CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-11-21

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

[0:02] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:04] Just ahead, auto giant GM announces it

[0:07] will cut 30,000 jobs over the next 2

[0:11] years. Anthony Mason will have details

[0:13] and analysis. Also, the long road back.

[0:17] The Mississippi Gulf Coast is having a

[0:19] hard time recovering from Katrina in the

[0:22] short term. We report on why the long

[0:25] term is looking a little better. And you

[0:28] could call him a modern-day Robin Hood.

[0:30] You'll meet a pharmacist who's selling

[0:32] drugs to his customers near cost. It's

[0:35] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:37] Online Edition.

[0:40] Well, General Motors made it official

[0:42] today it will eliminate 30,000 jobs over

[0:46] the next two years. That's 9% of its

[0:48] North American workforce and 5,000 more

[0:52] than the previous estimate. That means

[0:54] closing plants from Georgia through

[0:56] Tennessee. A partial closing there to

[0:59] Oklahoma, Ohio, and onto Michigan and

[1:02] into Canada. The company's trying to

[1:04] make money again after a year that has

[1:06] seen $4 billion in losses. Here's

[1:09] Anthony Mason.

[1:11] >> The world's biggest automaker will be

[1:13] getting smaller.

[1:14] >> This is tough medicine for us, and I

[1:16] think it's tough medicine for everybody

[1:17] involved with their company. General

[1:19] Motors CEO Rick Wagner told his

[1:21] employees today the company's hourly

[1:23] workforce will be cut by almost a

[1:24] quarter over the next three years as GM

[1:27] tries to stop sliding sales and soaring

[1:29] losses.

[1:30] >> You can't cost cut your way to

[1:32] profitability in this business or any

[1:34] other business. At some point, people

[1:35] need to buy your products.

[1:37] >> Chabachetta, editor-inchief of Car and

[1:39] Driver magazine, says soaring gas prices

[1:41] have driven customers away from GM's

[1:43] most profitable products, the bigger

[1:45] SUVs. GM's share of the US market fell

[1:49] 3% over the past year, and the company

[1:51] has too many plants for the number of

[1:53] cars it's now selling.

[1:55] >> If you're geared up to sell 30% of the

[1:57] market's cars, and you can only sell

[2:00] 25%, then you're going to have to give

[2:02] those cars away.

[2:03] >> The company, which offered its employee

[2:05] discounts to everyone this summer, is

[2:07] now projected to lose more than $5

[2:09] billion for the year. Last week, its

[2:11] stock price hit an 18-year low.

[2:14] >> I'm going to give you the top 10

[2:15] reasons, Mr. Wagner. Well, I believe you

[2:17] should step down as chairman.

[2:19] >> CEO Rick Wagner heard angry calls for

[2:21] his resignation at GM's shareholder

[2:23] meeting in June. He was asked about that

[2:26] again today.

[2:27] >> Have you given any thought to stepping

[2:29] aside or to a transition plan? No, Tom.

[2:31] Haven't given any consideration

[2:33] whatsoever to that. I wasn't brought up

[2:34] to run and hide when things get tough.

[2:36] >> And things are so tough that some are

[2:38] even talking about bankruptcy for the

[2:40] automotive giant. I don't think

[2:42] bankruptcy is an imminent possibility,

[2:44] but if GM's market share continues to

[2:46] slide over the next year, uh I think

[2:49] people are really going to be thinking

[2:50] about it very seriously. GM has 140,000

[2:54] employees in the US and close to a

[2:56] million people indirectly depend on the

[2:58] company for their jobs. So when General

[3:00] Motors suffers, the symptoms are felt

[3:02] through the entire economy. Bob,

[3:04] >> well Anthony, what went wrong and is

[3:06] this going to fix it? I guess

[3:08] >> this will stabilize General Motors. what

[3:10] we talked about going wrong. Higher gas

[3:12] prices, poor products, the big problem

[3:14] underneath, legacy costs. They have two

[3:15] and a half retirees for every worker

[3:17] they're supporting. That's a cost that's

[3:19] not going to go away. The federal

[3:21] government has so far agreed to pay $18

[3:23] billion in relief to Gulf Coast states

[3:26] that were hit by Hurricane Katrina. And

[3:28] now they're agreeing to pick up more of

[3:30] the tab for removing the debris. But it

[3:33] is still just a start. We have an update

[3:36] tonight on the situation along the Gulf

[3:38] Coast of Mississippi and it comes from

[3:40] Bill Whitaker.

[3:42] >> Katrina knocked the coast of Mississippi

[3:44] down so hard it's having trouble getting

[3:46] back up. In the demolished town of

[3:48] Wavelin, church volunteers still serve

[3:51] 4,000 hot meals a day.

[3:53] >> We got special gumbo going here.

[3:56] >> Not so different from when we met Ida

[3:58] Punzo 2 days after the storm. She

[4:01] survived Katrina's 10-hour assault on

[4:03] the third floor of this old Beluxy

[4:05] mansion.

[4:06] >> But I wasn't going to give the faith

[4:07] out. I had the faith.

[4:09] >> That could be Mississippi's mantra.

[4:11] Faith in the future. Today, Ida's part

[4:13] of the cleanup.

[4:14] >> I want to be a part of the new Buxy when

[4:17] it comes around.

[4:18] >> Where outsiders see piles of despair,

[4:20] Mississippians see possibilities.

[4:23] >> We got a tall mountain in front of us.

[4:25] Last month, Governor Haley Barber got

[4:27] coastal leaders and leading architects

[4:29] to brainstorm. Ideas for a new GF coast

[4:32] are sketchy, but people here can

[4:34] envision it already. We not only have to

[4:37] rebuild, but we're going to rebuild the

[4:38] coast bigger and better than ever

[4:40] before.

[4:40] >> The lifeblood of the new coast, bigger,

[4:42] glitzier casinos. Katrina destroyed all

[4:45] of Buxy's. Literally 70% of the

[4:49] community's tax base has been wiped out.

[4:51] So Mississippi passed new legislation

[4:54] letting job and revenue generating

[4:55] casinos move and expand on land.

[4:58] Developers expect a bonanza. The gaming

[5:01] industry, the tourism industry, I

[5:03] believe, will rise to a new level.

[5:05] Despite all the upbeat boosterism, the

[5:07] sad truth is this devastation was so

[5:10] complete that even the optimists know it

[5:12] will take years before life can return

[5:14] to normal.

[5:15] >> It's going to be a long process.

[5:17] >> Just ask the mayor of Buxy. These next

[5:20] couple of months are going to be very,

[5:21] very crucial.

[5:23] We come to the holidays, they're going

[5:25] to realize what they lost.

[5:28] Like the coast she loves, Ida Punzo is

[5:30] having trouble getting back up.

[5:32] >> This was a great tourist town at one

[5:35] time, and we want to be a very good

[5:37] tourist town again.

[5:39] >> And like almost everybody here, she's

[5:42] holding on for a better tomorrow. Bill

[5:44] Whitaker, CBS News, Beluxy. Finally

[5:47] tonight, a pharmacist who has a

[5:49] prescription for the pain of high drug

[5:52] prices. And one thing's for sure, people

[5:54] are flocking to him from all over to get

[5:57] the cure. Here's Lee Cowan.

[6:00] >> And Elma, you've taken your pills this

[6:02] morning already.

[6:03] >> Sharon Martinsson knew it was coming.

[6:06] After taking care of the sick for most

[6:08] of her life, she got sick herself and

[6:10] was suddenly faced with pills and bills

[6:13] she dreaded for years. So, how many do

[6:15] you take every single morning?

[6:17] >> Um, I would I take seven.

[6:19] >> It was $800 a month that she simply

[6:22] couldn't afford.

[6:23] >> I even so much as went to the doctor and

[6:25] said, "Is there anything any one of

[6:28] these that I can get off from?"

[6:31] And he said, "No." But then an answer

[6:34] came from the farm fields of Minnesota

[6:37] where Sharon heard of this young

[6:39] pharmacist

[6:40] at a tiny corner drugstore who was

[6:43] offering the same drugs that cost her

[6:45] $800 for just $200.

[6:49] >> If my cost for a a bottle of pills is,

[6:53] you know, a dollar, why should I charge

[6:55] $25 for that?

[6:57] >> His name is Jim Wit. Don't let his quiet

[7:00] demeanor fool you. He's almost

[7:01] single-handedly taking on the

[7:03] pharmaceutical industry. There's no

[7:05] gimmick. Instead of charging what the

[7:07] drug companies suggest for their generic

[7:09] drugs, he charges about what he pays

[7:12] >> for the full bottle would be uh right

[7:15] about $15

[7:17] >> as opposed to what they suggest, which

[7:18] is what?

[7:19] >> $198.

[7:21] >> Wow. Wit's goal to try and keep his

[7:24] prices between about 35 and 40% less

[7:27] than the so-called discount pharmacy,

[7:30] but not charging the markup that you

[7:31] could on generic drugs. That does pretty

[7:34] much come out of your pocket at the end

[7:36] of the day.

[7:37] >> Yeah, it I could be charging more, but I

[7:39] just wouldn't feel right about it.

[7:41] >> It started out as just a little hometown

[7:43] hospitality, but it's starting to catch

[7:45] on. That little corner drugstore, it's

[7:48] the only one in this town of about 500,

[7:50] is now getting inquiries from all across

[7:52] the country. He hopes the volume may one

[7:55] day make up for whatever losses he's

[7:57] taking. Proof, he says, that good

[7:59] business doesn't necessarily mean bad

[8:01] medicine.

[8:02] >> And I'll see you later.

[8:03] >> For Sharon Martinson, it was nothing

[8:05] short of a miracle.

[8:06] >> I was just blessed. I was just blessed.

[8:10] A David in a sea of Goliaths and some

[8:14] relief more than one week in CBS News

[8:18] Ashby Minnesota. More stories are just a

[8:21] click away, but don't forget to join me

[8:23] on television for the on air edition of

[8:25] the CBS Evening News on Tuesday's

[8:27] broadcast. Saying I do and getting paid

[8:30] for it. The government is about to start

[8:32] giving some couples thousands to get

[8:35] married. for cbsnews.com.