>> o'donnell: severe weather: a powerful snowstorm, tornado threats. we'll have your forecast. america's homicide surge: murder rates soar nationwide. how it's impacting college campuses. final salute. the nation's capitol honors bob dole, including a tom hanks tribute at the world war iiri memorial dole helped build. and, our 15-year holiday tradition: "on the road" with secret santa. who reminds us what's important this holiday season. >> this is for you. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell. reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening to our viewers in the west and thank you for joining us on this friday night. we're going to begin tonight with the staggering inflation that is hitting americans right in the wallet. prices were up 6.8% in november compared to a year ago. that is the biggest increase in nearly 40 years. the cost of pretty much everything is surging-- food, gas, electricity, housing, cars, and clothes. and those who received raises this year are seeing them wiped out by skyrocketing costs. listen to this-- by one estimate, expenses for a typical american family have shot up by about $4,000 in the past year. now, there are a few reasons why we're seeing this spike-- the rebound from the pandemic recession; a flood of government stimulus; ultra-low interest rates; and those supply chain shortages. president biden today says this is why congress needs to pass his sweeping social spending package. cbs' carter evans is going to lead us off tonight in los angeles. good evening, carter. >> reporter: good evening, norah. here's the bottom line for most working americans: with inflation this high, if you inflation this high, if you're not getting a raise of almost 7% this year, you're losing money, because it just doesn't go as far. the latest item on the menu-- higher prices. >> we'd rather not pass it along, but if we have to, we have to. if our hands are that tied. >> reporter: at tallyrand restaurant in burbank, california, owner karen ross says the cost of just about everything is climbing. >> we've seen our beef prices go up 50%. >> reporter: 50%, 5-0. >> 5-0. shocking. >> reporter: it's a result of surging demand from americans with money to spend, combined with lingering supply chain issues, ships stuck at ports, and a shortage of truck drivers to deliver the goods. that's led to the worst inflation in nearly four decades. it had pretty much been kept in check since the last major surge in 1980, but now the wallop to the wallet is pronounced in basic needs-- energy prices up in the last year. and among soaring food prices, beef rose up more than 26%. and chicken and seafood up nearly 11%. today, the president pleaded for patience. >> it's a real bump in the road, and i think you'll see it change sooner-- quicker and more rapidly than most people think. >> reporter: perhaps not fast enough for those traveling over the holidays, seeing major sticker shock. fuel prices up 58%, hotel rates up more than 25%, car rental rates rising 37%. >> realistically, i think this goes on for another year. by november of next year, i really do expect that most of this would have worn itself out. >> reporter: back at the tallyrand restaurant, the financial news is hard to digest. >> you're kind of like a deer in the headlights, "where is this going to turn? when is it going to get better and settle down and get stable again?" and we're trying to hold on and we just don't see the end yet. >> reporter: and there's another sneaky type of inflation we're seeing a lot more of these days. it's called "drip pricing," and that's where companies add fees and surcharges to the bill so they can still advertise a lower price and maybe not scare away customers with sticker shock. norah. >> o'donnell: that's the first time i heard of that. carter evans, thank you. now to the supreme court ruling today on the abortion law in texas. texas, the most restrictive in the country, justices are allowing it to remain in effect while allowing abortion providers to challenge that law in court. we get all the details from cbs' jan crawford at the supreme court. >> reporter: keeping the texas ban in place, a divided supreme court rejected efforts by the biden administration to block the law, and in a separate decision, gave abortion providers only a glimmer of hope they could prevail in the lower federal courts. that decision by five of the court's conservative justices drew a sharp dissent from liberal justices who said it leaves all manner of constitutional rights more vulnerable than ever before. chief justice john roberts wrote a separate dissent, saying the law has had the effect of denying what we have held as a right protected under the federal constitution. the law has been in place since september 1, and bans abortion after about six weeks. >> we needed an injunction that would block this law from being in effect while we go through the legal back-and-forth, and we did not get that. it's terrifying for what that means for those of us on the ground in texas. >> reporter: the issue in the texas case was procedural, focusing on the unique way the law is enforced. private citizens can file civilt lawsuits against anyone who violates the ban, with penalties starting at $0,000. the court was not weighing the underlying right to abortion. it is considering that and overturning "roe v. wade" and giving states greater leeway to restrict abortion in a restrict abortion in a mississippi case c mississippi case challenging that state's 15-week ban. abortion opponents said today's decision suggests the supreme court was stepping back from the abortion debate. >> the debate over abortion should be in legislatures. that role should not be usurped by the courts. the courts relinquishing its grip and allowing legislatures to have this debate is exactly where we need to be. >> reporter: but for now, that means for abortion providers their best hope at stopping the texas law may well be in the state courts. just last night, a texas judge ruled the law was unconstitutional and other state judges may soon follow. norah. >> o'donnell: jan crawford, thank you. now to the covid pandemic. it was exactly a year ago tomorrow that the f.d.a. gave emergency authorization to the first covid vaccine, the pfizer shot. one year later, cases are again skyrocketing in the u.s. as scientists learn more about omicron. here's cbs' nikki battiste. >> reporter: the c.d.c. now says omicron arrived in the u.s. as early as november 15, more than two weeks before what was believed to be the first confirmed case in california. >> c.d.c. has been actively addressing and evaluating the omicron variant and working with state and local jurisdictions to understand its spread. >> reporter: across the country, it's the delta variant that is dominating. new cases have increased more than 37% just since last week, up in 44 states. while delta surges, health officials are identifying more cases of omicron. now at least 75 cases across 25 states. in 43 cases analyzed by the c.d.c., nearly 80% were fully vaccinated. in the northeast, new daily cases are up in 12 states, and hospitalizations are on the rise, too. new york's governor issued a statewide mask mandate for all indoor spaces today unless the business has a vaccination requirement. >> we're entering a time of uncertainty, and we can either plateau here or cases could escalate beyond control. >> reporter: in connecticut, hospitalizations have soared nearly 82% over the past two weeks. inside norwalk hospital, dr. benjamin greenblatt says covid patients have doubled since thanksgiving. what keeps you up at night? >> a new variant that's much vah more vir more virulent, and combined with, perhaps, you know, staffing shortages that we're seeing throughout healthcare, that keeps me up at night. >> reporter: dr. greenblatt told me today none of the vaccinated covid patients he's seen here had had a booster. he also says the patients he's seeing now are younger than they were a year ago. norah. >> o'donnell: nikki battiste,i , thank you. thank you. turning now to the weather, there's snow in the midwest, a tornado threat in the south, and it's supposed to feel like spring in the east tomorrow. cbs' lonnie quinn joins us. hey, lonnie. good to see you.oy see what's going on? >> norah, when you have all these different air masses out there, when they clash you get the possibility for dangerous weather, and that's what we're dealing with. let's go to the maps as of right now. i mean, take a look at the record heat that was established today in memphis, tennessee, oklahoma city. you were almost 80 degrees outside. but on the other side of that front, minneapolis maxed out at 30 degrees, picking up all kinds of snow, probably a half a foot of snow will fall for minneapolis. and that storm right there in minneapolis is the key to everything. so let's track where that's going to go. by, say, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, it's into memphis tennessee. remember all the warmth memphis generated today? that gives the impetus for severe weather, even the possibility of a tornado. by 6:00 a.m. it's the samether,e situation. by sunset it's into the northeast. even the northeast will be setting record temperatures before that line comes through and there could even possibly be a tornado this time of the year in portions of the northeast. that's the latest. it will seem great with those temperatures at first, but then the hard weather hits. >> o'donnell: hard to believe 70 in december. all right, lonnie quinn, thank you. as violent crime surges in cities big and small across the country, it is encroaching on what many have considered safe havens-- college campuses. as cbs' elise preston reports, schools are scrambling to keepto students safe. >> reporter: murder rates continue to soar nationwide. portland, oregon, is grappling with a record number. austin, louisville, and rochester have all seen homicides more than double in just a couple of years. with violent crime rising in los angeles, the head of the police union warns: if you can, stay away. >> we can't guarantee your safety. it is really, really out of control. >> reporter: the chicago area has seen more than 1,000 homicides this year. three victims were university of chicago students. urban campuses are having to step up safety protocols, and the university is now using technology to get ahead of the violence. >> police is not the only solution. we are very focused moving forward and making sure that we have proactive strategies, real- time data sharing, real-time intelligence sharing. >> reporter: philadelphia broke its murder record set in 1990 with 524 this year, several occurring near temple university. student sam collington killed recently by an apparent carjacker. >> that could have been me. that could have been someone i loved. >> reporter: when did you bury ahmir? >> saturday the fourth. >> reporter: instead of walking with her 18-year-old son ahmir, melody jones now wears him on her chest. he was shot in a robbery near temple. what would you say people who do have guns and are thinking about committing a crime? >> just think before you end innocent lives. my son never did nothing to nobody. >> reporter: in light of these recent homicides, temple university says it plans on increasing its police force by 50%. norah. >> o'donnell: elise preston, thank you. the prosecution rested its case today in the sex trafficking trial of ghislaine maxwell. a fourth accuser testified that the british socialite and her ex-boyfriend, convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein, forced themselves on her when she was just 16. here's cbs' mola lenghi. >> reporter: like three women before her, annie farmer accused ghislaine maxwell of being central to jeffrey epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring. but unlike the other three accusers who testified, the 42-year-old farmer chose not to conceal her identity. farmer, at 16 years old, says she was isolated on epstein's new mexico ranch one weekend when maxwell insisted on giving her a massage, at which point she says she rubbed her breasts. in a 2020 interview she said... >> she touches me about my chest but blurring the boundaries of normal or not normal. >> reporter: that same weekend, she says maxwell instructed her on how to properly massager epstein's feet. farmer said today, "i felt very uncomfortable. i did not want to be touching his feet. i wanted it to be over." prosecutors have used testimony and photos to depict maxwell and epstein as a team, coercing and trafficking girls to sexually abuse them. maxwell has denied all charges. jurors will also see excerpts from one of jeffrey epstein's black books, a collection of conacts that may reveal more victims and more high-profile participants in his sexual misconduct. well, the trial will take a brief break for a few days next week, but will pick back up on thursday, at which point, maxwell's defense will begin making their case, norah. >> o'donnell: mola lenghi, thank you. it was a day of tributes here in washington for former senator, presidential candidate, and war hero, bob dole. at his funeral at washington national cathedral, president biden called dole a giant of our time and of all time. it was then on to the world war ii memorial, which might not have existed without dole's determination, as actor tom hanks noted. >> but it was bob dole who willed this memorial into place. he pushed the idea. he corralled the votes. he made the phone calls. he enlisted allies, all of us in the cause, and he railed the the cause, and he raised the money. he did all but mix the concrete himself. >> reporter: dole received two purple hearts and the bronze star for his world war ii service. he died sunday at the age of 98 and will be laid to rest at arlington national cemetery. and still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," the investigation into a terrible crash that killed dozens 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injured when the truck crashed into a bridge and flipped over, leaving people trapped under the bodies of other victims. most were from guatemala and honduras and were trying to reach the united states. all right, police say an unrulyu passenger forced a delta flight from washington to los angelesas to stop in o to stop in oklahoma city last night. 35-year-old ariel pennington allegedly assaulted a flight attendant, and then an airair marshal who tried to in marshal who tried to intervene. pennington was detained on board and later arrested. he is charged with disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. the f.a.a. says it has received more than 5,000 reports of disruptive passengers this year alone. alone. i've been traveling. it is crazy in the airports. all right, up next, cbs' steve hartman "on the road" with the mysterious and generous secret santa upholding a 15-year holiday tradition. ing a 15-year holiday tradition. for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting 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when you're having fun. and hard to believe that for 15 years running, cbs' steve hartman has been covering a mysterious secret santa'sta's missio mission of kindness. well, tonight, the tradition continues "on the road." >> reporter: about as far from the north pole as you can get, at the edge of the sonoran desert, secret santa is about to do some of his best work ever. >> this is something i've had in my heart for years. >> reporter: here, on the san carlos apache tribal lands. >> hi! >> i've always felt inside my soul a spiritual connection with the native american. >> reporter: and so, after a blessing from the medicine man and a briefing for his elf recruits... >> today you're on the front lines of kindness. >> reporter: ...this anonymous wealthy businessman set out to give away $30,000 in $100 bills to random strangers. >> merry christmas to you. >> reporter: and, boy, was it welcome. >> that's 400 secret santa dollars. >> reporter: nearly half the people who live on this arizona tribal land live below the poverty line. >> it's going to put more food on the table, more for my family to eat. >> we had no food, really. >> reporter: elijah cooke says he knows hunger, but still plans to give away his money.it goes t >> i think it goes to my father. he needs it more. >> this is for you. >> reporter: after getting her gift, velma wilson said she could finally get her grandchildren what they've been begging for: cat litter. and yet, even here... >> i want to give you this. >> reporter: ...where the need is so great, secret santa says it's not about the money. it's never about the money. >>oh, my goodness! >> whether you are native american, african american, christian american, left american, right american, kindness is the common language between us all. >> reporter: and maybe that's why most people didn't cry when they got their bills, but when he made them feel like a million bucks... >> do you know how special you are? >> reporter: ...that's when the joy came.the joy came. >> you are a beaut >> you are a beautiful spirit. >> reporter: that's when the tears rolled.ou're an example ty >> you're an example to every mom. >> thank you. >> you're amazing. >> reporter: nelvena cobb got $400, but valued those comments much more. >> just to hear that, it feels good. it helped me a lot. >> reporter: this holiday season, few of us will have the resources to give like this, but santa says we can all make an equal impact using our wealth of words. >> you're an incredible, incredible grandma. >> thank you. >> reporter: steve hartman, "on the road," on the san carlos apache tribal lands. >> o'donnell: an important reminder about what you can do by giving this season. we'll be right back. alright, here we go, miller in motion. wha — wait, wait, is that a... baby on the field?? it looks like it, craig. and the defensive linemen are playing peek-a-boo. i've never seen anything like that before. harris now appears to be burping the baby. that's a great 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