U.S.

This Morning from CBS News, Nov. 24, 2014

By Dan Woo

November 24, 2014 / 7:32 AM EST / CBS News

Crumbling America

Our roads and bridges are crumbling, our airports are out of date and the vast majority of our seaports are in danger of becoming obsolete. Of the nearly 70,000 bridges in America, one out of every nine is now considered structurally deficient. It's all the result of decades of neglect. None of this is really in dispute. But as Steve Kroft reports, there is still no consensus on how to solve the problem or where to get the massive amounts of money needed to fix it.

From snow to floods

Mother Nature is not done with the Buffalo, New York area. Last week's record snowfall is giving way to wind, and rain and nearly 60 degree temperatures. The potential for flooding is so great that New York Governor Mario Cuomo has called in the National Guard to help prepare.

Ferguson waits

A grand jury is considering charges against whikte police officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown. The streets of Ferguson were quiet overnight, but that wasn't the case in the St. Louis neighborhood of Shaw. CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports from Clayton, Missouri, where state officials say they're ready for the public protests.

No direction

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks told Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation" that he was "concerned" about the forthcoming grand jury decision in the Brown shooting case because the prosecutor failed to act on previous complaints about the Ferguson, Missouri police and didn't give the jurors adequate instructions.

Nuclear deadline

In Vienna, Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's top diplomat were directly negotiating the deal on limiting Iran's nuclear program, with no advisers or even note-takers in the room, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan. Hammering out a deal is a major foreign policy goal for both President Obama and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani. The self-imposed Monday deadline is fast approaching. If they fail to reach a deal, Brennan says, it could tip the already-volatile Middle East toward a nuclear arms race.

Obama off the trail

It's easy to see how much a large, adoring crowd energizes President Obama outside of Washington, yet the 44th president indicated yesterday that he may not be spend much time campaigning for his potential successor in 2016.

Late election results

"Face the Nation" moderator Bob Schieffer reflected on who the real winners were in this month's midterm elections.

End the torment

Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 people last year at the Washington Navy Yard. He was eventually shot dead by police, but FBI agents later found a note in which Alexis claimed "ultra-low frequency" waves had attacked him for months. In an interview you'll only see on "CBS This Morning," CBS News correspondent Vicente Arenas speaks to his sister, Naomi Alexis, who is calling attention to the mental health problems that consumed her brother.

Cancer dread

For the estimated 1.6 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year, making it to the holidays can feel like a personal triumph and a huge blessing. However, for many cancer patients, the big family dinners and holiday parties that are part of the festive season can also come with an element of dread.

Long lost

This is the remarkable story of a group of volunteers who spend their own time and money quietly searching for long lost servicemen -- remarkable because of what they've discovered in recent years. They are doing it, they say, for the fallen and their families. And they focus on Palau, a Pacific island nation that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war 70 years ago, a place some pilots called "a forgotten corner of hell."

Future foods

Most folks really like food. Trouble is, we can't keep eating the way we're eating if we're going to keep breeding animals the way we're breeding animals. Raising the animals we like to eat requires a crazy amount of land, water and energy. Something will have to give, reports David Pogue for "Sunday Morning." Maybe we'll eat meat that's grown in a lab. Maybe we'll eat meat made from plants. And maybe we'll take a cue from Megan Miller, who makes things with flour made from ground-up bugs.

Dancing revolutionary

Alvin Ailey brought dance to the people. Now, 25 years after his death, he will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Obama. CBS News correspondent Vinita Nair reports on how he earned the honor.