CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-11-27

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] I'm Katie Kurrick. Tonight, man on a

[0:05] mission. President Bush embarks on a

[0:06] search for solutions to the violence in

[0:08] Iraq as that country slips ever closer

[0:11] to civil war. 10 people are killed as a

[0:14] suspicious fire destroys a group home

[0:16] for the mentally ill in Missouri. How

[0:18] safe are these homes? CBS News

[0:20] investigates. Overweight in America,

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[0:39] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:42] Kurrick.

[0:45] >> Hi everyone. The Bush administration is

[0:48] still not calling it a civil war, but

[0:50] National Security Adviser Steven Hadley

[0:52] today gave the most ominous assessment

[0:55] yet of the violence in Iraq. He said it

[0:57] has clearly entered a new phase. Hadley

[1:00] is traveling with President Bush who

[1:02] arrived today in Estonia on route to a

[1:04] NATO summit. The president spent the

[1:06] flight on the phone asking key allies

[1:09] for help with Iraq. Tomorrow it's on to

[1:11] Latvia for that summit. CBS News chief

[1:14] White House correspondent Jim Axelrod is

[1:16] traveling with the president. Jim, why

[1:18] such a dramatic shift in rhetoric by

[1:20] Steven Hadley?

[1:22] >> Well, he's got to acknowledge reality,

[1:24] Katie. I mean, the White House still

[1:25] doesn't want to use the words civil war

[1:27] because that's the next category of

[1:29] chaos, but this is new. Let's show you

[1:31] what Mr. Hadley said to reporters

[1:33] traveling on Air Force One tonight.

[1:36] We're clearly in a new phase

[1:37] characterized by this increasing

[1:39] sectarian violence that requires us

[1:42] obviously to adapt to that new phase and

[1:44] these two leaders need to be talking

[1:46] about how to do that. Katie, there is a

[1:48] huge difference when talking about a US

[1:51] troop involvement between doing

[1:52] something noble like bringing democracy

[1:54] to a region and being caught in another

[1:56] country's civil war.

[1:58] >> Meanwhile, Jim, in the midst of all this

[2:00] talk and all the focus on Iraq, why is

[2:02] the Israeli Palestinian peace process

[2:05] suddenly on the front burner again?

[2:08] >> Well, the Arab countries want to see

[2:10] something from the United States if

[2:12] they're going to engage in lowering the

[2:13] temperature in Iraq. They want to see

[2:15] the United States actively engaged in

[2:17] lowering the temperature between the

[2:19] Palestinian Authority and the Israelis.

[2:21] So that's why you have State Department

[2:23] spokesman planning uh saying that

[2:24] there's planning between Secretary Rice

[2:26] and Prime Minister Mer as well as

[2:28] Palestinian President Abbas for possible

[2:30] meetings. One other thing we want to

[2:31] show you Katie Iraq's president Talibani

[2:34] today. We have some pictures of this was

[2:36] in Iran talking with Iranian leaders at

[2:38] their invitation. Another idea that's

[2:41] been talked about that Iran and Syria

[2:42] need to become more actively engaged in

[2:45] bringing peace to Iraq. That idea uh

[2:48] Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq says must

[2:50] come from Iraq. The outreach, not the

[2:52] US. Katie.

[2:53] >> All right, Jim Axelrod traveling with

[2:55] the president tonight. As for getting

[2:57] Iran and Syria involved in diplomatic

[2:59] efforts, that's just one possible

[3:01] recommendation from the so-called Iraq

[3:03] Study Group. The special commission

[3:05] headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton

[3:07] is expected to issue its report within a

[3:09] few weeks. More now from national

[3:12] security correspondent David Martin.

[3:15] >> Just down Pennsylvania Avenue from the

[3:17] White House, members of the Iraq Study

[3:19] Group met in secret to begin drafting

[3:21] their recommendations for a new strategy

[3:24] for the increasingly bloody war in Iraq.

[3:27] One source close to the group predicted

[3:29] they would produce a unanimous report or

[3:31] nothing at all. They spent an hour

[3:34] interviewing UN Secretary General Kofi

[3:36] Annen by video conference even as Annan

[3:38] publicly warned Iraq is on the brink of

[3:41] civil war.

[3:42] >> I think given the developments on the

[3:43] ground unless something is done

[3:46] drastically and urgently to arrest the

[3:49] deteriorating situation uh we could be

[3:52] there and in fact we are almost there.

[3:55] The most dramatic option on the table is

[3:57] an increase of up to 20,000 American

[4:00] troops in an effort to keep a lid on the

[4:02] violence. The army is now studying how

[4:04] it could accomplish the buildup and how

[4:06] long it could sustain. Just two weeks

[4:09] ago, the commander of US forces in the

[4:11] Middle East told Congress he didn't want

[4:13] more American troops. But in a

[4:15] subsequent interview with 60 Minutes,

[4:17] General John Abzade put that option back

[4:19] on the table.

[4:20] >> I have not precluded the notion of more

[4:22] troops coming into Iraq. We'll we'll do

[4:25] whatever we have to do to stabilize the

[4:26] situation.

[4:27] >> One option members of the study group

[4:29] seem certain to agree on is the need for

[4:31] more American trainers. Abisade wants to

[4:34] double the current number of 5,000 in

[4:36] order to accelerate the turnover to

[4:38] Iraqi troops. But there is no agreement

[4:40] yet on whether to set an actual

[4:42] timetable for an American withdrawal,

[4:44] which some members of the Iraqi study

[4:46] group see as the only way to put

[4:48] pressure on Prime Minister Maliki to

[4:50] make the political concessions needed to

[4:52] head off civil war.

[4:55] Katie, one source says the panel hasn't

[4:57] hit any deal breakers, so they could

[4:59] deliver their report as early as next

[5:01] week. Katie,

[5:02] >> David Martin at the Pentagon. Thank you,

[5:04] David. And we'll be anchoring this

[5:05] broadcast later this week from Aman,

[5:07] Jordan cited the meeting between

[5:09] President Bush and the Iraqi Prime

[5:11] Minister. Meanwhile, here in this

[5:13] country, a heartbreaking tragedy

[5:15] overnight. Fire destroyed a group home

[5:17] for the elderly and mentally ill in

[5:20] southwestern Missouri. At least 10

[5:22] people were killed, including one

[5:23] worker, and more than two dozen were

[5:26] injured. Officials are saying the fire

[5:28] is suspicious. Lee C reports tonight

[5:31] from Anderson, Missouri.

[5:34] >> From the looks of the damage, it would

[5:36] have been difficult for anyone to escape

[5:38] last night's fire, let alone the 32

[5:41] mentally ill and elderly residents who

[5:43] once called this place home. Most were

[5:45] sleeping when the fire erupted in the

[5:47] singlestory building just after 1:00

[5:49] a.m. Neighbor Betty Wood heard the

[5:51] screams and ran out to help.

[5:53] >> You could tell they were just in shock

[5:55] and they just couldn't get their eyes

[5:57] off the fire.

[5:58] >> The Anderson Guest House is not a

[6:00] nursing home, but a statelicicensed

[6:02] assisted living facility where the

[6:03] mentally ill and elderly can live under

[6:06] supervision. One of the residents would

[6:08] regularly walk across the street to this

[6:10] animal hospital just to visit with Fred,

[6:12] his cat. He wasn't allowed to have Fred

[6:15] in the home, but they don't think that

[6:17] man made it out alive.

[6:18] >> I had every hope that he he would get

[6:21] out because like I said, it was it's

[6:23] going to be a very sad thing not to see

[6:25] him come through that door anymore.

[6:26] >> The cause of the fire is still a

[6:28] mystery, but on Saturday, another fire

[6:30] broke out in one of the rooms here, but

[6:32] it was put out with little or no damage.

[6:34] Now, this second fire coming less than

[6:36] 24 hours later has investigators

[6:38] wondering if someone said it. We're not

[6:41] saying it's definitely a crime scene,

[6:42] but we're treating as if it is and

[6:43] trying to determine if um if the fire

[6:46] was set by somebody that had a nefarious

[6:48] motive.

[6:49] >> Now, Katie, this may sound surprising,

[6:51] but this building was actually old

[6:52] enough that by state law wasn't required

[6:55] to have fire sprinklers installed.

[6:57] Still, a fire safety inspection that was

[6:59] done as recently as March showed that

[7:00] there were no problems with the fire

[7:01] exits or the fire alarm installed

[7:03] inside, but it still ranks as one of

[7:05] Missouri's deadliest fires. Katie,

[7:08] >> thank you, Lee. And Lee, by the way,

[7:10] raises some important questions. How

[7:12] safe are these homes for the mentally

[7:14] ill and who is regulating them? CBS News

[7:17] chief investigative correspondent Armen

[7:19] Contean has a closer look. The operator

[7:22] of the ill- fated Anderson guest house

[7:24] has reportedly been cited in recent

[7:26] years by the state of Missouri for the

[7:28] most severe violations of fire laws in

[7:31] two other facilities it runs. In October

[7:34] 2003, the state found that Joplain River

[7:37] of Life Ministries failed to obtain an

[7:39] annual fire inspection for its

[7:41] residential care facility in Carthage

[7:43] and that staff members at another

[7:45] facility in Joplain placed a pencil in

[7:48] the reset switch to prevent fire alarm

[7:50] activation. Just last month, the

[7:53] Missouri Mental Health Task Force issued

[7:55] this draft report demanding far more

[7:58] protection inside all homes for the

[8:00] mentally disabled, but it may not have

[8:02] gone far enough.

[8:03] >> We always need to be on our toes on

[8:05] oversight. We held six hearings in all

[8:08] corners of the state and heard from well

[8:10] over 100 witnesses, many hours of

[8:12] hearings, and no one in any of those

[8:15] hearings raised issues of fire safety

[8:18] and fire codes. Homes for the mentally

[8:20] disabled have mushroomed in the last

[8:22] decade as mental health advocates push

[8:24] states to shift money from larger public

[8:27] institutions to smaller privatelyun

[8:29] facilities, but not without problems. In

[8:33] New York, news reports of chronic abuse

[8:35] and neglect in adult homes prompted

[8:37] calls to overhaul the state system. In

[8:40] Kentucky, investigators recently found

[8:42] repeated medication errors, inadequate

[8:44] staffing, and poor sanitation. And back

[8:47] in Missouri, a recent investigation

[8:49] found over a 5-year period, there were

[8:51] 21 deaths, more than 300 injuries, and

[8:55] almost 2,000 other incidents tied to

[8:57] abuse or neglect by caregivers. And late

[9:01] today, confirmation that the owner of

[9:02] the facility, Robert J. Dupant Jr.,

[9:05] pleaded guilty to felony healthc care

[9:07] fraud in 2000 in connection with a

[9:10] scheme to bulk Medicaid and Medicare.

[9:12] Katie.

[9:13] >> All right, thank you, Armen. There is

[9:14] much more CBS news straight ahead. And

[9:17] still to come, overweight in America. Is

[9:20] your brain somehow telling your body

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