Plante, Sharyl Attkisson, Jeff Greenfield, Mark Phillips

xfdcb CBS-EVENING-NEWS-01

<Show: CBS EVENING NEWS>

<Date: May 25, 2009>

<Time: 18:30>

<Tran: 052501cb.401>

<Type: SHOW>

<Head: EVENING NEWS for May 25, 2009, CBS>

<Sect: News; Domestic>

<Byline: Jeff Glor, Juan Zarate, Dean Reynolds, Barry Petersen, Bill Plante, Sharyl Attkisson, Jeff Greenfield, Mark Phillips>

<High: North Korea tests a new bomb, and draws instant condemnation from Beijing to the White House.>

<Spec: World Affairs; North Korea; Nuclear Weapons>

JEFF GLOR, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Tonight, nuclear showdown. North Korea tests a new bomb, and draws instant condemnation from Beijing to the White House.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States and the international community must take action in response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GLOR: I've Jeff Glor.

Also tonight, a nationwide manhunt is over. A 13-year-old cancer patient and his mother are back in Minnesota after fleeing to avoid court- ordered chemotherapy.

Plus, disturbing and humiliating side effects linked to a prescription drug used by hundreds of thousands of children.

And the legend lives on. Susan sings her way to the finals.

ANNOUNCER: This is the CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Couric.

GLOR: And good evening. Katie's off tonight.

We begin with North Korea and the uproar caused by their latest nuclear weapons test. Today's underground explosion was their largest yet, setting off seismographs and world leaders. And if North Korea was looking for attention, they got it. We have two reports tonight, beginning with Barry Petersen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARRY PETERSEN, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Their nerves rattled, South Koreans quickly took to the streets in anger. The nuclear device triggered just before 10:00 a.m. local time at a facility about 235 miles northeast of Pyongyang, registering as a 4.7 magnitude seismic event. It's the same area the North used for its first nuclear test three years ago.

The Russians estimated today's explosion as comparable to the bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki during World War II, but South Korean experts say the blast was a fraction of that.

Next today, the North staged a series of short-range missile launches.

And finally came the propaganda. North Korean TV telling its people the tests were, quote, measures to bolster nuclear deterrent for self- defense.

South Korea called it a provocative action which will never be tolerated.

Officials here in China may well see this as a setback in their efforts to negotiate an end to the North's nuclear weapons program. Those negotiations are currently stalled. And the North's attitude, if today's tests are any indication, seems to be, forget any new talks anytime soon.

On April 5th, the North test-fired a long-range ballistic missile. It crossed over Japan and fell harmlessly into the ocean. But to some, it's proof that the North has no intention of giving up its program because its goal is facing down the U.S.

YUKI OKAMATA, FORMER SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: When North Koreans successfully own ICBMs, they will no longer have to be subservient to the United States at the negotiating table.

PETERSEN: The North now says it will restart its one nuclear reactor, which it had once promised to dismantle, and even blew up its cooling tower as an act of good will.

But good will is in short supply after today's tests, with the North clearly back developing what the world most fears -- nuclear weapons and the missiles to carry them.

Barry Petersen, CBS News, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL PLANTE, CBS CORRESPONDENT: This is Bill Plante at the White House. President Obama condemned the North Korean tests, calling the actions a grave threat to peace and security.

OBAMA: They are a blatant violation of international law, and they contradict North Korea's own prior commitments. Now, the United States and the international community must take action in response.

PLANTE: The North Korean tests are widely regarded as an attempt to engage the U.S. in direct talks, but the president said today's actions only deepen North Korea's isolation.

OBAMA: North Korea will not find security and respect through threats and illegal weapons. We will work with our friends and allies to stand up to this behavior.

PLANTE: President Obama's tough denunciation was matched by America's key partners in the talks, who've attempted to negotiate an end to North Korea's nuclear program. China, according to a statement on government TV, expresses absolute opposition toward this. Russian TV reported on its government's condemnation of the tests, saying they were a matter of the most serious concern. The Japanese said they would not tolerate such activity. Britain's Prime Minister Brown called them a danger to the world.

In an emergency meeting this afternoon, the U.N. Security Council quickly condemned the test as a violation of two previous resolutions, and began work on new sanctions.

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We are now resolved to work on a resolution. We believe it ought to be a strong resolution, with appropriately strong contents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLANTE: New sanctions could include measures like inspecting all cargo to and from North Korea, but that's very tricky, because it would probably involve armed force, and then China would be likely to veto it. Jeff.

GLOR: All right, Bill Plante at the White House tonight. Bill, thank you.

Juan Zarate is a national security analyst for CBS News. Juan, always good to see you. Let's start with a simple question. We've seen North Korea provoke before. Why are they doing it this time?

JUAN ZARATE, CBS NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Hi, Jeff. I think North Korea's trying to increase its leverage internationally by increasing the level of belligerence. They've learned from the recent past that by upping the ante, they can gain diplomatic recognition, as well as material concessions like oil and food shipments, as well as lightened sanctions. In this instance, they're clearly sending a message or trying to send a message of strength to the South Korean government, which has been less willing to deal with the North, as well as to the new Obama administration, in advance of any talks.

Also, this could be part of an attempt by King Jong-Il, who suffered a stroke last year, to strengthen his hand in any internal battles with respect to succession.

GLOR: OK, so North Korea's doing it. Realistically, what can the U.S. do about it?

ZARATE: Well, I think there are some things that can be done. Enforcement of existing sanctions is important, as well as strengthening sanctions. Inspection of North Korean cargo and shipments. Freezing of assets of the leadership, as well as the regime. Application of the private-based sanctions that worked in 2005, focused on North Korean illicit financial activity. That works.

The key here will be China, though, which has served as the diplomatic and financial lifeline for North Korea. And the Obama administration will clearly be working with China to try to get China to exert its influence and rein in the North Koreans.

GLOR: All right, Juan Zarate, great information tonight. Thank you from Washington.

ZARATE: Thank you.

GLOR: A nationwide manhunt ended today when a 13-year-old cancer patient and his mother returned home to Minnesota. They ran away last week to avoid court-ordered treatment, searching instead for a natural cure. Dean Reynolds has late details on this tonight. Dean, good evening to you.

DEAN REYNOLDS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Jeff. Well, that national manhunt ended at 3:00 this morning when a chartered flight from California landed in Minnesota carrying Mrs. Hauser and her son, Daniel. Now, all arrest warrants for Mrs. Hauser have been dropped, and Daniel has already had a medical checkup.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERIFF RICH HOFFMANN, BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA'S SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It's a good day as Daniel and Colleen Hauser have been safely returned to Minnesota.

REYNOLDS: Their return was facilitated by a lawyer in Southern California and a media company that paid for the flight. Asked why they came back, the sheriff could only speculate.

HOFFMANN: I think they wanted to come back home. They wanted to get together with their family.

REYNOLDS: Their disappearance horrified doctors and frustrated authorities for almost a week. The FBI said Colleen Hauser and Daniel left the family's Minnesota home for Los Angeles last Tuesday, apparently in search of alternative treatments for his cancer in Mexico.

The boy had received an initial round of chemotherapy and radiation before it was stopped in February in favor of natural remedies, more in keeping with the family's religious objections to modern medicine. But that decision ran against the advice of his doctor, his lawyer, and others.

DR. JOANNA WEINSTEIN, CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, CHICAGO: I don't know how long he will live, but without standard therapy, he will not be cured of this.

REYNOLDS: In fact, a week ago, a court-ordered X-ray found Daniel's tumor was expanding. A local court, believing his parents were medically negligent, scheduled a hearing on how to proceed. But Mrs. Hauser and her son never showed up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS: Now, there's no word on whether or even if chemotherapy treatments will be resumed, but doctors say there's a 95 percent chance of recovery in Daniel's case with his Hodgkin's lymphoma should he choose to resume the treatment. Jeff.

GLOR: Dean Reynolds in Chicago. Dean, tonight, thank you.

President Obama today led the nation's observance of Memorial Day. This morning, he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery and praised the courage of U.S. servicemen and women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: They felt some tug. They answered a call. They said, I'll go. That is why they are the best of America. That is what separates them from those who've not served in uniform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GLOR: For U.S. troops serving overseas, the day was intensely personal. U.S. troops gathered at a military camp in Baghdad to honor the 4,300 Americans killed in the Iraq war, including 79 this year.

And in Kabul, they paid tribute to 678 Americans killed in Afghanistan, 57 in 2009. 21,000 additional U.S. troops are due in Afghanistan this year.

For some troops, there was a happy homecoming today. Nearly 400 members of the National Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, just back from Iraq, saw their families at Fort Dix in New Jersey. The brigade had been stationed in Iraq since last June. For some, their third tour of duty.

Still ahead here on the CBS EVENING NEWS, Britain's Got Talent. Susan Boyle on stage again. But up next, a CBS News investigation. A powerful mind drug that can harm children's bodies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GLOR: A powerful medication called Risperdal has become a drug of choice for doctors treating patients with psychological problems. Last year, it was prescribed more than 6.5 million times, and totaled more than $1.5 billion in sales. But Risperdal can have troubling side effects, especially in children. Sharyl Attkisson has details in this CBS News investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARYL ATTKISSON, CBS CORRESPONDENT: John is 19 years old. That's him with his niece. We've chosen not to show his face.

When John was just seven, he began taking Risperdal for ADD. Even though the FDA approved the drug only for adult patients who are psychotic, John's doctor and others widely prescribed it to kids for less severe behavior problems.

Once taking Risperdal, John's mom says he became aggressive, sleepy, and developed bowel problems. But the biggest shock came when he was 14 and started developing women's breasts.

For a 14-year-old boy, that has to be horribly embarrassing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He asked me, was he a girl.

ATTKISSON: He asked if he was a girl?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He tried to put on his sister's bra.

ATTKISSON: These photos show John's out-of-control breast growth. It turns out Risperdal can increase production of a hormone called prolactin, which stimulates breast growth. It's called gynecomastia, and it's irreversible.

Risperdal and other so-called atypical anti-psychotics have exploded in use. Hundreds of thousands of kids have been prescribed Risperdal in the 14 years it's been on sale, most of them long before the FDA approved it for very limited pediatric use.

John and most of the other children weren't psychotic at all, but were given Risperdal for behavior disorders, including autism and ADD.

STEPHEN SHELLER, ATTORNEY: It's about as bad a thing as a boy can get that I can imagine.

ATTKISSON: Attorney Stephen Sheller is suing Janssen, which makes Risperdal. He claims Janssen marketed Risperdal for unapproved uses in children, downplayed serious risk like diabetes and seizures, and breast growth wasn't even mentioned under warnings, but was buried under precautions in obscure terms.

Janssen wouldn't agree to an interview, but told us the breast growth risk is clearly stated in the FDA approved labeling, and we only promote our products for their FDA-approved indications.

Nobody knows how often it happens, but in Janssen's own clinical trials, with fewer than 2,000 children, 43 developed the abnormal breasts. Sheller represents John and nine other boys, including this one who was only four when he developed a breast on one side and began producing milk.

SHELLER: This child has had mastectomies.

ATTKISSON: The treatment for the unbridled breath growth is as unthinkable as the disorder -- painful removal of the breasts. Eventually, the boys can appear normal again. Here's the four-year-old after surgery, and John after a double mastectomy.

The family's lawsuit is still in court.

(on camera): Did the surgery fix all of his problems from the medicine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

ATTKISSON: He still thinks he's a girl?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ATTKISSON: As for Risperdal, it's still on the markets, and families say putting even more children at risk.

Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GLOR: Thousands of hurricane survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi face a Saturday eviction deadline to give up their FEMA trailers. They've been living in them since Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita hit nearly four years ago, in spite of FEMA's repeated attempts to get them to leave. Some trailers have high levels of chemicals that are known to cause health problems, and authorities point out the trailers are considered unsafe in a severe storm.

When we come back here, they hit speeds approaching 200 miles an hour, but not in America. Will that change?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GLOR: On the CBS Money Watch tonight, 27 million people hit the highways for the holiday weekend, slightly more than last year. And the reason may have been the shrinking cost of fuel. Gas prices currently average $2.42 nationwide, down more than $1.50 from a year ago.

It's long been believed the highways and airways would be even less crowded if there was a faster, more efficient passenger train system in this country, like those high-speed bullet trains in Europe and Asia. Will it happen? Here's Jeff Greenfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF GREENFIELD, CBS CORRESPONDENT: In Japan, the bullet train has been racing across the country for 45 years, at 185 miles per hour. In China, trains run between Beijing and Tianjin (ph) at more than 200 miles an hour. In Europe, trains crisscross Britain, France, and Spain faster than 150 miles per hour.

But here in the United States? Only the Acela briefly reaches speeds of more than 100 miles an hour on its Boston-to-Washington run. For most of that trip, it averages more like 85.

Why? Why does the United States lag years -- decades -- behind Europe and Asia? Can a new administration really put this country on track for high-speed rail? And should it?

In the years after World War II, the rise of suburbia and the dawn of jet travel made the auto and the airplane dominant. But now, congested roads and skies have helped gain support for high-speed rail from long-time Amtrak commuter Vice President Joe Biden...

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's about time we took those railways and made them the national treasures they should be.

GREENFIELD: And from the president as well.

OBAMA: Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation.

GREENFIELD: Obama's stimulus plan includes an initial $13 billion for high-speed rail projects along the Northeast Corridor, in the Midwest, California, and Florida.

A train going at the speed of the European model would make it from New York to Washington in about an hour and a half. It's about the same from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina. San Francisco to Los Angeles, about two and a half hours. And, says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, it will benefit even those who don't use it.

RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: If people get on trains, they're not going to be on airplanes, and they're not going to be in their automobiles. And I think it will relieve congestion on highways and at airports.

GREENFIELD: But the roadblocks are daunting. High-speed rail would require a detailed examination of some 8,500 miles of track. And nobody knows how much of that would have to be smoothed out, or where overpasses and underpasses would have to replace grade crossings. And then there's the cost estimate, running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

ERNEST ISTOOK, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (R-OK): You're trying to sell the system that is ultra expensive as though it were something that were designed for the masses to be affordable. And it's not.

GREENFIELD: Moreover, with the prospect of trillion-dollar deficits stretching years into the future, high-speed trains will likely not be leaving the station anytime soon.

Jeff Greenfield, CBS News, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GLOR: You might say the times have caught up with Times Square. Always a draw for tourists and New Yorkers alike, the Great White Way has now changed, at least for the next six months. Hoping to cut down on city traffic and make both Times and Herald Squares greener and safer, both are now off limits to cars and trucks. If today is any indication, the experiment's a hit. But then, Broadway's used to that, right?

Coming up next here on the CBS EVENING NEWS, Susan Boyle --speaking of hits -- hits the stage again and begins on a rough note.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GLOR: She stumbled a wee bit last night, but in the end, did Susan Boyle keep her legend going? Last month, she stunned the world with her singing debut on a British talent show, and last night she returned for the semifinals. Mark Phillips has the sound and the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK PHILLIPS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Susan Boyle snuck up on an unsuspecting world last time. This time, 60 million or so YouTube hits later, the world was waiting and watching, and the nerves seemed to show.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: It looked like the Boyle bubble might burst as quickly as it had inflated, but with the encouragement of an audience that had already been won over and of judges who know a meal ticket when they see one, the good time train known as Susan Boyle was soon back on the rails, and, to everyone's relief, back on key.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: She's been called a lot of things, this dumpy diva, this hairy angel, but this never-been-kissed 47-year-old karaoke singer, who promised her dying mother she would try out for the show, has never been called a quitter.

SUSAN BOYLE, SINGER: Pressure. It was really good (ph) tonight.

PHILLIPS: Just as she had in that first appearance last month, when Susan Boyle opened her mouth and became an overnight, worldwide sensation.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: That performance had the element of surprise. This one had the element of drama.

PIERS MORGAN, JUDGE, BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT: You nearly had the most dramatic moment in the history of talent shows where I thought Susan Boyle's voice had cracked and that she was going to blow it in front of hundreds of millions of people around the world. And for that split second, we were all...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the edge of our seats.

MORGAN: And then she came through.

PHILLIPS: This woman, who lived alone with her cat, now seems to have the whole world living her life with her. Everyone's got an opinion if she gets her hair done or buys a new outfit.

(on camera): Did you wonder at any time, you know, can I really do this?

BOYLE: I did to begin with, but then I thought, well, I better do something now, or else I'm going to regret it.

PHILLIPS: No regrets so far.

Mark Phillips, CBS News, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GLOR: And all is well with the empire. Susan Boyle qualified for the finals this Saturday.

That is the CBS EVENING NEWS tonight. I'm Jeff Glor. Katie's back tomorrow. Thanks for watching. Good night.

END

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