Well, a lawyer for the engineer of the train that derailed as it sped through a curve, he told investigators he was in a daze just before the crash. Four people died in the crash and more than 70 others were injured. William rockefeller, an engineer for ten years, has become the focus of the crash investigation. Marlie hall is in new york with the latest. Marlie, good morning. Annemarie, questions about rockefellers role in the derailment have grown once it became known the train jumped the tracks going at an excessive speed. His attorney characterized rockefellers state as highway hypnosis, while Union Officials said rockefeller basically anoth nodded off at the controls. He had one of those where, whoa, you drive your car and, you know, you stare at the same thing for so long, you know, he zoned and he caught himself, but he caught himself too late. Rockefeller met with federal investigators yesterday afternoon. They wont comment on ro rockefell rockefellers level of alertness. His lawyers say hes cooperating fully. The sevencar commuter train jumped the track sunday as it hit a curve nearly three times the speed limit. So far investigators have found no mechanical reason for the crash. Theres no indication that the brake systems were not functioning properly. Alcohol tests on the train crew were negative. The results of the drug test are not available yet. Federal investigators say rockefeller had switched from a night shift to a day shift two weeks before the crash. He reported to work on time at 5 04 a. M. Theres every indication that he would have had time to get full restorative sleep. His union says rockefeller had never been disciplined for job performance. His lawyer calls what happened a terrible accident and tells the New York Times rockefeller is extremely remorseful. Michael mcclendon was rockefellers supervisor for several years. I wish it didnt happen to anybody, but i sure as hell dont want it happening to him. Late yesterday the National Transportation safety board said it had removed the union as a party to the investigation because the union violated confidentiality rules. Rockefeller is expected to meet with investigators again today. The investigation is expected to take weeks. Annemarie . Marlie hall, thank you very much. Well, this morning a large portion of the country is under the grips of a severe winterlike storm that could bring up to 2 feet of snow to the rockies and northern plains. Winter storm warnings are posted from nevada to wisconsin. As an arctic air temperature moves in, temperatures are in the western half of the country are plunging, in some areas, by as much as 40 degrees below normal. Now, the snow has been falling in boulder. On tuesday it was 56 degrees. Today the high is expected to top out at 11 degrees. Higher elevations could get up to 3 feet of snow. Denver could see up to 9 inches of snow today. And some of the heaviest snow is expected to fall in northern minnesota. Areas near duluth have already picked up between a foot and 2 feet of snow go along with the high winds. Later today president obama talks about the economy and his call for increasing the minimum wage. In his speech the president will address the income gap between rich and poor. Yesterday the subject was health care, the president urging americans to give his Affordable Care act a second look. Major garrett reports. Reporter president obama asked the country for a second chance. As he did so, the president joked about the wild promises, his words, that he made about the Health Care Law itself. Promises will be fewer in the future, the president said. Adding improved performance will turn obama care around. Our poor execution in the first couple of months on the website clouded the fact that there are a whole bunch of people who stand to benefit. Now this we now that were Getting Technology fixed, we need to go back and take a look at whats actually going on because it can make a difference in your lives and the lives of your families, and maybe it wont make a difference right now fw youre feeling healthy, but i promise you, if somebody in your family, heaven forbid, gets sick, youll see the difference. Reporter the president said more than half a Million People are already poised to get Health Insurance for the first Time Starting january 1st, but republicans are more energetic than ever about repealing the law. Even democrats may seek changes if lagging enrollment figures dont improve. Planked by individuals already helped by health reform, mr. Obama spoke to that new political reality. I will work with anybody to implement and improve this law effectively. If youve got good ideas, bring them to me. Lets go. But were not repealing it as long as im president. Reporter the president s advisers can see mr. Obama is on the defensive and more campaignstyle events are needed to resell obama care. The next big test comes in two weeks when a crush of consumers is expected to try to enroll for insurance by january 1st. Major garrett, cbs news, the white house. And now to the first gun control legislation since last years gus massacre at a connecticut elementary school. The house passed a bill extending legislation that prohibits firearms that can evade metal detecters and xray machines, plastic guns. Susan mcginnis is in washington with more on the undetectable firearms act. Good morning, susan. Good morning, annemarie. Now, the current law expires on monday and it bans plastic firearms. This law has been around since 1988 and its always been extended very easily, but this time some lawmakers are looking for some changes to deal with new Technology Like 3d printers, which makes manufacturing these plastic guns very easy. Those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. No. Reporter with only a voice vote, the house passed the resolution undetectable firearms act for more than ten years. Now it heads to the senate where Democrat Chuck schumer has argued new technology has made the law outdated. Someone in texas has published on a website a way to make plastic gun, buying a 3d printer for less than a thousand dollars. Reporter under the current law, the metal can be removed from the plastic and isnt necessary to fire the weapon. Schumer and others want to change that. We dont want to make it easy for terrorists and criminals to bring undetectable guns onto our planes and into secure environments. Reporter the nra says its okay reauthorizing the bill as is, but in a statement the nra strongly opposes any expansion of the undetectable firearmsing at. Alex agrees. If it aint broke, dont fix it. Reporter the california gun dealer says the proposed changes may deter some people, but not deter criminals. If they want to get a gun into a place that has metal detectors, theyll find a way. Now, the senate is expected to vote on this bill on monday. Thats the day the law expires. Many expect the senate will pass it as is and deal with that 3d issue later in 2014. Annemarie . All right. Susan mcginnis in washington, thank you, susan. Overseas now, Vice President joe biden said the u. S. And china must expand practical cooperation. Biden arrives in tokyo today. His visit comes as china and japan are in the midst of a territorial dispute. China is claiming airspace over islands japan says are theirs. Biden says the u. S. Was deeply concerned about the action and promises to raise the issue when he meets with chinas president later today. Coming up on the morning news now, a skydiving tragedy. Two people are killed after they collide hundreds of feet above the ground in arizona. This is the cbs morning news. In belgium, more than 130 coming up on the morning news now, a skydiving tragedy. Two people are killed after they collide hundreds of feet above the ground in arizona. This is the cbs morning news. , buttery and flakey. Thats half. Thats not half guys, i have more. Thanks, mom. [ female announcer ] do you have enough pillsbury crescents . Maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 ab maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefgh maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghij maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdef maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcd ghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs ca st in belgium, more than 130 cars and trucks were involved in a series of pileups on tuesday. At least one person is dead and dozens more are injured. Drivers describe hitting a dense wall of fog with visibility falling to zero. Two skydivers are dead after colliding midair over arizona. The accident happened tuesday in eloy, a popular spot to sky dive between phoenix and tucson. The group was performing a jump when they bumped into each other 200 or 300 feet in the air. Witnesses say their parachutes collapsed, and they plunged to the ground. On the cbs moneywatch now detroits bankruptcy gets the green light, and the deadline for mailing your cards to get them there in time for christmas. Wendy gillette is at the New York Stock Exchange with that and more. Good morning, wendy. Good morning, annemarie. Detroits bankruptcy is Going Forward this morning after the judge ruled Public Pensions could be cut. The decision allows the city to confront its 18 billion debt, but its a big setback for unions and retires. Thousands of retired workers will likely see smaller checks. Dave bing is detroits mayor. Theres going to be pain that goes around, and weve got to figure out how we can mediate the least amount of pain for any one individual. About half of detroits debt is related to pension and health care costs. Asian markets were mostly lower ahead of the u. S. Jobs report due out later this week. Tokyos nikkei dropped more than 2 . Hong kongs hang seng lost more than half a percent. Here on wall street the markets are pulling back after eight weeks of gains. The dow shaved 94 points on tuesday, and the nasdaq finished the day off at 8. Cyber monday was the Biggest Online shopping day in history. Shoppers spent 1. 74 billion. Thats 18 more than the monday after thanksgiving last year. And that figure does not include purchases from mobile devices. November was a strong month for auto sales. Overall they rose 9 from a year ago led by small suvs. Chrysler was up 16 , gm gained 14 , and ford sales increased 7 . The u. S. Postal service expects to deliver 15 billion pieces of mail this holiday season, and its announced mailby dates to ensure christmas delivery. December 14th is the date for standard mail, december 20th for first class, Priority Mail needs to go out by december 21st, and for procrastinators, december 23rd for priority express. Billy joel is settling in at Madison Square garden. The piano man said hell perform at the new york city venue once a month as long as fans want him. Shows from january through april are already sold out. Im a huge fan. What you do think of t, annema . I think its a great idea. New york is the place to do it and who doesnt love billy joel, right . Exactly. Hes got great shows. Definitely. Wendy gillette at the New York Stock Exchange. Thank you very much, wendy. Still to come, an act of kindness by Actor Paul Walker. And in sports, an nfl mvp sends an unexpected rsvp. Try zyrtecd®. Powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms all in one pill. Zyrtecd®. At the pharmacy counter. Maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdef maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv 7890 maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdef maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 ab heres a look at todays forecast in some cities around the country. New york, some sun today with a high of 53. Miami will be sunny. Chicago, expect clouds today. Sunshine in dallas. Sunshine in los angeles as well. In sports, the yankees red sox rivalry is staying heated in the offseason. On tuesday new york lured free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury from boston with a sevenyear contract worth about 153 million. The 30yearold stole 52 bases last year in helping the red sox to a world series victory, but he has missed significant playing time due to injuries in his sixyear career. Pittsburgh steelers head Coach Mike Tomlin is apologizing for what he calls a sideline blunder during his teams game against baltimore on thanksgiving night. Baltimores jacoby jones nearly collided with tomlin during a kickoff return in the third quarter. Now, tomlin jumps out of the way at the last second, but jones breaks his stride and hes tackled. Tomlin acknowledged he broke a rule by being too close to the field but insists his actions werent intentional. With my position comes the charge of preserving and protecting the integrity of the game of football, and i think probably my biggest error on thursday night is not realizing that that play jeopardized the integrity of the game from a perception standpoint. Tomlin said he had his back to the play because he was watching on the scoreboard. In the nba the miami heats tengame winning streak comes to an end. Detroit gets doubledigit scoring efforts from seven different players. Kyle singler leads the way with 18 points as the pistons down the heat, 10797. On the ice, a highlight reel goal by nick foligno of the columbus blue jackets. He drops the puck and his stick between his legs and beats tampa bay goalie ben bishop. What a move right there by foe lynn foligno. Bishop, he fell for the backhand and going back the other way between the legs, how good is that. That turns out to be the only goal of the game. Columbus wins, 10. And a big Peyton Manning fan says she got quite a surprise when she went to her mailbox. Anna bozart sent an invitation to her november wedding to the broncos quarterback, but didnt expect a reply. She said manning sent back the response card regrettably declining the invitation but offering his best wishes to the couple and adding his signature, which is pretty much an autograph. I know hes not leaving a gift, but thats a nice takeaway, right . When we return, paul walkers random act of kindness. The latest act of the actor helps them fulfill their wedding dream. Maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghij maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test abcd mnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdef at 430. Why the victim says the officer put his lin danger. A possible lead this mornin the search for members of a jose family who disappearedn their plane went down in id and a world record attempt s deadly when two experiend skydivers collide midair. Join us for kpix 5 news this morning. Beginning at 4 3 ,, heres a look at todays forecast in some cities around the country. Washington, d. C. , fog today, 57 the high. Atlanta will be sunny. St. Louis will be overcast. Snow in denver, and sunshine in seattle. A florida woman is recovering from facial injuries suffered during a bear attack on monday. The 54yearold woman was walking her dog in longwood near orlando when the bear attacked. She was able to get away and call 911. Florida Officials Say its rare for bears to attack humans and the bear has not been caught. President obamas uncle has won permission to stay in the u. S. An immigration judge ruled tuesday that Onyango Obama can become a permanent legal resident. The 69yearold was born in kenya but has lived in the u. S. Since 1963. He ignored a deportation order in 1962. Obama is half brother to the president s late father. A california couple said the late Actor Paul Walker anonymously bought them an Engagement Ring. Christa and kyle were shopping for an Engagement Ring in a Jewelry Store. Kyle was in between tours of duty in iraq. He struck up a conversation with unknowingly paul walker. A saleswoman from the store called them back. One of the ladies came out holding bag and just simply said, heres your ring. And i i think both of our mouths dropped. The ring was 9,000. The couple asked who purchased it, but the saleswoman wouldnt say. On monday their suspicion that walker bought the ring was confirmed when the owner of the Jewelry Store came forward. Walker died in a singlecar crash in Southern California last weekend. An ornate dress worn by Princess Diana sold for 167,000 at auction. The white organza and satin gown has sequins, rhinestones, and pearl beads. It comes with a matching headband and optional sleeves. The london auction house says the buyer was an unnamed musician abroad. The london action house saying the buyer wu an unnamed mufg abroad. The artistry diamonds collection. Genuine diamonds, in vivid blues, greens, blacks, yellows and purples. The beauty of genuine diamonds maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 678 , five, four, three, two, one. House Speaker John Boehner lit the official capitol Christmas Tree last night during a ceremony. The 88foottall spruce stands on the west lawn of the u. S. Capitol. This years theme, sharing washingtons good nature. Electric Car Technology is pushing the speed boundaries in racing. Electric cars are clocking some pretty impressive numbers. Jeff glor went for a ride. Reporter drag racing is a sport thats often fiery and loud. At least one. Welcome to the track in the age of electric cars. We make about 400 horsepower in each power. Reporter john metric is the president of the National Electric drag racing association. When you tell someone you drag race electric vehicles, whats their reaction . They go, wow, thats neat. Reporter but they dont take it seriously. No, until we tell them the time. Teammates in texas have outfitted a 2002 mazda miata with 120 small lithium batteries, all electric power, zero gasoline, and they invited us to go along for the ride. You call this launching. Yeah. Launching like a rocket. Reporter an electric motor has full launching power the second its turned on, crucial for acceleration. Metric has never attempted this kind of race with someone in the passenger seat, and we went 0 to 60 in 2 1 2 seconds. A normal gas powered miata does that in 7. 6 seconds. You were probably the first passenger to ever do 100 miles an hour in the eighth mile. Reporter the car does have to be recharged after two runs, but the promise of electric is why formula one is launching an electric series in racing next year, and its why every car company in the world is paying attention right now. Larry webster is editor in chief of road track magazine. Motorsports has always been a place where Motor Technology is pushed, new ideas are tried and tested and even perfected. Theyre learning the limitations of batteries, how quickly they can take energy out, how quickly they can take energy in. Theres direct transfer to what we do down the line and cars we drive. Reporter metric thinks this electric vehicle can reach 200 miles an hour inside ten seconds. He has fewer doubters every day. Jeff glor, cbs news, baytown, texas. Well, coming up after your local news on cbs this morning, an update on the storm system battering the west and midwest. Well tell you where its headed. Plus, the case of rare bottles of bourbon stolen, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And pastor rick warren joins us in the studio. Thats the cbs morning news for this wednesday. Thanks for watching. Im annemarie green. Have a great day. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 cbs caption test maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 rstuvwxyz 12345t abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 6 maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 klmnopqrstuvwxst abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 pqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 nopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 lmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw maint. Testing mdpc03 f1 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 67890 mnopqrstuvwxyz 12345 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 678 maint. Testing mdpc,, your realtime captioner is mrs. Linda m. Macdonald good morning. It is wednesday, december 4. Im anne makovec. Im juliette goodrich. Frank and michelle have the morning off. It is just about 4 30. And boy, the headline in the Weather Department is cold. Yeah, its getting chilly. I had to chip the ice off the window before going to work. I live near the coastline. Temperatures cold likely to drop over the next couple of hours. 30s and 40s now although i have seen some 20s in some of the valleys. Well talk about that coming up. No big accidents out there now but we have a lot of overnight roadwork. There were more than a dozen Construction Projects overnight. A lot of it is wrapped up but theres still some lanes blocked northbound 880 from 16th to broadway. So well break down whats today . Wednesday. Your wednesday morning commute, coming up. Hump day a bay area man claims an offduty cop took him down and broke his arm. Kpix 5 reporter joe vazquez with more on this unusual road rage story that will probably end up in court. Reporter the two men pulled over the side of the highway to Exchange Insurance information. Thats when, according to the federal lawsuit filed today, one of the men an offduty Concord Police officer named Kevin Mansourian charged