CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-09

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Dan Rather, and welcome to

[0:01] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:04] Just ahead, US Marines fight their way

[0:06] into the heart of Fallujah, seeking to

[0:08] secure the guerrilla and terrorist

[0:10] stronghold. Casualties are heavy. We'll

[0:12] have a report on the front lines. We'll

[0:14] take you there. Also, an experimental

[0:16] new diet drug that could help you lose

[0:18] and keep the weight off.

[0:21] Also, working women. Many left their

[0:23] careers to take care of their kids. Now,

[0:25] they want back in. Do they have a

[0:27] working chance? Our special Eye on

[0:30] America series, Women's Work, rolls on.

[0:33] And it's all starting now on the CBS

[0:35] Evening News online edition.

[0:38] It's fast, it's furious, and it's

[0:40] lethal. Thousands of US Marines and Army

[0:43] soldiers drove rapidly today into the

[0:46] heart of Fallujah.

[0:47] Three American troops are officially

[0:49] listed as killed in the fighting. The

[0:50] total may be more. The 48-hour total for

[0:53] US military personnel killed in all of

[0:55] Iraq is at least 16. The number of

[0:58] wounded is not clear. The number of

[1:00] Iraqis, including Iraqi civilians and

[1:02] others killed, unknown. In a matter of

[1:05] hours, the assault in Fallujah moved

[1:06] from the outskirts to the city's center.

[1:09] Heavy US firepower sweeping through

[1:11] enemy resistance. Tonight, CBS's

[1:13] Elizabeth Palmer is in Fallujah with the

[1:16] US Marines. Kirk Spitzer is with US Army

[1:18] special forces, and Kimberly Dozier is

[1:20] in Baghdad. Combat correspondent

[1:23] Elizabeth Palmer begins our coverage.

[1:28] >> It wasn't a day for subtlety.

[1:31] As about 6,000 American Marines and

[1:33] soldiers, supported by 2,000 Iraqi

[1:35] troops, punched their way into the

[1:37] center of Fallujah. CBS News reporter

[1:40] Kirk Spitzer, who was with US and Iraqi

[1:42] special forces, says commanders are

[1:44] pleased.

[1:45] >> There have been pockets of resistance,

[1:47] but so far, nothing resembling a final

[1:49] stand.

[1:50] That could change soon as insurgents

[1:52] retreat to the city's western enclaves.

[1:55] So far, troops on the western side of

[1:57] the river have not attempted to cross

[1:59] into the city.

[2:00] Waiting perhaps to attract the rebels

[2:03] between the river and the advancing

[2:04] troops from the east.

[2:06] >> They secured Fallujah's railway station.

[2:09] A key highway that runs through Fallujah

[2:10] was secured by late morning. By late

[2:13] evening, troops were heading south and

[2:15] digging in to a city where residents

[2:17] report supplies of water and power have

[2:19] been cut off.

[2:20] General Thomas Metz is operational

[2:22] commander for the whole of Iraq.

[2:24] >> I think we're looking at uh several more

[2:26] days of a tough urban fighting.

[2:28] >> Last night, the Marines went into attack

[2:30] formation on the eastern outskirts of

[2:32] the city. A fierce artillery barrage

[2:35] targeted rebels firing mortars, while

[2:37] phosphorus shells lit up the sky. Their

[2:40] white-hot fallout will burn through

[2:42] anything it lands on. At dawn, a pall of

[2:45] smoke hung over the city. Damage from

[2:47] the attack clearly visible even at a

[2:49] distance. The heavy aerial bombardment

[2:52] from overnight continued well into the

[2:54] morning, but by afternoon it had slowed,

[2:57] and so had the ground artillery barrage.

[2:59] The US troops are simply not firing as

[3:02] many shells or dropping as many bombs

[3:04] into Fallujah because too many of their

[3:06] own troops are inside.

[3:08] As the day wore on, a family appeared on

[3:10] the eastern edge of town on what had

[3:12] been their grazing land. "Oh yes, they

[3:14] cried during the night," says their

[3:16] father, but in the daylight, this little

[3:18] boy said he understands what it was all

[3:20] about. "They are dropping bombs on the

[3:22] terrorists," he says.

[3:24] This Iraqi special forces soldier told

[3:27] them for their own safety to go home. US

[3:29] and Iraqi forces moving further into

[3:32] Fallujah could push the fighting this

[3:34] way.

[3:35] Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News with the

[3:37] Marines near Fallujah.

[3:39] >> The government filed six lawsuits today

[3:41] against makers of weight loss products,

[3:43] alleging they made claims that were too

[3:45] good to be true.

[3:47] Which brings us to an experimental drug

[3:49] that does appear to help people lose and

[3:51] keep off pounds. CBS News medical

[3:54] correspondent Elizabeth Calvaton is here

[3:56] now with details. Elizabeth, what's the

[3:58] skinny?

[3:59] >> Well, Dan, the new drug is called

[4:01] Acomplia. It's still experimental,

[4:03] meaning it hasn't been approved by the

[4:05] FDA, but there are high hopes that this

[4:07] could be the magic weight loss pill both

[4:10] doctors and the overweight have been

[4:11] hoping for. Latest study results just

[4:14] released show that more than 3,000

[4:17] people taking the highest dose of

[4:18] Acomplia lost an average of 19 lb in 1

[4:22] year and reduced their waistlines by

[4:24] more than 3 in.

[4:26] Most kept the weight off in the second

[4:28] year of the trial and only moderate

[4:30] change in diet and calorie intake was

[4:32] required, Dan.

[4:33] >> So, Elizabeth, what's the secret? What

[4:35] makes this pill different?

[4:37] >> Well, Dan, this drug is the first of its

[4:39] kind to target the pleasure center of

[4:41] the brain, the part of the brain that

[4:43] controls cravings and satisfaction and

[4:45] that drives many people to overeat.

[4:47] There are very high expectations, but

[4:50] still many questions about long-term

[4:52] safety issues. Its manufacturer is

[4:54] expected to seek FDA approval sometime

[4:57] next year, Dan.

[4:59] >> The government reports the fastest

[5:00] growing segment in the US workforce is

[5:03] women with young children. What the

[5:05] government doesn't say is that many

[5:07] women, once on the fast track at work,

[5:09] gave it up years ago to take care of

[5:11] their children. Now, these moms want to

[5:13] return to work and CBS's Mika Brzezinski

[5:16] has been working the story.

[5:22] >> When Ann Marcus was pregnant with her

[5:23] third child,

[5:26] she decided to take a leave of absence

[5:28] from her career.

[5:29] >> It was becoming harder and harder to

[5:30] balance it.

[5:31] >> A leave that lasted 7 years.

[5:36] It seemed like the right thing to do

[5:38] until her daughter dropped this one on

[5:40] her.

[5:41] >> And she said, "I don't see why I have to

[5:42] do my school work. I'm just going to

[5:44] grow up and stay home like you do."

[5:45] >> That propelled Ann into reconsidering

[5:47] work, joining these women at a

[5:49] networking seminar. Women who like her

[5:51] once had fast-track careers.

[5:54] >> And the last job was in the trust and

[5:56] private banking area.

[5:57] >> I was a project officer for an

[5:59] international nonprofit.

[6:00] >> I was a litigation attorney doing

[6:03] products liability work.

[6:04] >> On average, this group has been out of

[6:06] work for 10 years, and now they want

[6:09] back in. Work

[6:10] >> is about skills,

[6:12] and you all do have skills.

[6:13] >> Call them sequencing moms. Forget trying

[6:16] to balance simultaneous family and

[6:18] career. A trend now is to allow for

[6:21] seasons in life. Saying you can have it

[6:23] all, just not all at the same time.

[6:26] >> I loved it and hated leaving, but I had

[6:28] two children, so it just wasn't going to

[6:30] work.

[6:30] >> Sylvia Hewlett of the Center for

[6:32] Work-Life Policy says that 2/3 of women

[6:35] who left work to raise children

[6:37] >> It's not at all easy to get back in.

[6:39] >> want to re-enter professional life.

[6:41] >> There is a feeling uh often in companies

[6:45] that women who've been out have lost

[6:46] their skills, you know, lost their

[6:48] networks. And so there clearly is a

[6:50] reluctance uh to hire.

[6:53] >> Her recommendation? Don't stop working.

[6:56] >> But if you can take a slow lane, take

[6:58] one of these reduced hour jobs. It's

[7:00] much better uh than taking an off-ramp.

[7:03] >> These women are looking for the on-ramp

[7:05] leading back to work, just not

[7:07] necessarily the same job.

[7:09] >> It just needs to be interesting and

[7:10] challenging and,

[7:12] you know, compensate me enough to cover

[7:13] the babysitter.

[7:14] >> Are you going to try and get back into

[7:16] full-time work?

[7:17] >> No. I would love to do something

[7:18] part-time.

[7:19] >> Their biggest roadblock may not be

[7:21] getting a job.

[7:23] >> How many of you have husbands who are

[7:24] ready for you to go back to work as long

[7:26] as it doesn't affect them in any way?

[7:28] >> [laughter]

[7:29] >> Not a problem for Anne Marcus, who's

[7:31] confident about her next step.

[7:33] >> I think we know that we can have what we

[7:35] want. I don't think we have to be

[7:36] content to take someone else's word for

[7:38] what we can have.

[7:39] >> As she considers the options for the

[7:41] next season in her life. In Ridgefield,

[7:44] Connecticut, I'm Mika Brzezinski for Eye

[7:46] on America.

[7:47] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:49] don't forget to join me on television

[7:51] for the on-air edition of the CBS

[7:53] Evening News. On Wednesday's broadcast,

[7:55] how some companies are working hard to

[7:57] keep their best and brightest women on

[7:59] board. Find out how when our Eye on

[8:02] America series about working women

[8:04] continues.

[8:05] For CBSNews.com,

[8:07] I'm Dan Rather.