>> jeff: tonight an american soldier's rampage through an afghan village. more than a dozen are dead including children. mandy clark and david martin have details. while whit johnson reports on what this could mean on a strained mission in afghanistan. >> is it time for us to leave afghanistan, mr. speaker. >> i think it is. >> jeff: pensions, republican employees are slashed in one new england town, tony guida tells us rhode island may have been first but it won't be last. >> and remembering-- remembrance in japan one area later. bill whitaker is there as the country reflects on the earthquake and tsunami. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> jeff: good evening, i'm jeff glor t was awful news from afghanistan coming at

such a critical time. and tonight the fallout is just beginning. a stunning and so far inexplicable mass killing by an american soldier inside a small afghan village. that soldier acting alone, u.s. officials say, opened fire early today just outside his base in kandahar province. mandy clark begins our coverage in kabul. >> reporter: the shooting rampage took place here in the village of balandi after an american soldier, an army staff sarge ent walked off his remote base just 500 yards away and went house-to-house killing villagers. 11 people were murdered in the first home, and at least nine children and three women died in the slaughter. the soldiers then walked back to his base where he was detained by u.s. forces. analyst what seib hama yooun says this attack could garnish all the work of the u.s. forces here. >> in the public view, in the country, there's a lot

more that frankly this may be intentional. and that's where the risk is. >> reporter: afghan president hamid karzai called it an assassination and demanded an explanation from american force saying the killing of innocent civilians cannot be forgiven. the villagers themselves want karzai to hand over the soldier to them. this attack could not have come at a worse time. last month afghans held mass protests against american troops after u.s. soldiers mistakenly burned copies of the koran. six americans were killed in retaliation. the brutal killing spree will likely further anti-american sentiment because civilian deaths are already a hot-button issue here. protests are expected across the country beginning tomorrow morning. jeff. >> jeff: mandy clark in kabul, thank you. >> we are being told tonight that president obama did call afghan president karzai to express condolences today. from the pentagon now

national security correspondent david martin has more. >> reporter: the sight of dead afghan civilians is a numbingly familiar with. but these were killed by an american soldier and not by accident. whatever his motive t ran counterto america's number one mission in afghanistan, protect the civilian population. he will now be investigated and probably prosecuted. according to a spokesman for general john allen, the commander in afghanistan. >> investigators were on the scene very, very shortly after, once we figured out what had happened. and they still are. they're interviewing 9 suspect. >> reporter: but that is not likely to undo the damage to an american image already tarnished by last month's accidental burning of the koran. a gross cultural insult which touched off anti-american protests and revenge killings of u.s. soldiers. those riots have tapered off but the continuing threat of revenge killings has september u.s. advisors from

returning to their jobs in the afghan government. the partnership between americans and afghans on which success depends seems in doubt. >> as does the partnership with pakistan, which has refused to let american supply convoys cross its territory ever since last november's border incident in which u.s. warplanes accidentally killed 24 pakistani soldiers. but the military says none of these incidents including this latest shooting will derail u.s. strategy in afghanistan. >> what's not going to happen is that the mission going to suffer as a result of this. it is tragic. it's a very tragic incident but it would be a far greater tragedy for us to let this affect what we're doing in the country. >> reporter: we're learn morning details about the shooter this evening. he was a staff sergeant in an army combat brigade from fort lewis in the state of washington. he was on his first deployment to afghanistan but had done previous tours in iraq.

>> jeff: david martin at the pentagon, david, thank you. >> for more perspective we're joined by cbs news corr cor jere van dyke. he has been in and out of afghanistan and pakistan for the last 30 years. jere, good evening to you. i wonder how is this news rippling through the afghan villages tonight? >> there are over 30,000 villages throughout afghanistan. the vast majority are very isolated. very few have electricity or running water. every single one has a battery-powered radio. every morning and every night people sit around those radios and they listen to the news. tonight not one single afghan, and across the border in pakistan does not know that a u.s. soldier killed innocent, unarmed afghan civilians in kandahar. >> jeff: i realize there is still a lot we don't know about this, we should point that out. but from what you know about afghanistan, what are the afghans looking for what will they be lacking for, what will hamid karzai be looking for. >> every single one of the afghans and the president is looking for justice.

and christianity, the essence of it is love. in islam the essence of justice. every single male member of those families and they are very extended families and all those related to them or tied to them right now are thinking of one thing, and that is revenge. >> jeff: most significant u.s. effect in afghanistan since the war began almost 10 years ago. >> i certainly think so. >> jeff: thank you. today's news from afghanistan is already provoking strong reaction here at home as well. both an official washington and from at least one presidential kwan tender, whit johnson is covering that part of the story. >> reporter: with the shooting spree threatening to undermine america's afghan war strategy, today president obama called the incident tragic and shocking, saying in a statement that it does not represent the exceptional character of our military. a point reiterated by obama campaign advisor robert gibbs. >> i think obviously this is a deeply regrettable incident. >> reporter: democrats calling for an early

withdrawal from afghanistan today found an unlikely ally in republican presidential hopeful newt gingrich. >> is it time for us to leave afghanistan, mr. speaker? >> i think it is. i think that we are have to reassess the entire region. >> reporter: gingrich who has blasted the president for his apology on the koran burns on "face the nation" said today's killings are different. >> we obviously want to offer condolences to the families. i think we want to offer compensation. we want to recognize this is a terrible event. >> a recent poll shows 56% of americans think u.s. troops should be removed from afghanistan as soon as possible. but that handover isn't slated until the end of 2014, following a video conference between president obama and afghan president hamid karzai, friday the two countries agreed to transfer the prison at bagram airbase to afghan control. a step senator john mccain called significant, as he repeated his warning against a hasty withdrawal. >> it could easily return to a al qaeda base for attacks

on the united states of america. >> reporter: the developments will weigh heavily on the upcoming nato summit in may. leaders are expected to meet in chicago to hammer out more of the complex details in the overall exit strategy for afghanistan. jeff? >> jeff: whit johnson in washington, whit, thank you. >> later hear, japan pauses for the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami. an american -- cuts employee pensions in half and the republican moves south as the evening news continues

presidential race swings to the deep south this week. in contest yet mitt romney won most of the delegates in wyoming whale rick santorum led the field in kansas. up next taos's primaries in alabama and mississippi. and tonight nancy cordis is on the trail in meridian, mississippi. nancy, good evening.

>> reporter: jeff, good evening. each of the three top candidates is trying to lay claim to the conservative south. and evidently, they believe that the way to the voters hearts is through their stomaches. >> i like grits. >> reporter: it started on thursday in mississippi when mitt romney professed a new found love for southern cuisine. >> i started right with a biscuit and cheesy grit, i'll tell you, delicious. >> reporter: that lead newt gingrich who called georgia home for 30 areas to stir the pot in alabama. >> unlike one of may competitors, i have had grits before. if you don't understand grits there's a pretty high likely you don't understand the rest of the south either. >> reporter: rick santorum stayed out of the food fight but he came to mississippi today hungry for votes. >> why should a southern voter go for you as opposed to say a native son like newt gingrich. >> i understand there's some regional appeal for congressman gingrich. but he's won ta states out

of what, 25 races so far. and he's finished third or fourth in almost every other race. and so it's just not going anywhere for him. >> reporter: for romney, a strong showing in mississippi and alabama tuesday would further cement his position as prot hintive front-runner. for santorum victories here what bolster his case that romney struggles outside his strongholds like the northeast and upper midwest. and for gingrich, a pair of wins would enable him to argue he's a better conservative alternative to romney. >> the romney model, which is to overwhelmingly outspend your opponent, is hopeless against obama. i mean there is no possibility that romney can outspend obama. >> reporter: there are several more southern primaries in the weeks to come so we will probably hear a lot more about grits and maybe even catfish and hush puppies too. >> jeff: we hope you get to enjoy some as well, nancy, thank you very much. >> ahead, pensions for police and firemen are slashed in this bankrupt

rhode island town. that story when the "cbs evening news" continues.

>> jeff: the economy may be working its way back but governments at all levels are struggling to close billions of dollars still in budget shortfalls. that is often caused clashes with public workers over the cost of their pensions. tony guida tonight takes us to one cash-strapped town that just made a painful and very controversial choice. >> reporter: central falls, rhode island, the state's smallest and poorest city. for years city officials promise odd robust union contracts and pensions without raising revenue to

pay for them. last august the math caught up with them. central falls was broke. its pension fund short $46 million. it declared bankruptcy. >> grew up here, went to scale here, it's all gone. >> reporter: retired fair captain mike geoffroy couldn't make the payments on his house after his pension was cut by $1100 a month. >> this is when i was two areas old, may 1st fire truck. >> reporter: the small apartment he now calls home is a schryne to better days and-- fond memories. >> we were all been and raised there. we worked for the city. it was just very disheartening the way they are treating us. >> reporter: former judge robert flanders now runs central falls as its receiver. he took the city into chapter nine bankruptcy. >> in chapter nine you can do things that are impossible to do outside of it restructure your pension obligations, blow up contract its, on day one. so the savings begin immediately. >> reporter: flanders slashed the pensions of 114

retired firefighters and police officers, some by more than half. central falls is a tiny community, but the message going out from here is huge. public pensions are not sacrosanct. the message being heard in cash-strapped towns across the country. >> for central falls to put pensions on the table and to go after them as part of a restructuring effort, there's going to be a very important precedent as other cities and towns think about how do we restructure things. >> you figure it as an opportunity, but some of the police and fire retirees that i've talked to are really unhappy. >> look, we all know and felt terrible about this. but it was a choice between going broke and not being able to pay anything to these pensioners, we were literally running out of cash, or giving them something. and when i said to them that a haircut still looks a lot better than a beheading. >> it wasn't a haircut, it was a scalping. >> reporter: central falls hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in august.

the retired police and firemen hope to join the state pension fund. but fire captain mike geoffroy says even if that happens, he'll never get his house back. tony guida, cbs news, central falls, rhode island. >> jeff: still ahead, a business trip turns into a four year nightmare for an american engineer in china. when the "cbs evening news" continues it.

>> jeff: an american engineer goes on trial in china this week. dr. zhicheng hu who was born in china was accused of stealing trade secrets in

2008. in his first television interview he speaks with celia hatton. >> a deepest welcome. >> reporter: when president obama met chinese vice president xi jinping last month, he asked him to help settle the murky legal case of one american who is trapped in china. auto engineer dr. zhicheng hu is a naturallized american city living in los angeles. hu was on business in china to sell his patented car emissions technology. hu was accused by his former chinese business partner of stealing commercial secrets. authorities ordered hu straight to prison. tianjin, eastern china. >> this place is hell. that's my impression. >> reporter: after 17 months, a judge authorized hu's prison release but every time hu tried to fly home, police stopped him. there was no explanation, he still face nod new charges.

>> i have my family back in america. so everything on my mind, the top priority, is to go home. >> reporter: so hu applied to lift his travel ban but soon a new trade secrets case was filed against him. one with vague charges that continue to change. hu believes the court favors his accuser, dou shuhua, a powerful businessman, as the case drags on his 19 areaed daughter victoria at college in berkeley is tired of waiting for the obama administration to help. >> i think a lot of people assume that if you are american, you have some sort of international diplomatic immunity. my dad might have been overconfident. >> reporter: victoria has launched an on-line petition attracting more than 57,000 signatures calling for her father's return. each new supporter's plea goes directly to communist

officials overseeing the courts. the outcome of victoria's petition and the president's request will be seen when hu's trial begins on tuesday. his first formal hearing in four very long years. celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> jeff: the coast guard today suspend its search for four fishermen missing from a trawler off the coast of washington state. that ship sent a distress signal early saturday and a debris field including an empty life boat was found about 17 miles off the coast. the four men are presumed dead. >> still ahead here, solemn ceremonies in japan on a grim anniversary. that story is next

was exactly one year ago today that a magnitude 9 earthquake and massive tsunami struck japan. nearly 20,000 people died or went missing.

the tsunami ravaged japan's coast and as you know triggered a nuclear meltdown at fukushima. bill whitaker watched as japan remembered. >> reporter: on a day of great suffering, no place suffered more than the small coastal city of ishinomaki, 3,182 people died in the tsunami here so it was only fitting this place would ring in this day of remembrance. starting at dawn, people rang this bell found in the debris, one strike for each of the dead. all across japan today in cities and towns and all alone with flowers and bells and tears, people took time to remember those who perished in the earthquake and tsunami a year ago. precisely at 2:46, the time

the magnitude 9 earthquake struck this country went silent. the em per remember and em press dowed deeply. in fast-paced tokyo, computers stopped on train platform, on board trains passengers prayed. the tragedy a year ago wasn't just about death but about destruction too, of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. in downtown tokyo, thousands of people marked this day by protesting the nuclear industry. this evening in sendai, the largest city hit by the tsunami young pem sang while citizens of all ages lit candles and prayed. >> this is a day for japan to look back while looking forward. to remember the horror as well as the outpouring of help. these candles spell arigato, thank you to the world. >> reporter: you can still see the pain in the faces in

the crowd today. but you can see silent determination too. bill whitaker, cbs news, sendai, japan. >> that is the "cbs evening news." later on cbs 60 minutes. i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be here tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

the white house reacts to the deaths. . weeks after soldiers burned qurans, another is accused of targeting civilians. the white house reacts to the deaths. pride is high in the east bay. the gales are going dancing. march madness is officially here! and one year ago today, thousands lost their lives when a deadly earthquake and tsunami in japan. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. ,,