CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-18

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, the inside story of the flu

[0:07] vaccine crisis. First, it was the

[0:09] shortage. Now, it's the scramble for

[0:11] what's left. Has the government bungled

[0:13] this whole thing? Also, overtime.

[0:16] Millions depend on it, but the rules are

[0:18] changing. Where the presidential

[0:20] candidates stand to overtime in the CBS

[0:23] election series, What does it mean to

[0:25] you? And political cartoonists. They've

[0:28] always given readers a laugh, but now

[0:30] they're a vanishing breed. It's all

[0:33] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:35] online edition.

[0:38] With many people complaining that the

[0:40] flu vaccine is in short supply, the US

[0:42] government is now reporting the first

[0:44] cases of the flu. Health officials

[0:46] report quote sporadic cases in seven

[0:48] states. They also said existing supplies

[0:51] of vaccine are now being redirected to

[0:53] seniors and other high-risisk groups.

[0:56] CBS News medical correspondent Elizabeth

[0:58] Kaledan gives you the inside story.

[1:02] >> Public health officials are now facing a

[1:04] double crisis. A shortage of flu vaccine

[1:07] and panic about a shortage of flu

[1:09] vaccine. Images of long lines coupled

[1:11] with rumors of small supplies here and

[1:14] there have created a frenzied

[1:16] atmosphere. The government is calling

[1:18] for calm.

[1:18] >> Don't wait in line and don't get upset.

[1:22] 20 million new doses are on the way,

[1:24] according to the CDC, which will be

[1:26] working closely with local health

[1:28] officials to distribute them wisely.

[1:30] >> We're going to do everything we can to

[1:32] match the doses up to those people in

[1:34] the risk groups.

[1:35] >> But there are no guarantees and public

[1:37] health experts like Irwin Redliner are

[1:39] urging people to be patient and

[1:41] persistent.

[1:42] >> They should call their doctor. They

[1:44] should call their pharmacist. They

[1:46] should call the local public health

[1:47] office. and they should call repeatedly

[1:50] because the supply situation is going to

[1:52] change.

[1:52] >> The big question facing doctors is what

[1:54] will the vaccine shortage mean in terms

[1:56] of actual risk to the public? It's

[1:59] impossible to know. The flu is as

[2:01] unpredictable as wildfire. In an average

[2:04] year with plenty of vaccine, 10 to 20%

[2:07] of the population will get the flu

[2:09] anyway. Though it seems logical that

[2:11] less protection will mean more illness,

[2:13] even more death, we can't know for sure.

[2:16] We're getting better at treating people

[2:17] with flu and the flu that we get this

[2:20] year may be much more dangerous or much

[2:23] less dangerous than the flu we had last

[2:25] year.

[2:25] >> In the meantime, the situation has even

[2:27] become a campaign issue with John Kerry

[2:29] quick to point out this happened on

[2:31] George Bush's watch.

[2:33] >> Under his plan, you don't have a prayer

[2:35] getting a flu shot. Ladies and

[2:37] gentlemen,

[2:37] >> the only problem for Mr. Kerry is many

[2:40] elderly voters may have missed his

[2:42] comments. Perhaps they were out standing

[2:44] in line waiting for a flu shot.

[2:46] Elizabeth Kaledan, CBS News, New York.

[2:49] >> Jobs and the economy always resonate

[2:52] with voters, and this year the Bush

[2:53] administration has changed the rules

[2:56] governing which workers qualify for

[2:58] overtime pay. What are the Bush and

[3:01] Kerry positions on this? CBS's Cynthia

[3:03] Bowers continues CBS's special Eye on

[3:06] America election series. What does it

[3:08] mean to you?

[3:10] >> Looks good. After 14 years working

[3:13] behind the barrels on Michigan road

[3:15] projects, Rick Brower figures he's

[3:17] earned his job as an inspection team

[3:19] leader.

[3:20] >> I've worked very hard to get to where

[3:21] I'm at, and I'm very proud of it.

[3:24] >> So, he was understandably concerned when

[3:26] he heard that under new federal overtime

[3:28] regulations, someday his job could be

[3:31] reinterpreted as supervisory and he

[3:34] might lose eligibility for the 20 to 30

[3:36] hours of overtime he averages per pay

[3:39] period.

[3:39] >> I couldn't do it without it. I'd have to

[3:41] get a second job or something if I

[3:42] didn't have overtime

[3:43] >> or maybe even consider a demotion to a

[3:46] job that is eligible for overtime. So

[3:48] when the candidates talk about overtime

[3:50] and labor laws, they get his attention.

[3:53] When you look at this overtime issue,

[3:55] could this affect your vote?

[3:57] >> It could very well affect my vote. Ever

[4:00] since last August when the first major

[4:02] overtime revision since 1975 went into

[4:06] effect, the changes have been a magnet

[4:08] for conflicting campaign claims.

[4:11] >> The labor laws ought to be

[4:12] familyfriendly. The labor laws ought to

[4:14] recognize times have changed.

[4:16] >> The president says the changes will

[4:18] guarantee overtime for 1.3 million more

[4:21] lowerincome white collar workers. And

[4:24] while under the new rules, others with

[4:26] high incomes may lose overtime, first

[4:29] responders like police officers and

[4:31] firefighters automatically qualify. John

[4:34] Kerry came out swinging at the new rules

[4:36] from the start, saying as soon as he's

[4:38] elected, he'll reverse them because his

[4:41] estimates indicate 6 million American

[4:43] workers could lose out.

[4:45] >> These folks want to take America

[4:47] backwards and cut overtime pay. Not in

[4:50] my America. We're not going to cut

[4:51] overtime pay. Rick Brower's overtime is

[4:54] still coming and his union's negotiating

[4:57] to keep it that way. So for now, he can

[4:59] only wait to see what happens down the

[5:01] road.

[5:02] >> You're not sure what people are saying,

[5:04] what they mean, and you find out after

[5:06] the election sometimes what they really

[5:08] meant.

[5:08] >> The one thing he knows for sure is for

[5:10] him it all boils down to a pretty simple

[5:13] premise.

[5:14] >> If you work the time, you should be paid

[5:16] for it.

[5:16] >> Whoever winds up getting paid to be

[5:19] president. Cynthia Bowers, CBS News,

[5:22] Flint, Michigan.

[5:23] >> Finally, tonight, with all the high

[5:25] technology used to cover the news these

[5:27] days, there's still some who apply their

[5:29] trade with nothing more than pencil and

[5:31] paper. They draw the editorial cartoons,

[5:34] but CBS's Anthony Mason reports theirs

[5:37] is fast becoming a lost art.

[5:40] >> I was fortunate to be an editorial

[5:42] cartoonist while Jesse Ventura was our

[5:45] governor. For eight years, Kirk Anderson

[5:47] drew political cartoons for the Pioneer

[5:49] Press in St. Paul, Minnesota until last

[5:52] year when he was suddenly fired.

[5:54] >> When I was let go, uh, I was told it was

[5:56] strictly budgetary.

[5:58] >> More and more cartoonists like Anderson

[6:00] are finding newspapers are erasing their

[6:03] jobs. The number of staff cartoonist

[6:06] positions at American papers has been

[6:08] cut from 150 to just 80 in little more

[6:12] than a decade. What's making the

[6:14] editorial cartoonist an endangered

[6:16] species? Well, there are fewer

[6:18] newspapers than there used to be.

[6:20] Newsprint costs more than it used to.

[6:22] But in some cases, it's just that

[6:24] political cartoonists have become, well,

[6:26] too political.

[6:27] >> I remember basically the new publisher

[6:29] coming in and saying something to the

[6:31] effect that, you know, can we really go

[6:33] a little bit easier on Bush?

[6:34] >> Mark Fior was staff cartoonist for the

[6:36] San Jose Mercury News. This is one that

[6:39] uh started to get under their skin a

[6:41] little bit more.

[6:42] >> But he says his cartoons and the economy

[6:44] cost him his job.

[6:46] >> They want to see it more as an

[6:47] entertainment avenue. They want they

[6:49] want people to laugh. They want it to be

[6:51] light. They don't want to offend people.

[6:52] >> Fior's space in the Mercury News has

[6:54] been filled with cheaper nationally

[6:56] syndicated cartoons.

[6:58] >> When a cartoonist leaves, dies, or is

[7:01] fired, it's very rare right now for them

[7:03] to replace that cartoonist. Fiori and

[7:06] Kirk Anderson are now doing freelance

[7:08] work. So would they recommend print

[7:10] cartoonist as a career?

[7:11] >> Not to someone looking to buy Alexis

[7:14] anytime soon.

[7:16] >> The cartoonist's job may be to make

[7:18] readers laugh, but these days it's no

[7:21] funny business. Anthony Mason, CBS News,

[7:24] New York.

[7:25] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:28] don't forget to join me on television

[7:29] for the on air edition of the CBS

[7:31] Evening News. On Tuesday's broadcast,

[7:34] Barely Scraping By, a sobering look at

[7:37] how and why many military families find

[7:40] themselves fighting poverty. For

[7:43] cbsnews.com,

[7:44] I'm Dan Rather.