All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

You have to hand it to Chrysler. Their sales in the United States dropped 30 percent in October compared to October 2008, but they’re crowing that October was six percent better than September. I don’t know whether that says more about Chrysler or September. In fact September was a pretty bad month for all the carmakers because it was the first month up after the expiration of the popular Cash for Clunkers program. All of Detroit suffered a bit of a hangover when the deals stopped being done.

By comparison, GM and Ford did pretty well. GM, which had a 4.7 percent jump in October would have been up 11.6 percent, but it was dragged down by its Hummer, Saab, Saturn and Pontiac brands – all of which are being dropped eventually. Ford kept up its hot streak, recording a 3 percent bump in October sales. It’s already benefitting from positive consumer reviews of its products and fresh profits in the third quarter.

Auto industry writer Paul Ingrassia, author of the forthcoming Crash Course was impressed by both Ford and GM.

“The progress is welcome and it’s real,” he said in an interview. “There’s a long way to go, but you have to have a few first steps.”

And you have to step in the right direction, which is what Chrysler is not doing.

Says Ingrassia: “Chrysler is still in the deep woods here and it’s unclear what will happen.”

A look at their report for October shows incredible declines in almost all of its models except the Dodge Challenger. Chrysler Sebring? Down 69 percent. Chrysler Aspen? Down 68 percent. Town and Country minivan? Down 33 per cent. Zheesh!

This is a company in desperate need of a turnaround plan, which is exactly what its new owner, Fiat, will unveil this week. The word is that Fiat plans to introduce many smaller models to Chrysler showrooms.

Judging from the way its current lineup has been selling, Chrysler could use anything other than what it already has on offer.

Saturday Oct. 17 will be a date that could take up an interesting place in the history books. Because on that day – as far as we can ascertain – the world’s first-ever underwater cabinet meeting will take place . It will take place in the Maldives -- an Indian Ocean archipelago of 1,192 coral islets, most of which lie barely five feet above sea level. The idea of the conclave beneath the waves is to highlight any connection that may exist between global warming and rising seas.

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Dean Reynolds is a CBS News Correspondent based in Chicago.

Just as all of us in Chicago were beginning to recover from the city’s rejection by the International Olympic Committee comes news that is even harder to swallow:

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Dean Reynolds is a CBS News Correspondent based in Chicago.

To say times are tough economically in this country is an understatement. But the sheriff of Alexander County, Illinois has set a new standard for deprivation. Sheriff David Barkett had his official cruisers repossessed by the local bank in the county seat of Cairo.

Usually, when you see a lot of sheriff’s cruisers in a bank parking lot it means a crime has been committed. Say, a bank robbery. But not now. Four of Barkett’s five cruisers (the fifth one is in the shop for repairs) now sit humiliatingly in the lot of the First National Bank of Cairo, shorn of their emergency lights, antennae and even their seals. You can see the faint outline of them on the suddenly denuded cruisers.

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While the White House and Congress wring their hands over what to do next on the nation's health care front, there is a small pilot program in Detroit that directly attacks one of the problems that makes health insurance so expensive for all of us. That's because it addresses health itself, and the increasing cases of obesity, high blood pressure and heart attacks that are doing so much damage all around us.

To go back a few steps, Detroit – a city of some 830,000 people – has no major grocery store chain within its boundaries. No Jewels. No Safeways. No Kroegers. No nothing. Crime is one factor in the flight of food stores. Neglect is another. Whatever the cause, the consequences are devastating. So the economically hard-pressed state of Michigan is doing something about all of it, unveiling a $75,000 pilot program to bring food to the front door.

Called MI Neighborhood Food Movers, the plan is simplicity itself.

"There's no rocket science to this at all," said Lisa Johanan when we interviewed her last week. Lisa is executive director of the Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corp., and founder of Peaches and Greens grocery. "I mean it's a very simple thing – put some produce on a truck and you drive through the neighborhood."

And that's exactly what Peaches and Greens and two other suppliers do – bringing fresh vegetables and fruit into inner city neighborhoods bristling with derelict buildings, vacant lots and tons of liquor stores.

"In Detroit, 92 percent of food stamp recipients purchase their grocers from a liquor store or a gas station or a pharmacy," Lisa told us. "What kind of food do you get at a liquor store," I asked Lisa.

"You don't get anything fresh. That's for sure," she said.

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