CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-12-29

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm John Roberts and welcome to

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

[0:04] Just ahead, the tsunami disaster. The

[0:07] numbers of dead and injured just keep

[0:09] rising. We'll report on how the United

[0:11] States and others are coordinating

[0:13] relief efforts. Also, water water

[0:16] everywhere in Southern California at

[0:18] least. We'll show the aftermath of the

[0:20] rainiest December day on record. And our

[0:24] special series, the year ahead, looks at

[0:26] exciting new developments in medicine.

[0:29] It's all starting now on the CBS Evening

[0:31] News online edition. The focus is now on

[0:35] helping the survivors before it's too

[0:37] late. World health officials estimated

[0:39] today that 5 million people are without

[0:42] food, clean water, or shelter in the arc

[0:45] of tsunami destruction across southern

[0:47] Asia. The relief efforts shifted into

[0:50] high gear today as the death toll

[0:52] continued to climb.

[0:54] The sheer scale of the catastrophe is

[0:57] nearly impossible to grasp. At least

[0:59] 76,000 people in 12 countries have been

[1:02] killed and officials expect the number

[1:04] to soon exceed 100,000. More than a half

[1:07] a million people have been injured.

[1:10] Hardest hit, Indonesia, where at least

[1:12] 45,000 people lost their lives. In Sri

[1:16] Lanka, the toll is over 22,000.

[1:19] At least 7,000 people have died in

[1:22] India.

[1:23] And in Thailand, about 1,600 are dead

[1:27] with an additional 5,000 still listed as

[1:29] missing. President Bush today made his

[1:32] first public comments on the disaster

[1:34] from his Texas ranch.

[1:36] >> These past few days have brought loss

[1:37] and grief to the world that is beyond

[1:39] our comprehension.

[1:40] >> The president announced that the United

[1:42] States, India, Australia, and Japan have

[1:44] formed a coalition to coordinate the

[1:46] massive relief effort. Authorities say

[1:49] providing clean water and food to

[1:51] millions of victims is the best way to

[1:53] prevent deadly epidemics. There is a

[1:55] sharp difference of opinion on whether

[1:57] the huge numbers of decaying bodies are

[1:59] an immediate health threat requiring

[2:02] burial in mass graves.

[2:05] >> What everyone does agree on is that it

[2:07] will take many months and billions of

[2:09] dollars to restore what nature took in

[2:12] just a few minutes. In this country,

[2:14] powerful west coast storms could keep

[2:17] coming. one after another all the way

[2:19] through New Year's Day. Sander Hughes

[2:22] reports. One western storm already moved

[2:24] east into Arizona today just as another

[2:27] headed for the California coast.

[2:29] >> The rain came so fast and furious

[2:32] streets became canals. Vehicles collided

[2:35] like bumper cars and the earth opened

[2:37] up. Overnight, a surfboard rescue. More

[2:41] than 120,000 people lost power during

[2:44] the rainiest December day on record

[2:46] here.

[2:47] >> Rare for Southern California, this

[2:49] weather system brought thunderstorms

[2:50] with lightning and a tornado. It touched

[2:54] down just south of Los Angeles.

[2:56] >> Never expected a tornado in SoCal.

[2:59] >> We have at least 50 trees uh averaging

[3:03] 40 to 50 feet in height that were

[3:05] actually sheared off

[3:07] >> in Sedona, Arizona. The storm forced

[3:09] hundreds to evacuate. For the

[3:11] droughtstricken West, rain is always

[3:13] welcome. This storm turned into too much

[3:15] of a good thing. Sandra Hughes, CBS

[3:17] News, Los Angeles.

[3:19] >> All this week, the CBS Evening News is

[3:21] giving you a preview of what you might

[3:23] expect in 2005. Tonight, advances in

[3:26] medicine. CBS News medical correspondent

[3:29] Elizabeth Kaledan reports. That will

[3:31] certainly include new ways to keep the

[3:34] public safe from dangerous prescription

[3:36] drugs in the year ahead.

[3:40] >> The painkiller Vio may be gone, but look

[3:43] for longlasting side effects in the

[3:45] years to come. Not just because the drug

[3:48] and others like it have been linked to

[3:50] heart attack risk, but because its

[3:52] downfall is bound to have a major impact

[3:55] on the future of drug regulation.

[3:58] >> I think people have been reminded what

[3:59] the FDA is for. the FDS to stop people

[4:01] from dying.

[4:02] >> WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY MORE SHOTS.

[4:05] >> The consensus is public health officials

[4:07] are going to have to do a better job in

[4:09] the future, especially when it comes to

[4:12] protecting the public from the flu.

[4:16] Manufacturing problems meant we were

[4:18] short 50 million doses of flu vaccine

[4:20] this season.

[4:21] >> We don't want to be in a circumstance in

[4:23] the future where we have such few

[4:25] suppliers. If we're to prevent this site

[4:28] again, experts say technology to make

[4:31] flu vaccine must be modernized. The race

[4:34] is on to perfect new cell-based vaccines

[4:37] that can be mass- prodduced in huge

[4:39] tanks. They should be available in about

[4:41] 5 years. So, is there any good news to

[4:45] look forward to in 2005? Doctors say

[4:48] treating and diagnosing both heart

[4:50] disease, our leading killer, and cancer

[4:53] will see major advances in the months

[4:56] and years ahead.

[4:59] As we learned from Bill Clinton's

[5:01] emergency heart surgery in September,

[5:03] our best methods of detecting heart

[5:05] disease aren't good enough.

[5:07] >> You raise your arms up over your head.

[5:09] That's where a brand new imaging

[5:11] technology called CT scans are expected

[5:15] to play a huge role. Phyllis Leperkia is

[5:18] having a scan done because she has high

[5:20] cholesterol and is having chest pains.

[5:23] >> If this is noninvasive, less painful,

[5:26] why not go for it? Here's the left

[5:28] ventricle.

[5:28] >> After about 45 seconds, her doctor gets

[5:31] a complete 3D image of her heart.

[5:34] >> Is this the future of preventing heart

[5:36] attacks?

[5:37] >> Absolutely. There is no question about

[5:39] it. While preventing cancer remains an

[5:42] elusive problem, diagnosing it and

[5:44] treating it is on the brink of drastic

[5:46] change, cancer specialists are already

[5:49] seeing the potential for advances like

[5:51] designer chemotherapy, drugs that will

[5:53] treat cancer based on an individual's

[5:55] genetic makeup.

[5:57] >> I think it's going to be in some ways

[5:58] the biggest medical breakthrough of this

[6:00] decade. With great things on the

[6:03] horizon, there remains one problem the

[6:05] best minds in medicine can't seem to

[6:07] solve, and that's obesity. Experts are

[6:09] searching for a medical solution. The

[6:12] latest one, a drug called Acmplia,

[6:14] promises to help fight cravings and

[6:16] reduce inches, but most doctors agree

[6:19] there will be no magic bullet. Science

[6:23] and technology are expected to enable

[6:25] great medical advances in the years to

[6:27] come, but they can only do so much if

[6:30] Americans are unwilling to take care of

[6:33] themselves as best they can. Elizabeth

[6:36] Kaledan, CBS News, New York.

[6:39] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[6:41] be sure to join me on television for the

[6:44] on air edition of the CBS Evening News.

[6:46] On Thursday's broadcast, from a landing

[6:48] on Saturn's moon to a golf ball that

[6:51] goes just where you want it to, wait

[6:53] until you see what science has in store

[6:55] for 2005 in our series, The Year Ahead.

[6:59] for cbsnews.com.