CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-29

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, rounding up Iraq's weapons. The

[0:07] pressure is on to find and destroy as

[0:10] many as possible in the run-up to the

[0:12] elections. We'll show you how it is and

[0:14] is not going. Also, a new AIDS treatment

[0:18] shows promise. We'll give you the inside

[0:21] story. And thousands of women say they

[0:24] were disfigured by silicone injections.

[0:26] So why can't they share in a big money

[0:29] settlement? It's all starting now on the

[0:32] CBS Evening News online edition. One day

[0:35] to go and this month may prove to be the

[0:38] costliest month yet of the Iraq war for

[0:40] US troops. The P Pentagon reports at

[0:43] least 130 Americans killed in November,

[0:46] five short of last April's toll,

[0:49] including two soldiers cleared today.

[0:51] The total US debt in the war is now at

[0:53] least 1,248

[0:56] with well over 9,000 wounded officially.

[0:59] And CBS's Lee Cowan reports the surging

[1:02] violence threatens planned Iraqi

[1:04] elections now just 9 weeks away.

[1:07] >> It's boastful video images like these

[1:09] shot by insurgents that have spawned so

[1:12] many election worries. These aren't

[1:14] weapons that have been seized. They're

[1:16] weapons still out on the streets.

[1:18] The rush to round up as many as possible

[1:20] is evident everywhere, even along the

[1:22] banks of the Euphrates, where an unusual

[1:25] amphibious assault by British troops

[1:27] uncovered an arsenal of weapons. And

[1:29] just west of Baghdad, US troops are

[1:31] finding weapons hidden not only in

[1:33] mosques, but also in cemeteries, the

[1:36] same place militants were hiding them in

[1:37] Fallujah.

[1:38] >> Some grave sites were used to store

[1:40] weapons, and they would go back into

[1:41] them to pull the weapons back out as

[1:43] they pull back into uh to an area. US

[1:46] commanders insist the insurgents ability

[1:47] to arm themselves is getting

[1:49] increasingly more difficult, but that's

[1:52] hard to square with the continued

[1:53] attacks. Another oil pipeline was

[1:56] bombed. Seven members of Iraq's

[1:57] fledgling security force were killed by

[1:59] a car bomb. And two more US soldiers

[2:01] were killed by yet another roadside

[2:03] bomb. All evidence, say Sunnis, that the

[2:06] elections are still premature. 17

[2:09] political parties insisted over the

[2:10] weekend that elections be delayed out of

[2:12] security concerns. A move that seemed

[2:15] for a time to be gaining momentum. But

[2:17] that coalition quickly dissolved in the

[2:19] face of strong opposition from the

[2:21] interim government.

[2:23] >> But in an atmosphere where even Iraq's

[2:25] soccer championships have been postponed

[2:27] out of fear of attacks, some wonder what

[2:29] the chances are of a safe nationwide

[2:31] election where civilians will have to

[2:33] stand out in the open for a chance to

[2:35] make the goal of democracy real. Lee

[2:39] Cowen, CBS News, Baghdad. There could be

[2:42] a whole new approach now to help people

[2:44] infected with HIV. It's an experimental

[2:47] treatment still in the early stages of

[2:49] testing, but the results look promising.

[2:51] CBS News medical correspondent Elizabeth

[2:54] Kaledan has the inside story.

[2:57] >> The global spread of AIDS is a problem

[2:59] the best minds in medicine just can't

[3:01] seem to beat. 40 million people are now

[3:04] infected and drugs for those lucky

[3:06] enough to get them are expensive and

[3:08] have toxic side effects. That's why an

[3:11] experimental new therapy to fight AIDS

[3:14] by boosting the body's own defenses is

[3:16] now in the spotlight.

[3:18] >> For the first time, we were able to

[3:21] manipulate the immune system.

[3:23] >> The work is being done in Paris by two

[3:25] scientists convinced that the way to

[3:27] stop HIV is to bolster the immune

[3:30] systems of people who already have the

[3:32] virus. Researchers focused on immune

[3:35] cells because they are known to be key

[3:36] players in any response to infection.

[3:39] Working in laboratories, they exposed

[3:41] these cells to inactivated HIV virus and

[3:45] then reinjected them back into the

[3:47] patients. The result, the exposed cells

[3:50] were strengthened and eight of the 18

[3:53] patients had their virus levels decline

[3:55] by more than 80%.

[3:57] >> They are now able to kill infected

[4:00] cells.

[4:01] >> I'm optimistic because it's putting an

[4:03] emphasis on the immune system. AIDS

[4:05] experts like Jay Levy say this approach

[4:08] is the only way to go. The HIV virus has

[4:11] managed to mutate and outsmart every

[4:13] drug we've developed. So using the

[4:15] body's own immune powers, he believes is

[4:18] the key.

[4:19] >> This opens the door to encourage people

[4:22] to look at ways of in of getting the

[4:25] immune system back into control.

[4:27] >> The approach is in its infancy. It's

[4:29] complicated, expensive, and larger

[4:32] studies will be crucial, but the

[4:34] investment will be well worth it,

[4:36] according to many who believe it's the

[4:38] most promising new AIDS research in

[4:40] years. Elizabeth Kaledan, CBS News, New

[4:44] York.

[4:44] >> Tens of thousands of people who thought

[4:46] they were part of a big money settlement

[4:48] for health damage from cosmetic silicone

[4:51] are now being told, "Forget it." Instead

[4:54] of composition checks, they got letters

[4:56] telling them that they're on their own.

[4:58] And the deadline for filing individual

[5:00] lawsuits is today. CBS's Thalia Shurus

[5:04] reports the legal and medical impact in

[5:06] tonight's Eye on America.

[5:10] >> Sonia Anthony can hardly walk these

[5:12] days.

[5:12] >> I'm out of breath.

[5:14] >> But back in the 60s, she was the picture

[5:16] of vitality, a striking Los Angeles

[5:18] model. To stay in high demand, she had

[5:21] her slightly imperfect legs altered with

[5:23] silicone shots.

[5:25] >> I wanted perfect legs to be perfectly

[5:28] honest. They they called it uh

[5:30] sculpturing that it was just a thick

[5:33] liquid that was injected under the skin.

[5:35] >> Her problems, including tumor-like

[5:37] growths in her legs, started in 1979.

[5:40] Over the next 20 years, Anthony had

[5:42] eight operations, now lives on

[5:44] disability, and faces a possible leg

[5:46] amputation. Anthony blames her health

[5:48] problems from strokes to seizures on the

[5:51] silicone and one of its manufacturers

[5:53] Dow Corning. She filled out forms to

[5:55] join a court case against the company

[5:57] which had gone into bankruptcy.

[5:59] >> I description I said injections thighs.

[6:02] >> Anony's claim was accepted in 1999. But

[6:05] suddenly two months ago she received

[6:07] this letter telling her since her

[6:09] silicone was injected she would not be

[6:12] compensated. But Sonia Anthony is not

[6:14] alone. Thousands of claimants have

[6:16] received letters telling them they will

[6:18] not be getting any money.

[6:21] Elaine Young is a Beverly Hills realtor

[6:23] to the stars.

[6:24] >> They have parties for a thousand people

[6:26] here.

[6:26] >> More than 30 years ago, she wanted those

[6:29] Hollywood high cheekbones.

[6:31] >> I had silicone injections right here.

[6:33] >> She says the silicone disfigured her

[6:36] face and forced her to have dozens of

[6:38] operations.

[6:39] >> I'm paralyzed here. My eye twitches.

[6:42] Decided. Now she too has been told she's

[6:45] out.

[6:45] >> I didn't believe it. I thought it was a

[6:47] joke.

[6:48] >> You live by the rules of the court.

[6:50] >> Cibil Goldrich was on the committee that

[6:51] negotiated with Dow Corny. She says no

[6:54] one should have been surprised by the

[6:55] letters and that they were in fact

[6:57] courtesy reminders.

[6:59] >> From the very beginning, silicone uh

[7:02] injections were not covered because it's

[7:04] not possible to identify who was the

[7:07] manufacturer of the silicone that was

[7:10] injected. Sonia Anthony maintains she

[7:12] was not told and for years received

[7:14] letters updating her on the case.

[7:16] >> Why did no one tell you?

[7:17] >> Because they're crooks.

[7:20] >> Da Corning says it would have been too

[7:22] costly to sort through every claim. So,

[7:24] everyone was given a claim number and

[7:26] kept informed of the details. 6 years

[7:28] later though, Sonia Anthony is back to

[7:31] square one. She is suing Dow Corning

[7:33] this time on her own and wondering how

[7:36] she and thousands of others who received

[7:38] injections could have been so wrong.

[7:40] >> I know

[7:41] >> in Santa Monica, I'm Thalia Ashurus for

[7:43] Eye in America.

[7:44] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:47] be sure to join me on television for the

[7:49] on air edition of the CBS Evening News.

[7:51] On Tuesday's broadcast, the drug

[7:54] makaker's warning is clear. Don't give

[7:57] our ulcer drug to pregnant women. So,

[8:00] why do doctors often use it trying to

[8:03] induce labor? We'll give you a hard

[8:06] investigative look for cbsnews.com.