director mark sullivan. the source says director sullivan was outraged and pulled the team out of colombia in "two seconds." sullivan then told his senior staff "we're going to get to the bottom of this and hold everyone accountable." by saturday morning the 11 were in washington where they were interviewed by the secret service office of professional responsibility. now, none of those called home from colombia was involved in protecting the president and officials insist the actions of the 11 did not compromise security. they point out, in fact, there were hundreds of security personnel who were there who did the right thing. but secret service veterans concede the scandal undermines public confidence and raises questions about the culture, scott, inside the agency. >> pelley: bob, thank you. the motto of the secret service is "worthy of trust and confidence." mark sullivan, the director and a 29-year veteran, sent an e-mail today to his 6,800 employees. he calls the incident "embarrassing" and says that the service has a history of operating with the very highest levels of professional and ethical behavior. the overwhelming majority of the men and women in the secret service live up to these standards every moment of everyday, i am honored to serve with you. norah o'donnell is at the white house tonight breaking new details on this story. norah? >> reporter: scott, today widespread embarrassment about this scandal has turned to disgust with a number of top administration officials concerned that this may tarn tisch reputation of the secret service. cbs news has learned two of the men involved were secret service supervisors and that at least three were members of the elite counterassault team, a unit which includes snipers and swat teams meant to support the president's personal protective detail. last night in colombia, the president was asked if he was angry over the alleged misconduct. >> i expect that investigation to be thorough and i expect it to be rigorous. if it turns out that some of the allegations that have been made in the press are confirmed then of course i'll be angry. >> reporter: mr. obama was also asked whether this alleged incident involving prostitutes is indicative of a broader cultural program at the secret service. the agency itself has called the conduct an anomaly. >> i'll wait until the full investigation is completed before i pass final judgment. >> reporter: officials at the department were under fire today over the involvement of military personnel. the military supports the secret service on presidential trips with communications and bomb-explosive experts. a u.s. official confirms at least one member of each branch of the military was involved. >> we are embarrassed. >> reporter: the chairman of the joint chiefs, martin dempsey. >> so we let the boss down because nobody's talking about what went on in colombia other than this incident. so to that extent we let him down. >> reporter: chairman dempsey and secretary of defense leon panetta promised to hold people accountable if they violated the military code of conduct. >> whether our forces are in colombia or any other country or here in this country we expect them to abide by the highest standard of behavior. that's a requirement. >> reporter: tonight, a u.s. official tells cbs news that those members of the military that are accused of misconduct are actually heading home to the u.s. today and, scott, they say none of those under investigation will be allowed to do any future presidential travel. >> pelley: norah, thank you very much. in syria today, we saw that the cease-fire isn't holding. cell phone video posted online appears to show the city of homs under fire again from government artillery and tanks. bashar al-assad has been trying for more than a year to crush a popular uprising against his dictatorship. the u.n. has sent a small number of observers to syria to hold assad to his promise to stop the violence. elizabeth palmer is one of the few foreign journalists reporting from inside syria and today she traveled to a town near the lebanese border 20 miles from damascus. >> reporter: the town looked so severe it's hard to believe the shelling only stopped five days ago. but people are edgy, especially opposition activists who are now on the government's wanted list. they f they arrested you, what would happen? >> i think they would kill me. >> reporter: the man who, for his own safety, didn't want to be identified, took us through back streets to a house with a view. in happier times, this town was a popular summer resort. now activists say the winding roads and green valleys hide the government's heavy weapons. and you say that over there in those mountains there are more tanks and... >> yes. there's a lot of tanks. >> reporter: so do people feel intimidated in the town? >> yeah, yeah. before the cease-fire, they were shelling us everyday. >> reporter: shells reigned down on the zabadani because for a month earlier this year opposition fighters from the syrian free army declared victory here. they actually managed to push the syrian military out of town. then zabadani paid the price. the opposition says 46 dead and houses and farms left in ruins. the syrian free army had to retreat but they haven't surrendered. they're just biding their time. in an orchard on the outskirts of town we talked about what comes next with some local fighters and some who had desertd from the syrian army. what do you think the is u.n. observers' mission. "it's doomed to fail" mohammed tells me. "30 observers? that's not nearly enough." so how many does he think they need? >> 10,000 observers. >> pelley: of course, there aren't 10,000 observers in syria tonight, there are a total of six and liz palmer is joining us from damascus, how many observers will there be ultimately and what are the obstacles they face? >> there will be 30 by midweek and maybe as many as 300 some time down the road. at the moment, though, this advance team is stuck in technical discussions with the syrian government which means they're not getting out into the countryside where the fighting is growing. so the worry is by the time they do go out there there won't be any peace left to observe. >> pelley: liz palmer, thank you very much. in afghanistan, insurgent attacks were put down largely by afghan army troops trained by the u.s. the taliban fired on government buildings and embassies in kabul and three other cities. when it was over today, 36 insurgents were dead, eight police officers and three civilians were also killed today the death toll from this weekend's tornados rose to six with 29 injured but it might have been a lot worse. 135 tornados were reported with oklahoma and kansas hit the hardest. now look at this, the areas in red are where the warnings were put up way ahead of the storm and that, dean reynolds shows us helped save a lot of lives. >> i wasn't in here very long before the tornado hit. >> reporter: when she heard her radio announce the storm system was approaching woodward, oklahoma, 88-year-old wilma nelson didn't hesitate. >> i thought i better get out of here because i had something prepared in this closet. >> reporter: her granddaughter in law said a day's worth of warnings from the national weather service saved lives. >> we took it very seriously because of the buildup that they had been talking about all week of the chances of storms that we had here. >> reporter: over much of kansas where most of the twisters touched down the weather service also tried out new attention-grabbing alerts, replacing the old admonish in addition to take cover with "you could be killed, mass devastation is highly likely making the area unrecognizable to survivors." >> people took that information, they realized that it was somewhat unprecedented and took action based on that. >> reporter: phil bunting of the national weather service storm prediction center in norman, oklahoma, said lessons learned last year played a role in their decision not to mince words. is the service working off notes they wrote after joplin? >> i think joplin and others that occurred in 2011 made it clear that when an event is almost unprecedented in a local area we have to tell folks in as clear a language as possible that it's a high end life threatening situation. >> reporter: as we spoke, the radar flamed red as a twister hit corpus christi, texas. is that the tail end of the same storm system? >> that's the trailing edge of the frontal system that moved across the plains over the weekend. we have to watch these systems until they move off the east coast. >> reporter: of course, luck also played a role over the weekend, scott, because when these tornados touched down they did so only briefly and often in sparsely populated areas. >> pelley: and just the start of the season. dean, thanks very much. the government official who planned an $800,000 conference gets grilled on capitol hill. a scam that could rob you of your tax refund. and defiance from the man behind the norway massacre when the "cbs evening news" continues. why you fell in love with her in the first place. and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. but does bringing a floor back to life really make us heroes? 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[ crowd cheering ] with these new depend real fit briefs,untry and today we are surprising pro football all stars. there's wes, clay and demarcus.what's up guys. now i know you don't need one, but would you try these on for charity and prove just how great the fit is? seriously? no way for charity? let's do it! yup... they're doin it. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. let's go drive, use the legs... nice teamwork! they tried on the new depend real fit. get a free sample so you can too. until i had the shingles. i have never encountered such a burning sensation... it was like a red rash. like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. i had no idea it came from chickenpox. it's something you never want to encounter. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com >> pelley: the geese say-- general services administration-- is known as the government's landlord. it operates all federal buildings. today the current and former officials of the g.s.a. were on capitol hill to explain lavish spending, including more than $800,000 on a training conference. nancy cordes was there. >> reporter: the man who planned the extravagant conference chose not to answer questions today: san francisco-based regional commissioner jeff neely is on paid administrative leave from the g.s.a.. >> did you approve the funding? >> i respectfully decline to answer based on my 5th amendment constitutional privilege. >> reporter: neely was far more forthcoming at the las vegas conversation in 2010? >> i think i pretty much promised to deliver an over, unforgettable team-building experience. how'd we do on that one? (cheers and applause) >> reporter: the over-the-top experience involved a clown, a mind reader, and lavish afterhours parties. >> spent $75,000 on a bike-building exercise. >> reporter: the jooes say's inspector general detailed today how neely and his subordinates made between six and ten scouting trips to las vegas before the conference at a cost of more than $130,000. >> how is it this type of money could be laying around that it could be used in this slush fund manner. >> reporter: g.s.a. administrator martha johnson resigned two weeks ago. today she defended the bonus she gave to neely after the excesses came to light. she says she was waiting until all the facts were in. >> you kept him in his position and you gave him a $9,000 bonus. it just seems almost unthinkable. >> i do not want to move until i had a formal official complete non-... conclusive report. >> reporter: the president has appointed the new g.s.a. administrator who testified today he has already canceled 35 upcoming conferences. >> pelley: nancy, thank you. in oslo, norway, the man behind the massacre last summer went on trial today. anders breivik gave closed-fist salute when he entered court. he later cried when prosecutors played a propaganda video that he made. breivik admits he killed 77 people with guns and a bomb but he insists it was necessary to protect norway from being overtaken by muslims. could an identity thief steal your tax refund? how it happened to this family can the way you want? can orencia help? could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your doctor. orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. serious side effects can occur including fatal infections. cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported. tell your doctor if you are prone to or have any infection like an open sore or the flu or a history of copd, a chronic lung disease. orencia may worsen your copd. [ male announcer ] now learn about a program committed to you and copay assistance that can reduce monthly orencia out-of-pocket drug cost to $5. if you're not satisfied after 6 months, you get that money back. call the toll-free number on the screen. cubanthe toll-free number cajun raw seafood pizza parlor french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cash back. right now, get 5% cash back at restaurants. how about the beat of a healthy heart? campbell's healthy request soup is delicious, and earned this heart, for being heart healthy. ♪ feel the beat? tomorrow night is at midnight: it's the deadline for filing your federal tax returns. the i.r.s. told us today that as many as 25% of americans wait until the last week, if not the last minute. but con artists aren't waiting. they may have filed for you already and collected your refund. john miller talked to a family that was victimized. >> reporter: the news was too terrible to bear for donna ray and her husband jim. their son, 23-year-old sergeant adam ray, had been killed by an i.e.d. in afghanistan. >> my big strong husband crumbled to the ground and told me that adam died and that was the hardest thing... hardest words i'd ever heard. >> reporter: but there was another shock to come. before the rays could file his taxes, someone else had already done it, collecting $1,400 on a refund that should have gone to adam's parents. >> how can someone do this to us? i mean, my son gave his life for you, now you're going to steal what little few dollars he has left? >> reporter: this military family was a victim of a growing crime wave: tax return fraud. thieves steal social security numbers and other personal data from the dead and the live and then file a return in their name. according to the i.r.s., identity thieves tried to claim $6.5 billion last year alone. wilfredo ferrer is a federal prosecutor in florida. >> we see a lot of former gang members who are now involved in tax refund identity theft schemes because it's easier. it's easy to do, it's less violent and it's very lucrative. >> reporter: easy to do, especially with electronic filing, and the i.r.s. does not automatically cross check all returns against employers' payroll records before a refund is issued. you >> you're looking at over three million worth of fraud in this just one bucket. >> reporter: the postal inspector has seen cases where multiple returns were filed using one stolen i.d.. >> right now they are so far behind in matching up the information it's months before they even realize the money's been stolen. >> reporter: who are the victims in this case? >> well, the victims... it's multiple victims here. the first victim is whose social security, whose information is compromised. also the victim here is the american taxpayers because they're paying hundreds of millions of dollars in this scheme. it's not going into the treasury or leaving the treasury. >> reporter: so a fraud against one tax payer in this instance is a fraud against all taxpayers. it's coming out of the treasury. >> that's correct. >> reporter: in most cases, the criminals get the same penalties as anyone else filing a fake tax return, about three to five years in prison. for donna ray, that's not enough. >> i want the people who did this to adam and to all those other families and future families that could be protected i want justice to be done. >> reporter: john miller's joining us now. john, you mentioned in the story that the thieves start down this road by stealing people's social security numbers. how do they do that? >> well, with the living they get an insider in a hospital, a clinic, a company, a school and they buy bulk data. a few hundred names. and that gets them started. they troll the internet, obituaries, ancestry sites, match the date of birth with the social security number. puerto rico's a particular hot spot because they pay their taxes to the commonwealth but they are u.s. citizens so when the fraudsters file here, they don't detect a duplicate return. now the u.s. attorney manhattan says they have 50 of these cases in new york alone. >> pelley: taxpayer beware. john, thanks very much. turning back the clock 50 years. >> more news in a moment. turning back the clock 50 years. >> more news in a moment. this is the evening edition of cbs news. break a leg! i used to love hearing that phrase... but not since i learned i have... postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture. i want to keep acting but a broken bone could change that. so my doctor and i chose prolia® to reduce my risk of fractures. prolia® is proven to help make bones stronger. proven to help increase bone density. i take prolia®. it's different. it's two shots a year. 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[ applause ] [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. >> pelley: finally tonight, we want to take note of a milestone at cbs news and in the history of american journalism. 50 years ago today john kennedy was in the white house. barack obama was in diapers, the future of berlin was in the morning papers and the future of cbs news moved into the anchor chair. >> good evening from cbs news headquarters in new york. civil war threatens algeria tonight. >> pelley: newspaper adds heralded the arrival of a new era at cbs. 45-year-old walter cronkite, who covered wars and political conventions, the olympics and space shots was about to become a daily presence in america's living room. >> this is the evening edition of cbs news with walter cronkite. >> it was 15 minutes at the time totally inadequate amount of time to do news. >> pelley: the new set featured a bank of black-and-white monitors. "variety," the show biz magazine called it "visual razzmatazz." the technology was primitive by today's standards. >> paris is worried by developments in its one-time colonial capital and robert kleinman reported there earlier today by telestar. >> the government of president charles du ghoul.... >> pelley: unfortunately, cronkite's debut was not recorded. this is the only known recording of that era. >> more news in a moment after this word from aerowax. >> reporter: don hewitt, who went on to create "60 minutes," it was producer. but cronkite took the title "managing editor." >> everybody under cronkite was the last word on what stories were handled and how they were handled. >> pelley: sandy socolow became the executive producer of the cbs news with walter cronkite and he was there for that very first broadcast which ended with cronkite inviting viewers to get the details of the stories he'd reported in the next day's papers. >> an explosion broke out among the suits and management who were very upset that walter was sending people to read newspapers instead of coming to him for the news. >> pelley: so walter came up with an alternative signoff-- the one he would use for the next 19 years. >> and that's the way it is. >> pelley: and that's the way it was april 16, 1962. it's been nearly three years since we lost walter cronkite but his legacy is part of every evening news broadcast. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioing sponsored by cbs captioned by this freshly brewed iced tea is really my cup of tea. honey, that's my cup of tea. yours is over there. oops. dunkin's iced tea is freshly brewed to delicious perfection. right now get any size for just 99 cents. now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world. pippa, the gun, the royal controversy. will kate middleton's sister be arrested. who are the men in the car. and brad and angelina and the rings. >> it's really designed for her and her alone. >> and the construction at what would be the ceremony location. >> demi moore in bed. her first tweet since leaving rehab. and is