All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

I wasn’t bullied as a kid but I did come across at least one bully during my career. No names need to be mentioned. They know who they are! There were many days when I’d shed a few tears wondering why this was happening to me and in those moments, the bully was definitely winning. As hard as it was, I always tried to remind myself the bully was the one with the big problem, not me.

That’s the message the American Academy of Pediatrics wants doctors, teachers and parents to send to kids. The numbers are alarming – almost 30 percent of all kids say they’ve either been bullied or are doing the bullying. Three out of 10! And the rest have likely witnessed bullying or know someone who has been bullied or who is a bully.

In our piece tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, you’ll meet 13-year-old Daniel Warburton, an 8th grader who has been bullied relentlessly since the 4th grade. He said it started as name calling, with kids calling him names like “faggot,” and turned physical on the football field last year when seven of his so-called teammates tackled him to the point of unconsciousness. A teammate who stood up for Daniel ended up being bullied himself and then sucker-punched Daniel as a way of regaining favor with the bullies.

“I know this happens every day and a lot of kids are going through this and me being one of them, it’s just really upsetting,” he told me.

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(CBS)

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Since 2001, thousands of wives and girlfriends have been assaulted at the hands of the soldiers they loved. Tonight on the a special primetime edition of the CBS Evening News, Katie Couric investigates a growing crisis in the U.S. military: the staggering numbers of military wives who have been beaten, raped or even killed since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

And behind those statistics are the faces of many survivors. Katie spoke with one military wife, Jessacia Patton, about how her husband changed in Iraq, the ensuing abuse … and how the military failed to help.

Last night, we posted a preview clip of one of Katie's interviews with a military wife who is a survivor of domestic violence. Below, a new clip, in which Katie asks Patton what she believes to be the military's greatest flaw in dealing with domestic violence.

Watch that clip here:

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:

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.

Kelly Wallace is a CBS News Correspondent based in New York.

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As a mother of two children under 2 ½, I find myself gravitating towards those stories that could impact my little girls when they grow up. Tonight’s report on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric is one of those stories.

A new survey on teen dating violence and abuse signals what may be a worrisome trend – one in five 13 to 14 year olds say their friends have been punched, kicked, hit or slapped by a boyfriend or girlfriend. Nearly half of all tweens, kids from 11 to 14, say their friends have been verbally abused in a relationship. First, I don’t know about you, but when I was 11 or 12, I was still playing school, not dating. Secondly, it is troubling, especially as a parent, to think how many young people appear to be victims of emotional, physical and sexual abuse in a relationship. Think of the impact on their lives and on society as a whole if perpetrators of this violence grow up and continue their abusive behaviors.

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A survey out today, found some "horrors" in teen dating.

That's almost an understatement. One number: 20 percent of 13- and 14-year-olds say they know friends who have been kicked, hit, slapped or punched by a boyfriend or girlfriend.

For more, just click the monitor.

Kelly Wallace is a CBS News Correspondent based in New York.

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As a mother of two children under 2 ½, I find myself gravitating towards those stories that could impact my little girls when they grow up. Tonight’s report on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric is one of those stories.

A new survey on teen dating violence and abuse signals what may be a worrisome trend – one in five 13 to 14 year olds say their friends have been punched, kicked, hit or slapped by a boyfriend or girlfriend. Nearly half of all tweens, kids from 11 to 14, say their friends have been verbally abused in a relationship. First, I don’t know about you, but when I was 11 or 12, I was still playing school, not dating. Secondly, it is troubling, especially as a parent, to think how many young people appear to be victims of emotional, physical and sexual abuse in a relationship. Think of the impact on their lives and on society as a whole if perpetrators of this violence grow up and continue their abusive behaviors.

Read full post…

Charles Wolfson is a CBS News reporter covering the State Department.

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It is not that unusual for the State Department to caution American citizens against travel to various parts of the world.

The State Department's website currently lists 30 different official travel warnings to caution Americans about the possible dangers which await them. The list is constantly changing and travel warnings are issued because of ongoing wars, fear of violence from public demonstrations and even from weather-related events such as hurricanes and tsunamis.

However it was certainly unusual when Spokesman Sean McCormack took the time to advise members of the State Department Correspondents' Association that the State department felt the most prudent advice for journalists covering the ongoing violence in Gaza was to not go there or, if already in the area, to leave.

Reminding the Washington-based diplomatic correspondents that the BBC's Alan Johnston was kidnapped in Gaza three months ago, McCormack said there was no specific information about plans to kidnap any more journalists, but given the current security situation involving fighting between Hamas and Fatah factions of the Palestinians the Department in Washington and the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, which handles American diplomatic interests in Gaza and the West Bank, advised American journalists not to travel to Gaza or, if there, to leave immediately. McCormack also asked that the cautionary reccomendation be passed on to our headquarters.

It was an interesting and an unusual step, especially since there already is an existing travel warning (Januray 17, 2007) advising all Americans "to remain mindful of security factors when considering travel to Israel and Jerusalem..." and the same warning "urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to the West Bank and to avoid travel to the Gaza Strip." It specifically states the warning applies "to all Americans, including journalists and aid workers."

Yes, Gaza is a dangerous place. But the fighting there is a story which will be covered, although many media organizations have long since turned to local stringers based in Gaza to report for them. What the latest advice from the State department boils down to is that any American who gets into trouble in Gaza will pretty much be on his/her own. U.S. officials have not been permitted to travel to gaza since an American convoy was ambushed in October, 2003.

Howard Arenstein is a correspondent for CBS News in Washington.

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Only one person got whacked in "The Sopranos" on Sunday night. Some fans were disappointed.

I was at a play at the time of the first airing of this final pack of episodes.

In that play, there was:

1. A rape by two brothers in which the woman's hands were cut off and her tongue cut out so she wouldn't talk about it,

2. The beheadings of two brothers with their heads delivered to their father, along with his own hand that had been cut off in an attempt to save his sons,

3. And in a final act of bloody gore, two other brothers were beheaded, their heads baked into a pie and served to their mother for dinner.

This was at a Washington, D.C. theatre just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Staged by a distinguished Australian director, Gale Edwards, who came to Washington as part of the city's current Shakespeare festival.

The production is a seldom produced early Shakespeare work, "Titus Andronicus," playing through May 20th.

On its web site, the theatre warns: "written at the beginning of Shakespeare's career, the play reinvents the revenge tragedies popular in Shakespeare's day, heaping scenes of bloodshed one on top of the other."

Guaranteed ... more "whacks" than "The Sopranos."