Chip Reid, Sandra Hughes, Dean Reynolds, Ben Tracy
xfdcb CBS-EVENING-NEWS-01
<Show: CBS EVENING NEWS>
<Date: October 27, 2009>
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<Time: 18:30>
<Tran: 102701cb.401>
<Type: SHOW>
<Head: EVENING NEWS for October 27, 2009, CBS>
<Sect: News; Domestic>
<Byline: Harry Smith, Mandy Clark, David Martin, Nancy Cordes,
Jeff Glor, Chip Reid, Sandra Hughes, Dean Reynolds, Ben Tracy>
<Spec: Politics; Policies; Government>
HARRY SMITH, CBS ANCHOR: Tonight, October has become the deadliest month yet for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. As bombings kill eight more Americans. And the U.S. diplomat resigns in protest saying he no longer sees the point of the war. I'm Harry Smith. Also tonight, the FAA revokes the licenses of the Northwest Airlines pilots who forgot to land their plane. Just the latest incident of a cockpit crew not paying attention. A teenager is gang raped at a California high school and police say at least 20 people were involved or watched. Why did no one help the victim. And this is it -- what was supposed to be Michael Jackson's comeback performance is instead his farewell.ANNOUNCER: This is the CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Couric.
SMITH: Good evening. Katie is on assignment. The last six months have seen a major shift in Afghanistan. U.S. forces are engaging the enemy more aggressively now, and more Americans are dying as a result. In fact, October has just become the deadliest month for U.S. troops since the war began in 2001. Eight Americans were killed today in two attacks in Kandahar province bringing the death toll for the month to at least 53. Mandy Clark is in Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANDY CLARK, CBS CORRESPONDENT: It's a tactic insurgents have used before to deadly affect. An American military convoy traveling northwest of Kandahar hit by a powerful roadside bomb. Insurgents then attacked with small arms fire. The ambush left seven American troops and their Afghan translator dead. In another attack, a roadside bomb left one American soldier dead, but U.S. commanders know that, at least for now, the only way to protect their troops is to keep fighting.
COL. WAYNE SHANKS, SPOKESPERSON, INTL. SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE: Our forces did suffer some casualties with that. But we also, you know, fought back with them and you'll see that I believe the forces out there are determined to complete this fight that we've started here.
CLARK: Today's deaths come on the heels of yesterday's heavy losses. 14 Americans died in two separate helicopter crashes. Four were killed after two Marine choppers collided in midair. Another ten Americans died when a Chinook helicopter went down after picking up soldiers from a pre- dawn raid. This recent spate of violence -- 22 deaths in 48 hours -- comes at a time of year when fighting in Afghanistan usually slows down as the falling snow closes off mountain passes. But an upcoming runoff election has the Taliban ignoring the harsh, cold season. They've promised more violence ahead of the November Seventh vote as the people of Afghanistan await President Obama's decision to send in more troops.
JEREMY SHAPIRO, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: If he's going to believe that Afghanistan is a mission that is worthwhile, he's going to have to accept that there could be days like this.
CLARK: One tactic the Obama administration will use, money. Tomorrow, the president will sign a bill into law that will pay Taliban fighters to switch sides and stop fighting U.S. forces. Mandy Clark, CBS News, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: The White House said today President Obama is almost finished gathering advice for a new strategy in Afghanistan. The major question is whether to send in thousands of additional troops. Meantime, David Martin reports the war has a new critic: a former State Department official.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MARTIN, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Charging the United States military presence in Afghanistan greatly contributes to the legitimacy and strategic message of the Taliban insurgency, Matthew Ho has become the first U.S. official to resign in protest over the Afghan war.
MATTHEW HOH: Basically I feel that our strategies in Afghanistan are not pursuing goals that are worthy of sacrificing our young men and women. We're spending the billions we're doing there.
MARTIN: Hoh is a former Marine who spent five months working for the State Department in Afghanistan and is by all accounts well respected. In his letter of resignation dated September Tenth he said Our forces, devoted and faithful, have been committed to conflict in an indefinite and unplanned manner that has become a cavalier, politically expedient, and Pollyannaish misadventure. One of his specific complaints is sending troops to man outposts in the remote valleys of Afghanistan.
HOH: I don't believe we should be conducting combat operations in valleys where the only reason those people are fighting us is because we're occupying them.
MARTIN: Often located on valley floor, surrounded by mountains, and able to be re-supplied only by helicopter, those outposts are frequently attacked by Taliban from the high ground. Helicopter gun ships have to be called in to repulse the attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in now with a missile.
MARTIN: This month, U.S. troops have pulled out of a half dozen outposts in eastern Afghanistan. The withdrawals were ordered by Major General Curtis Scaparrotti who told CBS News it freed up hundreds of soldiers tied down defending terrain where many of the villagers just wanted to be left alone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN: Every time the U.S. abandons an outpost, it's a propaganda victory for the Taliban who claim they chased the Americans out. Harry?
SMITH: David Martin at the Pentagon tonight. Thanks. Iraqi authorities today released new security camera video of Sunday's twin suicide bombings in Baghdad. The bombs rocked two government ministries killing at least 155 people. A group linked to al-Qaeda has now claimed responsibility saying it targeted the dens of infidelity. Among the victims were 28 children from a daycare center in one of the buildings.
Now to the Northwest Airlines pilots who forgot to land their plane in Minneapolis. The FAA today revoked the licenses of the 53-year-old captain, Timothy Cheney, and the 54-year-old first officer, Richard Cole, for violating federal regulations including failure to comply with air traffic control instructions. Nancy Cordes reports this case puts the spotlight on an aviation danger: distracted pilots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY CORDES, CBS CORRESPONDENT: The FAA says it took such harsh and rapid action because the Northwest pilots acted carelessly and recklessly. Behavior that has a history of deadly consequences. In 1988, a Delta pilot was chatting up a flight attendant as he prepared to take off from Dallas.
PILOT: I forgot to discuss about the dating habits of our flight attendants so we could get it on the recorder, you know. In case we crash then the media would have some kind of a juicy tidbit.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Oh, is that right?
CORDES: Distracted, the crew did not properly position the wing flaps.
PILOT: We're not gonna make it.
CORDES: The plane crashed on takeoff, killing 14. In 1972, all three cockpit crew members on an Eastern Airlines flight became engrossed with a landing gear warning and failed to notice they were descending. The L-1011 crashed into the Florida, Everglades, killing 99.
And this year, Colgan Air Flight 3407 went down after the pilots, talking shop, didn't realize their plane was going too slow on final approach to Buffalo. Their chatter violated the FAA's sterile cockpit rule which forbids extraneous conversations below 10,000 feet.
Above 10,000 feet there is no rule, and that's where pilots like the Northwest crew can get distracted even more easily.
PETER GOELZ, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, NTSB: In these planes, the fly-by-wire planes they literally fly themselves and for long flights, it can be very boring. You're sitting there, the plane's doing what it's supposed to do. You can drift. And that's a real challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORDES: The two Northwest pilots now have ten days to appeal the FAA's decision and they probably will. After all, if they lose their licenses, they lose their livelihoods. Harry?
SMITH: Nancy Cordes in Washington tonight. Thanks. Now to the H1N1 flu. The White House said today President Obama's daughters were among the students to get the vaccine last week. The president and the first lady will wait because they are not in a high-risk group.
Meanwhile, the CDC said today it is - its supply of vaccine is growing from about 14 million doses last Wednesday to about 16 million on Friday. And now it's up to nearly 22.5 million. Still not enough to meet the demand. With lines stretching out the doors of health clinics, Jeff Glor takes a look at the system that decides who gets the vaccine and who does not.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look up, look up a little, please.
JEFF GLOR, CBS CORRESPONDENT: In Middlesex County New Jersey, six-year-old Sara Stillitano is finally getting her H1N1 vaccine via nasal spray. Dad is relieved.
PAUL STILLITANO, SARA'S FATHER: We decided we wanted to do this. So we've been -- we were searching for some time for the vaccine and waiting for it to come in.
GLOR: This county run public health clinic represents the end of what's so far been a sparse and slow-moving supply chain.
(on camera): Are you surprised at how slowly the vaccine is coming out?
DAVID PAPI, MIDDLESEX COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH DEPT.: I am surprised that if we had a large amount of vaccine than I could run a more -a larger regional clinic.
GLOR (voice over): The beginning of that supply chain is when the CDC is told everyday how much vaccine is available. News that comes from McKesson, the massive health care company charged with national distribution. The CDC plugs that information into a computer program that determines how much can be given to each individual state. Distribution based entirely on population, not on the spread of the illness. As for the states, such as New Jersey ...
DR. TINA TAN, STATE EPIDEMIOLOGIST, NJ DEPT. OF HEALTH: The CDC provides us on a daily basis the actual number, the balance of our doses that are available to us.
GLOR: New Jersey then distributes vaccine to its 21 counties based on their populations. So far, Middlesex County has ordered 250,000 doses of vaccine for its 25 towns and 800,000 people. They've received only 10,000. Once at the county level, there is no magic formula. Some of those doses are given out at public clinics by appointment only.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Public health department, (inaudible) speaking. How can I help you?
GLOR: This clinic is already booked into December. Some doses have been earmarked for schools. Middlesex has 9,000 students but will only get 500 doses to begin with. Which has many parents wondering ...
(on camera): How do you decide who gets those doses?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. At this point, what we're going we're going to be starting with our elementary schools.
Does this get better?
PAPI: It will get better. It will get better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GLOR: The county is hoping that all students who want vaccinations here get vaccinated by Christmas break. That is not ideal, but every county across the country is dealing with what they've been given. Harry?
SMITH: Jeff Glor in the garden state tonight. Thanks. The flu is just one of the many problems facing the Obama administration today as the president's 40th week in office comes to an end. Here's chief White House correspondent Chip Reid.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIP REID, CBS CORRESPONDENT: On Capitol Hill today, the president's hopes for a health reform public option took a potentially lethal one-two punch.
SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE, (R ), MAINE: I think it's regrettable.
REID: First, Senator Olympia Snowe, the only hope for Republican support, said she'll vote no if the Democrats' new public option compromise, which would allow states to opt out, is included in the bill.
SNOWE: And I think it sends a terrible message that we're no longer interested in working with Republicans.
REID: A short time late, the second blow was delivered by independent senator Joe Lieberman.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, (I), CONNECTICUT: Such a government-run health insurance company will be bad for our country.
REID: Those two No votes would make it all but impossible for the president to get the 60 Senate votes he needs to pass a public option and could jeopardize the entire health reform effort. If that's not enough trouble for one day, the president was in Norfolk, Virginia, today, campaigning for Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Let's be honest. This is going to be a tough race.
REID: Tough? The race may be closer to hopeless, according to some analysts who say Deeds, who's trailing by 11 points, is a weak candidate. But it's the president who will get a lot of the blame.
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: The magic is over and the honeymoon is dead. I think that's what -- at least the election in Virginia will show.
REID: It was just a year ago that Mr. Obama changed the political landscape here. The first Democratic presidential candidate to win Virginia since 1964.
OBAMA: But I know Virginia's ready to bring about change in America.
REID: Now that change could be a shift back to the Republicans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
REID: Democrats are also in danger of losing the race for governor in New Jersey next week. The president has campaigned aggressively in that race. If they lose both in New Jersey and Virginia, you can bet the big question the next morning will be What happened to President Obama's political magic? Harry?
SMITH: Chip Reid at the White House. Thanks. Coming up next on the CBS EVENING NEWS, a teenager gang raped. The police say a crowd watched. And no one tried to help her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: In northern California police are looking for more suspects in a brutal attack on a teenage girl. They say she was gang-raped while a crowd looked on and did nothing. It happened in Richmond, California. CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA HUGHES, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Classes were back in session at Richmond High School in San Francisco's East Bay with counselors available for students to talk about Saturday night's horrific crime. The gang rape on campus of a 15-year-old student who had just left the homecoming dance. The victim was airlifted to a local hospital after being beaten, robbed, and raped. This 19-year-old former student and a 15-year-old current student have been arrested, but more arrests are expected soon.
LT. MARK GAGAN, RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA POLICE DEPT.: That's multiple offenders, multiple people raping our victim over a prolonged period.
HUGHES: What makes this crime so shocking is that police say at least 20 people were either involved in the rape or stood and watched the crime without going for help.
GAGAN: These are witnesses that are actually completely encouraging and allowing the behavior to continue.
HUGHES: For those who watched and did nothing, it may be morally reprehensible, but it's not illegal.
TRENT COPELAND, RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA LEGAL CONSULTANT: Although this is a very difficult crime to hear about, the fact is that California law does not impose an affirmative obligation on anyone to do anything when you're watching a crime.
HUGHES: Richmond High School has a 69 percent truancy rate and is in a school district that had 19 student murders last year. Fights at Richmond High School have been posted on YouTube and a van was set on fire on the football field's new artificial turf. An investigation by KPIX TV last year found only a handful of the 16 security cameras in the school were working. On Friday, there were four Richmond police officers on duty at the dance, but the security guards patrolling the grounds were released at nine p.m., a half hour before the victim left the dance.
MARIN TRUJILLO, CONTRA COSTA CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT: It was an isolated event after a homecoming dance at Richmond High. The dance itself was a successful event.
HUGHES: The police are now searching for cell phone video that may have been recorded by onlookers. Tomorrow, the suspects are expected in court for arraignment. Sandra Hughes, CBS News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: When we come back, the U.S. carmaker that is beating the foreign companies at their own game.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: U.S. automakers do not have the best reputation, but today,
Consumer Reports said one of them -- Ford -- is now showing world class reliability. 46 of 51 Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln vehicles --that's 90 percent -- have average or better-than-average reliability. So how did Ford get back on the right road? Here's the national correspondent Dean Reynolds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN REYNOLDS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: At Joyce Ford in Chicago, owner Maureen Joyce has been telling customers her cars are better than the competition. And now, thanks to the positive ratings from Consumer Reports , she has the data to back it up.
MAUREEN JOYCE, OWNER, JOYCE FORD: Ford has been stepping up their game for years. And Consumer Reports proves that.
REYNOLDS: In their nationwide owners' survey involving 1.4 million vehicles, the magazine said Ford is pulling away from its domestic competition, with its prediction that 90 percent of Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln models will have average or better-than-average reliability in 2010. By contrast, 44 percent of GM models rated that well while only 38 percent of Chrysler models did. Ford doesn't expect to turn a profit until 2011, but it's gaining ground on its Japanese competitors, according to
Consumer Reports where the Ford Fusion is now seen as more dependable than Honda's Accord and Toyota's Camry.
JONATHAN LINKOV, MANAGING EDITOR, CONSUMER REPORTS : While Japanese automakers are doing well, the real big news in this is that Ford has done very well over the last three years and continues to do so.
REYNOLDS: However well its cars may hold up, Ford still has to overcome truckloads of public skepticism.
JOE WIESENFELDER, SENIOR EDITOR, CARS.COM: They have to convince consumers that they make good, reliable cars. And that is in some ways harder than making good reliable cars. It takes a long time.
REYNOLDS: Back at her Ford show room, Maureen Joyce knows all about that.
(on camera): Do you expect to encounter disbelief?
JOYCE: Yes.
REYNOLDS (voice over): Besides, success could bring problems. A number of union locals have rejected a deal struck by their national union with the automaker, arguing that Ford's relative success makes further concessions unwarranted. And you can see that success in dealer lots. If you want a Ford Fusion hybrid these days, you'll have to wait eight weeks to get one. Dean Reynolds, CBS News, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Energy was on President Obama's mind today during a visit to America's largest solar power plant in Florida. The president announced plans to spend more than $3 billion of stimulus money to modernize the nation's power grid. Back at the White House, a pink ribbon 30 feet long hangs from the North Portico to mark breast cancer awareness month and remind women to get screened. You may recall two first ladies are breast cancer survivors -- Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan. Coming up next ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON: Why, why, tell them that it's human nature ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The world premier of This is It, now serving as Michael Jackson's fair well tour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: The concert series was planned to re-crown the king of pop. 50 sold-out shows in London. But all that changed when Michael Jackson died. Tonight, a documentary of his rehearsals opens and for adoring fans, Ben Tracy tells us this is it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the moment. This is it.
BEN TRACY, CBS CORRESPONDENT: This is how Michael Jackson's comeback would have looked.
That show is now on screen instead of on stage. But fans are treating it like a concert, buying tickets a month ago and arriving hours before the red carpet premiere in Los Angeles tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could not sleep last night. Could not sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I expect to be crying a lot.
TRACY: The movie is debuting in 97 countries, shown on about 15,000 screens. Here in the U.S., at least 1600 showings are already sold out.
The 111 minute movie comes from more than 100 hours of footage of Jackson's final rehearsals.
JACKSON: Let's do it one more time.
KENNY ORTEGA, DIRECTOR, MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT: And that's the special, that's the sacred, that's the last documentation of Michael Jackson in his last theatrical work and final creative process.
JACKSON: That's a cool move.
TRACY: Jackson appears in total control.
JACKSON: I've got to cue that. I've got to cue that.
TRACY: His voice strikingly similar to his '80s Heyday.
Sony paid $60 million for the film rights. $54 million goes to Jackson's estate which has made other merchandising deals worth an additional $45 million. On top of that, since his death, Jackson has sold 5.5 million albums and more than 9.3 million song downloads.
After the premier here in Los Angeles, the film is scheduled to run for just two weeks, but some industry analysts believe it could make more than $100 million, making it the biggest concert film of all time.
For Jackson's fans, it's a chance to remember him as he was. But there is no escaping the reality that they are his final audience. Ben Tracy, CBS News, Los Angeles.
JACKSON: Hold for applause to fade out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: And that's the CBS EVENING NEWS. Katie will be back tomorrow. I'm Harry Smith. I'll see you in the morning on the Early Show. Good night.
END
Content and programming Copyright MMVIII CBS Broadcasting Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC , which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.