celia hatton shows us how they shed new light on beijing's approach to execution. and basketball brawl. bow cynthia bowers has the blow-by-blow of a rivalry that got way out of hand. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. captioning sponsored by cbs russ mitchell is off tonight. the 12th republican presidential debate last night was also the next-to-last debate before the first votes are cast in the iowa caucus, which is 23 days out. dean reynolds in des moines has more on the high-stakes free-for-all. >> as the latest king of the republican hill, newt gingrich came under attack, but mitt romney took a lot of punch, including some of the self-inflicted variety, for example, when he challenged the truth of an attack by rick perry, romney offered to put money on the table. >> rick, i'll tell you what, $10,000, $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> critics scoffed that it was a sign of romney's wealth and elitism, noting that few iowans could pony up $10,000 to move a point. >> those type of elitist tactics may work. >> then there was romn

. >>> joining us with more is cbs news correspondent celia hatton in beijing. what is the reaction from china? >> reporter: well, china is north korea's biggest ally, so officially the chinese government said that mr. kim was a true friend to china, it was very distressed to hear the news and called mr. kim a great leader. they aren't certain whether future leadership of north korea will embrace the ongoing relationship with china or whether they will decide to warm up relations with washington and that is something washington doesn't want. >> kim juong-un the heir-apparent. >> nobody knows much about him and has the region in a panic. we know he is somewhere in his 20s. he was announced as the successor a year ago by passing his two older brothers but since then, we have hardly heard anything about him. he is rarely seen in public so we aren't sure what is happening with his succession and it really is a bit of a concern if he does become leader, he will be a very young person in charge of a country with a lot of problems, military armed country that really ha

celia hatton is in beijing with the latest for us this morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: the death of kim jong-il has put governments across asia into crisis mode as they try to decide whether it's possible the country could collapse after the loss of its dictator. the shocked news anchor cried as she announced it. their so-called dear leader kim jong-il died of a sudden heart attack saturday. the surprise death of a man who ruled over every aspect of north korea is creating uncertainty across asia. kim named his son kim jong-un successor of the family design city last year after it was cleared he suffered some kind of stroke. kim jong-il was groomed to be a leader hi business father but this young heir is hardly ready for prime time. >> i think what will likely happen kind of a caretaker leads-of-. kim jong-il's brother-in-law and kim jong-il's younger sister who are very important behind the scenes and they will be sort of shepherding kim jong-un along as he gets ready to take over the country. >> reporter: kim jing iong-il w throe for living the high life. when the u.s. and its

. >> celia hatton is in beijing with more reaction to the news this morning. news of his death still came as a shock to those both inside and outside the country. in the capital of pyongyang, north koreans openly went. the shocked news anchor cried as she announced north korea's so-called dear leader kim jong-il, died of a sudden heart attack saturday. as the communist country mourns kim's sudden death, it's urging its people to rally behind his third son and heir apparent kim jong-un. little is known about the younger kim who's believed to be in his 20s. >> i think it's important to keep in mind that north korea is basically an organized crime family posing as a government. >> reporter: immediately following news of kim's death, south korea, the north's long-time enemy, put its military on high alert. this news bombshell comes just days after the u.s. and north korean officials discussed possibly reconsumingsumeing food aid to the country. it could have included a pledge from north korea to stop its controversial uranium enrichment program. >> what you don't

celia hatton, wjz eyewitness news, beijing. >> as she said, it is fueling online debates that it is the poorest, weakest people who face the punishment. >>> manuel noriega is coming home. >> he was taken straight to a prison facility to serve time for crimes he committed during his rule. he is accused of having links to a columbian drug lord and in the process, he amassed a multimillion dollar fortune. while in the u.s., he suffered from prostate cancer, also a stroke. the 77-year-old has been in france since 2010. he said he wants to face the charges he was tried for. >> authorities have strengthened security tol guarantee noriega's safety in panama. >>> a robber is under arrest after using a fake gun to steal from a pizza place. the man, nicknamed the pizza robber, strikes again. he is accused of striking a dozen. the thief pulled out a gun and demanded money. >>> also in washington state, a valuable christmas delivery is stolen. the couple received e-mail alerts. the packages have been delivered but they were not on the porch when they checked the home surveillance video. that's when