All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Haiti Rescue
Hello everyone. Katie's on assignment in Haiti.
By now you've probably seen the video from Port-au-Prince -rescuers frantically digging through the rubble with their bare hands – struggling to free victims trapped for two days now.
Many survivors have been pulled out alive. A man walked away from the collapsed United Nations building this morning but countless more are still waiting, praying, that someone will get to them in time.
Rescue teams from the U-S and around the world are there and some have the heavy equipment capable of lifting tons of debris. But there are still very few of those machines and because building codes we take for granted were ignored in Haiti there are so many crumbled buildings.
Two years ago, survivors were rescued eight days after a massive earthquake ravaged central China. So, victims in Haiti still have time. But it is not on their side.
I'm Kelly Wallace. CBS News.
By now you've probably seen the video from Port-au-Prince -rescuers frantically digging through the rubble with their bare hands – struggling to free victims trapped for two days now.
Many survivors have been pulled out alive. A man walked away from the collapsed United Nations building this morning but countless more are still waiting, praying, that someone will get to them in time.
Rescue teams from the U-S and around the world are there and some have the heavy equipment capable of lifting tons of debris. But there are still very few of those machines and because building codes we take for granted were ignored in Haiti there are so many crumbled buildings.
Two years ago, survivors were rescued eight days after a massive earthquake ravaged central China. So, victims in Haiti still have time. But it is not on their side.
I'm Kelly Wallace. CBS News.
Will Distracted Driving Crackdown Work?
Shortly after I finished my live report for "The Early Show" on distracted driving and headed back to the city via the congested New Jersey Turnpike, what did I see? You guessed it – a driver talking very animatedly on the phone inside his car. He probably thought he was taking the necessary precautions by using his speakerphone instead of holding the phone up to his ear. But he was wrong. I wanted to scream out my window but that wasn't too realistic at 65 miles per hour. Instead, all I could wonder was whether he knew what he was doing is believed to be as dangerous as drinking and driving. My gut tells me no.
A newly formed advocacy group – modeled after the very successful Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and introduced Tuesday -- hopes to make the dangers of driving while using a cell phone as well-known as the dangers of drinking and getting behind the wheel. Think of the possibilities. Since MADD was formed in 1980, the number of drunk driving deaths dropped nearly 50 percent. Can a group called Focus Driven have a similar impact on cell phone driving deaths? Could this be a consciousness-raising moment about distracted driving in our country? Ever the optimist, I'm going to say yes.
Because I think if more of us heard stories like the one of Joe Teater, we might steer clear of talking and texting while behind the wheel. Teater would have been a freshman in college had a 20-year-old woman who had been talking on a cell phone not run a red light six years ago and killed him.
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A newly formed advocacy group – modeled after the very successful Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and introduced Tuesday -- hopes to make the dangers of driving while using a cell phone as well-known as the dangers of drinking and getting behind the wheel. Think of the possibilities. Since MADD was formed in 1980, the number of drunk driving deaths dropped nearly 50 percent. Can a group called Focus Driven have a similar impact on cell phone driving deaths? Could this be a consciousness-raising moment about distracted driving in our country? Ever the optimist, I'm going to say yes.
Because I think if more of us heard stories like the one of Joe Teater, we might steer clear of talking and texting while behind the wheel. Teater would have been a freshman in college had a 20-year-old woman who had been talking on a cell phone not run a red light six years ago and killed him.
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N.J. Parents Teach Kids Digital Boundaries
(CBS)
(At left, Lonnie Mishoe Sr. plays video games with his son Lonnie Mishoe Jr. as seen on The Early Show Thursday.)
Well, let's just say after the family I met – and you are about to meet – my anxieties have been dramatically reduced. The Mishoes of Bergenfield, N.J., are the kind of parents I think we all want to be. After I spent some time with them, I remarked to producer, Josh Gaynor, who found the family for us to profile Thursday in our "Where America Stands" report on The Early Show, "If every family in America were like the Mishoes, this country would be a whole lot better off."
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Wizard of Oz, 70 Years Later
(AP Photo/Warner Bros)
Ask almost anyone about "The Wizard of Oz" and they immediately recount their favorite scene or the first time they watched it during childhood. I remember seeing the movie year after year with my mom and my two sisters in Brooklyn, New York, always eagerly anticipating my favorite scene when Dorothy clicks the heels of her fabulous ruby red slippers and says, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."
See Kelly Wallace's Story about the 70th Anniversary of the "Wizard of Oz"
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Katie Couric's Notebook: Iran Missiles
Hi, everyone. Katie's on assignment. I'm Kelly Wallace.
The short and medium-range Iranian missiles soared into the air with an ear-splitting roar, but the message was even louder: Iran is ready for a military threat.
Two of the rockets fired today can carry warheads 12-hundred miles. That's far enough to reach several American military bases, Israel and parts of Europe.
The tests come just days before Iran sits down in Geneva with the U.S. and five other nations to talk about its nuclear ambitions.
The White House is threatening tough sanctions if Iran doesn't halt uranium enrichment.
Iran's leaders insist there's no reason to stop because their nuclear program is only for energy production - and has nothing to do with these missile tests.
Most Western observers don't buy that and many now believe if there had been any hopes of a quick deal with Iran - these missiles found their targets - and took them out.
I'm Kelly Wallace, CBS News.
The short and medium-range Iranian missiles soared into the air with an ear-splitting roar, but the message was even louder: Iran is ready for a military threat.
Two of the rockets fired today can carry warheads 12-hundred miles. That's far enough to reach several American military bases, Israel and parts of Europe.
The tests come just days before Iran sits down in Geneva with the U.S. and five other nations to talk about its nuclear ambitions.
The White House is threatening tough sanctions if Iran doesn't halt uranium enrichment.
Iran's leaders insist there's no reason to stop because their nuclear program is only for energy production - and has nothing to do with these missile tests.
Most Western observers don't buy that and many now believe if there had been any hopes of a quick deal with Iran - these missiles found their targets - and took them out.
I'm Kelly Wallace, CBS News.
Faking Your Resume
(CBS)
I called some of the big names who made news when their stretching of the truth became public, like George O'Leary, the former Notre Dame Coach who lied about his education and college football career and David Edmondson, the former CEO of Radio Shack who lied about a college degree on his resume. Maybe they'd want to talk to us and provide a cautionary tale to any job seeker who might be thinking of embellishing or outright lying in these recessionary times. Not a chance. They weren't interested or didn't return my calls.
But then one of my producers, Melissa Smith, came across a woman who not only lied about her resume, she wrote a book about it, called Continue »
New Credit Card Rules
(AP)
First, let me say I should never have allowed myself to get into the debt in the first place. I could have cut corners, scaled back, managed to do more with less, but I didn't. That said, I wasn't prepared for a company to jack up my rates significantly – I wish I could remember the percentages but I think my rate went to well over 20% -- after I was late with a payment once, maybe twice.
Read about the new regulations here
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Katie Couric's Notebook: Obesity
Katie's on assignment.
Here's the skinny on health care in America: We are simply too fat and it's costing us a fortune in medical bills.
Despite all those fad diets and fat free products in the grocery store aisles, obesity has increased by 37 percent since 1998. Along with the love handles and muffin tops come a smorgasbord of problems - including diabetes and heart disease.
A new study published in the journal Health Affairs found that obese people pay an average of $1,400 more per year in health care costs, a total of $147 billion annually.
The head of the group behind the report sent a wake-up call to Congress, saying that unless the growing problem of obesity is addressed, America will be unable to contain its health spending.
Experts say essentials like proper diet and exercise need to be at the core of any health policy lawmakers consider.
The only way to tighten our belts - is to tighten our bellies.
I'm Kelly Wallace, CBS News.
Here's the skinny on health care in America: We are simply too fat and it's costing us a fortune in medical bills.
Despite all those fad diets and fat free products in the grocery store aisles, obesity has increased by 37 percent since 1998. Along with the love handles and muffin tops come a smorgasbord of problems - including diabetes and heart disease.
A new study published in the journal Health Affairs found that obese people pay an average of $1,400 more per year in health care costs, a total of $147 billion annually.
The head of the group behind the report sent a wake-up call to Congress, saying that unless the growing problem of obesity is addressed, America will be unable to contain its health spending.
Experts say essentials like proper diet and exercise need to be at the core of any health policy lawmakers consider.
The only way to tighten our belts - is to tighten our bellies.
I'm Kelly Wallace, CBS News.
Virtual Finance 101
(CBS)
For our Children of the Recession piece airing tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, I interviewed Shanetta Francis, a recent graduate of Trenton High School in New Jersey who could not wait to get her hands on plastic.
"Because I heard so much about credit cards and how they raise your limit and you can get black cards and gold cards or platinum cards and I was like I cannot wait until I turn 18,"she told me.
That was before she entered a virtual world of earning and spending, part of an innovative video game used at her school to teach kids Finance 101.
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The ABC's of Saving
(CBS)
The scene was an unusual summer camp for kids in Denver, where instead of soccer and swimming, 2nd and 3rd graders participate in activities like "The Savings Game." This camp, part of the Young Americans Center for Financial Education is designed to teach money matters.
I visited the camp for our Children of the Recession story tonight on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." We wanted to explore whether the recession has prompted more parents and teachers to start teaching kids Finance 101.
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