CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-12-02

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.

[0:03] Just ahead, extended tours of duty in

[0:05] Iraq, thousands of US troops will be

[0:08] staying on. We'll have details on why

[0:10] and for how long. Also, the FDA turns

[0:13] thumbs down for now on the hormone patch

[0:16] for women. We'll tell you why. And a

[0:19] 30-year-old serial killer mystery. For a

[0:22] time, it looked like Kansas police had

[0:24] cracked the case.

[0:26] We'll give you the inside story. It's

[0:28] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:31] online edition.

[0:33] In Iraq today, bombs, ambushes, and

[0:36] mortars claimed more American and Iraqi

[0:38] lives. In the northern city of Mosul, a

[0:41] US Army soldier died in a guerrilla

[0:43] attack. Two more were wounded by a car

[0:45] bomb north of Baghdad. And in the

[0:48] capital, CBS's Kimberly Dozier reports

[0:50] mortar fire killed Iraqi civilians.

[0:54] >> Attacks aimed at the coalition again

[0:56] went astray. A mortar fell short of

[0:59] Baghdad's international zone today,

[1:01] instead hitting a business district.

[1:03] Iraqi national guardsmen wearing face

[1:05] masks to avoid militant reprisals

[1:08] secured the scene without US

[1:09] supervision, an apparent vote of

[1:11] confidence in their ability from

[1:13] American commanders.

[1:14] But US officials say Iraqi forces are

[1:17] far from ready to secure all of the

[1:19] country.

[1:20] So, thousands of American troops will be

[1:22] spending up to two extra months in the

[1:24] battle zone to make sure nothing derails

[1:26] the Iraqi election.

[1:27] >> It's time for the Iraqi citizens to go

[1:29] to the polls.

[1:31] And that's why we are very firm on the

[1:33] January 30th date.

[1:35] >> The men of the 25th Infantry Division

[1:37] will be spending their long haul at an

[1:39] outpost in the northern Sunni Triangle.

[1:42] Almost every day on the road or back at

[1:44] base, they come under attack.

[1:46] >> It kind of wears on the guys, you know,

[1:49] over time. Um the more combat they see.

[1:52] >> The CR armored ambulance team has

[1:53] rescued dozens wounded in skirmishes

[1:56] with Saddam loyalists.

[1:57] >> There was RPG rounds and AK-47 rounds

[2:00] shooting all inside of around where we

[2:02] were at.

[2:03] Um in fact, I ran in to grab a patient

[2:05] out and as I was carrying the patient

[2:06] out, a RPG landed right where I was

[2:09] going.

[2:09] >> Now, they're bracing for more time under

[2:11] fire.

[2:12] The troops hope they'd be leaving the

[2:14] fight behind, spending January 2005 back

[2:17] at barracks in Hawaii.

[2:19] They say the toughest part isn't the

[2:20] danger they face, it's breaking this

[2:23] kind of news to their loved ones right

[2:25] before the holidays.

[2:26] >> The combat situation doesn't bother me

[2:27] as much as missing my family from back

[2:29] home.

[2:30] >> American commanders had not given their

[2:32] troops a firm return date. They didn't

[2:34] want to give false hope to the soldiers

[2:36] or to their loved ones waiting to get

[2:38] them back safe and sound. Kimberly

[2:40] Dozier, CBS News, Baghdad.

[2:43] >> In health news tonight, the makers of a

[2:45] hormone patch designed to restore sexual

[2:48] desire in women were hoping a government

[2:50] panel would vote to recommend its

[2:52] approval as safe and effective. CBS News

[2:55] medical correspondent Elizabeth Callan

[2:57] reports what happened instead in

[3:00] tonight's health watch.

[3:02] >> The testosterone patch known as Intrinsa

[3:05] promised to improve the sex lives of

[3:07] women who lost desire after menopause or

[3:09] surgery. Rosalyn Washington tried it

[3:12] after a hysterectomy and says it changed

[3:14] her life.

[3:15] >> A healthy and satisfying sex life is

[3:17] important to a woman's physical and

[3:19] mental well-being.

[3:21] >> But in the end, it was safety, not

[3:23] sexuality, that caused an FDA advisory

[3:26] panel to unanimously dismiss the patch

[3:29] as not ready for prime time.

[3:31] >> No.

[3:32] >> No.

[3:33] >> It's a really important moment in the

[3:34] history of women's sexuality.

[3:37] >> Leonore Tiefer, a sex therapist, was

[3:39] thrilled by the panel's vote. She

[3:42] testified that the drug's long-term

[3:44] safety record was unproven, and its

[3:46] manufacturer, Procter & Gamble, was only

[3:49] hoping for a Viagra-like windfall.

[3:52] >> It certainly hasn't been tested

[3:54] adequately for the vast number of women

[3:56] that P&G is hoping to market it to in

[3:59] order to get their billion-dollar brand

[4:02] up and running.

[4:03] >> Since the drug is a hormone delivered

[4:05] through the skin, the main safety

[4:07] concerns centered on increased risk of

[4:09] breast cancer and heart disease. But Dr.

[4:12] James Simon, who conducted trials of

[4:14] Intrinsa, called the vote ludicrous

[4:17] because it ignores the immediate needs

[4:19] of millions of women, like his patient

[4:21] Frieda Goff, who's been taking it for 2

[4:23] years as part of a study.

[4:25] >> I just felt better all the way around.

[4:27] >> Simon believes long-term data means

[4:30] prolonged agony for the women who could

[4:32] really benefit.

[4:34] >> Should we restrict everything until we

[4:37] have 9, 10, 12 years of information

[4:41] about it? We wouldn't have any new

[4:43] therapies at all.

[4:44] >> In a climate of extreme caution and

[4:46] increased scrutiny of the FDA, drug

[4:49] regulators needed much more assurance

[4:51] than they got that this new drug would

[4:54] really do more good than harm.

[4:56] Elizabeth Callan, CBS News, New York.

[4:59] >> In the shadows and underbelly of

[5:01] America, there are serial killers. For

[5:03] example, a serial killer has eluded

[5:05] police in the heartland of the country

[5:07] for decades. He killed victim after

[5:09] victim, bragged and boasted, followed by

[5:12] a long silence, a silence broken just

[5:15] recently. Police changed tactics to try

[5:17] to catch him. And for a while today,

[5:19] they had someone in custody. CBS's

[5:22] Cynthia Bowers is in Wichita, Kansas.

[5:24] Cynthia?

[5:25] >> Dan, authorities had been hoping to

[5:27] crack the case with this week's release

[5:29] of detailed new information about one of

[5:31] the most notorious killers in the

[5:33] Midwest.

[5:35] The murders began in 1974 when the

[5:38] bodies of four family members were found

[5:40] bound, gagged, and strangled. Over the

[5:42] next several years, three young women

[5:44] were killed in a similar fashion, and

[5:46] letters claiming responsibility were

[5:48] sent to police by a man who referred to

[5:50] himself by the initials BTK for bind,

[5:54] torture, kill. His voice was captured on

[5:56] a call to police reporting one of the

[5:58] murders.

[5:59] >> Is this the place?

[6:00] >> Yes, you will find a homicide at 2043

[6:05] South Pershing in Macy Park.

[6:07] >> No one was ever charged in the case, but

[6:09] the terror of those times remains fresh

[6:12] in the minds of many here. Last March,

[6:14] the killer resurfaced after nearly two

[6:16] decades of silence, providing evidence

[6:19] of an eighth killing, a woman in 1986.

[6:22] >> Well, obviously he wants credit for it.

[6:24] Now, that we we may seem you and I may

[6:26] think that's rather strange, but we're

[6:28] rational human beings who have a respect

[6:30] for human life. He's not.

[6:32] >> Since then, there have been a series of

[6:33] communications that this week led police

[6:36] to release their most detailed

[6:37] description yet, a profile largely

[6:40] provided by the killer himself. BTK

[6:43] claims to have been born in 1939. Police

[6:46] think he has always lived near and been

[6:48] obsessed by railroads. He was raised by

[6:50] his mother after his father was killed

[6:52] in World War II. But, criminologists say

[6:55] information provided by a suspect is in

[6:58] itself suspect.

[7:00] >> They typically give a little bit of

[7:02] truth and a little bit of untruth.

[7:05] Uh and some of it may not they may not

[7:07] necessarily mean to be lying. It's just

[7:09] their perception of reality, which may

[7:10] in fact not be true.

[7:13] >> The man arrested here last night did fit

[7:15] parts of that general profile provided

[7:17] by the murderer, but with his release

[7:20] this afternoon, it's apparent it was

[7:21] simply a case of mistaken identity. Dan.

[7:24] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:27] be sure to join me on television for the

[7:28] on-air edition of the CBS Evening News.

[7:31] On Friday's broadcast, refinancing your

[7:34] mortgage to consolidate debt. It's a

[7:36] popular tool for homeowners, but there

[7:39] are risks. Before you refinance, see

[7:42] CBS's Friday Consumer Alert.

[7:45] For CBSnews.com,

[7:47] I'm Dan Rather.