CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-11-16

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] I'm Katie Kurrick. Killer storms tear

[0:03] across the South, ripping mobile homes

[0:05] to shreds and leaving at least a dozen

[0:08] people dead. A CBS News exclusive. He

[0:11] knows the al-Qaeda threat from the

[0:13] inside because he was a terrorist until

[0:16] he became a spy for the other side.

[0:18] You'll hear his story. Hormone

[0:20] replacement therapy for men tonight. The

[0:23] male biological clock and the battle

[0:25] against father time. And would you put

[0:28] yourself through this for a chance to

[0:30] spend $600 on a video game? Right now,

[0:33] thousands are doing just that.

[0:40] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:43] Kurrick.

[0:46] Hi everyone. It came without warning. A

[0:49] tornado plowed into a North Carolina

[0:51] trailer park this morning and tore it

[0:53] apart. By the time it was over, eight

[0:56] people were dead. The tornado was part

[0:58] of a storm system that has now left at

[1:00] least 12 dead in the south over the past

[1:02] two days. CBS News correspondent Jim

[1:05] Acasta is in Regalwood, North Carolina

[1:07] tonight. Jim,

[1:10] Katie, people here say they had little

[1:12] time to react this morning, and it's no

[1:14] wonder with the winds from this tornado

[1:16] estimated between 100 and 150 mph.

[1:21] A mobile home community near North

[1:23] Carolina's Capefir River was jolted

[1:25] awake by a deadly tornado this morning.

[1:28] >> I went running.

[1:28] >> I didn't believe it.

[1:30] >> I know you did.

[1:31] >> And within a matter of minutes, nearly

[1:33] 40 homes were gone. The twister blew

[1:36] trailers off their foundations. Martin

[1:39] Brown dove under his kitchen table just

[1:41] before his kitchen caved in on him.

[1:43] >> They kept hearing the wind. Then it

[1:45] sound like a train was coming. I said,

[1:47] "Let me get up and look out that door,

[1:49] see what's going on." When I looked out

[1:50] at the door, tornado was coming and I

[1:54] took off running.

[1:55] >> Eight people have been confirmed killed

[1:57] here and that number could go higher.

[1:59] >> We have search and rescue personnel on

[2:01] the ground and are combing the total

[2:03] area. We want to cover every inch of the

[2:06] property.

[2:06] >> It was the costly conclusion to a

[2:08] fastmoving wave of violent storms that

[2:11] smashed its way across the south. From

[2:13] Greensburg, Louisiana, where a man was

[2:15] killed when his home exploded in one

[2:17] tornado, to this storm damaged church in

[2:19] Mississippi, to Montgomery, Alabama,

[2:22] where strong winds ripped apart a

[2:23] skating rink, terrifying a group of

[2:26] preschoolers.

[2:28] Among the army of utility crews

[2:30] restoring power to thousands of homes,

[2:32] one worker was accidentally electrocuted

[2:35] in South Carolina.

[2:38] While a twister in November may seem

[2:40] strange a month away from the start of

[2:42] winter, weather experts say it's their

[2:44] second busiest tornado season of the

[2:46] year.

[2:46] >> It's the time of year that the cold air

[2:48] and the warm air come together and you

[2:50] have that extreme contrast and that's

[2:53] what makes the strong weather. This

[2:55] system though is a little stronger than

[2:56] normal.

[2:57] >> Back in the Capefir River community, the

[2:59] danger is gone, but the work is just

[3:02] beginning. Uh we're going to do

[3:04] everything we possibly can to uh get

[3:06] people's lives back together as soon as

[3:08] we possibly can and make them uh whole

[3:11] again.

[3:13] >> Authorities now say two of the eight

[3:15] people dead are children and of the 19

[3:18] people in the hospital this evening,

[3:19] four of them are children in critical

[3:22] condition. Katie

[3:24] >> Jim, was there any warning system in

[3:26] place to let folks know that this was

[3:28] coming?

[3:30] >> Uh no. The sheriff says they were

[3:32] relying basically on the TV stations,

[3:35] uh, which is not a bad way to go, but in

[3:37] those communities where there are siren

[3:39] systems, those siren systems can save

[3:41] lives. They just didn't have one here,

[3:42] Katie.

[3:43] >> And is anyone still missing tonight?

[3:47] >> Uh, no. They think uh as of just about

[3:49] 30 minutes ago, they think they have

[3:51] everyone accounted for, but when it's

[3:53] late in the morning, they'll have

[3:55] another check. Katie,

[3:56] >> Jim Aosta in Regalwood, North Carolina.

[3:58] Thank you, Jim. Meanwhile, in Washington

[4:00] DC, House Democrats formally nominated

[4:03] Nancy Pelosi today to be the next

[4:05] speaker, but her moment of triumph was

[4:07] followed by her first big political

[4:09] setback when she lost her battle to get

[4:11] John Murtha of Pennsylvania elected

[4:14] majority leader. The Democrats went

[4:16] instead with Stenny Hoyer of Maryland

[4:18] and it was a landslide 149 to 86. Pelosi

[4:22] accepted the loss and said, "Time to

[4:24] move on."

[4:26] >> Stenny came out a big winner today. It

[4:28] was a stunning victory for him. We've

[4:31] had our debates. We've had our

[4:32] disagreements in that room. And now uh

[4:36] that is over. As I said to my

[4:38] colleagues, let the as we say in church,

[4:41] let there be peace on earth and let it

[4:44] begin with us.

[4:46] >> So will Democrats make peace and keep

[4:48] it? Bob Schiffer is our chief Washington

[4:50] correspondent. Bob, the early signs are

[4:53] not too good, are they? Well, uh, Nancy

[4:55] Pelosi really did not help her cause

[4:58] today. And what has stunned even her

[5:00] supporters is why she would want to wade

[5:02] into this battle where she didn't need

[5:04] to take sides, especially when everybody

[5:07] was telling her that John Murtha simply

[5:09] didn't have the support to get the job.

[5:11] Uh, it has raised questions about both

[5:13] her leadership and her judgment. And

[5:15] here's why it rises above the level of a

[5:17] feud. She and Ciney Hoyer have never

[5:19] gotten along. But here's the problem

[5:21] that she has now. She is going to have

[5:24] in the next Congress a lot of really

[5:26] left-wing liberals in her party that

[5:28] were left over from this session of

[5:29] Congress, plus a bunch of new

[5:32] conservative Democrats who've just been

[5:34] elected. She's going to have to bring

[5:36] them together if they if the Democrats

[5:38] are going to get anything done. Not only

[5:40] did this not help that cause today, it

[5:43] has made the gap even wider and it has

[5:45] raised real questions about her

[5:47] judgment. And Bob, to make matters

[5:49] worse, I know there's some squabbbling

[5:51] now over DNC Chair Howard Dean.

[5:54] >> Well, this is also coming from

[5:55] congressional Republicans. They wanted

[5:57] Dean to pour more money into some of

[5:59] these congressional races. Instead, he

[6:01] chose to give it to state parties. They

[6:03] think if he had put it on some of these

[6:05] congressional races, they would have

[6:07] picked up even more seats, and they're

[6:08] pretty mad about it.

[6:09] >> All right, Bob Sheaffer in Washington

[6:11] tonight. Bob, thank you. Nice to see

[6:13] you. With the Democrats in charge of the

[6:15] new Congress, Senator Edward Kennedy

[6:17] will chair the committee that deals with

[6:19] the federal minimum wage. It's now $5.15

[6:23] an hour. And Kennedy said again today

[6:25] that raising it is at the top of his

[6:27] agenda. In tonight's installment of our

[6:30] special series, Cynthia Bowers looks at

[6:32] both sides of the issue.

[6:36] >> At the pizza parlor, his family has run

[6:38] for 60 years. When Dan Costello hears

[6:41] talk about Washington raising the

[6:42] minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, he

[6:46] worries and not just about his long-term

[6:48] profits, but also his longtime

[6:51] employees.

[6:52] >> Maybe employees that are making 850 950,

[6:56] what are their expectations? You know,

[6:57] if the new guy just got raised, what

[7:00] about me? It's a fair question.

[7:02] >> Most of his minimum wage workers are

[7:04] teenagers.

[7:04] >> Can I help you with your carry out

[7:06] order?

[7:06] >> Susan Cervantes is an exception. The

[7:09] recently widowed grandmother says making

[7:11] ends meet can be a struggle.

[7:13] >> It's hard because it only goes so far.

[7:15] >> She's actually doing better than

[7:17] millions of other Americans. That's

[7:19] because Illinois is one of 23 states

[7:22] with a higher minimum wage than the

[7:24] $5.15

[7:25] level set by the federal government

[7:27] nearly a decade ago. This month, voters

[7:30] in six more states overwhelmingly

[7:32] approved giving a raise to minimum wage

[7:35] workers and adding a cost of living

[7:37] adjustment.

[7:39] It's an issue that's gaining traction

[7:41] with Americans. Incoming House Speaker

[7:43] Nancy Pelosi promises to make it a

[7:45] priority, putting pressure on President

[7:47] Bush to go along.

[7:49] >> I think that we will see a minimum wage

[7:51] increase uh within the next 6 or 8

[7:54] months.

[7:54] >> An increase that would affect some 15

[7:57] million Americans who currently earn

[7:59] less than 725 an hour. People like Susan

[8:02] Cervantes, who never worried about

[8:03] minimum wage until her husband passed

[8:06] away. never really paid attention to it

[8:08] because I had my husband.

[8:10] Now it now it it makes a difference

[8:13] >> for her and her boss who's already

[8:15] trying to figure out where the money

[8:16] will come from.

[8:17] >> If you're going to let your profits

[8:19] decrease over time, the business is

[8:21] going to dry up and die. And that's not

[8:22] good for anybody.

[8:23] >> Least of all, he says, for the people

[8:25] his family business keeps on its

[8:27] payroll. Cynthia Bowers, CBS News,

[8:30] Chicago. Tomorrow night, we'll look at

[8:33] another issue on the agenda of the new

[8:35] Congress, the high cost of prescription

[8:37] drugs, and why the Democrats want to

[8:39] negotiate to bring those prices down.

[8:42] There's one piece of good news tonight

[8:45] about gas, about prices. Cheaper

[8:47] gasoline has us talking about deflation

[8:49] instead of inflation for a second

[8:51] straight month. Consumer prices dropped

[8:54] by a half% in October. So far this year,

[8:57] inflation is running 2.4%. That's a full

[9:00] point lower than last year. Meanwhile, a

[9:03] giant in the field of economics died

[9:05] today. Milton Freriedman championed free

[9:07] markets and less government control of

[9:09] the economy. He won the Nobel Prize in

[9:11] economics in 1976 and was a key adviser

[9:14] to President Reagan. Milton Freriedman

[9:17] was 94. And four Americans who work in

[9:20] Iraq for private companies are missing

[9:22] tonight. Their supply convoy was

[9:24] ambushed in southern Iraq. US troops

[9:27] have mounted a search for the

[9:29] contractors. There's much more CBS news

[9:32] straight ahead. And coming up next, a

[9:34] CBS News exclusive. A chilling warning

[9:37] from a spy inside al-Qaeda. Are

[9:40] potential terror targets listening?