The music ball rolling for some of musics top performers. This saturday december 7th, 2013. And welcome to the weekend. We also have a great lineup of guests in the house this morning, hes made more than 80 movies but his new one has the oscar buzz factory. Plus his rise to stardom is as unique as her style. Shes here to show us how her life has changed. Valerie june will perform in our saturday session. But first, hes finally free, the 85yearold american tourist and veteran of the korean war held captive in north korea since october, is now on his way home. Right now, Merrill Newman is on a flight to san francisco. Seth dome reports from beijing. Reporter freedom after 43 days. Merrill newman arrived at beijings airport today after a flight from north korea. Im very glad to be on my way home and i appreciate the tolerance that dprk government has given to me to be on my way. First thing, what would you like to do . Go home and see my wife. Reporter at the Newman Family home in pasadena california his son said the family briefly spoke with him while he was in beijing. Hes in excellent spirits and eager to be reunited with his family. Reporter newman, a u. S. Special forces soldier during the korean war more than 60 years ago, had returned to north korea as a tourist in october. He sought closure, according to family members. When he was about to deport on october 26th, he was pulled off of a plane and detained. Then, in november, newman appeared reading an apparently forced apology where he acknowledged alleged crimes against the north during the korean war. He had originally plan to travel on to south korea, where a group of veterans waited for him. We want to the airport to greet him not knowing he had been captured. These veterans whom cbs news spoke with in seoul, were anxious and worried about the americans hold. A former Korean Special forces soldier told us that he remembers newman as the american who came to oversee the training of their anticommunist gur ril la group. North koreans grind their teeth when they hear our name. I speculate he was kidnap because he mentioned our name. Vice president joe bide who was in south korea today, praised newmans release. Seth reporting. The Vice President said that the u. S. Is still working to free kenneth bea, hes been in a north korean prison since last year following his conviction for crimes against the state. His family released this statement following newmans release. We have been praying for him and are very happy that his family will have him at the head of their table for the holidays. Now to the ice storm stretching across the country. Ice, snow freezing rain and frigid temperatures are being blamed for at least 12 deaths. The storm stretches from texas to the midwest and northern new england. Hundreds of thousands are without power. Hundreds of flights have been delayed or canceled. Were in hardhit dallas. Good morning. Reporter good morning, anthony and vinita. This is the worst ice storm to hit this region in years, the rain and sleet have stopped here in the dallas area but the concern Going Forward today, and through the weekend, is the temperatures, the morning lows here are in the teens and that means anything that was slush before is now solid ice. Motorists throughout north texas are being warned to stay off roads for a third day. Four inches of ice and sleet. Mostly the overpasses lowlying areas around water has been frozen over. Reporter the problems go beyond the roads. This oak crashed into her home. We literally sleep right there. Right above us right there. If it had been a few feet over we would be at the emergency room right now. Reporter in louisville texas, at least 50 boats were damaged when a marina roof collapsed. At the height of the storm, nearly a quarter million homes and businesses lost power. Airlines flying in and out of dallas will spend the weekend trying to resume normal operations after having to cancel more than 1,000 flights, stranding some passengers. The same icy mix that caused troubles in texas is making life miserable in tulsa, oklahoma where snow piled up and so did the crashes. Its slow go and very treacherous. In arkansas some cars were encased in ice. Parts of the state saw lows approaching zero. Residents in tennessee were warned to expect many of the same problems that have hit other states as the storm moved further east. Here in dallas the ice has caused what was unthinkable to many in texas and that is the cancellation of High School Football playoffs sundays dallas marathon has also been canceled, that usually attracts 25,000 runners. Many had issues trying to get here. The temperatures arent expected to rise above freezing here until possibly tomorrow. Anthony and vinita . Thanks so much. For more on the arctic blast and how long it may last we go to ed curran of our chicago station. A storm that brought us snow and ice across the nation is moving very quickly. Moving off the east coast now, but its left behind a lot of snow and ice as you know. On the west coast, our next weathermaker is moving in bringing rain to colorado and heavy snow winter storm warning for areas of california nevada oregon and also in utah and parts of colorado the pink at the top of your screen there, wind chill warnings up in north dakota up to 45 degrees below zero this morning. The snow makes its way to the west. In the chicago area by the time we get to sunday afternoon and sunday evening and also in parts of pennsylvania and new york and that continues on its way as we move through monday, moves through the northeast, forecast highs for today, 9 below in billings, 30 in dallas where it ought to be in the upper 50s and only 18 in chicago, where the normal this time of the year should be up around 38 degrees. The snow and the ice in the middle of the country isnt going anywhere any time soon. Vinita . Now to the passing of Nelson Mandela, who died thursday night. At the age of 85. The nation is reeling from its former president passing. Prepare for an unprecedented goodbye. Were in johannesburg with more. Er. Debora patta is in johannesburg with more. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Well last night president president obama telephoned Nelson Mandelas widow to express his gratitude for the joy she brought to his life and for the shared commitment for a peaceful, fair and loving world. And a little of the love is being felled outside the home here, the mendlea home where South Africans continue to gather in numbers to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela. People from every walk of life are using precious free time to honor madiba whether its time out from work down the road after morning prayers from the synagogue around the corner from the mandala suburb. Mandala made everyone feel special. To the whole country, to the whole world, Nelson Mandela was an icon, without him, our country could have ended up in flames. Using his attitude of peace and reconciliation he brought a different ethics to the country. The different ethnic groups together. Reporter and he changed the future of so many young people. Just seeing everyone here just a reminder that were going to be okay and its because of him and many people like him. Who gave up their lives, who gave up everything so that little black girls like me could dream. Reporter how proud he would have been to see how united this country is through his death. There will be many opportunities for South Africans to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela over the next week. Tomorrow has been declared a national day of prayer. And his body will lie in state for three days to allow for public viewing. Now we know that president barack obama will lead a u. S. President ial delegation to this country. But its not clear yet which event he will be attending. But by far the biggest public event will be that National Memorial service at a soccer stadium in soweto and ultimately Nelson Mandelas body will be flown to his ancestral village in qunu for a private burial on the 15th of december. Thank you. Joining us from johannesburg is john carlin the south africa correspondent of the london independent newspaper when mandala was freed from prison in 1990, hes the author two of books about mandalas life and times, including the one on which the film invictus was based. Good morning to you, john. Good morning. I had a chance to read your article yesterday in the uk it was beautiful. You talk a lot about the last time you saw Nelson Mandela four years ago. What was he like then . Yeah. Well it was almost exactly four years ago actually on the 8th of december, 2009. Just before the movie invictus was about to come out. I went to his home here in johannesburg. He was sitting at the end of this very long dining room table on his own. Eating his lunch. He a plate of minced meat. And the truth of the matter is is that he wasnt really very lucid. For most of the hour that i spent with him, he was enveloped in a sort of fog of old age. But there were two or three moments of fabulous clarity. That suddenly he would be a sage on a mountain top, who was sort of in a trance and suddenly sort of came out with a peace of wisdom. And what he suddenly said at one point was, my people, they thought i was a coward some of them. For talking to the whites for reconciling with white South Africans. But they were wrong and i was right. Because you see today we have peace. And in that little moment of lucidity, when he broke out of the fog into light, in a sense he shown a light on the sort of central achievement of his life. John, you were outside the prison gates the day mandala was released. What was it like that day . Well it was a bit of a zoo, if you want the honest answer the mass ranks of the worlds media were there in force, plus lots of South Africans onlookers. The best thing about that day was actually the moment when he came out. The image, which anyone was alive at the time or had the age to watch tv or see the images in the newspapers that image of mandala coming out in a very stately, dignified fashion, suddenly flashed that fabulous sort of 1,000volt smile and raised his fist into the air in triumph. It was an astonishing moment. And what was also fascinating is even though nels nelgs was a very famous name there had been a Worldwide Campaign for his release, no one had a clue what he looked like. No one really had any sense what sort of a person he would be. And it was only actually really the following day at his First Press Conference that finally, i think the world understood that they really were in the presence of greatness. Really a beautiful way to look back at his life, john carlin, thanks so much. In our next half hour president obamas tribute to Nelson Mandela during a lighting of the National Christmas tree and wyntoon marsalis. Chuck hagen made a surprise visit to u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Reassureing alleys. A cleareyed real and difficult engagement. Underscoring how difficult it is hagel toured a u. S. Navy ship keeping watch off iran. Margaret brennan has more. Reporter defense secretary chuck hagel climbed aboard a ship with a message a diplomatic breakthrough with iran doesnt change the threat level in the region or the u. S. Military presence. This region is is dangerous. Its combustible. Its unstable. But having a steady american hand in this region to help our allies and reassure our allies is really key. Reporter the ussponce is part of the nave fleet which defends american assets. This ship is the pentagons first command and staging base in the persian gulf. Its 120 miles off the coast of iran and its outfitted with small drone aircraft underwater drones and helicopters to hunt for mines. Its a reminder to the region that the u. S. Will use force if necessary. That force in the region includes 35,000 military personnel in the persian gulf alone. And an array of radar and Missile Defense capabilities plus a fleet of f22 fighter jets based in nearby qatar. Hagel highlighted those assets while trying to reassure nervous regional ailing lie sllies that the u. S. Is here to stay. This is not an exercise based on any folly. Be assured that the United States of america will not change any of its force posture or any of its force protection. Or any of its relationships with our partners here in the gulf. Reporter yet many of those allies question whether the Obama Administration is willing to even use all the military hardware that it has parked in irans backyard. For cbs this Morning Saturday margaret brennan, ba han. Contaminated tap water at a marine base is linked to birth defects and childhood cancers. The centers for Disease Control studied children born at camp lejeune between 1968 and 1985. That study found that babies were four high times higher to have birth defects. Wells at the base were closed in 1985. The latest check of the healthcare. Gov website shows 3. 7 Million People visited the site this past week. A spokeswoman says the number of duplicated or incorrect forms sent from the site to Insurance Companies has dropped to 10 . It had been at 25 . Consumers are being advised to doublecheck Online Interactions with their Insurance Companies. A spanishlanguage version is expected to go live today. Waulgt ended with big gains, the strongest jobs report in five years. Employers added 203,000 jobs in november and the Unemployment Rate fell to 7 nationwide. So what does that mean for the economy . Cbs news contributor and analyst melody hobson joins us from chicago. Good morning. Ive sort of covered all the good news was there any bad news in the latest report . There was a lot of good news in that report 203,000 jobs youve mentioned. The september and october numbers were revised up. The Unemployment Rate hit a fiveyear low at 7 . And where the jobs were coming from, that was great news. Construction professional services, manufacturing. Those are higherpaying jobs. Which is why we saw wages by the hour go up for the moth. And also the work week be a bit longer so if you look across the board, the news was very, very good. The markets, the dow rallied 200 points on this which is interesting, because in recent weeks, when theres been good news, the dow has tended to pull back. In part because its afraid that that will mean the fed will start pulling stimulus out of the economy. Why did the market go up yesterday, do you think . I think two things went on at once. Its been a pattern of good news being bad news. This was finally one where good news was actually good news. The market shook off a fiveday slump. And i think it was two factors. One, the unemployment report joined with the economic report that we got, and specifically the Third Quarter gdp Gross Domestic Product being revised up. Giving a sense of the economy. Economists thought that we grew 2. 8 in the Third Quarter. When in fact we grew 3. 6 . A lot of that had to do with private companies stockpiling inventories. So people say well thats just a blip. Well see those Growth Numbers go down in the next quarter. And i say why would all the private companies be filling up their inventories if they didnt think things looked good. So the taper, the fed pulling back and Interest Rates rising is back there. But i think overall people see real economic strength. In 12 days the fed open Market Committee is going to meet. Theres talk about the possibility of bond purchasing being stepped down. Is that a possibility now . Is that what people are thinking on the heels of the report . I think its inevitable in 2014. I dont think well see anything come out of the next meeting. Think theyre going to wait and see what happens with congress and hopefully they get the budget and debt ceiling and all of those things tied up. Which caused a lot of trouble in the Third Quarter. But the Federal Reserve governors, like americans bankers, theyve been keeping rates super low, they said theyre going to start to pull back and one of their guideposts was 7 on unemployment. We hit that number. So it is inevitable in their january or march meeting that theyll signal to us that theyve started to taper as they call it. Melody one last thing. This time a year, a lot of people stop looking for work because of the holidays, obviously. Is this a good time to look for a job . Its interesting, it actually is. Most people dont think its the case. They say you know, you know its the holidays and things slow down. But its actually tends to be a very, very good time to look for work. Because people are planning toor their next year. And also there arent as many people out there looking for a job. Because so many people say, well, ill take the holidays off and restart during the new year. So i would strongly suggest if you are looking for a job, to keep pursuing one during these final weeks of the year. Melody hobson in chicago this morning, thank you so much. Time to show you some of the mornings headlines, the New York Times says the federal Railroad Administration has ordered the operators of this weeks deadly Train Derailment to have two people in place to operate trains at potentially dangerous sites. Four people were killed and 70 others injured when a train jumped the tracks in new york on sunday. The El Paso Times says the new Mexico State Police officer who fired s