CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-17

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

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

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

[0:04] ahead, Sears and Kmart agreed to a

[0:07] merger. But will the 11 billion dollar

[0:09] deal save the struggling companies?

[0:11] Walmart and Home Depot are still bigger.

[0:14] Also, Congress asked questions about the

[0:16] flu vaccine shortage and got some

[0:18] surprising answers. Also, genetic

[0:20] testing of embryos. It can help

[0:23] determine if a baby will be healthy, but

[0:25] is it ethical? Eye on America

[0:28] investigates. It's all starting now on

[0:30] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:34] When Kmart got into money trouble, it

[0:36] started selling off stores and built up

[0:38] a huge pile of cash. Today, Kmart went

[0:42] shopping and came home with Sears. The

[0:45] two struggling retailers are merging,

[0:47] forming one of the largest chain store

[0:49] empires in America. Kmart says it may

[0:52] close more stores. It would not say how

[0:55] many jobs might be lost. CBS News

[0:57] business correspondent Anthony Mason

[0:59] reports why two big competitors are

[1:02] joining forces.

[1:03] >> Two years ago, Kmart was in bankruptcy.

[1:06] Sales at Sears have been plummeting.

[1:08] Today, in an 11 billion dollar merger,

[1:11] two of retailing's most prominent brands

[1:13] announced they'll become a single

[1:15] company.

[1:16] >> I think the combination of these two

[1:18] great American retailers, though, will

[1:20] allow us to turbocharge our business.

[1:23] Together, Kmart and Sears will have

[1:25] almost 3,500 stores and 56 billion

[1:28] dollars in sales.

[1:30] >> I think it's great.

[1:31] >> I hope they they do, you know, keep

[1:33] Sears the way it is.

[1:34] >> The two stores will keep their separate

[1:36] identities.

[1:37] >> While we will be operating the these

[1:39] stores under two different name plates,

[1:41] uh the cultures we'd like to be uh as

[1:44] similar as possible.

[1:45] >> Ed Lampert, who will be chairman of the

[1:47] new company, has been in the news

[1:48] before. Last year, he survived a

[1:50] kidnapping by four men who demanded a

[1:53] million-doll ransom. Lambert, who bought

[1:55] Kmart in bankruptcy, has now created the

[1:57] country's third largest retailer,

[1:59] trailing only Home Depot and number one

[2:01] Walmart, which has five times the sales.

[2:04] If you meet Walmart headon, no one has

[2:08] ever lived to tell a story. So, there is

[2:10] no way to compete with a $270

[2:13] billion colossus. Walmart passed Sears

[2:17] as the nation's top retailer more than a

[2:19] decade ago. So, is Walmart worried about

[2:21] the new competition?

[2:23] >> I doubt it.

[2:24] >> Retail analyst Christine Austinine says

[2:27] the combined company could still be in

[2:29] trouble.

[2:29] >> There is an enormous amount of

[2:31] competition out there, very strong

[2:33] competitors, and I think it will be a

[2:35] difficult road.

[2:36] >> And some analysts believe both brands

[2:38] may yet be doomed.

[2:39] >> As a retail entity, in six, seven years,

[2:42] we won't see either of these companies.

[2:43] They're kadavas.

[2:45] So, you think this isn't going to save

[2:46] either one of them?

[2:47] >> Of course not. How can you put two bad

[2:49] companies together and get a good

[2:51] company? Walmart is having a party and

[2:53] so is Target.

[2:54] >> Many analysts also say this merger is

[2:57] not really about retailing, it's about

[2:59] real estate. Sears and Kmart both own

[3:01] some prime locations. The bottom line,

[3:04] two struggling retailers may just be

[3:06] buying time so they can sell off their

[3:08] best assets at the highest price.

[3:10] Federal health officials said today it's

[3:12] a mild flu season so far with some cases

[3:15] of the disease now reported in 28

[3:17] states. They claimed that they can't

[3:19] predict it will stay mild. They also

[3:21] claimed to Congress that there was no

[3:23] way they could have prevented the

[3:25] shortage of flu vaccine. CBS's Cheryl

[3:27] Atkinson reports Congress took shots

[3:30] casting doubt on that claim.

[3:33] >> At Springhouse Manor in Maryland,

[3:35] they're still waiting for flu shots.

[3:37] Nearby, the head of Maplewood Park Place

[3:39] went on a virtual scavenger hunt to find

[3:41] enough flu shots for residents, but

[3:43] health workers are doing without.

[3:46] >> We probably have 50 staff members who

[3:48] would choose to have flu vaccine if they

[3:51] could and have not.

[3:52] >> With flu spreading throughout the

[3:54] country, Congress released new documents

[3:56] showing FDA rejected its own experts

[3:59] advice on Chiron's troubled British

[4:01] plant. FDA inspectors wanted to force

[4:04] Chiron to fix serious contamination

[4:06] problems first exposed last year.

[4:09] Instead, FDA let Chiron operate under a

[4:12] voluntary fix it plan, then relied on

[4:15] Chiron's assurances it had solved its

[4:17] problems.

[4:18] >> FDA conducted oversight by conference

[4:21] call, trusting a stream of false

[4:23] assurances by Chiron that the plant had

[4:26] no serious problems. British, not US

[4:29] health officials, caught the

[4:30] contaminated vaccine last month.

[4:32] Millions of doses had already been

[4:34] shipped to the US. Only then did FDA

[4:37] officials reject the vaccine. Now they

[4:40] insist there's nothing more they could

[4:41] have done.

[4:42] >> Oh,

[4:44] excuse me. Are you telling us that FDA

[4:47] made no mistakes? Is that

[4:49] >> in this vaccine thing?

[4:50] >> Yeah.

[4:51] >> No, it never got on the market.

[4:52] >> You know, we got a major problem here.

[4:54] The reason why I ask you these questions

[4:55] is that we cannot deal with a problem

[4:57] unless we accept the fact that we have

[5:00] one, that we made mistakes.

[5:01] >> We're working to get more vaccine.

[5:03] >> The CDC had hoped to inoculate a 100

[5:05] million people this year. Right now,

[5:07] they think they'll be able to squeeze

[5:09] out 58 million doses, and the news

[5:12] doesn't seem to get better. Chiron CEO

[5:14] told Congress there's no guarantee his

[5:16] company will be up and running for next

[5:18] year's flu season. Cheryl Atinson, CBS

[5:21] News, Washington. In one part of the

[5:23] world of science, the future is here.

[5:26] Advanced genetic screening for inherited

[5:28] diseases now allows wouldbe parents to

[5:31] test and choose among embryos. CBS News

[5:35] medical correspondent Elizabeth Kaledan

[5:37] reports. It's a new technology with many

[5:39] benefits. One that also raises many

[5:42] ethical questions.

[5:44] >> This is going to be the nursery.

[5:45] >> For three years, this empty room has

[5:48] been filled only with hopes and dreams

[5:50] for Tanya and Kurt Weber. This is as far

[5:52] as we've gotten.

[5:53] >> They always wanted a big family, but

[5:55] fate had something else in store

[5:57] >> cuz it's really hard when you try for so

[6:01] long

[6:02] to um get pregnant.

[6:04] >> Tanya carries a rare genetic defect in

[6:06] which some chromosomes line up in the

[6:08] wrong place. The result has been

[6:11] miscarriages, the likelihood of severe

[6:13] birth defects, and endless heartbreak.

[6:16] >> I wouldn't wish this even on my worst

[6:17] enemy. But because doctors know exactly

[6:20] what this genetic defect looks like in a

[6:22] developing embryo, the Webers decided to

[6:25] rely on genetic testing to do something

[6:28] mother nature couldn't. It's called

[6:30] pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or

[6:33] PGD in which embryos developed in

[6:36] fertility clinics are screened for

[6:38] genetic problems before being implanted

[6:41] in the mother. Experts like Richard

[6:43] Scott say the science has evolved from

[6:45] brave new world to standard practice.

[6:48] >> In 2003, there were thousands of cases.

[6:51] >> Using a color-coded computer system,

[6:54] technicians can look deep inside

[6:56] developing embryos to see if all

[6:58] chromosomes are in place for a healthy

[7:00] baby. In this one, they were not.

[7:02] >> And unfortunately, there's three of

[7:04] them. And that's a diagnosis of Down

[7:07] syndrome. In the Weber's case, doctors

[7:09] looked for the specific genetic defect

[7:11] and found it. They implanted only

[7:13] healthy embryos in Tanya. Now, a baby

[7:16] boy is expected in February.

[7:18] >> It eliminates or very nearly eliminates

[7:21] the risk of having an abnormal child.

[7:23] >> But critics liken PGD to playing God,

[7:26] picking which embryos will live and

[7:28] which will die. It is a largely

[7:30] unregulated field with the potential to

[7:33] be misused for non-medical reasons. It's

[7:36] perfectly legal for a patient to go into

[7:39] a fertility clinic and say, "I'm

[7:41] perfectly fertile. I just want to make

[7:43] sure my next child is a is a girl."

[7:45] >> What's next? Many wonder. Selecting

[7:47] embryos for intelligence, for beauty.

[7:50] Leaders in the field say it's still

[7:52] science fiction.

[7:53] >> We still really don't know what complex

[7:55] of genes code for intelligence, code for

[7:57] great beauty. And so, we wouldn't even

[7:59] know which genes to start trying to

[8:01] control in that process. Society is

[8:03] going to decide where to draw the line.

[8:05] >> For the Webbers, the technology has been

[8:07] nothing more than a gift, preventing

[8:09] more anguish.

[8:11] >> It's not like we were doing it for a

[8:12] frivolous reason

[8:13] >> while helping them realize one of life's

[8:15] simplest dreams.

[8:16] >> We were doing it to have a healthy

[8:18] child, you know, that could grow up in a

[8:20] loving home and in a loving family.

[8:23] >> Elizabeth Kaledan, CBS News,

[8:25] Hacketttown, New Jersey. More stories

[8:27] are just a click away, but be sure to

[8:29] join me on television for the on air

[8:31] edition of the CBS Evening News. On

[8:34] Thursday's broadcast, a test could tell

[8:36] a star athlete his chances of getting

[8:38] the same genetic disease his father has.

[8:42] Will he get the test? Would you? An Eye

[8:45] on America report you'll see only on the

[8:48] CBS Evening News. for cbsnews.com.