All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.
From The Frontlines Of Mexico's Drug War
You can't miss the headlines: Kidnapping Expert Kidnapped. It sounds like pure tabloid fodder, but this item is the latest grim symptom of a growing drug-crime epidemic in Mexico.
Over at our sister blog, World Watch, Mike Wuebben has a lighter take, that the Mexican corruption-drama is so over-the-top it "reads like a Hollywood screenplay." Mike writes:
Over at our sister blog, World Watch, Mike Wuebben has a lighter take, that the Mexican corruption-drama is so over-the-top it "reads like a Hollywood screenplay." Mike writes:
Much has been made of the supposed audacity of embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for refusing to resign. But "Lighting Rod" ain't got nuthin' on former Mexican police chief Victor Gerardo Garay who was arrested on charges of helping a drug cartel. According to a report yesterday in the Mexican newspaper Reforma, Garay turned a raid on Colombian drug dealers into "an orgy and alleged robbery of half a million dollars, jewelry, and even the robbery of an English bulldog." Garay even took a little time out for a hot tub with a few of the many prostitutes on hand.Check out the rest of his post here. Tonight on the CBS Evening News, Correspondent John Blackstone has an eye-opening report on this country in the throes of a savage drug war manned by brutal cartels. You can watch his report on the growing crisis of violence and corruption in Mexico - and find out why it's a growing danger for innocent citizens and even Americans journeying south - tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Human Rights
This week marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt championed the document at the United Nations. The atrocities of the Holocaust gave its words grave meaning.
Video: It reads, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
It's a statement of rights, but also responsibilities.
Violence in Darfur has claimed 300,000 lives and driven millions from their homes. Protesters in Myanmar have been beaten or killed for promoting democracy, and bloggers have been arrested in Iran for criticizing the regime.
Sixty years later, the declaration is as necessary as it was when Mrs. Roosevelt stood before the United Nations. The rights it protects belong to all humans.
The responsibilities it entrusts are yours and mine.
Sneak Peek: Espresso Economy
With the economy sinking, sipping a latte is just one of those little luxuries more people are giving up. This week, Katie spoke with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in an exclusive interview. Schultz discussed the challenges facing Starbucks in the current economic climate and his plans for weathering the storm.
Katie also asked Schultz about the company's recent struggles ... and what went wrong. Check out the video below, and we'll show more of the interview Monday night at 6:30 ET on the CBS Evening News.
Katie also asked Schultz about the company's recent struggles ... and what went wrong. Check out the video below, and we'll show more of the interview Monday night at 6:30 ET on the CBS Evening News.
Hey, New Kids On The Block!
We here at Couric & Co. just wanted to take a few minutes and welcome our new cousins in blog-land, Political Hotsheet and World Watch.
Hotsheet is taking the chair previously filled by Horserace, the late, great blog about all things from the campaign trail. It's turning a fresh eye on Washington as the next administration shapes up. Check it out here.
World Watch will include dispatches from our team of foreign correspondents and staff at the London Bureau. It's already up and running with a few posts from Correspondent Sheila MacVicar about the terror – and ensuing investigation into the massacre – in Mumbai. It'll include breaking news items and more in-depth reporting than we can sometimes fit into a broadcast. So check it here and check back often!
And don't forget to give our new neighbors a warm welcome. Leave them a few comments or Continue »
(CBS)
(CBS)
And don't forget to give our new neighbors a warm welcome. Leave them a few comments or Continue »
Navigating The Nixon Tapes Online
(AP / CBS)
It's the 12th time more Nixon documents have been opened to the public since 1980. They include, according to the Nixon Library and Museum: "file segments for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President Collection; White House Special Files, Staff Member & Office Files; White House Central Files, Staff Member & Office Files; and the National Security Council File series, including the Henry A. Kissinger Office Files and the National Security Council Institutional Files."
Sound dry? It isn't. Our justice and homeland security correspondent, Bob Orr, has a great piece on tonight's Evening News with highlights, including what Henry Kissinger said to the president after the notorious 1972 "Christmas Bombing" of Hanoi, and what Nixon did to portraits of former presidents in his offices.
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Disaster-Zone Dispatch: Trying To Get Back On Their Feet
(CBS)
Read her Evening News report here.
When reporting from a disaster zone, it's often far too easy to reduce a entire event to a series of sterile numbers – the number of people killed, the dollar amount of damage done and precisely how long it will take for things to get back to normal.
China is home to one-fifth of the world's population, so there's an even stronger temptation for reporters here to allow huge numbers to dominate a major story: Sichuan's earthquake left 80,000 dead, more than 8,000 missing and about 5 million homeless. Even people living near the quake's epicenter had a hard time grasping the scale of what had happened.
So sometimes, it can help to focus on just a few individuals affected by a disaster. For more than two weeks in May, I worked with the tireless CBS News crew to highlight every angle of the Sichuan earthquake for our viewers back home. We met dozens of people throughout this chaotic period, but one stands out in my memory: a 22-year-old woman named He Chuan Tao. We were first introduced to Tao when a surgeon practically dragged our camera crew into Tao's room, telling us she was known as "the angel of the hospital." She was still smiling, he said, despite losing both her legs in the quake.
(CBS)
Unfortunately, in one brief moment in May, the whole family was pushed back to the brink of poverty. Tao's factory was located near the epicenter of the May 12 quake. When it hit, she was standing at the top of a flight of stairs and was jolted downward as the ceiling above her collapsed. Suddenly, she was trapped alone, pinned under a massive piece of concrete. She could see the sky through a tiny opening in the rubble and she refused to let herself to drift off to sleep, for fear that she'd lose her chance to be rescued.If you'd like information about how to help the earthquake victims and amputees, click here to send us an email.
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Behind The Scenes At Letterman
Ever wonder what they feed you in David Letterman's green room? Want to meet some of Katie's crew? Yes, all this and more can be yours with one click of the little "play" arrow.
And if you catch Letterman tonight, too, you'll see he gave Katie a phone call during the show to, um, correct what Katie says may have been a "brain synapse misfiring" on Dave's part. We'll let you be the judge.
And if you catch Letterman tonight, too, you'll see he gave Katie a phone call during the show to, um, correct what Katie says may have been a "brain synapse misfiring" on Dave's part. We'll let you be the judge.
Preview: Cheating, Secrets And Lies - And The Kids Who Spread Them Online
Over at Tech Talk, our sister blog, science and technology correspondent (and self-proclaimed "digital nomad") Daniel Sieberg has given us a little previewa of his story on tonight's CBS Evening News. It's about grade-school kids using the Web not just to share too much information about themselves - but to share potentially-illegal video tips on how to deceive their teachers and cheat on tests.
Here's a taste:
Here's a taste:
It's no secret that young people make mistakes; it's a necessary part of growing up. But the Internet - and specifically the rise of video-sharing Web sites - opened a new portal for potential pitfalls. On tonight's CBS Evening News with Katie Couric we're looking at how teens are posting controversial videos on sites like YouTube, often in the hopes of getting noticed or showing off. But in the process they may be setting themselves up for real-world consequences in the future.Wait, adults don't use YouTube? Huh. Somebody must have forgotten to tell Oprah, Charlie Rose, and, or course, Katie. Anyway, check out the rest of Daniel's blog post right here, and don't forget to watch tonight at 6:30 ET.
For our story we talked to two young people about their decision to post "how to cheat on a test" videos on YouTube. Both of our subjects are unrepentant about their decision - but they also do not want us to use their real names. Both said they're seeking attention and aren't worried about being caught because "adults don't use YouTube."
CBS Journalist Wounded In Pakistan
CBSNews.com's Tucker Reals filed this post from the CBS News London Bureau after hearing that colleague Sami Yousafzai had been shot during an attempted abduction in Peshawar, Pakistan.
I posted a story on CBSNews.com early Friday morning from Pakistan about a Japanese journalist and his Pakistani assistant being shot in an attempted abduction. This was the third such story from the same city in as many days. The first was an American aid worker shot to death near his home.
A bit later, the deputy bureau chief in London, Andy Clarke, told me: "the Pakistani 'fixer' who got shot in Pakistan ... that was Sami."
He was talking about Sami Yousafzai, a man whom I have gotten to know fairly well during the last two years in London, and whom I like a lot. Although his English is rough, Sami is a warm, pleasant guy, who's always cracking jokes.
Continue »
I posted a story on CBSNews.com early Friday morning from Pakistan about a Japanese journalist and his Pakistani assistant being shot in an attempted abduction. This was the third such story from the same city in as many days. The first was an American aid worker shot to death near his home.
A bit later, the deputy bureau chief in London, Andy Clarke, told me: "the Pakistani 'fixer' who got shot in Pakistan ... that was Sami."
(AP Photo)
Continue »
Revisiting "On The Road": All Tangled Up
More than 30 years ago, CBS News' Charles Kuralt went "On The Road" and filed a host of now-legendary dispatches. Some were everyday stories about individuals, and others remarkable tales of achievement or struggle.
One day, Kuralt stopped his RV in Darwin, Minn., where he met a man who compulsively saved, for years and years, twine. Call it compulsive collecting, but even the twine-ball's creator, Francis Johnson, said to be a collector of something so mundane: "you don't have to be crazy, but it helps."
One day, Kuralt stopped his RV in Darwin, Minn., where he met a man who compulsively saved, for years and years, twine. Call it compulsive collecting, but even the twine-ball's creator, Francis Johnson, said to be a collector of something so mundane: "you don't have to be crazy, but it helps."
Check out Kuralt's original report here - and watch the Evening News tonight to see how our Steve Hartman went back and traced Kuralt's steps ... and to see if Francis Johnson's string theory holds up today.
