Along highways north of los angeles. Road crews spent the whole day hauling away the mud and the vehicles, just to try to get the roads open 15. Carter evans is in the thick of it. Carter. Reporter scott, these are just a few of the hundreds of vehicles that drivers had to abandon as a wall of mud came down the hill and overwhelmed this highway. It happened so fast, that many of these cars were buried up to their windows in a matter of minutes. The floods came with little warning. Oh, my god run for yr Life Reporter torrential rain, four inches an hour, triggered massive mudslides, trapping rush hour drivers on busy interstate 5. Nearly 200 cars and trucks were overwhelmed in less than 10 minutes. I have never seen anything like this. Reporter how long is that going to take to clear the mud and all those automobiles out there . Only escape for some was through the floodwater. Others climbed on top of their cars. All the cars are floating beside us. Reporter further east, trucker will nissen captured this video as 20 feet of mud and rocks lifted several sem is, across the highway. Search and rescue teams are now looking for cars that may have been buried completely. Deputy john dietrich. Were trying to probe down and see if we hit anything metallic. Were not sure, but we dont want to leave somebody potentially trapped down there. Reporter golf ballsized hail spell in some areas. Melissa nuesca, her son james and the rest of the family had to run for cover as mud filled their car. It was terrifying part was when the hill gave out, and the road was just gone. We thought we were going to get buried alive in the mud. We just thought it was done. The mud was coming down so fast, and the car filled up so fast. Reporter it could take days, workers tell me, to remove all the mud, debrie, and cars from the roadway here, but, scott, they are moving fast because more rain is in the pelley carter evans carter, thank you. And were likely to see a lot more of that because the Weather Service says we are experiencing one of the strongest el ninos on record. An el nino happens when the Pacific Ocean warms, changing weather all across the nation. It will bring more downpours to the west, which ben tracy says has many californians looking uphill. When it comes down, its not going to stop. Reporter ed heinlein is getting ready to battle this the 850foot mountain behind his home in azusa, california. He has built steelreinforcement walls to hold back mudslides, and installed cameras so he can see it coming. When it comes down, its like a frailty train, and it hits the house right there. If you do not stop the building mud flow, it will implode the house or knock it to the street out there. Reporter this is what his backyard looked like last year after a light rainstorm. Yesterdays debris flows were a preview of whats expected to be a wild winter, thanks to el nino. Record warm Pacific Ocean water is likely to fuel large storms. Mudslides could be massive because wildfires and drought have killed the venlitation that holds hillsides in place. John thornton of the u. S. Forest Service Showed us the charred soil wont absorb water. Rain will simply flow downhill. How long is that water just sat there . Well, now its probably about 15 minutes. Reporter giant debris basins have been cleaned out to collect mud, but nearly 1,000 homes in nearby glenn dorra are still threatened. City engineer jerry burke. What is the level of concern now . The slopes are very steep, soy we are really concerned if we got that torrential downpour that didnt stop, we could see large debrie floiz. Reporter thats why ed heinlein has spent nearly 100,000 to protect his house. Why not just call it a day and move . Of property . Whos going to move in here . Wedalize everything. Reporter but heenes high staying. California. Pelley but even in el nino may not end californias fouryear drought. The drought is severe in 92 of the state. But the nigh should make the northern half of the u. S. Warmer, and the southern half cooler and wetter. There was a downpour of chatter today after one of Vice President bidens closest advisers stirred up supporters with a note about the president ial race. Heres Julianna Goldman. You can direct those president. Reporter deflecting a question about joe bidens political future today, not even president obama could escape the i think the Vice President , like every other candidate, makes their own decisions about these issues. Reporter anxious supporters are wondering whether bidens window is closing. Last night, longtime biden confident, former senator ted kauffman, sent an email to a network of former staffers telling them to hold tight. He wroit, if he runs a bind campaign will be optimistic and wont be scripted. He believes we must win this election. Everything he and the president have worked for and care about is at stake. Have you made your decision yet . Reporter the Vice President has played it coy, but the email is meant to push back against suggestions that Hillary Clintons strong debate performance could discourage him from running. This is about bringing our country together again. Reporter a new poll in New Hampshire shows clinton with a postdebate bump. For the First Time Since july, she has a slight lead over senator bernie sanders. Biden lags far behind, and shouldnt run, but the Vice President has spent the last few days reaching out to Top Democrats in early voting states, aware of ballot deadlines coming up next month. People familiar with his deliberation says hes assessing whether theres a viable path to the nomination knowing it would be a tough fight. A decision could come in the next few days, but the Vice President has blown past selfimposed deadlines before. Scott, in that email, kauffman told biden loyalists, if he runs they will need each and every one of you yesterday. Pelley Julianna Goldman in the washington newsroom. Julianna, thank you. One factor that biden is weighing is whether frontrunner Hillary Clinton has been seriously damaged by the controversy over her use of a private email system while she was secretary of state. Today, her longtime aid thuma abedin, testified behind clockwised doors to the House Committee investigating the matter. Secretary clinton will testify in open session on thursday. Subjects of Major Garretts interview with republican contender senator marco rubio of florida. She was less than truthful about it repeatedly. And it goes to the issue of both competence and credibility. It is irresponsible for an elected official in her capacity to be discussing highly sensitive things on a format that she had to have known was not fully secured. Reporter and the risk of is that is . The risk of that is is were giving opponents of this government or adversaries some insight into our thinking, into our decision making, and it provides most certainly an advantage in the National Security realm. Reporter we also asked about the future of the Republican Party with the speakership of john boehner in shambles and suck scission uncertain. Are we witnessing a sort of important historical meltdown of the i dont think so. Republican party. At all. If they had gone into some secret room and anointed someone everybody would have said the game is rigged. There are no real choices. What you have is debate among the members of the house reflective of the broader debate in the Republican Party. Reporter when is what . Has the time not come to turn the page and elevate new leaders with new ideas relevant with the times in which we live. I will say we can have a debate in our party about the appropriate tactics. I personally do not believe it is a wise tactic to declare win. I think thats what this election in many ways will decide, what kind of party the Republican Party is going to be in the 21st century and ultimately help decide what kind of country were going to be over the next 50100 years. Congressional Republican Leaders have folded on aborkz obamacare, the Iran Nuclear Deal and the debt limit. Rubio, once a tea party darling, tries to regain some of the that outsider credibility. Pelley Major Garrett with the interview tonight. Major, thank you. Speaking of donald trump, he has repeatedly attacked his rival jeb bush, and now trump is going after bushs brother, the former president. When you talk about george bush, i mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time. If you look at reporter hold on. You cant blame george bush for that. He was president , okay. Dont blame him or dont blame him, but he was president. The World Trade Center came down during his reign. Pelley well, jeb bush responded with this tweet. Today, we got a stunning report on the toll taken by more than four years of civil war in syria. A Syrian Human Rights Organization says it has documented the deaths of more than 250,000 people. And that works out to six deaths every hour for four yiers and counting. Tonight, we have a story that we bet youre going to remember for a long time. Its from our dr. Jon lapook. It involves a child with a rare, heartbreaking illness, and her mother, who will not stand idle as her daughter is threatened with death. One womans passion is leading to a treatment that could save many. Reporter 11yearold hannah sames has a cando attitude and remarkable determination. Push down with those heels. Reporter at four years old, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic defect called gan. The disease causes nerves to die and muscles to stop working. Hannah can no longer walk on her own. Children with gan dont survive past their teens or 20s. Laurie is hannahs mother. This is a fatal disorder, so we picked ourselves literally off the ground and decided to fight. We knew we needed to raise a lot of money fast. Reporter was there anything out there . There was nothing. Reporter out of nothing, saims has conjured up hope, hannahs hope, a gratroots charity dedicated to finding a cure for gan. What has it taken from her already . She really cant dress independently. Her fine motor skills are now impaired. She has trouble balancing food on her fork. Its really taken her independence. Reporter how do you deal with it . Reporter 10yearold chrissy and her Younger Center were both born with gan. Fiveyearold amanda has hardly any symptoms while chrissy has trouble walking and problems breathing. Their father. It is an immense sense of powerlessness and there was nothing i could do for my little girls toy save their lives. Pelley hannahs hope has raised mlsz for Gene Therapy Research at the university of north carolina. Seven years after saims began her crusade for a cure a human trial is under way at the National Institutes of health. Chrissy grube is patient number one. She was excited but very nervous. She understood that it might not work. Do you feel that there . She understood it might mike her worse, but she also understood it was a chance to walk again. Great theyre really pioneers, and theyre courageous pioneers for that matter. Reporter dr. Carsten bonnemann is direct the trial. The principle of gene therapy is to replace the gene with an artificial copy of the gene. Reporter doctors injebed chrissy with a gene packaged inside a harmless virus to penetrate cells and restore nerve function. Im very excited. What were doing here is opening the door for delivery of other gene therapies that would also have to go to nerve cells or the spinal cord. Reporter hannah could be patient number four. Hannah has been asking why this has been taking so long, and weve told her that we need to really make certain that its safe. Youre my best friend. Youre my best friend, too. I love you. I love you. Pelley the researchers will be watching over want next year or two to see if the therapy restores nerve and muscle function, but just stopping or even slowing the progression of the disease would be considered a success. Pelley parent activism has led to a number of breakthroughs. Cystic fibrosis is another one. Great story, jon. Thanks so much for that. Still ahead tonight, neither gender nor age prevented her from conquering one of the armys toughest challenges. And love and marriage in an elevator when the cbs evening news continues. Urance company, go long. How you plan is up to you. Take healthcare. Make sure youre covered for more than what just medicare pays. Consider an aarp Medicare SupplementInsurance Plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. The only Medicare Supplement plans that carry the aarp name, and the ones that millions of people trust year after year. Always have a plan. Plan well. Enjoy life. Go long. Alright team, weve got an f150, needs a systems check and tires. Doc, i need you on point for this one. Already got the latest updates direct from ford engineering. cause ford dealers get that intel first. Lookin a little bald, sir. With all due respect. Got the perfect fit ready to roll. Wheels up, flaps down, lets fly. Ford parts. Ford tools. Ford techs. When your ford needs service, theres one elite team. These are the specialists. At ford. Hi, tom. Hows the College Visit . Does it make the short list . Yeah, im afraid so. Its okay. This is what weve been planning for. Is the big company that doesnt act that way. The holidays bring many challenges to the feet. By day, they must stay warm. But by night, beautiful, smoother and ready to impress the other party animals. Dr. Scholls dreamwalk express pedi many people clean their dentures with toothpaste or plain water. And even though their dentures look clean, in reality theyre not. If a denture were to be put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture, and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. Thats why dentists recommend cleaning with polident everyday. Polidents unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99. 99 of odor causing bacteria. For a cleaner, fresher, brighter denture every day. Pelley today, lisa jaster became the third woman to graduate from the u. S. Armys Ranger School. She completed a grueling course that humbles most men. It was a challenge to spot 37yearold major jaster among the 88 Ranger School graduate, but there was no camouflaging her smile, receiving her ranger tab was mission accomplished. Theres no quitting. I cant have quit in me. There was never an option to stop. There was never an option to quit. Now when chris and shaye moved on and i didnt, that was, by far, one of the hardest days of Ranger School for me. Pelley Kristen Griest and shaye haver were the first women to finish Ranger School in august, and they returned today to show their support. I got you pelley 19 women began ranger training in april as part of a pentagon mandate to open combat units to women. Once you get in the field and once you start training shoulder to shoulder, gender stops mattering very quickly. Pelley for inspiration, she carried a photo of her victoria, and sevenyearold son, zachary. All i had to do was look at that picture and remember that i didnt come to Ranger School just because i wanted to get a piece of cloth on my shoulder. I wanted to do something. I wanted to better myself as a leader. And i wanted to help the army in this endeavor on whether or not we should integrate Ranger School and should i be here . Pelley but jaster wont be joining the rangers. There is no role yet for women. A guilty conscience guides somebody to make a long trip to the library. C it challenge zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. Nexium can take 24 hours. When heartburn strikes, take zantac for faster relief than nexium or your money back. Take the zantac it challenge. Were cracking down on medicare fraud. The Health Care Law gives us powerful tools to fight it. To investigate it. Prosecute it. And stop criminals. Our senior medicare patrol volunteers are teaching seniors across the country you can help. Guard your medicare card. Dont give out your card number over the phone. Call to report any suspected fraud. Were cracking down on medicare fraud. Lets make medicare stronger for all of us. Look, the wolf was huffing and puffing. Like you do sometimes, grandpa . Well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. It can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. So i talked to my doctor. She said. Symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. Symbicort doesnt replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. Symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. Symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It should not be taken more than twice a day. Symbicort contains formoterol. Medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. Symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. You should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. Watch out, piggies children giggle symbicort. Breathe better starting within 5 minutes. Call or go online to learn more about a free trial offer. If you cant afford pelley in houston today, scaffolding collapsed at an Apartment Building under construction. This was across the street from Minute Maid Park where the astros play. Six workers were hurt, none seriously. A bride and groom from d. C. Were late for their own wedding when they got stuck in an elevator along with relatives. The rabbi and photographers. Harry stein and liz copeland kept posing in the firefighters rescued them about a half hour later. After that, this marriage has noirp to go but up. Something old, something knew that Something Borrowed was overdue. Two old books borrowed from a College Library in oregon half a century ago have been returned, along with an unsigned note, borrowed these about 1963 for my High School Speech class. Its time for them to go back home. The library didnt even know they were missing. Steve hartman and the ice man cometh when we cometh back. Aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid. Plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. Be a morning person again with aleve pm. When something works, people stick with it. More people stick with humana medicare advantage. Because we stick with them. Humana medicare advantage. The plan people stick with. 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Check your blood sugar levels daily while using toujeo. Injection site reactions may occur. Dont change your dose or type of insulin without talking to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you take other medicines and about all your medical conditions. Insulins, including toujeo , in combination with tzds thiazolidinediones may cause serious side effects like Heart Failure that can lead to death, even if youve never had Heart Failure before. Dont dilute or mix toujeo with other insulins or solutions as it may not work as intended and you may lose blood sugar control, which could be serious. Ask your doctor about toujeo. Selling 18 homes . Easy. Building them all in four and a half months . Now that was a leap. I was calling in every favor i could, to track down enough lumber to get the job done. And i knew i could rely on American Express to help me buy those building materials. There are always going to be unknowns. You just have to be ready for them. Another step on the journey. Will you be ready when growth presents itself . Realize your buying power at open. Com pelley finally tonight, it appears ice may slow the aging process. Steve hartman found evidence at the rink on the road. Reporter in northern minnesota, its not unnone to find a guy in niz 90s looking back on his glory days as a hocker player, but it is uncomop to find a guy still living them. You have to challenge yourself a little bit, and i think thats thats what keeps youing about. Reporter like his handlebar mustache, mark sertichs hockey days appear to be never ending. He started playing as a little kid and is still putting on pads and gloves at the unbelievable age of 94. Just putting all the equipment on is a miracle in itself for a lot of us and he does it three or four days a week. Reporter he is like noct i have ever seen. Just stepping over the boards is like nothing i have ever seen. Mark plays in pickup games and every time he comes to the rink, he is an oldest by a generation. In fact, some of these guys greatgrandchildren, and yet he keeps right up with them, almost as if hes oblivious to his age. You ever heard of shuffle board . Ive heard of it but i never played it. Reporter it would be safer, thats for sure. A few months ago he took a hard hit. Bad collision, and i my lung. Reporter can you imagine, at 94. Doctors told him he would have to sit out at least six weeks. He was back in three. I just love the game, i guess. Reporter and hes good at it, too. Watch this. Scoring. Today . Well, i should have had more but i only had six today. Yeah. Reporter thats more than anybody else. Reporter for the record, it was. Couldnt miss that one. Reporter and to add intult sult to injury, not only does mark beat the pants off these whipper snappers, he takes their money, too. Way back when he was 80 the other guys in the group offered to pay his skating fees for life, thinking how much longer could it be . Its killing us. Its killing our budget. Ago. Is that true . Thats true. I figured thats a pretty good deal. Reporter is it because you cheap . You would ask that, wouldnt you. No i so enjoy what im doing. And he has no plans to stop. In fact, he suggested we come 100. Dont you . Reporter its on my calendar, steve hartman, on the road, in duluth, minnesota. Pelley the best feature writer on television. Tonight. For all of us at cbs news all around the world, im scott pelley, and ill see you sunday on 60 minutes. Good night