chopper crash, a training mission turns deadly when two helicopters crash in washington state. face-to-face, former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky to hear his accusers today in court. and shutdown, anti-wall street protesters trying to close west coast ports clash street protesters trying to close west coast ports clash with police. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, december 13th, 2011. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. we begin with breaking news, the deadly crash of two army helicopters in washington state. the two helicopters, based at

ft. lewis mccord near olympia went down during a training mission last night. >> we're sad to report tonight that four army aviators were killed in an innocent with two army helicopters. >> two other service members were injured. the helicopters crashed in a remote training area south of olympia. the cause of the crash is not known. the army is investigating. now the latest on the penn state sex abuse scandal and former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky. it's reported he continued coaching at a small pennsylvania college last year, even though he had failed a background check. three football players told cbs affiliate that sandusky coached the entire season, even while he was being investigated by a local high school. the college says there was a breakdown of communication, that the school's head coach did not follow orders to prevent sandusky from coaching. and sandusky will appear at a preliminary hearing today to determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.

there, he'll come face-to-face with some of the men who say he molested them when they were children and he was coaching at penn state. >> reporter: jerry sandusky will face his accusers for the first time at a preliminary hearing today. as many as ten men who accuse sandusky of sexually abusing them when they were children will testify against him. sandusky's lawyer says his client is dreading the hearing. >> he's going to have to sit in a courtroom with a couple hundred people. you understand it's going to be filled to capacity. including members of his family and friends who are going to listen to some of these young men say horrific things accurate between them and jerry. >> reporter: cbs news has learned mike mcqueary is set to testify against sandusky. he says he saw sandusky in a shower at this locker room having sex with a young boy. but an article in the

"harrisburg patriot news" suggests mcqueary may have changed his story right after the incident happened back in 2002. the paper reports back then, mcqueary told a family friend he only saw the boy and sandusky in a shower, but did not witness a sexual assault. sandusky's lawyer says he's ready to question mcqueary if he's called as a witness. he will not say if sandusky will testify. >> reporter: a lawyer for one of the alleged victims, referred to as victim one in the grand jury report, says there is no doubt his client is telling the truth. >> he is unequivocal about what happened to him. suffering the unspeakable crimes committed against him. >> sandusky is charged with more than 50 counts of sex abuse against children. cbs news, bellfont, pennsylvania. this morning, three members of the florida a&m university band are under arrest. they were arrested yesterday, charged with beating a fellow

band member so hard her leg was broken. the alleged hazing incident happened about three weeks before jump major robert champion was killed in another apparent hazing incident. former band director julian white, who was fired after major's death, says he repeatedly asked school officials to take stronger actions. >> did i make those recommendations? yes, i did. were they followed? for the most part, no. >> police say the three students used fists and a metal ruler to beat the victim. several west coast port facilities were shut down overnight following anti-wall street demonstrations that stretched from southern california all the way to alaska. police in seattle set off flash grenades and made several arrests. the demonstrators blocked cargo trucks at several ports. the largest protest was in oakland, california. marine corps veteran scott olson led the march there last night. olson, if you remember, became

the face of the demonstrations in october when he was struck in the head by a tear gas canister during a clash with police. >> i'm more than pleased with the turnout. it's great. it's great to see all of these people here and the energy here. >> there were protests in houston, los angeles and portland, oregon. the house is expected to approve an extension of the payroll tax cut today. the bill would also renew benefits for the long-term unemployed. but the bill is unlikely to make it through the senate because it includes approval for work on a controversial oil pipeline to carry oil from canada to texas. in a letter released this morning, newt gingerich will pledge to run a clean campaign and stay away from personal attacks telling supporters and staff, quote, it is critical the republican nominee emerge from this primary season unblooded so he or she can make the case against president obama from a position of strength.

but it was a different story on monday when he and mitt romney squabbled over money they've made outside of politics. >> reporter: mitt romney and newt gingerich got personal monday while campaigning in new hampshire. the top contenders for the republican presidential nomination challenged each other to return millions made outside of politics. romney first called on gingerich to give back the an estimate dollars $1.6 million that he made to provide advice to freddie mac. that drew a quick response from gingerich. if governor romney would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees, i'll be glad to listen to him. and i'll bet you $10, not $10,000, that he won't take the offer. >> romney and gingerich are increasingly targeting each other three weeks before the new hampshire primary. it's a must-win state for romney, but gingerich is now at the top of national polls and has cut into romney's lead in

new hampshire. gingerich remained in new hampshire monday night for an event in windham spending more time he visited in a state infrequently this year. romney head south to new jersey with his first event with governor chris christi after winning his support. scientists at the world's largest adam smasher will announce today that they are closer than ever to finding the so-called god particle. physicists near geneva say they have narrowed the seven for the particle called the hig boson says they have narrowed the mass. this is a very big deal in the science world. coming up on the morning news, verizon apologizes for freaking out its customers with a scary text. plus, a big rig crash in pileup in california. look at this. more than a dozen trucks are involved. first, though, scott pelly has a

preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." now that the shuttle program has ended, we'll take a look at the next step to the man's space program, including exciting new possibilities for traveling beyond the earth. that's tonight on the "cbs evening news." the earth. that's tonight on the "cbs evening news." flatbread breakf. a toasty flatbread breakfast sandwich and a 16-ounce cup of seattle's best coffee or 21-ounce fountain drink. all for only $3. or 21-ounce fountain drink. sears real big gift sale is on now. save 50-60% off clothing for everyone on your list. and incredibly low prices on fleece activewear, only $9.99. plus, get coupons at searsstyle.com for over $100 in extra savings on top of already low sale prices. sears. hurry! sears real big gift sale is on now!

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this chase you're looking at started yesterday mortgage when a guy walked out of court because the judge thought that he was drunk. he was. and the police dash camera shows him racing 128 miles per hour on central michigan highways. there were several very close calls before he finally went off the road and, as you can see, officers with guns drawn arrested him. no one was hurt. in southern california, more than a dozen big rigs and other trucks were involved in a chain reaction accident on a rain-slickened freeway north of los angeles. traffic, as you can imagine, was backed up last night for miles.

four people suffered minor injuries. a music executive has died after being shot last week in hollywood. john adderbury died monday at cedar sinai medical center in los angeles. the shooting was caught on video. >> oh, my god. are you all right? >> a gunman on sunset boulevard shot adderbury apparently at random after screaming that he wanted to die. the gunman was killed by police. verizon is apologizing for a mistaken emergency text sent to some android phone customers in new jersey. it wrote, quote, cmas alert, civil emergency in this area until 1:24 p.m. eastern. take shelter now. u.s. government. the text was supposed to say it was a test, but it didn't and thousands of people made panicked calls to 911.

on the cbs money watch, europe's debt crisis has asian stock traders worried. terrell brown is here with more on that. >> good to see you. asian markets fell on skepticism eu leaders can really agree on how to resolve their debt crisis. japan's nikkei fell more than 1%. hong kong's hang seng edged down. today, wall street gets the latest on retail sales and business inventories. monday, stocks flipped. the dow dropped 162 points. the nasdaq lost 34. wall street will be listening to the fed when the central bank wraps it up final meeting of year. analysts do not expect fed chief ben bernanke to use in new policies or interest rate hikes. they may hint at how long those rates will stay at record lows. according to manpower.com, u.s. employers expect hiring to increase slightly next year. that would make nine straight quarters of job growth. amazon is reportedly rolling out a software update for its kindle fire tablet.

there's been complaints about the touch screen and other features. the "new york times" reports the update, expected within two weeks will improve overall performance and allow customers to add more privacy. call of duty has gone well above the call. modern warfare three has surpassed the $1 billion mark in just over two weeks. 16 million copies of the game have been sold in 16 games, which is impressive. and it is your chance to get a piece of the king of pop. this saturday, the furnishings for the mansion where michael jackson lived out his last days and where he died will hit the auction block. the lot includes an armwoir where he wrote in the mirror. betty and i could buy it and get a piece of the man in the mirror. >> terrell brown in new york, we thank you. sure.

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use these products together for a whiter smile in 1 day. life opens up when you do. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] big mac and mac snack wrap. the simple joy of one-of-a-kind flavor. here is a look at the weather in some cities and the country. new york is going to be sunny, but 48 degrees. miami, windy, 80. chicago, cloudy, 44. dallas, cloudy, 58. and l.a., mostly cloudy, 60 degrees. time now for a check of the national forecast.

the latest satellite picture shows mostly clear skies along the east coast and much of the west coast. later today, kansas and nebraska will see a wintry mix of snow and sleet. and the southwest, snow will continue. in the northwest we'll see clouds and fog and it will be sunny in the northeast. in sports, the surging seattle seahawks are keeping their playoff hopes alive. in the first quarter last night, seattle anticipation undrafted rookie slopped a st. louis punt. michael robinson scooped up the ball and ran it in for the usa seahawks first score. in the third quarter, seattle went on to beat the rams, 30-13. two more nfl coaches have been fired. todd haley was dismissed as head coach in kansas city after a 5-8 record this season. and the miami dolphins fired tony sporano who has only won four games this season. in the nba, maybe the third time will be the charm for a chris paul trade. new orleans star point guard practiced with his hornets teammates on monday.

as a proposed trade that would have sent him to the los angeles clippers was rejected because the price was too high. an earlier trade by the lakers was rejected by the league. but they are trying to work out a new clippers deal. nhl star sydney crosby of pittsburgh is out again with concussion-like symptoms. crosby collided with a teammate last week in boston and had to leave the game. the penguins star only returned to action in november after being out for ten months because of concussion. well, when we return, another look at this morning's top stories and illegal immigration. the supreme court prepares to take up arizona's harsh new law. the supreme court prepares to take up arizona's harsh new law. captain, we have to keep going!

[ growling ] one step at a time. come on, snowy. look! did you ever see a more beautiful sight? captain! it's just a mirage. - snowy? what is it, boy? - [ barks ] what do you see? [ yipping ] [ woman announcing ] just like snowy, your dog's one of a kind. overactive imagination and all. [ barking ] long live your buddy. long live your dog. [ tintin ] snowy! purina dog chow. see the adventures of tintin, only in theaters. already, crowds are floodine port of oakland this mornin. team coverage.. on the prot. and impact to workers. chuck e cheese fined by the feds. how the "kid- friendl" chain is accused of violatig

child labor laws. a former penn state coach, s his accusers today. the key witness, everyone will be watching. bike across the bay bridge.e plan to connect cyclists frm oakland to s-f. join us for cbs 5 early edin ... beginning at 4:30. ,,,, on the "cbs morning news," here is a look at today's weather.

a checks winter storm will carry wet weather from southern california to the western glax. there will be snow in the higher elevations in the southwest and a wintry mix of rain. here is another look at this morning's top stories. four army aviators were killed overnight when two helicopters crashed near olympia, washington. the helicopters were on a training mission. two other flyers were injured in that crash. and during a preliminary hearing today, former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky will come face-to-face with some of the men who accused him of child molestation. the u.s. has frozen $700 million in aid to pakistan, which is one of the largest recipients of u.s. aid. the freeze is part of a defense bill expected to pass this week. now, the u.s. wants pakistan to assure it will fight the spread of homemade bombs, what the u.s. military calls improvised explosive devices in the region. president obama met with iraq's prime minister at the white house yesterday.

after nearly nine years of war, all u.s. troops are scheduled to leave iraq at the end of this month. the president called it a historic moment and pledged that america's strong presence in the region will continue. federal officials say dramatically fewer people are trying to enter the u.s. illegally by crossing the border from mexico. there were just over 340,000 border arrests this year, less than half the 705,000 arrests in 2008. and just over one-fifth of the 1.6 million in 2000. now, that report comes as the u.s. supreme court prepares to consider the constitutionality of arizona's tough immigration law. lower courts have blocked parts of the law, requiring local police to help enforce federal em immigration laws. jan crawford has more. >> reporter: arizona officials say they passed the law out of desperation. the federal government wasn't doing enough about the problem of illegal immigration. among its key provisions, the

law requires police to check a person's immigration status when he or she is arrested or stopped for another violation. it requires all immigrants to get or carry registration papers, makes it a crime for an illegal immigrant to work or try to get a job. the obama add men administration sued arizona to block the law and a lower court agreed. the administration has sued alabama, utah and south carolina. three other states that have passed similar laws. it argued immigration is an issue for congress and that states have no business getting involved. but arizona governor jan brewer and officials in other states say the state law commitments efforts at the time federal level. and with the only way to solve a crisis the federal government has refused to fix. jan crawford, cbs news, washington. this morning on "the early show," former vice president dick cheney and his wife, lynn.

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in california this morning, mountains east of los angeles are being covered with heavy snow. motorists are being urged to drive carefully or stay off the roads entirely. more than a foot may fall in the higher elevations. the u.s. imported $450 billion worth of goods last year. that's a billion dollars a day. the chinese are shipping us more and more of one thing they produce in huge quantities for free, and that's air pollution. it is affecting our weather, as john blackstone reports. >> reporter: chinese officials insist the murky air over beijing this month is just fog, but measurements taken at the u.s. embassy there show dangerously high levels of air pollution.

so bad traffic has been disrupted and flights have been delayed or canceled. >> it's no longer just their problem, it's our problem. >> reporter: kim studies atmospheric pressure. we met her at a conference where she was presenting what is in the air affects us here. >> pollution on this side of the world can make it to that side of the world in about five days. >> reporter: in the atmosphere over this country, it can stop the clouds from producing rain and snow. we have more pollution, you have less precipitation. >> in general, yes. if you put too much pollution in a cloud, you can actually not grow rain. >> reporter: the particles of air pollution from china collect moisture in the clouds. but the particles are so small and numerous, they don't get heavy enough to fall as rain or snow. but while flying over california collecting atmospheric samples,

prader found something else from china that make may up for that lost rain. it's dust from huge storms in china's vast deserts. because of their chemical makeup and larger size, those particles do collect enough moisture to collect rain and snow. >> below you was snow. >> understanding the factors that influence california's rain and snow is important. because what falls in the mountains is the main water source for most of the state's 37 million people. >> we're working with the weather guy toes the try and see this climate-weather link with pollution. so it's a complex problem. >> reporter: but unraveling those complexity thes, prader's research could explain the accuracy of weather forecasting explaining why some clouds just blow over while others produce snowstorms. >> it's all very interesting. coming up a little later on

"the early show," we preview today's hearing in the sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky faces his accusers in court. then, former vice president dick cheney on the end of the iraq war and the republican presidential race. and an inside look at the making of the new charlize they theron movie, "young adults." that's the cbs morning news for this tuesday. we appreciate you watching. have a great day. ,,,,,,,,