merchant of death. a russian thought the world's most notorious arms dealer delivered to the u.s. for trial. murder mystery. like a hollywood thriller, a powerful movie publicist is gunned down in beverly hills. reason, unknown. and royal wedding. the prince and princess-to-be happily discuss next year's marriage plans. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, november 17th, 2010. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. viktor bout, the alleged arms a dealer known as the

merchant of death in federal lockup in new york city this morning. the russian national extradited to the u.s. from thailand despite fierce protests from moscow. whit johnson joins us from washington. what's the latest on this, whit? >> reporter: betty, good morning. among other things he's accused of supplying weapons to the taliban. the long legal battle for extradition came just in time for the u.s., days before bout was scheduled to be released. the accused russian arms dealer viktor bout makes his first court appearance in new york today. he faces four counts of terrorism, including conspiracy to kill u.s. nationals. >> viktor bout, sometimes called the merchant of death was the premiere international arms merchant fueling conflicts around the world for almost two decades, willing to do business with anyone willing to pay his price. >> reporter: he was extradited from thailand tuesday despite strong protests from russia's foreign ministry. the russians have claimed he's a legitimate businessman since arrested in bangkok two years

ago. u.s. relations with russia have been steadying improving but there is concern this tug-of-war over him could jeopardize coops on arms control, nuclear weapons and the war in afghanistan. >> we agree to disagree sometimes. we have tensions that crop up periodically and we work to manage those. >> reporter: analysts say the u.s. is willing to risk some turbulence with russia in order to make sure the most notorious arms merchant in the world stays out of commission. >> he built an international empire supplying everything from ak-47s to helicopter gunships to the heart of africa. >> reporter: he faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the terrorism charges. bout is a former soviet military officer and wealthy air cargo executive. the u.s. estimates his fortune worth $6 billion. betty? >> whit johnson live in washington. thank you, whit. there is concern russian

anger over bout's arrest could derail president obama's push for a new nuclear arms treaty with moscow and senate republican leader jon kyl added. to those concerns yesterday saying that senate debate on the treaty may be pushed into next year. on can to hill, veteran new york congressman charles rangel faces punishment after a house ethics panel found him guilty of financial misconduct yesterday. rangel insists he was treated unfairly. >> the fact that they had no criminal evidence, i really thought that with my opponent and newspapers and television pundits talking about crime, scandal and corruption, that the ethics committee might come forward and say there's a lot of stuff here but no -- >> the full house ethics committee will hold a hearing tomorrow to decide an appropriate punishment for rangel. randall pinkston has more. >> count 11, conduct in violation of the code of ethics.

>> reporter: the house ethics panel announced its verdict against him. >> we found a conviction by clear and convincing evidence. >> reporter: the veteran new york congressman found guilty on 11 counts of breaking house rules including failing to disclose at least $600,000 in assets and income, failing to report rental income to the irs, and improperly soliciting donations from foundations and businesses that could benefit from his vote in congress. >> we have tried to act with fairness, led only by the facts and the law. >> reporter: the 80-year-old lawmaker addressed the panel monday claiming he had run out of money to fight the case and needed more time to set up a defense fund and hire a lawyer. after the verdict, rangel told reporters he didn't get a fair hearing. >> i will ask anybody anywhere that i can, does this sound like it has a scintilla of -- >> reporter: one of the most influential members of the house, serving 20 terms in congress.

voters in his harlem district re-elected him just two weeks ago. 80% voted for him. >> my opinion of him really hasn't changed. he's done a lot of good things for harlem. >> i think that the bottom line is it's a witch hunt. >> reporter: the full committee will recommend his punishment. he faces formal reprimand or censure. randall pinkston, cbs news, new york. president obama was set to meet with congressional leaders thursday but republicans asked that it wait a while, at least until after the thanksgiving holiday. republican leaders say they want to discuss areas of possible cooperation with democrats and the white house. now to a story that could be titled murder on sunset boulevard. the mysterious shooting death of a well-known movie publicist in the heart of beverly hills. it happened early tuesday as kendis gibson reports. >> reporter: the story could have come straight from the big screen, famed hollywood publicist ronnie chasen had just left a premiere for her latest

film when she was gunned down in the middle of beverly hills. >> we heard a big boom. >> reporter: the sound was her car slamming into a light pole shortly after midnight tuesday. she had been shot five times in the chest. the gunfire shattering the normally quiet affluent beverly hills neighborhood. >> normally it's safe but, you know, it can happen, but it's tragic. >> reporter: the 64-year-old well known in hollywood circles lead publicist on oscar-winning movies like "driving miss daisy" and "on golden pond" hob knobbing with the stars of one of her company's latest projects just moments before her death but police have few clues as to what happened between the premiere party and her car crash. >> we don't have a motive right now or suspect information. everything is actually in its preliminary stages. >> reporter: that mystery is only adding to concern for neighbors in her up-scale community. >> i will continue to run here

on a daily basis and not feel like i'm in fear for my life. have to move forward hoping, indeed, this was an isolated incident and won't happen again but you never know. >> reporter: police spent several hours searching her car, home and office for clues but so far, her death remains a mystery. kendis gibson, cbs news, los angeles. on the "cbs moneywatch" stocks in asia struggle again this morning. ashley morrison is here in new york with much more on that. good morning. >> good morning, betty. the markets were lower on new worries china will raise interest rates this week. japan's nikkei mostly down before finishing up a fraction while hong kong's hang seng dropped more than 2%. wall street is hoping for a rebound after some big losses. yesterday, the dow lost 178 points, hitting its lowest level in a month while the nasdaq fell 44. stocks are reacting to the growing debt crisis in europe, particularly in ireland. a meeting of european finance

ministers ended without an agreement to bail out the debt-stricken dublin government. ireland has taken over three banks, a bailout that already cost $61 billion. the dublin government says it does not need help but eu officials fear the crisis will spread. now to the passenger backlash over airport screening. the government says if you don't want to go through a whole body scanner or get a patdown, don't fly because you won't be allowed on planes. but the government says children will no longer be subjected to the aggressive patdowns that offends many passengers. more americans will be hitting the roads this thanksgiving holiday. aaa says about 42 million americans will travel more than 50 miles from home this year. that's up 11.4% from last year. and betty, it looks like the workplace perk is making a comeback at least a little. a management company that keeps track of these things finds that

12% of firms say they will give out thanksgiving gifts to employees, a slight rise from last year and employees can expect more year-end parties. you know, betty, who doesn't like the holiday work party? >> bring them on, right. >> a good time. >> ashley morrison joining here in new york, thank you. just ahead on the morning news, accusations that bp ignored warning signs before the deadly oil well blow-out. plus, a fairy-tale wedding in the works for prince william and kate middleton. first, though, katie couric with a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." more than 65 million people are expected to be diagnosed with alzheimer's disease by the year 2030, robbing them of their independence and sometimes their life savings. what can you do to spot the hidden warning signs? we'll look at new guidelines helping families cope tonight only on the "cbs evening news." v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving

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a new rep a new report says before the oil well blowout in the gulf of mexico, bp and its contractors ignored a series of warning signs. 11 workers died in the april 20th explosion that led to the largest offshore oil spill in u.s. history. the report buy technical experts says there was a failure to consider risk and lack of management discipline. there are fears the cholera epidemic may spread to neighboring dominican republic. the country reported its first case, a haitian citizen who recently vacationed in haiti has been hospitalized with it. no other cases have been confirmed there. meanwhile, the cholera death toll in haiti has topped a thousand. in other news the excitement is already building in britain over the royal wedding. prince william, second in line to the throne, and kate middleton finally announced their engagement. according to buckingham palace the actual wedding ceremony will be held

next spring or summer. mark phillips reports. >> reporter: she had been called waity katey, but kate middleton, katherine elizabeth middleton according to the palace announcement is waiting no more. finally a marriage wildly rumored for years is official. an engagement sealed with the same sapphire and diamond ring william's father had given his mother. his way, william said, of bringing princess diana close to this joyous event. >> my way of making sure my mother is taking part in today. >> reporter: william had popped the question three weeks ago on a romantic vacation in kenya prompting the question today for a couple who had been together for at least eight years, why the wait? >> trying to learn from lessons in the past and i just wanted to give her the best shot to -- to settle in and see what, you know, what happens the other side. >> i'm -- also glad i've had the time to sort of grow and understand myself more. >> reporter: william's father took a pragmatic view of a relationship that's been going

on so long. >> obviously thrilled. thank you very much. practicing for long enough. >> reporter: william avoiding some of the pit-falls that helped doom his father's first marriage but comparisons between diana and kate are inevitable. the camera loved diana. it likes kate, too. diana loved fashion. so does kate. diana was hounded by the paparazzi. kate's had her share of that, as well. in the chess game of royal succession, this modern marriage settles a future that looked shaky not too long ago. behind the queen and prince philip stand charles and camilla. next in line behind them will be william and kate. if the function of the royals is to provide continuity, the pieces are now all in place. they've had a tough enough time carrying on their relationship in the past and, as they showed at the end of their interview, they seem to know there are tough times ahead, too. >> all done. >> reporter: mark phillips, cbs

news, london. in other news, the defense is getting its turn in the elizabeth smart kidnapping trial in utah. yesterday the defense called witnesses who knew accused kidnapper brian david mitchell when he was a member of the mormon church and defense attorneys asked the judge to acquit mitchell saying prosecutors failed to prove their case. straight ahead, your wednesday morning weather and in sports an overwhelming choice as the best pitcher in the national league. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies,

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celebrex. for a body in motion. here's a look at the weather. new yo here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, showers, 65. miami, partly cloudy, 82. partly cloudy, 45 in chicago. denver is going to be sunny, 50 degrees. and los angeles, sunny, 72. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows the northeast blanketed with clouds from a storm system racing through the great lakes. another storm is descending upon the central plains. on the northwest coast, another batch of rain clouds and down in the southwest, clear skies are prevailing. later today a gusty wind will blow into the northeast as showers begin to wrap up. rain is just getting started in the northwest. sections of the northern plains will see temperatures in the 20s and 30s, and temperatures in the 50s and 60s hang on in the southern plains. in sports, roy halladay of

the philadelphia phillies won the national league cy young award, the 13th unanimous winner of the award pitching a perfect game in may and no-hitter in the playoffs. halladay is only the fifth pitcher to win the cy young in both leagues. in the nba. the lakers get back to winning, kobe bryant had 31 points against milwaukee to end a two-game los angeles losing streak and the lakers beat the bucs 118-107. derrick rose of chicago scored 17 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter against houston. the 95-92 victory is the fourth straight for the bulls. in college basketball, some upsets. the team ranked 25 in the country, san diego state, pulled out a win over number 11 gonzaga. san diego state, 79-7 of over gonzaga. louisville knocked off butler which went on to the national championship game last year. unranked louisville got out to an early lead and upset number 16 butler, 88-73.

when we return, another look at this morning's top stories and a day of honor and emotion for a war hero given the nation's highest military decoration. thank you for calling usa pmy name peggy. peggy, yes, i'd like to redeem my reward points for a gift card. tell points please? 250,000. calculating... ooh! answer: five fifty! 550 bucks?! 5 dollar, 50 cents. minus redeeming charge. leaving 50 cents. say what? happy time! what kind of program is this? want better rewards? switch to discover. america's number 1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. okay, now here's our holiday gift list. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. the northwest with rain showers returning again to the region. from the mid-atlantic states through the northeast, there will be scattered showers and windy conditions. and a cold brisk wind blows through the northern plains. here's another look at this morning's top stories. viktor bout, alleged russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death will appear in court today in new york. he was extradited to the u.s. from thailand despite strong protests from russia. police in beverly hills hunt for clues in the murder of a

prominent publicist shot and killed in her car on sunset boulevard early tuesday. a soldier receiving the nation's highest military award remains humble. president obama awarded the medal of mon nor to 25-year-old army staff sergeant sal giunta. three years ago he rescued two fellow soldiers caught in an ambush in afghanistan. two men were killed in that attack. >> this is an incredible time, but it's also kind of a bittersweet time. times like this, because of this day, i lost two dear friends of mine, specialist hugo mendoza and sergeant joshua brennan. and, although this is so positive, i would give this back on a second to have my friends with me right now. >> he is the first living veteran of the iraq and afghanistan wars to receive the medal of honor. this morning on "the early show" live reports from london on the newest details of prince

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well, i want to look at the first warning doppler. i'm taking you back to 12:30 and this is the reason we had the wind. we had a strong line of thunderstorms moving through the area and that's the new lead story. we'll talk about that shortly. and the break news overnight is the weather. tens of thousands are without power right now. dozens of homes are damaged and we'll be live with the coverage for you.

underpressure and mixings it up. the makers of four loko announce a big change to their product. and a contention vote. baltimore city teachers decide on accepting a new contract and the ceo looks to shut down a school. more news, weather and traffic in a few minutes. ,,,,,, 3q

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hello again, it's almost 5:00. the weather is the breaking