: there is the cbs weekend news. >> villafranca: good evening, i'm omar villafranca. the house impeachment hearks are about to pick up speed, they burst into public view last week and now eight more witnesses are set to testify including eu ambassador goredon sondland the the trump mega donor turned diplomat could offer a first hand account of the president's goals in ukraine. katherine johnson is at the white house. >> we are unfolding, that is what an inquiry is about rtd lawmakers are gearing up for a new week of public testimony, but the president's supporters are standing firm in their defense. >> no one said there was a quid pro quo, everybody hasha inform. >> this week trump donor turned eu ambassador goredon sond land testified in public. >> we'll see how his testimony turns out. >> friday an aide to the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine testified he heard a loud phone call twined sondland and trump, david holmes said he asked if zelensky is going to do the investigation. sondland replied he's gonna do it president trump says he doesn't remember that call. >> no, n

i'm omar villafranca. >>> battle lines hardened at the impeachment inquiry witnesses take the hot seat, including a trump donor turned ambassador. >> there was never this quid pro quo. >> this is about our democracy that is at risk with this president. >>> also tonight, the road to 2020. who's up? who's down? a stunning reversal for a controversial police tactic. >> i'm sorry that we didn't. but i can't change history. >>> there is no body, no dna. a sensational murder trial is wrapping up in colorado. new warnings about lasik eye surgery. why some patients are calnga le >> i not until someone tt you re el >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome to the "overnight news." i'm omar villafranca. historic impeachment hearings pick up steam this week in the house of representatives. eight witnesses will testify over three days, and the person at the center of the investigation is eu ambassador gordon sondland. the trump mega donor turned diplomat has already had to update his secret testimony

omar villafranca spoke to former housing employees in san antonio who said management pressured themdge completion times. >> i told them this is lying. it's not right. >> reporter: for nearly five years, teresa anderson answered maintenance calls for balfour beatty communities at lackland air force base in san antonio. what was the technician turnout? >> oh, it was bad. >> reporter: were they overwhelmed? >> oh yeah. >> reporter: as work orders piled up, wait times grew. yet emails reviewed by cbs news reveal instructions from anderson's supervisors that completion times need to be adjusted to ensure that records showed over 95% of work orders were resolved on time. >> i would have to change it so it only took them the allotted time that we were allowed. >> reporter: so you were directly cooking the books. >> yeah. >> reporter: by reporting a high on time completion rate balfour beatty remained eligible for big renuses worth more than $2 million over the last ten years at lackland alone. the bonuses are paid from service members' paychecks. >> reporter: what do you feel balfour beatt

omar villafranca spoke to former housing employees in san antonio who said management pressured themo fudge completion times. >> i told them, i said this is lying. it's not right. >> reporter: for nearly five years, teresa anderson answered beatty communities at lackland air force base in san antonio. what was the technician turnover? >> oh, it was bad. >> were they overwhelmed? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: as work orders piled up, wait times grew, but reviews by cbs reveal that completion times need to be adjusted to ensure that records showed over 95% of work orders were resolved on time. >> i'd have to change it so it only took them the allotted time we were allowed. >> so you were directly cooking the books? >> yes. >> reporter: by reporting a high on-time completion rate, balfour beatty remains eligible for big bonuses worth more than 2 million over the last ten years at lackland alone. the bonuses are paid from service members' paychecks. what do you feel balfour beatty is doing to the military with their contracts? >> they're looking for a way to make a quick buck. that's all the

some 50,000 people were told to evacuate, and tonight, omar villafranca reports, they cannot go home.this is parts of the door frame. >> reporter: when annie gisclair was forced to evacuate her port neches home wednesday morning, she fled in terror, leaving everything behind. >> i was kind of freaked out. when i stood right here and turned this way, my front door yiow beloved dog, louie. >> kind of nervous. kind of ready to get out of here and get-- because we're still under evacuation. >> reporter: the powerful explosion was felt up to 30 miles away. the blast blew in doors and shattered windows across the area. the plant is operated by the t.p.c. group. several chemicals are produced at the plant, including butadiene, which is used to make synthetic rubber. exposure to the chemical could cause damage to the nervous system. >> 24-7 air monitoring has been carried out. all of that has shown there are no contaminants in the air that are harmful to human health. >> reporter: instead of driving to dallas for thanksgiving, don and diana plokhooy spent part of their holiday cleaning shards

from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm omar villafranca. >>> it's monday, november 18th, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." mass shooting at a football party. gunfire erupts in fresno, california, as a shooter opens fire at a back yard gathering leaving multiple people dead and wounded. >>> standoff in hong kong. protesters holed up in a police water cannons as the violence escalates. >>> key witnesses. eight people are coming forward this week for three days of impeachment hearings. impeachment hearings. a look at what's to come. captioning funded by cbs >>> good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs headquarters here in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with the second mass shooting in california in a week. last night ten people were shot at a back yard football party. four were killed. the shooting happened in fresno, north of los angeles. the shooter or shooters are still on the loose. authorities say the shooting targeted a gathering of family and friends watching football. six other people were wounded and are expected to survive. dete

omar villafranca speaks with reed's brother. >>> in our "morning rounds," a continuing look at shockings and how to avoid them. today we'll see why mental health is often not covered by health insurance. >>> and in our series with linked in, we'll show how turn a resume gap into a silver lining for your career. >>> that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. ♪ fo

omar villafranca reports from grand junction, colorado. >> reporter: it's an all-out school effort to eliminate a microscopic enemy as crews sanitize hallways and scrub down cassroom at mesa county schools. hundreds of students and teachers have fallen ill with symptoms of the highly contagious norovirus, including cendie wood's grandchildren. k every time i send the kids back to school, they come home sick. >> reporter: the outbreak apparently started last week with siblings who attend schools in the district. the contagion and a second strain then quickly spread, forcing officials to take the unusual step and close all 46 schools. >> when we have 20 kids actively vomiting in a school that already has 17% of their adpulation gone, we know we've got a problem. we have to stop the exposure. >> reporter: according to the centers for disease control, people with norovirus illness can shed billions of norovirus particles, but it only takes a few particles to make other people sick. the virus spreads through direct contact with an infected person, consuming contaminated food, or suuching t

here's omar villafranca. >> reporter: rodrick reed has two weeks to stop his brother's execution. >> we want his name cleared from this, the opportunity to save his life. >> reporter: rodney reid was convicted of murdering 19-year- old stacey stites in 1998. reed's d.n.a. was found on stites, but he says the two were having an affair and had consensual sex the day before her death. reed told dr. phil last month he maintains his innocence. >> did you rape stacey stites? >> new york i didn't. >> did you murder stacey stites? >> no, i didn't. >> reporter: ride's innocence project attorney says new evidence is on his side. >> three forensic pathologists have come forward and said this is actually impossible that rodney committed the crime. >> reporter: benjet says evidence points to another man, jimmy fennell an ex-cop and stites' former fiancÉe. after stites's murder, he served ten years in prison for improper sexual contact. fellow inmate arthur snow says fennell confessed to the murder, but fennell's attorney bob phillips says the jury got it right 21 years ago. >> it will be a stunni

omar villafranca shows us how some are celebrating their second chance tonight. >> oh, my god. >> reporterone by one these now-former oklahoma inmates tir. >> i love you. >> i love you too, grandpa >> reporter: patrina hunt cried in her daughter's arms. hunt had served almost half of a ten-year sentence for drug possession and theft. the 22-year-old is now free in time to celebrate her daughter's birthday. >> i am very blessed to let this happen and for this to happen to me and my family, and i'm just so glad to see my family. >> reporter: the 527 total commuted sentences are part of sweeping statewide criminal justice reforms which made simple drug possession a misdemeanor and increased the dollar amount to make property theft crimes a felony. today's releases run counter to oklahoma's tough-on-crime reputation. there are nearly 26,000 sitting in the sooner state's prisons. it also has one of the highest female incarceration rates in the country, something governor kevin stitt wants to change. >> we hope they get back into society and they don't come back to this place. >> reporter: as fo

omar villafranca has new details. >> reporter: 19-year-old aniah blanchard vanished last week.t glimpse of her was on surveillance video walking into an auburn, alabama store. paul register is the city's police chief. >> this is a serious crime that we're investigating that does involve injury to someone else. >> reporter: authorities found blanchard's vehicle at an apartment complex in montgomery, alabama, 55 miles from where she ers last seen. the front side of the vehicle was damaged, but it's the forensic evidence found inside the car that has investigators worried. >> evidence from within her vehicle is the reason that we are aware that, you know, she was harmed, and we do consider this a case where there's foul play involved. >> reporter: her mother, angela harris, says her daughter's last communication was a text message to her college roommate. >> her roommate was snapchatting her, you know, "where are you?" you know, "are you close to home?" and she says "yes." and she says, "who are you with?" and she says a certain male's name. >> reporter: blanchard is the step-daug

media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm omar villafranca. >>> battle lines hardened at the impeachment inquiry witnesses take the hot seat, including a trump donor turned ambassador. >> there was never this quid pro quo. >> this is about our democracy that is at risk with this president. >>> also tonight, the road to 2020. who's up? who's down? a stunning reversal for a controversial police tactic. >> i'm sorry that we didn't. but i can't change history. >>> there is no body, no dna. a sensational murder trial is wrapping up in colorado. new warnings about lasik eye

omar villafranca went there to show us why some patients are getting sick twice. >> i have three kids. >> reporter: with three preteens at home, joyce zoeller says it's inconvenient but necessary. >> we definitely don't want to be silk for thanksgiving and the way it seems to be working it's like one person gets sick in the family and a couple of days goes by and another person gets sick. >> reporter: 36 schools in the grand junction district are closing until after the thanksgiving break, impacting 22,000 students after a suspected outbreak of norovirus. it's a highly contagious bug that causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps. >> those particles get in the air and then if you're near there, you breathe the air. >> reporter: and you're sick? >> and you've been exposed. >> reporter: the virus survives for weeks on surfaces like desks, doorknobs or toys if not properly disinfected. sanitation crews are now cleaning the surface areas of every school in the district. >> the cleaning process is with bleach, because that is the only thing that's really effective against this virus, ac

some 50,000 people were told to evacuate, and tonight omar villafranca reports they cannot go home. >> this is parts of the door frame. >> reporter: when annie gisclair was forced to evacuate her port neches home wednesday morning, she fled in terror, leaving everything behind. >> i was kind freaked out when i stood right here and turned this way, my front door was laying down. >> reporter: gisclair came back to grab some clothes and her beloved dog louie. >> kind of nervous. kind of ready to get out of here because we're still under evacuation. >> reporter: the powerful explosion was felt up to 30 miles away. the blast blew indoors and shattered windows across the area. the plant is operated by the tpc group. several chemicals are produced at the plant, including butadiene, which is used to make synthetic rubber. exposure to the chemical could cause damage to the nervous system. >> 24/7 monitoring has been carried out, air monitoring. all of that has shown there are no contaminants in the air that are harmful to human health. >> reporter: instead of driving to dallas for thanksgiving

omar villafranca shows us how some people returned home despite being told to stay away. >> i had tove without my dog because we were scared. >> reporter: she came the home grab everything she left behind including her beloved dog after fleeing her house wednesday morning. >> it was literally blazing. it wasn't that. it was blazing like you could feel the heat. >> repr:assilast felt up to 30 miles away tore through the plant just after midnight. the impact blowing doors and shattered windows across the area. don and diana spent thanksgiving cleaning shards of glass from inside their bedroom despite the mandatory evacuation order. >> kind of scary but you got to do what you have to do to protect your property. >> reporter: a second blast forced the mandatory evacuation of 60,000 people. >> won be lifted until we're comfortable or i'm comfortable that the citizens are going to se coming back in. >> reporter: the plant's owner has a history of environmental issues. it was fined more than $200,000 in january for air quality violation. local officials are monitoring the air. >> 24/7 mob t

for "cbs this morning saturday," omar villafranca, dallas. >>> gunfire caused one of america's biggest malls to evacuate on black friday. destiny usa in syracuse, new york, was locked down friday night after a man was shot in the mall's food court. several shoppers said they hid inside stores for nearly an hour after hearing the gunshots. police say the gunman was targeting the victim, and the shooting was not random. the victim's injuries are not life threatening. the search continues for the alleged gunman. >>> many mall operators across the country reported brisk traffic on black friday, including the nation's biggest, mall of america in minnesota, which anticipated nearly a quarter of a million shoppers yesterday. retailers are banking that the shorter-than-usual holiday shopping season won't lead to a dip in how much people are going to spend. nikki battiste is here with a look at the numbers. what are you seeing? >> reporter: good morning. well, because of where black friday fell on the calendar this year, the official holiday shopping season is the shortest it's been since 2013,

omar villafranca shows us howre. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: one by one these now-former oklahoma inmates hugged their loved ones. >> i love you. >> i love you too, granda >> reporter: patrina hunt cried in her daughter's arms. hunt had served almost half of a ten-year sentence for drug possession and theft. the 22-year-old is now free in time to celebrate her daughter's birthday. >> i am very blessed to let this happen and for this to happen to me and my family, and i'm just so glad to see my family. >> reporter: the 527 total commuted sentences are part of sweeping statewide criminal justice reforms which made simple drug possession a misdemeanor and increased the dollar amount to make property today's releases run counter to oklahoma's tough-on-crime reputation. therne in the sooner state's prisons. it also has one of the highest female incarceration rates in the country, something governor kevin stitt wants the change. >> we hope they get back into society and they don't come back to this place. >> reporter: as for hunt, she's looking forward to a second chance with her daughter. >> i

omar villafranca is at the state capitol in austin, texas.n international attention. >> reporter: good morning. here at the capitol, republicans and democrats don't see eye to eye on much, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers agree rodney reed's case needs to be looked at again. along with celebrities, they're urging governor greg abbott to pause his execution and consider new evidence. >> did you rape stacey stites? >> no, i didn't. >> did you murder stacey stites? >> no, i didn't. >> reporter: talk show host dr. phil conducted a jailhouse interview with rodney reed that aired last month. he is just one of a number of celebrities including kim kardashian-west and seth green and rihanna who tweeted at texas governor abbott to pardon reed or commute his sentence. prosecutors claim stacey stites was at home in 19 the 6 with her fiancee, jimmy feormer police officer, before driving herself to work around 3:00 a.m. investigators said reed raped and strangled stites between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. and left her body in a remote area. reed was arrested af