House speaker john boehner, accusing him of running a dictatorship in the house. Speaker boehner is not willing to negotiate. We have not heard a word from leader mcconnell. Nothing is happening. Reporter mitch mcconnell, the Top Republican in the senate, said its reid who hasnt reached out for weeks. The phone never rang. And so now here we are, five days from the new year, and we might finally start talking. Reporter but talking about what . So far, reid has not introduced the scaleddown bill he was reportedly working on over the christmas holiday. Sources say that bill would extend the bushera tax cuts for americans making less than 250,000 a year. With the clock ticking, reid pointed a finger at the house of representatives, which still hasnt returned to washington. I cant imagine their consciences. Theyre out wherever they are around the country, and were here trying to get something done. Reporter from his home in ohio, Speaker Boehner called on the house to come back this sunday, december 30. Thats just one day before the fiscal cliff deadline when income tax cuts and payroll tax cuts are set to expire, 110 billion worth of spending cuts kick in, and two million jobless americans lose their Unemployment Benefits. For the first time, leader reid said today that it looks like the nation is going to go over the fiscal cliff, but that may just have been bluster, jeff, to try to put more pressure on republicans. Glor so, nancy, the house coming back on sunday. Is that a good sign . Reporter well, it is in the sense that if the senate does manage to pass something, the house would be here to vote on it, as well. Originally, Speaker Boehner had told his members that he would give them 48 hours notice if they were needed back here at the capitol, but there was a recognition, i think, that it just looked bad for the house to be gone when we were so close to the fiscal cliff deadline. Glor nancy cordes, thank you. Major garrett has been following developments at the white house. Major, what is the president s next move . Reporter it is not a breakthrough but it is a glimmer of hope. Officials tell cbs news the president will meet with harry reid, mitch, House Speaker john boehner, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi tomorrow afternoon at the white house. To try to find out if there is a way to avert the fiscal cliff. Today, after the president returned from his vacation in hawaii, he did meet with his senior advisors. They did conduct some back channel negotiations as they have been during the holidays on a bill to possibly avert the fiscal cliff. Those talks im told did not make much progress. The facetoface conversations may fact create the possibility of a breakthrough. But right now the president has no new proposals to give his congressional leaders. He will stick with what he told the nation on friday raise income taxes for households earning more than 250,000, extend Unemployment Benefits for those americans out of work for more than six months, and try to find some other means to avert the fiscal cliff before that deadline, and tomorrow, may give us a glimmer of hope but as i said, the white house does not consider this a breakthrough, but everyone is and will be talking. Glor Major Garrett at the white house. Thank you. All of this uncertainty is already affecting the economy. Today, a closely watched Business Group reported Consumer Confidence has declined for a second straight month, a sign americans may continue to hold back on spending. Consumers wont like what they see at the supermarket if congress doesnt pass a new farm bill by january 1. Milk prices could double to 7 a gallon or higher. John blackstone tonight explains why. Who wants milk . Me reporter with four children, the rasmussen family of los angeles drinks about five gallons of milk a week. If Congress Fails to pass a farm bill, they may end up spending an extra 120 a month on milk. That has dad Sean Rasmussen worried. We will not cut back on milk. They have to have their milk. We might have to cut elsewhere. Reporter without new legislation, government price supports for milk will revert to 1949 levels. Back then, the process was more laborious, and farmers needed a higher subsidy to cover their costs. Dan summer, professor of Agricultural Economics at the university of california davis, says the new price of milk will be far above what it now costs Dairy Farmers to produce it. It really will be just chaos. Nobody really knows how to act. Reporter so we would go back to this old farm bill, which would force the government to buy milk at an extremely high price. Thats right. Reporter this could be a windfall for Dairy Farmers. Heres the problem for Dairy Farmers they dont want chaos in the milk market. It sounds good gee, everybody will double or triple the price but how much milk would people buy at that price . Reporter nobody will pay it. Nobody will pay it. Reporter shoppers for milk today couldnt understand why congress cant at least solve this problem. Linda vella they all need to be fired. And if we want to continue to eat, the bill needs to be passed. Thats where we get our food, people. Reporter we called the department of agriculture, and they say they have no backup plan to avoid this scenario. In terms of a price increase, a spokesman told us, jeff, that they have no timetable for when or if that will happen. Glor john blackstone, thank you. Hawaiis new senator was sworn in on capitol hill today. Brian schatz succeeds daniel inouye, who died last week, who was 88. Schatz, who is 40, is a democrat. He had been hawaiis lieutenant governor. Late word retired general norman schwarzkopf, who led the 1991 desert storm operation has di died in tampa florida. Schwarzkopf when his outside personality and booming voice became a household name as america americans push iraqi forced out of kuwait. He was only the ninth u. S. General to be knighted. George h. W. Bush called the general a true American Patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. Norman schwarzkopf was 78 years old. The white house today says president obama is keeping a close eye on a possible strike by longshoremen. Union leaders for nearly 15,000 dock workers at every port from texas to maine say theyll walk off the job on sunday. We asked anna werner to find out how a strike would hurt the u. S. Economy. Reporter the port of houston handles 42 million tons of cargo every year. It extended its hours this week to try and get shipments in and out before a strike can bring the port to a standstill. Jim gillis is Vice President of gulf intermodal services, a container trucking company. Weve seen a dramatic increase in volumes and congestion as a result. Reporter what happens if they cant get all the goods out of the port . You have containers being held in yards around the houston area, specifically, so youre going to see stores are going to have problems stocking. Reporter negotiations between the International Longshoremens union and the shipping companies are deadlocked over a proposal to cut royalties paid to 15,000 dock workers for each ton of cargo they move. A shutdown would affect 15 ports on the east and gulf coasts, including new york, baltimore, miami and houston. The ports handle nearly 50 of all oceangoing container shipments to the united states. Some estimate a shutdown could cost a billion dollars a day in delayed shipments and lost work along the supply chain. Independent truck driver Jose Espinoza hauls shipments in and out of houstons port. Next week, it means im going to be out of business. Thats because if i dont work, i dont get paid. Bottom line is, everybody is worried about it. And if the strike happens, were going to be in trouble, financially speaking. Reporter there are just two days left for both sides to negotiate here, jeff. The contract expires 12 01 a. M. Sunday, but 100 companies have asked the president to intervene if talks fail. Glor so, anna, how exactly would the president intervene . Reporter jeff, federal law allows the president to intervene in a labor dispute if its declared a national emergency. Now, president george w. Bush used that power in 2002 to end an 11day lockout of dock workers on the west coast, a lockout that was deemed too damaging to the economy. Glor anna werner, thank you. That massive winter storm that impacted twothirds of the country is dumping snow on maine tonight. The same system spawned tornadoes in the south and blizzards in the midwest. It is blamed for 16 deaths in the past three days. Wales, new york, got 15 inches of snow; goreville, illinois, 14 inches; elletsville, indiana, 13. More than 600 flights were canceled today. A Major Airline is hiring, you might be surprised who is applying for work; and a volcano erupts, but some who live nearby refuse to evacuate when the cbs evening news continues. [ woman ] dear cat, your hair mixes with pollen and dust. I get congested. But now, with zyrtecd®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. Zyrtecd® lets me breath freer, so i can love the air. [ male announcer ] zyrtecd®. Behind the pharmacy counter. No prescription needed. Aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u. S. Postal service. Well even drop off boxes if you need them. Visit usps. Com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. Any time of year. Nice sweater. Thank you. Starts with arthritis pain and a choice. Take tylenol or take aleve, the 1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. Just two aleve can keep pain away all day. Back to the news. Glor we got more encouraging glor we got more encouraging news today about the job market. The government reported 350,000 americans filed for Unemployment Benefits last week. Thats down 12,000 from the week before. The fourweek average of 356,000 is the lowest in nearly five years. And there are signs that companies are beginning to step up their hiring. American airlines is one of them. Its being flooded with applications. We asked Mark Strassmann to tell us about the people applying right now for work. Reporter American Airlines announced in october it was hiring 1,500 new flight attendants. 20,000 applicants responded so many, american stopped taking resumes after eight days. These candidates had to pass a telephone interview before being invited this month to the Airlines World headquarters in fort worth. applause i was unemployed for over a year. Reporter yoon eom is 25, a college grad and a new u. S. Citizen, but in this room, she had a Competitive Edge she speaks english, spanish and her native korean. Theyre launching a direct flight to korea starting in may, and i was like, oh, my gosh. This is my only chance reporter the 20,000 applicants included many College Graduates who have had trouble finding work in a tight job market. American will pay its new flight attendants, on average, 23,000 a year. Theyll have to work longer hours and pay more for medical benefits than flight attendants who have recently retired from the bankrupt airline. You will have an opportunity to learn reporter laura aranda is 45 and ready to try something new. Unlike an office setting, where you go in and its the same thing, same thing thing, this is a new experience and challenge every day. Reporter shes an Administrative Assistant willing to take a 10,000 pay cut to become a flight attendant. I mean, you always want to get paid more, but if you love what you do, then money is just kind of something thats back there. Reporter american emailed aranda today. She got the job. The airline has also hired yoon eom. Theyll both begin nine weeks of training next month. Delta airlines, headquartered here in atlanta, announced last week it was also hiring flight attendants. 400 jobs, 22,000 applications. Jeff, two more applications every minute. Glor mark, have we ever seen these sort of airline numbers before . Reporter actually, a couple of years ago, jeff, the numbers were more dramatic. Delta was hiring 1,000 and had 100,000 applications. And remember, in 2010, the job market was even tougher. Glor Mark Strassmann, thank you. In nicaragua, a volcano erupted this week, sending ash thousands of feet in the air. Authorities ordered anyone within two miles to evacuate, but several hundred families refused to leave. They said they dont believe theyre in any danger. This volcano last erupted in september. New technology is boosting u. S. Oil production. Well take you to a boomtown flush with cash. That story is next. Me glor with just a few days to go, 2012 will likely set a record high for gas prices. A. A. A. Says the average was 3. 61 a gallon nationwide this year. That is ten cents more than in 2011. That surge in prices came even though Oil Production is booming in this country. The u. S. Is forecast to overtake saudi arabia as the Worlds Largest oil producer by 2020. Ben tracy visited one of americas new boomtowns. Reporter in the middle of a colorado cornfield, sandwiched between cattle and farmhouses, is the front line of an american oil boom. We plan to invest over 8 billion over the next five years here, so were extremely excited. Reporter Mike Dickinson works for noble energy, which is doubling its production in weld county. This oil field stretches from colorado into wyoming. In 2008, it produced 83,000 barrels of oil, yet this year it is expected to reach nearly ten Million Barrels. How different is the technology that were seeing here today versus what you were doing out here a couple of years ago . Its unrecognizable today compared to what we were doing just two or three years ago. Reporter Oil Companies used to mainly drill vertical wells, hitting one pool of oil. But now they are rapidly converting to horizontal wells up to a mile long and combining them with fracking operations which split open rocks, releasing oil once considered out of reach. And one drilling rigs can now install multiple wells in one location, making it more cost efficient. A horizontal well produces seven to ten times more oil than a vertical well. Today, were not running any vertical rigs, and were running eight horizontals. Reporter so this really is the future of what youre doing out here. It is. Reporter the industry insists fracking is safe but is worried about an upcoming e. P. A. Report that could heighten Environmental Concerns over water contamination from fracking, and the two to ten million gallons of fresh water it takes to operate one horizontal well. Jason bane works for western resource advocates. Once that water goes into the ground and is mixed with the other chemicals, its poison, essentially. It has to be disposed of. The overall concern is, we dont know enough to be going ahead this quickly with fracking. Reporter the technology is dramatically boosting overall u. S. Oil production, which is up 25 from 2008 and expected to jump another 30 by the end of this decade. The oil boom has created 1. 7 million jobs. Its also made places such as greeley, colorado, flush with cash. This really has been a godsend to our county. Reporter sean conway is a commissioner in weld county, where 50 of the budget is now funded by oil and gas taxes. It allows us to pay for things in cash. Reporter so its not an understatement to say that you love your friends in the oil and gas industry. Uh. We. Uh. Like them very much. Reporter and out in the cornfield, the drilling continues, another 11 Million Barrels per day closer to catching the saudis and russians. Ben tracy, cbs news, greeley, colorado. Glor we learned today that soul singer Fontella Bass has died. Even if you dont recognize the name, you likely recognize this song that made her famous. Come on, baby and rescue me. Glor bass recorded rescue me in 1965. It reached number one on the r b charts. She was from a family of musicians and began singing at age six. Fontella bass suffered a heart attack three weeks ago and died yesterday in st. Louis. She was 72. Cant you see that im lonely . Rescue me. Glor they retired and then went to work. Their pet project is a lifeline for the disabled. That story is next. Lifeline for the disabled. Gets even better. The beaches and waters couldnt be more beautiful. Take a boat ride or just lay in the sun. Enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty. c and dont forget our amazing seafood. So come to the gulf, t time. Especially in alabama. You mean mississippi. Thats florida. Say louisiana or theres no dessert. Brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. But with advair, im breathing better. So now i can be in the scene. Advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. Unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an antiinflammatory and a longacting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. Advair wont replace fastacting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. People with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. Advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking advair. If youre still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. Get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd. Com. Was ripped off. Long afte died. Next. Finally tonight, this is the season of giving. In one tiny midwest town, people are creating gifts that change lives all over the world. Heres dean reynolds. Reporter theres a quiet that usually settles over the cornfields of iowa this time of year, but not in leighton, population 150. Here, two or three times a week local retirees come