>> axelrod: tonight, holiday shopping comes up short. the first numbers show disappointing sales at the stores while online shoppers are furious their presents are late. terrell brown and manuel bojorquez report. holly williams on the plea an american hostage is making to president obama. >> it seems that i have been totally abandoned. >> axelrod: stuck at sea. bill whitaker on the mission to free a ship trapped in ice at the bottom of the world. >> the vessel hasn't moved for the last two days and we're surrounded by sea ice. we can't get through. >> axelrod: and with no time to waste, an l.a. cop rescued a man from his burning car. >> i just said "it's now or never. either i'm going to get him out or i'm going to see someone burn alive." captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley.