cynthia bowers, cbs news, chicago. >> glor: that is the cbs evening news tonight. i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new cent drop in the sal >>> the condition of a little girl's condition is not known after being shot after she opened the door. >>> talking about reversing what many are calling a catastrophe. >>> not much rain just yet but wind and rain is coming. we will tell you when coming up. >>> i'm ann notarangelo. cbs5 eyewitness news is next.

cynthia bowers is in a less-than-balmy chicago this evening. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, russ. it's hardly that. a lot of times winter storms don't live up to the hype, but this one has, dumping snow from the dakotas to nashville, tennessee, an behind that precipitation, bitter cold. wind chills here expected to be negative 25 tonight. first came heavy snow. enough to collapse the 9.5 acre roof of the minneapolis metrodome, hope of the minnesota vikings. it gave way this morning, unable to stand up to the fifth heaviest snowfall in twin cities' history, 17 inches in 18 hours. the vikings will now play the morning giants in detroit on monday, but the giants were unable to get to minneapolis anyway because the airport there shut down for the first time in 19 years. roads across the region were also closed. heavy snow kept firefighters from getting to a house fire where two people died. more than 600 vehicles slid off the road. there were so many accidents in iowa, troopers say they quit counting. in lacrosse, wisconsin, where snowplo

cynthia bowers has our story. >> thank you very much for being a part of us ( applause ). >> reporter: at panera bread company, the nation's best-performing restaurant chain. >> the breaking of bread with customers is an opening day tradition. >> some people cut a ribbon. we share bread. >> reporter: but what's happening at this dearborn, michigan, store is decidedly nontraditional. >> we made a decision to take this store and literally give the store to the community. >> to make sure everyone gets a meal, even if they can't afford one. >> reporter: panera cares, as it's called, doesn't list prices on its menu board. it suggests donations instead. >> you just leave more or less in the donation box. the "pay what you can" concept is founder ron shakes way of offering more than a simple handout to those in need. >> i'm only working part time right now. so on days that i can afford it, it will be great, and on days that i can't, i'll definitely take use of it. >> this isn't a soup kitchen. it isn't a homeless shelter. it's a cafe of shared responsibility. >> reporter: but for some custom

cynthia bowers has more. >> reporter: first came heavy snow. enough to collapse the 9.5 acre roof of the minneapolis metrodome home of the minnesota vikings and gave way this morning, unable to stand up to the fifth heaviest snowfall in twin cities history. 17 inches in 18 hours. >> oh. >> reporter: the vikings will play the new york giants in detroit monday, but the giants were unable to get to minneapolis anyway because the airport there shut down for the first time in 19 years. roads across the region were also closed. heavy snow kept firefighters from getting to a house fire, where two people died. more than 600 vehicles slid off the road. there were so many accidents in iowa, troopers say they quit counting. in la crosse, wisconsin, where snowplows could not keep up, drivers were urged to keep off the roads. >> stay home. do not come out in this. this is ridiculous. >> reporter: a state of emergency has been declared in all 72 wisconsin counties, but this massive system dumped snow as far south as lexington, kentucky and nashville, tenness

cynthia bowers, cbs news, chicago. >> couric: how cute is she?s the "cbs evening news" for tonight. i'm katie couric. thanks for watching. we leave you now with a sign of the season. the first family flipped the switch tonight to light the national christmas tree. >> 3, 2, 1! ( cheers and applause ) captioning sponsored by cbs captione getting a nasty letter. the very personal attack that's raising questions >>> she went to the dmv for a license and got a nasty letter. the very personal attack that's raising questions about privacy. >> you may have avoided a traffic ticket without even knowing it. why police were cutting some drivers slack and why the grace period is over. >>> and you are looking at one man's backyard hobby. so how did all that get there? >>> good evening, i'm dana king. >> i'm allen martin. >>> imagine going to the dmv to renew your driver's license. weeks later you get a letter from the clerk reprimanding for something that did you in your personal life. it happened to a bay area woman. don knapp went to the dmv in san francisc

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cynthia bowers, cbs news, dearborn, michigan. >>> coming up later on "the early show" continuing coverageve blizzard that has socked in a large part of the east coast. also a look at president obama's likely plans to seek a second term as president. and a report on the trouble-plagued broadway production "spider-man" and how the show will go on. that's the "cbs morning news" for this monday. appreciate you watching this morning. i'm terrell brown. take care, everybody. i'm terrell brown. take care, everybody. have a great day! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

cynthia bowers reports two deadly fires, one early today, the other last week, illustrate the terrible danger. >> reporter: surrounded by thousands of mourners, the casket of chicago firefighter edward stringer was carried to his funeral atop engine 63. the same truck he road to the fire that claimed his life. >> mayday, mayday... >> reporter: stringer was one of two firefighters killed when the roof of an abandoned building collapsed on them. 17 firefighters were injured. they were inside searching for homeless men and women. >> there were some squatters in there trying to keep warm and the place caught afire. >> reporter: in a similar tragedy in new orleans early today, eight homeless residents died when a fire they set in a steel drum to keep warm spread through an abandoned warehouse. fire officials there are urging the homeless to use city shelters. >> it's a lot safer in a city shelter than it is in an abandoned building. >> reporter: but not according to the thousands living on the streets in big cities like chicago. advocates for the homeless say folks tell them they actually f

cynthia bowers, cbs news, chicago. >> mitchell: much of the deep south is in a deep freeze this weekendfrom raleigh, north carolina, to cross city, florida, temperatures are expected to dip well below the freezing point again tonight. kids in lexington, kentucky, took advantage of a rare snowfall there to go sledding. we'll be back. we'll be back. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yea, i know. oh, you're good. good luck! priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. you won't believe your taste buds. you won't believe it's fiber. benefiber. clear, taste-free, and dissolves completely. what a beautiful way to get fiber everyday. that's the beauty of benefiber. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease art

cbs news correspondents cynthia bowers is in chilly chicago, i should say downright cold, freezing chicago this morning. good morning, cynthia. >> reporter: good morning, betty. negative one in the suburbs. you know in northern climbs like this one cold can be relative but this cold is that unwelcome relative especially since winter hasn't even started yet. four of the five coldest starts in december in chicago history have happened in the last five years. the pre-winter assault continued across the midwest yesterday dumping two feet of snow outside cleveland with nine more inches expected this morning. and as the slow-moving storm continues to move east, there is more snow for pennsylvania and new york. on a snow-bound highway in ontario, military choppers had to rescue motorists. >> actually, i've lived here 35 years. i've never seen it like this. >> reporter: more than 300 people were stranded in snow and ice for over 24 hours. >> it's a storm that we generally don't get and it's just blowing and keeps on snowing. so, got no visibility hardly sglort the northest is experiencing and arct

cbs news correspondent cynthia bowers is in chilly chicago. i should say down right cold, freezing chicago this morning. good morning, cynthia. >> reporter: good morning, betty. it was negative 1 in the suburbs here today. now, in colder cities such as this one they say cold is relative but the cold is a welcome relative, especially since winter didn't even start yet and four of the city's coldest starts to december have come in just the last five years. the pre-winter assault continued across the midwest yesterday, dumping two feet of snow outside cleveland with nine more inches expected this morning. and as the slow-moving storm continues to move east, there is more snow for pennsylvania and new york. on a snow-bound highway in on tear yore, military choppers had to rescue motorists. >> i have lived here 35 years, never seen it like this. >> reporter: more than 300 people were stranded over 24 hours. >> this is a storm that we generally don't get and just blowing and it keeps on snowing so got no visibility hardly. >> reporter: the northeast

first warning weather coverage continues with cynthia bowers in chile, -- chilly chicago. >> reporter: the winter assault continued yesterday, dumping 2 feet of snow outside of cleveland, with 9 more inches expected this morning. and as the slow-moving storm continues to move east, there is more snow for pennsylvania and new york. on a snowbound highway in ontario, military chopper his to rescue motorists. >> i actually have lived here for 35 years. and i've never seen it like that. >> reporter: more than 300 people were stranded in snow and ice for more than 24 hours. >> it's a storm that we generally don't get. and it's just blowing and keeps on snowing. so it's got no visibility hardly. >> reporter: the northeast is experiencing an arctic blast that has temperatures plummeting. >> freezing cool. i should have wore another jacket on top of this. >> reporter: and the bone- chilling temperature stretches as far south as florida, a bone- chilling cold snap experts say is unusual for this time of year of news. >> we get into late december, expwrn and even february, it's not -- late janu

cbs news correspondents cynthia bowers is in chicago with the latest. , looking at you it is awfully cold out there. again, the big snowstorm for the midwest this season what are you experiencing out there besides the frigid chill? >> i feel like you are not telling me anything here. it started at midnight last night and obviously still coming down, expected to accumulate through midnight. as you said, a lot of cities across the midwest are seeing their first snow of the season. not so in minneapolis, it's already old hat there. but they did get five inches of new snow last night and could get a few more today. before all is said and done, south of the city, they could see nine inches of show. now, south of chicago in peoria, all it took was a light dusting for drivers to lose control and slide off the road. which is why the snowplows in this city, in chicago, have been out all night beginning to plow and salt the 9,000-plus miles of road to keep the city safe. betty? >> goodness. all right. stay warm out there, cynthia, thank you so much, joining us liv