the unfamiliar voice and declared an imagine to air traffic control.

>> the captain has disappeared in the back and i have someone with a thick foreign accent trying to access the cockpit right now and i got to deal with the situation. >> fighter planes were alerted. the captain, though, finally got out and he explained the situation. the bennetton is known for provocative ad campaigns but decide to pull an ad that angered the catholic church. it shows the following. there was an image of pope benedict kissing a muslim leader. that has now been

announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by hallmark. life is a special occasion. houston apparently has a problem. the space shuttle program is ending as you know. but nasa is actually now seeking a new generation of american astronauts. >> retruitting is going full speed ahead. whit johnson has more for us this morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. after 30 years of the space shuttle program, nas is a undergoing a difficult transition. yes, the agency is hiring new astronauts but the next generation will have some big shoes to fill. >> it's one small step for man.

one giant leap for mankind. >> reporter: they were the pioneers of space travel. astronauts neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and john glenn and michael collins received a gold medal on capitol hill on wednesday. >> we must consider ourselves the most fortunate of all generations where we have lived at a time when the dream became a reality. >> reporter: but to pursue even bigger dreams, nasa will have to rely on the next generation of american astronaut. in the agency, it is pulling out all of the stops, releasing a new recruiting video on youtube this week. >> your space flight experience begins right here, right now. >> reporter: they are recruiting through january and will be the first astronaut candidate class since the space shuttle fleet retired last summer, which nasa admits has left some with a misconception that americans are no longer flying into space. is it going to be difficult to recruit the next generation of

american astronauts? >> well, look at the number of applications. thousands and thousands of applications to be an astronaut. >> reporter: florida senator bill nelson isn't too worried about recruiting. >> it is deep in the hearts of the american people. >> reporter: as an astronaut himself in 1986, he spent six days orbiting earth aboard the shuttle "columbia." >> when you look at the planet, you don't see ethnic divisions. you see one planet that we are all in this together. >> reporter: nasa continues to send astronauts to the international space station. they just have to board a russian ship to get there, something the agency hopes to remedy through private companies by the end of the decade. the long-term goal, however, may be more appealing. a voyage beyond earth's orbit, landing mankind on an asteroid by 2025 and mars by 2030.

cbs news space consult william harwood. >> nasa thinking of a career 20, 30 years down the road. it's the promise of exploration. it's the promise moving out into the solar system. >> reporter: of the roughly 3,500 applicants nasa is expecting, only about 15 will be selected for training but nasa is quick to point out that one of them may be the first person to leave a footprint on mars. chris, erica, back to you. >> whit johnson, thanks. great stuff. >> that would be something. >> still the most interesting job out there. if you're young and want to do something and say you are an astronaut. >> they do more than landing on mars. >> that is not a bad inspiration. >> no, it's not. up next, could honey cause heartburn? one of the most surprising foods that is considered acidic. >> a low acid diet may be what you need to control that indigestion and we will help you with that. you're watching "the early show" on cbs.

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on this morning's "healthwatch," low acid diets. heartburn is typically a problem most people think about that is caused by acid which comes up from the stomach. >> but the food going down may be causing a problem. keri glassman is here with us. this brings us back to high school chemistry. i throw this disclaimer out there right now. one semester i got a 47. >> the good news he is not our expert. >> we traditionally think of when we think of heartburn we think of the acid coming from the sfum but ttomach but the fo down to affect the acid in our body. we know there is base and alkaline in the ph school. foods are acid and some are base. our blood ph level regulates

itself very well, 7.35 to 7.45. but, remember, our bodies are working really hard to regulate that and the foods we eat can affect it. >> so this low acid diet is an option. what exactly is a low acid diet? is it as simple as it sounds? >> well, basically, a low acid diet is really going to be a healthy diet. it's going to be loaded with vegetables and healthy fats and some fruit and legumes and lintels and olive oil and broccoli will be 6.2 on the ph scale. one thing i want to point out, we don't need to worry about those numbers. when we are eating vegetables and taking things out like processed foods and sugar, we are naturally going to be eating a low acid diet. advocates suggest about 75% 80% of your foods should be based and 20% to 20% acid. >> how about foods that are

surprisingly high in acidic levels? >> think about watching a football game. the food you might see sitting there. alcohol, high-fat meats and fried foods and things like caffeine and citrus are going to be the high acid foods. >> those are high acid. >> tough to eliminate all of those. >> it is. you don't have to eliminate completely but this is mostly eating a healthy diet, focusing on vegetables and fruits and lentils and things high in acid might be sugar and candy and people won't think of as being high in acid. >> the orange juice you would think of and maybe the coffee but definitely not those things. i would imagine, as we look at this you say low acid diet is a healthy diet. probably some other benefits to eating this way as well? >> the science is not definitive and much research is needed, but we know three things. we know by following a low acid diet you're tag out processed foods and high fatty meats and taking out sugar so you may lose

weight. as i mentioned before our bodies work hard to regulate the ph level of our blood. in order to do that if you're eating a lot of acidic foods you may grab calcium from the bones to regulate that. as i mentioned at the beginning research links a low acid diet to relieving symptoms of heartburn. >> would you recommend people -- if you're not a big fan after low acid diet, sample with a couple of things and see if you can inc. it? >> you don't really need to worry about the numbers. healthy diet for everyone. vegetables and fruits and legumes and get rid of the high fatty foods and the sugar. don't get caught up in the numbers. >> i thought this was going more more of a chemistry lesson. a big relief. you brought me back to high school and i was not very good, as i mentioned. ahead this morning, women who have lost children to

unspeakable violence are determined now to help others avoid it. a pretty remarkable group of women. >> we will visit the group called mothers in charge when we come back on cbs on "the early show." announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by breathe right. don't let a stuffy nose get between you and your sleep. it's your right to breathe right! i can't breathe... so i can't sleep... and the next day i pay for it. i tried decongestants... i tossed & turned... i even vaporized! and then i fought back: with drug-free breathe right advanced. these nasal strips instantly opened my nose, like a breath of fresh air. i was breathing and sleeping better! [ female announcer ] exercise your right to breathe right... get two free strips at breatheright.com. hey, it's your right to breathe right! get two free strips at breatheright.com. gather round for great savings at the petsmart pre-thanksgiving sale. friskies cat food, select varieties, is only 40 cents per can. and save up to 30% on other great brands. friday through sunday only! at petsmart®.

♪ this week, we are looking at the people in communities that help to find the american spirit. this morning, we profile a group of women in philadelphia who suffer the greatest loss a mother can face. >> 80% of the homicide committed by a gun and between the ages of 15 and 34 african-americans, the mothers are doing their best to make a difference channeling their grief into community action. >> do i have any volunteers what we learned last week? >> reporter: at this philadelphia area foster home, concerned, compassionate moms are reaching out. >> we want you guys to really learn life on life terms.

>> reporter: teaching these kids about the consequences of violence. >> if you look at the numbers, it's the youth that is killing other youth. so i think it's important for us to go out because we know firsthand what it's like for somebody to take something from you. >> you got to always keep that hope alive. >> reporter: dorothy johnson is the founders of mothers in charge. a philadelphia-based advocacy and support group who have lost family to vl crimes. what prompted you to start this organization were the families that are left behind. >> and their struggle each day to live after a tragedy like that. i think it's really making a difference in life. >> reporter: ten years ago, dorothy's son was gunned down over a parking space. >> he is kind the wind beneath my wings that gets me going and think, he would want me to try to save another mother from going through what we are going through. >> reporter: it's a sentiment and an inspiration shared by many of these mothers who also share the unthinkable pain of

losing a child to violence. >> no one knows the attachment of a mother, but a mother. i cared for my son nine months but god gave him to me for 30 years. >> reporter: out of their shared grief has grown a sisterhood of support and increasingly important voice in the community. >> some of the murders we see in the city have a lot to do with retaliation. so, oftentimes, we get calls from mothers who give us information, you know? or will talk to us about a typical crime or something going on or concern they have in their community. >> reporter: in the hopes you'll pass it on? >> in the hopes we will pass it on or come out and get involved. we do that. ♪ >> reporter: which includes bringing inspiration to an unlikely place. >> how many of you ladies are mothers? >> reporter: at this philadelphia prison, inmates are graduating from a program that teaches the virtues of good

parenting. >> i am changing and get my life together. >> if we get the women to change the way they think and their behavior to reduce them out of prison, if they are in prison who is raising their children? we have another child who is angry and pick up a gun. >> reporter: their efforts have been recognized by law enforcement and by the city. >> they are doing work that, quite frankly, the city government is really not necessarily in a position to do and they do it with authority because of who they are. >> reporter: because of their success in the community, mothers in charge are now working with students at villanova university to develop a national educational curriculum. >> it's not just a philadelphia problem with the violence. it's a problem across the country. >> reporter: but for all of the strength they find in one another and their shared mission to end the senseless violence of their children the pain is never far away. is there ever a day when you wake up, i'm not sure i can do this today? it's just too hard for me without my son. i just don't know if i can.

>> many days. many days. but, by the same token, he is what gets me up in the morning. >> reporter: and he gets you through? >> he gets me through. >> it's an amazing group of women led by dorothy there. as soon as they hear about a homicide, they immediately send a card to try to reach out to the family to bring them in because it does so much for the families to know they are not alone. a lot of women were generous to share their stories with us and we have a number of them on our website at earlyshow.cbsnews.com. >> so good to see them doing this work. it stayed with me many years. dwight eisenhower said no tragedy in life like the loss of a child. things can never go back to the way they are and

♪ there we go. the kids are up early training for the 2012 olympics. good to see. or 2014. >> get going, kids. welcome back to "the early show." i'm chris wragge along with erica hill. you don't normally finding nerds looking for love in the wrong places but you'll find them here at a once a month speed dating contest called nerd night held in some cities. we will talk to the nerds about the search for the special someone. >> i love that story and looking forward to this and this next one. author ann patch is selling best sellers and using her own money decided to open a book store in nashville this week after the last independent book store

closed in the area which goes against the trend of many customers. you think it has to be tough for a book store and all of these ereade ereaders. >> a trip to the los angeles auto show. one of the country's biggest which starts tomorrow. as you look at the touch screens, video displays of internet technology being unveiled you wonder if you're in the right building. >> brian cooley shows us cars are actually becoming the ultimate mobile device. >> reporter: apps. a touch screen. and a wireless connection to the internet. a new tablet arriving to challenge the ipad? no. the center screen in a new cadillac that goes on sale early next year. toyota's intune system puts five popular internet applications on the car's screen. from finding a movie and buying tickets to making restaurant reservations. >> it pairs with the carvey a bluetooth, then everything runs through your wireless plan and you can run it on the go like

you're online in the car. >> reporter: ford was the early leader in systems like this but then took a beating in consumer ratings when they made it too complicated. now we are seeing a version that doesn't bombard you with so much information and reacts more quickly. you see, consumers reject all of this technology when it gets too complicated. car owners know they are -- if you get distracted using your smart phone walking down the street, nobody gets hurt. in a car, the stakes are very different. >> please say a command. >> reporter: destination, street address. ford near natural language voice command as a way to keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. cadillac senses the presence of your hand in front of the screen to only show the icons that are necessary. toyota strips down internet search results to the bare essentials and only those relevant to driving. automakers are unlikely to slow the pace of this revolution in

the dash. they are on the road to becoming the biggest piece of consumer electronics in your life. for cbs news, i'm brian cooley, in los angeles. boy, it looks nice but not for nothing. even driving has become complicated. >> it's true. here is jeff glor at the news desk with a final check of today's other headlines for us. not as complicated as driving. >> no. just straight ahead news. a pennsylvania lawyer says he has a client who will testify that former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky sexually molested him. police investigating the case have no record of a key witness mike mcqueary reporting an alleged and all awe salt in 2002 and contradicts mcqueary claim in an e-mail saying he saw sandusky with a young boy in the shower. an attorney who says he represents a number of alleged victims. >> the survivors and the families right now is really is a mixture of despair, confusion,

and fury. a new judge has been assigned to handle sandusky's case. district judge leslie dutchcot has been removed who has ties to the second mile charity. the new judge has no known ties to the charity. a man makes first federal court appearance today in pittsburgh. oscar ramiro ortega-hernandez linkeded to an assault rifle found at the white house on sunday. the secret service has been searching as two bullets hit the white house. a businessman who met orte ortega-hernandez said he compared president obama to the anti-christ. >> he is very insear in what he believed, but he did seem very rather troubled. >> ortega-hernandez could face charges of attempted assassination. president obama is on bali this morning. the last stop of his asian tour. he'll attend two pacific

regional summits. mr. obama flew to bali from australia where he spoke to australian soldiers in the northern port city of barkin and earlier visited a high school where one student was more interested in a certain teen heartthrob. >> have you ever thought about teaming up with the high profile celebrity, such as justin bieber, to appeal to more people? >> justin bieber. mr. obama called it an interesting question and noted that lots of celebrities visit the white house and he joked that he'll tell bieber she said hi. the president who recently quick smoking released a video this morning to mark today's 36th great american smokeout and he acknowledged that kicking the habit is not easy. >> today, 46 million americans are still hooked and tobacco remains the leading cause of preventible early deaths in this country. the fact is quitting smoking is hard. believe me, i know. >> mr. obama kicked his own hapt

habit by chewing nicotine gum. a new study suggests that love can truly be a heartbreaker. especially for women. researchers said that women are 7 to 9 times more likely than men to suffer broken heart syndrome. that is when an emotional breakup triggers heart failure or heart attack like symptoms. doctors say the difference may be due to men being able to

nashville, tennessee, is known for its art scene, but the past two years the city's few remaining book stores have closed and forcing people to travel elsewhere to buy a book. >> that is until yesterday. ann patchet couldn't imagine living in a book store. a lot of attention. you had a nice write-up, a little attention in the times and talk about the small book stores. why did you decide, though, to open a book store in nashville and especially right now? >> because there wasn't one. we have some great used book stores in nashville but we had a borders and davis kid that were over 30,000 square feet and both were closed on a corporate level, which means that people in nashville were still in those stores buying the books, but the industry wasn't doing well, the

stores closed. we didn't have a book store. i didn't want to open a book store. i kept waiting for somebody to open a book store but nobody did, so here i am. >> what finally led you to this decision? because it's not cheap and it's not easy and you took this every endeavor on your own to do something like this. >> some things really matter and i think really having a book really matters. having that sense of a community center and the place you would go the way i did when i was growing up. i wanted that for people in my city. >> there was so much talk and even movies made about the demise of the small neighborhood book store and the rise of these big chains which, as you mentioned, they closed in nashville and we have seen them close across the country. do you think we will be moving back to smaller book stores and that they can now sustain themselves a little bit better? >> absolutely. . the circle is a little book store and decides to make money and decides to become bigger and it gets squashed by the super

store and the super store got squashed by amazon. all of a sudden people are saying i don't have anyplace to go up and pick up a book and look at a book. i think we have cycled all the way back around to a little book store. my store is 2,500 square feet. we got enough people buying books in nashville to keep a 2,500 book store going. >> how is the response to far? >> it's overwhelming. i can only go to the grocery store early in the morning. i have for months. people saying, thank you, i'll be there the first day. it's sort of a redemption tale. we had our stores, we lost them and so many people felt if i ever had a second chance, i'm going to be true to my book store, i'm going to stop using amazon and i'm going to go in and buy my books from people. smart, intelligent book sellers. we have such a great staff of readers. >> you can still -- i mean, there is no replacement for going in and asking for that advice at a book store. >> yeah. >> here is buying a book for this person, can you help me out

with it. but you can also coexist with other things, because as an author you know it helps to sell your books for an ereader, online. they can potentially coexist, correct? >> absolutely. i'm all for ereaders. people read in different ways and i'm not saying the book is the better way but i'm just saying just because people are using ereaders, it doesn't mean we have to throw the books in a dust heap and burn them. >> please don't. let's not ever get to that point. >> if we were to come there, what would we see when we walk in? a big display? >> actually, we are moving my merchandise as well. >> as you should. >> it was so strange when state of wonder came out and the book stores were closed, i couldn't do a reading in nashville. i actually wound up doing a reading at the library and there was a tailor shop and a framing shop that were selling my novel for me because we didn't have a book store. >> that's the wild thing about it. you actually planned this whole shop while you were on a book

tour? >> yes. >> which is no small feat. >> i did. it was really good because it got us going a lot faster. i have a wonderful partner named karen hayes who is at home doing the heavy lifting and opening the boxes right now while i'm off on tour and talking about it. >> exactly what you need, good help! >> it is! >> people washing watching in nashville, where is it located? >> green hills as the doughnut den and no one in nashville who doesn't know where the doughnut den is. it is dangerous for us because every day the generous people at the doughnut den bring us a box of doughnuts. >> you have a comfortable seating area where people can grab doughnuts and sit down and grab a book? >> absolutely. >> congratulations. >> nice to have you here. thanks, ann. >> well done. these days, too many kids hit the books in college but can't get a job when they get out. a school in charleston, south carolina is offering a

traditional education and teaching old school trades. this is a college classroom. so is this. and this too. all a part of a unique school called american college of the building arts. >> what we graduate here is what i like to call an educated artisan. >> reporter: the college combines trade education with liberal arts and is the only one of its kind in the nation. >> other trade schools, they just teach you how to build something hands-on, while this school covers all aspects of it. they incorporate history, english, math, interior trade. >> reporter: students graduate with bachelor's degrees. they leave as modern day artisans with expertise in trades like iron work and timber framing and complex plaster work, skills not found often in this country. >> with my degree, i kennel speak with architects, designers, as well as general contractors, because i understand everybody's lingo.

>> not a lot of colleges can say this but as late of this year every student we graduated walked straight into a job. >> reporter: it helps the student body were so small. only seven students in the inaugural graduating class in 2009 and this year's last boasts 17 and the school like most college educations isn't cheap. tuition runs $20,000. for that money it's as hands on as an education can get and for many of the students here that is the appeal. >> i really love at the end of the day being able to look up here at the ceiling and go this is what i did today, this is what i accomplished. >> reporter: the school's main campus is as unique as the curriculum. an old jail built in 1802 and designed in part by robert mills, considered to be the first american trained architect who went on to design the washington monument. the building is barely been converted. iron bars are everywhere. and classrooms still have the feel of a holding cell. relics stand side-by-side with new projects in progress. >> our students actually come to

love this building. it's a living laboratory. they do a lot of work in here. >> reporter: a lot of hard, physical work and the students wouldn't have it any other way. >> i used to go to school for computer engineering. i went from the high tech to the old school techniques that were really dying out and now i can't see myself doing anything else. we're artisans. >> they are doing some good work. >> i love that! that is so great! >> the school wants to expand from 150 to 200 students in the future. if it doesn't work out for the students, they can be prison guards. isn't it cool to have all of those bars there? >> just ahead, we all need love, right? nerds too. and now their special speed dating events.

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dating capital of the universe, right? >> new york city. >> we talked about it before. speed dating where a bunch of strangers meet and talk with one another for a few minutes or so. >> promoters say a great way for you to meet someone. you can meet someone special. so now they are adapting it it to different groups of people. in this case, nerds! take a look. >> i want to welcome all of you to nerd night speed dating. nerd night is a monthly event night we run in 30 cities across the world. girls stay in one place and guys have a chance to talk to them and rotate from table-to-table. >> being a nerd is sexy now. smart, witty, comeback quick. you want to have a good time. passionate. what is there not to like? >> what is your favorite thing? >> i'm in love with apple! >> i've never been speed dating before. i have a thing for nerds. i like guys with always an intellectual look and know more

than i do. >> nerds get together to talk about their subject of interest. >> we have had people of all walks of life. grad students and people who study history or science or even a sports nerd. >> on your mark. get set. speed date. >> this is a good thing. it's just hard to meet people and this kind of likes cuts the chase. in an instant, you can find out your same kind of likes or dislikes. if you're a mac or a pc. >> i'm a secret nerd. >> i had my own internet company. i'm now an investor. i'm always the first person to try out a new gadget. and so i think that qualifies me as a nerd. after you've been to regular nerd night? >> i've been in nerd night religiously the past two years. i'm nerdy and i like to do nerdy things and i look to meet my match tonight. >> i'm doing a little bit of eavesdropping. >> what makes you a nerd? >> i am a huge "star wars" fan!

>> me too. you love schwar"star wars"? >> i do! >> it's a group of witty people. you can tell they are having a good time. >> that's it! >> it was nice talking to you. >> i definitely did find a match. >> i thought it was absolutely fantastic! >> i'm not sure i met my match. but it makes you realize like the adversity of people that are out there. >> some of them got creative and made me blush a little bit and that is always fun. whether it's a good day or a bad day, it's nice to blush a little bit. i think it's working. >> i can at least count on more than two hands the number of people in very long-term committed relationships as a specific direct result of meeting at nerd night. apparently whatever we are doing, it's working. >> it works! joining us now is c-net.com

editor bridget carrie. did it work? >> i nerded it up. >> talk about a great turnout. how difficult is it? do you have to limit the number of people there? a mass response? >> yes. there are tickets and they sell out fast too. especially with the girls. they will buy tickets in an instant. guys kind of drag their feet but it sells out. a set number of girls and guys. >> okay. so you heard the gentleman in the pink shirt there, i forget his name. sorry. he can count on two hands or if not more long-term relationships he knows has come out of the nerd night event. is it something you would recommend having hosted one and being there for it? >> yes. these are not your erkle kind of nerds. >> smarter. >> yeah. we have a little nerd in us when you're a book nerd or sports nerd. it's finding someone to have passionate and get in conversation with. if you like "star wars," bonus points.

>> obi-wan kenobi. >> shawn who answered one question and been coming religiously for two years. honesty is your best policy but i don't know if saying that is your best response. >> it's about really telling someone what makes you passionate and talking to somebody three minutes isn't easy. >> i think it's a great story. a lot of fun. thanks for bringing it to us this morning. >> when is the next one? >> i think they have them every couple of months. look online. >> you want to host one again? >> if they ask me, yeah. >> they should ask her back, definitely. >> put her on the spot and see if she found a love connection. we won't do that. >> we will ask her at the break. have a great day, everyone. see you back here tomorrow morning. maybe i'll learn to speak by then. >> maybe the force be with you. wm÷so ñh

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