All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.
On the road to Sendai, Japan
Flames engulf buildings in an industrial complex in Sendai, northern Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. Japan launched a massive military rescue operation Saturday after a giant, quake-fed tsunami killed hundreds of people and turned the northeastern coast into a swampy wasteland, while authorities braced for a possible meltdown at a nuclear reactor. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
/ Itsuo InouyeThis report was filed by CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker en route to Sendai, the hardest hit area in Japan by Friday's earthquake
We are driving from Tokyo about 200 miles north to Sendai and environs, the area hardest hit by the massive earthquake. We have been on the road 15 hours for a trip that normally takes 4 to 5 hours ... And we're still 50 miles away.
For most of the journey the worst thing has been horrible traffic. Most highways to the quake zone are closed due to quake damage. We traveled most of the way on two lane roads thick, crawling with traffic -- trucks full of relief and aid and anguished families headed north.
Continue »Haiti Earthquake, One Year Later
One year after the earthquake in Haiti, there's still much to be done.
/ CBS/Erin LyallBill Whitaker is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.
PORT-AU-PRINCE - The first thing I noticed on returning to Haiti, one year after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, was that tons of rubble have been removed from the roads.
In the first month after the quake, collapsed buildings spilled into the streets turning them into apocalyptic obstacle courses, making driving nearly impossible. Today the driving is nearly impossible because traffic is as thick and congested and frustrating as before the quake.
Diego Receives the Gift of Hearing
Diego Neumaier Ortiz.
/ CBSCBS Evening News: Born Deaf, Diego Receives the Miracle of Sound
Tonight, on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, we tell the remarkable story of how two California doctors, using a cutting-edge procedure they'd developed, were able to give Diego the gift of hearing. They also gave him a new ear. For the first time in his life he hears his mother's voice and likes the way he looks. He's planning to come back in December to get a new left ear as well.Diego calls the operation a miracle. The doctors, John Reinisch, a pioneer in ear reconstruction, and Joseph Roberson, an ear, nose & throat specialist, Diego calls angels. They waived their usual $60,000 fee for performing the life-changing procedure. But the full cost for both ears is almost $130,000, including flights from Mexico, lodging, food and hospital expenses. Diego's family doesn't have medical insurance.
So here is where other angels stepped in. Grateful former patients, who themselves had gotten ears and hearing restored by the doctors, contributed to a fund to pay Diego's expenses. The non-profit Small Wonders Foundation, raised money for the first operation and continue seeking funds for the second. Other patients opened their homes to Diego and his mother so they'd have a place to stay their weeks in the U.S.
Diego is a bit of a miracle himself. Despite his lack of hearing, despite the many people who said he couldn't, Diego was able defy the odds and become the Junior Gymnastics Champion of Mexico. Since he had no money to give doctors Reinisch and Roberson, he gave them his most valuable possession: his championship medals. With two ears and full hearing, he plans to qualify for the Olympics.
Defeating the Mexican Drug Gangs
(CBS)
I first met Tijuana police chief Julian Leyzaola a year ago. He's an impressive man. The former army Lt. Colonel stands ram-rod straight, has a firm handshake, piercing eyes -- and somewhat surprisingly, a ready smile.
Tijuana's Top Cop Battles Drug Gangs
Continue »
Burma: "It Seems So Tragically Familiar"
(AP Photo)
The last time I was in Burma was back in 1990. The military junta – so confident of its grip on power and the people – had allowed foreign journalists to come in and observe national elections. The generals clearly thought the oppressed and intimidated populace would give the junta its vote and with it the veneer of legitimacy. But the people didn't comply. They voted overwhelmingly for the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, even though she'd been under house arrest and unable to campaign. I will never forget people literally were dancing in the streets, jubilant that they had defeated the generals with ballots.
The next morning the generals held a press conference and in front of the world's cameras said they would acquiesce to the will of the voters. But after the foreign journalists left, the military rulers rounded up the opposition leaders, threw them in jail, then tightened their grip on the country they call Myanmar.
That's why what's happening now – the people reaching for democracy, the junta snatching it from their grasp – seems so tragically familiar. The generals know the whole world is watching and they don't really care. They're counting on the world having a short attention span. Once again they've kicked out foreign journalists. This time they've also shut down the Web and blocked cell phones, so even the internet images that alerted the world to this latest crisis have been cut off.
The pro-democracy groups in exile here in Thailand are betting that this time will be different, that images of soldiers gunning down monks are too shocking for the world to forget. The generals are betting this time will be just like the last – that nothing has changed ... and nothing will change.
They Came On Down And Lined Right Up
Bill Whitaker is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.
They are there almost every day – people of all ages, genders and colors with big name tags on their shoulders and even bigger smiles on their faces. They are Bob Barker's people. The line to "The Price Is Right" snakes past the back door of the news bureau here at TV City. When we are running out to cover a story or walking out to lunch, "The Price Is Right" crowd is there. We hear them telling their stories to show producers – Shondra from Shreveport, Mark from Missoula – eager to be contestants, hoping to meet Bob Barker. They are part of the excitement of working at TV City, a slice of America right outside our door.
I knew Bob Barker was popular (after all, he's had the top-rated daytime game show for years), but nothing prepared me for what has been going on around TV City the last few weeks. As the clock was ticking down toward Bob Barker's retirement, legions of his fans not only were lining up, but were camping out for the chance to see him one last time – to be part of TV history. The line that usually stretched along the side of the building has been stretching around the block.
People brought lawn chairs and sleeping bags and cards to keep themselves comfortable and entertained while they waited. For days. Nearby stores stayed open around the clock to feed the fans. One person we met had camped out since Saturday for a much coveted seat in the last show, which was taped yesterdya.
So far no one has been named as Bob Barker's replacement.
Whoever it is will have big shoes -- and long lines -- to fill.
(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
I knew Bob Barker was popular (after all, he's had the top-rated daytime game show for years), but nothing prepared me for what has been going on around TV City the last few weeks. As the clock was ticking down toward Bob Barker's retirement, legions of his fans not only were lining up, but were camping out for the chance to see him one last time – to be part of TV history. The line that usually stretched along the side of the building has been stretching around the block.
(AP Photo/Nick Ut)
So far no one has been named as Bob Barker's replacement.
Whoever it is will have big shoes -- and long lines -- to fill.
Wheels Up: An Airline Changes Direction
(CBS)
I spent a workday at the Tulsa facility, observing and talking to workers, executives and union leaders. I saw a vibrant workplace determined to succeed in this era of globalization. (You'll see just how determined they are on tonight's Evening News.) New ideas and new practices are invited from the worker on the line and the executive in the front office. One example: I saw a machine to re-sharpen tools that a worker designed and made with a motor from his daughter's science project. That one machine saves American Airlines tens-of-thousands of dollars annually.
We hear so often that U.S. industrial workers are on the losing end of globalization. The workers and managers at American's Tulsa plant seem determined to be winners.
The Secret of Room 56? "Be Nice, Work Hard"
(CBS)
The room is not bright and colorful or wired with the latest technology. In fact, room 56 is rather small and ordinary, jammed with clusters of desks, a few old computers sit in the corner. What makes it extraordinary are the 29 bright, eager 10 year olds, of every human color, infected with the joy of learning – serious learning. Ask them what are their favorite books and they respond: "Of Mice & Men," "Lord Of The Flies," Huckleberry Finn," "Macbeth."
"Macbeth," you say? That was my reaction.
Now understand, this is not some pricey private school. Hobart Elementary sits on the edge of downtown Los Angeles, in the middle of a low-income community of immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa. English is the second language of most. These students too often are left behind.
But room 56 is a world apart. The test scores and reading levels are way up, but what matters more to Rafe Esquith is that they absorb the class motto: "Be nice, work hard." It's a mantra they say every day and it works. Some of his students go on to the best private schools in the city and the best universities in the country. Ask his former students and they'll tell you, they learned the key to success in their 5th grade classroom.
Rafe Esquith says what he does is not magic, he just works hard and cares about his students.
I beg to differ. What I saw in room 56 was magical indeed.
"Be Nice, Work Hard"
When was the last time you heard a schoolroom described as "magical"? Correspondent Bill Whitaker tonight profiles one teacher who has managed to work wonders with his students. Here's a preview.
From the moment I entered Rafe Esquith's fifth grade classroom at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles, I knew it was a special place.
The room is not bright and colorful or wired with the latest technology. In fact, room 56 is rather small and ordinary, jammed with clusters of desks, a few old computers sit in the corner. What makes it extraordinary are the 29 bright, eager 10 year olds, of every human color, infected with the joy of learning – serious learning. Ask them what are their favorite books and they respond: "Of Mice & Men," "Lord Of The Flies," Huckleberry Finn," "Macbeth."
"Macbeth," you say? That was my reaction.
Now understand, this is not some pricey private school. Hobart Elementary sits on the edge of downtown Los Angeles, in the middle of a low-income community of immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa. English is the second language of most. These students too often are left behind.
But room 56 is a world apart. The test scores and reading levels are way up, but what matters more to Rafe Esquith is that they absorb the class motto: "Be nice, work hard." It's a mantra they say every day and it works. Some of his students go on to the best private schools in the city and the best universities in the country. Ask his former students and they'll tell you, they learned the key to success in their 5th grade classroom.
Rafe Esquith says what he does is not magic, he just works hard and cares about his students.
I beg to differ. What I saw in room 56 was magical indeed.
(CBS)
The room is not bright and colorful or wired with the latest technology. In fact, room 56 is rather small and ordinary, jammed with clusters of desks, a few old computers sit in the corner. What makes it extraordinary are the 29 bright, eager 10 year olds, of every human color, infected with the joy of learning – serious learning. Ask them what are their favorite books and they respond: "Of Mice & Men," "Lord Of The Flies," Huckleberry Finn," "Macbeth."
"Macbeth," you say? That was my reaction.
Now understand, this is not some pricey private school. Hobart Elementary sits on the edge of downtown Los Angeles, in the middle of a low-income community of immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa. English is the second language of most. These students too often are left behind.
But room 56 is a world apart. The test scores and reading levels are way up, but what matters more to Rafe Esquith is that they absorb the class motto: "Be nice, work hard." It's a mantra they say every day and it works. Some of his students go on to the best private schools in the city and the best universities in the country. Ask his former students and they'll tell you, they learned the key to success in their 5th grade classroom.
Rafe Esquith says what he does is not magic, he just works hard and cares about his students.
I beg to differ. What I saw in room 56 was magical indeed.
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