>> pelley: tonight, could it be? the economy turning a corner? a third quarter of increasing growth, a debt deal in europe, and the dow is on pace for one of its best months in decades. anthony mason is on wall street. when your life is a lie, how do you explain that to your wife? ruth madoff tells "60 minutes" about the day bernie confessed to her. >> i was kind of paralyzed. bernie got up and said "i'm going back to the office." >> pelley: hundreds of railroad workers cash in on disability and then head to the golf course. sharyl attkisson says it may have cost a billion dollars. and a mystery under the sea. why do patients with paralysis seem to get better after diving.

dr. sanjay gupta reports. >> almost all the subjects got stronger after going diving. kind of completely blew us out of the water. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. if you were looking for the day the economy began to rise, today could be a contender. the government told us that growth accelerated in the third quarter-- and have a look at the trend. growth in the first quarter was 0.4%. in the second quarter, 1.3%. and today's number 2.5%. that's still weak, but there is a hint of momentum. earlier today, the europeans worked out a plan to contain their debt crisis and that sent markets surging. for october, the dow is up more

than 11%-- on track for its largest one-month percentage gain in 25 years which brings us to our favorite picture of the day: a man on a german trading floor. too much optimism in that face? maybe. 14 million americans are still out of work. so we turn for perspective to anthony mason at the new york stock exchange. anthony? >> reporter: that huge rally this month, scott, has pushed stocks into positive territory for the year. the 2.5% growth in g.d.p. shows the economy is still growing slowly, but at least it hasn't stalled. that's eased recession fears for the moment, but it hasn't erased them. the mood may be improving on wall street, but there's still nervousness on main street. in naples, florida, at the bellini on fifth restaurant, owner max furetta starts hiring for his peak season right about now. but the economic uncertainty

worries him. >> we are profitable and we are making money but we're also very cautious about hire any new personnel. >> reporter: consumer spending was surprisingly strong in the last quarter-- up 2.4%, the biggest jump since the end of last year. at ford, auto sales revved up 9% in september. >> i think sales are going to continue to increase. >> reporter: so c.e.o. alan mulally says ford plans to add 12,000 new jobs in engineering and manufacturing over the next four years. >> we're very pleased with the recovery. we like it to be more, but clearly we are recovering. >> reporter: retailers are forecasting a happier holiday season, projecting a 2.8% sales increase. that's better than the average for the past decade. with electronics and appliance giant best buy says they'll hiring 14,000 this year, half of last year. i've heard it said we're one

crisis away from a recession. do you think that's true? >> we're very vulnerable. >> reporter: economist mark zandi says confidence will have to improve before businesses hire again. >> our economy will be very fragile and if anything goes wrong we'll go back into recession. >> reporter: economy faces strong head winds-- the weak job market, the weak housing market and consumer confidence which bloomberg said today has sunk to the lowest level since the recession. >> pelley: anthony, i want to ask you about that european debt deal that the leaders of europe came up today. it forces european banks to take a 50% loss on greek debts, it strengthens an emergency bailout fund and it forces banks to keep more cash on hand. but i wonder, is that going to solve the problem? reporter: i think, scott, what it does is buys the europeans some time. there are still a lot of details to be worked out but this is at least finally a realistic framework for a solution. >> pelley: that gross domestic product number that we got today, the value of all the

goods and services in america, you've been analyzing that and you found out something remarkable. >> reporter: what we see now, scott, is that the economy actually has finally recovered. the gross domestic product has hit $13.3 trillion, that surpass it is previous peak before the recession back in 2007. now, at the bottom, g.d.p. sank to $12.6 trillion so technically the economy now has recovered. the job market, of course, is a different story. >> pelley: anthony, thank you very much. though the economy is growing, economists that we talke talkedo today said folks won't feel it until the growth rate hits something more like 4%. the economic collapse exposed the colossal fraud of bernie madoff. he's serving 150 years for swindling investors out of nearly $20 billion. his family has been in seclusion but in a story for "60 minutes," madoff's wife ruth tells morley

safer about the december day in 2008 when bernie confessed to her. >> i was kind of paralyzed. bernie got up and said "i'm going back to the office." consumer product safety commission was to. >> reporter: was he emotional in any way? >> i don't remember. >> reporter: apoll jettic in any way? >> yes. i'm sort of blind to it now. i'm not hedging here i simply don't remember every detail i was in such a state. >> reporter: later that day, that evening, you go to the office christmas party. >> he phoned me from the office and said "we have to go to the office christmas party." so i got myself together and went over there. we stayed a half hour and we just went home. and the next morning the f.b.i. was there to arrest him about 7:00 a.m. >> pelley: you can see the rest of morley's interview with

madoff's wife and his son sunday night on "60 minutes." in oakland, california, the police chief is promising a vigorous investigation into violent clashes there on tuesday night. anti-wall street protestors accused police of using excessive force. the confrontation left iraq war veteran scott olson with a fractured skull. but it's not clear how olson was injure or who was responsible. doctors today upgraded his condition to fair. there has been an increase in cross-border violence with a country that is supposed to be america's ally. a top u.s. general said today that american troops in afghanistan are increasingly coming under fire from across the border in pakistan. here's david martin. >> incoming! >> reporter: american outposts on the afghan side of the boarder have experienced a dramatic increase in mortar and rocket attacks launchd from inside pakistan.

>> the cross-border fires this year are over four times than they northbound the past few years. considerably higher. >> reporter: it's not just the increase that worries lieutenant general curtis scaparottity, commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, but the fact that some of the attacks are scaried out under the noses of the pakistani military which does nothing to stop them. >> we have seen indications inds where fires have originated from positions that are in close proximity to some pakistan outpost which is give us great concern. >> reporter: the attacks are in an area controlled by the ha connie network, a violent insurgent faction which is supposed by pakistan intelligence. it's a bustling double game in which, as secretary of state clinton explained, pakistan packs haqqani attacks on americans like this one last month on the u.s. embassy while at the same time setting up a secret meeting between the u.s. and the haqqanis. >> this was done in part because

i think the pakistanis hoped to be able to move the haqqani network towards some kind of peace negotiation and the answer was an attack on our embassy. >> reporter: last week, secretary of state clinton warned the pakistanis there would be a very big price to pay if they continue supporting terrorists. since then, a pentagon official says there have been no reports of cross-border shelling. >> pelley: david, thank you very much. four days have passed since that big earthquake that rocked turkey. the death toll is now 534. survival for anyone buried alive today seems incredible but it is not impossible. a rescue team from azerbaijan found that out today when they pulled an 18-year-old man alive from the debris. a college student had been trapped for 100 hours. he's said to be in good condition, one of 185 people that authorities say have been

found alive. and remember this rescue that we showed you on tuesday when a two-week-old baby girl and her mother were saved? today we saw the mother and child reunited at a hospital-- an image that gives comfort where comfort is scarce. we wondered how long people can survive, and the u.s. geological survey told us today that six days without food or water is about the limit. federal prosecutors call it a billion-dollar fraud to scam disability pensions. the part-time congress. the new house schedule means your congressman isn't likely to be overworked. and we go in search of the most typical human. the face that's one in seven billion when the "cbs evening news" continues.

introducing campbell's slow kettle style soups. extraordinary taste sensations, crafted from delicious combinations of premium ingredients. you'll savor every last spoonful. even if you don't use a spoon. new slow kettle soups from campbell's it's amazing what soup can do. i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game.

with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then? unless we eat later, then pill later? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now? aghh i've got heartburn in my head. [ male announcer ] stop the madness of treating frequent heartburn. it's simple with prilosec otc. one pill a day. twenty-four hours. zero heartburn. no heartburn in the first place. great. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military

are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. >> pelley: last week, we told you social security recipients are getting a raise tied to the inflation rate. well, today we hear that seniors will be paying more for medicare premiums next year. the government raised the basic monthly payment for part "b" to $99.90 and for most folks that's an a increase of about $3.50 a month. talk about cleaning up in retirement, though. 11 people have been charged in new york tonight in a massive disability scam in which railroad workers are accused of faking disabilities to fatten their pensions. the losses may be gigantic and

we asked sharyl attkisson to look into that. >> reporter: the suspects arraigned today in u.s. district court in manhattan are accused in a widespread fraud connected to the long island railroad, l.i.r.r . the scheme awarded disability payments to nearly every retired union worker who applied. >> employees in many cases after claiming to be too disabled to stand, sit, walk, or climb steps retired to lives of regular golf, tennis, biking and aerobics. >> reporter: the "new york times" first investigated in 2008 and videotaped supposedly disabled retirees enjoying golf, including former united transportation union official joseph rutigliano. prosecutors say another defendant played tennis and golfed 140 times in 2008 while collecting over $100,000 in

annual pension and disability payments. others were abserved shoveling heavy snow and riding a 400 mile bike tour around new york state. also under arrest are two doctors who allegedly made millions running disability fraud mills. the complaint says dr. peter ajemian recommended disability for 453 l.i.r.r. patients over four years and made $2.5 million in revenue from them. those patients got $90 million in disability benefits and are slated to get $210 million more in future payments. authorities estimate the ultimate cost to the railroad retirement board could be a billion dollars. the defendants will continue to get their disability until and unless they're found guilty. >> pelley: sharyl, thank you very much. our cbs news/"new york times" poll this week showed congressional job approval is at an all-time low-- 9%. well, this story won't help much. today the house of

representatives announced that it will be in session for just 109 days next year which, of course, is an election year. by comparison, the house met 127 times last year, 159 times in 2009. a new way to treat paralysis. can scuba diving help patients begin to regain their feeling? the results of a new study are next. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans...

but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

♪ [ female announcer ] mini™ meets berries. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats cereal with a touch of fruit in the middle. helloooooo fruit in the middle.

>> pelley: the f.d.a. is raising serious questions tonight about the safety of a popular birth control pill. it says the pill, called yaz, puts women at a 75% greater risk of blood clots than older forms of birth control. a new study may be giving hope to people with paralysis. researchers have found that patients had improved feeling and function after they had been scuba diving. we asked cnn's dr. sanjay gupta, a cbs news contributor, to show us the results. >> my family, my friends. >> reporter: cody unser seemed to have a story book childhood. >> i liked defense a lot. >> reporter: she was a natural athlete with a famous father-- former race car driver al unser, jr. it ended when she was 12. >> i went down to touch my left leg and it was numb. i looked to my mom and said "what's happening to me?" >> reporter: adds documented by "48 hours" in 1999, she was

diagnosed with transverse my lights, it's a disease that causes the immune system to attack the spinal cord. >> can you feel me tapping that? >> yes! >> reporter: she was paralyzed from the chest down. early on, one thing that gave her freedom from her wheelchair was scuba diving. now 24 years old... >> it's so liberating and so freeing down there, you know? my body just feels so... i don't know. i feel like i'm flying. >> reporter: but you also notice something else, right? about the scuba diving in terms of your own body? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: what else were you starting to notice? >> i was starting to notice some sensation in my legs. >> reporter: unser was so sure those sensations were from scuba, she convinced her neurologists at johns hopkins and kennedy krieger institute to study it. >> this is brand new. it has not been done and that's why there's no comparison. >> reporter: neurologists daniel becker and adam kaplin took unser along with ten paralyzed veterans on a four-day

dive trip to the cayman islands. all were tested for motor control and sensitive toy pinprick and touch before and after diving to depths of more than 60 feet, a depth where the pressure on the body is nearly triple the normal atmospheric pressure on the surface. >> almost all the subjects got stronger after going down there. and it kind of completely blew us out of the water. >> i thought this is kind of odd. and it lasted for about three weeks. it wasn't just in the water and then it went away as soon as i got up on the surface. >> reporter: at those depths, nitrogen builds up in the bloodstream. researchers say the leading theory is that nitrogen accumulation in the subjects' tissues as a result of repeated dives may increase levels of the chemical serotonin in their central nervous systems which might jump start nerves in the spine without input from the

brain. >> there could be a back door in to reactivated sort of circuitry that already exists in the spinal cord and you just have to be able to go back and find the right way to stimulate it to regain some function and reteach it how to work again. >> just throw it down. it will help create something that's much larger than myself. i would love to walk again. and, you know, put my feet in the sand. >> reporter: if results can be repeated in larger studies, researchers believe it could open up a whole new avenue of research for helping paralyzed patients regain function outside of things like electrical stimulation and stem cell transplants. this hopkins team believes cody may in her lifetime, scott, feel her legs and feel that sand in between her toes she talked about. >> pelley: sanjay, i'm curious. what do other neurologists think of this research? >> it's interesting. a lot of them were somewhat skeptical initially, thinking

scuba diving could cause a regain of function. now they recognize that it appears to be true, figuring out what's the delivery mechanism here. what is causing it and how do you replicate that? you're obviously not going to take people on scuba diving trip bus if there's something specific with the nitrogen, can you deliver that in a different way? that's the way they want to head with this. >> pelley: sanjay, thanks very much. >> thank you, scott. >> pelley: the human race is set to reach a milestone, which sent us in search of the most typical person on earth. sent us in search of the most typical person on earth. that's next. >> pelley: tonight, could it be? [ female announcer ] from an earache... to the flu. an accident... to asthma. a new heartbeat... to a heart condition. when you see your doctor, you don't face any medical issue alone. you do it together. at the american medical association,

we're committed to preserving that essential partnership between patients and their doctors. because when it comes to your health, you need someone you trust. the ama. protecting the relationship between patients and physicians. [ pneumatic wrench buzzing ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

♪ ♪ [ dennis ] allstate wants everyone to be protected on the road, whether you're an allstate customer or not. ♪ all you have to do is call. [ female announcer ] call allstate now and you'll get a free lifetime membership in good hands roadside assistance. [ dennis ] shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. yum. that's good. you've always loved the taste of classic campbell's soups. well, guess what? we're just getting warmed up. introducing campbell's slow kettle style soups. extraordinary taste sensations, crafted from delicious combinations of premium ingredients. you'll savor every last spoonful. even if you don't use a spoon. new slow kettle soups from campbell's it's amazing what soup can do.

>> pelley: the u.n. says the world's population will reach seven billion on monday, and this population is accelerating. from our first billion in 1804 to four billion in 1974 and past six billion two decades later. what are the most common characteristics of humans today? we sent mark strassmann to show us. >> reporter: hidden in this crowd is someone who best represents all seven billion human beings. >> what are the qualities or characteristics that make up each one of us? >> kaitlin yarnell's team at "national geographic" magazine searched population data for humanity's most common characteristics to create a profile of earth's most typical person. the "national geographic"

researchers found nine million people had the most in common. they overlay it had faces of 190,000 of them to create this image. meet earth's every man. >> he's han chinese, he's 28 years old. he is christian. he speaks mandarin. he does not have a car, does not have a bank account. you know, the reaction here among our staff was "hey, i've seen that guy." >> reporter: so we went look nicaragua guy. we called and e-mailed chinese american groups around the country for help and one of them led us to main street in queens, new york, and mu li. he arrived five months ago from chongqing, a southwest china megacity of 28 million people. li's working in new york as a reporter for the "people's daily," china's state newspaper. are you han chinese? >> yes. >> reporter: was mandarin your first language? >> yes. >> reporter: can you read? >> of course i can, yes. >> reporter: you have a lot of the qualities of the typical person.

>> reporter: li fits other criteria. he's right-handed, works in a service industry, lives in a city, owns a cell phone but no car. this is the photo. we showed him "national geographic"'s composite image. do you see yourself in that photograph? >> yes. >> reporter: but you're better looking than that. >> well, do you think so? (laughs). >> reporter: li's rein as earth's every man will s not >> reporter: li's rein as earth's every man will s not that long. earth's population could reach 20 billion people in 2026. by then the most typical human will be from india. mark strassmann, cbs news, new york. >> pelley: that's the face of the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night.

this is 9news now. the testimony wrapped up for the day in the brittany norwood murder trial. an audiotape of a police interview with norwood revealed details of the elaborate lies she tried to tell. andrea mccarren is joining us live from rockville. just when you think it can't get any stranger. >> reporter: derek, an interesting part of her lie. she told miss that the masked attackers sounded young and white and that they repeatedly used racial slurs while assaulting her. another long day of dramatic testimony fo