Ay. [announcer ] mucinex keeps working. Not 4, not 6, but 12 hours. The flooding in the midwest along with heavy snowfall in the Pacific Northwest and record high temperatures in the northeast are all being attributed to the weather phenomena known as mel. Mark strassman has a look at el nino and what comes next. Reporter last christmas, buffalo looked like the north pole. This year, santa wore shorts. A few flakes finally fell last for the longest streak with no snow. Ho, ho, ho. Reporter in cities up and down the east coast, Christmas Eve was the warmest ever. It felt like summer in the big apple, with temperatures in the 70s. Wheres the nearest beach . Oh, this is awesome. Being able to see 70degree weather in new york city on Christmas Eve, its something cool to experience. Here in oregon, recordshattering rain. Reporter this months wacky warm weather has broken more than a thousand records from coast to coast. This december has been exceptional for a lot of areas of the country. You look into the northwest where the rain and snow has been nonstop. The northeast, upper midwest, midatlantic, winter completely on pause and temperatures that are so far above average, theyll be smashing records before were done. Eric, whats in score . Reporter eric fisher is chief meteorologist for cbs station wbz tv in boston. To me this is the most staggering thing. In the boston area, well see the coldest winter month ever recorded and the warmest winter month ever recorded in the same year in 144 years of records. Reporter take a look. Essentially the nations weather map is divided in half. In many eastern cities, temperatures are as high as 30 degrees above normal. Out west, its colder and wetter two weeks ago, dangerous floods in oregon swallowed homes and prompted terrifying rescue missions. Whats behind this weather madness, in part, is a phenomena that goes back millenia. Youve heard its name el nino. El nino is about a yearlong warming that takes place along the equator in the eastern half of the tropical pacific. Its related to changes in the trade winds. They are weaker when that ocean warms up, and this is from the coast of south america all the way out to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Reporter nate is a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in santa cruz, california. This rain, when is the last time you saw this rain . You know, weve had very little of this in the last four years. Reporter four years . Hes been studying the effects of el nino for 30 years. Weaken. And when that happens, theres a massive shift in rainfall patterns in the tropics. Dry. And normally dry places end up getting lots of rainfall. Reporter and this el nino, how significant or intense is it . The current el nino is among the three strongest since 1950, at least. Reporter so strong, the effects of this el nino can be seen on every weather forecasters radar the world over. This warm pattern, which is not only at the surface as were showing here, is over the Pacific Ocean and provides a tremendous amount of heat capacity to drive the whole circulation pattern, not only across the united states, but around the globe. Reporter louie is the director of the National Weather service. He says el nino causes the temperature of the Pacific Ocean and triggers a Ripple Effect across the globe. So simplistically, wetter than usual over here, warmer than usual over here. Yes. Wetter than normal in here. And as we see the el nino pattern develop, we should see a more active storm track along the south. So wetter and warmer up in this area here. Reporter as if right on cue, over the last five days, killer tornados swept across the south, killing more than 20 people from texas to tennessee. The house is gone . Yes. Reporter what are you going to do . Im going to try to rebuild. Reporter here if uhhuh. Reporter what to you is worrisome about all this in there are parts of the globe that are impacted by el nino that do suffer from those impacts. Increased drying in brazil and indonesia with the possibility increased precipitation over africa, Central Africa to east africa, which lends itself to the increased likelihood of disease outbreaks like malaria and dengue fever. Reporter but can these alarming weather events also be blamed on Climate Change . Scientists say not so fast. Maybe it adds a couple more warmer days or makes the warmest temperatures a little warmer. I dont think you can say just because its a warming world were seeing a record december. We might be enhancing the pattern by a little bit. Reporter in california, oceans that were already warming are getting even hotter. And that has created a crisis for the creatures who live in it. 2015 has been one for the record books. Typically, we rescue 60, 100 animals. Were almost to 1800. Reporter Shawn Johnson directs the Marine Mammal center he says in the past two years, 90 of californias sea lion and first seal pups have died. Give me a sense of what is going on out in their Natural Habitats that has brought about this crisis . Because this water is so warm, its pushed all the feeder fish, the foraging fish for the mothers further out to sea, deeper out in the water. What its come down to is all the animals have a lack of food. Theres not enough food in this area for them right now. Reporter relief will come eventually. Because historically, el nino is followed by la nina, characterized by cooler Ocean Temperatures. But at least for the next few months, the world will continue to feel el ninos effects, both on land and in the ocean. Good thing geico offers affordable renters insurance. With great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. Delivery. Hey. 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Reporter donald trump played squire aboard his private jet, inviting reporters for an on board press conference, but reminding them not to scratch anything. Trump promised to spend 2 million a week on campaign ads over the next month. Meanwhile, republicans running far behind trump ignored the attacking each other. Madame president , can now imagine . Oh, oh. Believe me, women if its got to be a woman, which im all in favor of some day, it shouldnt be hillary. Reporter at a rally in iowa last night, donald trump aimed most of his barbs at Hillary Clinton, but made a noteworthy pitch to evangelical chris chance, who made up more than half of the gop caucus turnout in 2012. To the best of my knowledge, not too many evangelicals come out of hubcuba. Just remember that. Reporter senators marco rubio and ted cruz are trumps closest competitors in iowa. Aboard his personal jet earlier try not to crash the woodwork. Reporter trump says he will soon hit the airwaves. Ill be spending a minimum of 2 million a week, big ads in iowa, New Hampshire, south carolina. To become the main stream alternative to trump battled each other. The superpac supporting jeb bush denounced Rubios Senate absenteeism. Hes missed more total votes than any other senator. Reporter rubio pointed to millions already wasted by bush backers. Millions of spending and not change his fortunes. Hes become increasingly negative in his attacks. Reporter another ad criticized Chris Christie and john kasich for expanding obamacare in their states. Which governor led the fight to stop obamacare expansion in his state . We do not want another president who sits in the chair in the oval office on the first day and spins around and says, gee whiz, isnt it great im president . Reporter George Pataki quit yesterday, reducing the field to pataki registered 1 in some iowa polls and rarely made a ripple in the undercard televised events. The president ial field stands at 15, three dademocrats and a dozen republicans. And the candidates have been making some outrageous statements. Read my lips, no new taxes. If you like your plan, keep your plan. Reporter in president ial politics, the whoppers can be legendary. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Those people got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, im not a crook. Reporter in this years president ial campaign, the Fact Checkers say one candidate has achieved truth bending royalty. This is the first time we have named someone the king of whoppers. Reporter donald trump earned factcheck. Org with the biggest whopper of 2015. And i watched in jersey city, new jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Reporter the Fact Checkers found evidence of only a few celebrating. But that wasnt the only trump tall tale of the year. Hes certainly keeping us busy. It is the worst weve seen in the 12 years weve been doing this. You know, the president is thinking about signing an executive order where he wants to take your guns away. That was a mistake, im sorry about that. Reporter democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton had her share. Most notably her attempts to explain why she had a private email server. I saw it as a matter of convenience, and it was allowed. Others had done it. None of them had a private server. Reporter and then she told a hes becoming isis best recruiter. They are going to people, showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. Reporter trump wasnt alone in calling that false. So did the Fact Checkers. Republican contender ted cruz got dinged for dising fellow candidate marco rubio on immigration. One of the most troubling aspects of the gang of eight bill is it gave president obama blanket authority to admit refugees. Thats simply not true. Reporter and Bernie Sanders linked Climate Change to terrorism. Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism. This is what the cia says. Reporter with so many candidates, 2015 has kept fact clock. So why do i do it . Because i get paid. Und. On this side of the glove i know prostate exams can save lives. So, if you are a man over 50, talk to you doctor to see if a prostate exam is right for you. If we can do it, so can you. It wont be long before a Million People start pouring into new york citys times square. Its the biggest new Years Eve Party in the world and requires a massive security operation to keep things safe. Don dahler is in times square where the nypd unveiled its plans. Reporter the new York Police Department began preparations for this years new years eve. When the last piece of confetti fell last year, security is more intense than ever before. Some measures you can see. Some measures you cant. When the clock strikes 12 this new years eve, the new York Police Department wants times square to be the most secure place in the world. We are very, very confident that new years eve in new york city will be the safest place in the world to be. Reporter hundreds of police radiation detectors and bomb sniffing dogs. Snipers and helicopter also be on patrol. At a new Operation Center in manhattan, officers will monitor thousands of camera feeds. This year, the nypd set up a specialized counterterrorism unit with more than 500 highly trained cops. Officials say there are no Credible Threats to new york city, but deadly attacks in paris and San Bernardino have raised the level of fear. We are aware that the threat picture has changed because of isis. Thats why we have enlarged our capabilities here in the city with these additional units. Reporter spectators will not be allowed to bring in large bags, backpacks nor alcohol. The nypd issued some 20,000 smartphones to officers so that they could have quicker response and share information about any potential threats. Thats the overnight news for this new years eve, thursday. For some of you the news for others, check back with us a little later for the morning news and cbs this morning. From the Broadcast Center here in new york city, im demarco morgan. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com criminal charges against a dad. Bill cosby, accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman. The reaction of the victim frozen, paralyzed, unable to move. Also tonight, the furious effort to hold back rising rivers in missouri. Donald trump keeps firing at hillary and bill clinton. And two kids, one big idea helping thousands go to college. What you give out to the world you get back 10 times, you know, fold. This is the cbs overnight news. Scott pelley is off tonight. Im jim axelrod. Dozens of women have accused bill cosby of sexually assaulting them, but today for the first time, the comedian, actor, and longtime moral crusader was charged criminally, a felony count of aggravated indecent assault, just days before the statute of limitations was due to run out. Years old, could face five to 10 years in prison and a 25,000 fine. Tonight, hes free on 1 million bail. Jericka duncan reports from suburban philadelphia. Mr. Cosby, do you want to say anything . Reporter this afternoon, attorneys for Comedian Bill Cosby walked him into this small courthouse in elkins park, pennsylvania, to hear the criminal Sexual Assault charges against him. His accuser is andrea constand, a former Temple University employee who first told police about the alleged incident over a decade ago. Constand says in the winter of 2004, she went to cosbys house for career advice. Cosby offered, and she took, three blue pills and wine to relax. In the criminal complaint released today, she told police within a half hour, she experienced, blurred vision and difficulty speaking. Her legs felt rubbery, like time. She says though she was unable to move or speak, she felt cosby fondle her breasts and vagina, and woke up about 4 00 the next morning, still in his home. Prosecutor kevin steele the victim came to consider mr. Cosby her mentor and her friend. Today, after examination of all the evidence, we are able to seek justice on behalf of the victim. Reporter when cosby was questioned by police back in 2005, he admitted the two had sexual contact but said he had given constand the allergy pill benadryl and that the contact was consensual. At the time, the District Attorney announced no criminal charges, citing lack of evidence. But investigators reopened her case this past summer after a judge unsealed portions of depositions from the civil suit constand filed in 2005, in which cosby admitted giving drugs to constands attorney asked cosby, when you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women you wanted to have sex with . Cosby replied, yes. He later said he misunderstood the question. The civil suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount of money. In the past year, more than 50 women have accused cosby of Sexual Assault, many of whom posed for this cover story in new york magazines july edition. Victoria valentiono is one of the accusers. Well, we were absolutely elated, vindicated, validated, and just elated. I cant i cant find a better word for it. Mr. Cosby, did you drug that woman . Reporter 78yearold cosby was able to leave jail after posting 10 of his 1 million bail and giving up his passport. Say when he left this courthouse, but later this evening, his attorneys released a statement that reads in part jim, cosby is expected to appear back in court for preliminary hearing on january 14. Jericka, thank you. Cosbys arraignment comes at the beginning of the criminal judicial process, not the end. But the idea of cosby charged with a sex crime would have bee