News

In the old days people might have turned to the government or to charities such as churches for help; today the first place many people seem to turn to is GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing website, where anyone can appeal to the public to contribute money for pretty much anything – medical bills, disaster relief, funeral expenses, acts of kindness. "Sunday Morning" Contributor David Pogue examines the good will, and occasional fraud, on crowdsourcing sites, and looks at the economics of online charity.

In 1223, in Italy, St. Francis of Assisi created the very first Nativity scene as we know it, to inspire the local townspeople. Meant to mark the birth of Jesus, each crèche is an artistic expression of personal faith. Correspondent Nikki Battiste talks with professor Eric Barreto of the Princeton Theological Seminary about the history of Nativities, and visits the University of Dayton's Marian Library collection of Nativities from around the world. She also checks out a living Nativity scene in Mount Laurel, N.J.

In a disturbing twist in the murder of Texas mom Heidi Broussard, the 33-year-old's close friend Magen Fieramusca was charged with two counts of kidnapping. Broussard and her three-week-old daughter Margot disappeared on December 12. The baby was found alive. Investigators say more charges could be coming as they work to determine who killed Broussard and left her in the trunk of the Fieramuscas' car. Authorities reportedly say Fieramusca had acted like she was expecting a child at the same time as Broussard, as part of a plot to kidnap baby Margot. Mireya Villarreal reports.

There are big storms in the West and the Southeast Monday morning, which is bad news for a record number of more than 115 million Americans expected to travel by car, train or plane over the holidays. Rain and flash flooding in South Florida shut down Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport overnight. One traveler said driving through the flooding was like "looking out a boat cabin window." The TSA estimates 42 million people will pass through its security checkpoints over the holidays, nearly 4% more than last year. Mola Lenghi reports.

In our series The 2020's, we're exploring the big topics that will dominate the conversation in the next decade. In Monday’s installment, our focus is on climate change. Over the last 10 years, sea levels have risen at an alarming rate. Biodiversity is reportedly declining faster than at any time in human history, and millions of people have been affected by extreme weather, like hurricanes and floods. CBS News meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli discusses what we can expect over the next decade.