CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-12

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

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

[0:04] Just ahead, explosive secret files from

[0:07] America's largest Catholic arch dasis

[0:10] reveal child abuse complaints against

[0:14] 126 priests. Also, we'll have the latest

[0:17] from the Cashmere quake zone where the

[0:19] death toll now tops 30,000. and our

[0:22] cross-country road tour rolls into

[0:25] Birmingham, Alabama, where you'll meet

[0:27] some unlikely opponents to the war. It's

[0:30] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:32] Online Edition. It may be one of the

[0:36] worst sex scandals and cover-ups yet for

[0:38] the Catholic Church. Newly released

[0:40] records in Los Angeles, the nation's

[0:43] largest arch dasis show allegations of

[0:46] sexual abuse of children by priests were

[0:49] more widespread than the church has ever

[0:52] admitted. And the records show that for

[0:54] decades, accused priests were given

[0:56] counseling, then transferred to new

[0:58] parishes where the same charges were

[1:00] often raised. The new disclosures are in

[1:03] a lawsuit filed by 500 alleged victims

[1:07] who are asking damages that could reach

[1:09] a billion dollars. Here's Vince Gonzalez

[1:12] in Los Angeles.

[1:14] >> The secret files from the nation's

[1:16] largest arch dasis are sure to cause

[1:18] more pain for Catholics, but are

[1:20] unlikely to satisfy church critics. The

[1:23] edited summaries detailed decades of

[1:25] abuse complaints against 126 priests,

[1:29] far more than Cardinal Roger Mahoney

[1:30] acknowledged when the scandal first

[1:32] broke in 2002.

[1:34] >> This handful of priests that we had to

[1:35] deal with wouldn't fill up half one of

[1:37] those pews.

[1:38] >> There are now more than 500 alleged

[1:41] victims suing the church in LA for what

[1:43] could amount to a billion dollars in

[1:45] claims. Ray Boucher represents some of

[1:47] the victims. It is clear that the

[1:50] cardinal himself personally oversaw the

[1:54] transfer of priests that he knew were

[1:58] molesting children.

[1:59] >> The arch dasis declined a request for an

[2:01] on camera interview, but in a conference

[2:03] call today, a church attorney said

[2:05] Mahoney was proactive and the summaries

[2:08] do not prove abusive priests were

[2:10] protected.

[2:11] >> They do not show a cover up. They do not

[2:14] show transfers to hide the problem. The

[2:16] Baragon family says that's just not

[2:18] true. They claim their family was nearly

[2:21] torn apart by a transferred priest who

[2:23] appears in the secret files released

[2:25] today, a man they trusted.

[2:27] >> Father Carlos was very a very integral

[2:28] part of our family. Um so much so that

[2:31] he came in when as he pleased. He had a

[2:34] key to the front door.

[2:35] >> The parents met Father Carlos Rodriguez

[2:37] at a church retreat. Their sons were

[2:39] alter boys.

[2:41] >> Were all three of you abused by this

[2:43] priest?

[2:44] >> Yes. Yes, we were. He even took turns,

[2:47] you know, cuz we all slept in the same

[2:49] room. He usually started off with me and

[2:52] um moved on to my brothers. The Los

[2:56] Angeles Arch Dasis transferred Rodriguez

[2:58] to the Baragon's community after a boy

[3:01] from this LA church complained to police

[3:03] about sexual battery. In a report

[3:05] released earlier this year, Cardinal

[3:07] Roger Mahoney said Rodriguez was removed

[3:09] from ministry and sent for

[3:11] psychotherapy. His new duties did not

[3:13] involve minors. In fact, the Baragon's

[3:16] attorney says these photos prove

[3:18] Rodriguez continued his priestly duties

[3:20] and was often surrounded by children,

[3:22] even performing masses for them.

[3:25] >> I can

[3:27] trust the priest.

[3:29] >> Rosa Baragon says after the church

[3:31] ignored her family's complaints, they

[3:33] went to police. Rodriguez is now in

[3:35] prison.

[3:37] Other investigations continue and today

[3:39] LA's district attorney called the

[3:41] limited release of documents a public

[3:43] relations ploy and he urged the church

[3:45] to stop fighting him in court and

[3:47] release personnel records subpoenaed by

[3:49] a grand jury. Bob,

[3:50] >> I read that statement from the district

[3:52] attorney. It was very tough. Do you

[3:54] think this cardinal would he face some

[3:56] kind of charges and is he going to keep

[3:57] his job? Do you think Vince?

[3:59] >> It's tough to say if he'll face charges,

[4:01] but this situation is very different

[4:03] from Boston where the cardinal lost his

[4:05] job. there almost all files were opened,

[4:07] all documents were released, we could

[4:08] see who was giving the orders and what

[4:10] was happening. Here we just have these

[4:11] summaries which don't paint a very clear

[4:13] picture.

[4:14] >> Okay. Well, thank you very much Vance

[4:15] and keep an eye on it. Uh more

[4:17] aftershock shocks rumbled across the

[4:20] earthquake disaster zone in South Asia

[4:22] today and estimates of the death toll

[4:24] keep rising especially in the worst hit

[4:26] area, northern Pakistan. The relief

[4:29] effort is growing too, but there are

[4:31] still many remote villages beyond the

[4:33] reach of aid workers. Richard Roth is in

[4:36] the area.

[4:38] >> At the epicenter of Pakistan's agony,

[4:40] estimates of the dead are climbing above

[4:42] 30,000. It's 4 days since the earthquake

[4:45] in Muzafurabad still looks like mash.

[4:48] Even with big American helicopters

[4:50] helping evacuate the injured, the

[4:52] airlift's been overwhelmed. The US is

[4:54] sending in more choppers. It

[4:56] >> just seems like there's uh no end to the

[4:58] casualties that they have up there for

[5:00] us. Um each aircraft that goes up there

[5:03] is bringing back 30 to 40 casualties and

[5:07] uh it there's always more when we when

[5:10] we leave. We always have to turn people

[5:12] back.

[5:12] >> For many of the victims, getting out's

[5:14] no guarantee things get better. This

[5:16] hospital in Abadabad withstood the

[5:18] earthquake with just one problem.

[5:20] There's not a drop of running water.

[5:22] >> We need to get our plumbing fixed here.

[5:25] Once we get our plumbing fixed, then we

[5:27] can start functioning normally. Can you

[5:30] for 8-year-old Doodoo who just showed

[5:32] up, it's really more a nightmare. He

[5:34] didn't get a scratch in the earthquake

[5:36] than was caught in a landslide touched

[5:38] off by yesterday's torrential rain.

[5:41] Normaly still a long way down the road.

[5:44] A road so choked with relief supplies

[5:46] they're barely moving to all the places

[5:48] they're needed. But there are still

[5:50] places that haven't been reached even by

[5:52] meager aid like this. People in one

[5:55] community in the mountains with

[5:56] electricity but little else say the only

[5:59] aid they've seen delivered so far is the

[6:02] aid they've seen delivered on TV. Health

[6:05] authorities fear there's worse to come

[6:06] and concede fumigation won't keep out

[6:09] disease where there's no clean water or

[6:11] sanitation and where cold wet weather's

[6:14] coming soon. Hope is a rare commodity

[6:17] here but a lucky few still have it.

[6:20] Almost crushed when the earthquake hit,

[6:22] medical student Wid Abasi got out. His

[6:24] medical books didn't. They're still

[6:26] stuck in this room. And without them,

[6:29] he's worried he'll fail his exams.

[6:31] >> They are safe.

[6:32] >> But they're safe, but they're out of

[6:34] reach.

[6:34] >> Yes, out of reach. A brave effort should

[6:38] be, but very difficult for me.

[6:40] >> And I think very dangerous.

[6:42] >> Yes, of course. Very dangerous.

[6:43] >> With so many injured here, he's more

[6:45] than ever determined to get his degree.

[6:48] The country needs more doctors now. He

[6:50] says more hope and more prayers. The

[6:54] fact is though there is less hope.

[6:56] Survivors will still be found in the

[6:58] earthquake's rubble. One search and

[7:00] rescue expert now says the odds of that

[7:02] are running out not by the day but by

[7:05] the hour. Bob,

[7:06] >> now you had another little aftershock.

[7:08] Did that have any serious effect?

[7:10] >> Well, it did. Uh there are people just

[7:13] across the street who've been watching

[7:14] intensely as this this this rescue

[7:16] operation continues. There was a bit of

[7:19] shaking of the ground here. We felt it

[7:21] slightly. We're across the street. They

[7:23] reacted uh quite dramatically and they

[7:25] started streaming away from those uh

[7:27] apartment buildings that are still

[7:29] standing. There were others in the crowd

[7:30] who started calming people down and it

[7:33] was over in a few seconds. It was an

[7:35] aftershock. It didn't feel like a very

[7:37] big one.

[7:38] >> All right. Thank you very much, Richard.

[7:40] CBS News correspondent Sharon Alonsza is

[7:42] driving across America. Monday, she

[7:45] talked to young Marines who will soon be

[7:47] headed for Iraq. Yesterday at Fort

[7:49] Benning, Georgia, she talked to the

[7:51] children who have parents in Iraq.

[7:53] Tonight, as we continue the CBS News

[7:56] Road Tour of the Homeront, she is in

[7:58] Birmingham, Alabama to hear another side

[8:01] of the story. Sharon,

[8:04] >> well, Birmingham, Alabama is proud of

[8:06] its soldiers. I'm standing in front of

[8:08] one of the city's many memorials to its

[8:11] war veterans. But now some of those

[8:13] those veterans are speaking out against

[8:15] the war. They are unlikely protesters in

[8:18] an unlikely place.

[8:21] Today we drove into historic Birmingham,

[8:23] Alabama, a city remembered for its civil

[8:26] rights marches in the 60s

[8:29] and its response to those protests.

[8:33] It's not totally foreign foreign to take

[8:35] to the streets in Birmingham. It's

[8:37] happened before.

[8:38] >> David Waters is leaving a small anti-war

[8:41] movement here.

[8:42] >> I was raised to go along and get along,

[8:44] right?

[8:44] >> He's an easygoing southern gentleman and

[8:47] a decorated Vietnam vet.

[8:49] >> I wanted to go our war and I wanted to

[8:52] be part of it.

[8:53] >> But today at 59, Waters wants the US out

[8:56] of Iraq and says he's not the only one.

[9:00] Opposition to the war is definitely

[9:01] growing. Yes.

[9:02] >> Even in the South.

[9:03] >> Even in the South. Yeah.

[9:06] >> So, we stopped by a war protest in

[9:08] Birmingham today where we met Susan

[9:10] Mims, another Vietnam vet. There's only

[9:13] about a dozen people out here

[9:14] protesting. That's correct. And you have

[9:17] to understand again, we're in the South.

[9:19] >> She was born and raised in the South.

[9:21] Today, she calls Birmingham home. As a

[9:24] southerner, I do feel the heat when I

[9:27] say, "Why are we there?" Um, and a lot

[9:30] of people question your your integrity,

[9:33] your your patriotism.

[9:35] >> M says she prays for the soldiers in

[9:37] Iraq every night. After all, she's the

[9:39] reason many of them are there. You see,

[9:42] her last job in the military was as a

[9:44] recruiter, convincing young men and

[9:47] women to sign up. Some of them were sent

[9:49] to Iraq. It's heart-wrenching sometimes

[9:52] to to see a parent of a kid that I put

[9:55] in and they come back, they're maimed,

[9:57] or disfigured.

[9:58] >> She says she's been spit on and yelled

[10:00] at while protesting. Is there a sense

[10:03] that protesting is unpatriotic?

[10:06] >> In the south, yes. However, for myself,

[10:08] you know, protesting is part of being a

[10:11] patriot.

[10:12] >> And just to be clear, these vets are

[10:14] very much in the minority here. The

[10:16] anti-war movement here is really nothing

[10:19] more than a murmur. Bob,

[10:21] >> how are they treated, Sharon? Because

[10:22] you're in a very, very conservative

[10:24] place.

[10:26] >> Well, they say it's difficult and they

[10:27] say the hardest part has just been

[10:28] having their patriotism question. They

[10:31] serve their country and they say they

[10:33] love their country.

[10:34] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[10:36] don't forget to join me on television

[10:37] for the on air edition of the CBS

[10:39] Evening News. On Thursday's broadcast, 6

[10:42] weeks after Katrina, some of her most

[10:45] defenseless victims are still being

[10:47] rescued. We'll take you along as a group

[10:49] of dedicated people work to save the

[10:52] animals. For cbsnews.com,

[10:55] I'm Bob Sheeper.