with two shopping days left michelle miller has been talking to worried retailers. and a church in a neighborhood devastated by super storm sandy holds its first wedding. >> hell and high water came and we're still going to make it happen. >> axelrod: tony guida with the story of an undowntowned bride and groom. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening. i'm jim axelrod. an unbearable six-day stretch of funerals for the victims of the newtown shooting wrapped up today with the last three. mourners at the funeral of josephine gay wore purple. her favorite color. a horse-drawn coach carried the casket of six-year-old ana marquez-greene, remembered as a girl who never walked from room to room. she danced. six-year-old emilie parker was buried in utah, remembered for the markers and paper emilie always had with her because as she would say, "i have so many ideas of things to draw, it's hard to remember them all." newtown's police chief is talking publicly about the shooting for the first time. the chief and his captain sat down

michelle miller has that story rts good evening, jeff. just as officials announced today that newtown school was reopen on tuesday to all students except those who went to sandy hook elementary school, those students would return on wednesday. but to an entirely different location. >> we'll accommodate our entire sandy hook school program. >> reporter: erica canfield got the news from an automated phone call that her 9-year-old son kenneth will be going to a new school. >> what do you fear the most? >> if he can move on with this, if he can trust again, go to school and learn and have fun with his friends again. >> reporter: kenseth a fourth grader at sandy hook elementary school which is only a few miles from his home. now he and the rest of his classmates will attend chalk hill school in monroe, connecticut. but kenneth's mom says he's hesitant. >> he said he won't go back unless there is a police officer at every door. >> kenneth was saved by his music teacher who locked the door before the gunman could get in. >> he heard screaming an

but now as michelle miller stills us, they're being told think again. >> reporter: roman and mar yain-- marianna bediner staten island home was flooded by 11 feet of water when sandy struck. >> how high did the water come in? >> the water went through the ceiling on to the first floor. >> reporter: they had flood insurance through fema, the federal emergency management agency, that's kpon for people who live in flood zones. they thought the inspector from fema would give them a check to repair $100,000 in damages. >> the first floor where you are standing now is definitely not covered by the flood policy. >> reporter: why? >> this neighborhood is considered to be in the flood zone. >> reporter: under fema's flood insurance program, the first floor of a house such as the bediners should be used for parking or storage only. furnaces and water heaters are covered but finished walls, floors and furniture are not. >> the water was up to here. >> reporter: that caught the bediners and other homeowners we met by surprise. >> this is the sole reason to pay these premiums every single month, y

jim. >> axelrod: michelle miller, thank you. will the massacre move congress to consider tougher gun laws? [ female announcer ] born from the naturally sweet monk fruit, something this delicious could only come from nature. now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. the only 100% natural, no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. the rich, sweet taste of sugar. nothing artificial. ♪ it's all that sweet ever needs to be. new nectresse. sweetness naturally. you spend all day cooking it. so why spend even a moment considering any broth but swanson? the broth cooks trust most to make the meal folks spend all year waiting for. in stuffing and more, the secret is swanson. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] with free pac

michelle miller, cbs news, staten island. >> this morning a 200-year-old letter written by napoleon has for ten times the pre-sale estimate. the secret coded letter details his desperate last order to blow up the kremlin. it was signed simply as nap. the letter was expected to being auctioned off for $20,000 but a french museum bought it for $243,000. a whole lot more money. coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning" the latest on the investigation into the jovan belcher murder/suicide. we'll get reaction from the nfl james brown. an update from california on the series of flooding storms. we'll have a live report from sonoma. more on that later on cbs "this morning." that is the morning news for this monday. as always appreciate you watching. i'm terrell brown in new york. take care everybody, have a great day. ♪ a portion of every bottle that they sell goes to fight ♪ ♪ breast cancer and i think that's swell. ♪ ♪ the more you take, the more they'll pay, ♪ ♪ so make them write a big check today. ♪ ♪ and if you're feeling a little slow, ♪ ♪ then 5-hour energy will help you go

michelle miller caught up with the woman whose plight touched a nerve with people who heard her story reporter: when we first met marie lopresti eight weeks ago, she was desperately searching for anything left by a fire that burned her home to the ground. rubble was a charred fragment of a wine and cheese plate but she was happy to have it. >> thank you. thank you. i've got to go now. >> reporter: we wanted to know what happened to lopresti. hi, marie. we found her in brooklyn at a family home she used to rent out. it's a house now filled with gifts from family, friends, even strangers. >> these are older people who sent me letters and money. they sent me $598. >> reporter: oh, wow. lopresti has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people across the country who saw her story and reached out. >> they all send me e-mails and funny things for me to laugh. and they all ask about me. they call. that's my house in breezy. >> reporter: some have even sent photos of her old home and copies of pictures they have of her family and friends. remember this? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: but she was mo

michelle miller, cbs news, brooklyn, new york. >> and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight.ley, i'm jim axelrod. good night. >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald >>> good evening, i'm allen martin. >> i'm elizabeth cook. looking forward to ringing in the new year? well, baby new year may end up going over the "fiscal cliff" with the rest of us. >> we are a few days away from the deadline. we have heard a lot about this over the last few weeks but cbs 5 reporter grace lee tells us about another downside that has to do with milk. >> reporter: if we can go over the price of milk will go up significantly because a farm bill that's about to expire and the closer we get the more likely that political analysts believe that we will go over the "fiscal cliff." so by next week could you start seeing your grocery store bills skyrocket and your paychecks plummet. the president is inding his hawaii have a -- ending his hawaii vacation early and returning tonight. >> wonderful to see all of you. merry christmas to everybody. >> reporter: congress is also coming back from a wi

yes. >> reporter: michelle miller, cbs news. >> ahead, the burrito boys, meet the teens who spend sundays serving up food for those that need it most. ilup. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! i get congested. but now, with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breath freer, so i can love the air. [ male announcer ] zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. smoke? nah, i'm good. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, you celebrate a little win. nicoderm cq, the patch with time release smart control technology that acts fast and helps control cravings all day long. ♪ quit one day at a time with nicoderm cq. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day hel

and therein lies a tale told by michelle miller. >> reporter: morrill worcester has been running thisia falls, maine, for 42 years. back in 1992, worcester had a surplus of wreaths and a great idea about what to do with them. >> as a boy, i won a trip to washington. and one of the things that i saw was arlington national cemetery, and i just never forgot that. then when they had that wreaths left over, i said it would be nice if i could maybe place them on the graves of the veterans. >> reporter: so worcester headed to arlington national cemetery to lay 5,000 wreaths. >> the first 14 years, nobody really knew about it. and it was a family gift to the military that, you know, i said, we'll always do that, and we always have. >> reporter: in 2006 a pentagon photographer published a photo. donations poured in and the nonprofit, wreaths across america, was born. karen worcester is morrill's wife. >> it's not unusual to have the phone ring; and he would pick up the phone and they'd say, is this morrill worcester? and he would say, yes. and then the person on the other end would begin to so

michelle miller, cbs news, staten island, new york. >> pelley: another new york story. a photograph on the front page of the "new york post" today is getting a lot of attention around the world. it shows kesuk hahn after he was pushed on to the subway tracks. he's trying to climb back on to the platform as the train approaches. he didn't make it. today in their murder investigation, police questioned a man matching the description of a suspect. cell phone video shows the victim arguing with that man moments before he was pushed on to the tracks. there is a new effort to stop a killing frenzy in africa. what's being done to save the elephants, when we come back. come back. before copd... i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and t

michelle miller, cbs news, new york. >> axelrod: a federal judge has approved b.p.'s settlement with people who lost money and property in the 2010 gulf of mexico oil spill. b.p. plans to pay $7.8 billion to settle more than 100,000 claims. the judge still has to rule on medical claims for cleanup workers. later, searching for peace makers in a war-torn world. the first wedding in the wake of super storm sandy at one hard- hit new york church. and protests in india over sexual assaults on women. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. >> hi my name is ltjg. selina bandy from kandahar afghanistan, i just want to wish my fiends and family from milwaukee wisconsin a safe and happy holiday. i miss you guys! even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer p

as michelle miller explains, store owners say the holiday rush was a little slower than expected.er: getting around is a specialty toy store in new york city. >> you won't find any of this stuff at target, wal-mart. >> no. >>reporter: owner paul nippa says today is his busiest day of the year. >> within the last month, what have your sales been? >> they're up from last year about 5 1/2%, but some of that is the infamous early hanukkah. >>reporter: he's doing better than most retailers. shoppertrac which monitors shopper behavior nationwide expected holiday sales growth of 3.3%, they scwrut cut it to 3.25%. >> people are still very tight with their purse strings. >>reporter: retail analyst craig johnson noticed a sloun immediately after thanksgiving doorbusters sold out. >> up and down the spuk trum from luxury to mid tier to value there's a lot of weakness. it's not terrible growth, but it's tepid, sluggish growth at best. >>reporter: retailers say consumer enthusiasm has been damperred by the images from newtown and the threat of higher taxes if washington fails to cut a budget d

michelle miller has their story. >> reporter: the news that the six 7-year-olds had been shot multiple times devastated a community. >> just babies. they're just babies. they shouldn't be taken away from their mothers and their fathers. >> reporter: the children who survived were protected by their teachers. janet gathered her kindergartners in one corner. >> they sounded like gunshots. >> reporter: 18 years of teaching experience kicked in. >> we all got away from the windows. pulled down the blinds. covered the windows. locked the classroom door. it the children started to say i'm scared. i said we're going to be okay. i think maybe somebody is up on the roof making noises and again trying to divert their attention. >> reporter: finally police told them it was safe to leave. >> they said have everybody hold hands. come down the hallway. cover their eyes. so we did. as i'm going by the hallway, i saw blood on the floor. so i know that things aren't good. i don't know whether any of them saw that. we kept going, kept moving. >> reporter: vicki soto also taught kindergarten. >> vicki wa

and michelle miller tells us a major storm is headed north.olice share the final words of the gunman who ambushed firefighters. he used the same gun as the school shooter in newtown. chip reid reports there's now a run on assault weapons. >> i normally sell about 15 or 20 a month. i sold about 30 in three days. >> axelrod: nancy cordes says democrats will try to solve the crisis on their own. and remembering charles durning. >> i'm not too good with words, wyway. >> axelrod: a character actor like no other. >> ♪ i cannot tell a lie... captioning sponsored by cbs

michelle miller catches up with a woman determined to start over. >> they all send me e-mails and funny things for me to laugh. they all ask about me, including you. captioning sponsored by cbs

and michelle miller.is season of giving, remembering those who gave all. >> it's got a beautiful look, really. with a nice red bow.

michelle miller brings us up to speed. >> reporter: a half-foot of snow caused whiteouts on roads across the texas panhandle. there were near-blizzard conditions at day break in amarillo. 250 miles east, just outside oklahoma city, a 21-vehicle pile-up on interstate 40 stopped traffic for five hours. 12 people were injured. one state over in missouri, salt trucks were busy preparing the roads for expected heavy snowfall. transportation officials mark sheldon warned holiday travelers. >> certainly, those roads are slick. if you don't have to get out, please don't get out. >> reporter: the storm system caused heavy snow in the midwest, brought heavy rains and wind to the south, and shrouded the city of atlanta in fog. at least two reported tornadoes touched down in the houston area. one man was killed when a toppled tree flattened his pickup truck. by mid-afternoon, nearly 70,000 people in the houston area were without power. meteorologist david bernard says it's only going to get worse. >> this is a wide-ranging storm, as far as impacts go. there's a tornado threat in the south all the wa

michelle miller, cbs news, columbia falls, maine. >>> coming up on cbs news, we'll go to clackamas, oregontest on the mall shooting that left three dead. plus talks from fiscal cliff. we'll hear from nancy employee. >>> and more on the suspensions tossed out. we'll talk with the executive director of the nfl players' association. that and more coming up later on "cbs this morning." that is the news for this wednesday. 12/12/12 by the way, i should mention. appreciate you watching as always. terrell brown in new york city. thank you, everybody. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and i'm michelle griego. tis 4:-- the rain is back and with i. some massive tides! here's >>> good morning. it's wednesday, 12/12/12. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now is just about 4:30. the rain is back and high tides. >> got some showers out there and hi-def doppler is picking up on some of that. you can see some scattered light showers at this time. but more of that on the way, maybe some snow. we'll talk about that coming up. >> here

and michelle miller tells us the driver is a free man tonight. .> how do you find the >> hndant, guilty or not guilty? >> not guilty. t reporter: the bus driver wept veen he heard the verdict. ears ill williams could have faced 15 years in prison. hisas driving 32 people from a connecticut casino to new york's chinatown when his bus hit a guardrail, toppled, and was torn open by a signpost. williams claimed he'd been cut off by a tractor-trailer. investigators found no evidence of that. but they discovered williams averaged three hours of sleep in the days before the crash. they cited driver fatigue as the probable cause. florence wong's father don lee was killed in the crash. >> he had 15 lives that was under under his control and they're not here. he has to live with that with conscinscience. >> reporter: prosecutors called 55 witnesses but could not produce direct evidence that lack of sleep impaired williams' driving. iredr goelz is former director of the national transportation arfety board. >> i think a guilty verdict would have sent a very strong eporage to these operators. disce

michelle miller met some of them today. >> we just ran to the fire station and we didn't really evennow what we were finding at the fire station, if it was children, if it was adults telling us when we could get our children. >> reporter: melissa makris was among hundreds of parents desperate to find their children. >> we went in and you just saw lots and lots of kids and crying and parents and you just search for your child's teacher, for your child's face and i heard "mommy, mommy." and there he was sitting there waiting for us. >> reporter: makris's ten-year-old son phillip was in the school gym when the shooting began. >> my son says that those teachers gathered them in a corner and kept them safe. >> reporter: so the teachers are the heroes of today? >> absolutely. they did -- i was a teacher before i became a mom and you always wonder are you going to do what you need to do to protect your kids and those teachers did. phillip describes being pushed in a corner and they kept them safe there and when the police officers came in and said "run, run to the fire station" they ran and

as michelle miller reports he was inspired by another musical charity. ♪ >> i started watching that 121212r the community, but it wasn't solving the problem with the kids. >> reporter: 121212 raised a watershed $50 million for the thousands displaced by victims of hurricane sandy. >> kenny rogers wasn't intimidated. he wanted to make his own contribution. >> someone took care of the parents. i wanted to get involved with the kids. >> reporter: this area was hard hit and it was one of the last stops on rogers' christmas tour. laura eddings, miss eddings says to her children that bergen county students weren't just misplaced but by other thing. >> reporter: when you walk into the fire station, and you see this -- >> you know what i want to do, just jump for joy. >> reporter: along with the local businesses, schools and public sectors, rogers donated 1,200 toys to the englewood toy drive and challenged the concert goers to contribute just as much. >> you have families just miles away from families that have very little, and you just know that without our help there probably won't be a san tha

michelle miller newtown, connecticut. >> there are certain parental rules we know.there's no way to prepare a child for it. last night i heard deeply divided thoughts. some parents said yes, we must go backings we're brought of our school and teacherers and others who say i can't bear to go back in the school. it's a very tough decision to make. >> they said they might do what they did with columbine, close the school for a year do renovations and reopen. it's too soon. >> to make any decision. >> exactly. >> charlie back to you in new york. >> thank you. >>> this weekend religious leaders all over the world offers well wishes all over newtown. pope benedict said we should all dedicate ourselves more fervently to prayer and acts of peace. welcome. >> welcome. >> we all turn to religion in times of tragedy or not. >> somehow there's a look for some answer. you know you're looking for somebody, some means to connect to, you know -- >> right. you know, when a tragedy like this happens, i think it ignites people's desire for a connection with god or with a transcendent

michelle miller visited a company that might be able to help. >> reporter: when hurricane sandy washedusands of computers. some of their owners are looking for a miracle. >> this is where the magic happens. >> reporter: he runs data recovery operations for kroll, the company now trying to ring out information from those water-logged hard drives. kroll technicians recover 99% of the data from another drive blown into the atmosphere after the space shuttle "columbia" disaster. that nearly melted drive sat at the bottom of a texas lake for six months. they were even successful after 9/11. you get the worst of the worst. >> absolutely. if they need to come into the room, that's basically the last resort. >> reporter: we were allowed inside kroll's clean room in secaucus, new jersey, where behind a secure door there are fly paper formats to separate dirt from shoes and hepa filters to sanitize the air while technicians work. hard drives contain disks or platter where is information is stored and electronics that read that information. >> this is how it works. they will store the data on thi

for cbs this morning, michelle miller new york. >> in afghanistan this morning, the taliban is takingesponsibility for a suicide bm attack outside of a u.s. military base. no americans died in the attack and officials say the bombers vehicle exploded. the bomber did not get inside the base. >> the world's longest high-speed railroad is now running in china. the first train left beijing this morning. it runs more than 1400 miles, about the distance from boston to miami. it used to take 20 hours, and now it will take 8 with the train hitting speeds of 200 miles per hour and more. the tickets go up to $470 for the vip round. they want to build a grid of trains by 2020. >>> the "new york times" says jerusalem will look at restrictions of what women can wear when they pray. >>> "usa today" says that more than 170 fridayers could be set free. they must be released or resentenced because they didn't commit a federal crime or were sentenced far longer than the law allows. >>> the health care sector is vulnerable to hackers. hospital commutersputers and medical divisions have holes that could

but when the anniversary arrived the year michelle miller introduced us to them and took them to timesry lane. >> reporter: it is one of the most famous pictures of the 20th century, a moment filled with such spontaneous euphoria it seemed to last forever. >> it was the moment. you come back and finally the war ends. >> reporter: 89-year-old george mendoza says he's the sailor in the photograph that would come to symbolize the end of world war ii and greta freeman, the nurse in white. the photographer snapped a picture. ten seconds is all it took. we took them to the spot of their kiss for the second time since that day in 1945. >> i did not see him approaching. before i knew it i was in this tight grip. >> reporter: how long did you kiss her? >> not long. >> reporter: greta was a dental assistant on break. george a first-class sailor in the naerch was on a date with another woman when he heard the news at radio city music hall and they stopped the shore and said the war is over the japanese have surrendered. he and his date then went to a nearby bar celebrating that he would not have

miller show." hello, glen? >> glen left the phone. >> stephanie: michelle in believerton. [ giggling ] >> stephanie: hi michellevideo games and such and video games do affect kids. i see it firsthand in the classroom. they become agitated and frustrated. >> stephanie: right. >> caller: and you mentioned the ratings systems, and they are completely off. a rated g movie actually has violence in it. and i would like to propose the challenge find me a disney movie that doesn't have violence in it. even bamby's parent is killed. and the parents are so desensitized that they don't see it as a problem, and a lot of the parents i have experienced, is they let their 6 and 7 year olds play games rated mature. i think it is something that needs to be addressed in this huge problem. >> stephanie: yeah, i was going to say -- i know even the gaming industry is struggling with this. this is so foreign to me honestly. i have never seen or played one of these games. but this year's electronic expo literally they are describing soul searching going on in the community. they were saying some attendees were stunned with the violen

michelle from the house ways and means committee room on capitol hill where the "fiscal cliff" standoff could be decided. we'll ask former house speaker nancy pelosi where the negotiations stand today. >> plus, john millerlearning new details about the shooter at the mall outside of portland, oregon. and we'll take you to the new york's one world trade center where right now, the crews are working to raise the spire that will make it the tallest tower in the western hemisphere. those stories and more when we see you at 7:00. >> thank you. >>> two secret santas went on a shoppping spree in the east bay. walmart shoppers are still talking about the couple who handed out gifts and cash to total strangers. they paid shoppers' store bills at the register inside a livermore walmart on friday. they bought a toy sewing machine for a little girl when they heard she wanted one. >> they're nice people and giving other people stuff they can't afford. >> the walmart manager says the couple told workers they didn't want any recognition and they didn't want to be named. very generous. >>> well, if you can't dress up your house for the holidays, we have an idea for you. neighbors can get pretty competitive when it come