One man who received a reply. We begin with a look at todays eye opener, your world in 90 seconds. A rescue operation under way, really difficult conditions. Theyve had to go there on skis, some of the roads impassable. Up to 30 people are missing. A devastating avalanche buries an italian hotel. A series of earthquakes . Central italy triggered the avalanche. In tehran, a highrise building collapsed on Live Television. 30 firefighters were killed. You enter this white house with the lowest Approval Ratings of any person who has assumed the presidency. I have to tell you. The polls werent always right during the election so im a little skeptical going into inauguration. More than five dozen democrats are going to boycott the nomination. All i know is im going to be there. So is michelle. In houston, president george h. W. Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit. His wife was also hospitalized. Massive flooding swept through houston wreaking havoc on several roadways. I was scared, the water kept rising and rising. The door of baseballs hall of fame is swinging open for three of the games greats. Thank you very much. Make some noise. Tinseltown came out for the 43rd peoples choice awards. If you dont get an award, youll be given one of these adorable babies. The biggest shock at the australian open, djokovic has been knocked out by a wildcard. You are still an ambassador to the u. S. , are people asking you questions like whats up with that guy . Now and then. Ill take that. On cbs this morning. President obama has a final press conference today, maybe the final press conference today. In my core, i think well be okay. We have to fight for it, work for it and not take it for granted. I know you will help us do that. Thank you very much, press corps. Good luck. Good luck. See yeah, wouldnt want to be ya. Welcome to cbs this morning. An allout rescue effort is going on right now in italy to reach at least 30 people at a fourstar ski resort. An avalanche buried their hotel under mounds of snow. Some people trapped inside are sending Text Messages with desperate pleas for help. This is unfolding in a mountainous region northeast of rome thats been hit hard by deadly earthquakes. Allen pizzey is tracking the rescue effort from rome. Reporter good morning. The avalanche came in a series of earthquakes and after shocks felt as far away as here in rome. The epicenter was in mountains covered by days of heavy snowfall. The alarm was raised by two survivors who alpine teams on skis managed to reach the hotel after 4 00 in the morning local time. The massive cascading hotel slammed into the hotel in darkness and all but buried the building. The first report from rescuers was many dead. Inside the hotel they found a scene of utter destruction. The weight of the snow appeared to have collapsed the roof down onto the ground floor. Heavy snow hampered ambulances trying to reach the scene which is deep in a region popular with tourists. Even plows struggled to get through. A cell phone Text Exchange believed to be from someone inside the buried building included a message saying, be calm, tomorrow youll come down. Another one received by rescue workers simply said help, we are dying of the cold. The area is part of the region hit by a series of four strong earthquakes on wednesday, the biggest of which was 5. 7 on the richter scale. Multiple aftershocks followed, but its not clear if they are what triggered the avalanche. A major quake last august killed nearly 300 people and ruined buildings in Historic Towns and ham mets. This time atrocious weather added to a disaster one local esident described as apocalyptic. The hotel was built to be earthquakeproof, but there is no protection from avalanches. Allen pizzey in rome thank you. A building collapsed in seconds on Live Television in iran this morning. State tv says 30 firefighters were killed. The building was home to a shopping central in central tehran. Most people had evacuated but firefighters were inside trying to put out the fire. We have breaking news from libya where american b2 bombers attacked isis Training Camps overnight near the city of sirte which was liberated from isis last month. The stealth bombers flew nonstop from their base in missouri to carry out those attacks. In just over 24 hours, donald trump will be sworn in as our 45th president. He made an unexpected visit last few blocks from the white house. Surprise hotel guests captured this video. The president elect left his press pool behind. Major garrett is in washington where the Trump Transition Team is rejecting reports of iraqi transfer of power. Major, good morning. Reporter good morning. As a rule, inauguration planning at this stage is at its most chaotic and stressful. That is true for a trump team using i dont thinker, less experienced staffers than the obama, clinton and bush teams before it. A number of House Democrats boycotting the inauguration is up to 61, around a third of the House Democratic caucus. In washington last night the president elect attended two dinners including one for his cabinet nominees. At best only three of those nominees could be confirmed by the inauguration, secretaries of defense, Homeland Security and the head of the cia. Even with a republican senate, mr. Trump is on pace for one of the slowest confirmation timelines in modern u. S. History. Under the same circumstances, incoming president obama in 2009 and bush in 2001 each had seven cabinet nominees confirmed on inauguration day. This is a swamp cabinet full of bankers and billionaires. Reporter republicans blame the slow pace on Senate Democrats who have threatened to hold up floor votes on nominees unless theyre given more time to scrutinize potential conflicts of interest. Its no surprise republicans are trying to rush through these hearings. They dont want people to know the true views of their nomin nominees. Reporter of particular concern for democrats and even some republicans, nominee for secretary of state Rex Tillerson who developed a friendly relationship with russian president Vladimir Putin as ceo of exxonmobil. Im very concerned about someone who took a friendship award from Vladimir Putin who is a butcher. Reporter aside from a fiveminute phone call last month, tillerson has not spoken to or met with current secretary of state john kerry. Theres been min cal contact between state and mr. Trumps transition team. Im very proud of everybody, the cabinet members reporter amid the cabinet scramble, the president elect tweeted a photo of himself at his florida home pre portdly writing his inaugural address. In it mr. Trump appears to be holding a sharpie and photo pad. Hes been working off drafts of the speech, not writing it from scratch. That speech will try to give meaning to make care ka great again. Lofty rhetoric will take a back seat to simple nonpartisan action promising action and setting a populist anti washington tone. This morning treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Energy Secretary rick perry are if latest picks being questioned in the cabinet. Scott pruitt and tom price were grilled yesterday. Sources tell cbs news the president elect has filled his last cabinet vacancy. Hell name former georgia governor sonny perdue to be secretary of agriculture. Nancy cordes is at the west front of the capitol where the inauguration will take place tomorrow. Good morning. Reporter good morning. By the end of today 15 of mr. Thumbs nominees will have gone before the senate. The fight right now is over just how many of them will be confirmed after he is sworn in here on the west front of the capitol tomorrow. Democrats say they have ethics concerns about a handful of these nominees including one who testified yesterday. It really begs credulaty sir when you say you didnt know you got a discount on this. Reporter Senate Democrats hammered georgia congressman tom price over a stock deal wednesday. You made the decision to purchase that stock, not a broker. Yes or no . That was a decision i made, yes. Reporter he purchased strok in a drug company at a special price while helping form legislation to speed drug approvals. You were notified of this trade on april 4th, 2016. Did you take additional actions after that date to advance your plan to help the company that you now own stock . Im offended by the insinuation. Reporter if confirmed, price would oversee any replacement to obamacare. You may have an insurance card, it may have a wonderful name of an Insurance Company on there, but you dont have any care because you cant afford the deductible. Reporter down the hall youre the attorney general. Obviousl you have stood up and said you will do everything you can to stop future earthquakes as a result of fracking. Senator, ive acknowledged that im concerned. Acknowledged youre concerned. Reporter democrats were also throwing punches at scott pruitt, oklahomas attorney general. If thats the kind of epa administrator you will be, youre not going to get my vote. Reporter they argued his longtime ties to Energy Companies will prevent him from carrying out the core mission of the Environmental Protection agen agency. Pruitt said thats not the case. This paradigm we live within today that if youre pro energy youre anti environment is something i think is a false narrative. Reporter mr. Trumps pick for u. S. Ambassador to the united nations, South Carolina governor nikki haley testified yesterday. She described nato as vital the same week that mr. Trump called it obsolete. That has led some european diplomats to say they are unclear about the position of the incoming administration. Thanks, nancy. Vice president elect mike pence thanked president obama this morningnd a said the transition is on track. He spoke a short time ago at a news briefing in washington. We talked to pence yesterday about the transition and the expectations for him and president elect trump. As you know, you enter this white house and this city with the lowest Approval Ratings of any person who has assumed the presidency. What kind of challenge is that, and at the same time, how important is it to double the efforts to reunite. I think the American People are going to see a president inaugurated this friday who is going to keep the promise he made on election night, to be president of all of the people of this country. The polls werent always right during the election year, so i am sceptical about the polls going into this. The president will advance the kind of policies that, to borrow his policy, will make America Great again. Youve been asked this, im sure. The tweets, necessary . Distracting . Does he have to tilt at every windmill that criticizes him . I think one of the really refreshing things about the president elect is that he speaks his mind. Sometimes he does that from a podium. Sometimes he does that in an interview. But does it get in the way of his message on the economy, on Foreign Policy . I really dont believe it does. Youre okay with that . I will tell you some of the treatment that hes gotten and we frankly continue to get by some in the media is frustrating, and his ability to literally reach tens of millions of people with his view of a particular issue or particular news i think is a value to the administration. I expect him to continue to use that. Youll see a President Donald Trump who will use that in a way to give the agenda to the American People and bring real change to wad and restore our place in the economy and the world. Pence also said the president elect is confident in the team he chose to lead the Intelligence Community that mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized. Regarding his own role, the Vice President elect says im just here to serve. President obama is gearing up for his last full day as commanderinchief. He held his first News Conference yesterday, his first in 2009 as president was three weeks after he was sworn in. Nearly eight years later he took questions in the white house for the very last time. The president says he will not remain silent if what he called americas core values are threatened. Margaret brennan was there in the room yesterday. Good morning. Reporter good morning. President obama said hes looking forward to a break from public life, but he rattled off a list of issues that he said would prompt him to protest, specifically if donald trump deported immigrant children covered by the socalled dream act. The notion that we would arbitrarily or because of politics punish those kids when they didnt do anything wrong themselves, i think would be something that would merit me speaking out. Reporter the president said he would speak out on actions limiting dissent, press or voting rights. The outgoing commanderinchief warned that lifting sanctions off russia could be dangerous, saying that he, too, had tried to work with moscow. But relations soured in 2012 after Vladimir Putin returned to power with a flurry of anti american rhetoric. He warned mr. Trump not to let putin get away with seizing territory in ukraine. What i said to the russians is, as soon as you stop doing that, the sanctions will be removed. I think it would probably best serve not only american interests but also the interests of preserving International Norms if we made sure we dont confuse why these sanctions have been imposed with a whole set of other issues. Reporter surround yourself with strong advisers, mr. Obama urged, and think twice before taking the provocative action of moving the u. S. Embassy to the disputed city of jerusalem. President obama shared what he told his own daughters about trumps election vow to erase their fathers legacy. They were disappointed. Weve tried to teach them hope and that the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world. Reporter the outgoing president tried to leave on an up note. In my core, i think were going to be okay. Reporter the president urged the press to be skeptics and to keep the public informed. Notable parting words from an administration that itself has criminally prosecuted officials for leaking information to journalists. Thank you very much, margaret. Love the closing line there, at my core, i think were all going to be okay. I think thats a powerful message to send at this time. At his core hes optimistic. Yes, always is. Cbs news will bring you allday coverage of the president elects nomination tomorrow at cbs this morning. Well be live from washington, d. C. Former president george h. W. Bush is resting comfortably in a houston hospital this morning. The 92yearold is stable in the intensive care unit. A family Spokesman Says hes been battling pneumonia. His wife, 91yearold barbara bush is also in the hospital as a precaution, not in incentive care. Omar villafranca is outside Methodist Hospital where the 41st president is being treated. How is he doing . Reporter good morning. This is president bushs sixth day in the hospital. He was quietly admitted on saturday. A family Spokesman Says his wife of 72 years, barbara, was also admitted to the hospital on wednesday after not feeling well for several days. Hes stable now and resting comfortably in the icu. Hes going to stay there for observation. Reporter president bush is recovering from whats described as an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia. Doctors intubated the 41st president on wednesday for a procedure to protect and clear his airway. Theres not a lot of money to be made betting against george bush. Reporter mcgrath says the 92yearold is a fighter. Its a serious situation. Hes 92, has pneumonia, hes in the icu. Again, you dont bet against george bush. Reporter the former president hasnt let his age slow him down. He jumped out of an airplane for his 90th birthday. But this is the fourth hospital stay in five years. He is suffering from a disease similar to parkinsons that has limited his mobility. President bush sent president elect trump apologizing that he and his wife wouldnt be able to attend. My doctor said if i sit outside in january, it likely will put me six feet under. Same for barbara, before wishing the president elect well. Mr. Trump responded with a tweet of support and thanked the president for the wonderful letter. President bill clinton also sent his regards to his predecessor and mrs. Bush, signing the post, love 42. During his final press conference wednesday, president obama expressed gratitude. They have been a constant source of friendship and support. We want to send our prayers and our love to them. Reporter members of the president s staff and his son neal are by his bedside. Another one of his son, george w. Bush, still plans to attend the inauguration tomorrow. Thanks. I think all americans feel exactly what the president said, this man was much loved, and is much loved. By everybody. Nasa plans to send a robot to orbit. An astroid containing minerals worth an estimated 10,000 quadrillion dollars. What scientists hope to learn ,om the metal formation thats announcer this natl announcer this National Weather report sponsored by weight watchers. Lose weight and enjoy the things you love. Weight watchers, live fully. Britains former ambassador to moscow says unverified reports of russian blackmail should set off alarms. Ahead, why the diplomat backs a former spy who compiled the alleged trump dossier. The news is back here in a moment right here on cbs this morning. Lungs. I never thought that at only 45 it would give me a heart attack. My tip is; do your heart a favor, and quit now. announcer you can quit. For free help, call 1800quitnow. My advice for looking get your beauty sleep. 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