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Beethoven's Ninth: The coda to an epic life in music

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a composer of extraordinary gifts, but a lifetime of maladies – including the almost-total loss of his hearing – threatened his ability to write music. He would overcome thoughts of suicide to compose his masterwork: the Ninth Symphony and its optimistic final movement, "Ode to Joy." Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with biographer Jan Swafford and conductor Marin Alsop about Beethoven's incredible triumph over terrible mental and physical suffering; and with a hearing specialist who has created a simulation of how Beethoven actually heard his music.

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The full episode of The CBS Evening News from January 18, 2014

Nine days after a chemical spill contaminated the water system for 300,000 West Virginia residents, the water company has given them the all-clear, saying the water is safe once again. Many, however, say they can still smell the chemical odor in the water; and, CBS News foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer covered Iraq for more than a decade during the U.S. occupation and reports that many Iraqis feel the despair of broken promises and the onslaught of another war.

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