Bowers, Harold Dow, Sheila MacVicar, Ben Tracy
xfdcb CBS-EVENING-NEWS-01
<Show: CBS EVENING NEWS>
<Date: November 20, 2009>
ADVERTISEMENT
<Time: 18:30>
<Tran: 112001cb.401>
<Type: SHOW>
<Head: EVENING NEWS for November 20, 2009, CBS>
<Sect: News; Domestic>
<Byline: Katie Couric, Jennifer Ashton, Jon LaPook, Jeff Glor,
Cynthia Bowers, Harold Dow, Sheila MacVicar, Ben Tracy>
<High: OB/GYNs are now saying women should get pap smears less
frequently than previously believed. Then, fewer states are reporting major outbreaks
of H1N1.>
<Spec: Health and Medicine; Diseases>
KATIE COURIC, CBS ANCHOR: Tonight, for the second time this week, a major change in guidelines for cancer screening. This time, it's ob/gyn saying most women should get pap smears less frequently. I'm Katie Couric. Also tonight, fewer states are reporting major outbreaks of the H1N1 flu. But with the holiday travel season coming up, there's growing concern the virus will spread. What's going on at this company? 26 employees have committed suicide in the past two years. And the queen of daytime television giving up her throne.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY: 25 years feels right in my bones, and it feels right in my spirit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is the CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Couric.
COURIC: And good evening, everyone. This week is ending as it began -- with a big change in cancer screening guidelines for women. First we got those controversial recommendations about breast cancer and mammograms, and today it was cervical cancer. The nation's obstetricians and gynecologists are now saying women should wait until they're 21 to get their first pap test and then get one every two years after that until they're in their 30s. Our Dr. Jennifer Ashton is a practicing ob/gyn. And Jennifer, unlike the new mammography guidelines this is not as big a change.
JENNIFER ASHTON, CBS CORRESPONDENT: It's not, Katie. In fact, the groups that came out against the new guidelines for mammograms say these recommendations for pap tests actually make sense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. LEONARD LICHTENFELD, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: They sit with good science. That we've learned a lot about cervical cancer screening. More recently, our science has gotten better, our knowledge about cervical cancer has gotten better.
ASHTON: The old guidelines said most women should get pap smears beginning three years after becoming sexually active and every one to three years thereafter. New recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say women can wait until age 21. Women 21 to 29 should get screened every two years, and those 30 and over every three years. Most women can stop having pap tests between 65 and 70. One reason ...
DR. ALAN WAXMAN, PROF. OF MEDICINE UNIV. OF NEW MEXICO: What women need to understand is that cervical cancer is a disease that develops over years. A course of seven to ten, sometimes even longer.
ASHTON: The guidelines say it's safe to reduce screening because the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which usually causes cervical cancer, typically clears on its own.
DR. WILLIAM BURKE, VALLEY HOSPITAL COLUMBIA UNIV: Looking at the development of cervical cancer from when a young woman first gets an HPV infection, generally, cancer doesn't develop most of the time.
ASHTON: However, HPV can cause abnormal pap smears, often leading to biopsies and surgery which can be harmful.
BURKE: If we treat these pre-cancerous changes in these young women, they're more likely to have a premature baby when they go on to get pregnant later.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHTON: And these new recommendations apply to women whether or not they've been vaccinated against HPV, Katie.
COURIC: All right, Dr. Jennifer Ashton we're going to talk more in just a moment, but first, the changes this week may seem sudden and drastic, but the truth is, medical guidelines get revised all the time and our Dr. Jon LaPook tells us when it comes to caring for patients, change can actually be healthy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. JON LAPOOK, CBS CORRESPONDENT: When guidelines change, phones ring. And patients demand answers.
DR. SUSAN DROSSMAN, DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGIST: Should I come in? I'm confused. I know in my heart I really should come. But this newspaper is telling me something different.
LAPOOK: The catalyst -- medicine based on current research running headlong into conventional wisdom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was appalled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked. Absolutely shocked.
LAPOOK: While some are shocked over changes in two cancer screening guidelines this week, it should be no surprise. A recent review found that, on average, medical advice changes every five and a half years because of new evidence. But especially with cancer, many are reluctant to trust guidelines over their own common sense.
SHEILA ROTHMAN, MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, COLUMBIA UNIV.: We've been taught to think that the earlier and the more often we get screened the safer we will be. And now somebody's saying that may not be true. And that's just incredibly scary.
LAPOOK: What is true is that medicine is constantly changing. In 2002, doctors found hormone replacement therapy for women increases the risk of heart attack and breast cancer. Last year, men learned that vitamin E and selenium did nothing to prevent prostate cancer. And now there are even questions about the benefit of aspirin in preventing heart attacks and strokes.
ROTHMAN: What people don't really understand is these are population- based guidelines. Not everyone has to follow them. Doctors will be making individual decisions about individual patients.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAPOOK: Again, it's important to remember the new task force guidelines on mammography are not mandates. The decision to screen is still up to the doctor and the patient, Katie.
COURIC: And Jon, since we have two doctors in the House tonight I thought we'd continue the conversation. You know, when people look at these new guidelines for mammograms, specifically, they think it must be about controlling costs. Is it?
LAPOOK: Katie ...
COURIC: Partially?
LAPOOK: Well, the vice chair of the task force that came up with the new guidelines on mammography told us that cost was absolutely not part of their conversation. But costs should be part of the national conversation about where we should be spending our money about these screening tests. Not do you spend the dollar but where do you spend it most wisely?
COURIC: And, Jennifer, I know you have some concerns about the fallout from these specific recommendations. Actually, both of them that came out this week.
ASHTON: Right, because it's important to remember, Katie, for most women, one of the main reasons they would see their gynecologist every year was to have a pap smear and/or get a prescription for a mammogram. And I think now there's a concern that they'll come much less often or even worse, not at all.
COURIC: So, the bottom line is talk to your doctor.
LAPOOK: And don't let this be an excuse not to see your doctor in the first place.
COURIC: All right. Good point. Jon Lapook, Jennifer Ashton, doctors both of you, thank you so much. Now turning to the H1N1 flu, the CDC said today the virus was widespread in 43 states last week. That is down from 46 but it is still dangerous. The CDC also estimates nearly 600 children have died of h1n1 so far and as many as 21 reported this week alone. Jeff Glor tells us there's concern now that with holiday travel, the virus could spread.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, NATL. CTR. FOR IMMUNIZATION RESP. DISEASES: Nothing is typical about this year's influenza.
GLOR: Which is why the CDC is at a loss to predict whether today's surprising news of a drop in activity will last.
SCHUCHAT: I wish I knew if we had hit the peak.
GLOR: There are now 54.1 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine available. 11 million were made this week. But that is still less than half the number needed, even to vaccinate high-priority groups and there is also a new warning today about next week. With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, 38 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more in the confined spaces of planes, trains and automobiles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.
GLOR: So heartwarming scenes of family reunions, like the ones captured in movies ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got a sneaking feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.
GLOR: ... means that germs are also actually all around.
SCHUCHAT: Some people say, well, all the kids get together with their grandparents and there's a lot of exchange of, you know, warmth and love but a little exchange of viruses, too.
GLOR: The CDC's just-issued four-part plan to stay safe -- don't travel if you're sick, don't forget to wash your hands, don't cough or sneeze anywhere but into your sleeve and do get vaccinated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GLOR: Researchers have also been watching closely to see if the H1N1 virus mutates and today in North Carolina doctors reported they found a strain of the virus that is resistant to Tamiflu. Tamiflu is one of the drugs used to reduce the severity of H1N1. Katie.
COURIC: A little worrisome. All right, Jeff Glor, Jeff, thanks very much. And now to someone who has been a fixture on television for nearly a quarter century, the one-woman media empire knows simply as Oprah. At 55 she has reached what she would call an ah-ha moment, deciding it's time to give up her talk show. Cynthia Bowers in Chicago tells us her fans got the official news today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYNTHIA BOWERS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: It was the shot heard round the media world.
OPRAH WINFREY: After much prayer and months of careful thought, I've decided that next season, season 25, will be the last season of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
BOWERS: And while it sent shockwaves through Oprah's multimillion member fan club ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very heartfelt. And it was sad, but yet happy at the same time.
BOWERS: It sent shivers throughout the entire television industry where Oprah is the gold standard. A self-made nearly $3 billion media empire. Such success hard to imagine back in 1986 when the little-known Chicago anchor began a syndicated talk show but over the years the Oprah Winfrey Show became the place for regular folks to share their stories and the rich and famous to tell their secrets and to tout new love.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in love.
OPRAH WINFREY: I've never seen you like this!
BOWERS: Her vision of non-tawdry talk pulls in an estimated 42 million viewers a week in 145 countries, 215 TV stations from coast to coast have come to rely on Oprah's number-one-rated daytime talk show to deliver an audience. In fact, many use Oprah as a powerful ratings boost for their evening newscasts.
HOWARD KURTZ, MEDIA COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST : If Oprah leaves in two years these station managers are very, very worried about how in the world do you replace Oprah Winfrey, and the truth is, you probably can't.
BOWERS: Also worried, the CBS corporation which gets a large percentage of the licensing fees. Oprah's departure will represent a seismic shift in the literary world as well. Her book club has the power to turn obscure writers into best-selling authors, and though she helped give name to Rachael Ray, Dr. Phil, and most recently Dr. Oz, none has Oprah's magic.
(on camera): Does this spawn, like, a massive search for the next Oprah?
PHIL ROSENTHAL, MEDIA COLUMNIST, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: I think television is always searching for the next Oprah, you know, just as surely as it's looking for the next Johnny Carson.
BOWERS (voice over): Though (inaudible) for her new table venture, the Oprah Winfrey Network, what will be left in her network TV wake is still to be seen. Cynthia Bowers, CBS News, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COURIC: And coming up next right here on the CBS EVENING NEWS, the war between the states. Two neighbors battling for business.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COURIC: You know, usually California and Nevada are pretty good neighbors, but in this economy, they're at war over jobs. Ben Tracy tells us about a cross-border battle that started with a putdown and escalated from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN TRACY, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Las Vegas is a city built on a gamble, but now it wants to be seen as a sure bet, so it's taking its show on the road, sending dancers to Hollywood and launching a series of snarky new ads on California airwaves.
SOMER HOLLINGSWORTH, CEO, NEVADA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: California business owners, let's compare apples to apples.
TRACY: It's all part of Nevada's effort to poach companies across the border.
SOMER HOLLINGSWORTH, CEO, NEVADA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY : And I don't even mind if you call me a poacher. That's OK.
TRACY: Somer Hollingsworth is waging Nevada's war, his state busted by the recession is now spending $1 million on ads to lure California companies.
HOLLINGSWORTH: We've got to get out of dodge. We call it running for the border. You've got to run for the border and come to Las Vegas because it's a totally different ballgame.
TRACY: In fact, one study found that Nevada has the fourth lowest business taxes in the country. California's are almost the highest.
Because when it comes to business more of what happens in Vegas stays in your pocket. Nevada has no corporate income tax, no personal income tax, and no business inventory tax. That got Paul Allen's attention. His metal manufacturing business has been in California for 20 years. Now he's moving it and up to 30 jobs to sin city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've yet to find one aspect of our operation that we wouldn't save money over there.
TRACY: The Nevada folks say they've had nearly 100 calls from California companies since the ads started running.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then why would anyone want to move to Las Vegas?
TRACY: Now California is firing back with its own attack ad, calling Vegas a cow town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But what happens in California, makes the world go round.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They played rough, so we're playing rough back.
TRACY: California Assemblyman Jose Solorio (ph) thought Nevada crossed the line with this ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just taking a little break from the state Senate here in Sacramento.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, for me, definitely that helped to blow my top a little bit. Time may be tough in California but they're even tougher in Nevada.
TRACY: Solorio says Nevada can't top California's educated workforce and huge consumer base. And the odds are in California's favor. As most companies don't move once they settle in the state. The average net annual job loss to other states is less than one percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe that's why we're the golden state and they're the silver state.
TRACY: Still, this border battle has given both states a reason to mind their own businesses. Ben Tracy, CBS News, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COURIC: And coming up next, what could drive dozens of people who work for one French company to take their own lives?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CBS CORRESPONDENT: They've just been told it's failed to achieve corporate goals, a common enough experience in the working world. But Nuclerq claims that in the case of this giant company, undermining employees is a deliberate management strategy, one that has led to suicide.
LUDOVIC NUCLERQ, FORMER FRANCE TELECOM EMPLOYEE: I knew that what will do won't be successful.
MACVICAR: So you were basically being set up to fail.
NUCLERQ: Yes, yes. Sure, sure.
MACVICAR: Three years ago, France Telecom began a massive reorganization, cutting one-fifth of the workforce. Since then, employees have been going to a lot of funerals, with 26 suicides in the last 18 months, a suicide rate slightly higher than that of France overall, and far higher than in the United States.
Most often, work isn't the reason for suicides, but in these cases, many of those who have committed suicide or who have attempted suicide at France Telecom have directly blamed the company and management for creating working conditions that made their lives intolerable.
The suicides and dozens of attempts are happening all over the French network. Suicide notes tell similar stories, blaming constant pressure to resign, impossible goals, frequent forced relocations, and chaotic reorganization.
This woman jumped to her death from her fifth floor office window after she was told her job was changing yet again and that she was being assigned to another new boss. I'd rather die, she wrote. Lionel Dervet (ph) man stabbed himself in the stomach at work after his manager told him he no longer had the skills the company needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You're in your own bubble. Too bad. It's a bubble without oxygen. You understand? You just can't live anymore.
MACVICAR: The company's CEO, booed by employees after yet another suicide, and pressured by the French government to stop the deaths, has had to announce a suspension of job transfers and corporate reorganizations, at least until the end of the year. But suicide attempts at the company continue and no one thinks those measures will put an end to this epidemic any time soon.
Sheila MacVicar, CBS News, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COURIC: In other news, massive flooding today in England's Lake District. After 12 inches of rain in just 24 hours, a thousand homes were flooded, hundreds had to be rescued. A police officer drowned when a bridge collapsed and he was swept away by the surging waters.
Coming up next, we was charged in an attack that made national headlines. But one man's promise turned his life around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COURIC: And finally tonight, everyone can appreciate getting a second chance, and what you make of it determines what kind of person you really are. Harold Dow has a prime example in tonight's edition of the American Spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAROLD DOW, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: High school senior Jesse Ray Beard, known as Jody, is a wide receiver on his school's football team, hoping to go pro.
(on camera): What do you want to do when you get older?
JESSE RAY BEARD: Try to make it to the NFL. If that doesn't work, get a degree, be a lawyer.
DOW: Big dreams now for number 11, but back in his hometown of Jena, Louisiana, Jody had been living a nightmare. He was one of the teens known as the Jena 6, charged with attempted murder after a brawl injured a white student at Jena High. Protesters called the case a symbol of a biased justice system. The fight in December 2006 followed months of racial tension in the small town after nooses were hung from a tree on the school lawn.
BEARD: They really weren't trying to give us a chance and, like, described us as bad children, as thugs.
DOW: However, only two eyewitnesses out of nearly 50 identified Jody, then 14, as a participant in the fight.
ALAN HOWARD, ATTORNEY: The deck was stacked against him in Jena.
DOW: Attorney Alan Howard of the New York firm Dewey Lebeauf (ph) represented Jody for free.
A. HOWARD: And I felt a lot of resilience there and a lot of passion and charm, and I liked him right away.
DOW: Alan wanted to give him an opportunity, so he turned to the people he trusted most, his family.
What did Alan tell you about Jody?
PATTI HOWARD, ALAN'S WIFE: He told me he was a great kid, who really needed a second chance.
JESSIE HOWARD, ALAN'S DAUGHTER: I remember saying that he should come live with us, and I was totally for it, but I never thought it would actually happen.
DOW: While he was representing you, he made a promise to you.
BEARD: Yes, sir.
DOW: What did he say to you?
BEARD: If I stay out of trouble, that he would get me out of Jena.
DOW: Alan made good on that promise when he and other defense lawyers got the original judge in the case removed because of bias.
What do you think would have happened to Jody if he would have stayed in Jena?
A. HOWARD: I think they would have found some way to lock him up for something.
DOW: With Jody's mom's blessing, Alan became the teenager's guardian. At 210, 5'11, he's now a big part of the Howard family.
TOMMY HOWARD, ALAN'S SON: He's been giving advice to me on life, girls.
DOW: Two different pictures have emerged here about Jody. Which one is the real Jody?
P. HOWARD: We know him. He lives in our house. This is the real kid. I mean, I don't know who that kid was that they were depicting in Jena.
DOW: Jody says he hasn't changed at all.
Do those who thought you were a thug, what do you say to them?
BEARD: I'm doing well now.
DOW: Well enough, he says, to take advantage of this opportunity and run with it.
Harold Dow, CBS News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COURIC: The other five who were charged along with Jody have also left Jena, Louisiana, and are continuing their educations as well.
Bryant Purvis is attending college in Texas, where he plays basketball. Robert Bailey Jr. is at Grambling State on scholarship. Theo Shaw was elected vice president of the student government at his community college in Louisiana. In January, Carwin Jones will begin classes at a junior college in Texas. And Mychal Bell survived a suicide attempt and now attends Southern University in Baton Rouge.
And that is the CBS EVENING NEWS for tonight. I'm Katie Couric in New York. Thank you for watching this week. I'll see you again on Monday. Until then, have a great weekend, and for the latest news online, go to cbsnews.com. Good night.
END
Content and programming Copyright MMVIII CBS Broadcasting Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC , which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.