up, desperate to save their homes. waiting all night to refinance. but what happened to the federal program that was supposed to help? the case of tyler clementi, just one example of the torment gay, lesbian, and transgendered teens sometimes face in private and in public. and sister act. how one new york nun is helping ex-con and their kids get a fresh start. captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> couric: good evening, everyone. the east coast has been taking a real beating, from a huge wind and rainstorm. this is the system, including what's left of tropical storm nicole moving through the northeast tonight. and it's been shattering rainfall records. since wednesday, the storm has overwhelmed rivers and roadways with rain totaling more than a

foot in some places, nearly two feet in others. and the death toll is also climbing. we have two reports tonight, first dean reynolds in carolina beach, north carolina. and, dean, north carolina has really been hit hard by this storm. >> reporter: that's true, katie. the rain has stopped in north carolina, but not before more than 103 people in three counties needed rescue. this morning, rescuers were busy pulling the elderly and infirm away from north carolina's rising cache river and other waterways. examples of how unpredictable the situation here is. >> we always worry about it down near. >> reporter: near the outer banks, a charter let hydroplaned off a runway and wound up in a river. all aboard survived. yet there are now seven confirmed weather-related fatalities in north carolina. five yesterday and two today. and in pennsylvania, a woman motorist died when her car slid off the road this morning. in king of prussia,

pennsylvania, vehicles took on water and rescuers used rafts. near philadelphia, they needed second-story evacuations because the first was underwater. in d.c. and maryland, most of the 30,000 who lost power had it back this afternoon, but the worst is not over. >> we don't know exactly when we're going to be completely out of harm's way. >> reporter: now, the good news is that the deluge was concentrated on the eastern sea board, so the rain water is mostly running off into the sea and not further threatening areas inland. katie? >> couric: all right. dean reynolds in carolina beach, north carolina. thanks very much, dean. this storm's specialty has been sudden heavy downpours and as it moved north today, so did the flood warnings and watches from virginia up to vermont. seth doane now on the impact of the storm here in the northeast. >> reporter: as the powerful storm pushed north today, it pounded cities in its path. seven inches of rain fell in parts of new jersey, turning

streets into streams. officials say they responded to 170 roadway incidents and wind knocked down power lines. at one point, 21,000 people lost electricity. >> our early warning sirens were going off indicating that the river was coming up. >> reporter: even passable roads were treacherous with some motorists caught in rushing water. and the commute in new york city slowed to a crawl. >> lot of traffic. lot of congestion. i was getting aggravated. >> reporter: on long island, even school kids were temporarily stranded. across parts of the northeast, over 95,000 customers lost power at the height of the storm. and in vermont, at least six rivers or creeks were at flood stage or forecast to overflow. the rain is on and off here in boston. now, some of the areas that were hardest hit by heavy rain were actually under a draught watch just a couple of days ago. not anymore.

katie? >> couric: and it's definitely on your camera lens as well. seth doane in boston. thanks, seth. then there is the avalanche. the avalanche of foreclosures forcing americans out of their homes. today, bank of america became the latest lender to announce a moratorium on repossessions. the bank is going back to check whether it rushed foreclosure documents through for thousands of homeowners without verifying the information. meanwhile, in los angeles, homeowners have been lined up for hours for a chance to refinance and avoid foreclosure. bill whit scher there. bill, it's a mob scene there and that in and of itself is heartbreaking. >> reporter: it is indeed, katie. though the recession has been declared over, this convention center is a vivid reminder that many americans are suffering in this economy. many people here have lost their jobs and all of them here fear losing their houses. when miriam castro lost her job with the l.a. school system, the

family fell behind on their mortgage. they're about to lose the house they bought two years ago. >> at this point, we're out of places to turn and people to go to for help. >> reporter: they came here desperate for help. like the 10,000 people who came streaming through these doors today and the hundreds of others who slept here overnight. >> is your property up for auction right now? >> reporter: naca, the neighborhood assistance corporation of america, is putting lenders and borrowers, bankers and homeowners face to face at these tables to negotiate lower mortgage payments. like 80% of these people, the castros found help. >> they've been able to help us. they've been able to give us... if everything goes well, we'll be able to save almost $900 on our mortgage. >> reporter: the obama administration's home affordable modification program, or hamp, also designed to reduce mortgage payments, has not. the government says more than three million homeowners qualify for federal help. but only 468,000, about 15%,

have actually gotten their mortgages permanently modified and their payments reduced. so how would you describe the government program? >> as an absolute failure. >> reporter: bruce marks founded naca 22 years ago. >> president obama, who he's doing is pleading, begging, and bribing these banks and what the banks are doing is they're spitting in the taxpayers' face. >> reporter: unlike the obama administration, this nonprofit organization gets binding pledges from banks to negotiate in good faith and try to find a workable solution. that's why 31,000 people are expected to come to these tables before they fold up monday night. katie? >> couric: bill whitaker in los angeles. thank you, bill. for the u.s. auto industry, another green light on the road to recovery. detroit's big three posted big gains in sales last month compared to a year earlier. g.m. up 11%, ford 46%. and chrysler sales soared a whopping 61%. at the white house today,

president obama made what he called the least suspenseful announcement of all time: that chief of staff rahm emanuel is leaving. he's going back to chicago to run for mayor. emanuel, known for his take-no-prisoners style and salty language joked that he taught the president some new words and how to use them in assorted combinations. but then the hard-nosed advisor showed his softer side. >> both my parents raised me to give something back to the country and the community that has given us so much. and i want to thank you for the opportunity to repay in a small portion of the blessings that country has given my family. >> couric: the president introduced pete rouse as his interim chief of staff, the gate keeper who decides who gets in to see mr. obama and who doesn't. the rouse style is work-to-work quietly behind the scenes. as the president put it "pete has never seen a microphone or t.v. camera that he likes."

in other news, the suicide of a rutgers university student this week has focused new attention on a national problem: teenagers being mocked and bull lead over their sexuality, sometimes on the internet. here's our chief national correspondent byron pitts. >> reporter: at rutgers today, friends, classmates and strangers alike remembered tyler clementi at this makeshift memorial. >> it's horrible and upsetting. >> reporter: cbs news obtained this video of the 18-year-old college freshman doing what all who knew him say he did best. prosecutors are now looking into new charges, stating "we will be making every effort to assess whether bias played a role." clementi's roommate dharun ravi and classmate molly weei already face invasion of privacy charges. the two freshmen allegedly streamed live video on the internet of clementi being intimate with another man. meantime, more online postings

believed to have been written by clementi have emerged. this one suggests he found out his roommate was spying on him. >> reporter: clementi reportedly went to his resident advisor for help. the school had no comment. the suicide of this one new jersey college student has triggered an avalanche of emotions and reactions. headlines from around the world. celebrities weighing in. >> this needs to be a wakeup call to everyone. >> reporter: families have been down this road before. >> i just found him on july 9 in his room dead. >> reporter: tammy aaberg of minnesota, her 15-year-old son justin, one of at least five teenagers nationwide to commit suicide in recent months, all victims of gay bashing. >> these kids are just hate... they just hate themselves. i mean, they literally feel like

they want to die. >> reporter: anti-bullying advocates like jodi blanko say teens are using social networking as a tool and a weapon. >> today kids have no escape with the the internet. they are haunted in their homes. >> reporter: jesse tauber know it is torment. born female, this 16-year-old now lives as a boy with his family's support. you thought about suicide. >> i have thought about suicide. >> reporter: how were you able to walk yourself back? >> it was really those people who were like it's gonna get better. it's gonna get better." >> reporter: it was a painful journey even without getting harassed online. as for clementi's family, they've asked for privacy as they make funeral arrangements. this was to have been a joyous weekend for tyler clementi as he was scheduled to perform with the rutgers symphony for the very first time. byron pitts, cbs news, new york. >> couric: privacy may be on the endangered list in the internet age. we asked our followers on

facebook and twitter if the web is killing privacy. >> couric: late this afternoon, i spoke with jeff jarvis, a journalism professor who writes about the impact of technology. is there anything young people can learn from this incident? is this a teachable moment for them? >> yes, it is simply. somethat that you do that you think is funny or harmless or just the internet or cool you must think of the impact. and when you share something, when it gets out there with the world, you're sharing it permanently. privacy is really an ethic.

it's an ethic of saying if i know something about you that you've told me, the responsibility about what to do with that now rests with me. and if i abuse that, i've hurt you. i've hurt your feelings or i've hurt you in some other way. that's the lesson here. it's always been the lesson. privacy and publicness are still the same as they've always been but, yes, young people have to know that when they do something if it's going to hurt someone they will not be able to run away from it. >> couric: if you'd like to voice your opinion on this issue, you can go to our web site at cbsnews.com. and still ahead here on the "cbs evening news," a nun on a mission to save souls lost behind prison bars and lift spirits, too. but up next, this terror attack in india was a wakeup call to the world. what police are doing to make sure it doesn't happen here. [ male announcer ] if you have type 2 diabetes, you struggle to control your blood sugar.

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meanwhile, osama bin laden is out with a new audiotape expressing concern for pakistan's flood victims and urging muslims to create a new agency to deal with natural disasters. and counterterrorism officials believe bin laden was involved in the latest terror plot that caused so much anxiety this week in europe. officials say that plot, which was disrupted at an early stage, was patterned on the commando-style attack in mumbai, india, two years ago. since then, the new york city police department has revamped its antiterrorist training to try to prevent that kind of attack here. terry mccarthy got a close-up look. >> reporter: the mumbai attack-- called india's 9/11-- killed 172 people. ten men armed with little more than automatic weapons and grenades terrorized an entire city for 60 hours. 8,000 miles away, it also rang alarm bells in the new york police department where commissioner ray kelly knows his

city could be next. >> new york is the top of the terrorist target list. that's our operating premise. >> reporter: as the attacks were still going on, the new york police department sent three officers to mumbai. >> back in this new york police department command post, lieutenant kevin york e began studying the intelligence. >> this is an effective, simple and easy-to-copy tactic. >> reporter: since 9/11, the n.y.p.d., alone in other police departments, has posted officers in 11 cities overseas. their job: rush to the scene of any terrorist attack-- like madrid in 2004-- and see what lessons they can learn to protect new york city. >> we changed our deployment around the train stations almost instantly based upon that attack. >> reporter: same day? >> same day. within hours. >> reporter: mumbai revealed a whole new set of challenges. with commando-style terrorists, so-called active shooters simultaneously attacking multiple locations, overwhelming

local police. >> the new york police department prides itself on its firearms restraint. this forces them to rethink that and be willing to use deadly force. >> reporter: one of the key lesson it is new york police learned was to move quickly and aggressively against any active shooter type attackment for that reason, they're constantly deploying their rapid response teams without any advance warning all over the city of new york. since mumbai, the n.y.p.d. has trained to deal with multiple attacks at the same time. and the cops can now quickly access building plans for hotels and other soft targets, something the mumbai police lacked, causing delays and more casualties. the n.y.p.d. fully expects terrorists to copy the mumbai attacks elsewhere. their job is to make it as difficult as possible to stage any such attack here. terry mccarthy, cbs news, new york. >> couric: tonight we're learning about a shocking medical experiment that was kept secret for six decades.

scientists working for the u.s. government deliberately infected prisoners and mental patients in guatemala with syphilis and gonorrhea. it was meant to test the effectiveness of penicillin as a treatment. today, the u.s. government apologized to guatemala. the scientists involved were also behind the infamous us the tuskegee experiment in alabama. in that case, african american men who had syphilis were monitored but not told they had it or given treatment. we'll be right back. can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications, and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain,

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>> couric: if you're like a lot of travelers, you barely look up when the flight attendants go through the safety demonstration before takeoff. a philippine airline figured it was time to spice things up. ♪ each seat is provided by with a seat belt to fasten push hands together ♪ >> reporter: they mix in lady gaga, a little katie kerr perry. the flight attendants do a shimmy with the seat belts and now apparently the passengers are paying attention. one of the most prolific writers and producers in television has died, stephen j. cannell. ♪ the series he created could fill a "tv guide," nearly 40 in all, including "the a team" "the rockford files" and "21 jump street." and who could remember his

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newspaper this is the feast day of st. theresa, the 19th

century french nun whose motto was "do little things with great love." we end tonight with a living example of that, an american nun also named theresa. she helps little children with great love. here's tracy smith with tonight's "american spirit." >> reporter: there are nuns who live in cloistered solitude. sister theresa fitzgerald... ♪ the itsy bitsy spider... >> reporter: .. . isn't one of them. this is her calling working with children who, for much of their early lives, only saw their moms during visiting hours at a jail. >> i was just moved to think that a child was ripped apart from a mother at any point in time. i realized that the mothers just needed a chance. >> reporter: our children, that's "hour," meets moms in some of the toughest scales in new york. they offer women a fresh start when they get out. >> no woman comes out of prison and says "gee i really want toes me up." they just don't have the skills and they have to learn the

skills. >> reporter: on one block in queens, fitzgerald... or sister tee srvetiona, as she's called, provides free housing and day care for 45 families plus thrift stores where former inmates can work and shop. >> we take everything either here for clothing or bling or anything else... >> reporter: does you just use the word bling? >> i did! they love it. >> reporter: next door there's computer training and job placement. when mia savage was convicted of felony assault, she lost custody of her sons. hour children is helping her go to college with hopes of getting her boys back. >> it will happen. it will, it will. >> reporter: one of the main goals is making sure the women don't end up back behind bars. in new york state, more than 30% of female ex-convicts get arrested again. but hour children's rate is only 4%. take kelly. three years ago she was in ryker's and seven months pregnant. >> i was i guess what you would call a crackhead. >> reporter: now she runs a mentoring program and says she's

a good mom thanks to sister teesa. >> i want people to admire me and i want to help people the way she helped me. >> >> reporter: i think some people might find it strange, the nun hanging out with the female crickets. >> (laughs) we're a match made in even! are you kidding? >> reporter: ex-cons and a woman with conviction putting children first by giving their moms a second chance. tracy smith, cbs news, new york. >> couric: and that is the "cbs evening news" for tonight. i'm katie couric. thanks for watching this week. see you back here on monday. until then, have a great weekend. good night.