elections, scott pelley reports ton >> pelley: tonight, a new warning about our planet. u.n. scientists say the negative impact of climate change may be irreversible unless we take swift action. chip reid on what that action is. plus a more immediate climate problem, an early snowstorm in new england. brittany maynard, who sparked a new debate over doctor-assisted suicide dies on her own terms. >> cancer is ending my life. i am choosing to end it a little sooner and in a lot less pain and suffering. >> pelley: virgin galactic's richard branson vows to press on with his goal of taking tourists into space. john blackstone has the latest on what caused the test flight disaster. and steve hartman on the road with lauren hill, achieving the dream of a lifetime. >> today has been the best day

i've ever had. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. reporting tonight from cbs news election headquarters in studio 57. >> pelley: good evening. melting glaciers, rising sea level, higher temperatures. if you think someone is trying to tell us something, someone just did. the scientists on a united nations climate panel are out with a new warning about climate change, and they're telling us what they think needs to be done before, as they see it, it's too late. for one thing, they're calling for major changes in the energy we use to heat and cool our homes and power our cars. here's chip reid. >> evidence that the earth is warming is unequivocal and emissions of greenhouse gasses from cars, power plants and factories are primarily to blame. that's according to the u.n.'s intergovernmental panel on

climate change. in the strongest language it's ever used, the panel concluded that continued emission las vegas increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive ander irreversible impact. climate scientist michael oppenheimer says the effects are already being felt around the world. >> the productivity of crops is slowing down due the climate change. there are effects on human health, that is more people are dying due to heat waves, due the climate change. >> reporter: oppenheimer is a principle author of the report. >> we have small win deof opportunity where we can slow this thing down and reverse the trend. >> reporter: accomplishing that would require a massive global shift from fossil fuels like coal and oil to renewable sources of energy like solar and wind and could even require expensive futuristic technologies to remove carbon dioxide and other gases from the atmosphere, but legislation before congress has been blocked

primarily by members from fossil fuel producing states and developing countries like china have shown little interest in reducing their emissions. next month at a u.n. conference in lima, peru, delegates plan to draft a resolution on reducing emissions and they hope to adopt it. >> pelley: chip, thank you. new england is seeing some seasonal climate change. maine is digging out from under a foot of snow. some parts of the state got up to 20 inches yesterday. utility companies are trying to restore power to more than 100,000 homes and businesses. the state's biggest power company says it isn't sure that all the polling places will have electricity on election day. that, of course, is tomorrow. though many folks have already cast ballots in states that have early voting. in the bat -- battle for control of the united states senate, our cbs news battleground tracker finds that the republicans have a better-than-even shot of taking it.

we've assembled some of our campaign 2014 election team tonight. first we'll go to congressional correspondent nancy cordes on why the democrats are nervous. nancy? >> reporter: scott, there are nine battleground seats in the senate, and seven of them are held by democrats right now in states that by in large went for mitt romney. so these are democrats who would be in tough races even if the president were more popular, even if voters felt better about the economy. as it is, voters -- republicans i spoke to sounded markedly more confident than democrats, especially in more toss-up races like iowa and colorado. they're even starting to feel they might be able to win in races that seemed out of week reach a week ago like new hampshire. democrats feel they have a superior ground game that could help them make up a two to three-point deficit. >> pelley: bob schieffer is our chief washington correspondent and the an core of "face the nation." bob, what are you looking for tomorrow night? >> .

>> reporter: scott, most of the analysis suggests the republicans will pick up enough seats to take the majority in the senate. it will be the first time that the republicans will control both houses of congress. but i tell you this: i'm not making any bets on this yet because this electorate is in the nastiest mood i have ever seen. they're mad about everything. nothing works. they don't like the president. they like the congress even less. who knows. they may decide they don't even want to vote. i'm going the wait and see what happens. >> pelley: it's important to note there are 36 governor's races up tomorrow, as well. bill whittaker has been following those. bill, what are you looking for? >> reporter: three races to watch, florida, wisconsin and colorado. in florida, the republican governor rick scott is in a tight race with the democrat charlie crist. in wisconsin, republican governor scott walker is facing democrat mary burke. both scott and walker have followed the republican playbook on taxes, on abortion, on

same-sex marriage, and tomorrow's kind of shaping up to be a referendum on those policies inch colorado, the democratic governor, john hickenlooper, is facing a backlash for having supported tougher gun legislation, and he's in a very tight race with republican bob beauprez. scott, the same number of governor's seats as senate seats are up for grabs tomorrow, 36, but the candidates for governor have outspent the candidates for senate by more than $50 million. >> pelley: wow. john dickerson, our political director, john, what's riding on the governors' races? >> well, voters tell pollsters that basically washington is so frozen in gridlock that even if the party that controls the senate changes, nothing will change. in the state they are still operating in government the way it's supposed to. the governor's decisions will affect law and order, education, health care. take maine, in that state, the

incumbent, paul lepage, has vetoed his legislature's bill to expand medicaid as part of the affordable care act. if the democrat win, that expansion will take place and go forward. there are also political stakes. if scott walker, the republican, is reelected in wisconsin or john kasich is reelected, the republican in ohio, immediately they'll be talked about as presidential hopeful because those are battleground states. if they don't run, they'll nevertheless be models for anybody who does want to win in those state. >> pelley: thank you, john. thank you, everyone. bob, nancy, john and bill will join me on our cbs news election night coverage. we'll have updates throughout the evening and then an hour-long special at 10:00, 9:00 central. of course, you can get the latest returns online at cbsnews.com and on twitter. our handle is @cbspolitics. today richard branson, owner of virgin galactic, said friday's crash will not destroy his plans to carry tourists into space. he vowed to fly with his family on the maiden voyage when his

space ship becomes operational in the future. for now the mission is to find out why the prototype space ship two broke up during a test in california. here's john blackstone. >> reporter: as investigators are continuing to collect evidence from the wreckage scattered over five miles of desert, they now know what happened in the seconds before the spacecraft broke apart. twin tail sections of spaceship two called feathers were unlocked by the copilot earlier than usual. investigators saw that on cockpit video. christopher hart is acting chairman of the national transportation safety board. >> this was a test flight accident. so that meant it had cameras on board. >> reporter: how many cameras? >> well, six on that airplane. there were some on the chase airplane. there was at least one camera on the ground. >> reporter: what is supposed to happen is shown in this virgin galactic test flight video. the mother ship releases a space plane which then he gains -- begins to climb. as it goes up, the fet, remain behind the craft. on dissent, pilots deploy the

feathers up to slow down the spacecraft. so when this is going up, those should not have been open? >> that's correct. >> reporter: not until near the top of the trajectory. >> correct. >> but they did open. >> about two seconds after they start the move, that's when the tape stops. >> reporter: michael alsbury, the 39-year-old copilot was killed. peter siebold, the pilot, remains in the hospital after parachuteing to safety. n.t.s.b. investigators have not yet interviewed him. the crash is a setback for billionaire entrepreneur richard branson. he has already signed up some 800 potential space tourists who paid up to $250,000 to ride a virgin galactic flight into space. >> one or two people must be extremely nervous at this stage. we need to know exactly what happened and make absolutely certain it can never happen again. >> reporter: branson had hoped to make first commercial passenger flights into space by next year, but federal

investigators here say their final report on this accident, scott, won't be completed for about a year. >> pelley: john blackstone for us tonight. john, thank you. over the past few months americans got to know brittany maynard, a 29-year-old california woman diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. she vowed to end her life on her own terms, and over the weekend, she did, taking lethal drugs prescribed by a doctor. jan crawford was one of the least reporters to speak to her. >> i think until anyone has walked a mile in my shoes and knows what they're facing and has felt the just bone-splitting headaches that i get sometimes or the seizures or the inability to speak or the moments where i'm looking in my husband's face and i can't think of his name... >> reporter: when we spoke with brittany maynard three weeks ago, her message was clear. to the people who would say, well, you're choosing to end your life, that's suicide, you

would say, no. >> no, cancer is ending my life. i am choosing to end it a little sooner and in a lot less pain and suffering. >> reporter: in a final message, maynard said, "it is people who pause to appreciate life and give thanks who are happiest. love and peace to you all." after her diagnosis last spring, maynard moved from california to oregon, one of five states that allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients with terminal illness. she spent her final days crossing items off her bucket list, like a trip last month with family to the grand canyon. she said her one regret is not having children, but she hoped that sharing her story will be her lasting legacy. >> i'm not ashamed to attach my name to what i think is a right that should belong to all terminally ill americans. >> reporter: now, the public response to maynard's decision has been overwhelming,. in less than one month, her youtube videos have gotten more

than 13 million hits. scott, supporters hope her story will lead other states to pass their own death with dignity laws. >> pelley: touching interview. jan, thank you very much. in new york, this was move-in day for the first tenants at one world trade center, the tallest building in the western hemisphere, 1,776 feet. it has risen just steps from where the twin towers stood before they were brought down by terrorists 13 years ago. publisher "condeé nast" will occupy nearly one quarter of its 104 floors. >> in the beginning, you're going, what am i doing here? but as you get through the site and you understand the security process, you can see there's plenty of security here. >> reporter: the building's designers say it's much stronger than the twin towers were. it took eight years and nearly $4 billion to build. the world rallied behind hundreds of girls kidnapped by islamic militants, so whatever happened to them?

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>> pelley: you probably remember the 200 school girls who were kidnapped by islamic militants in nigeria. well, hope of finding them diminished even further today. back in april their flight was a sensation with pleas for their release or rescue from all over the world. first lady michelle obama and

hollywood celebrities joined that chorus. what became of all of that? debora patta found out. >> reporter: there's been no trace of the kidnapped school girls for nearly seven months now, despite nigeria's assurances a rescue operation was under way. boko haram leader abubaker shekau has released a new video, mocking any attempt to find them. "we have married them off," he said. "they are all in their marital homes." the girls were abducted from their school on the eve of their final exams. it sparked a worldwide campaign for their release. under immense pressure, the nigerian government made a surprise announcement over two weeks ago that a truce had been reached. an end to boko haram's reign of violence and a return of the girls to their desperate families, but shekau states there never was a truce, only

battle, hitting, striking and killing with a gun. in july a former negotiator told us, "imagine the worst, and it has happened." he said there were reports that many of the girls had been repeatedly raped and others were sent across the border to neighboring chad and cameroon. it appears this may have been right. >> pelley: and debora patta is joining us tonight from johannesburg. debora, why did the government announce a truce? >> reporter: it looks like the nigerian government's been scammed. we spoke to a man who had direct knowledge of the rescue talks and told us the authorities paid millions of dollars to a person supposedly representing boko haram but who actually had no power to release the kidnapped girls. we made repeated calls to the government. they kept promising to respond, but, scott, still we've heard nothing today. >> pelley: a tragedy with no end in sight. deborah, thank you very much. well, for decades tom magliozzi

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connect with axa. >> pelley: nik wallenda comes from family of daredevils. last night he brought his high-wire act to chicago, walking back and forth between two skyscrapers more than 500 feet above the chicago river. during first crossing he walked up at a 19-degree incline. on the way back he walked blind folded on a wire that is about

as thick as a nickel is wide. look at that. yikes. well, in nascar last night after the car wreck came a train wreck. in fort worth, brad keselowski bumped off jeff gordon and sent his 24 car spinning. gordon went looking for keselowski on pit road. it turned out into -- it turned into an all-out brawl. both drivers ended up bloodied. it was the second fight for keselowski in a month. now have a look at this photo. it's all over social media. a young girl at a sunday campaign rally in texarkana, arkansas. is she happy? well, depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is. yep. that's bill clinton, former president turned photo bomber. bet that girl is happy now. what a photo she'll have to show her kids one day.

one of the most popular host on radio died today. tom magliozzi, one of the car talk guys. tom and his brother ray entertained for 25 years on national public radio, answering such questions as "how do you know if you've got a good mechanic?" answer: by the size of his boat. tom magliozzi died of complications of alzheimer's disease. he was 77. in a moment, one of the most exciting basketball games we've seen in a while, and it was all because of her. steve hartman on the road next. especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but wondered if i kept digging, could i come up with something better. my doctor told me about eliquis... for three important reasons. one, in a clinical trial, eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin.

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>> pelley: we're going to end tonight with an update on the story steve hartman brought us last month about a young woman with a dream and her race against time to achieve it. it all came down to this weekend when she had her one and only shot. what happened? here's steve. on the road. >> when people lined the streets of cincinnati yesterday, they weren't hoping for a glimpse of some prince or president. in fact, this was not about celebrity at all. [cheering] it wiz about an unassuming college freshman basketball player named lauren hill and her attempt to turn a living nightmare into a dream come true. about a year ago, lauren was

diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. but instead of wallowing, she set a goal: to try and live long enough to play in her first college game here at mt. st. joseph university. to that end, she practiced. even when she couldn't dribble, she tried. even when she couldn't stand, she stayed. >> when i'm not there, i feel like i'm letting people down. >> reporter: lauren has weeks to live at best, and here she is worried about letting other people down. >> why does that matter so much to you? >> because they're my friends. they're like my family. they keep me going. >> you got one heck of a teammate right here. >> i've got one heck of a team. >> to make sure lauren would get a chance to play, the ncaa moved the mt. st. joe season opener up two weeks. they also got a bigger gym to

accommodate the 10,000 people who bought tickets. >> i can't wait for her to look up in the stands and see all the people, her friends and family. >> you're going to see it in her eyes just how happy it was. >> it's going to be really, really a touching moment. i'm really, really excited that so many people care enough to come. >> reporter: the crowd was thrilled just to see her step foot on the floor. that's really all anyone was expecting. lauren just doesn't have the energy to run down the court more than once or twice. which is why her teammates wasted no time getting her the ball. it was first basket of the game. lauren came in again near the end and scored the last. book ending to this remarkable fairy tale. >> we will remember that layup forever. >> today's been the best day

i've ever had. thank you. >> reporter: like lou gehrig before her, lauren hill has found a place for joy in her personal tragedy, and although no one wants her disease, we can all use a little of what she's got. steve hartman, on the road, in cincinnati, ohio. >> pelley: we have more for you about lauren hill on our web site, cbsnews.com. and this friday steve will tell us about the role played by the opposing team, the hyram college terriers in making lauren's dream come true. that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. from all of us from cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by

was miley cyrus caught hooking up with arnold and maria's son patrick? >> the pictures don't lie, and we can tell you what his famous family thinks. >> miley seen leaving patrick's apartment, and we saw this bedroom selfie from over the weekend. >> and kris jenner, is this her new man, and why angie harmon just split from her husband. >> and we'll tell you if tom cruise really found himself an angel as the star takes off on the wildest ride yet. you won't believe this. >> plus, new honey boo boo drama. why an ambulance was actually called, and could mama june now lose custody? >> do you think he'll be successful at getting the kids? >> and wayne brady shares his truth about his battle with depression. >> i had a complete breakdown. >> that struck you when robin williams took his life.