Hurricane joaquin now threatening the east coast. Chip reid is in virginia where an emergency has been declared. Reporter sheaths of driving rain pummeled the northeast wednesday. A half foot of rain fell in some areas. It came down in buckets, almost literally. The streets of downtown portland, maine, flooded dramatically, though the waters quickly receded. This is insane. It looks more like rapids. Its unbelievable. Reporter rush hour was a slog if providence, rhode island. Some cars ended up with about as much water inside as out. The system, which drenched coastal alabama and florida over the weekend and hit virginia and the mid atlantic yesterday has now pretty much moved into canada. But the ground here is now well saturated, a date with Hurricane Joaquin next week could bring much more serious flooding. You know this is ground zero. Reporter george stables run asthma rwanda and Charter Boat Company in alexandria in virginia. He remembers the damage hurricane isabel did. We can handle a storm surge. We cant handle 70, 80, 90mph winds. Reporter it doesnt take much for the potomac river, which you see behind me, to overflow its banks. Back in 2003 where im standing was under ten feet of water and dozens of homes and businesses were flooded. Scott, you can imagine people around here are hoping it doesnt turn out that way this time around. Pelley chip reid, thanks. Now with the latest on the hurricane, we turn to lonnie quinn, the chief weather caster of our cbs new york station, wcbs. Lonnie, what do we know . Reporter were talking about some big changes, not so much in the intensity but definitely the track. According to the National Hurricane center, a category one, 85mph, 96mph winds is a cat two. Thats what they think is going to happen. The track will push off west, moving toward the bahamas. Then it turns to the north, big push to the north, becoming a category three. Thats a major hurricane, a three, four, five. Thats bad news. Then it makes a turn inland, makes landfall we believe somewhere from South Carolina border up to possibly delaware or so with the highest probability around the outer banks. If you take a look as that storm sets up around the outer banks. If youre thinking were north of, that we live in philadelphia, new york city, we dont have a problem, i disagree. I think you do have a problem because if its south of you, counterclockwise spin around a storm picks up water and pushes it along those shorelines, so i think flooding will be a problem with this one, scott, even if youre not right where the eye of the hurricane makes landfall. Pelley we already have all these rainstorms. Now we have a hurricane coming in behind them. Whats the combined effect likely to be . Reporter i keep using the saying, its footprints on top of footprints on top of footprints. Today roanoke, virginia, picked up five inches of rain. Tomorrow they pick up one, two, three inches of rain, maybe a little more. By saturday and sunday you look at the hurricane moving into that area with a lot of rain, so flooding will be a problem with this one, scott. Pelley lonnie quinn, wcbs, thank you, lonnie. You got it. Temperature. Pelley today the stakes shot up in the worst war in the world. Today russia joined the war. Now russia and american planes are on opposite sides. Syria is run by dictator bashar al assad. Four years ago rebels rose up against him. Now a quarter million have died. 12 million have fled. The chaos has spawned the refugee crisis in europe and the isis terrorist regime, which now holds onethird of syria and iraq. The u. S. Is bombing isis. David martin tells us who russia is fighting for. Reporter the pentagon counted eight russian aircraft attacking two areas in western syria, well away from where u. S. Aircraft normally operate, but also well away from territory controlled by isis. The targets, which russia said were weapons, ammunition and other military equipment belonging to terrorists, were in areas controlled by groups fighting to overthrow the regime of bashar al assad. In other words, russia is not joining the u. S. In the fight against isis but instead intervening on the side of assad, a brutal dictator president obama has repeatedly said must go. Defense secretary carter said it amounts to throwing gasoline on a fire. The result of this kind of action will inevitably simply be to inflame the civil war in syria. Reporter carter was also miffed by the way russia notified the u. S. Of the strikes, one hour ahead of time, a russian general walked up to the u. S. Embassy in baghdad and announced russian aircraft were about to begin flying over syria and american warplanes should stay away. This is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally. Reporter the u. S. Did not change its flight plans but the two sides have begun talks on setting up procedures for making sure their planes dont run into each other. That was not a problem today but it could become one if the russian aircraft attacked opposition groups supported by the u. S. Scott, now that the russian strikes have begun, both sides are in a hurry to get those talks moving, and it could happen as soon as tomorrow with a Video Conference between the two militaries. Pelley david martin at the pentagon, thanks. With unique insight into this well bring in michael morrell, former number two at the c. I. A. And Senior Security contributor for cbs news. Michael, how significant is this . Scott, this is of historical significance. This is the first time the russians have conducted combat operations in the middle east since the end of world war ii. Pelley what do you think russian president Vladimir Putin is up to . Theres lots of reasons here, scott, but i think they boil down to two. The first is that he is trying to prop up assad. Assad is weaker today than he has been since the fall of 2012, and putin is trying the prop him up. Why . Because putin really fears that if assad were to depart the scene, that there would be even more instability in syria, that isis could grow even more, perhaps even day care over damascus. He really believes that. The second reason, scott, is that russia in general, putin in particular want to be seen as Major Players on the global stage, and this gives that to putin, as well. Pelley has the Obama Administration been outmaneuvered by russia . You know, i think the real problem here, scott, is that what putin has done on the ground in syria has now made it more difficult to get to the only solution to the problem, and the only solution to the problem is a negotiated transfer of power from assad to something else. Thats been our strategy all along, so he is undercutting our strategy. Pelley michael morrell, former number two at the c. I. A. And Senior Security analyst for cbs news, michael, thank you so much. Youre welcome. Pelley and there is breaking news in washington tonight where members of the u. S. Secret service are accused in a scheme to retaliate against a republican congressman. Jeff pegues is on that story. Reporter as head of the House Oversight committee, congressman jason chafis has investigated congress by the secret service, including an incident in march, when agents acollegedly drove drunk on white house grounds. A department of Homeland SecurityInspector General report says in retaliation, some at the secret service sought to embarrass chafis by accessing his 2003 application to be an agent. His file was protected by the privacy act, but according to the report, assistant director ed lowery wrote in an email, some information that he might find embarrassing needs to get out. Days later it was leaked to the media. The report says at least 45 members of the secret service viewed the application. The Inspector General concluded the conduct was simply wrong. I dont trust them. I really dont trust them. Reporter chafis says the closure reflects deeper problems at the agency. If theyre doing this to me, who knows what else theyre doing. It really is scary. Reporter the assistant director who sent the email says he was just venting and did not want the information leaked. Scott, the director of the secret service, joe clancy, apologized to chafis and said he will take appropriate disciplinary action. Pelley jeff pegues reporting from washington. Jeff, thank you. Early today the state of georgia executed kelly gissendaner, turning aside pope francis plea for mercy. Gissendaner conspired to kill her husband in 1997. She sang Amazing Grace as the lethal drug was administered. The pope also asked oklahoma to spare murderer richard glossip. He did get a reprieve today because of questions about a new lethal injection drug. Also in oklahoma today, the tulsa county sheriff resigned after he was indicted. The charges stem from the Fatal Shooting of eric harris by reserve Deputy Robert bates last april. Bates, who says he meant to use his taser, is a friend of sheriff stanley glanz. The sheriff is accused of covering up a report that questioned whether bates was fit for duty. Today exxonmobil said it is selling its refinery in torrance, california. Its been shut since a tremendous explosion last february. Our anna werner has found that that disaster was merely a catastrophe. Look at the damage to this portion of the refinery. Reporter when part of this exxonmobil refinery blew up in february south of los angeles, smoke filled the sky and ash rained down on nearby neighborhoods. It was pretty scary. Reporter lorraine hardings family lives a mile from the plant and felt the blast, so strong it registered as a 1. 7 on the richter scale. I thought it was an earthquake because it shook and it was loud, a big boom. Reporter four workers were injured, but at the time, exxonmobil told residents there was no Health Danger to the community. But cbs news has learned it could have been much worse. We were really, really lucky. Reporter vanessa sutherland, the recently appointed head of the chemical safety board, the federal Agency Charged with investigating the accident, called it a near miss. I think it is of concern to us that we have a facility that had a near miss which i actually feel very lucky about. It could have been much more catastrophic. This picture tells it all. Look at. This. Reporter catastrophic, she says, because when the explosion happened, a piece of equipment weighing 80,000 pounds was sent flying nearly 100 feet. Sources say this photo submitted to federal investigators and obtained by cbs news shows that piece landed just a few feet from a tank containing a form of hydroflorek acid, a highly toxic chemical that if release canned form a cloud of toxic gas that can drift for miles, potentially causing thousands of injuries and even death. H. F. In our view and in my view is one of the most hazardous and deadly chemicals. In worstcase scenarios at deadly levels it causes asphyxiation because once inhaled it causes respiratory problems that build up fluid and you ultimately drown. Reporter more than 200,000 people live within three miles of the planted. In documents filed with the Environmental Protection agency, exxonmobil itself estimates in a worstcase scenario release of hydroflouric acid, all of them living within that area could be injured or even die. That does not sound reassuring to the Community Living around that plant. If i were in the community, i absolutely would be concerned. Reporter exxonmobil disputes the idea that was a risk in february, telling us they strongly disagree with any claim that there was a significant risk to the hydroflouric acid unit. The company would not to an oncamera interview and referred our questions about the risks of hydroflouric group to a industry group. Spokesman tupper hull. I think the Technology Employed in these refineries for all the Hazardous Materials used have proved to be very successful. Reporter what if the risks are managed and you still have an accident and people are killed, is it worth that risk . Im not going the answer answer that question. Sorry. Reporter last month there was a leak of hydroflouric acid at the same refinery. Exxonmobil says it was a small leak and had no impact on the community, but sutherland says the company is now resisting the agencys subpoenas for information about the february explosion. Why do you think they dont want you to have it . Well, generally my experience as a regulator and an enforcer, when someone doesnt want you to have records, its because they dont want you to see whats in it. Reporter strong words tonight from the federal government watchdog charged with investigating chemical accidents. Hydrofloric acid is used by nationwide. 75 had h. S. Related incidents or near misses within the past three years and 50 of those, scott, would have impacted a community. Pelley anna werner reporting tonight. Anna, thank you. There will be no shut down of the federal government. Facing a midnight deadline, Congress Approved a spending bill today. Republicans were fighting to end funding for planned parenthood, which provides abortions and other health services. The planned parenthood funding will stay. The bill will fund the government for only ten weeks. Why are some high schools dropping football and foul balls move elusive when the cbs evening news continues. Onward. Todays the day. Carpe diem. 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Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. The Health Care Law gives us powerful tools to fight it. Were cracking down on Medicare Fraud. To investigate it prosecute it and stop criminals our senior medicare patrol volunteers are teaching seniors across the country to stop, spot and report fraud you can help guard your Medicare Card dont give out your card number over the phone call to report any suspected fraud were cracking down on Medicare Fraud lets make medicare stronger for all of us pelley today the ncaa scored a big victory. A federal Appeals Court struck down a plan to Pay College Athletes as much as 5,000 a year on top of tuition, room and board. College football, of course, is bigger than ever, but don dahler tells us tonight that many high schools are dropping the sport. Reporter football runs through isaac piersons blood line. Both his father and brother played. But the sophomore chose a different field. My moms like, no, no, no, soccers the thing. She doesnt want me to get hurt, but soccer is something i really like. Reporter pearsons school also has a proud tradition, having gone to the state championship as early as 2010. There is no team this season because maplewood had a hard time finding enough players due to injuries and lack of interest. When you have low numbers of students in a school this size, youre drawing all the way from freshman to seniors. If we didnt have the size, that could have the effect of injuries. Reporter going against bigger teams. Absolutely that. Because difficulty for us. Reporter the number of High School Football players in the u. S. Is down by 25,000. Last year five players died, thats more deaths than in college, semipro and professional. Still, pearson miss the game. Football was my favorite sport. Even when we didnt do good in the game, we still had that fun experience with the football team. Reporter students at maplewood will still get to attend the annual homecoming game next month, but for the first time the sport will be soccer. Don dahler, cbs news, maplewood, missouri. Pelley nascars tony stewart makes a big announcement. Thats next. Trust number one doctor recommended dulcolax constipated . Use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief suppositories for relief in minutes and stool softeners for comfortable relief of hard stools. Dulcolax, designed for dependable relief you pay your Auto Insurance every month on the dot. Youre like the poster child for paying on time. And then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. No big deal. Until your Insurance Company jacks up your rates. You freak out. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . Hey insurance companies, news flash. Nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Pelley former nascar Champ Tony Stewart said today next year will be his last lap of sprint cup racing. Hell be 45, and he hasnt won a race in two years. Last year stewart hit and killed a driver who confronted him during a dirt track race. You cant help but feel bad for a fan at Yankee Stadium last night. First a foul pop went right through hi