>> jeff: good evening everyone. we begin tonight way huge storm that could impact at least a third of the nation. and because of the unusual timing, there are concerns it could be a rerun of a weather mess just six months ago. starting us off, here's terrell brown. >> reporter: last october a >> reporter: last october a surprise storm dumped record snow on the northeast. nearly 20 million people were left without power. that winter storm arrived in the fall. now there's a spring storm just like it, taking aim at the northeast. >> both producing heavy, wet snow. and both happening at times when we have a lot of leaves on the trees which will cause more weight on these trees and probably cause a lot of these trees to tumble down on top of power lines. and that's why we think there could be wide spread power outages. >> reporter: the storm system is expected to dump up to four to six inches of snow in pittsburgh, up to eight inches in buffalo, and more than 18 inches in johnstown, pennsylvania. the same storm battered orlando, florida, with golf ball size hail and heavy rains knocked down trees and power lines. >> sounded like a lightning crash. wasn't a lightning crash. it was the whole tree that came out. fell down on half my house. >> reporter: the storm is also causing damage in the midwest. and redwood county, minnesota, a tornado ripped apart a small farm. >> it was very frightening because i actually didn't have sight of my kids. >> reporter: along with snow, wind is a major concern. it's already starting to pick up a bit here in new york city. wind gusts could top 60 miles an hour along the east coast overnight. meteorologists are already telling residents to prepare to be without power for days-- jeff? >> glor: terrell brown, thank you. >> for more now on the storm we turn to meteorologist jeff berardelli at our miami station wfor. why is this particular storm so unusual? >> we have a big piece of energy from canada diving all the way south into the gulf of mexico. that typically happens during the winter, but not during the spring. then barreling up the eastern seaboard with gulf moisture, atlantic moisture and tons of cold air from canada making a major nor'easter. >> glor: and jeff this threat lasts until when? >> probably until tuesday, heavy snow overnight tonight and tomorrow, tapering down on tuesday. one to two feet possible in western new york and western pennsylvania. >> glor: jeff berardelli, from wfor, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> glor: there is more to report on the secret service scandal tonight with word that suspicion is spreading beyond the agents in just one colombian hotel. whit johnson is at the white house with more on that. whit, good evening to you. >> reporter: jeff, good evening to you. we're now learning a 12th agent, the latest to be investigated was staying at the very same hotel where president obama later stayed, a development that is fueling new calls for a wider investigation. >> reporter: awe law enforcement official tells cbs news the latest agent now under investigation brought a woman back to the hilton hotel in cartengena colombia five days before the president would stay there until now the hotel caribe was the focus where the other 22 members of the secret service an and military accused of unappropriate behavior were checked in. senator joe lieberman today on "face the nation." >> now you're into the hotel where the president of the united states was going to stay. and it just gets more troubling. >> reporter: lieberman is now joining some of his senate colleagues like republican chuck grassley who were also calling for a broader investigation into whether white house staffers could have been involved. although more members of the secret service are expected to be fired this week, so far most lawmakers are voicing support for director mark sullivan and the way he's handled the fallout, jeff. >> glor: whit johnson at the white house, whit, thank you. george zimmerman, the accused murderer of trayvon martin will likely be released on bond. the question remains: when? mark straussman is watching and waiting in stanford florida, good evening to you. >> reporter: good evening, jeff, before zimmerman can go home he needs a couple of things. he needs $15,000 in cash which is a challenge for his family. he also needs a plan to get him out of here safely. >> reporter: for 11 days seminole county jail has housed george zimmerman. sources tell us he is eager to go free but mindful of the threats he faces outside. zimmerman arrived guarded by state agents carrying semiautomatic rifles but once he leaves and heads into hiding, likely out of state, his security will be his responsibility. >> it's a long, long process. this is the first two-steps of it. and he's still very worried about the fact that he is facing a life sentence. >> reporter: trayvon martin's parents are described as devastated. their son's killler is about to go free and they resented zimmerman's surprise apology to them in court last friday. >> i wanted to say i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am. and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> the apology was somewhat of a surprise because we had told them this was not the appropriate time. he went on the grandstand for all intensive purposes so he could get released from jail. >> reporter: zimmerman also needs a gps ankle monitor to track his whereabouts. and the state office to give him one reopens in the morning. jeff? >> glor: mark straussman, thank you. we move to campaign 2012 now. five states hold republican primaries this tuesday including the important swing state of pennsylvania. but as jen crawford reports mitt romney has fully shifted his focus to the big race against president obama. jan, good evening. >> reporter: well, good evening, jeff, that's right, with the republican nomination all but locked up romney's full focus now is on the president. >> i don't think the american people can afford to have barack obama as thei president. >> reporter: campaign sources say romney will emphasize his record of creating jobs in the private sector and his leadership during the salt lake city olympics while arguing president obama had his chance and failed. advisor eric fehrnstrom put it this way on "face the nation." >> incumbent presidents don't get to run on vision. they have records that they have to run on. and we're going to hold them accountable to that. >> reporter: romney will now beef up staff, merge forces with the republican national committee and raise money. he brought in 12.6 million dollars in march. his best month yet. but lags behind the president who raised $34.8 million. but campaign sources say they believe romney and the outside groups supporting him will raise close to the $750 million president obama is expected to bring in. romney also has started the search for a vice presidential nominee. monday he campaigns in pennsylvania where senator marco rubio, who is expected to be on the short list. but rubio like other contenders is not speculating about what romney will decide. >> the last thing he needs are those of us in the peanut gallery to be saying what we would or would not do. >> reporter: and with everyone saying this is going to be a very close race, romney's team is especially encouraged by those polls that now have it in a dead heat. one advisor told me they thought it would take at least another month for him to shake off the blows from that bruising primary. jeff? >> glor: jan crawford, thank you. >> iran claimed today scientists have reversed engineered a captured american spy drone. and iran says they are now building their own replica that of that drone. u.s. officials acknowledge losing a drone there last december but sigh the built in security limits its intelligence. we're joined by national security analyst juan zarate. what are we to make of this claim? >> reporter: there is no question the iranians are trying to pick apart the drone and have claimed that they are trying to reverse engineer to find data or technology to use but i would call into question any claims by the iranians that they have mastered the technology and have started actual production of a similar drone. >> glor: and juan, why are they doing this right now? how much pressure is iran under? >> reporter: iran is under enormous economic and diplomatic pressure. keep in mind, jeff, that we've just come off a nuclear negotiation in istanbul and the iranians want to position themselves from a position of strength, diplomatically. they also have internal questions as to how to proceed with the west. so this announcement i think has to be viewed in the context of that internal conflict and their questions as to how to proceed diplomatically with the united states and the west. >> glor: juan zarate, joining us from washington, thank you. >> thank you, jeff. truce monitors appears to be easing the violence in syria tonight including in the central city of hama. amateur video showed a u.n. truck convoy moving in and supporters of president al-assad waved syrian flags nearby. u.s. and afghan official today agreed on the terms of a long-term security deal that outlines america's future role there. the pact comes 1 week after the taliban launched a series of attacks that exposed serious afghan government weaknesses. clarissa ward has more from kabul. >> reporter: staring blankley at the camera they chruferj their korans to their chest. some look like teenagers. according to the taliban's web site these are some of the fighters in last sunday's series of coordinate add tacks that left nearly 50 people dead. with the final word they proclaim a desire to avenge of american military's burning of korans and the massacre of civilians by a u.s. serviceman in kandahar in march. >> we will take revenge. >> reporter: but it was the afghan government that was most rattled by last wee week-- week's attack, unwelcome reminders that the taliban can still strike inside the capitol. president karzai claims-- blimed-- blamed intelligence failures by his government and flato force. yesterday afghanistan's intelligence apparatus fought to show it was still in control. national security spokesman shafiqullah tahiry announced that security forces had captured five insurgents with 22,000 pounds of explosives hidden underneath piles of potatoes in a truck bound for kabul. tahiry claimed that three of the five insurgents were pakistani and that the truck had pakistani licence plates. tahiry also said that security forces had thwarted a separate plot to assassinate the afghan vice president. that plot allegedly organized by the haqqanies, a network of terrorists based in pakistan who are also blamed for last week's attacks. clearly the government of afghanistan trying again to pressure pakistan to help with its security problems. clarissa ward, cbs news, kabul. >> jeff: in france, a socialist has won the opening round of the country's two-stage presidential election. francois hollande lead a field of 10 to finish nearly ahead of conservative incumbent nicolas sarkozy. among those voting was dominique strauss-kahn. hollande and sarkozy compete in a runoff two weeks from today. coming up on tonight's "cbs evening news", a look ahead to opening day in the trial of former vice presidential candidate john edwards. 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[ chuckles ] yes. yes, it does. ♪ call 1-800-steemer >> jeff: the trial of john edwards is scheduled to start tomorrow. edwards is charged with violating campaign finance rules. but these days he may be better known for his philandering than his politicsment a cbs news "new york times" poll out today finds only 3% of americans have a favorable view 6 him. edwards rose to the top of the >> edwards rose to the top of a democratic political elite as the son of a mill worker made good. but that wholesome image is again under scrutiny in the federal case "u.s.a. versus johnnie reid edwards." he is accused of using nearly a million dollars secretly given by two campaign donors to hide a mistress real hunter and their daughter as his wife battled breast cancer and edwards was running for president in 2008. his attorneys contend the money was a gift, not a campaign contribution to help the candidate deal with a personal problem. if convicted, he faces up to 30 years behind bars. >> i will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that i have caused. but i did not break the law and i never, ever thought i was breaking the law. >> jeff: erin moriarity of "48 hours" has been following this case from the start. she joins us tonight. we know a jury has been seated which wasn't easy because edwards is so unpopular. the jury has to decide whether this was a gift or a campaign contribution. >> reporter: and the defense insists that these were gifts and that the moneys were not spent on campaign expenses. that they were used to hide a girlfriend, that john edwards would have needed whether or not he was running for president. and in fact there is some evidence of that because john edwards is a very wealthy man. he could have used his own money but then his wife would have found out. >> jeff: where do the edwards children figure in all this. >> the oldest child of course is a lawyer and she has been at his side in court. she will testify, she's on the witness list if she has tomorrow. but i think it's very telling that she is not been out there in front, speaking publicly to support him. apparently there was some disagreement within the family whether he should go ahead with this trial. >> jeff: why didn't john edwards just settle. >> well, he was offered a plea but it would have involved some jail time. he would have been able to keep his law license. he turned it down. he is did not want to admit he is guilty and he did not want to go to prison so he is rolling the dice. >> jeff: erin moriarity you will keep following it, thank you very much. ahead here, the dream of gold that is bringing new prospectors to nevada. that story is next. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. 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"the new york times" reports the company's mexican subsidiary paid millions of dollars to public officials to speed up store construction south of the border. the paper says when executives at the head office in arkansas found out, they tried to quote hush it up. >> these have been very difficult times in nevada. the highest unemployment rate in the country, one of the highest foreclosure rates. but almost 500 miles from las vegas, one town is booming. the secret, gold. lots of it. >> hey, nate, how is it going. >> when the bottom fell out of the las vegas housing market civil engineer joshua owen struggled to make ends meet. >> we went from a two income hoss hold, one income to >> we went from a two income household, one income to three quarters of an income. >> reporter: so he moved his family to elko, population 18,000, and got a job at a gold mine. >> i was designing residential streets, i'm designing haul road force 400 ton trucks. i'm actually doing better now than i ever did in las vegas. >> reporter: nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country, 12%. but in the northeast corner of the state the gold mines are booming and prospectors are pouring in. >> up here from canada. >> i'm tammy adams, i moved from santa cruz, california. >> gail ferguson i moved from knoxville, tennessee. >> reporter: after china, australia and south africa, nevada is the fourth largest gold producer in the world. statewide the mining industry employs more than 4,000 with an average individual salary of about $80,000 dollars. rick franco works at barrick gold's cortez mine, the most productive facility in north america. >> it's awesome i love my job. >> reporter: doug came to cortez after his montana mine shut down. >> there's a lot of jobs here. there is a lot of money to be made here. >> the work isn't easy, most of these minors pull 12 hour days and have a two hour commute. >> the welcoming sign at the end of our day. daylight! ( laughter ) >> glor: but so long as there is gold in the ground and a paycheck to earn, tammy adams says people like her will keep showing up. >> everybody is just awesome. and i don't think are you going to find a job any better. >> glor: nevada's mining association estimates the industry will add an additional $1200 jobs this year. that is so long as the price of gold remains over 1600 an ounce. >> ahead, ford shifts gears and revs up production in china. that story is next. 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[ male announcer ] that's why they're recommended most for people who sleep in their lenses. visit airoptix.com for a free one-month trial offer. >> jeff: parts of california and nevada were rattled by a loud explosion early today thanks to a meteor shower. one resident managed to snap this image of a streaking meteor, part of a shower that could be seen from the san francisco area east of reno, and then elko, nevada. finally tonight the biggest auto show of the year starts tomorrow. it is not in detroit, it's beijing. today hoping to tap not world's largest market, ford rolled out four suvs, and as celia hatton reports, that is just the start. >> reporter: another day in china and another dealership opening. staking its future on the world's largest auto market, ford is pushing to unveil two new showrooms a week for the next three years. >> and that's keeping head salesmen i will xiaofei moving, he flies around the country giving pep talks to hundreds of brand-new companies. >> when i wake up i don't know if i am in a hotel or at home. i don't remember what city i'm in. li and his coworkers are rushing to catch up to ford's rivals in china. gm has bounced back from its 2008 bailout mostly because of success here. sell --.5 million vehicles last year. ford sold just 520,000, so it's changing strategies. ford's moved its asia headquarters from bangkok to shanghai, li says, now every car caters to chinese taste and the needs of chinese buyers. still many in china like ford because it is foreign. >> american cars are very well-known says this 26-year-old and their look is fashionable. >> a fashion statement now made in china, ford's massive new factory in chongqing wlefern china the company's biggest march manufacturing base outside of i michigan. the workers here tell us they have never seen such a high-tech assembly line. ford spent almost half i a billion dollars with cutting edge machinery, for companies willing to spend big, and become a major player in the chinese market. >> car industry analysts report that three quarters of chinese car consumers are first-time buyers. if ford's big bet on china pays off, the automaker could produce the most eager set of new car owners since the days of the model t. celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> jeff: thats is the "cbs evening news" tonight. later on cbs "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be here tomorrow. good night. are tomato fight for his job questions facing the suspended san francisco sheriff and if he gets to stay in office. this morning the boom heard around the southwest tonight whether an answer what scientists say caused the commotion. a red flag more than 20 years ago the memo that showed pg&e had warning about the pipeline,,