All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

A new report (PDF) today from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo revealed that big banks – including the recipients of billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts – paid their employees massive bonuses regardless of how the banks performed.

Correspondent Kelly Wallace is covering the story for tonight's "CBS Evening News". Earlier today, she discussed the report and previewed tonight's story in a conversation with CBSNews.com editor-in-chief Dan Farber.

There is one quote that really stuck with me when we were researching ideas for tonight’s story on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric about college students graduating into the recession. “Damn me for being born in ’87,” Suzanne Block told The Chicago Tribune back in March before graduating. “This is just a nightmare. There could not be a worse time to be looking for a job.”

Oh how right Suzanne is. Employers say they’ll hire 22 percent fewer grads this year versus last year. And while 51 percent of college seniors looking for jobs found one before leaving campus back in 2007, less than 20 percent were as fortunate this year.

Desperate times call for desperate measures? Well, maybe not desperate but unusual, creative approaches to the job hunt seem to be the norm, not the exception, as students try to find a way to stand out. Remember, today’s graduates are not only competing against their peers but against experienced 20-somethings and baby boomers who lost their jobs and are anxiously trying to find new ones.

Read full post…

Last week I participated in a conference call with a group of mommy bloggers--women who blog for the sister sites of the Silicon Valley Moms Group. The topic was “Children of the Recession,” how the economy has impacted the lives of kids all around the country. I wanted to tell them about our ongoing commitment to report these stories, but mostly I just wanted to listen…I figured they would have a good sense of what was happening in their own neighborhoods, and what resources are available for people who need them.

The truth is most families have been impacted by the recession to some degree. A recent CBS News poll found that 60% of parents have had to tell their children there was not enough money to buy some of the things they did before. For some families, that may mean cutting out vacations or extra birthday presents, but for others it may be more serious…like skipping visits to the doctor or cutting back on groceries.

The Silicon Valley Moms Blogs are devoting today to this important topic, asking their readers how the recession is impacting kids in their communities.

I wanted to give them a shout out, and encourage you to join the conversation.

This video features some beautiful scenery of Afghanistan as Katie films takeoff from the cockpit on her way from Kabul to southern Afghanistan. Viewers will also get a look inside the C-17, a cavernous and loud aircraft that carries personnel and supplies.

Read full post…

On her flight from Riyadh to Kabul, Katie takes us inside the cockpit to meet the Air Force pilots flying the plane.

Read full post…

Katie explains the rules for women in Saudi culture. They are not permitted to drive and must wear abayas and headscarves to walk in public. She then shows viewers the building that is command central for the muttaween, the religious police. With the help of a translator, she approaches a relative of a muttawa and tries to get an answer about what the group’s role is in Saudi society. Later, she shows viewers Chop Chop Square, where public executions are performed.

Read full post…

In this video, Katie introduces you to the reporters accompanying Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on his five-day trip to the Middle East and Afghanistan. She asks her fellow reporters how things have changed at the Pentagon since the Obama administration took over, and asks about the different approaches of Sec. Gates and his predecessor Sec. Donald Rumsfeld.

Read full post…

This story was nothing to sneeze at...

I'm happy to say that I’ve survived a few days in Mexico City and have none of the symptoms of swine flu. One thing however does feel different; how unconsciously alert I am to my own body and all sorts of warning signs/hazardous behaviors around me. Perhaps it is just a case of biological adaptation to increase your chances of survival in more dangerous environments (if anyone has research on that - please do send my way) or it is a layer of your subconscious that just heightens your peripheral awareness under changing circumstances, but it is oddly cool.

When our producer on the ground welcomed my outstretched hand at the airport with a warning that hand shakes should be avoided, that is when the story started to sink in. Saturday evening when I sneezed at a restaurant and people three tables over turned to look, it sunk in a little deeper.

By the time I woke up on Sunday, my body had gone into this state of being. I noticed a man coughing as he walked into the elevator and instinctively pressed the button with a knuckle instead of a fingertip. I didn’t touch the handrails on the way down to the lobby. I took notice of the doorman who sneezed and oddly I searched for him the next couple of days to make sure he still seemed healthy. I washed my hands far more often, became conscious of otherwise unconscious actions like how many times my fingers touched my eyes to relieve an itch(eight times since landing) or how many times I had coughed (three) or sneezed (seven) over the past few days.

Read full post…

Katie's anchoring the show tonight from Washington, D.C., where earlier today she exclusively interviewed President-elect Barack Obama. She asked him about the questions surrounding his pick for Treasury chief, Timothy Geithner, as well as how he'll work with Congress as president. Also: What did Mr. Obama say would be his No. 1 priority as president? And what was his reaction to the purported bin Laden tape?

What follows is excerpts from the interview (and a short video clip) – but be sure to watch the CBS Evening News tonight for more.

Katie Couric: A new Osama bin Laden tape was released. And in it he taunted President Bush.

President-elect Barack Obama: Right.

Couric: and basically called for a new jihad to stop the aggression on Gaza. What will you do differently to bring Osama bin Laden to justice?

Mr. Obama: Well, I think … I talked frequently during this campaign that we took our eye off the ball when we invaded Iraq. And now it's done. My job is to withdraw in a responsible way from Iraq and stabilize the situation there.

But our real focus ...

Read full post…