>> mitchell: tonight, another night of arson attacks in los angeles. police launch a huge manhunt as a suspected serial arsonist strikes again. lee cow an is there. caucus countdown. with just three days to go, jan crawford is in iowa as voters close in on a republican presidential choice. women and war. a conversation with a passionate advocate who has made it her life's work empowering women in times of war. >> women's voices are crucial in creating lasting peace. >> mitchell: and charlie dag tahas the improbable story of the voices behind britain's top-selling holiday hit. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell.

>> mitchell: good evening. we begin in los angeles where for the past two nights a wave of arson has lit up the night sky. so far there have been three dozen separate blazes and now local investigators have called in the federal government to help. national correspondent lee cowan is in los angeles ands what the latest. >> reporter: it's become a terrifying predawn pattern-- for the past two nights, more than 30 vehicles in and around hollywood have been exploding in flames. >> i screamed for everyone to get out of their apartment. >> reporter: all the cars intentionally firebombed, say authorities, for reasons unknown. >> we want to get these s.o.b.s before they hurt somebody. >> reporter: the string of blazes have been set in densely populated neighborhoods in the wee hours of the morning when most residents were asleep. >> what are you thinking? one fire out of control could cost dozens of lives. >> reporter: crime scenes left not only a trail of scorched cars and small trucks. in many cases the apartments

above them, including ones once occupied by jim morrison. >> it's just scary and horrible and terrifying and heartbreaking to think they almost lost my life and so did my family. >> reporter: city and county officials have offered a $60,000 reward for information leading to the fire bug, but investigators say they don't know if it's one individual or a series of copycats. >> we've detained a number of people, none that we can say are legitimately connected to this investigation at this point. >> reporter: the only clue so far is that it appears to be most fires were set by some type of molotov cocktail thrown through the vehicle's windows, so it burns from the inside out, becoming a blow torch in a matter of minutes. it goes without saying that new year's eve is already one of the busiest nights of the year for police and fire officials. this adds to the worry as they brace for what they believe will be another round of fires tonight. >> mitchell: now to politics.

about 72 hours from now, iowa caucus voters will cast the first votes of campaign 2012. since campaigning began, republican candidates have spent a total of 380 days in iowa. our jan crawford has spent a lot of time there as well and joins froes des moines with the very latest. jan, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, russ. as these presidential candidates storm the state making a final push this weekend, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum is getting increasing attention as polls are showing for the first time that he could finish strongly here and have a bill bigimpact on this race. in iowa, rick santorum is the man of the moment. >> folks know what i believe in, and i think that's-- that's what they're looking for, someone they can trust. someone who is authentic. >> reporter: it's a remarkable and rapid rise for the former senator from pennsylvania. for months, as other candidates not named mitt romney surged then fell back, santorum struggled to get attention, even at the debates.

>> i understand you have the next question. >> i haven't had a chance to say a whole lot. >> reporter: but after spending over 100 days campaigning in iowa, santorum told me he always believed his message would break through. >> i trusted the people of iowa. >> reporter: did you ever feel this is not going to work out? >> never. i believe that we brought something to the debate that was different. there's more than just a little narrow issue called jobs. it's a huge issue but there's more to being a president, and there's more to that issue than just what your economic plan is. >> reporter: santorum has a solid conservative message. example-- cutting federal responding on public schools. >> i don't see a role for the federal government in education. >> reporter: that's appealing to social conservatives like homemaker sherry weisscoff. >> i like his christian values and his family values. >> i'm one of the undecided. >> reporter: many of the iowa voters remain undecided. weisscoff is torn between santorum and romney. >> too bad we can't put the two together and mix some business

experience with values. >> we're going to win iowa in the general election. >> reporter: romney still holds front-runner status as polls show him edging out texas congressman ron paul and santorum, but santorum questioned whether romney, a one-term massachusetts governor, could beat president obama. >> he has never run as a conservative and won going exwg. >> reporter: now, santorum told me he could beat president obama, that he knew how to win elections in swing states like pennsylvania and appeal to the key independent voters. russ, he said he would do all that without compromising his conservative principles. >> mitchell: for more on the hunt for votes in the hawkeye state we are joined by cbs news political director john dickerson, also in des moines. rick santorum was counted out not to go ago by a lot of people. now he's on a roll. what does that mean. >> every republican candidate has had a chance to be the surge candidate in the polls for republican looking for an alternative to mitt romney. for rick santorum, there are two

challenges. he has to be better than newt gingrich who has been dropping but still has support, and he's got to challenge ron paul who is tied near the top of the polls with romney and has a very strong ground organization. the other challenge for santorum if he emerges strong from iowa how he, with his legislative experience, argues that he's a better challenger for barack obama than mitt romney who is running on his executive experience as a business man and governor. >> mitchell: earlier, mitt romney seemed to blow off iowa, didn't participate in the straw polls, didn't acontinued a couple of differences there. was all of this part of his strategy, do you think? >> it's a strategic blow-off. he has hadda a two-part strategy for iowa-- lay low but leave the option to come on strong in the end. as said he has not participateed in the compulsory exercise of iowa politics. he has done it his own way, much the way he did with his national strategy. he didn't tack every candidate as they had their momentary

surges to challenge him. if he does well, if the other candidates split vote and he comes out ahead, it will not only be a great boost going go into haze his strong hold of new hampshire but ratify his cautious strategy. >> mitchell: in his last official act of the year, awe vacationing president obama signed the $662 billion military spending bill in hawaii. mr. obama said he had misgivings about controversial provisions, including one that could let the military indefinitely did tained without trial u.s. citizens suspected of terrorism. as lee cow an pointed out earlier, new year's eve has long been considered by authorities to be a potential target for terrorism in this country. on this night, police in some areas are on high alert. one of those spots is times square here in new york city. seth doane is there with more. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, russ. yes, with hours to go until midnight, excitement here in times square has already reached

fever pitch. for instance, this is lady gaga performing just feet behind me, and with relatively warm temperatures tonight, organizers say around one million people are expected to turn out. time zone by time zone, the world welcomes a new year. from the spectacular in dubai, to the almost-spiritual in tokyo. where they bid farewell to a 2011 that brought an earthquake and tsunami. new year's celebrations provided a break for u.s. troops in afghanistan, while at home, times square was prepped for the 1 billion who will tune in to watch the ball drop on tv. that dwelve-foot-wide, nearly 20,000-pound ball is about the weight of two pickup trucks. workers put finishing touches on the more than 2500 waterford crystal triangles. >> this is a celebration the whole world watches. >> reporter: organizer jeffrey

strauss tells us the ball builds on an old custom for setting clocks. >> it's a maritime tradition where ports around the world would lower the ball at noon. >> reporter: it was first lowed in times square in 1907. back then the ball was constructed of iron and wood and covered with 100 light bulbs. joining the millions watching it drop in person tonight are thousands of n.y.p.d. officers on patrol, some in plain clothes. >> this is a personal radiation detector. >> reporter: at police headquarters, commissioner ray kelly, show off some of the technology being used to safeguard revelers. when will you booth a sigh of are leaf? >> probably about 8:00 sunday morning. >> reporter: security hoar is incredibly tight. roads are blocked off, spectators and their bags are being searched while the rest of the world watches this on television. but let me tell you, it's pretty cool to be here,.

>> mitchell: seth doane hanging out with lady gaga in times square. happy new year, my friend. a big raise for low-paid workers in one of america's most expensive cities.

>> mitchell: minimum wage workers in nine states will get pay raises. at 5.15 an hour, georgia and wyoming have the lowest minimum wage. but of as john blackstone tells us, san francisco is topping them all. >> reporter: low-paid workers in san francisco were already getting the highest minimum wage in the country, but for those at the bottom of the pay scale, the boost to $10.24 an hour breaks a barrier. is that a ridiculous sum for a minimum wage? >> no, because the cost of living is very different in different places around the

country. in san francisco, it is very high. and so a minimum wage of $10 an hour is not at all high relative to that cost of living. >> reporter: well, former labor secretary robert reich has been a longtime advocate of higher minimum wages, many san francisco employers say this is no time to be forcing a pay raise. this restaurant owner says the increase will come right out of his bottom line. >> you know, especially in this nickel, dime economy. it's not as though we can raise our prices. it's a recession. if you raise your prices, people go elsewhere. >> reporter: pete faulk, of the chamber of commerce, says the city's high minimum wage has already cost jobs. >> for the most part, employers of lower wage workers are doing more with less. there are fewer servers in restaurants. there are fewer employees in hotels. >> reporter: still, san francisco's unemployment rate at 7.8% is well below california's

11.3%, and robert reich says there's no evidence that a minimum wage destroys jobs. >> it's true that if everybody in america was willing to work for $1 an hour, say, we'd have many more jobs. but who wants a lot of dollar-an-hour jobs? >> reporter: a recent poll showed 67% of americans favor a minimum wage of $10 an hour, but as 2012 begins, only here in san francisco, will minimum wage workers be getting that much. john blackstone, cbs news, san francisco. >> mitchell: still ahead this evening, an iraqi american woman's lifelong battle to empower women caught in the cross-fire of war.

>> mitchell: iraq's prime minister nuri al-maliki celebrated new year's eve by declaring today a new national holiday marking the departure of all foreign troops. al-maliki says it's a new dawn for his country. there was no mention of the united states overthrowing saddam hussein. iraq, like egypt and other countries undergoing dramatic changes, faces immense challenges in the years ahead. we met an iraqi american who spent much of her life in war zones who firmly believes the key to lasting peace is in the hands of women >> i grew up in war, and i grew up in not only a war but a--

iraq was led by saddam hussein. so it was fear and terror. >> reporter: zanea's father was saddam hussein's personal pilot. her family's ever move controlled by his iron hand. >> the fear-- i wish i can can explain that fear. it was like a poison gas leaked into our home and we all breathed it slowly. i was about 10 years old when the iran-iraq war started. and at a very young age i learned there is this other side of war that sort of no one talks about, and that is what women go through and what women live in war. and it was the women who ran the schools. it was the women who ran the factories. and it's women who keep life going in the midst war. >> mitchell: you're saying it's a story that is not told, generally speaking. >> it is not told and we are impacted by that when it comes to peace. peace means far more than ending fighting. it means how do we stabilize life again? how do we get life to normal again? let's talk about an an example--

afghanistan. the more we kill, the more their sons are angry. the more we recruit new level and new armies of taliban. and the way to win this war from a woman's perspective is get jobs. fix the roads. get electricity. more schools. >> mitchell: fresh out of college and deeply affected by the also of rape as a weapon of war in bosnia, she founded women for women international in 1993, training women survivors of war how to earn a living and how to fight for their rights in their communities. >> i couldn't do anything about injustice when i was in iraq, but today, i can. this is nothing but my truth living this work and serving women around the world. they bring me joy. >> mitchell: she says if women are left out of egypt's fledgling democracy and denied seats at afghanistan's peace talks, neither democracy or peace will survive. >> let's talk about some facts and figures.

80% of the refugees in the world are women and children. 90% of modern war casualties are civilians. 75% of which are women and children. this is according to the u.n. and you have women being target order in major ways in rape and violence. we can talk about serious, lasting, sustainable peace if we do not include women in it. >> mitchell: we're about to enter a new year, 2012. as we do, are you optimistic or are you discouraged that things are getting better, that more women will be part of the peace process? >> i work in war zones, you know, for 18 years. and i wouldn't be able to do that if i'm not an optimist. the fact that the nobel peace prize this year goes to three women and they each had different angles. the yemeni women set up tents on their own and inspired many men and women as a result to overthrow the government.

the liberrian activist basically went to the muslim and christian communities, women, and said our boys are fighting but let us talk. as a result they pushed the men to have a serious peace agreement. and then you have president surleif, of syria. i believed and continue to believe we are moving in a positive direction for more women to be included. >> mitchell: according to the united nations, women have signed fewer than 3% of the world's peace agreements. ahead, the story behind the choir that's touching heart and topping britain's pop charts.

>> mitchell: finally this evening, they have an army of fans and a chart-topping holiday hit. what's unusual is that they're a choir. charlie d'agata in london has the story behind the song. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: in a wind-swept corner of england, a group of military wives struggling with the stress of having husbands on the front lines, have found a novel way to deal with it-- they sing. samantha stephenson's husband is an army engineer with 24 commando regiment. >> when he first left for afghanistan, i think that was the worst because that could literally be the last time i see my husband and our children see

their dad and you can't even contemplate the worst-case scenario but saying good-bye. that's-- that has to be the worst thing i've ever been through. >> reporter: gareth malone, a british choirmaster, came up with the idea of building a choir of military wives. he's made a name for himself by creating choirs from people who didn't know they had it in them. malone says he wanted to give voice to women who usually come into view only when the worst has happened. >> put your magical hats of confidence on and pretend that you're really great singers and you've known this part all your life. >> reporter: most of the women had never sung is and couldn't even find a note let alone hold one. >> keeping the home fires burning is such a heroic thing to do. it's quietly heroic. and it was at first very difficult to get them to open up and sing. >> reporter: but they did with

a song stitched together with lines from their love letters to their husbands. ♪ wherever you are, my love wil keep you safe ♪ . >> reporter: weeks of hard practice followed until the group became polished enough to perform for the prime minister at downing street. haley bowles says singing helped her with her fear. >> there were days when things weren't okay and things were horrible and i wanted to say, "come home. i hate this." but you can't. you can't do that. >> it's good for them to get together as a group, sing with each other, stand shoulder to shoulder, and have a good cry. >> reporter: that raw emotion touched a nerve. the nation was listening. their song sored straight to number one. they were even invited to perform here, at the prestigious royal albert hall. ♪ wherever you are, my love .

>> reporter: 10 months after first getting together at the royal marine's barracks, the wives performed before the royal family and an audience of millions, a polished choir beyond anything they ever could have dreamed of. >> i feel like a whole new person. i could take on the world now, and just, you know, give me every opportunity, and i'm going to take it. >> reporter: for the wives, there's something more important to celebrate than their newfound fame. each man returned home safely from afghanistan. charlie d'agata, cbs news, at the royal marines barracks, england. >> mitchell: and that is the cbs evening news. later on cbs "48 hours mystery." i'm russ mitchell at the cbs broadcast center in new york. thank you. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org