well-respected in the law enforcement community, but his name also surfaced back over the summer in connection with the clinton e-mail server investigation, because his wife had accepted donations during her campaign in virginia, from a democratic operative. and so there are questions that some members of congress might raise about mccabe, but he is well respected in law enforcement

>> jeff pegues, thank you very much. we're

john dickerson, our chief washington correspondent is with us. john, the political climate on all of this, this is quite a surprise. >> it's quite a surprise, and obviously, there was already a considerable amount of back and forth and political blood in the water on the russia question this week alone, and now you have a situation where, i mean, if you read the letter explaining why comey was let go, it's thick with criticism of his handling of hillary clinton's e-mail situation, that was something obviously deeply political. now this week he's released, he's in the middle. the fbi is investigating connections between russian meddling in the election and the trump campaign, so the political ramifications here will be

will be constant, and whoever's going to handle this election -- this investigation next will have to handle this super charged atmosphere. >> john dickerson, thanks very much. we're going to be following the details and the developments on this breaking story, and there will be a full report on all of the overnight details on cbs this morning tomorrow morning. in another developing story, an emergency was declared today at the hanford nuclear reservation in washington state. a vast storage facility in the eastern part of that state, part of a tunnel used to transport radio active waste collapsed. washington's governor called it serious, though no radiation has been detected so far. john blackstone's following this. >> reporter: the collapsing soil created a 20 by 20 foot hole over a tunnel containing radioactive debris at hanford. it's the nati

storage site of radioactive waste. they say nearly 5,000 workers had to take cover. >> what that means is shelter in place. this is purely precautionary, because, again, no employees were hurt, and there was no spread, no indication of a spread of radio logical contamination. >> reporter: the rail cars include plutonium and uranium. all the waste from the manhattan project which tested and built the atomic bomb during world war ii is buried there. a massive cleanup effort costincostin costing $2 billion a year is aimed at decontaminating a site half the size of rhode island. >> we're waiting to see how bad can it get. >> reporter: tom hanford is with a watchdog group. in spite of the fact

getting more dangerous. >> more dangerous with time. we're going to see tank failures in the future. this is a wake-up call. >> reporter: at hanford, all but essential workers have been told not to report for work tonight. officials say they're looking for a way to fix the tunnel, scott, without making that hole any bigger. >> john blackstone for us, thank you. after 16 years and 2,396 american deaths, there is no victory in afghanistan. now president trump is considering whether to send more troops. and here's david martin. >> reporter: facing the stalemate in which the afghan army is suffering what the pentagon calls shockingly high casualties, the trump administration is preparing to send some 3,000 troops back to afghanistan. the exact number would depend on how many troops nato allies contribute. the increase was requested by

general john nicholson who says he needs more trainers and advisers for the afghan army. the plan, which has not yet been presented to president trump for a decision would allow american advisers to operate closer to the front lines and geoive them greater authority to call in airstrikes against the taliban, an enemy which can still carry out attacks like this one last month on an afghan military base that left 140 dead. general nicholson has estimated it would take two to three years to regain an advantage over the taliban. the goal is not to defeat the taliban but to convince them they cannot win and are better off seeking a negotiated end to the war. as joint chiefs chairman general dunford explained, it comes down to which side cracks first. >> we can be tired. but war's a clash of wills. who wins and who loses, who se

first. >> reporter: some would conduct raids against terrorist groups like isis and al qaeda. the u.s. military went into afghanistan after 9/11 to prevent it from ever being used again as a base for attacks against the united states. 16 years later, afghanistan has the highest concentration of terrorist groups anywhere on earth. >> david martin at the pentagon. president trump will send weapons to syria's kurdish fighters, something president obama declined to do to avoid angering turkey. turkey and nato ally has fought for decades against kurds who want independence. coming up here, it was willing, but the pilots didn't show. chaos broke out.

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you knmegared omega-3s... but did you know your eyes, your brain, and your joints really love them too? introducing megared advanced 4in1... just one softgel delivers mega support. a near riot broke out last night at the ft. lauderdale airport after spirit airlines canceled nine flights. spirit blamed a job action by pilots. today a judge issued a temporary restraining order against their union.

airlines ticket counter, fists and bodies were about the only thing flying last night. it erupted after a week of canceled flights at spirit airline hubs across the country, leaving travelers stranded. she has had three flights canceled. >> very angry, angry people. everybody had places to be and couldn't be there. >> reporter: they are blaming a contract dispute for the disruption. in a lawsuit, the airline says it has had to cancel 300 flights, impacting 20,000 passengers, costing $8.5 million in lost revenue. at ft. lauderdale airport today, it was calmer, but passengers like mike mcgrath were still frustrated. >> feels like we have no control. >> oh, my god, look what you're doing to him. >> reporter: from united to american. >> hey, bud, you do that to me, and i'll knock you flat. >> reporter: on board, and in the terminal. >> you know why

you? because you guys have terrible customer service. >> reporter: the tension between airlines and passengers have reached a tipping point for the industry. >> they cannot go on this way with this kind of news day after day. >> reporter: charles leoca with travelers united says airlines need to refocus on customer service as a top priority. >> from the ceo to the gate agent. right now the airlines are thinking about one thing, that's profits. >> reporter: paul berry. >> this isn't a customer service issue. this is a pilot issue, not showing up to fly their flights. >> reporter: the airline pilots association denies conducting a work slow down and is working with the airline to continue operations they've had to cancel 39 flights today. next, after a fraternity pledge dies, we'll look at hazing.

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timothy piazza. >> reporter: the remaining beta members rushed in and out of the courtroom. >> it's unspeakable. it's a very, very sad and tragic case. >> reporter: the district attorney charged a total of 18 penn state university students with crimes ranging from hazing to aggravated assault. >> the only reason this came to the surface is because timothy died. >> reporter: he died of injuries that tell the story of a february pledge night that included heavy drinking and alleges a disregard for piazza's life-threatening injuries. he fell down a flight of stairs and went in and out of consciousness for over 12 hours before his fraternity brothers called 911. surveillance

the frat house captured much of what happened. >> without the tools we had this time would we have had the whole picture? >> reporter: those tools being? >> the video, the electronic devices. >> reporter: park miller says in many ways that video brings to light a long-standing culture of hazing, according to a 2013 bloomberg news report, there have been more than 60 deaths in the last eight years involving initiation rituals. writer and former fraternity member david berkman has produced haze, a greek tragedy. that examines why people continue to go through processes that are dangerous and deadly. >> it's about building brotherhood, sisterhood. these are going to be families, and if we go through something hard, if we are tested, we do bond. >> reporter: all of the fraternity members posted bail, scott. a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for next week. the district attorney tells me there's a possibility that video t

forbes calls it the must-have office toy, but kids love it. here's the fidget spinner. >> reporter: this three-prong gadget is the latest fad spinning out of control with

>> it's just kind of fascinating to watch. >> reporter: they trade them, make them, even sell them. fidget spinners are almost mesmerizing. compared to rubiks cubes and yo-yos, kids can't get enough of them. this 11-year-old bice them wherever she can get them. >> i like to see whose can spin the longest, so we sort of have a competition about that. >> reporter: the challenge of tricks and twirling has generated a barrage of how-to videos on youtube. >> it's oddly satisfying and really fun. >> reporter: the toys were originally designed to help kids, well, stop fidgeting. but like with any true fad comes a backlash. educators say they're becoming a dizzying classroom distraction. john mcdonald is assistant principal in minnesota. >>

longer allowing them in school. if they do bring them to school, we will take them, hold onto them and give them back at the end of the day. >> reporter: fidget spinners are banned in 32% of schools. even adults are getting in on the action. joe in minnesota makes custom spinners in metal and ceramic, some selling forasmuch as $175. his internet sales have been going through the roof. >> someone said oh, my god, i'll buy that from you. so i made ten more, then 100 more, then 1,000 more, and it kind of took off from there. >> reporter: many now are wondering if the newest fad will start to teeter or continue to twirl. cbs news, minnesota. that's overnight news for this wednesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us a little later for the morning news, and be sure not to miss cbs this morning. from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley.

this is the "cbs overnight news." in a surprise move, president trump fired the director of the fbi, james comey, was leading the investigation into whether associates of mr. trump colluded with the russian government to influence the u.s. presidential election. in an oddly-worded letter in which the president declares his own innocence, mr. trump told comey that he had determined that comey is not able to effectively lied the bureau. comey who was well-known for integrity was appointed by president obama and had about six years to go on a ten-year term. recently, comey has been controversial with both democrats an

leading the investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails and the russian tampering probe. major garrett is at the white house. >> reporter: the letter from president trump to now former director james comey was characteristically blunt. it reads in part, you are hereby terminated and removed from office effective immediately. accompanying letters released by the white house come from senior justice department officials who say comey had to be fired because of actions and the lack of action he took with regards to hillary clinton in 2016 and the investigation into her e-mail server. those senior justice department officials say not only was comey wrong not to pursue charges, he was wrong to have a press conference announcing that fact and that he had failed to acknowledge both of those errors and both of those breaches with protocol, and that forced the president to accept their advice that comey be terminated. one letter from the new deputy attorney general rod

reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage. the director announced his own conclusions about the nation's most sensitive criminal investigation without the authorization of duly appointed justice department leaders. attorney general jeff sessions also wrote to president trump, quote, i've concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the fbi. the director must be someone who follows faithfully the rules and principles of the department of justice. shortly after those letters were delivered to the president, the president sent his letter firing the now former fbi director. also in this letter, scott, you referred to it, an odd statement from the president, tying comey to the ongoing investigation into russia and possible collusion with possible trump officials during the campaign. the president's letter to comey reads in part, quote, i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. the es

it is essential that we find new leadership for the fbi that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission. on april 11th, the president was asked if he had confidence in comey. he said he did. now less than a month later he does not and comey has been fired. an evacuation has been ordered at the nation's largest nuclear waste dump. in washington state, radioactive material is stored in underground caves. local officials insist there is no danger to the local community. >> reporter: the chancing soil created a 20 by 20-foot hole over a tunnel. it's the largest storage site of nuclear weapons waste. they say nearly 5,000 workers had to take cover. >> what that means is shelter in place. this is purely precautionary, because, again, no employees were hurt, and there was no spread of, no

spread of radio logical contamination. >> reporter: the tunnel contains rail cars used decades ago and store plutonium and uranium. all the waste from the manhattan project which tested and build the atomic bomb during world war ii is buried at hanford. a massive cleanup effort costing $2 billion a year is aimed at decontaminating a site half the size of rhode island. >> the crisis isn't over yet, and, you know, so we're waiting to see how bad can it get. >> reporter: tom carpenter is with hanford challenge, a watchdog group monitoring safety at the site. in spite of the fact that the cleanup's going on, it's get morg more dangerous. >> more dangerous with time. we're going to see tank failures. this is a wakeup call.

>> reporter: all but essential workers have been told not to report to work tonight. they're told to fix the hold witho -- hole without making it bigger. an effort to break the stalemate with the taliban. >> reporter: facing the stalemate, the trump administration is preparing to send some 3,000 ouu.s. troops bk to afghanistan. the exact number would depend on how many troops nato allies contribute. the increase was requested by general john nicholson, a top commander in afghanistan who says he needs more trainers and advisers for the afghan army. the plan, which has not yet been presented to president trump for a decision would allow american advisers to operate closer to the front lines and give them grader authority to call in

an enemy which can still carry out attacks like this one last month on an afghan military base that left 140 dead. general nicholson has estimated it would take two to three years to regain an advantage over the taliban. the goal is not to defeat the taliban but to convince them they cannot win and are better off seeking a negotiated end to the war. as joint chiefs chairman general dunford explained to cbs news radio, it comes down to which side cracks first. >> we can be tired, but war is a clash of wills, right? so who wins, who loses? who loses is whose will is lost first. >> reporter: after the increase, the u.s. troops would number close to 12,000. some would conduct raids against terrorist groups like al qaeda and isis. the u.s. military went into afghanistan after 9/11 to prevent it from ever being used again as a base for attacks

against the united states. 1 yea 16 years later, afghanistan has the highest concentration of terrorist groups on earth. controversy spilled over into the terminal in ft. lauderdale where stranded travelers got into fistfights with each other and with the cops. >> reporter: at the spirit airlines ticket counter, fists and bodies were about the only thing flying last night. it erupted after a week of canceled flights at four spirit airlines hubs across the country. debbie mcgrandy has had three flights canceled. >> very angry, angry, angry people. everybody had places to be and couldn't be there. >> reporter: spirit is blaming a pilot work slow down due to a contract dispute. in a lawsuit, the airline said it has had to cancel 300 flights over the last week impacting some 20,000 passengers,

$8.5 million in lost revenue. the airline pilots association denies conducting a work slow down and says it's working with the airline to resume normal operations. ... easily. spray and wash's... powerful formula... removes over 100 stains. spray and wash. better on over 100 stains.

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doctors in minnesota are battling against the worst measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, and most of those infected are the unvaccinated children of somali immigrants. apparently, the community is afraid the vaccinations will cause autism. >> reporter: here at children's minnesota, doctors have treated 34 of the 48 confirmed cases. when patients visit, they're given a mask to cover up, that's because the virus is so contagious that if you're exposed and you don't have the vac sign, there's a 90% chance you'll contract it. have you gone a day without having a new case? >> we have gone zero days without having a new case. >> reporter: patsy is the director for infection control at children's

hospital. the measles outbreak started about four weeks ago. 46 of the 48 confirmed cases are in children 10 years old or younger. >> i just finished doing rounds on these children, and they are miserable. they're in the hospital, they have ivs, they're not drinking. they have terrible coughs. some have pneumonia. >> reporter: the virus commonly moves through the air your it can live for up to two hours, making it more contagious than the flu. the only vaccine in the u.s. available is the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine or mmr. >> some will have infection in their brain, permanent brain damage, blindness or deafness, so we wouldn't vaccinate if this was just a rashy illness. this is a very, very serious disease. >> reporter: in 2014, almost

were vac nated. it's an unfounded fear that mmr causes autism. >> some parents, they said at least it's curable, because they believe that thing is causing ah tim. and they don't have a choice. >> reporter: this is a somalian mother of five children. four have received the mmr vaccine, but she waited until they were older, even after getting measles herself. what was that like? mow haumd doesn't plan to vaccinate her 5-year-old until he starts school in the fall. >> there is this big decision to make. are you going to choose to take the risk to vaccinate and get the long-term chronic illness? or are you going to take the risk of trying to do everything that you can in your power to prevent your child from getting the measles? that's a very hard choice. >> reporter: doctors say false information linking vaccines to

do you get frustrated that this misinformation is still out there? >> it is frustrating, because we know these diseases are contagious, they can spread. they can take children's lives, and all we have to do is go back to before we had vaccines where the united states had 4 million cases of measles, and we will go back there if we don't continue to vaccinate. >> reporter: scientific studies show there's no direct correlation between the vaccine and an increased risk at autism. now here in minnesota, health officials say it could take months for this epidemic to be over, that's because they need at least six weeks with no new reported cases of measles for the outbreak to be considered finished. when you hear the brand nestle, you probably think of chocolate. but they are also the biggest producer of bottled water. they are now coming under fire about where it get ts a lot

water, from southern california. the area is just coming back from a four-year drought. >> reporter: in the san bernardino mountains outside los angeles, this intricate maze of pipes collects and funnels tens of millions of gallons of water each year. it's the original source for nestle's arrowhead water. the steep terrain is only easily accessible by helicopter. larry lawrence brought us deep into the canyon. >> these are naturally-flowing sources. naturally flows into the pipe. >> reporter: springwater collects in this tunnel and moves downhill through this pipeline. >> from the top to the bottom is 7.2 miles. >> reporter: at the bottom, tanker trucks load and transport it to a nearby plant where they bottle the water. the water business is booming. bottled water sales are up nearly 9% over the last year

which has sent nestle looking for new sources. of their current sources around the country, 11 are in california, a state dealing with long-term drought concerns. >> every gallon of water that is taken out of a natural system for bottled water is a gallon of water that doesn't flow down a stream, that doesn't support a natural ecosystem. >> reporter: nestle has faced protests over its water collection in california, both because of the drought and the fact that this site is on public land. while the company takes about 30 million-gallons each year, they pay just $524 to the u.s. forest service for the permits. >> i think it's fair to say that in this case, our public agencies have dropped the ball. >> reporter: the forest service is now reviewing nestle's permit for the first time in 30 years. nelson switzer is nestle's

some people would say this is the people's water, is it fair that you make so much money off of this? >> nestle has water rights of course in this area. from a legal stand point of, of course it's fair. from a perception point, i understand why people are asking that question, but water belongs to no wouone. the sustainability of the supply is paramount. and if our activities were to compromise the sustainability of that supply, we would stop operating. i hope people remember that water itself is a renewable resource. as long as that is managed properly, that system will be renewable forever. >> reporter: it may be renewable. but as long as companies like nestle make a profit, the debate over public/private resources will remain. ahh. where are mom and dad? 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. love mom and dad' i'm takin' a nap. dude, you just woke up!

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two kids barfed in class today. it was so gross. lysol disinfectant spray kills 99.9% of bacteria, even those that cause stomach bugs. one more way you've got what it takes to protect. president trump's attempt to block travel and immigration from several predominantly muslim nations has so far been blocked by the federal courts. the ninth court of appeals will take up the case again later this month. but lesley stahl of "60 minutes" spoke with one of the most controversial judges on that court, and he was appointed by ronald reagan. >> let's say president trump decided to single you out. how would you handle it? >>

name right, it's okay. >> really? >> judge alex kaczynski, one of the most conservative, influential judges has advice for the president. >> my advice to anybody going after judges by name, whether it's the president or anybody else, i think it's a terrible idea. >> is this etiquette that it shouldn't be done. >> i think people before the court should be very careful about insulting the people make the decisions. i think it's wise for him not to comment on the judges. it's not going to help anything. all it's going to do is emphasize the weakness of your position. >> so he's just advertising that he's on shaky ground. >> i think it has a tendency, yes. >> a judge has just blocked our executive order. >> not onlyas

castigated individual judges, he has targeted judge casenski's ninth circuit court saying it should be split in two. >> people are screaming, break up the ninth circuit. take a look at how many times they have been overturned with their terrible decisions. take a look. >> the ninth circuit can't be split and won't be split. it's a terrible idea. >> why is it a terrible idea? the president himself has come after the circuit, saying 80% of your decisions are overturned bit supreme court. >> generally when the supreme court takes cases they can overturn, they overturn something like 70% to 80% of all cases they take. so we're there in the middle. >> reporter: mr. trump's quarrel with the ninth circuit heated up after it upheld a lower court's blocking of its controversial travel ban. >> aren't our borders getting extremely strong? >> in the opinion, the judges noted that during the campaign,

statements about his intent to imemployment a muslim ban, which would be unconstitutional. but in this case, judge kaczynski sides with the president. he wrote in a dissenting opinion that you can't hold an elected official to every statement made while campaigning when in truth, the poor shlub's only intent is to get elected. you talk about the first amendment. >> first amendment is really at the very core of political speech. and political speech is in the very core of the first amendment. so we want to be very careful to make sure that they will free to express their views so people will make an informed choice. we don't want them holding back. and considering their views and then disclosing them afterwards. >> reporter: holding a candidate's statements against him, he wrote, will chill campaign

>> candidates will promise the sun and the moon. and everybody understands, you're not going to get the sun and the moon. you're probably not going to get either. >> reporter: what about when a president lies? >> well, mach developy said it is the duty of a prince to lie. >> reporter: is that the way you see it? >> i think in some circumstances, probably right. >> you are being unreasonable. >> reporter: being provocative is classic kaczynski. >> you could have said, bam! >> reporter: another example? his support of the death penalty, but not by lethal injection. >> i think use of lethal injection is a way of lying to ourselves to make it look like execution's a peaceful, a benign, sort of like going to sleep, and they're not. they're brutal things. >> reporter: now you have proposed alternatives. you propose firing squad to lethal injections. >> never fails. >> reporter: but you also said the guillotine. >> that's right.

come on. >> you know, it's 100% effective. and it leaves no doubt that what we are doing is a violent thing. if we as a society are willing to take away human life, we should be willing to watch it. >> reporter: you know, you're very soft-spoken, and you have a very placid look on your face, and you say very outspoken, almost incendiary things like that. i think sometimes people sort of miss the provocation of what you're saying. >> on the contrary. the softer you speak the more the publication is heard. >> reporter: judge alex kaczynski has spent over three decades on this bench at the ninth circuit. in his rulings on thousands of cases, there's one constant, a deep-rooted distrust of authority, which, like his thick accent is a product of his childhood. >> you can see the full report

the overnight news will be right back.

people who survive a direct hit from a tornado often give the same response to reporters. it sounded like a freight train, and it came out of nowhere. meteorologists use satellites and other tools to spot storms likely to spawn tornados, but they are still unable to determine when and where a tornado will touchdown. tony dokoupil. >> reporter: they are working to improve forecasting by using dr

rest of us cannot, flying into the heart of dangerous weather systems to collect data on the storms. 13 minutes. that's the average time between the detection of a tornado forming to when it touches down, leaving people in its path scrambling to find a safe place. >> look at the cloud coming out. oh, man! >> reporter: this countdown was a reality for parts of the midwest and south earlier last week as severe storms and tornados battered the areas, leaving at least 14 people dead. >> oh, my gosh! >> reporter: unlike other weather systems, tornado form quickly, are hard to predict and even harder to track. jamie jacob and his team from oklahoma state university are working on a set of drones designed to fly into and analyze severe weather systems. >> meteorologists are very good at predicting how, when and where the storm is going to develop, but not so good at determining when a storm is going to form a tornado

particular place or a particular time. >> reporter: they're built to withstand rain, hail and winds of at least 80 miles per hour. and they drop a device called a dropsonde that goes inside a potential tornado. >> the goal is to get more data that feeds into those models and do that in real time. rar. >> reporter: that real time data can be a real help in saving lives. >> if we can get to the point where we can warn ahead of time an hour. >> reporter: it goes through testing before being used by the national weather service. >> the technology is a little ahead of the regulatory processes, however, so we may have to wait for the legal side to catch up with us. >> that's the overnight news for this wednesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, you can check back with us a little later for the morning news, and of course cbs this morning. from the bca

york city, i'm dimarco morgan. breaking news. president trump fires the director of the fbi. james comey. also tonight, workers are ordered to take cover, after a tunnel containing nuclear waste collapses. turbulence on the ground. an explosion of anger after spirit airlines cancels nine flights. >> we're starting to get passengers who are saying, look, i'd m maecas hk. i'm not going to take it anymore. and address your stress with the spin that's in. >> it's satisfying and really fun. this is the "cbs overnight news."

in a surprising move, president trump fired the director of the fbi, james comey, who was leading the investigation into whether associates of mr. trump colluded with the russian government to influence the u.s. presidential election. in an oddly-worded letter in which the president declares his own innocence, mr. trump told comey that he had concluded that comey is not able to effectively lead the bureau. comey, who was well-known for integrity was appointed by president obama and had about six years to go on a ten-year term. recently, comey has been controversial with both democrats and republicans, leading the investigation of hillary clinton's e-mails and the russian election tampering probe. major garrett is at the white house. >> reporter: scott, the letter from president trump to now former director comey reads you are now hereby terminated and removed from office, effective

accompanying letters from senior officials who said comey had to be fired because of the actions and lack of action he took with regard to hillary clinton in 2016 and the investigation into her e-mail server. those senior justice officials say not only was comey wrong not to pursue charges, he was wrong to have a press conference announcing that fact and that he had failed to acknowledge both of those errors and both of those breaches with protocol, and that forced the president to accept their advice that comey be terminated. one letter from the new deputy attorney general rod rosenstein says in part, quote, the fbi's reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage. the letter goes on to say the director announced his own conclusions about the nation's most sensitive investigation without the authorization of duly appointed justice department leaders.

attorney general jeff sessions also wrote to president trump, quote, i've concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the fbi. the director must be someone who follows faithfully the rules and principles of the department of justice. shortly after those letters were delivered to the president, the president sent his letter firing the now former fbi director. also in this letter, and scott you referred to it, an odd statement from the president, tying comey to the ongoing investigation into russia and possible collusion with possible trump officials during the campaign. the president's letter to comey reads in part, quote, i great lay appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. the president goes on. it is essential that we find new leadership for the fbi that restores public trust and confidence and is vital law enforcement mission. scott, on april 11, the president of the united states was asked if he still had confidence in comey. he said he did. now less than a month later, he does not, and comey has been fired.

much. now comey is only the second director of the bureau to be fired. in the history of the bury. the last time it happened was president clinton in 1993, firing william sessions. but that was on a charge of violating ethical codes, and there's no suggestion of that here. let's go to nancy cordes. what are you hearing there? >> reporter: what preceded all this was a controversy that gained steam over the course of the day over inaccurate comments that director comey made when testifying before the senate judiciary committee last week. he was describing his decision to reopen the clinton investigation 11 days before the election, and he said it was because of what agents found on the laptop of anthony wiener, husband of top clinton aide huma abedin. take a listen to the way he described it. >> huma abedin appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding e-mails tm,

him, i think, to print out for her so she could then deliver them to the secretary of state. >> reporter: at one point, comey even said that abedin sent hundreds and thousands of e-mails to her husband. but pretty quickly, sources close to the investigation were telling cbs news and other news outlets that actually abedin only sporadically sent e-mails to her husband, and most of them ended up on his laptop because of the unintentional backing up of a blackberry. they had to issue a correction to his testimony late this afternoon. it caused a lot of confusion among senators on capitol hill, but no one was calling for him to be fired on all of this. the reaction to the firing runs the gamut, lindsey graham of south carolina saying quote, a fresh start will serve the fbi and the nation well, then you have democrats like bob casey of pennsylvanay

nixonian, that a special counsel should be appointed. and ron white of oregon saying no one in trump's chain can be trusted to carry out the investigation. >> nancy cordes on capitol hill. now jeff pegues, you've been covering comey and the fbi for years now. bring us up to date on where the fbi is on the russia election meddling investigation. >> it is midstream in this investigation. that's why this move is stunning and there's really no other way to describe it. and it's the timing that is important here. this is an investigation that is being conducted by the fbi's counter intelligence unit. it is very secretive and confined to that division of the fbi. so to make this change in midstream raises questions about the direction of the investigation and who will come next to lead it. >> now before he became fbi director, james comey was the

number two, in the justice department. he was appointed by president bush to that position. he's a man well-known for integrity. what is the list of possible replacements at this point, at this early point? >> at this point, it's pretty short. and there's one name on that list, and that's the deputy director of the fbi, andrew mccabe. he is a duke graduate, also well-respected in the law enforcement community, but his name also surfaced back over the summer in connection with the clinton e-mail server investigation, because his wife had accepted donations during her campaign in virginia, from a democratic operative. and so there are questions that some members of congress might raise about mccabe, but he is well respected in law enforcement circles. >> jeff pegues, thank you very much. we're back in just a moment.

washington correspondent is with us. john, the political climate on all of this, this is quite a surprise. >> it's quite a surprise, and obviously, there was already a considerable amount of back and forth and political blood in the water on the russia question this week alone, and now you have a situation where, i mean, if you read the letter explaining why comey was let go, it's thick with criticism of his handling of hillary clinton's e-mail situation, that was something obviously deeply political. now this week he's released, he's in the middle. the fbi is investigating connections between russian meddling in the election and the trump campaign, so the political ramifications here will be ongoing. will be constant, and whoever's

this investigation next will have to handle this super charged atmosphere. >> john dickerson, thanks very much. we're going to be following the details and the developments on this breaking story, and there will be a full report on all of the overnight details on cbs this morning tomorrow morning. in another developing story, an emergency was declared today at the hanford nuclear reservation in washington state. a vast storage facility in the eastern part of that state, part of a tunnel used to transport radio active waste collapsed. washington's governor called it serious, though no radiation has been detected so far. john blackstone's following this. >> reporter: the collapsing soil created a 20 by 20 foot hole over a tunnel containing radioactive debris at hanford. it's the nation's largest storage site of radioactive waste.

they say nearly 5,000 workers had to take cover. >> what that means is shelter in place. this is purely precautionary, because, again, no employees were hurt, and there was no spread, no indication of a spread of radio logical contamination. >> reporter: the tunnel contains rail cars used decades ago and include plutonium and uranium. all the waste from the manhattan project which tested and built the atomic bomb during world war ii is buried there. a massive cleanup effort costing $2 billion a year is aimed at decontaminating a site half the size of rhode island. >> crisis isn't over yet, so we're waiting to see how bad can it get. >> reporter: tom carpenter is with a watchdog group. in spite of the fact that it's getting more dangerous. >> more dangerous with time.

this is a wake-up call. >> reporter: at hanford, all but essential workers have been told not to report for work tonight. officials say they're looking for a way to fix the tunnl, scott, without making that hole any bigger. >> john blackstone for us, thank you. after 16 years and 2,396 american deaths, there is no victory in afghanistan. now president trump is considering whether to send more troops. and here's david martin. >> reporter: facing the stalemate in which the afghan army is suffering what the pentagon calls shockingly high casualties, the trump administration is preparing to send some 3,000 troops back to afghanistan. the exact number would depend on how many troops nato allies contribute. the increase was requested by general john nicholson who says

advisers for the afghan army. the plan, which has not yet been presented to president trump for a decision would allow american advisers to operate closer to the front lines and give them greater authority to call in airstrikes against the taliban, an enemy which can still carry out attacks like this one last month on an afghan military base that left 140 dead. general nicholson has estimated it would take two to three years to regain an advantage over the taliban. the goal is not to defeat the taliban but to convince them they cannot win and are better off seeking a negotiated end to the war. as joint chiefs chairman general dunford explained, it comes down to which side cracks first. >> we can be tired. but war's a clash of wills. who wins and who loses, who loses is whose will is lost first.

>> reporter: after the increase, u.s. troops would number close to 12,000. some would conduct raids against terrorist groups like isis and al qaeda. the u.s. military went into afghanistan after 9/11 to prevent it from ever being used again as a base for attacks against the united states. 16 years later, afghanistan has the highest concentration of terrorist groups anywhere on earth. >> david martin at the pentagon. president trump will send weapons to syria's kurdish fighters, something president obama declined to do to avoid angering turkey. the kurds are fighting isis around the terrorist group as capital in the town of raqqah. turkey and nato ally has fought for decades against kurds who want independence. coming up here, it was willing, but the pilots didn't show. chaos broke out.

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lysol max cover kills 99.9% of bacteria, even on soft surfaces. one more way you've got what it takes to protect. a near riot broke out last night at the ft. lauderdale airport after spirit airlines canceled nine flights. spirit blamed a job action by pilots. today a judge issued a temporary restraining order against their union. >> reporter: at the spirit airlines ticket counter, fists

and bodies were about the only thing flying last night. it erupted after a week of canceled flights at spirit airline hubs across the country, leaving travelers stranded. and their patience short. she has had three flights canceled. >> very angry, angry people. everybody had places to be and couldn't be there. >> reporter: they are blaming a contract dispute for the disruption. in a lawsuit, the airline says it has had to cancel 300 flights, impacting 20,000 passengers, costing $8.5 million in lost revenue. at ft. lauderdale airport today, it was calmer, but passengers like mike mcgrath were still frustrated. >> feels like we have no control. >> oh, my god, look what you're doing to him. >> reporter: from united to american. >> hey, bud, you do that to me, and i'll knock you flat. >> reporter: on board, and in the terminal. >> you know why i'm videotaping you? because you guys have terrible customer service.

airlines and passengers have reached a tipping point for the industry. >> they cannot go on this way with this kind of news day after day. >> reporter: charles leoca with travelers united says airlines need to refocus on customer service as a top priority. >> from the ceo to the gate agent. right now the airlines are thinking about one thing, that's profits. >> reporter: paul berry. >> this isn't a customer service issue. this is a pilot issue, not showing up to fly their flights. >> reporter: the airline pilots association denies conducting a work slow down and is working with the airline to continue operations they've had to cancel 39 flights today. next, after a fraternity pledge dies, we'll look at hazing.

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here's jericka duncan >> reporter: the remaining beta . members rushed in and out of the courtroom. >> it's unspeakable. it's a very, very sad and tragic case. >> reporter: the district attorney charged a total of 18 penn state university students with crimes ranging from hazing >> it's the saddest thing to say. but the only reason this came to the surface is because timothy died. >> reporter: he died of injuries that tell the story of a february pledge night that included heavy drinking and alleges a disregard for piazza's life-threatening injuries. he fell down a flight of stairs and went in and out of consciousness for over 12 hours before his fraternity brothers called 911. surveillance cameras throughout the frat house captured much of what happened. >> without the tools we had this time would we have had the whole

>> reporter: those tools being? >> the video, the electronic devices. >> reporter: park miller says in many ways that video brings to light a long-standing culture of hazing, according to a 2013 bloomberg news report, there have been more than 60 deaths in the last eight years involving initiation rituals. writer and former fraternity member david berkman has produced haze, a greek tragedy. that examines why people continue to go through processes that are dangerous and deadly. >> it's about building brotherhood, sisterhood. these are going to be families, and if we go through something hard, if we are tested, we do bond. >> reporter: all of the fraternity members posted bail, scott. a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for next week. the district attorney tells me there's a possibility that video might be played at the hearing. >> jericka duncan, thanks.

forbes calls it the must-have office toy, but kids love it. here's the fidget spinner. >> reporter: this three-prong gadget is the latest fad spinning out of control with kids. >> a rainbow, tie-dye.

to watch. >> reporter: they trade them, make them, even sell them. fidget spinners are almost mesmerizing. compared to rubiks cubes and yo-yos, kids can't get enough of them. millions have been sold. this 11-year-old buys them wherever she can find them. >> i like to see whose can spin the longest, so we sort of have a competition about that. >> reporter: the challenge of tricks and twirling has generated a barrage of how-to videos on youtube. >> it's oddly satisfying and really fun. >> reporter: the toys were originally designed to help kids, well, stop fidgeting. but like with any true fad comes a backlash. educators say they're becoming a dizzying classroom distraction. john mcdonald is assistant principal in minnesota. >> it's a distraction, we're no longer allowing them in school. if they do bring them to school,

them and give them back at the end of the day. >> reporter: a survey of the 200 largest schools in the u.s. found fidget spinners are banned in 32% of them. even adults are getting in on the action. joe in minnesota makes custom spinners in metal and ceramic, some selling for as much as $175. his internet sales have been going through the roof. >> someone said oh, my god, i'll buy that from you. so i made ten more, then 100 more, then 1,000 more, and it kind of took off from there. >> reporter: many now are wondering if the newest fad will start to teeter or continue to twirl. cbs news, minnesota. that's overnight news for this wednesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us a little later for the morning news, and be sure not to miss cbs this morning. from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley.

this is the "cbs overnight news." in a surprise move, president trump fired the director of the fbi, james comey, was leading the investigation into whether associates of mr. trump colluded with the russian government to influence the u.s. presidential election. in an oddly-worded letter in which the president declares his own innocence, mr. trump told comey that he had determined that comey is not able to effectively lead the bureau. comey who was well-known for integrity was appointed by president obama and had about six years to go on a ten-year term. recently, comey has been controversial with both leading the investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails and

major garrett is at the white house. >> reporter: the letter from president trump to now former director james comey was characteristically blunt. it reads in part, you are hereby terminated and removed from office effective immediately. accompanying letters released by the white house come from senior justice department officials who say comey had to be fired because of actions and the lack of action he took with regards to hillary clinton in 2016 and the investigation into her e-mail server. those senior justice department officials say not only was comey wrong not to pursue charges, he was wrong to have a press conference announcing that fact and that he had failed to acknowledge both of those errors and both of those breaches with protocol, and that forced the president to accept their advice that comey be terminated. one letter from the new deputy attorney general rod rosen steen says in part, the fbi's reputi

suffered substantial damage. the director announced his own conclusions about the nation's most sensitive criminal investigation without the authorization of duly appointed justice department leaders. attorney general jeff sessions also wrote to president trump, quote, i've concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the fbi. the director must be someone who follows faithfully the rules and principles of the department of justice. shortly after those letters were delivered to the president, the president sent his letter firing the now former fbi director. also in this letter, scott, you referred to it, an odd statement from the president, tying comey to the ongoing investigation into russia and possible collusion with possible trump officials during the campaign. the president's letter to comey reads in part, quote, i greatly appreciate you informing me on three separate occasions that i am not under investigation. the president goes on. it is essential that we find new

restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission. on april 11th, the president was asked if he had confidence in comey. he said he did. now less than a month later he does not and comey has been fired. an evacuation has been ordered at the nation's largest nuclear waste dump. a tunnel collapsed at the hanford reservation in washington state, radioactive material is stored in underground caves. local officials insist there is no danger to the local community. >> reporter: the chance collapsing soil created a 20 by 20 foot hole over a tunnel. it's the largest storage site of nuclear weapons waste. they say nearly 5,000 workers had to take cover. >> what that means is shelter in place. this is purely precautionary, because, again, no employees were hurt, and there was no spread of, no indication of a spread of radio logical

contamination. >> reporter: the tunnel contains rail cars used decades ago and store plutonium and uranium. all the waste from the manhattan project which tested and build the atomic bomb during world war ii is buried at hanford. as is defense department nuclear weapons material through the 1980s. a massive cleanup effort costing $2 billion a year is aimed at decontaminating a site half the size of rhode island. >> the crisis isn't over yet, and, you know, so we're waiting to see how bad can it get. >> reporter: tom carpenter is with hanford challenge, a watchdog group monitoring safety at the site. in spite of the fact that the cleanup's going on, it's get more dangerous. >> more dangerous with time. we're going to see tank failures. this is a wakeup call. >> reporter: all but essential workers have been told not to report to work tonight.

officials say they're looking for a way to fix the tunnel, scott, without making that hole any bigger. the u.s. army could be heading back to afghanistan. it's an effort to break the stalemate with the taliban. >> reporter: facing the stalemate, the trump administration is preparing to send some 3,000 u.s. troops back to afghanistan. the exact number would depend on how many troops nato allies contribute. the increase was requested by general john nicholson, a top commander in afghanistan who says he needs more trainers and advisers for the afghan army. the plan, which has not yet been presented to president trump for a decision would allow american advisers to operate closer to the front lines and give them greater authority to call in

airstrikes against the taliban, an enemy which can still carry out attacks like this one last month on an afghan military base that left 140 dead. general nicholson has estimated it would take two to three years to regain an advantage over the taliban. the goal is not to defeat the taliban but to convince them they cannot win and are better off seeking a negotiated end to the war. as joint chiefs chairman general dunford explained to cbs news radio, it comes down to which side cracks first. >> we can be tired, but war is a clash of wills, right? so who wins, who loses? who loses is whose will is lost first. >> reporter: after the increase, the u.s. troops would number close to 12,000. some would conduct raids against terrorist groups like al qaeda and isis. the u.s. military went into afghanistan after 9/11 to prevent it from ever being used again as a base for attacks against the united states. 16 years later, afghanistan has the highest concentration of

>> with travel season right around the corner, spirit airlines is locked in a controversy with his pilots. controversy spilled over into the terminal in ft. lauderdale where stranded travelers got into fistfights with each other and with the cops. >> reporter: at the spirit airlines ticket counter, fists and bodies were about the only thing flying last night. it erupted after a week of canceled flights at four spirit airlines hubs across the country. leaving passengers stranded and their patience short. debbie mcgrandy has had three flights canceled. >> very angry, angry, angry people. everybody had places to be and couldn't be there. >> reporter: spirit is blaming a pilot work slow down due to a contract dispute. in a lawsuit, the airline said it has had to cancel 300 flights over the last week impacting some 20,000 passengers, costing $8.5 million in lost revenue.

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doctors in minnesota are battling against the worst measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, and most of those infected are the unvaccinated children of somali immigrants. apparently, the community is afraid the vaccinations will cause autism. >> reporter: here at children's minnesota, doctors have treated 34 of the 48 confirmed cases. when patients visit, they're given a mask to cover up, that's because the virus is so contagious that if you're exposed and you don't have the vaccine, there's a 90% chance you'll contract it. have you gone a day without having a new case? >> we have gone zero days without having a new case. >> reporter: patsy is the director for infection control at children's minnesota hospital. the measles outbreak started

46 of the 48 confirmed cases are in children 10 years old or younger. >> i just finished doing rounds on these children, and they are miserable. they're in the hospital, they have ivs, they're not drinking. they have terrible coughs. some have pneumonia. >> reporter: the virus commonly moves through the air your it can live for up to two hours, making it more contagious than the flu. the only vaccine in the u.s. available is the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine or mmr. >> one in 1,000 children who get measles will have encephalitis. some lo have infection in their brain, permanent brain damage, blindness or deafness. so we wouldn't vaccinate if this was just a rashy illness. this is a very, very serious disease. >> reporter: in 2014, almost 90% were vaccinated. in the somali community, that

this community leader says it's because of an unfounded fear spawned by antivaccine activists that mmr causes autism. >> some parents, they said at least it's curable, because they believe that thing is causing autism. and they don't have a choice. >> reporter: this is a somalian mother of five children. four have received the mmr vaccine, but she waited until they were older, even after getting measles herself. what was that like? mohammed doesn't plan to vaccinate her 5-year-old until he starts school in the fall. >> there is this big decision to make. are you going to choose to take the risk to vaccinate and get the long-term chronic illness? or are you going to take the risk of trying to do everything that you can in your power to prevent your child from getting the measles? that's a very hard choice. >> reporter: doctors say false information linking vaccines to autism is hurting children.

misinformation is still out there? >> it is frustrating, because we know these diseases are contagious, they can spread. they can take children's lives, and all we have to do is go back to before we had vaccines where the united states had 4 million cases of measles, and we will go back there if we don't continue to vaccinate. >> reporter: scientific studies show there's no direct correlation between the vaccine and an increased risk at autism. even in children who are at increased risk for the disorder. now here in minnesota, health officials say it could take months for this epidemic to be over, that's because they need at least six weeks with no new reported cases of measles for the outbreak to be considered finished. when you hear the brand nestle, you probably think of chocolate. but they are also the biggest producer of bottled water. they are now coming under fire about where it gets a lot of its water, from southern california. the area is just coming back from a four-year drought.

>> reporter: in the san bernardino mountains outside los angeles, this intricate maze of pipes collects and funnels tens of millions of gallons of water each year. it's the original source for nestle's arrowhead water. the steep terrain is only easily accessible by helicopter. larry lawrence brought us deep into the canyon. >> these are naturally-flowing sources. we don't pump anything, we don't siphon anything. naturally flows into the pipe. >> reporter: springwater collects in this tunnel and moves downhill through this pipeline. >> from the top to the bottom is 7.2 miles. >> reporter: at the bottom, tanker trucks load and transport it to a nearby plant where they bottle the water. the water business is booming. bottled water sales are up nearly 9% over the last year which has sent nestle looking for new sources.

to meet customer demand. of their current sources around the country, 11 are in california, a state dealing with long-term drought concerns. >> every gallon of water that is taken out of a natural system for bottled water is a gallon of water that doesn't flow down a stream, that doesn't support a natural ecosystem. >> reporter: nestle has faced protests over its water collection in california, both because of the drought and the fact that this site is on public land. while the company takes about 30 million-gallons each year, they pay just $524 to the u.s. forest service for the permits. >> i think it's fair to say that in this case, our public agencies have dropped the ball. >> reporter: the forest service is now reviewing nestle's permit for the first time in 30 years. they declined our request for an interview. nelson switzer is nestle's chief sustainability officer. some people would say this is the people's water, is it fair

that you make so much money off of this? >> nestle has water rights of course in this area. from a legal standpoint, of course it's fair. from a perception point, i understand why people are asking that question, but water belongs to no one. >> reporter: switter says they take their responsibility seriously. >> the sustainability of the supply is paramount. and if our activities were to compromise the sustainability of that supply, we would stop operating. i hope people remember that water itself is a renewable resource. as long as that is managed properly, that system will be renewable forever. >> reporter: it may be renewable. but as long as companies like nestle make a profit, the debate over public natural resources will continue. l? this clean was like pow! my teeth are glowing. they are so white. step 1 cleans. step 2 whitens. crest [hd]. 6x cleaning*, 6x whitening*á i would switch to crest [hd] over what i was using before.

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president trump's attempt to block travel and immigration from several predominantly muslim nations has so far been blocked by the federal courts. the ninth court of appeals will take up the case again later this month. but lesley stahl of "60 minutes" spoke with one of the most controversial judges on that court, and he was appointed by ronald reagan. >> let's say president trump decided to single you out. how would you handle it? >> well, so long as he spells my name right, it's okay. >> really?

the most conservative, influential judges has advice for the president. >> my advice to anybody going after judges by name, whether it's the president or anybody else, i think it's a terrible idea. i don't think it's a very smart thing to do. >> is this etiquette that it shouldn't be done. >> i think people before the court should be very careful about insulting the people make the decisions. i think it's wise for him not to comment on the judges. it's not going to help anything. all it's going to do is emphasize the weakness of your position. >> so he's just advertising that he's on shaky ground. >> i think it has a tendency, yes. >> a judge has just blocked our executive order. >> not only has president trump castigated individual judges, he

ninth circuit court saying it should be split in two. >> people are screaming, break up the ninth circuit. take a look at how many times they have been overturned with their terrible decisions. take a look. >> the ninth circuit can't be split and won't be split. it's a terrible idea. >> why is it a terrible idea? the president himself has come after the circuit, saying 80% of your decisions are overturned by the supreme court. >> generally when the supreme court takes cases they can overturn, they overturn something like 70% to 80% of all cases they take. so we're there in the middle. >> reporter: mr. trump's quarrel with the ninth circuit heated up after it upheld a lower court's blocking of its controversial travel ban. >> aren't our borders getting extremely strong? >> in the opinion, the judges noted that during the campaign, candidate trump made numerous statements about his intent to

implement a muslim ban, which would be unconstitutional. but in this case, judge kaczynski sides with the president. he wrote in a dissenting opinion that you can't hold an elected official to every statement made while campaigning when in truth, the poor shlub's only intent is to get elected. in defending the travel ban, you talk about the first amendment. >> first amendment is really at the very core of political speech. and political speech is in the very core of the first amendment. so we want to be very careful to make sure that they will free to express their views so people will make an informed choice. we don't want them holding back. and considering their views and then disclosing them afterwards. >> reporter: holding a candidate's statements against him, he wrote, will chill campaign speech. >> candidates will promise the sun and the moon. d

you're not going to get the sun and the moon. you're probably not going to get either. >> reporter: what about when a president lies? >> well, machiavelli said it is the duty of a prince to lie. >> reporter: is that the way you see it? >> i think in some circumstances, probably right. >> you are being unreasonable. >> reporter: being provocative is classic kaczynski. >> you could have said, bam! >> reporter: another example? his support of the death penalty, but not by lethal injection. >> i think use of lethal injection is a way of lying to ourselves to make it look like execution's a peaceful, a benign, sort of like going to sleep, and they're not. they're brutal things. >> reporter: now you have proposed alternatives. you propose firing squad to lethal injections. >> never fails. >> reporter: but you also said the guillotine. >> that's right. >> reporter: really? the guillotine? come on. >> you know, it's 100%

and it leaves no doubt that what we are doing is a violent thing. if we as a society are willing to take away human life, we should be willing to watch it. >> reporter: you know, you're very soft-spoken, and you have a very placid look on your face, and you say very outspoken, almost incendiary things like that. i think sometimes people sort of miss the provocation of what you're saying. >> on the contrary. the softer you speak the more the provocation is heard. >> reporter: judge alex kaczynski has spent over three decades on this bench at the ninth circuit. in his rulings on thousands of cases, there's one constant, a deep-rooted distrust of authority, which, like his thick accent is a product of his childhood. >> you can see the full report on our website, cbs news.com the overnight newsl

back.

captioning funded by cbs it's wednesday, may 10th, 2017. this is the "cbs morning news." president trump fires fbi director james comey in the midst of an investigation into the ties with russia. what led up to the ouster, krut sichl from the president's own party, and a push for reaction from the opposition. >> this is poort a deeply troubling pattern from the trump administration. >> well, good morning from the studio 57