captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. we begin tonight with the rising death toll from yesterday's air show accident in nevada. the crash at the national chance air races outside reno killed the pilot and at least eight people on the ground and left dozens of others injured. karen brown has the story and the terrifying pictures. >> reporter: it was the third lap of the race when a p-51 vintage world war ii plane soaring at speeds of up to 500 miles per hour suddenly took a fatal nose dive towards the stands, terrorizing a crowd of thousands, all in front of the pilot's friends and family. >> oh, my god! >> some things i can't even describe. it looked like a war zone. >> reporter: dr. jerry lent raced from the stands to help. >> at the time you don't have time to think. you just think of all the injured people and the stretchers. >> reporter: nurse and pilot also jumped in to assist the nearly 60 injured. >> they had pieces of issue on their hair and blood on their clothing. >> reporter: the pilot was veteran race

russ. >> mitchell: mark phillips, thank you. also in the middle east, more deadly violence today in yemen. a day after president saleh returned from saudi arabia, after three months of treatment for wounds suffered in an assassination attempt. government soldiers fired rifles and mortar shells at the unarmed protesters, killing at least 40, raising the death toll since last week to some 140. ahead, should california school kids be kept out of class because they haven't been vaccinated. that story when the cbs evening news continues. >> mitchell: treasury secretary timothy geithner called today for bolder action to resolve the european debt crisis which he called the most serious risk facing the world economy. this follows fed chairman ben bernanke's warning earlier this week of "signature downside risks to the economy" which triggered a huge plunge for the week on wall street. for more perspectives on the market and the economy we're joined by jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com. good evening. >> good to be h

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. the two-year-old saga of those american hikers imprisoned by iran is over tonight. after being released by the iranian government almost a week ago, the two arrived back on american soil today. they shared with reporters details of what they called the worst experience of their lives. seth doane has the story how they survived and their homecoming. >> reporter: shane bauer and josh fattal made their first public stop in the u.s. late this afternoon at a jam-packed new york city hotel. the 29-year-olds called themselves hostages and political prisoners. >> the only explanation for our prolonged detention is the 32 years of mutual hostility between america and iran. >> reporter: the duo also provided the first real description of their lives inside tehran's notorious ef inprison. >> many times, too many times we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten. and there was nothing we could do to help them. solitary confinement was the worst experience of all of our lives. it

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. president obama is set to raise the ante in the budget debate tomorrow with a proposal the change the way millionaires and billionaires are taxed. his plan is being packaged as a way of leveling the playing field between high earners and the middle class with a nod to one of america's highest earners of all. whit johnson in washington has details. >> reporter: president obama's latest deficit-reduction plan will include a new tax on americans earning more than $1 million a year. the so-called "buffett rule" is a reference to billionaire warren buffett, who says his receptionist pays a higher tax rate than he does. >> i think we ought to take more out of the hydes of fellas like me. >> reporter: after a slew of credits and deduction, people in warren buffett's class can pay as little as 15% in taxes while most middle-class americans pay an average of 25%. the white house aims to change that. details have yet to be released, but republicans are already calling it a political pl

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell.onight from ground zero in manhattan. >> and good evening, we are coming to the end of a remarkable day here in lower manhattan, ten years after a pair of highjacked planes reduced the world trade center twoers to level, the memorial to the fallen and once was the scene of unimaginable horror was trance formed into a place of solemn remembrance and healing. >> thousands of family members came to the place where their loved ones were lost, to see the national september 11th memorial for the first time. >> ten years have passed since a perfect blue sky, morning turned into the blackest of nights. >> presidents obama and bush and their wives were the first to touch the edge of the acre wide reflecting pools where the twin towers once stood. >> the ceremony marks the beginning of the terrorist attack on america, with hijackers crashed the first plane into the north tower no, nd the second plane into the south tower 17 minutes later. >> as always, family members led the reading of the names

russ? >> mitchell: barry petersen, in tripoli, thanks. president obama said today that failure to pass a highway construction bill could be disastrous for the economy and could cost almost a million jobs. he urged congress in his weekly media address to approve the bill before highway programs and fuel taxes that pay for them expire at the end of this month. the jobless numbers that came out yesterday were hardly encouraging. the government said the unemployment rate in august was stuck in 9.1%, with as many jobs lost as created. and here's some more bad news. the number in a category the government calls mass layoffs has jumped by 3%. by definition mass layoffs are when employers let go a 50 or more people at one time. ben tracey takes a look at the numbers and the people who are now looking for work. >> reporter: when borders closed all of out book stores this summer, more than 10,000 people suddenly found themselves out of a job. >> we all just walked around in a daze, we didn't know what to dochl. >> reporter: stacy used to supervise

captioning sponsored by cb this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. residents along the gulf coast tonight continue to battle tropical storm lee. the stubborn, low-moving storm dumped a foot of rain on new orleans and areas of alabama and mississippi as well as louisiana, are dealing with tornadoes, wind damage and massive flooding. we have the latest on lee, the aftermath and what is ahead. and we begin with bigad lf of mexico. >> the an-cuh la fam through knee high water in lafitte, louisiana. their 12-year-old son paddled ahead by boat. here tropical storm lee brought a surge of water, now surrounding nearly every home. seeping into many. >> been living here for 40 years, about. fifth or sixth time we've dealt with it. >> reporter: in the nearby community of crown point much of the same with main roads now open waters, for evacuating residents to navigate. >> i don't know if i can survive another-- another starting all over again. it's just, the rebuild and stuff and put stuff back in, it's hard, you know. >> reporter: for 12-year-old kaylin strav

as russ mitchell reports, it's not that way any more. ♪ >> we are not a typical city. diverse. we speak 52 languages. we are funky, freaky and different. >> reporter: the mayor has lived in somerville, massachusetts, all of his life. he has big ambitions for his city. >> i want to know is it a great place to live, to work, a place to raise my family. >> reporter: three decades ago, somerville was to run down, it was known as slumberville. they are on the outskirts of boston making it new england's most densely populated city. >> what we are trying to accomplish is correlate happiness and satisfaction to create well-being. >> reporter: to achieve that, kurt and tony made somerville the first city in the country to actually ask people how they rate their level of happiness. on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is very happy, most citizens who responded registered close to an 8. were you surprised at the results you've received so far? >> in these difficult financial times when many people are struggling, yeah, i was pleasantly surprised. >> reporter: it also helps that somerv

russ mitchell toured the site with the father of one of the victims. >> come on over to the model. >>thousand times. >> from point of impact, 94th floor to the top, 1,365 people trapped up there. no way out. >> reporter: he never tires of talking about his son jonathan. >> i love the work. i love firefighting. i love helping people. >> reporter: lee, a vietnam veteran who spent 26 years in the new york city fire department, saw both of his sons, jonathan and brendan, follow in his foot steps. but on 9/11, jonathan, a 29-year-old father of two, didn't come home. what do you remember most about september 11th, 2001? >> my son's phone call. he said, dad, we're going to the world trade center. i said okay, buddy, be careful. he said, okay, dad. and that was the last time we spoke. >> reporter: after the towers collapsed, lee joined the search looking for his son and his squad. could they be underneath of that rubble? fingers crossed. but then thinking about it, no. >> reporter: lee spent nine months on what was called the pile. jonathan's body was found after three. a blessing, says lee.

russ mitchell tells us about it. >> reporter: greg abbott may look like another mechanic in an l.a.age, but he is the spark of an underground movement. >> taking cars and making them electric. there is actually a huge market there. >> reporter: he is known as gadget. >> i am the pied piper. i'm an instigator and i'll get other people to come in and make things happen. >> reporter: he is the unlikely star of "revenge of the electric car," which tracks the death and rebirth of an industry that has struggled along for more than a decade. >> i have another car just for parts. >> reporter: filmmaker chris payne recognized gadget's role in getting the technology out on the road. >> somebody has got to be the first one out there. >> people like gadget keep setting the example so i think this is a much more powerful seed in the way things change than maybe people give credit for. >> reporter: gadget has been in the forefront of electric conversions long before there was silicon valley upstart testing. >> until we see every car on the road being electric, you know, we will not stop. >> repor

russ? >> mitchell: sharyl attkisson at the white house. thank you. no, this was not a day off for politicians. today the republican presidential hopefuls net materially primary state of south carolina. as political correspondent jan crawford tells us, they railed against president obama and even took a few shots at each other. >> reporter: it's known as the state that picked republican presidential nominees. for 30 years, the candidate who wins south carolina has gone on to win the g.o.p. nomination. state party chairman chad connolly says the state has the right mix of voters reflecting the entire party. >> we've got the social conservatives and the fiscal conservatives. >> reporter: in recent years, it's also seen the emergence of the tea party. on monday, senator jim demint, a tea party favorite, held a forum to test the top candidates on everything from jobs to abortion. minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann. >> i would put forward a human life amendment and at the same time i would do everything within my power to restrict the number of abort

and russ mitchell will give us a sneak peek at the memorial, a decade in the making. >> reporter: michael iran's memorial has finally come to life. nearly a decade after the israeli architect making what's gone visible. >> yes, a final touch and they are all being worked on the name counts. >> reporter: names of the 9/11 victims are etched out here in bronze panels like these around the pair of the memorial pools. and they are one-acre squares, marking the footprints where the twin towers stood. waterfalls cascade from 30 feet. a great reflecting absence. >> i wanted to create that in a public place to bring people together. it would allow us to stay inside. and as a community. >> reporter: a jury of 12 citizens chose the design in 2004. one of those people went to 9/11 family members. >> i certainly embody the sense of law. i was the gauge on a very emotional level. >> mary's husband, david, he worked on the 89th floor of the world trade center's south tower. above where the second plane hit. david and paula had three young sons. >> i had to approach this, not personally looking for a me

in the football spirit, rob barrajas and the pop-up, nearly tackled by russ mitchell and held off. 1- game, the bottom of the 5th inning and pablo sandoval goes deep to left. tony gin relieved and doesn't get it. it's gone. jeff scores, the giants win 8-1 and so the giants, you know, they're not 8 envelope back. arizona did lose today and that is a more formality at this point. the giants pick up one game in the west and we'll tell you the oakland at lettingic -- athletics losers today and off to a beginning. the 49ers are 1-0. ted ginn jr. is the man of the hour. we'll have more at 6:30. >> and looking forward to. that thank you, dennis. >>> well, as civilians first responders, and politicians mark the 10th anniversary of the september 11th attacks, musicians are presents a tribute. an opera 10 years in the making is making its debut in the bay area at 630 fuel. there is the man behind the production, talk about his inspiration. this is it for eyewitness news at 5:30. we'll see you in a half hour and at 11. until then, the updates are on www.pix.com.

i'm russ mitchell, cbs news. >> kroft: julian assange is not a traditional journalist or publisher, andany have argued that he is not really a journalist at all. he is an antiestablishment ideologue with conspiratorial views. he believes large government institutions use secrecy to suppress the truth, and he distrusts the mainstream media for playing along. some people have called him an anarchist, which he denies. assange prefers to be called a libertarian, and believes the only people who can adequately police the system are those on the inside who are in a position to notice the abuse and blow the whistle. while most reporters pride themselves in gathering information and interpreting it for a larger audience, wikileaks wants to make the raw data available and let others decide the meaning. regardless of whether you agree with this idea or not, it beats close to the heart of the internet and a younger generation, and it runs through the life of julian assange. you obviously have a mistrust of authority. where does that come from? >> assange: i think it comes from experience with vari

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i'm russ mitchell, cbs news. [ doorbell rings ] hello there. i'm here to pick up helen. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ requires more than wishful thinking. it requires determination and decisive action. i go to e-trade and get unbiased analyst ratings and 24/7 help from award-winning customer support to take control of my finances and my life. i tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps. to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. [ birds chirping ] >> logan: the use of water- boarding and other tough new methods known as "enhanced interrogation techniques" led to a very public debate about whether the u.s. was torturing terrorism suspects. the videotapes of those interrogations have reportedly been destroyed, and hardly anyone who participated in them has spoken publicly. nor has enough information been made public to determine if the techniques were succe