questions become -- how many republicans like peter wehner will add their voice to the chorus? >> so much we don't know. jim axelrod for us tonight, thank you. the general told a military conference "our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil." speaking in maryland yesterday, general raymond thomas added, i hope they sort it out soon, was we're a nation at war." the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

when the president spoke today of illegal leaks of classified information, he was right, of course. chip reid has been looking into that. >> these people have committed a potential federal felony in talking to the reporters. and that ought to disturb us. >> reporter: cbs news senior national security analyst fran townsend was homeland security adviser to president george w. bush. >> there's sort of a base level of this we've come to expect out of washington. >> reporter: but what does she think about the amount of classified information that's being leaked right now? >> frankly, i find it stunning. >> reporter: she says the investigation into russian influence in the trump administration will now be more difficult, in part because people will worry that what they tell investigators will become public. >> the only way to effectively run a national security

secret. >> reporter: but democrats, including congressman adam schiff, say the focus on leaks is just a distraction. >> there are far bigger fish to fry. i would hate to see us go off on a tangent. >> reporter: those who want to see a more thorough investigation of the russian connections are heartened by the leaks. a column in the "columbia journalism review" is titled "flynn resignation shows leaks under trump are working. keep 'em coming." author trevor timm of the left-leaning freedom of the press foundation argues that leaks to the press are vital for democracy. former republican congressman joe scarborough on his msnbc program "morning joe" commended whoever leaked the information about flynn. >> the only reason we're finding out about it now is because a patriot did leak this to the "washington post," did get this information out there, or else we wouldn't even have known about it. >> reporter: the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee says he will ask the fbi to investe

the recent rash of leaks, and, scott, the penalty on a charge of leaking classified information is up to ten years in prison. >> chip reid, thanks. there was an important change in u.s. policy in the middle east today as the president welcomed israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the white house. margaret brennan is at the state department with that. margaret? >> reporter: scott, president trump broke with two decades of u.s. policy today, saying he would not insist on a two-state solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict, that means no longer committing to the creation of a palestinian state that would exist peacefully alongside israel. here's the president. >> i thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two, but honestly, if bibi and if the palestinians, if israel and the palestinians are happy, i'm happy with the one they like the best. >> reporter: but president trump did bluntly say to netanyahu he

needs to scale back on settlement construction on palestinian land, saying it's not helpful to peace and both sides do need to make compromises. netanyahu replied with a reference to mr. trump's book, "the art of the deal," and the two men had a warm relationship and talked about their long friendship, and this is really in stark contrast to the strained relations that netanyahu had with president obama. but, scott, palestinians say they have not had this same warm embrace. their leader met secretly with the cia director yesterday for the first time. president trump's choice for labor secretary created a job today for someone else. andrew puzder withdrew. >> i think it's a great, great choice. >> reporter: the senate's republican leader was praising puzder as recently as yesterday, but today mitch mcconnell warned the white house that opposition from several republicans like

maine's susan collins, was likely to doom the nomination. >> you want the person who would be the secretary of labor to have a very good record when it comes to following the laws that he would be in charge of enforcing. >> reporter: puzder paid an undocumented household maid in cash for years. his ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse on oprah in 1990, a charge she has since recanted. >> i found it extraordinarily troubling. >> reporter: democrats like elizabeth warren argued the labor nominee had bad labor policies as the head of hardee's and carl's jr. >> mr. puzder has a long record of cheating workers out of overtime. he's paid out millions to settle claims when he was caught cheating. >> reporter: with the writing on the wall, puzder released a statement late this afternoon saying, "after careful consideration and discussions with my family, i am withdra

my nomination for secretary of labor." no word from the white house, scott, on a possible replacement. >> nancy cordes on capitol hill. president trump has been an inspiration to many, including many of his opponents, motivating them to speak out. here's dean reynolds. >> let's get to school. >> reporter: every day after he packs his son and daughter off to school on chicago's north side, 40-year-old jeremy reid settles onto his living room couch to get his marching orders. >> literally delivered right to me every day. >> reporter: he's talking about the progressive websites that seek to marshal his energy and meld it with millions of other opponents of the new president. >> i've signed up and really kind of latched on to a lot of different things. >> reporter: among them, indivisible guide, a new website designed to fight the trump administration by employing the same pressure tactics the tea party used against president obama. >> you will have three simple targets, your two u.s. senators and your representative.

>> reporter: from petition drives to mass rallies and more, these websites attack the system from the left, to keep people like jeremy off the sidelines and in the streets. up until the election, were you particularly politically active? >> never. i never actually set foot in a protest or a rally up until this year. >> do your job! >> reporter: the advice seems to be sinking in with mass protests and confrontational congressional get-togethers becoming more common. >> it's clear every day they don't respect the judiciary. >> reporter: near minneapolis this week -- >> i'm very concerned about social security. >> reporter: -- voters vented at the local office of their republican representative erik paulsen. >> we had 1,860 people sign a request. >> reporter: jenna martin, a doctor with two children was there, along with newlywed clara severson, a warehouse worker. they both participated in women's marches last month. >> right now everybody is so ready to go. but they just need a little bit of direction. >> we're not an angrb.

we're just engaged and concerned constituents. >> reporter: the next big protests are being planned for april 15th, scott, when demonstrators will be demanding that mr. trump release his tax returns. information the white house says people don't care about anymore. >> dean reynolds in chicago. dean, thanks. coming up, highway deaths that didn't have to happen. and a beloved bird is vanishing. where's frank? it's league night! 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. bowl without me. frank.' i'm going to get nachos. snack bar's closed. gah! ah, ah ah. ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪

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despite all the new safety devices in our cars today, the number of traffic deaths is increasing. kris van cleave looked into the paradox. >> reporter: police say a texting and speeding driver slammed into judy claybourne on a north carolina highway. she's among the estimated 40,000 killed in crashes last year, a rate of nearly 110 a day. it's the most in almost a decade. >> 100 deaths a day is like having multiple plane crashes every week. >> reporter: former national tranta

national safety council. >> these are huge costs for us as a society, but the tremendous toll that we see is on individual lives, on families. these are preventable crashes. >> reporter: according to the survey, some factors contributing to the spike are 47% of motorists are comfortable with texting while driving. 16% don't wear seat belts. 10% drive under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. >> we're not doing the right things. we're increasing speed limits. we're allowing things to be legalized that impair people behind the wheel without testing for those things or having clear standards for it. states really just aren't following the data. >> reporter: according to a new aaa survey, millennials, 19 to 24, are the worst-behaved drivers. 88% admit to speeding, red-light running or texting while driving in the last 30 days. >> he truly focused on me whenever i was with him. >> reporter: laura carney's father mick was killed by a teen

>> it was so preventable. she could have pulled over to the side of the road and our lives would be totally different. >> reporter: the national safety council is calling for a complete ban of cell phones while driving. scott, they'd also like to see collision avoidance technology like automatic braking be made standard in all vehicles. >> kris van cleave tonight. kris, thank you. still ahead, the president cuts out the heart of obamacare. . ok, it says you apply the blue one to me. here? no. ah ok, here? maybe you should read the directions. have a little fun together, or a lot. k-y yours and mine. two sensations that work together, so you can play together. k-y yours and mine. of being there for my son's winning shot.

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doctors may now be able to predict autism in children as young as six months. it used to be two years. researchers say brain scans of infants with a high family risk can detect abnormalities and early treatment helps with the symptoms. it was little noticed today, but on orders from the president, the irs essentially killed the part of obamacare that republicans hate the most, the individual mandate. it requires most americans to buy insurance or pay a fine with their income taxes. the obama administration said the health law would work only if nearly everyone participated. well, today the irs said the law will remain, but the agency will not check tax returns for health coverage. it's one result of mr. trump's order to reduce obamacare regulations. up next, we travel to antarctica, and you might not recognize the place.

nasa says that last month was the third warmest january on record, and 2016 was the warmest year. well, tonight in our climate diaries, mark phillips sees the change at the bottom of the earth. >> reporter: the u.s. antarctic research base at palmer station has been clinging to this rocky shore since the 1960s. here because these guys are here, the adelie species of penguin that has nested nearby in their tens of thousands.

the model for the movie "happy feet." they're apparently not so happy anymore. >> we're counting the penguins every year. >> reporter: they call shawn farry the bird man here. lately he's had a lot fewer birds to count. >> these local islands where we've been censusing for 43 years now have declined by 85%. >> reporter: 85%? >> the numbers on this island at their peak were 9,000. this year it was 1,200. >> reporter: at first it was thought that as the weather warmed here, the penguins might have moved further south, looking for the sea ice they need to hunt from, but they haven't. >> we do work other places looking for them. we're not finding them. >> reporter: not just the sea ice is retreating. there's a spectacular glacier next to the base that gets less spectacular every year. they keep a photo showing how it retreated from 1975 to 2013.

quickly. normally in places like this you talk about things moving at glacial speed, taking their time. not here. here they know exactly when that glacier split off from this place-- march 14, 2014. this became dietrich island. and they have photos, as well, of the moment the island emerged when the glacier connecting it to the mainland collapsed, along with the population of penguins. and, scott, they've even got a little bit of a bet going on at palmer station where they've always thought the base was on the mainland. it may actually be on an island, and they may not have to wait long to find out. >> mark phillips. and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you the news continues. for others, check back us with just a little bit later for the morning news and of course, be sure not to miss "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome to the "overnight news." i'm tony dokoupil. president trump becomed the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the white house. meeting with reporters, president trump asked mr. netanyahu to hold back onsetlements for a little bit. he said he would be happy with a one state or a two-state solution to the palestinian issue and the president would not commit to using the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. but overshadowing the visit was the widening scandal involving fired national security adviser michael flynn and now others, and their ties to russia. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media. >> the comments came amid revelations that the fbi counterintelligence unit is leading an

where trump campaign operatives had frequent contacts with russian officials during the 2016 election. >> mr. president tru, are you g to answer any questions -- >> reporter: the president ignored questions about the story during his press conference. congressional democrats stepped up calls for a bipartisan investigation. house minority leader nancy pelosi. >> so my question to my republican colleagues is, if you're not willing to take the first step to look into this, what are you afraid of? >> reporter: some republicans, like tennessee's bob corker and south carolina's lindsey graham are calling for thorough inqu y inquiries. but senator rand paul wants to deaf to the justice department. >> if law enforcement thinks there needs to be an investigation based on law enforcement type of facts, they make that decision. but we don't need more political investigation up here. >> reporter: the president has been at odds with the

said the russian government interfered in the elections. mr. trump accepted that conclusion, but has accused u.s. intelligence agencies first of nazi, and now russian tactics. storm clouds are again rolling in over the oroville dam in northern california. parts of which were in danger of collapse just days ago. at 700 feet, oroville is the highest dam in the nation and construction crews have been working around the clock to repair an emergency spillway that protects communities below. john blackstone is there. >> reporter: so much water is being released that the feather river is running over its banks here in some places. new storms are headed this way, and people here are living under an evacuation warning, meaning they can come back but they need to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. water continues to surge out of lake oroville. california officials are confident the damaged spillways will hold. >> it is safe to reduce the immediate evacuation order

currently in place to an evacuation warning. >> reporter: officials say the main spillway is damaged but stable. when the lake overflowed into the emergency backup spillway, it washed away the land next to the reservoir's wall. this is how the hillside looked prior to sunday. more than 125 construction crews are now working around the clock to reinforce that hillside. they're loading the spillway with 1200 tons of heavy rocks and boulders every hour, using helicopters and construction equipment. even with the mandatory evacuation lifted for the nearly 200,000 people living below the oroville dam, the threat remains. >> they have to be vigilant. they have to pay attention to what's going on, and there is the prospect that we could issue another evacuation order if the circumstances change and the risk increases. >> reporter: so far, the

rains are not expected to be severe and officials say the dam will weather the storm. late tuesday, president trump declared a state of emergency here, meaning the area can now receive funds and help from fema. actor harrison ford has some explaining to do after he nearly crashed his small plane into a jet liner waiting to take off. ben tracy has the story from john wayne airport outside los angeles. >> reporter: harrison ford, pictured here with his aircraft, nearly averted disaster on monday afternoon. the 74-year-old actor was cleared to land on runway 2-0 left at john wayne airport, south of los angeles. instead he landed on a pair legal taxi way, passing over american airlines flight 1456, a boeing 737, with 110 passengers and six crew members on board. after, ford reportedly asked air traffic controllers, was that airliner meant to be underneath

>> a runway is clearly marked with markings indicating that it is a runway. a taxiway has its own separate identification lines. so you should be able to see them. >> reporter: such mistakes, while rare, have occurred before. in 2015, an alaska airlines plane accidently landed on a taxiway in between two runways in seattle. and in 2009, two pilots mistakenly landed a jet liner filled with 182 passengers on a taxiway in atlanta. >> hang on. >> reporter: monday's incident wasn't the first time the screen legend had trouble in the sky. >> engine failure. >> reporter: in 2015, ford was critically injured when engine failure forced him to make an emergency landing on a santa monica golf course. we did try to contact harrison ford, but his representatives declined to comment. the faa is investigating

and he could have his pilot's license revoked. just days after north korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea of japan, the half brother of the country's dictator turned up dead in malaysia. kim jong-nam was attacked inside the kuala lumpur airport. a vietnamese woman is under arrest. >> reporter: the 28-year-old woman was arrested at the same terminal where he was attacked. she was identified using airport security footage. police are still searching for five other suspects in this growing investigation. kim jong-nam, the estranged half brother of north korean leader kimmwaiting for a flight monday morning, when an unidentified woman and accomplice threw a cloth laced with liquid on his faith. 46-year-old kim was rushed to this hospi

an even more sinister version of events is being reported in south korea, that assassins attacked him with needles. if the north korean dictator is behind this, it would play into his pattern of pernlgs. since taking power, he's executed dozens of officials, including his uncle. though all were on north korean soil. >> to do this in a foreign country sun usual. >> reporter: georgetown professor victor cha says it may point to his vulnerability. >> this high degree of purging suggests there continues to be some sort of challenges internally. >> reporter: kim jong-nam was once thought to be the country's heir apparent but fell out of favor with his father after reportedly trying to visit disneyland in japan with a

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mark phillips is at the bottom of the world for his series "the climate diaries." today he tackles the mystery of the vanishing penguins. >> reporter: antarctica, it can seem like a landscape frozen in time. it's anything but. this is palmer station, where about 40 people work at a u.s. research base that has clung to this rocky outcrop on the antarctica coast since the mid 1960s. and this is bob farrell who has run the station for 18 years. if anybody knows if changes are happening here, it's bob. palmer was put here because it's a great place

antarctica wildlife. it sat in the middle of the perfect habitat for the adellie penguin, who tested here in the tens of thousands. >> we're counting the penguins every year. >> reporter: they call shawn fari the birdman. but lately he's had a lot fewer birds to study. >> they've declined by about 85%. >> reporter: 85%? >> the nuchle enumbers on this at their peak were 9,000. this year it's 100. >> reporter: the penguins need sea ice to hunt on. there's less of that now. >> the ice has declined by about three months of sea ice. >> reporter: sea ice season is three months shorter than

used to be? >> correct. the penguins might have moved further south, looking for the sea ice they need to hunt from, but they haven't. >> we do work other places looking for them. we're not finding them. >> reporter: not just the sea ice is retreating. the bases next door to a spectacular glacier that's less spectacular than it used to be. they've got a photograph showing the extent of the glacier ice in 1975, and where it had retreated to by 2013. then, a funny thing happened. normally in places like this, you talk about things moving at glacial speed, taking their time. not here. here they know exactly when that glacier split off from this place. march 14, 2014. this became detrick island. they had thought the island was part of the mainland, until the glacier linking it to the shore gla clac collapsed and disappear. >> when

year and you see wow, the glacier is quite a bit farther back or you have people coming back that haven't been here for quite a while, they're shocked by it. it's remarkable. >> reporter: they've got a little bet going on at palmer station where they always thought the base was on the mainland. now they think it may actually be on an island. they may not have to wait long to find out. and climate change is believed to be part of the cause of a spike in the price of vanilla. three quarters of the world's madagascar, but the island nation has been blasted by cyclones and floods, followed by drought. what does that mean to you? higher prices. ben tracy has the story from a candy store in hollywood. >> reporter: when it comes to vanilla, nobody wants artificial flavor, they want the real thing. so at this candy store in hollywood, all the chocolate bars use real vanilla. but now there is a shortage of

has become a bitter pill for a lot of businesses to swallow. do you sell a lot of vanilla ice cream? >> it's our number one seller. >> reporter: here in california, vanilla ice cream is showered with sprinkles, blended with brownies, and rolling in root beer. its appeal is pretty simple. >> i like it. >> reporter: owner karen clemens says it's all about the ingredients. how important is that madagascar vanilla? >> my ice cream would not be the same without it. >> reporter: yet these days she's losing money on every scoop. vanilla has surpassed dairy as her biggest cost. do you think people know when they're ordering this, this is almost like the delicacy of the ice cream? >> no, they don't. they have absolutely no idea. >> reporter: the price she pays for a gallon of vanilla extract has

what does that mean to your bottom line? >> well, i just kind of hope that we're going to make it through the season. >> reporter: 79% of the world's vanilla fields are in madagascar. a shortage there has helped drive up the cost of vanilla beans from about $11 a pound in 2011 to nearly $200 by the end of 2016. at this price point, is the vanilla industry sustainable? >> no. we manufacture over 200 types of vanilla. >> reporter: josephine and her husband, don, run cook flavoring company. most of their business is vanilla. she shot this video in december to survey the vanilla crops. beans droe in orchids, each one is pollinated by hand. >> vanilla is not a product where you can go out and get it tomorrow. it takes three years for that vine to

>> reporter: the market is notoriously unstable. supply problems cause vanilla bean prices to spike in 2003, before crashing the next year. shipments of vanilla once again cost a small fortune. >> probably $100,000 of vanilla. >> reporter: this is worth $100,000? >> yes. >> reporter: a couple years ago it would have been worth? >> probably $1,000. >> reporter: many farmers harvest the beans before they fully mature, worrying thieves will steal them because they're so valuable. the question for businesses is whether they keep buying at high prices or wait for the inevitable crash. >> it's going to come down, and nobody knows when or how quickly. >> reporter: karen clemens is having to raise prices at her store. and while she won't put artificial vanilla in her ice cream, she did start using

her waffle cones. >> it's just what i do. it's what i believe in. to even introduce an artificial vanilla in my store, it broke my heart. >> reporter: the good news is the vanilla crop in madagascar appears to be in good shape this year, and that should increase the supply. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

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here's question -- what's a nine letter word for a puzzle that's been in "the new york times" for 75 years? how about cross word. jim axelrod marked the anniversary with a chat with one of the world's most famous cross word creators. >> reporter: he's a man whose job description has been to frustrate people to tears for nearly 25 years. being hounded for autographs? because if you love cross word puzzles, will shorts is a rock star. there's something about this puzzle that grabs people. what is it? >> well, first of all, you o're puzzle sort of perp and you look at an empty grid, you kneel compelled to fill in the grid. it's part of the testing of yourself. solving a cross word is one way to affirm that you can still think. it keeps you fro

progressively more difficult through the week. 1.5 million people each month try to tackle "the times" cross word. >> i love it. it's the best out there. >> reporter: and yet, "the times" is a curious home for the gold standard of cross words. so the cross word puzzle became a national and then a worldwide craze in 1924 and '25. and "the new york times" ran an editorial saying cross words were a waste of time and predicting their swift demise. >> literally having to eat their words. "the times" was the last major newspaper to start a cross word. >> the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked. >> reporter: "the times" debuted the cross word puzzle two months after pearl harbor. the first cross word had a world war ii theme, to play off the day's headlines. seems kind of crazy. the cross wor

from the harsher parts of life. cross words are escapism. >> reporter: there have only been four puzzle editors at the paper for 75 years. shorts took over in 1993. the most common answer in the history of the puzzle is area, having appeared more than 1400 times. but in the will shorts era, the most common answer has been, well, era. >> there's lots of ways to clue it. it's the historical period, it's the earned run average in baseball, the name of a laundry detergent. equal rights amendment. lots of things you can do with it. >> reporter: in november of 1996, "the new york times" published one of its most memorable puzzles. you have an all-time favorite, which was election day of 1996. >> right. >> reporter: the country was deciding between bob dole and bill clinton. >> it's still too closeo

>> reporter: and so was the puzzle. the answer could be clinton elected or bob dole. the first down answer was black halloween animal. and you could fill in cat, forming the c of clinton or bat forming the b of bob dole. it was the first time a cross word was ever schizophrenic like that. first time a cross word ever had two puzzles. >> reporter: the puzzles thrive on short words with vowels. the favorite cookie is the oreo. and the favorite skater is ono or ito. the cross word's future, like every other part of the paper, is a matter of adapting to the digital age of a world moving faster and attention spans growing shorter. the puzzle's latest innovation is the mini. pue-third the size of a regular

or with the app. >> the thing that excites me about the mini is that this is kind of like unchartered territory. >> reporter: 24-year-old joel is the editor of the mini. >> there's ways to experiment with a digital cross word. a couple weeks ago i put in emoji as a clue. this is what excites me about the digital era. >> reporter: it's so millennial. >> it might be the ultimate millennial thing. >> reporter: but cross word traditionalists need not worry. at least that's what will shorts is telling us. >> it's just a very versatile puzzle that appeals to people. >> reporter: is "the new york times" cross word puzzle going to be around in another 75 years? >> i think the cross word is here to stay. so today we got a movie star to mark the big day,

yesterday's puzzle answer is

one of the most stay mouse animals in america is headed to china. bao bao the panda was born and raised at the national zoo in washington, but her parents were only loaned and under a deal, the offspring has to return. chip reid reports. >> reporter: over the past few weeks, bao bao has been getting used to the crate to care wri her to china. >> by giving her honey water, it continues to build this space she wants to be. >> reporter: marty will be traveling with her. >> i'm someone that she knows really well, so if she gets nervous or looking for something to do, i'm going to be that person. >> reporter: you hold her hand. >> yeah, exactly. not it will lira

relationship with bao bao since the first time. he was there for her first checkup, and the days of tumbling in the snow and chomping on bamboo. but now, he'll have to teach her new trainers in china how to interact with her. >> i will be able to help her with that transition from her life here in america to her new life in china. >> reporter: in isn't the first panda the zoo has raised and then let go. her brother returned to china in 2010. like bao bao, he was flown in a crate by fedex. the flight will be direct from washington to china and an inflight service of 55 pounds of bamboo, two pounds of apples and pears, two sweet potatoes and ten gallons of water. >> i'm thibrandy smith is the ae director at the national zoo. un

your child. >> she reminds me a lot of my daughter. she's very independent. >> reporter: she says since bao bao's separation from her mother in 2015, she has become more solitary. >> they don't actually like to see each other right now. >> reporter: they don't? >> no, and it's okay. mothers and daughters don't always get along. >> reporter: the mother has another cub that keeps her occupied. that means bao bao, all grown up, will hopefully be having her own cub, soon. >> it's like your kids going off to college. it's a hard thing to do. we're a little sad, a lot worried but we know it's the right thing to do and the best thing for her. >> reporter: isn't she sweet. she came back to give us a show. she has learned a number of cues over the years. now she's going have to learn them in chinese. >> and bao bao says bye-bye on february 21. if you want to bid her bomb voyag -- bovo

that's the "overnight news." from the broadcast center here in new york city, i'm tony dokoupil. don't blame flynn and don't blame him. the president says the demise of his national security adviser is the fault of illegal leaks. >> very, very unfair. clinton supporters. >> and people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss. and -- >> the fake media. also tonight, the president takes his first plunge into middle east policy. >> i'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. we'll work something out. what's driving a big increase in highway fatalities? >> it was so preventable. pe> and what's become of the nsnguith at e bottom of the world? ♪ this is the "cbs overnight

news." now republicans in the senate are asking the fbi and the attorney general to prepare a briefing on the firing of national security adviser michael flynn. the president let flynn go this week because he was not honest about contacts he had with russia. yesterday, the president blamed the fbi, the national security agency, and the media for the controversy. he suggested the fbi and the nsa are behind what he called illegal leaks of classified information. the president wrote that the fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. mr. trump also blamed the hillary clinton campaign and reminded a news conference at the white house of his marging of victory in the electoral college. major garrett on a busy of

man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media. >> reporter: president trump praised ousted national security adviser michael flynn just one day after the white house said mr. trump asked for flynn's resignation because he could not be trusted. flynn misled white house officials, including vice president mike pence, about conversations he had with russia's ambassador before mr. trump took office. the president blamed those who divulged the contents of flynn's conversations to the media. >> things are being leaked. it's criminal action, a criminal act, and it's been going on for a long time, before me, but now it's really going on, and people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the democrats had under hillary clinton. >> reporter: the comments came amid revelations that the fbi counterintelligence unit is leading an investigation into whether trump campaign operatives had frequent contacts with russian officials during the 2016 election. >> mr. president, are you going to answer any questions about

your associates' contact with the russians during the campaign, sir? >> mr. president? >> reporter: the president ignored questions about the story after his press conference with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. congressional democrats stepped up calls for a bipartisan investigation. house minority leader nancy pelosi. >> so my question to my republican colleagues is if you're not willing to take the first step to look into this, what are you afraid of? >> reporter: some republicans like tennessee's bob corker and south carolina's lindsey graham are calling for thorough inquiries, but senator rand paul of kentucky wants to defer to the justice department. >> if law enforcement thinks there needs to be an investigation based on law enforcement type of facts, they make that decision. we don't need more political investigation up here. >> reporter: the president has been at odds with the intelligence community since it said the russian government interfered in the 2016 election. scott, mr. trump eventually accepted that conclusion, but he has accused u.s. intelligence

russian tactics. one other point, scott, vice admiral robert harward has been offered the job of national security adviser to replace general flynn. he is negotiating with the white house but is expected to accept that offer. >> major garrett at the white house, thanks. with incomplete information, it's impossible to know whether contacts with russia were improper or illegal. another thing we don't know is whether mr. trump's opaque businesses are involved. jim axelrod has been trying to make the questions as clear as possible with the help of a republican who has worked for three administrations. peter wehner is now with the conservative ethics and public policy center. >> reporter: donald trump has insulted everyone from federal judges to fellow republicans to meryl streep. he's even taken a shot at the pope. >> putin's a killer. >> there are a lot of killers. we got a lot of killers. what? you think our country is so innocent?

>> reporter: but he seemed to bend over backward to avoid criticizing vladimir putin. >> obviously there is something going on here. >> reporter: peter wehner wants to know why. he worked for ronald reagan and both bush administrations, writing speeches and generating policy ideas. >> there's smoke here, and there's fire. we just don't know the nature of the fire. >> reporter: part of it, says wehner, could be financial entanglements between mr. trump's real estate empire and russia, pointing to the words of donald trump, jr., in 2008, "russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets," he told a real estate conference. "we see a lot of money pouring in from russia." culd that explain things, what donald trump, jr., said? >> oh, i think it could explain a lot. i don't think that it explains everything, but it certainly is an indication. out of the mouth of the son of the president that they have huge financial ties to russia. >> reporter: today there are new allegations of russia's meddling in the presidential election.

correspondent jeff pegues reports trump campaign aides are at the center of an fbi investigation. >> the investigation is in part looking at a specific allegation in a dossier compiled by a former british spy that there was a "well-developed conspiracy" managed on the trump side by aides paul manafort and carter page. both manafort and page deny any inappropriate contact with russian officials. >> if there was collusion going on, then this is a titanic story, and it could lead to the ruination of the trump presidency. >> reporter: that's a big statement. >> it is a big statement, but this is a big story. it's a story that we've never seen before. it's unprecedented. >> reporter: then there's secretary of state rex tillerson's relationship with putin when he ran exxon, as well as page's ties with russian energy companies when he was a banker, and manafort's job advising putin ally victor yanukovych in ukraine. the democrats have been raising questions about all of this since before the election, but

questions become -- how many republicans like peter wehner will add their voice to the chorus? >> so much we don't know. jim axelrod for us tonight, thank you. the general commanding u.s. special operations forces, america's counterterrorist commandos, told a military conference, "our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil." speaking in maryland yesterday, general raymond thomas added, i hope they sort it out soon, because we're a nation at war." the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

when the president spoke today of illegal leaks of classified information, he was right, of course. chip reid has been looking into that. >> these people have committed a potential federal felony in talking to the reporters. and that ought to disturb us. >> reporter: cbs news senior national security analyst fran townsend was homeland security adviser to president george w. bush. >> there's sort of a base level of this we've come to expect out of washington. >> reporter: but what does she think about the amount of classified information that's being leaked right now? >> frankly, i find it stunning. >> reporter: she says the investigation into russian influence in the trump administration will now be more difficult, in part because people will worry that what they tell investigators will become public. >> the only way to effectively run a ti

investigation is to keep it a secret. >> reporter: but democrats, including congressman adam schiff, say the focus on leaks is just a distraction. >> there are far bigger fish to fry. i would hate to see us go off on a tangent. >> reporter: those who want to see a more thorough investigation of the russian connections are heartened by the leaks. a column in the "columbia journalism review" is titled "flynn resignation shows leaks under trump are working. keep 'em coming." author trevor timm of the left-leaning freedom of the press foundation argues that leaks to the press are vital for democracy. former republican congressman joe scarborough on his msnbc program "morning joe" commended whoever leaked the information about flynn. >> the only reason we're finding out about it now is because a patriot did leak this to the "washington post," did get this information out there, or else we wouldn't even have known about it. >> reporter: the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee says he will ask the fbi to investigate

the recent rash of leaks, and, scott, the penalty on a charge of leaking classified information is up to ten years in prison. >> chip reid, thanks. there was an important change in u.s. policy in the middle east today as the president welcomed israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the white house. margaret brennan is at the state department with that. margaret? >> reporter: scott, president trump broke with two decades of u.s. policy today, saying he would not insist on a two-state solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict, that means no longer committing to the creation of a palestinian state that would exist peacefully alongside israel. here's the president. >> i thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two, but honestly, if bibi and if the palestinians, if israel and the palestinians are happy, i'm

best. >> reporter: but president trump did bluntly say to netanyahu he needs to scale back on settlement construction on palestinian land, saying it's not helpful to peace and both sides do need to make compromises. netanyahu replied with a reference to mr. trump's book, "the art of the deal," and the two men had a warm relationship and talked about their long friendship, and this is really in stark contrast to the strained relations that netanyahu had with president obama. but, scott, palestinians say they have not had this same warm embrace. their leader met secretly with the cia director yesterday for the first time. president trump's choice for labor secretary created a job today for someone else. andrew puzder withdrew. here's nancy cordes. >> i think it's a great, great choice. >> reporter: the senate's republican leader was praising puzder as recently as yesterday, but today mitch mcconnell warned the white house that opposition from several republicans like

maine's susan collins, was likely to doom the nomination. >> you want the person who would be the secretary of labor to have a very good record when it comes to following the laws that he would be in charge of enforcing. >> reporter: puzder paid an undocumented household maid in cash for years. his ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse on oprah in 1990, a charge she has since recanted. >> i found it extraordinarily troubling. >> reporter: democrats like elizabeth warren argued the labor nominee had bad labor policies as the head of hardee's and carl's jr. >> mr. puzder has a long record of cheating workers out of overtime. he's paid out millions to settle claims when he was caught cheating. >> reporter: with the writing on the wall, puzder released a statement late this afternoon saying, "after careful consideration and discussions with my family, i am withdrawing

my nomination for secretary of labor." no word from the white house, scott, on a possible replacement. >> nancy cordes on capitol hill. president trump has been an inspiration to many, including many of his opponents, motivating them to speak out. here's dean reynolds. >> let's get to school. >> reporter: every day after he packs his son and daughter off to school on chicago's north side, 40-year-old jeremy reid settles onto his living room couch to get his marching orders. >> literally delivered right to me every day. >> reporter: he's talking about the progressive websites that seek to marshal his energy and meld it with millions of other opponents of the new president. >> i've signed up d really kind of latched on to a lot of different things. >> reporter: among them, indivisible guide, a new website designed to fight the trump administration by employing the same pressure tactics the tea party used against president obama. >> you will have three simple

and your representative. >> reporter: from petition drives to mass rallies and more, these websites attack the system from the left, to keep people like jeremy off the sidelines and in the streets. up until the election, were you particularly politically active? >> never. i never actually set foot in a protest or a rally up until this year. >> do your job! >> reporter: the advice seems to be sinking in with mass protests and confrontational congressional get-togethers becoming more common. >> it's clear every day they don't respect the judiciary. >> reporter: near minneapolis this week -- >> i'm very concerned about social security. >> reporter: -- voters vented at the local office of their republican representative erik paulsen. >> we had 1,860 people sign a request. >> reporter: jenna martin, a doctor with two children was

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despite all the new safety devices in our cars today, the number of traffic deaths is increasing. kris van cleave looked into the paradox. >> reporter: police say a texting and speeding driver slammed into judy claybourne on a north carolina highway. she's among the estimated 40,000 killed in crashes last year, a rate of nearly 110 a day. it's the most in almost a decade. >> 100 deaths a day is like having multiple plane crashes every week. >> reporter: formeti

transportation safety board chair deborah hersman runs the national safety council. >> these are huge costs for us as a society, but the tremendous toll that we see is on individual lives, on families. these are preventable crashes. >> reporter: according to the survey, some factors contributing to the spike are 47% of motorists are comfortable with texting while driving. 16% don't wear seat belts. 10% drive under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. >> we're not doing the right things. we're increasing speed limits. we're allowing things to be legalized that impair people behind the wheel without testing for those things or having clear standards for it. states really just aren't following the data. >> reporter: according to a new aaa survey, millennials, 19 to 24, are the worst-behaved drivers. 88% admit to speeding, red-light running or texting while driving in the last 30 days. >> he truly focused on me whenever i was with him. >> reporter: laura carney's

driver on her phone. >> it was so preventable. she could have pulled over to the side of the road and our lives would be totally different. >> reporter: the national safety council is calling for a complete ban of cell phones while driving. scott, they'd also like to see collision avoidance technology like automatic braking be made standard in all vehicles. >> kris van cleave tonight. kris, thank you. still ahead, the president cuts out the heart of obamacare. marks e or yellow stains on your clothes? use new degree ultraclear black + white. no white marks on black clothes. and no yellow stains on white. so your white clothes stay white... and your black clothes stay black. ♪ choose degree ultraclear black + white. it won't let you down.

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a study out today says doctors may now be able to predict autism in children as young as six months. it used to be two years. researchers say brain scans of infants with a high family risk can detect abnormalities and early treatment helps with the symptoms. it was little noticed today, but on orders from the president, the irs essentially killed the part of obamacare that republicans hate the most, the individual mandate. it requires most americans to buy insurance or pay a fine with their income taxes. the obama administration said the health law would work only if nearly everyone participated. well, today the irs said the law will remain, but the agency will not check tax returns for health coverage. it's one result of mr. trump's order to reduce obamacare regulations. up next, we travel to antarctica, and you might not recognize the place.

nasa says that last month was the third warmest january on record, and 2016 was the warmest year. well, tonight in our climate diaries, mark phillips sees the change at the bottom of the earth. >> reporter: the u.s. antarctic research base at palmer station has been clinging to this rocky shore since the 1960s. here because these guys are here, the adelie species of penguin that has nested nearby in their tens of thousands.

these are the penguins that were the model for the movie "happy feet." they're apparently not so happy anymore. >> we're counting the penguins every year. >> reporter: they call shawn farry the bird man here. lately he's had a lot fewer birds to count. >> these local islands where we've been censusing for 43 years now have declined by 85%. >> reporter: 85%? >> the numbers on this island at their peak were 9,000. this year it was 1,200. >> reporter: at first it was thought that as the weather warmed here, the penguins might have moved further south, looking for the sea ice they need to hunt from, but they haven't. >> we do work other places looking for them. we're not finding them. >> reporter: not just the sea ice is retreating. there's a spectacular glacier next to the base that gets less spectacular every year. they keep a photo showing how it retreated from 1975 to 2013.

quickly. normally in places like this you talk about things moving at glacial speed, taking their time. not here. here they know exactly when that glacier split off from this place-- march 14, 2014. this became dietrich island. and they have photos, as well, of the moment the island emerged when the glacier connecting it to the mainland collapsed, along with the population of penguins. and, scott, they've even got a little bit of a bet going on at palmer station where they've always thought the base was on the mainland. it may actually be on an island, and they may not have to wait long to find out. >> mark phillips. and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you the news continues. for others, check back us with just a little bit later for the morning news and of course, be sure not to miss "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley. -- captions by vitac -- viwww.tac.com

this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome to the "overnight news." i'm tony dokoupil. president trump welcomed the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the white house. meeting with reporters, president trump asked mr. netanyahu to hold back onsetlements a little bit. he said he would be happy with a one state or a two-state solution to the palestinian issue and the president would not commit to using the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. but overshadowing the visit was the widening scandal involving fired national security adviser michael flynn and now others, and their ties to russia. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media. >> reporter: the comments came amid revelations that the fbi counterintelligence unit is leading an investigation into where trump campaign operatives

russian officials during the 2016 election. >> mr. president, are you going to answer any questions -- >> reporter: the president ignored questions about the story after his press conference with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. congressional democrats stepped up calls for a bipartisan investigation. house minority leader nancy pelosi. >> so my question to my republican colleagues is, if you're not willing to take the first step to look into this, what are you afraid of? >> reporter: some republicans, like tennessee's bob corker and south carolina's lindsey graham are calling for thorough inquiries. but senator rand paul wants to defer to the justice department. >> if law enforcement thinks there needs to be an investigation based on law enforcement type of facts, they make that decision. but we don't need more political investigation up here. >> reporter: the president has been at odds with the intelligence community since it said the russian government

interfered in the 2016 elections. mr. trump accepted that conclusion, but has accused u.s. intelligence agencies first of nazi, and now russian tactics. storm clouds are again rolling in over the oroville dam in northern california. parts of which were in danger of collapse just days ago. at 700 feet, oroville is the highest dam in the nation and construction crews have been working around the clock to repair an emergency spillway that protects communities below. john blackstone is there. >> reporter: so much water is being released that the feather river is running over its banks here in some places. new storms are headed this way, and people here are living under an evacuation warning, meaning they can come back but they need to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. water continues to surge out of lake oroville. california officials are confident the damaged spillways will hold. >> it is safe to reduce the immediate evacuation order currently in place to an

evacuation warning. >> reporter: officials say the main spillway is damaged but stable. when the lake overflowed into the emergency backup spillway, it washed away the land next to the reservoir's wall. this is how the hillside looked prior to sunday. more than 125 construction crews are now working around the clock to reinforce that hillside. they're loading the spillway with 1200 tons of heavy rocks and boulders every hour, using helicopters and construction equipment. even with the mandatory evacuation lifted for the nearly 200,000 people living below the oroville dam, the threat remains. >> they have to be vigilant. they have to pay attention to what's going on, and there is the prospect that we could issue another evacuation order if the circumstances change and the risk increases. >> reporter: so far, the coming rains are not expected to be

severe and officials say the dam will weather the storm. late tuesday, president trump declared a state of emergency here, meaning the area can now receive funds and help from fema. actor harrison ford has some explaining to do after he nearly crashed his small plane into a jet liner waiting to take off. ben tracy has the story from john wayne airport outside los angeles. >> reporter: harrison ford, pictured here with his aircraft, nearly averted disaster on monday afternoon. the 74-year-old actor was cleared to land on runway 2-0 left at john wayne airport, south of los angeles. instead he landed on a pair -- parallel taxiway, passing over american airlines flight 1456, a boeing 737, with 110 passengers and six crew members on board. after, ford reportedly asked air

airliner meant to be underneath me? >> a runway is clearly marked with markings indicating that it is a runway. a taxiway has its own separate identification lines. so you should be able to see them. >> reporter: such mistakes, while rare, have occurred before. in 2015, an alaska airlines plane accidently landed on a taxiway in between two runways in seattle. and in 2009, two pilots mistakenly landed a jet liner filled with 182 passengers on a taxiway in atlanta. >> hang on. we're going in. >> reporter: monday's incident wasn't the first time the screen legend and respected pilot had trouble in the sky. >> 53178, engine failure. >> reporter: in 2015, ford was critically injured when engine failure forced him to make an emergency landing on a santa monica golf course. we did try to contact harrison ford, but his representatives declined to comment. the faa is investigating this, and ford could face disciplinary

action, including having his pilot's license revoked. just days after north korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea of japan, the half brother of the country's dictator turned up dead in malaysia. and it's a murder mystery right out of the cold war. kim jong-nam was attacked inside the kuala lumpur airport. a vietnamese woman is under arrest. adriana diaz is tracking the story from beijing. >> reporter: the 28-year-old woman was arrested at the same terminal what kim jong-nam was attacked. she was identified using airport security footage. police are still searching for five other suspects in this growing investigation. kim jong-nam, the estranged half brother of north korean leader kim jong-un, was waiting for a flight at kuala lumpur's airport monday morning, when police say an unidentified woman and accomplice threw a cloth laced with liquid on his faith. 46-year-old kim was rushed to this hospital, but died on the way.

an even more sinister version of events is being reported in south korea media, that the female assassins, sent by kim jong-un, attacked his brother with poison needles. if the north korean dictator is behind this, it would play into his pattern of purges. since taking power in 2011, kim jong-un has executed dozens of his officials, including his uncle. though all were on north korean soil. >> to do this in a foreign country is quite unusual. >> reporter: georgetown university professor victor cha says the purges may point to kim jong-un's growing vulnerability. >> this high degree of purging suggests there continues to be some sort of challenges internally. >> reporter: kim jong-nam was once thought to be the country's heir apparent but fell out of favor with his father after reportedly trying to visit disneyland in japan with a forged domic

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mark phillips is at the bottom of the world for his series "the climate diaries." today he tackles the mystery of the vanishing penguins. >> reporter: antarctica, it can seem like a landscape frozen in time. it's anything but. and we've been to a place where they've been keeping meticulous records of the changes for 50 years. this is palmer station, where research base that has clung to this rocky outcrop on the antarctica coast since the mid 1960s. and this is bob farrell who has run the station for 18 years. if anybody knows how things have been changing here, it's bob. >> it changes all the time. day-to-day it changes. >> reporter: palmer

because it's a great place to study antarctica wildlife. it sat in the middle of the perfect habitat for the adellie penguin, who tested here in the tens of thousands. these are the birds that brought you "happy feet." they don't seem happy anymore. >> we're counting the penguins every year. >> reporter: they call shawn farry the birdman. but lately he's had a lot fewer birds to study. >> these local islands we've been censusing for 40 years, they've declined by 85%. >> reporter: 85%? >> the numbers on this island, at their peak were 9,000. this year it was about 1200. >> reporter: the penguins need one essential condition to thrive, they need sea ice to hunt from, and there's less of that around now. >> the ice has declined by about three months of sea ice. >> reporter: sea ice season is three months shorter than it used to be? >> correct. >> reporter: at first, he was hoped the penguins had

further south in search of the ice they love. sadly, it seems not. >> we do work other places looking for them. we're not finding them. >> reporter: not just the sea ice is retreating at palmer. the bases next door to a spectacular glacier that's less spectacular than it used to be. they've got a photograph showing the extent of the glacier ice in 1975, and where it had retreated to by 2013. then, a funny thing happened. normally in places like this, you talk about things moving at glacial speed, taking their time. not here. here they know exactly when that glacier split off from this place. march 14, 2014. this became detrick island. they had thought the island was part of the mainland, until the glacier linking it to the shore collapsed and disappeared. remember bob, the old antarctica hand? the speed of change has shocked even him.

glacier is quite a bit farther back or you have people coming back that haven't been here for quite a while, they're shocked by it. it's remarkable. >> reporter: they've got a little bet going on at palmer station where they always thought the base was on the mainland. now they think it may actually be on an island. they may not have to wait long to find out. and climate change is believed to be part of the cause of a spike in the price of vanilla. three quarters of the world's vanilla is cultivated in madagascar, but the island nation has been blasted by cyclones and floods, followed by drought. what does that mean to you? higher prices. ben tracy has the story from a candy store in hollywood. >> reporter: when it comes to vanilla, nobody wants artificial flavor, they want the real thing. so at this candy store in hollywood, all the chocolate bars use real vanilla. even nestly has switched to the real thing in their crunch bar. but now there s

lot of businesses to swallow. do you sell a lot of vanilla ice cream? >> it's our number one seller. >> reporter: at this creamy in california, vanilla ice cream is showered with sprinkles, blended with brownies, and rolling in root beer. its appeal is pretty simple. >> i like it. >> reporter: owner karen clemens says it's all about the ingredients. how important is that madagascar vanilla? >> my ice cream would not be the same without it. >> reporter: yet these days she's losing money on every scoop. vanilla has surpassed dairy as her biggest cost. do you think people know when they're ordering this, this is almost like the delicacy of the ice cream? >> no, they don't. they have absolutely no idea. >> reporter: the price she pays for a gallon of vanilla extract has nearly quadrupled since she opened her doors five years ago.

when something goes from $100 to $400, what does that mean to your bottom line? >> well, i just kind of hope that we're going to make it through the season. >> reporter: 79% of the world's vanilla fields are in madagascar. a shortage there has helped drive up the cost of vanilla beans from about $11 a pound in 2011 to nearly $200 by the end of 2016. at this price point, is the vanilla industry sustainable? >> no. we manufacture over 200 types of vanilla. >> reporter: josephine and her husband, don, run cook flavoring company. most of their business is vanilla. she shot this video in december during a trip to mad gas car to survey the vanilla crops. vanilla farming is a labor intensive process. beans grow in orchids, each one is pollinated by hand. >> vanilla is not a product where you can go out and get it tomorrow. it takes three years for that vine to produce a vanilla bean.

>> reporter: the market is notoriously unstable. supply problems cause vanilla bean prices to spike in 2003, before crashing the next year. shipments of vanilla once again cost a small fortune. >> probably $100,000 of vanilla. >> reporter: this is worth $100,000? >> yes. >> reporter: a couple years ago it would have been worth? >> it would have been worth probably $1,000. >> reporter: that's for high quality beans, which get harder to find as the price goes up. many farmers harvest the beans before they fully mature, worrying thooef alworry ing -- worrying thieves will steal them because they're so valuable. the question for businesses is whether they keep buying at high prices or wait for the inevitable crash. >> it's going to come down, and nobody knows when or how quickly. >> reporter: karen clemens is having to raise prices at her store. and while she won't put artificial vanilla in her ice cream, she did start using it in her waffle cones.

>> it's just what i do. it's what i believe in. to even introduce an artificial vanilla in my store, it broke my heart. >> reporter: the good news is the vanilla crop in madagascar appears to be in good shape this year, and that should increase the supply. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

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a nine letter word for a puzzle that's been in "the new york times" for 75 years? how about crossword. jim axelrod marked the anniversary with a chat with one of the world's most famous crossword creators. >> reporter: why is a man whose job description has been to frustrate people to tears for nearly a quarter century being hounded for autographs? because if you love crossword puzzles, will shorts is a rock star. there's something about this puzzle that grabs people. what is it? >> well, first of all, you're a puzzle sort of person, and you look at an empty crossword grid, you feel naturally compelled to fill in the grid. it's partly the testing of yourself. solving a crossword is one way to affirm that you can still think. it keeps you from losing your mind.

progressively more difficult through the week. 1.5 million people each month try to tackle "the times" crossword. >> i love it. it's the best out there. >> reporter: and yet, "the times" is a curious home for the gold standard of crosswords. so the crossword puzzle became a national and then a worldwide craze in 1924 and '25. and "the new york times" ran an editorial saying crosswords were a waste of time and predicting their swift demise. >> literally having to eat their words. "the times" was the last major metropolitan daily newspaper to start a crossword. >> the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked. >> reporter: "the times" debuted crthe orosswd puzzle two months after pearl harbor. the first crossword had a world war ii theme, to play off the day's headlines. seems kind of crazy. the crossword should divert you

from the harsher parts of life. crosswords are escapism. >> reporter: there have only been four puzzle editors at the paper in the last 75 years. shorts took over in 1993. the most common answer in the history of the puzzle is area, having appeared more than 1400 times. but in the will shorts era, the most common answer has been, well, era. >> the nice thing about it, there's lots of ways to clue it. it's the historical period, it's the earned run average in baseball, the name of a laundry detergent. equal rights amendment. lots of things you can do with it. >> reporter: in november of 1996, "the new york times" published one of its most memorable puzzles. you have an all-time favorite, which was election day of 1996. >> right. >> reporter: the cryount was deciding between bob dole and bill clinton. >> it's still too close to call. >> reporter: and so was the puzzle.

the answer could be clinton elected or bob dole. either one worked with the crossing. the first down answer was black halloween animal. and you could fill in cat, forming the c of clinton or bat forming the b of bob dole. each of the succeeding answers did double duty, just like that. it was the first time a crossword was ever schizophrenic like that. first time a crossword ever had two answers. >> reporter: the puzzles thrive on short words with vowels. that's why a crossword's favorite cookie is the oreo. the favorite music producer is ino. and the favorite skater is ono or ito. the crossword's future, like every other part of the paper, is a matter of adapting to the digital age of a world moving faster and attention spans growing shorter. the puzzle's latest innovation is the mini. one-third the size of a regular puzzle and available only online

or with the app. >> the thing that excites me about the mini is that this is kind of like unchartered territory. >> reporter: 24-year-old joel is the editor of the mini. >> there's ways to experiment with a digital crossword. something that you couldn't experiment with a print puzzle. a couple weeks ago i put in emoji as a clue. this is what excites me about the digital era. >> reporter: it's so millennial. >> it might be the ultimate millennial thing. >> reporter: but crossword traditionalists need not worry. at least that's what will shorts is telling us. >> crossword is the best variety of puzzle ever devised. it's just a very versatile puzzle that appeals to people. >> reporter: is "the new york times" crossword puzzle going to be around in another 75 years? >> i think the crossword is here to stay. >> reporter: so today we got a movie star to mark the big day,

daniel larson. at 13

a promise that hit the beaches of normandy. a covenant that split the skies over berlin. a vow that captured iwo jima. a promise was made. a solemn oath that liberated seoul. a sacred trust that defended khe sanh. a pact that dug in in da nang. a contract that weathered tet. a promise was made. a pledge that stormed the desert in iraq. a bond that patrolled door-to-door in fallujah. an iou that braved ieds in kandahar. a promise was made. to america's veterans. a promise we all must keep. dav fights for all veterans and their families so they get the health care, financial benefits and support they earned. if your'e a veteran who needs help, or you'd like to help us keep the promise,

visit dav.org. captioning funded by cbs it's february 16th, 2017. this is the "cbs this morning." president trump is forced to look for a new labor secretary and makes a shift that ends a two decade policy on the israeli palestinian conflict. while leaks of classified information have the president pushing back. >> papeds are beirs are being l things are being leaked. it's a criminal action. >> a day without grants. deportation fears have immigrants from coast-to-coast calling for today to be a day of action by boycotting their work, school, and shoppi