Transcripts For KPIX CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley 2017

Its a hard thing to do. This is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. Pelley this is our western edition. Have no idea when theyll be allowed to go home. They were evacuated yesterday over concern that recent rain could cause a spillway to fail, at the nations tallest dam. Three counties town three counties down stream could be inundated, and John Blackstone is there. Reporter with water thundering out of oroville dam, officials are in a race to fix the damaged spillway and lower the lake level, which is at near capacity. Enlifornia department of Water Resources director bill croyle. Were moving 100,000 cubic feet per second down that spillway. Weve been doing that for about 16 or 17 hours. Reporter as the water pours out, crews are preparing to move huge boulders to fortify the dams spillways. Mainmain concrete spillway that funnels excess water into a floodplain began breaking apart last week. Chunks of concrete gave way, and the hole kept getting bigger. Engineers decided to use an emergency spillway that had never been needed in the dams 48year history. It worked, for a while, but the emergency spillway couldnt handle the excess flow. A wide gash on sunday raised fears the structure could give way, possibly inundating several communities below with a 30foot wall of water. Nearly 200,000 were told to leave immediately, creating grid lock. Resident ed hershey. Miserable. Bumper to bumper. Everybody was just trying to rush to get out. Reporter now residents are waiting for the all clear, which butte county sheriff kory honea is not ready to give. This is a dynamic situation. Its a situation were still trying to assess. We need time to allow that before we allow people back into those areas it is safe to do so. Reporter Officials Say this huge dam itself is structurally sound, only spillway repairs are needed. But back in 2005, environmental groups warned of possible Severe Damage downstream if the main spillway was not reinforced. Scott, those warnings went unheeded. Pelley the latest tomorrow on cbs this morning. John blackstone for us tonight. John, thank you. The president s adviser on National Security may not have much job security. Late today white house counselor Kellyanne Conway said the president had full confidence in Michael Flynn, but minutes later the white house rushed out a correction saying mr. Trump is evaluating flynn. This is all about conversations that flynn had with russias ambassador to the United States before the president was inaugurated. It can be a crime for a private citizen to negotiate with a foreign government. Ndres our chief white house correspondent, Major Garrett. North korea is a big, big problem, and we will deal with that very strongly. Reporter as President Trump and canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a News Conference, National Security adviser Michael Flynn, his job hanging in the balance, joined other senior white house officials in the front row. Mr. Trump ignored shouted questions about his confidence in flynn as he left the east room. Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway. Yes, general flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president , and this is a big f ek for general flynn. Hes the point of contact for many of these foreign visits. Reporter just over an hour later, though, the white house said the president is evaluating the situation. The f. B. I. And other intelligence agencies are investigating conversations flynn had with the Russian Ambassador to the u. S. Before President Trumps inauguration. Flynn initially denied llscussing u. S. Sanctions on russia during the calls, a potential violation of federal law, but last week flynn said he couldnt be sure if the topic came up. In january Vice President elect pence defended flynn on face the nation. Those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions. Reporter the white house now says President Trump is speaking to Vice President pence relative to the conversation the Vice President had with general flynn. Multiple sources tell cbs flynn called pence to apologize this weekend. White house policy adviser Steven Miller was asked yesterday if deceiving the Vice President was a fireable offense. Its not for me to answer hypotheticals. It wouldnt be responsible. Lys a sensitive matter. Reporter flynns attempt to apologize has not satisfied usnce or white house chief of staff reince priebus, and his status remains tenuous. Adott, today the president , reading from a list provided by White House Press aides, called on two members of the u. S. Press corps. Neither asked about flynn. Pelley Major Garrett at the white house for us tonight. Flynn was with the president dining with the japanese Prime Minister in palm beach, florida, this weekend, when north korea test fired a ballistic missile. Guests at mr. Trumps golf resort thought they witnessed the National Security team deliberating in a public dining e om. The white house says not so. Heres jeff pegues. Reporter shortly after the missile launch, photographs posted on social media show mr. Trumps National Security adviser Michael Flynn and chief strategist steve bannon gathered around the president in a public dining room. Its not known what they were discussing, but the president and the japanese Prime Minister read information by camera lights and made phone calls, all while the first lady and others looked on. Maralago club member Richard Deagazio posted some of the photos on facebook write, holy moley and, wow, center of the action. Adam schiff, the top democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said that if the president was discussing Sensitive Information it posed a security risk. They should have gone to a secure space, been able to talk freely about it, been able to strategize about what the u. S. Response would be. None of that happened here. Reporter president s normally receive National Security briefings in private, often in the white house situation room or, if they are traveling, in a mobile secure communications facility. President obama, for example, ts photographed taking secure phone calls in a tent in brazil ye 2011. And just last year inside a trailer in havana. The white house denies that there was a security risk. Scott, in a statement it says the president was briefed on the north korea situation in a classified setting both before and after dinner. Pelley jeff pegues in the washington newsroom. Jeff, thank you. President trump called this a dangerous world in a News Conference today with the visiting canadian Prime Minister. Mr. Trump was asked whether Syrian Refugees pose a terrorist threat, but his answer centered on the recent arrests of illegal immigrants, who have committed crimes. Were actually taking people that are criminals, very, very hardened criminals in some cases with a tremendous track record of abuse and problems, and were getting them out. And thats what i said i would do. Im just doing what i said i would do when we won by a very, very large Electoral College ugte. Pelley well, you never hear of refugees from the United States, but Canadian Border officials are reporting hundreds of them. Theyre refugees from the middle east who were legally admitted into the United States, but now they worry their legal status could be revoked. Ponada has a more welcoming refugee policy. This syrian family youre seeing now crossed on saturday through the woods into quebec. The Canadian Border agency says there were 369 such refugees from the United States in november, and in december there were 591. President trump said recently that no one knows whether Climate Change is real, but hes keeping an open mind. Well, Mark Phillips has something to consider from the bottom of the world. Hes in antarctica for our climate diaries. Reporter high summer in antarctica. An explosion of life when the deep freezer warms up to become just the refrigerator, and an explosion of Scientific Research when the antarctic reveals the secrets that have been locked in its ice. Theres something going on. Theres something obviously going on. Its very clear. Reporter ken taylor runs one of the continents most ambitious ice research projects. Whats going on is the huge crack thats opened up in one of the floating ice shelves that cling to the coast here. Theres a large berg. Reporter you say large. Its the size of delaware. And the fraction breaking off, it jumps about a mile every week or so. Reporter its not the ice from the ice shelf thats worrying. More Antarctic Ice flowing into the sea would increase the threat to lowlying coastal areas around the world, including in the United States. There are several spots ar around antarctica that are believed to be in this situation where the ice on the ground is going to flow into the sea and theres nothing we can do to stop it at this point. Reporter eric gouth is part of a Scientific Study that is proving Antarctic Ice is on the move. This here is the object of your affection . Absolutely. Reporter hes part of the extreme ice survey that uses timelapse photography to document whats happening. Images snapped every hour and then strung together show how quickly the glaciers are flowing. These pictures arent just useful for science, they have another purpose. Much of the general public ine visual learners, as am i. Rythink being able to see that with your own eyes is a very compelling way of communicating information. Reporter arguments over the causes of Climate Change may be raging again at home. Here suggestions of a hoax come , against some cold, hard facts. Ken taylor, the ice scientist, normally drills miles deep into tie icecap for answers. Sometimes, though, theyre floating all around you. Bubbles trapped in the ice contain the air that was around tens of thousands of years ago when the ice froze. Tid that air contained a fraction of the warming greenhouse gasses the human race is now pumping into the atmosphere. You smell that air, youre relling ancient air. Its really good air. Its like air before humans messed up the atmosphere. Yeah. Smells like ice. Reporter and there is another kind of chill down here, scott, a chill in the scientific community, a fear that the funding it needs will be harder to come by in the future and that theres a less sympathetic ear in government for the kinds of science they do. Pelley Mark Phillips for our climate diaries down under. Thanks. Still ahead on the cbs evening news, drivers of Ford Explorers say exhaust fumes are making them sick. New guidelines for treating back pain. And later, a panda takes her final baos. Final baos. Fun in art class. Come close, come close. I like that. [ all sounds come to a crashing halt ] ah. When your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. Awww. Try this. For minor arthritis pain, only aleve is fda approved to work for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. Thank you. Come on everybody. Aleve. Live whole. Not part. I was in the military for 18 years. Rian, but, i smoked and i got heart disease. My tip is; its hard to serve your country when youre to weak to put on your uniform. announcer you can quit. For free help, call 1800quitnow. Hey, need fast try cool mint zantac. It releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. Zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. Nexium can take 24 hours. Try cool mint zantac. No pill relieves heartburn faster. Pelley federal safety pelley federal safety investigators looking into reports that exhaust fumes are leaking into latemodel Ford Explorers. Heres our transportation correspondent kris van cleave. Reporter dash camera video shows the moment Newport Beach Police Officer Brian Mcdowell passed out behind the wheel of his 2014 Ford Explorer Police Cruiser and crashed into a tree. You narrowly missed an s. U. V. Yeah. Reporter this is a matter of inches. I just think plus or minus one second i maybe wouldnt be here on this earth for my kids. Is reporter mcdowell is recovering from multiple injuries but has no memory of the accident. I just went out. Just like that. Just like that. Reporter records show he had no drugs or alcohol in his system. Doctors couldnt figure out why he passed out. Fe i had that nauseous feeling and i felt like i had a headache. Reporter mcdowell then learned hundreds of drivers had been complaining about Carbon Monoxide leaking int bin of the explorers typically when the air conditioning was on. This july the nhtsa launched an investigation, citing 154 customer complaints about exhaust from 2011 to 2015 Ford Explorers, but cbs news discovered thats grown to more than 450 complaints, some involving newer models. Nhtsa says there havent been any serious injuries. Wi i was hospitalized several times with uncontrollable headaches, nausea, vomiting. Reporter but stacy jones, who has an autoimmune disorder, believes her s. U. V. Made her sick. After i started driving the 2014 explorer, my health started to decline rapidly. N reporter ford has known about the problem since 2012 when it issued first of three repair bulletins to dealers. In a 2015 deposition, a Company Representative acknowledged it appears to be a design issue that remains unresolved. Repairs did not fix the problem for jones, so she traded her 2014 explorer for a 2017. The dealers were like, the 17s are fine, no worries. Reporter but she still smelled exhaust, even after weeks of repairs. At this point i dont know what im going to do. Reporter officer mcdowell is now suing ford. The automaker tells cbs news in rare circumstances there have been instances where customers detected an exhaust odor in explorers. The statement maintains it poses no safety risk. Pelley kris van cleave investigating for us tonight. Thank you, kris. Still ahead, new advice for back pain. Still ahead, new advice for back still ahead, new advice for back pain. Was from. So i took the ancestry dna test to find out more about my african roots. The ancestry dna results were really specific. They told me all of these places in west africa. I feel really proud of my lineage, and i feel really proud of my ancestry. Ancestry has many paths to discovering your story, get started for free at ancestry. Com knowing where you stand. Its never been easier. Except when it comes to your retirement plan. But at fidelity, were making Retirement Planning clearer. And it all starts with getting your Fidelity Retirement score. In 60 seconds, youll know where you stand. And together, well help you make decisions for your plan. To keep you on track. Time to think of your future its your retirement. Know where you stand. Pelley an adopted son of the notorious child molester Jerry Sandusky was arrested in pennsylvania today. 41yearold Jeffrey Sandusky faces 14 counts of child sexual abuse. He has been suspended from his job as a prison guard. Sanduskys lawyer declined to comment. His father, the former assistant football coach at penn state, is serving at least 30 years for abusing ten boys. If you have an achy back, you have got company. Ad many as 80 of adults will have back pain. And tonight our doctor john lapook runs us through new guidelines from the American College of physicians. W reporter 76yearold Berta Axelrad has lived with chronic low back pain for most of her life. The pain is just so. Well, its terrible. Reporter she swears by exercise, yoga and walking. It minimizes the pain. Its not always easy, but its much better than doing nothing. Reporter todays guidelines say the first line of therapy should be nondrug treatment for pain lasting less than three months, those include heat wrap, pussage, acupuncture and spinal manipulation. The authors stress that clinicians should avoid costly and potential harmful treatments like narcotics. For pain lasting more than three months, treatments include stretching and strengthening exercises, tai chi, yoga, acupuncture and mindfulness techniques like meditation to re