CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-11-17

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] I'm Katie Couric. The search is on

[0:02] tonight for a group of American

[0:04] civilians kidnapped and reportedly being

[0:06] [music] held for ransom in Iraq.

[0:08] Silicone gel breast implants are back.

[0:11] The FDA has approved them, but are they

[0:13] safe? A brewing battle in the new

[0:16] Congress over the best prescription

[0:17] [music] for sky-high drug prices. And

[0:20] Steve Hartman takes us to the great

[0:21] Thanksgiving turkey rescue that wasn't.

[0:26] >> [music]

[0:29] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:32] Couric.

[0:35] >> Hi everyone. It would be hard [music] to

[0:37] think of a more dangerous job than

[0:39] working security in Iraq. That's what a

[0:42] group of private contractors was

[0:43] planning to do when they were kidnapped

[0:45] yesterday shortly after their convoy

[0:47] crossed into the country from Kuwait.

[0:50] Most of them have since been released,

[0:52] but at last report four Americans and

[0:54] one Austrian are still being held. An

[0:57] Iraqi police official says there's been

[0:59] a ransom demand. He didn't say what it

[1:01] is. Meanwhile, coalition forces have

[1:04] launched an all-out search in the border

[1:06] area. Elizabeth Palmer has the story.

[1:10] >> This is the road where the 46-truck

[1:13] convoy was ambushed, reportedly at a

[1:15] phony Iraqi police checkpoint on the

[1:17] main highway near the Kuwaiti border.

[1:20] Gunmen hijacked 19 of the trucks along

[1:23] with 14 drivers and security guards.

[1:27] This video shot by one driver in a

[1:29] convoy under fire last year shows just

[1:32] how deadly a job it can be.

[1:34] >> I'm taking fire.

[1:35] >> Statistics tell the rest of the story.

[1:37] At least 10 contractors were killed last

[1:40] month alone, five of them American.

[1:44] 39-year-old Paul Ruben from Minnesota is

[1:46] still missing after yesterday's ambush.

[1:49] His mother said she wanted the

[1:50] kidnappers to think what it's like for a

[1:52] mother to want her son back.

[1:55] Faced with an Iraqi police checkpoint

[1:57] this one, the convoy drivers would have

[2:00] had no choice but to stop. More and more

[2:03] these days, men who look like police are

[2:05] criminals in disguise.

[2:07] Last month, Iraqi authorities rolled out

[2:09] brand new police uniforms they claimed

[2:12] couldn't be faked. But it hasn't helped.

[2:15] Increasingly, the sight of a policeman

[2:16] inspires not confidence, but fear. And

[2:20] that, says Faraj Ibrahim, is because we

[2:22] cannot trust who is real or who is not.

[2:26] Most worrying for Iraqis, they believe

[2:28] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his

[2:30] government have now lost control of the

[2:33] security forces.

[2:35] It's widely believed that the police

[2:37] force is now so corrupted that

[2:38] kidnappings and ambushes like the one

[2:41] that hit the convoy yesterday are bound

[2:43] to increase, Katie.

[2:44] >> And Liz, aren't these convoys heavily

[2:47] armed, though?

[2:49] >> They are, but they're very, very long.

[2:51] 46 trucks in yesterday's convoy, and so

[2:53] well-armed attackers, well-organized

[2:55] attackers, can hit the middle and get

[2:57] away with their victims before help

[2:59] arrives.

[3:00] >> Liz Palmer in Baghdad for us tonight.

[3:02] Liz, thank you and stay safe.

[3:05] Chief investigative correspondent Armen

[3:07] Keteyian has done a lot of stories about

[3:09] American civilians working in Iraq and

[3:11] the dangers they face there. He's here

[3:13] now with more about that, Armen.

[3:15] >> A lot of dangers, Katie. You know, tens

[3:16] of thousands of civilians are deployed

[3:18] in Iraq providing logistical support to

[3:21] the troops. Most are motivated by

[3:23] patriotism and the hefty pay. But as we

[3:26] have seen over and over, the danger is

[3:28] great and the toll is high.

[3:31] >> Crisscrossing Iraq, they are tempting

[3:33] targets for attack. The hundreds of

[3:35] civilian truck drivers who form a shadow

[3:37] army hauling food and supplies to

[3:39] military bases.

[3:41] >> All my stuff's out of here.

[3:42] >> Ohio truck driver Robert Rowe, a former

[3:44] Marine, was shot while leading a convoy

[3:47] into Baghdad.

[3:49] >> We got hit from both sides and on top of

[3:50] the bridge.

[3:51] And then round come through and tagged

[3:53] me in the leg.

[3:54] >> That's my truck after the last ambush I

[3:56] went through and

[3:57] >> Cindy Morgan was Robert Rose convoy

[3:59] commander. A rare female truck driver in

[4:02] Iraq, she's written a book about working

[4:04] in a war zone.

[4:05] >> We live, we eat, we sleep pretty much

[4:09] side by side with our troops. And we get

[4:13] shot at, we bleed, and we die beside

[4:15] them.

[4:16] >> Since the war began, more than 600

[4:18] civilians employed by American companies

[4:21] have been killed. More than 7,000

[4:23] injured. At 80 grand or more a year,

[4:26] they're some of the best paid truck

[4:28] drivers in the world. But for some, even

[4:30] that big of reward doesn't justify the

[4:33] risk.

[4:37] >> A lot of them are like I am. There's not

[4:38] enough money to go play Russian roulette

[4:40] with your life.

[4:41] >> West Virginia truck driver Brian Rall

[4:43] found his life on the line while driving

[4:45] a fuel tanker at night.

[4:47] >> I heard a

[4:48] a pop and a

[4:50] glass crackling and then it felt like a

[4:52] 50-lb sledgehammer hit me upside the

[4:54] head.

[4:54] >> Somehow he maintained control of his

[4:56] truck even after taking a sniper's

[4:58] bullet in the head.

[5:00] >> But I feel a headache starting. It feels

[5:01] like a steel band being tightened around

[5:03] the base of your skull.

[5:04] >> Many of America's shadow soldiers find

[5:07] themselves suffering, but still proud of

[5:09] their decision to back our troops in

[5:11] Iraq.

[5:12] >> Gave you a sense of pride.

[5:14] And if I could help out again, I'd do

[5:15] it, too.

[5:17] I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[5:19] >> And many of these civilian contractors

[5:20] told us they fight a new battle when

[5:22] they come home. They have a difficult

[5:24] time collecting health benefits and

[5:26] workers compensation for their physical

[5:28] and emotional injuries, Katie.

[5:30] >> Armand, thank you so much. Meanwhile, no

[5:32] surprise, President Bush faced plenty of

[5:34] questions about Iraq as he became only

[5:37] the second American president to visit

[5:39] Vietnam since that war. He's in Hanoi

[5:42] for an economic summit, but he couldn't

[5:43] get away from the inevitable comparisons

[5:46] between Iraq and the war America lost in

[5:48] Vietnam. Chief White House correspondent

[5:51] Jim Axelrod is traveling with the

[5:53] president.

[5:55] >> Meeting in Vietnam with one of his

[5:57] strongest allies on Iraq, Australian

[5:59] Prime Minister John Howard, President

[6:01] Bush would not rule out sending even

[6:03] more troops to fight the war there.

[6:05] >> Well, we've got a lot of people looking

[6:06] at uh different tactical adjustments.

[6:10] Uh

[6:10] once I make up my mind what those will

[6:12] be, I'll share it with him right off the

[6:13] bat.

[6:14] >> With pressure building at home to bring

[6:16] US soldiers back from Iraq, Mr. Bush was

[6:18] asked if America's experience in Vietnam

[6:21] held any lessons for today.

[6:23] >> We tend to

[6:24] uh

[6:25] want there to be instant success in the

[6:27] world.

[6:28] And the the

[6:30] task in Iraq is going to take a while.

[6:32] >> The president's trip to Vietnam is

[6:34] inviting the last comparison the White

[6:36] House wants made.

[6:39] That this war is starting to look more

[6:41] and more like this war. The parallels

[6:44] are playing for President Lyndon

[6:46] Johnson. Vietnam was part of a broader

[6:48] ideological battle against communism.

[6:51] For President Bush, Iraq is the central

[6:54] front in fighting terrorism.

[6:57] >> Even without the Iraq war, Mr. Bush's

[6:59] trip here was bound to fuel his critics

[7:01] who've never bought his explanation

[7:03] about how he managed to avoid military

[7:04] service in Vietnam. But Iraq raises the

[7:07] stakes and changes the focus from what

[7:10] he did during the Vietnam war to whether

[7:13] he's creating another one.

[7:15] >> On a just-released audio tape, President

[7:17] Johnson in 1966 shared his goals for

[7:20] Vietnam.

[7:21] >> We'll come home and we'll be out of

[7:22] there just as soon as you can have

[7:24] anybody that will guarantee stability.

[7:27] >> Mr. Bush's remarks today had an eerie

[7:29] echo as he spoke about Iraq.

[7:31] >> We're not leaving.

[7:33] Uh until this job is done, until Iraq

[7:36] can govern, sustain, and defend itself.

[7:38] >> Right now, US troops are bogged down,

[7:40] domestic opposition is growing, a

[7:42] presidency is under fire. A description

[7:45] that fits Iraq

[7:46] and loudly resonates here, as well.

[7:49] Jim Axelrod, CBS News, Hanoi.

[7:54] >> Major news tonight from the Food and

[7:55] Drug Administration. After 14 years,

[7:57] it's lifting what has been a virtual ban

[8:00] on silicone breast implants, but there

[8:02] still are safety concerns. Our medical

[8:04] correspondent, Dr. Jon LaPook, is here.

[8:06] Jon, first of all, let's talk about why

[8:08] they were taken off the market in the

[8:09] first place.

[8:10] >> Right. In 1992, they were restricted

[8:12] because there was a concern about

[8:13] autoimmune disease, like lupus and

[8:15] arthritis. But it turns out, this was

[8:16] looked at very carefully by the

[8:18] Institute of Medicine, by the New

[8:19] England Journal, and really they found

[8:20] no increased incidence of this problem.

[8:22] >> So, they've been reintroduced. Are they

[8:24] different now?

[8:25] >> Well, you know, I just heard the call

[8:26] from the FDA, and they said that the

[8:28] manufacturing process is felt to be

[8:29] improved. There still is the potential,

[8:31] though, for leakage. And if the leakage

[8:33] happens, the doctor and the patient

[8:35] won't know. And so, they're recommending

[8:36] periodic MRIs to actually try to monitor

[8:38] it.

[8:39] >> Now, saline solution implants are also

[8:42] available, right? So, why not just use

[8:45] those over the silicone if they are

[8:47] deemed much safer, right?

[8:49] >> Well, the plastic surgeons really feel,

[8:51] and the patients feel, often, that it's

[8:53] a lot more natural-feeling to use a

[8:54] silicone. And I've had patients who have

[8:56] actually elected to have their their

[8:58] saline implants taken out because the

[9:00] silicone was much, sort of, more

[9:02] natural-feeling.

[9:03] >> And and finally, as you mentioned, there

[9:04] are possible complications you need to

[9:06] watch out for.

[9:07] >> to watch out for. There can be leakage,

[9:08] local irritation. And by the way, the

[9:09] FDA, this is not the end of the deal.

[9:11] They're going to have a very strict

[9:12] monitoring program. 40,000 women are

[9:14] going to be followed over 10 years. So,

[9:16] if there's a problem that develops,

[9:18] they're hoping that they can detect it

[9:19] early, and then take appropriate

[9:21] measures.

[9:21] >> All right. Dr. Jon LaPook, thank you,

[9:23] Jon.

[9:25] In the South tonight, stories of

[9:27] heartbreak, but also survival after a

[9:29] string of deadly storms that left 12

[9:31] people dead. Eight of them died in

[9:33] Regalwood, North Carolina, when a

[9:35] tornado sliced through their mobile home

[9:37] park, four children were critically

[9:39] injured there. One man says his mattress

[9:42] saved him when his home was destroyed.

[9:45] >> I'm the only adult

[9:47] that was in one of these trailers that's

[9:49] here to talk about it.

[9:50] The rest of them are little kids and

[9:51] they're still hurt up real bad.

[9:53] >> The governor is studying whether to

[9:55] install tornado warning sirens across

[9:58] North Carolina. There were none in

[10:00] Regalwood. In Fresno, California,

[10:02] hundreds of people stormed a Best Buy

[10:05] for a chance to buy what else?

[10:08] PlayStation 3. A lot of unsatisfied

[10:11] customers though. The store had only 34

[10:14] in stock. And he was a college football

[10:17] legend. Former Michigan coach Bo

[10:19] Schembechler died today just a day

[10:22] before the Wolverines face Ohio State

[10:24] with the number one ranking on the line.

[10:27] The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry was at

[10:29] its peak in the 1970s when Schembechler

[10:32] went head-to-head with his mentor Woody

[10:34] Hayes. Schembechler, who had a history

[10:36] of heart disease, collapsed today while

[10:38] taping a local sports show. He was 77

[10:41] years old.

[10:43] There is much more CBS News straight

[10:45] ahead. And coming up next, holding down

[10:47] the cost of [music] prescription drugs,

[10:49] how the new Democratic-controlled

[10:51] Congress hopes to do just [music] that.