CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-18

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

[0:05] ahead, how safe is our food? There may

[0:09] be another case of mad cow disease in

[0:11] America's cattle herds. Also, eye on

[0:14] America, a father's fatal genetic

[0:16] disease presents his athletes son with a

[0:19] dilemma. To test or not to test. And a

[0:24] photograph of a US Marine put a face on

[0:27] the war in Iraq. Now the face has a name

[0:30] and a voice. It's all starting now on

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

[0:37] The story of the possible new case of

[0:39] mad cow disease in this country goes

[0:41] this way. The government says the animal

[0:43] that may have had it never got into the

[0:46] human food supply. Even so, any new

[0:49] confirmed case of mad cow could butcher

[0:52] the bottom line for US cattle ranchers.

[0:54] CBS's Wyatt Andrews has the facts,

[0:56] medical and financial.

[0:59] >> For consumers, it was an odd sounding

[1:02] announcement of an inconclusive test for

[1:04] mad cow. According to the USDA, two

[1:07] preliminary lab tests, found possible

[1:10] mad cow disease in a single animal. More

[1:12] conclusive tests will take 4 to 7 days.

[1:16] Biorad of California, the company that

[1:18] manufactures the test, says two

[1:21] inconclusive results raise a flag. A

[1:23] company official tells CBS News it's

[1:26] highly unlikely that this would be found

[1:28] not positive for the disease. Experts

[1:31] still say there is a chance of a false

[1:33] positive.

[1:35] The assuring part is this. After Mad Cow

[1:38] was found in Washington last December,

[1:41] the US began testing 10 times more

[1:43] animals than before and took all wobbly

[1:46] or downer cows out of the food chain.

[1:49] The animal in question now was

[1:51] discovered because of the new screening

[1:53] rules. And because it did not reach the

[1:55] food supply, the risk to humans is zero.

[1:58] >> This animal didn't enter the human food

[2:00] supply or the animal feed supply because

[2:02] everything is so tight now about how

[2:04] these things are managed.

[2:06] >> The USDA would not say where the animal

[2:09] lived, but told CBS it has begun tracing

[2:12] where it was raised and how it was fed.

[2:15] But if the test is positive, critics say

[2:17] tracing will be difficult because a long

[2:20] promised ID system for cattle is still

[2:23] on the drawing boards.

[2:24] >> All the cattle who were exposed at the

[2:27] same time as this one should be

[2:29] identified and removed from the human

[2:32] and animal food supply today. That can't

[2:35] be done because we don't have nationwide

[2:38] animal trackings in place.

[2:40] >> Financially, this announcement could

[2:42] hurt. Japan was on the edge of resuming

[2:45] imports of US beef, a billion-dollar

[2:47] market that was halted by last year's

[2:49] case of mad cow. A positive test now may

[2:52] not pose a threat to food, but could

[2:55] reimpose foreign fears of American

[2:57] exports. Wyatt Andrews, CBS News,

[3:00] Washington. There's some diseases that

[3:02] aren't spread by germs at all. They are

[3:04] inherited. Well, what if there were a

[3:07] test that could tell you if you

[3:08] inherited a disease that could one day

[3:11] kill you? Would you get the test? CBS

[3:15] News medical correspondent Elizabeth

[3:17] Kaledan reports on a real dilemma in

[3:19] tonight's Eye on America.

[3:22] >> As the Wisconsin Badgers play host,

[3:25] >> it's game night for the University of

[3:27] Wisconsin Badgers. And the pressures on

[3:29] the team's charismatic center number 11,

[3:32] Jake Dowel.

[3:34] This sophomore is such a gifted athlete,

[3:36] the NHL has come calling. But tonight,

[3:39] Jake's giving it all for his biggest

[3:42] fan, his father.

[3:43] >> It's just the, you know, the highlight

[3:45] of his his life to come watch you play.

[3:49] >> Yeah.

[3:50] >> So,

[3:50] >> it really is. I think

[3:51] >> you want to sell it.

[3:52] >> Three years ago, John Dowel was

[3:54] diagnosed with Huntington's disease, a

[3:56] fatal genetic disorder characterized by

[3:59] jerky, uncontrollable movements and the

[4:01] gradual loss of all body and brain

[4:04] function. I uh first started uh feeling

[4:07] like I had an ear infection.

[4:09] >> Come up and eat.

[4:10] >> Symptoms generally kick in in the 30s

[4:12] and can take 20 years to run their cruel

[4:15] course. There is no cure. So for now,

[4:18] the Dowels manage John's illness with

[4:20] numbing drugs and even more numbing

[4:23] days.

[4:24] >> The only thing I can do is watch TV.

[4:27] >> Once an active athlete, John Dowel

[4:29] coached his sons through every sport

[4:32] imaginable. Now he has to coach them

[4:34] through the unimaginable.

[4:36] >> Had you ever heard of Huntington's

[4:38] disease?

[4:39] >> No, I didn't have any idea what it was.

[4:41] >> Nor did he know that the gene passes

[4:43] from parent to child. Jake and his

[4:45] brother Luke both have a 50/50 chance of

[4:48] having it themselves. The gene was

[4:50] isolated and identified in 1993.

[4:53] Today, a simple blood test can tell Jake

[4:56] if he has it. Now, this star athlete

[4:59] who's used to facing off against the

[5:01] toughest competitors must face up to an

[5:04] agonizing dilemma. Get tested for the

[5:07] Huntington's gene and face a potential

[5:09] death sentence or just skate on.

[5:12] >> I think there's a huge amount of social

[5:15] pressure on people to get tested.

[5:17] >> Neurosychologist Nancy Wexler says

[5:19] genetic testing for incurable diseases

[5:22] is a double-edged sword. Our culture

[5:24] values knowledge, not ignorance. So not

[5:27] wanting to know is often criticized.

[5:31] >> Jake Dowel has decided until he wants a

[5:33] family, he'll stay in the dark.

[5:36] >> If I test test positive for it, I'll

[5:38] feel, you know,

[5:40] what's it what's it doing for me to

[5:42] know?

[5:42] >> But it's loose.

[5:43] >> With his life and a professional hockey

[5:46] career in front of him and his father

[5:48] still in the stands, he's hoping for a

[5:50] greater goal.

[5:51] >> Here's Jake Dow WITH A SHOT. that

[5:55] someday soon there'll be a cure going

[5:58] >> in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm Elizabeth

[6:00] Kaledan for Eye on America.

[6:02] >> Last week, as we ended one of our

[6:03] broadcast, we showed you a photograph

[6:05] that caught our eye. A photograph of a

[6:07] young man, a very young American man. At

[6:11] the time, we didn't even know his name,

[6:13] but he became an instant symbol of the

[6:15] brave American servicemen and women who

[6:18] risked their lives every day in Iraq and

[6:20] Afghanistan. To us, it was a photograph

[6:23] we had to share. A US Marine on the

[6:26] front lines of Fallujah. And underneath

[6:28] the dirt, the blood, and the exhaustion,

[6:31] a mother recognized her son.

[6:34] >> I was just waiting for a sign. And that

[6:36] was just the greatest sign I could have

[6:38] ever had was to know that he was okay.

[6:41] And I knew that was my son.

[6:43] >> Now we know the name behind the face.

[6:46] Lance Corporal James Blake Miller of the

[6:49] 18 Charlie Company first squad. first

[6:51] platoon.

[6:52] >> I was just sitting on a rooftop on my

[6:54] down time and I was just talking with my

[6:56] staff serant and uh we were just smoking

[6:58] a cigarette,

[7:00] >> taking a break from war.

[7:02] >> Known as Blake, he joined the military

[7:04] right after high school graduation in

[7:06] Kentucky. He misses his two younger

[7:08] brothers, hunting and homemade peanut

[7:10] butter pie.

[7:11] >> You guys ready?

[7:12] >> Only 20 years old, he's already a combat

[7:15] veteran.

[7:18] >> Shots flying overhead numerous times.

[7:20] quite a few close calls at certain

[7:23] points to the extent where a marine

[7:24] couldn't even raise his head up.

[7:27] I mean, it's horrit.

[7:28] >> His mother's got two messages for him.

[7:31] First, quit smoking.

[7:33] >> And I just want him to know that we love

[7:35] him. We miss him. We're so proud, but

[7:39] just stay safe and come home.

[7:41] >> And he's got a message for his family.

[7:44] >> Just like to tell everybody that I love

[7:45] y'all and can't wait to make home. More

[7:48] stories are just a click away, but be

[7:50] sure to join me on television for the on

[7:52] air edition of the CBS Evening News. On

[7:55] Friday's broadcast, we report about

[7:57] children as young as four getting

[8:00] tutored in reading and math. It's a

[8:03] popular program, but are parents pushing

[8:05] kids too hard too soon? For cbsnews.com,

[8:11] I'm Dan Rather.