and as ben tracy tells us, the worst may be yet to come. >> reporter: in sacramento, california, you would be better off with a boat than a car. >> wild, i will tell you. >> i have never seen it like this, in years. >> reporter: in spokane, washington, icy streets caused a multicar pileup and howling winds with near seattle sent a tree crashing through the roof of this house. >> the roar of the wind was horrible. we were covering our ears. it was awe. >> reporter: and when the gusts snapped nine power poles a burst transformer caused this house to go up in flames. firefighters could only watch it burn as the road was blocked. >> i just saw all potter poles all the way down the road just sandwich to the road. >> reporter: the series of rainstorms is being caused by a large plum of subtropical moisture stretching all the way from asia, mixing with a low pressure system that is slamming it into the pas civic coast. >> we have a long trail of moisture that extends well out into the central pacific and that's exactly what we are seeing right now. until we get a change in the weather patte

so as national correspondent ben tracy reports, reining it in will require some tough choices as well. >> reporter: the challenge for medicare is to keep the program alive while also keeping aging patients alive. 47 million americans are on medicare at a cost of $468 billion, about 13% of the federal budget. barbara hayes is on medicare. she's dying of colon cancer, i could have six days. i could have six months. i don't know. >> reporter: for her recent chemotherapy, medicare was billed $155,000. >> if i didn't have medicare, i'd be up the creek. >> reporter: but medicare is also up a creek. in the next ten years, as baby boomers age, 14 million more seniors will pour into the program. by 2020, medicare spending is expected to be $1 trillion, two- thirds of today's federal budget deficit. >> essentially, medicare is the primary driver of all the fiscal problems we face in the united states. >> reporter: so the deficit panel offers some tough choices. first, people on medicare will likely have to pay more. right now, about 90% of beneficiaries pay virtually nothing for medicare servic

>> couric: ben tracy in los angeles, ben, thanks so much and stay safe. meanwhile, in europe, the snow has stopped but many travelers still are not going anywhere. today london's heathrow airport finally reopened both its runways but officials there is say it won't be back to a normal schedule until thursday. bad news for travelers stranded there. some were told today they won't be able to fly before christmas. while some dream of a white christmas, retailers prefer green and it looks like their dream is coming true. results are in from what's traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year-- the saturday before christmas, super saturday. sales were up 15% over last year. anthony mason now on happier holidays. >> reporter: for retailers, five of the top sales days of the year happen in this week leading up to christmas. after a strong super saturday, shopper tracks now forecasting holiday sales will jump 4% this season. >> it's clearly a turn after two negative years in a row for the holiday season. >> reporter: the winners and losers so far: electroni

as ben tracy reports, this massive rainmaker is causing serious trouble. >> reporter: in sacramento, california, you would be better off with a boat than a car. >> i've never seen it like this, in years! >> reporter: in spokane, washington, icy streets caused a multi-car pile-up, and howling winds near seattle sent a tree crashing through a house. >> the roar of the wind was horrible. we were covering our ears. it was awful. >> reporter: when the gust snapped nine power poles, a burst transformer caused this house to go up in flames. firefighters could only watch it burn as the road was blocked. >> i just saw all the power poles all the way down the road sandwiched to the road. >> reporter: the series of rain storms caused by a large plume of subtropical moisture stretching all the way from asia mixing with a low pressure system slamming it into the pacific coast. >> we have a long trail of moisture extending well into the central pacific. that's exactly what we are seeing right now. until we bet a change in the weather pattern, this moisture will keep coming in from the west and sou

ben tracy has more from hard-hit southern california. >> reporter: water, water everywhere. >> the water is up past my knees. >> reporter: her living room is drowning in six to eight inches. >> every time they let cars drive by it makes waves go through the houses. >> reporter: near san diego, firefighters had to fight surging waters, climbing on a woman's car to pull her to safety. these five days of steady rain are downing tree after tree, causing rock slides to shut down sections of the pacific coast highway and even stranding horses up to their chests. the worst of it is still lurking off the coast. set to slam southern california with up to ten more inches of rain, those in foothill neighborhoods prone to mudslides are on edge. >> i don't think you can ever relax when it's raining. mother nature is unpredictable, you never know what you will get. >> reporter: here's the problem. after nearly five days of rain the hilled sides are so saturated that what looks like stable rock actually just falls apart increasing the risk of dangerous landslides and now this super-soaker is about to s

ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles >> couric: still ahead on the "cbs evening news," in search of santa clause. steve hartman finds him heart at work on-- no kidding-- santa claus lane. but up next, questions about the safety of our water after high levels of a carcinogen are found in samples all across the country. [ female announcer ] with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... and the life you want to live. fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, and other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. ask your doctor if you live or have lived in an area where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, ha

ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> mitchell: and that is the "cbs evening news."on cbs, "60 minutes." thanks for joining us this sunday evening. i'm russ mitchell, cbs news in new york. harry smith will be here tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org fire torch pot dispensary >>> stuck at afo, the blizzard can selling dozens of flights. >>> fire destroys a bay area pot dispensary and why this may be no accident. >> mall-wide, lots of price cuts everywhere. good time to shop. >>> as the post christmas rush hits bay area malls, those returns might cost you. >>> cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. ,,

ben tracy has more in tonight's "reading, writing and reform." >> yes, we did! yes, we did!ter: these parents are fed up. their kids go to mckinley elementary in compton, california. it's a tough town and the school is one of the worst in the state-- ranked in the bottom 10%. shemika murphy says her second grader is still reading at a first-grade level. she signed a petition, along with 62% of mckinley parents, forcing the school district to make it a charter school-- publicly funded by privately run. >> we want to turn in this petition. >> reporter: it's the first use of california's so-called parent trigger law, where a majority of parents can demand a school shut down, change staff or become a charter. >> we want it to be peaceful. we're not trying to start a war. we just want a better education for our children. >> reporter: but it has become a nasty fight. some parents now say they were tricked or intimidated into signing the petition. if enough of them withdraw their signatures, this whole trigger effort could backfire. >> i've heard countless... dozens of accounts of

having money trouble these days. 48 states cut their medicaid budget this year, and in arizona, ben tracy reports the fear is that pressure to save money might cost lives. >> reporter: tiffany tate always thought of herself as a jock, the point guard on her high school basketball team. they won the state title twice, but now tiffany can barely breathe-- she's 27. ( coughing ) the cystic fibrosis she was born with his killed off 75% of her lungs. in april, the state sent this letter-- she made the list for a double lung transplant. >> i felt so good about getting my transplant and i was excited and i was planning for it. >> reporter: but four months later, another letter. >> "you can not get the service because state law eliminated this type of transplant." >> reporter: so when you read that, what did you think? >> crushed. i'm scared to know that i won't get it and... if i don't get it then i'm going to die. >> reporter: as of october, arizona's version of medicaid no longer pays for certain organ transplants for low-income patients. they cost more than $200,000, and the state says too of

ben tracy shows us southern california is suffering even more than we are here in the bay area. >> reporter: this is definitely not the image of sunny california. >> the water is up past my knees. >> reporter: for five days the rain keeps coming and coming and coming. >> we haven't seen anything quite like this in a matter of years actually. >> reporter: already, 12 inches have fallen in parts of santa barbara county, a foot of rain in one week. they could get 10 more inches by thursday. in the city of los angeles, five inches of rain so far. by tomorrow night, l.a. may have gotten half its yearly rainfall in just six days. further north in california's central valley, swollen creeks are eating away the land threatening several homes. >> the water is going to go inside the houses because we're so close to the canals. >> reporter: so far, the creeks have held and surprisingly, there's been no major flooding. but rock slides have closed several roads including the pacific coast highway shut down 10 miles in both directions. the fear now is the monster storm still lined up off the coast. >> we

counter s news national correspondent ben tracy is in wlngs with the latest. rning, ben. >> reporter: good morning, harry. you know the so-called grim sleeper terrorized los angeles for years. he was finally caught this summer but now police say they need the public's help because they fear he may have killed more people than they ever imagined. for more than two decades, a string of murders went unsolved. most of the victims thought to be prostitutes and drug users. all from a gritty section of south los angeles. police say the killer is this man, local mechanic, lonnie franklin, jr., who may have even more victims. >> lonnie franklin's rein of terror in the city of of los angeles, which spanned well over two decades and we certainly do not believe that we are so lucky or so good as to know all his victims. >> reporter: franklin has been dubbed the grim sleeper because police believe he took a 14-year hiatus in his killing sprees. his dna on a slice of pizza finally linked him to ten murders. when police arrested him and raided his home this past july they mad

ben tracy has the latest for wjz. >>> with his helmet still on, he looked more like an astronaut. making off with chips. >> he confronted several patrons with a firearm. he told everyone not to move. and he took april $1.5 million worth of casino chips. >> this is the tenth casino robbery in las vegas this year. police believe tuesday's crime was made by the same man who made off with an estimated $20,000 from the sun coast casino sunday night. >> he was carrying a handgun during both of them. and was last seen wearing a motorcycle helmet with a stripe on it. he was wearing a black jacket, black gloves. >> unlike money, casino chips are only valid at certain properties. so the chips can only be cashed there. and while they would not reveal security measures, a spokesman said, quote, at some point, they'll have to be redeemed. >>> some of the more upscale casinos have microchips embedded in the chips. bellagio is not saying whether they use that technology or not. >>> "time" magazine is naming mark zuckerberg the person of the year. at 26 years old, he is the youngest person to rec

let's begin with ben tracy in flintridge, california. ben, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, russ. still raining here in southern california and the folks in this neighborhood are understandably on edge. you can see behind me here, made a channel with the fence and sandbags with major hillsides back here and the fear is mud slides. hoping this will send that mud out into the street and keep it away from the homes because despite the rain we have already had, a whole lot more is headed our way. this is definitely not the image of sunny california. >> the water is up past my knees. >> reporter: for five days now, the rain just keeps coming and coming and coming. >> haven't seen this in a matter of years. >> reporter: already 12 inches fallen in parts of santa barbara county. they could get ten more inches by thursday. in the city of los angeles, five inches of rain so far, by tomorrow night, l.a. may have gotten half its yearly rainfall in six days. furtherer north, creeks are eating the land, threatening several homes. >> wer

ben tracy has the latest on this case. >> reporter: for more than two decades, a string of murders went unsolved. most of the victims thought to be prostitutes and drug users, all from a gritty section of south los angeles. police say the killer is this man. local mechanic, lonnie franklin, jr., who may have even more victims. >> reporter: lonnie franklin's reign of terror, in the city of los angeles, was spanned well over two decades. and we certainly do not believe that we are so lucky or so good as to know all of his victims? >> franklin has been dubbed the grim sleeper because police believe he took a 14-year hiatus on his sleeping. when police finally arrested him and, they made an alarming discovery. hundreds of photos of women. no clue what happened to them. >> our main concern is individuals and their identity. >> on thursday, l.a. police posted the photos photo the website. >> there is something we need to establish. there is some family in this city that goes without justice. and you will help us in achieving that for them. >> reporter: franklin could get the death penalty if

ben tracy reports for wjz. police say they had to show these pictures to the public. >>> for more than two decades, a string of murders went unsolved. all from a gritty section of south los angeles. police say the killer is this man, local mechanic, lonnie franklin, jr. who may have had more victims. >> lonnie franklin's reign of terror, in the city of los angeles, spanned well over two decades. and we certainly do not believe that we are so lucky or so good as to know all of his victims. >> reporter: he is known as the grim sleeper because police believe he took a 14-year hiatus on his killing sprees. it was a piece of pizza that linked him. when police followed him to his home this past july, they made an an aalarming discovery. mondays ever pictures of women. not knowing what happened to them. >> our main concern is to identify these women. >> reporter: thursday, they posted the pictures to a website and are encouraging family and friends to come forward. >> there is someone's identity that we need to establ

ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> twists and turns. still ahead our exclusive interview with a woman who refused to be intimidated by a stalker. she tracked him down herself and helped bring him to justice. >> from oil changes to thread counts, unconventional wa save money when we come back. withere's the life you live... and the life you want to live. fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, and other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. ask your doctor if you live or have lived in an area where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, h

cbs news correspondent ben tracy has the story from los angeles. >> reporter: ever since ronni chasenas mysteriously gunned down two and a half weeks ago, the beverly hills cops have said next to nothing about their most high-profile murder investigation. >> if there's one thing we've seen in the last two weeks, they knew a lot more than they were letting on. >> reporter: that's because earlier this week detectives showed up in force at this run-down hollywood apartment building to question harold martin smith, a so-called person of interest. but, he shot and killed himself in front of police. tmz reports there is not yet any physical evidence linking him to chasen's death. >> harold martin smith, in a couple of days, could end up being the guy or could end up being somebody who has nothing to do with this. the cops don't know yet. >> reporter: neither do celebrities blogrs but still having a field day with what is dubbed a really holy would whodunit saying police are considering everything from a random incident of road rage to a hit man to explain her death. >> it was a targeted hit

cbs news national correspondent ben tracy is in las vegas with the latest on this. orning, ben. >> reporter: good morning, >> now to a bizarre and disturbing twist in the baby gabriel case. 8 month old gabriel johnson vanished in arizona nearly a year ago. his mother has been this custody for most of that time. but, on kidnapping charges. now, our phoenix affiliate kpho has obtained a chilling audio tape where you hear the mother say she killed the child. cbs news correspondent bill chit ker has the latest. >> reporter: baby gabriel was last seen the day after christmas. police still don't know whether he is alive or dead. but his 24-year-old mother, elizabeth johnson, claimed in a phone conversation with the baby's father that she killed their son. >> where are you and where's gabriel. >> gabriel is in a dumpster. >> no, he's not. >> you want to talk -- >> reporter: johnson and her ex-boyfriend, logan mcqueary shared joint custody but december 27th, the day he was to get gabriel, he received a text message from johnson that the baby was dead. and in an audio recordi

cbs news national correspondent ben tracy is in las vegas with the latest on this. good morning, ben. >> reporter: good morning, betty. this is really quite a story and all happened here at the bellagio casino in las vegas. a lot of people come to vegas to push their luck at the gambling table but it's an entirely different gamble to think you can run into a casino and make out with more than a million bucks in chips. but, that's exactly what this guy did. with his helmet still on, he looked more like an astronaut than armed bandit but he brazenly held up a table of gambles at the bellagio casino making occupy with $1.5 million in chips. famous for its dancing water fountain it is a top tourist destination and also the back drop for several hollywood films. >> casino security cannot be beaten. >> reporter: including the 2001 casino heist "oceans 11" starring george clooney and brad pitt. the robbery in the film was a high-tech whodunit requiring nearly a dozen men, whereas tuesday's lone gunman required just a helmet, motorcycle and about two minutes to pull it all o

ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >>> we want to bring in former los angeles police chief bill brattong. >> good morning. >> there's so much speculation and theories but, frankly, we are short on facts that have been released. if you're part of this investigation, what do you make of the little tidbits that we have? >> well, all the options are still on the table. that was one avenue of investigation that's moved quite far along. from this incident, they will now be able to examine the weapon that the gentleman had in the possession. be able to question the friends, relatives to his activities. weapon will be key. also, what they had in the search warrant that they supposedly had, what were they looking for? he was described as a person of interest. person of interest in police parlance can be a person that might have information about a crime, somebody who actually they think may have been involved in the crime and who's up to a suspect level. there's any number of things that can make a person a person of interest. >> when there's so much interest in the case and high-profile murder

ben tracy, cbs news. >> that was my question here, we've been talking about it. did he not do his research before he went in? >> not exactly danny ocean. >> no. >> all right. >> but it was a very quick heist >>> now to a bizarre and disturbing twist in the baby gabriel case, 8-month of old gab rel johnson vanished in arizona nearly a year ago. his mother has been in custody for most of that time but on kidnapping charges. now our phoenix affiliate kpho has obtained a chilling audio tape where you hear the mother say she killed the child. cbs news correspondent bill whitaker has the latest. >> reporter: baby gabriel was last seen the day after christmas. police still don't know whether he is alive or dead but his 24-year-old mother elizabeth johnson claimed in a phone conversation with the baby's father that she killed their son. >> where are you and where is gabriel? >> no, he's not. >> reporter: johnson and her ex-boyfriend shared joint custody. but december 27th, the day he was supposed to get gabriel, he received a text message from johnson that the baby was d

ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >>> and joining us exclusively from los angeles is lindsay's fathery drinking. you have spoke ton lindsay. are the charges true at all? >> absolutely not. i've been with lindsay from the beginning of this and have seen how it's twisted and turned. to be quite honest, i don't know how this kind of thing can happen and be twisted the way it has. listen, i know it does happen, it's rehab, to be made public and made into something it's not, it's really didn't-it's very trying on lindsay and it's -- i'm very disturbed by it. >> yr daughter is scheduled to leave rehab next month. how concerned are you she's actually going to go to jail for x months? >> i know -- i have a lot of confidence in joy chapman holly and i a confidence in god. even the program i work with, it would have been handled differently. i do give betty ford a lot of credit for helping my daughter. she's made a 182-degree turn. she's doing extremely well. she's healthy. she's more -- has more clarity than i've seen in a long, long time. it's just you know, it's very lard for her to deal wit

>> ben tracy in los angeles this morning, ben, thanks.s now this morning washington. pat, good morning to you. it is interesting, as ben jest touched on again, the lack of information that we have. there's very little detail to go on and and very little detail about this man now dead. from what you've seen, though, what do you make, is there some sort of connection here to him and ronni chasen? >> well, i would think, erica, there should be at this point. they've been watching him and had to have some information that led them obviously to this particular person. and for him just to kill himself as the police approach, he knew he was going down for something big, he knew he was going back to prison the rest of his life. matter of fact he told somebody i'd kill myself before i let that happen. he clearly knew he would be arrested to something more than petty larceny. i would say, yes, he's connected. >> there was speculation whoever may have been behind this murder was a professional hit man. a retired investigator, spent 38 years in the l

. >> ben tracy, thanks. now here is jeff. >> thank you very much. to the breaking news in england where police arrested 12 suspected terrorists for plotting attacks using bombs and explosives. elizabeth palmer is live in london this morning with the latest. liz, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. before dawn there were several raids by unarmed officers in britain. they picked up as you mentioned 12 men age between 17 and 28. they were picked up at houses in three cities in the uk, london, stoke on trent and cartive. they are doing their best of avoiding a restaging like this, the 2008 in mumbai which showed how a group of well-armed radical men can bring chaos and mass killing to a crowded city center. in europe and brit at any crowded holiday season makes an obvious target. and police have beefed up security. following several vague but worrying intelligence reports this fall. in paris extra officers guard the transport network and tourist attractions. in germany there were bearricads around parliament. so far the extra intelligence has paid

>> ben tracy in los angeles, thanks. also joining us is former district attorney robin sax.ok at the details that we've had and the details we haven't had. now we're hearing from police, they come out and say he was, in fact, tied to the crime but they're not saying that the case is closed. does that surprise you? >> well, here in los angeles there are a lot more questions than there are answers still yet, and we're already three weeks out on this investigation. and what is definitely what we heard from law enforcement that they have unequivocally determined that this was a one-man job and that the one man was harold smith. but amongst the people here, that doesn't feel very settling. and doesn't really necessarily matchup to the evidence that we've been hearing, albeit what the detectives have called erroneous. >> what raises questions in your mind? >> well, right now everybody, or the presumption was there were three shots to ronni chasen's chest and a couple shots to her shoulders. that led a lot of investigators, a lot of analysts, to determine that that was a profession