or visit woundedwarriorproject.org. crisis in syria. the assad government refuses to implement a cease-fire plan. and the u.s. says the turmoil may spread. living longer. it may not be how you eat or how you live. it may be your genes. and plan "b." a confounded contestant in the spelling bee offers a unique answer. >> q-u-r-s-3-quautro -- >> this is the "cbs morning news" for may 31, 2012. good morning, everybody.

i'm terrell brown. we begin with syria and efforts to end the 15-month assault to forces opposed to bashar al assad. rebel leaders have given the government to observe the u.n. cease-fire plan. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. says the security council cannot force syria to end the bloodshed. other actions outside the u.n. may be necessary. susan mcginnis in washington with more. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. there's new video out by rebel forces that apparently shows new attacks by the government. now, this all has lawmakers here on capitol hill calling for action on the part of the u.s. smoke rises from rooftops in homs. syrian rebels say this amateur video is proof government troops have no intention of halting attacks on civilians. the shelling follows the new discovery of 13 bodies in eastern syria and the massacre

of more than 100 people in houla last week. resident al assad refuses to implement the united nations peace plan and blames the violence on terrorists. u.n. monitors say forces loyal to the government are responsible. >> we think there needs to be justice and accountability for those who committed these atrocities. >> reporter: the white house imposed new economic sanctions on a syrian bank and ordered embassy diplomats to leave the u.s., but some republicans and democrats on capitol hill say military intervention is necessary. senator john mccain has been calling for u.s.-led air strikes. >> other dangers and risks and uncertainties in this approach, absolutely. there are no ideal options in syria. >> reporter: another option is to arm the rebels, but lawmakers say that also comes with risks. >> i'm not one that believes we should be arming the rebels right now. we're having a difficult time of getting a complete picture of who they are.

>> rebels released a video giving syria 48 hours to comply with the u.n. cease plan or face consequences. now, syria has a pair of very influential allies, china and russia. both of them oppose any action and even any u.n. penalty. >> thank you. seattle police the alleged gunman who shot and killed five people has taken his own life. the suspect's brother says he was mentally ill and that it was no surprise that this happened. theresa garcia has details. >> reporter: seattle police say the bearded man in this surveillance photo open fire shortly after walking into this seattle cafe near the university of washington wednesday morning. about a minute later, he's seen standing alone amid overturned stools, holding what appears to be a gun in his left hand. >> a very mellow cafe. there's lots of artists there and musical performances and that kind of thing. it's the last place you would

expect for something like this to happen. >> reporter: while police were looking for the gunman they say he willing fatally shot a woman in downtown seattle. the suv was found abandoned with a handgun on the seat. while police were speaking to reporters, word came of a third shooting involving police and a man fitting the description of the gunman near where the stolen car was found. >> the suspect saw uniformed officers. he apparently knelt down in the middle of the treat and put the gun to his head and shot himself. >> reporter: police say preliminary finding suggest all three shootings are connected. seattle is in the midst of a wave of gun violence. >> it's going to take a full partnership with the community to end the culture violence with young men. >> reporter: it's not yet june and the city has almost matched the number of homicides reported

in all of 2011. cbs news. the arch diocese of milwaukee says it had a paid policy for pedophiles to leave the ministry. priests would take $20,000 to return. one group of survivors says the payments are nothing more than payoff and bonuses for priests who abuse children. the world's first commercially operated spaceship will return to earth today. it is expected to leave this morning and splash down in the pacific ocean. it's been docked for six days. "cbs moneywatch" on a thursday morning. signs of a slowdown. bank trouble is sending shivers through the world's economy. ashley morrison here with that and morning. >> if you are wondering why stock markets around the world are trembling this look, look no

further than spain. the fourth largest bank needed a $24 billion from the government. the concern is other spanish banks may need more help and the government could not help them out. overseas nikkei lost more than 1%, hitting its lowest level since yan. while hong kong's hang seng was down about 0.5%. the worries over europe have wiped out most of the gains on wall street this year. the dow lost 160 points while the nasdaq fell 33. meanwhile, slow downin europe is sending oil prices even lower. they've fallen below $88 a barrel. the good news is that will likely translate to lower gas prices. later today we'll get the labor claims on weekly jobless claims. they expected employers added 150,000 jobs this may but

jobless rate will remain at 8.1%. sales of homes in foreclosure or process were up in the first quarter of this year. the increase in foreclosure sales could be an indication that overall home prices will continue to go down. not great news there, terrell, for the housing market but if you're in the market to buy a home, it's good news for you. >> ashley morrison here in new york. this morning more than 1,000 firefighters are battling the largest wildfire in new mexico history. it's burned more than 260 square mile and continues to grow. it formed last week when two fires merged. at least a dozen homes have been destroyed. a mishap on runway at o'hare airplane. the cargo plane clipped the tail of a plane. 747 flipped its rudder. 21 people on the american eagle flight. three crew members on the cargo jet.

no one was injured. coming up, living past 100, the secret behind so-called super agers may lie in their genes. this is the morning news. ♪ [ instrumental ] [ girl ] when i started playing soccer, i wasn't so good. [ barks ] so me and sadie started practicing. we practiced a lot. now i've got some moves! [ crowd cheering ] spin kick! whoo-hoo! [ giggling ] [ announcer ] we know how important your dog is to your whole family. so help keep him strong and healthy with purina dog chow. because you're not just a family. you're a dog family. my system gets why out of sorts it? but that comes with age, right? just because we're in that over 50...

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the people in this tavern are about to get an unpleasant surprise. can you believe it? an out of control pickup truck smashes through the wall and slams into the war. it happened yesterday afternoon north of st. paul, minnesota. six people were hurt, including three penned between the pickup and the bar and the driver, a 51-year-old woman, who had to be pried out of the truck. all are expected to survive. unreal. a bill passed by the house of representatives will boost the fda's power to keep tainted drugs made overseas out of the u.s. market. the bill approved yoed a near unanimous vote is also aimed at speeding at approval promise for promising new medications but the top concern is the rise of counterfit drugs by the avastin.

here in the big apple, a proposal to ban super size sodas. new york city wants to ban the sell of soda pop and other sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. the ban, the first of its kind in the nation, could take effect next march and aplay to sweet drinks sold in restaurants, movie theaters. we're told what we drink and eat can determine how healthy we are and subsequently how long we live but for those lucky enough to make it to extreme old age, things like diet and exercise may not matter. dr. jon lapook explains. >> reporter: irving used to pass through central bark on his way to school. what did you see along the way? >> things you would never see. cows, sheep on the lawn. >> reporter: he still goes to work every day, keeping tabs on the financial firm he built with his family. his sister, named happy, lived

to be 109. his baby brother peter is 105. >> i wanted to talk to you about aztec -- >> reporter: this is tom, his 69-year-old son. >> we think it's normal. we've always lived with it so it doesn't appear to us to be so extraordinary. >> reporter: but it is. they are part of a group of jews from eastern europe who live unusually long healthy lives. this is erma daniel, 105, and lily port, 109. they caught the eye of researchers, who called them super agers. >> we're trying to find out what are those biological components that make us age at different rates. >> reporter: healthy lifestyle is not the key to the exceptional longevitity seen among super ager. 60% of the men, including irving, smoked at some point. fewer than half exercise on a regular basis. and they don't eat particularly

healthy diets. what's your favorite food? >> rare hamburger. and good cheese. >> reporter: they discovered people who live to be 100 are more than twice as likely to have a certain var yent of a gene called cetp. irving khan has that gene. have you ever had a heart attack? >> no. >> reporter: have you ever had a stroke? >> no. >> reporter: have you ever had any operation? >> no. >> reporter: the doctor says the future lies in developing drugs that could give everyone what superagers have naturally. >> then we can really prevent all the age-related diseases that are making life so miserable for the elderly. >> reorter: what do you want your legacy to be? >> not a bad fellow. if he borrows be he pays you

back. >> reporter: if he helps scientists find the keys to a longer live, his legacy will be even richer. dr. jon lapook, cbs news. i'm getting a greasy hal hamburger and french fries after the show. up next, your thursday morning weather. in sports, overtime for celtics and heat for the nba championship in miami. [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. we charge everything else... maybe it's time to recharge the human battery. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system

combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. right now, receive two free recharge pillows with the purchase of select beautyrest mattresses. a dad will get a screening. ♪ a little one will get a vaccine. and a teen will talk with the doc. ♪ right now, millions of americans are using their preventive benefits from the health care law. you can, too. not just because there may be no insurance copays or out-of-pocket costs. but because of all those tomorrows you want to see. use your benefits today. learn more at healthcare.gov. a look at the weather in some cities around the country. 81 in new york.

thunderstorms, 89 in miami. strong thunderstorms, 84 in dallas. partly cloudy in los angeles, 81 degrees. let's check your national forecast. scattered showers and thunderstorms will reach from central oklahoma and texas across the southeast and north along the mississippi valley to lower ohio valley and southern great lakes. severe storms are possible from eastern texas to the tennessee valley. heavy rain is likely from missouri to southern indiana. mostly dry in the northeast. and the west except for showers in the pacific northwest. in sports this morning, an overtime finish in game one of the stanley cup finals. on new jersey ice, king's kopitar scored on a breakaway faking a forehand past martin brodeur for a 2-1 victory. the kings have won all nine of their playoffs in nhl record, three wins away from their first stanley cup title. in game two of the nba eastern conference finals, boston at miami, head to

overtime as well. james scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds but a last-second miss lets the score tied 99-99. overtime, wade cranks it up scoring with a drive and a dunk and an off-balance shot for a three-point play. miami won to lead the series 2-0. game three is friday in boston. to baseball now. seattle at texas and this got ugly. mariners hitters smashed three home runs in the second and third innings. seattle up 14-0 and it was not over. in the eighth, the mariners justin smoak hits his second three-run homer of the game. seattle won it 2 1-8. the long balls in denver, rockies right fielder michael cuddyer got it started with a grand slam in the bottom of the first. gonzalez hit homers in three straight at-bats in the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings. rocky pounded astros 13-5. and joy in wrigley field as

the cubs smacked a two-run homer into left center bleachers in the bottom of the ninth. good for an 8-6 walkoff win and a sweep of the padres. french open goes on today but without the william sisters. venus williams lost second round match on wednesday one day after serena's first round defeat. in 43 grand slam events, this is only the fifth in which neither reached the quarterfinals. on the men's side, roger federer won his 234th grand slam match topping simprimy conners but took him four hard fought sets. when we come back on a thursday morning, the buzz athis the year's national spelling bee. all eyes on a 6-year-old girl making history. but a michigan boy fills the show with the word he got wrong. hershey's air delight. experience light and airy, melty bubbles. made from pure, delicious hershey's milk chocolate. hershey's air delight.

mears a look at the day's forecasts. d.c., mostly sunny, 81. thunderstorms, 91 in atlanta. thunderstorms in st. louis, 68.

sunny in denver, 70 degrees. showers, 67 in seattle. the government of poland is outraged over what the white house calls a simple misstatement by president obama. on tuesday mr. obama presented the u.s. medal of freedom posthumously to a polish soldier but mistakenly referred to a nazi death camp a polish death camp. they accused mr. obama of ignorance and demanding a formal apology. to a story about a dream come true for brian banks, the former california high school football star convicted of rape and spent more than five years in prison. his name was cleared last week after his accuser admitted she lied. now 26, banks says his dream was to get a shot at the nfl. and yesterday the seattle seahawks said they'll give him a tryout next week.

and 50 spellers advance to the semifinals today of the scripps national spelling bee. the youngest to qualify, 6-year-old lori anne madison of virginia is not among them. yesterday she misspelled the world ingluvies. jack pasche used another strategy. >> idiosyncratically. i-o i-o-i-r-s-z-3-quatro--f-l-b-r-q. idiosyncratically. >> went out with style. that could have been really bad. turned out to be really awesome. good for him. the 13-year-old might at least have a future in comedy.

coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," tommy hilfiger. i've been crisscrossing the gulf for the past two years now. i can tell you, down here, people measure commitment by what's getting done. i'm mike utsler, and it's my job to make sure we keep making progress in the gulf. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. another fourteen billion dollars has been spent on response and cleanup. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to the gulf of mexico research initiative... to support ten years of independent scientific research on the environment. results will continue to be shared with the public. and we're making sure people know that the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues, but that doesn't mean our job is done.

bp's still here, and we're still committed to seeing this through.

. good morning. welcome to 9news now. today is the last day of may, the 31st. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. good morning, monika santami. she says the roads are busy already and howard is standing by with the forecast.

>> a nice reprieve. going to be a beauty. temperatures down, in the low 80s. tomorrow we'll be hit with strong to severe storms, especially the afternoon. just want to give you a little preview. today is gorgeous out there. we have partly cloudy skies and 72 degrees in d.c. lots of sunshine. we'll dip a few more degrees until we come back to 79 by noon. low 80s, 85. with a temperature of 83 for the drive home at 5:00 p.m. i think we'll have a high of 84 here in washington which is just about where we were yesterday. off to the east of us, that's what's left of beryl, not even a tropical storm. a post-tropical storm but other than that, you see just a few clouds coming across the region. a nice, quiet morning. temperatures have dipped into the low 60s in laurie and hagueers -- in luray and hagerstown. look at the 50s in oakland, down to 54.

and to our south, andrews and fredricksburg at 68 degrees. so we're expecting sunny skies today. good humidity levels. a lot drier than we have been. really a beautiful afternoon. could be 86, one of the warmest spots in culpeper. north hagerstown, down through much of the the seen dough that valley, -- shenandoah valley, you'll top about 80, 81. here's monika santami to explain the issues. we do have some issues. i'll start off with the construction on the west side of town because that's been an issue as well. on the southbound side of the beltway after the gw parkway, only one lane getting through the construction and on the northbound side after i-66, only one lane getting through the construction. 395 at the 13-g9 street bridge, the problem is just -- 13th street bridge, the problem is just up ahead at 12th street. it was the end of a police chase and three lanes are

blocked. you'll find quite a lot of police activity. if you're heading north on to 395 and the 14th street bridge, it's light enough but if you're going to get over to the 12th street area, the 12th street tunnel, you'll find quite a different police activity. a car chase ended there. you only have one lane getting through. inside the beltway in district heights overnight, a car went into a pole, caught fire t. is a deadly crash. prince george's county police are on the scene. sort of between forestville and district heights. i suggest you use route 4 as your alternate route. i think it's going to be there for a while with this investigation ongoing and that entire area blocked off. marlboro pike at done -- at dunell drive. i'll keep you posted on those situations once again at 4:39. the city is ready for thousands of people to attend

today's public memorial for go go legend chuck brown. the event is set at noon at the washington convention center. >> the flags will be lowered at half staff in the district. the plans tore make this tune -- to make this funeral unlike any the city has seen before. ♪ >> reporter: he's the one of many artists to salute go go legend chuck brown, tomorrow, the jones. >> i've managed and developed groups such as tank. i worked with tyreece, puffy. >> reporter: more than 10,000 people stood in line yesterday. one government source today predicted up to 15,000 could turn out for chuck brown's funeral at the convention center. >> we had louie armstrong