CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-12-07

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, the situation in Iraq. The

[0:07] president says it is improving steadily.

[0:10] A new CIA report from Baghdad is far

[0:13] from that sunny. It's candid. It has

[0:15] some tough truths as the CIA season will

[0:18] give the details to you. Also, how bad

[0:21] is cybercrime getting to be and why?

[0:23] We'll give you the inside story on that.

[0:26] And CBS News investigates new safety

[0:28] questions about the so-called birth

[0:30] control patch. It's all starting now on

[0:34] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:37] Good evening. As another American

[0:39] soldier was killed in Iraq today,

[0:41] President Bush tried to rally support

[0:43] for his policies and rally American

[0:45] troops. Visiting a US base that is one

[0:48] of the largest casualty rates of the

[0:49] war. While the president was looking to

[0:51] muster support and boost morale, word

[0:54] came of a bleak new assessment of what's

[0:56] happening in Iraq. A previously secret

[0:59] CIA report says the situation is bad,

[1:02] could get worse, and not likely to get

[1:05] better anytime soon. CBS News chief

[1:08] White House correspondent John Roberts

[1:09] begins our coverage.

[1:12] It was a presidential pep talk at Camp

[1:14] Pendleton today. The commander-in-chief

[1:16] dropped in to thank Marines he said have

[1:19] helped pave the way for elections in

[1:21] Iraq. A free Iraq will be a major

[1:23] victory in the war on terror.

[1:26] Free nations do not export terror. But

[1:29] hanging over the president's sunny

[1:30] assessment, the hard fact that some 200

[1:33] Marines from Camp Pendleton have died in

[1:35] Iraq, and a recent CIA memo that the

[1:38] situation there is deteriorating and may

[1:40] not improve for some time.

[1:42] >> I think that memo

[1:44] has it about right. I mean, you can

[1:46] quibble with variations, but the bottom

[1:48] line is it's complicated and it's

[1:50] dangerous and it's going to be a

[1:52] long-term effort. The memo from the

[1:54] outgoing CIA station chief in Baghdad

[1:56] often contrasts sharply with the White

[1:58] House view of Iraq. For example, it says

[2:01] Iraqi forces are not effective enough at

[2:03] dealing with an increasingly violent

[2:05] insurgency and that the interim

[2:07] government has fallen short of

[2:09] projecting authority.

[2:11] Those frank assessments were challenged

[2:13] by the US ambassador in Iraq who

[2:15] believes efforts to battle the

[2:16] insurgency have been more successful

[2:18] than the CIA suggests.

[2:20] >> we feel that the conditions

[2:23] will be sufficient and the security

[2:25] conditions will be adequate

[2:27] for these elections to go forward. The

[2:30] memo does cite progress in Iraq saying

[2:33] Iraqi security forces are increasing in

[2:36] size and skill and that the political

[2:38] process is unfolding despite increasing

[2:40] violence.

[2:41] For his part, President Bush gives the

[2:43] interim government high marks and while

[2:46] acknowledging some problems has similar

[2:48] praise for Iraqi troops. These brave

[2:51] Iraqis are fighting for their freedom.

[2:54] And we are proud to stand by their side.

[2:56] US officials were quick to point out

[2:58] that the classified memo was not meant

[3:00] to challenge the president's view of

[3:02] Iraq. They say it was merely a truthful

[3:04] assessment that unless significant gains

[3:06] are made toward improving security,

[3:08] economic opportunity and strengthening

[3:10] government, the bad news in Iraq will

[3:12] quickly get worse. Dan. More and more

[3:16] people are doing their stock trading,

[3:17] banking and other financial transactions

[3:20] online.

[3:21] In truth, the Federal Reserve says that

[3:22] in 2003, for the first time, more

[3:25] payments were made electronically than

[3:27] by check. And with all that money

[3:29] floating through gives you the inside

[3:30] story.

[3:36] In a secure room

[3:39] deep inside an unmarked building You're

[3:41] entering the Secret Service cyber lab.

[3:44] The US Secret Service tracks an emerging

[3:46] enemy. What we have here is an

[3:48] individual who's trying to sell

[3:50] holograms on the website.

[3:52] >> This guy's offering to sell a bogus

[3:54] hologram credit card.

[3:55] >> Correct. The This website, shut down by

[3:58] the Secret Service, is one of hundreds

[4:00] operated by gangs and terrorists

[4:02] trafficking in stolen identifications,

[4:04] credit cards, and bank accounts. 20, 30

[4:07] years ago,

[4:08] gangs, organized crime, Cosa Nostra

[4:11] would meet in social clubs. The same

[4:13] thing is

[4:15] is happening on the internet. However,

[4:17] it's more global. Security experts

[4:19] believe criminals have infiltrated at

[4:21] least one of every three personal

[4:23] computers, and last year alone,

[4:25] cybercrime cost people and businesses

[4:27] more than $200 billion worldwide. This

[4:30] industry has essentially become more

[4:32] lucrative than the sale of cocaine. He's

[4:34] a computer security expert at the World

[4:36] Bank. Because his life has been

[4:38] threatened by cyber gangs, we can't

[4:40] reveal his name. Whether it's terrorists

[4:42] or organized criminal syndicates, it's

[4:43] much easier to hack databases for the

[4:45] personal identifying information than it

[4:47] is to transport drugs. Here's a small

[4:50] sample of the stolen goods. Names,

[4:52] addresses, account numbers, passwords,

[4:55] all captured off an internet trading

[4:57] site by US agents. What's your name?

[4:59] Yes. Heather Merring, who lives in

[5:01] Columbia, Maryland, had her financial

[5:03] data posted for sale by someone in

[5:05] Amman, Jordan. That's your social?

[5:08] Yes.

[5:09] She is just one of 10 million Americans

[5:11] hit by cybercrime in the past year.

[5:14] Banks are absorbing most of the losses

[5:16] and trying to keep them quiet. Most of

[5:19] the financial institutions are publicly

[5:20] traded. And thus, their stock value will

[5:23] plummet if bad news hits the markets.

[5:26] But more than corporate reputations are

[5:28] at stake. When terrorist Imam Samudra

[5:30] was arrested for the Bali nightclub

[5:32] bombings, this is what police discovered

[5:34] in his computer. Internet pages were

[5:37] found relating to sharing of stolen

[5:41] credit cards. Which raises a question.

[5:44] Has your credit card helped pay for a

[5:46] terror attack.

[5:48] Bob Orr, CBS News, Washington. An

[5:51] estimated 800,000 women now use the

[5:53] birth control patch as an alternative to

[5:55] the pill. The contraceptives delivered

[5:57] through the skin are supposed to have

[5:59] the same benefits and risks as those

[6:01] taken by mouth.

[6:03] But are they really equally safe?

[6:05] CBS's Cynthia Bowers investigated for

[6:08] tonight's Eye on America.

[6:09] Yeah.

[6:11] Ike Okachuku's life is a blur. I'm my

[6:14] daddy, I'm my mommy.

[6:16] I'm everything. He's everything now

[6:19] because 8 months ago his wife Philomena

[6:21] suffered a near-fatal stroke. A woman

[6:24] who is vibrant,

[6:26] a woman who is full of life, just

[6:29] a question of second, her life was just

[6:31] taken out of

[6:33] A blood clot in her brain left the

[6:34] 38-year-old beautician paralyzed and

[6:37] unable to speak. Her doctor told Ike he

[6:39] could find nothing to explain the

[6:41] stroke, but suspected the condition may

[6:43] have been caused by the birth control

[6:45] patch she began using just 12 days

[6:47] before. You can put it here. Since the

[6:49] patch hit the market 2 years ago amid a

[6:52] sexy and expensive advertising blitz, 4

[6:55] million American women have tried it. It

[6:57] delivers through the skin the same

[6:59] synthetic hormones found in birth

[7:01] control pills. Both methods share

[7:03] similar risks. Serious risks include

[7:05] blood clot, stroke, and heart attack. An

[7:07] attorney representing the Okachukus and

[7:09] others showed CBS News FDA records that

[7:13] indicate as many as 11 young women may

[7:15] have died from blood clots caused by the

[7:17] patch. Every drug has its risks and

[7:19] every every drug has its complications.

[7:22] Uh but there's a balancing test. And in

[7:25] this case, there's a lot of other safer

[7:28] contraceptives. According to his

[7:30] lawsuit, during a 12-month period ending

[7:32] 2003, there were 46 reports of serious

[7:36] clot-related injuries or deaths

[7:38] attributable to the patch. That's

[7:40] compared to 23 incidents for the leading

[7:43] oral contraceptive, even though that

[7:45] pill is taken by nearly six times as

[7:47] many women.

[7:48] >> In a letter to CBS News, the drug's

[7:50] maker, Ortho McNeil, says the patch is

[7:52] safe and effective. The types of adverse

[7:55] events reported are consistent with the

[7:57] pill, and risks increase for smokers and

[7:59] women over 35. The FDA agrees the patch

[8:03] is safe when used properly, but adds

[8:05] monitoring will continue. Doctors say

[8:08] awareness is key.

[8:09] >> Women should be in previous Fill in me

[8:11] tragedy. For now, her family is left

[8:13] clinging to faith.

[8:15] And I know the good Lord will heal my

[8:18] wife.

[8:19] And to one another. In Austin, Texas,

[8:22] I'm Cynthia Bowers for Eye on America.

[8:25] More, but be sure to join me on

[8:26] television for the on-air edition of the

[8:28] CBS Evening News. On Wednesday's

[8:30] broadcast, after five years of testing,

[8:33] we'll give you the results of a

[8:35] promising new breast cancer treatment.

[8:38] For CBSNews.com,

[8:40] I'm Dan Rather.