Skip to main content

tv   CBS Overnight News  CBS  May 13, 2016 3:07am-4:01am EDT

3:07 am
the preceding was a paid presentation for cize, brought presentation for cize, brought to you by beachbody.
3:08 am
and major league baseball players to help train and inspire the next generation of volunteers. carlos peña: it's easy to start an action team at your school so you, too, can get in on the action. get in on the action at actionteam.org.
3:09 am
if you were a hippie in the '60s, you need to know. it's the dawning of the age of aquarius. yeah, and something else that's cool. what? osteoporosis is preventable. all: osteo's preventable? right on!
3:10 am
if you dig your bones, protect them. all: cbs cares! in campaign 2016 the top two republican leaders in america, donald trump and paul ryan, had their long-awaited peace summit today. a search for common ground in a deeply divided party. here's major garrett. >> reporter: donald trump's whirlwind unity tour through washington's republican establishment drew hordes of reporters, a raft of onlookers,
3:11 am
and a share of boisterous protesters. >> stop the hate! stop the hate! >> reporter: uncharacteristically, trump skipped the publicity bonanza and let twitter do the talking. "things working out really well," he wrote. >> i thought he was a very good personality. he's a very warm and genuine person. >> reporter: house speaker paul ryan called the 45-minute meeting with the presumptive nominee encouraging but admitted he and trump still have their differences on policy. those include trump's call to temporarily ban muslim immigration, deport all undocumented immigrants, oppose pending free trade deals, and leave medicare and social security intact. >> aren't you papering over these rather sizable differences in not only how conservatism is defined broadly but how you have tried to define it? >> so i represent a wing of the conservative party, you could say. he brings -- he's bringing a whole new wing to it. he's bringing new voters that we've never had for decades. that's a positive thing. >> reporter: ryan would not say if or when he would endorse trump. >> this is a process. we just began the process.
3:12 am
i'm very encouraged at the first meeting of this process. >> reporter: rnc chairman reince priebus brokered the meeting. >> why is unity a process? why doesn't it just exist naturally? >> it's a big party. there's a lot of difference of opinion. the other thing i'd say is i don't think we all expected this thing to be over last week. people had to start talking and making decisions. >> and come to the realization that trump is it whether they're comfortable or not. >> suddenly being faced with okay, let's go, let's rally. you know, it going to take some people a little longer than others. but i think we're going to get there. >> trump also met with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and his leadership team. most of these conversations were political, specifically what trump's campaign would mean to republicans seeking re-election, and we are told he impressed many lawmakers because he spent most of the time listening. >> major garrett for us tonight. major, thank you. well, the next president, whoever it is, will inherit the unending war in iraq. today isis suicide bombers killed at least 17 iraqi soldiers outside the city of ramadi.
3:13 am
u.s. troops have been training the iraqi army for 13 years. it has cost american taxpayers nearly $30 billion, and there is no end in sight. charlie d'agata saw some of that firsthand. >> reporter: on the outskirts of baghdad iraqi army recruits took aim at an imaginary enemy. but for u.s. trainer sergeant first class josh mcspadden it's all too real. >> i fought in iraq the first time. >> reporter: he's been here before. during the worst of the fighting in 2004. and he remembers in vivid detail the day he thought he was going to die. >> it was the only day in my life that i ever thought that i wasn't going to make it home alive. you know, but it was so intense. >> reporter: but what's it like to have fought so fiercely and now you're back again?
3:14 am
>> it's frustrating. you know, you want to see your brothers in arms, you know, the iraqi people, you want to see them have the same motivation. you want to see them fight the same way that you do. just to come back here and face the same problems, you know, and it's just like when's enough going to be enough? >> reporter: he doesn't have a lot to work with. a rusty russian tank and a handful of armored personnel carriers. there's not enough ammunition to practice with the big guns. well, they're not much, but they'll be vital in any ground offensive iraqi forces launch against isis. and it's no exaggeration to say that some of the recruits are far younger than the tanks they'll be firing. yesterday's strike on the iraqi capital was the worst bloodshed the city has seen this year. mcspadden says that only strengthens the resolve of his new recruits. >> they're very motivated. you know, especially with the attacks that happened in baghdad. it angers them. they want to take their cities back over.
3:15 am
>> reporter: that training may have looked rather basic, scott, but those tanks and armored personnel carriers play a vital role in any ground offensive. and that equipment wasn't just for training. it's the same kind used by iraqi forces against isis on the battlefield. >> charlie d'agata in baghdad tonight. charlie, thanks. two state troopers from new hampshire and massachusetts were placed on leave today after apparently beating a man at the end of a high-speed chase. the suspect appears to surrender, getting out of the vehicle on his knees, and then the police officers pummel him. the man wanted on assault charges had a swollen eye in court today. the 9-millimeter pistol that george zimmerman used to kill trayvon martin is up for sale. the former neighborhood watchman claimed that he shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense. he was found not guilty of murder. mark strassmann tells us what zimmerman wants to do with the money.
3:16 am
>> reporter: on gunbroker.com, an auction website, zimmerman opened the bidding at $5,000. he described the weapon as "an american firearm icon" and "a piece of american history." he talked about the sale by phone with television station wofl. >> what i've decided to do is not cower. i'm a free american and i can do what i'd like with my possessions. >> reporter: but as the bidding opened, gun broker, a user-generated site, removed the posting saying "we want no part in the listing on our website." hours later, zimmerman relaunched the auction on another site, united gun group. trayvon martin's parents still view zimmerman's gun as the murder weapon. lawyer ben crump represents them. >> how could you possibly try to make money off of the killing of their child? >> put your hands up. get away from the car!
3:17 am
>> reporter: controversy has dogged zimmerman since his acquittal in july of 2013. he has had eight run-ins with police. among them, in september of 2013 police questioned him for pointing a gun at his wife and father-in-law. two months later he was arrested for aggravated assault against his then girlfriend. the charges were dropped. in a 2015 road rage incident zimmerman's truck was hit by gunfire and the other man was charged with attempted second degree murder. last year zimmerman was arrested for throwing a wine bottle at his girlfriend. and now the gun auction, which critics on social media blasted as obscene and disgusting. >> they're not going to be bidding on it. so i couldn't care less about them. >> reporter: zimmerman has said he'll spend the money he makes from the gun auction on various causes that matter to him. scott, he specifically named preventing violence against police and the black lives matter movement. >> mark strassmann, thanks very
3:18 am
much. store sales are slumping. is it time to reinvent the mall? and the pentagon recruits a few good nerds. the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. plumping surface cells for a dramatic transformation. without the need for fillers. your concert tee might show your age...your skin never will. olay regenerist.
3:19 am
olay. ageless. and try regenerist micro-sculpting eyeswirl. it instantly hydrates to plump and lift. the worst thing about toilet they don't stay in the toilet. disinfect your bathroom with lysol bathroom trigger... ...lysol power foamer... ...and lysol toilet bowl cleaner. they're approved to kill 50% more types of germs than leading competitors. to clean and disinfect in and out of the toilet... lysol that. sir, this alien life form at an alarming rate. growing fast, you say? we can't contain it any long... oh! you know, that reminds me of how geico's been the fastest-growing auto insurer for over 10 years straight. over ten years? mhm,
3:20 am
geico's the company your friends and neighbors trust. and deservedly so. indeed. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. moisture so i can get into it ao enhance mbit quicker. ral and when i know she's into it, i get into it and... feel the difference with k-y ultragel. protect your clothes fromout in tstretching, fading, and fuzz.. ...with downy fabric conditioner... it helps protect clothes from the damage of the wash. so your favorite clothes stay your favorite clothes. downy fabric conditioner. wash in the wow.
3:21 am
this week's earnings reports from retailers confirm what empty parking spaces have been suggesting. sales are in a slump. kohl's said profits dropped 87% last quarter. macy's says its first quarter
3:22 am
income was down 40%. carter evans with more on this. >> reporter: this is what's left of the sears in san mateo, california, one of nearly 300 stores its parent company has closed over the last two years. sears' chairman says it's a victim of disruptive changes from online competition, and it's not the only one. sports authority plans to close 140 stores this year. macy's will shutter 36 locations. and jcpenney closed 47 over the last year. ira kalb is a marketing professor at the university of southern california. he says many big box retailers no longer give shoppers a reason to leave their commuters. >> retailers have lost their added value. >> reporter: since more online sales means fewer purchases at local malls, many retail developers are now trying to upgrade to more luxurious shopping centers that can sell twice as much per square foot and offer much more than shopping. >> in order to compete with
3:23 am
online convenience and the one-stop shopping, you've got to create a store experience. and the ones that have are the ones that are doing well. >> reporter: like the grove in los angeles, which is experiencing double-digit growth. it's a shopping center that looks more like a village main street, complete with a green space, restaurants, and valet parking, because the goal is no longer just shopping. >> we are also in the entertainment business. >> reporter: marketing director judy johnson says shoppers spend twice as much time and more money at the grove than other malls. >> whether they shop with us isn't really relevant because at some point everyone has shopping or dining needs and they will come back because we have built a great relationship. >> reporter: when they finish tearing down this sears store in san mateo, they plan to replace it with a landscaped plaza and luxury bowling alley. now, some retail analysts say all these store closings we're seeing are actually a good thing and may be long overdue because, scott, many retailers simply have too many brick and mortar locations and they need to lean down to compete for those online shoppers. >> sign of the times. carter evans, thanks very much.
3:24 am
the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.
3:25 am
3:26 am
3:27 am
the best defense is a good offense. so the pentagon challenged hackers to assault its cyber security system. the experiment ended today. here's david martin with the revenge of the nerds. >> reporter: walking the halls of the pentagon in his hoodie, chris lynch has been mistaken for a repairman, as in "how long will it take you to fix my phone?" >> this is the weirdest moment of my life. i never thought i'd show up in government. i never thought that i'd be working at the pentagon. >> reporter: a software entrepreneur from seattle, lynch was brought in by defense secretary carter to head a new office called the defense digital service. >> the title on the door says "rebel alliance." >> i like to say that the rebel alliance is anybody who wants to be part of working around and changing the bureaucracy. and i believe that is our mission. if we don't, i don't know who else will.
3:28 am
>> reporter: just as in "star wars," this rebel alliance, actually a staff of 12, is out to do battle with a mighty empire -- the old and slow pentagon bureaucracy. >> we're kind of a s.w.a.t. team for nerds. >> bureaucracy busters. >> yeah, we have actually a type of person, one of our skill sets that we hire is actually a bureaucracy hacker. >> reporter: lynch's first project was called "hack the pentagon." pay a bounty to anyone who can find a way to hack into five of the defense department's public websites. so "hack the pentagon" doesn't even sound legal. >> there were a lot of people who didn't like that name. >> reporter: most hackers i think are seen as malicious. >> not every hacker is bad. that's the big change here, is that we're now allowing people who actually want to that are not malicious to do it. >> reporter: in six weeks 1,400 hackers uncovered 90 vulnerabilities in the software, flaws which could be exploited to tamper with the sites. >> we had our first vulnerability that came in 13 minutes from the launch of the program.
3:29 am
>> we'll just kind of map things out. >> reporter: lynch has covered an entire wall with plans for overhauling pentagon software that go far beyond public websites. which is why army lieutenant colonel joe roman came looking for a software solution to the paperwork of recruiting. >> this will be fun since we don't speak your language, you don't speak ours. this will be -- i'll try to speak slowly and loudly so that you understand. >> reporter: lynch finds out the army is creating digital files the old-fashioned way. >> so they're printing all this stuff and they're scanning it? is that what they're doing? >> it's a lot of printing and scanning -- >> reporter: another potential project for lynch's great white wall. which ends with this admonition -- governments hate two things, change and the way things are. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. that's the "overnight news" for this friday. for some of you the news continues. for others check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city i'm scott pelley.
3:30 am
♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." welcome to the "overnight news." i'm don dahler. donald trump made the rounds in washington, meeting with republican leaders who've been reluctant to support his presidential bid. chief among them, house speaker paul ryan. ryan shocked the political establishment last week when he said he was not ready to endorse trump. ryan didn't change his tune after their 45-minute meeting, but he did call it very encouraging. >> i was very encouraged with what i heard from donald trump today. i do believe that we are now planting the seeds to get ourselves unified, to bridge the gaps and differences, and so from here we're going to go deeper into the policy areas to see where that common ground is and how we can make sure that we are operating off the same core
3:31 am
principles. and so yes, this is our first meeting. i was very encouraged with this meeting but this is a process. it takes a little time. >> donald trump also met with the republican national committee, whose help he'll need to raise the estimated $1 presidential campaign. julianna goldman reports. >> reporter: for donald trump to raise $1 billion it means he has to bring in about $45 million a week. it's a pretty tall order for someone who's won millions of votes from deriding big money in politics and now he's basically starting from scratch. >> i'm self-funding my campaign. i'm not taking all of this blood money. >> i'm not having lobbyists, and i'm not having citibank and i'm not having -- i fund it myself. >> reporter: it was a defining sales pitch for donald trump. >> and you know what i'm getting for this movement? i get nothing. i'm self-funding my campaign. okay? >> reporter: a line he repeated in ads -- >> i'm self-funding my campaign. >> reporter: in interviews.
3:32 am
>> i'm putting up my own money. >> reporter: and on the campaign trail. >> and i'm self-funding. i self-fund. so i'm self-funding. >> reporter: and it worked. 58% of voters in a recent cbs news poll said trump was not influenced by special interests. but with the nomination in reach he's reversing course. >> i'm raising money but i'm raising money really for the party. >> reporter: not only will he be asking for money, but trump already has super pacs. >> i think you're starting at a billion dollars right now. >> reporter: frank donatelli is a long-time republican fund-raiser. he says trump is behind. >> you're going to need people with good contacts lists that can write checks themselves but also bring their friends and relatives to the table also. it takes a full court press on behalf of the candidate and the campaign. >> reporter: the billionaire businessman is scrambling to get that team. he hired top fund-raisers who worked for marco rubio and mitt romney. he also has the backing of a reported half dozen gop benefactors like billionaire t. boone pickens and sheldon adelson. but others like the koch
3:33 am
brothers are still standing on the sidelines. >> it's just bowing to reality that that's what you have to do to be competitive in november. >> reporter: competitive against hillary clinton, who has already raised almost $168 million from individual contributions compared to just over $12 million for trump. but even if he's trying to open the fund-raising floodgates, he still said this just last week. >> i'm self-funding my campaign. take a look at hillary, the money. take a look at where she's etting that money. >> reporter: later this month trump will be kicking off a string of 50 fund-raisers beginning with an event in california. in order to get to that billion-dollar mark he's probably going to need to start making calls to those special interests he said he'd never bow down to. three years after a texas fertilizer plant went up in a huge fireball killing 15 people and injuring hundreds, investigators say it was no accident. manuel bojorquez reports. >> reporter: when the massive explosion ripped through this texas fertilizer plant in 2013 --
3:34 am
>> you okay? >> i can't hear. i can't hear. >> reporter: -- it leveled part of the small town of west. >> there has been an explosion on the fire scene. there are firefighters down at this time. >> reporter: the blast destroyed hundreds of buildings, including schools, a nursing home, and an apartment complex. 15 people were killed. 12 of them first responders who had rushed to the scene. >> we have never stopped investigating this fire. >> reporter: wednesday, after more than three years and a more than $2 million investigation, federal authorities revealed the fire that sparked the explosion was deliberately set in a seed room at the facility. >> the fire has been ruled as incendiary. this means this fire was a criminal act. >> reporter: federal authorities are offering a $50,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest. they say they believe their investigation is headed in the right direction but they need
3:35 am
the public's help to "get them across the finish line." about 5 million syrians have been driven from their homes by the civil war, including about a million children. many have ended up in turkey, where a cbs news investigation found refugee children working long hours in sweat shops. holly williams has that. >> reporter: in a textile factor in istanbul workers toil over sewing machines. but look closely. because these workers are children. filming with a hidden camera, we found scores of factories using child labor in turkey. most, perhaps all of the children from syria. some told us they were as young as 11. refugees from a war now easily exploited. a turkish worker on the minimum wage earns around $450 a month. a syrian child working 12 hours a day earns as little as $160.
3:36 am
at a school for syrian children in istanbul these boys, age 10 to 12, are just beginning to learn to read and write because until recently most of them were full-time workers. >> how many of you guys have worked? wow. >> reporter: the school founder, shafiq suleiman, told us he offers free tuition to encourage parents to send their children back to class. but sometimes that's not enough. parents aren't earning enough money to feed their families. >> no. so they have to -- they're being forced to send their kids to work. >> out of desperation. >> yes. yes. they've got no choice. they have to send their children. >> reporter: layla aqcha is a psychologist who treats syrian child refugees and their families and told us many factories prefer to hire children over their parents. >> you can overwork the children and they're not going to be oppositional.
3:37 am
they're not going to ask for their rights. they don't know their rights. so they're just going to work like slaves and it's easier to keep them as slaves than doing it to an adult. >> reporter: turkey has taken in around 3 million syrian refugees, spending billions of dollars to shelter and feed them. but while they're safe here, there's very little stable work and not much hope of building a future. that's why so many syrians have risked their lives in rickety boats to reach europe. but now the european union has promised turkey nearly $7 billion in return for its help stopping the refugees. and the crackdown has worked. for syrians the door to europe has slammed shut. but the factories that prey on them appear to be operating with impunity. and hundreds of thousands of syrian children in turkey are growing up illiterate and
3:38 am
powerless to change their fate.
3:39 am
3:40 am
imagine traveling from one city to another at nearly the speed of sound. one company says it's getting closer to making that a reality. it's called hyperloop technology, and it could be coming to a city near you. carter evans explains. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: blink and you might miss it. [ cheers and applause ] but speed is sort of the point. on a test track in the nevada desert a 1,500-pound sled went from 0 to 60 in about a second. powered by an electromagnetic propulsion system, it reached 116 miles per hour before plowing into a sand barrier to slow it down. >> we demonstrated today a
3:41 am
full-scale component of the hyperloop. >> we always said we were going to move this fast. it's just really amazing to see the team come together behind it and execute. >> reporter: hyperloop one hopes to build a carbon-free network of tubes with pods that would travel at near supersonic speeds on a cushion of air using electric motors. theoretically, someone could travel the roughly 400 miles from los angeles to san francisco in about 30 minutes. >> so this simulates the pod going through the tube? >> correct. >> reporter: we got an inside look at hyperloop's engineering last fall at the company's headquarters in los angeles. >> we literally build a full-scale tube between any two destinations. then inside of that tube we have a pod that we can send either people or cargo very quickly. >> reporter: some critics say wednesday's test shows there's still a long way to go. >> keep in mind that this was a very short distance and its maximum speed was 1/10 the speed of what a hyperloop system would be. >> reporter: the concept hyperloop one is working on
3:42 am
gained traction in 2013 after tesla and spacex ceo elon musk released a design plan. but there's competition. >> the fact that there are several companies working on this means there are a lot of people who take this idea very seriously and are determined to try and make it happen. however, infrastructure is very hard. it just takes time to take an idea and turn it into reality. >> reporter: hyperloop one ceo rob lloyd told us that reality is not so far off. >> how long before we see the first functional hyperloop system? >> five years from now we'll be moving goods and people. >> reporter: carter evans, los angeles. a silicon valley startup has an invention that could revolutionize how many companies do business. it's a 3-d printer, and it's already being used to make parts for cars and sneakers and even movie props. john blackstone reports.
3:43 am
>> reporter: joe de simone's machine the m-1 is a 3-d printer inspired by science fiction. when de simone, a chemist, saw the robot t-1000 rise from a molten pool in the movie "terminator 2," he imagined a machine that would do something similar. >> it has a symmetry such you that can't injection mold it. >> reporter: in a ted talk last year he demonstrated an early prototype, growing a complex sphere from a liquid pool in minutes. >> there it is. that's great. >> reporter: now his company, carbon, is unveiling its first commercial printer, a machine capable of making everything from cushioning for running shoes -- >> this is going to be a new mid-sole design for sneakers. >> reporter: -- to complex car parts. >> this actually has multiple pieces that was printed all as one part. >> this moves but this was all printed together. >> that's right. >> reporter: through the years factory floors have had multiple machines, each designed for one
3:44 am
specific job. from bolting to soldering to shaping parts. with his new invention desimone imagines nothing less than a manufacturing revolution. >> think about a place that has 100 of these machines, and what's really cool is as you change what products you want to make you don't have to change the factory floor. >> reporter: until now 3-d printers have operated by slowly building layer upon layer of material, a time-consuming process used mostly to create prototypes. what other 3-d printers do in hours the m-1 does in minutes. and not just prototypes but finished products ready to be used. >> this is very hard. this is very flexible. they come out of the same machine. >> same machine. it's all about chemistry. >> reporter: the speed and flexibility opens a wide range of possibilities. >> complex medical devices, whether it's inside of your heart or your kneecap or your feet or your teeth or your ears. >> reporter: legacy effects studio is one of the lucky few,
3:45 am
along with bmw and ford, given the opportunity to spend months testing carbon's new printer. >> how is this technology being looked upon i guess in that 3-d printing community? >> they walked up to the industry and dropped a grenade and walked away. >> reporter: jason lope says 3-d printing has been part of their creations for years but when a commercial needed an easter bunny on short notice carbon's printer provided a faster solution. >> i came in at 7:00 in the morning. printed out the bunny. i handed it over by 8:00 in the morning. it was finished, painted and brought on set by 10:30 a.m. and shot. >> quick as a bunny. >> quick as a bunny. >> reporter: from creatures -- >> this is part of the "alien" franchise. >> reporter: -- to practical parts. >> you name it, we make it. >> reporter: and in a way bringing the machine back to its inspiration. >> one of the first projects we did on it was for the "terminator: genisys" collectibles. how ironic can that be? >> reporter: 3-d printing was created 30 years ago amid high hopes and plenty of hype. the factory of the future may still be a long way off.
3:46 am
but when it arrives it could be a good example of life imitating art. john blackstone, redwood city, california. the cbs "overnight news" will be right back. you can finally break up with bleach. lysol with hydrogen peroxide. for a tough clean with zero percent bleach. lysol that. what are you doing? sara, i love you, and... [phone rings] ah, it's my brother. keep going... sara, will you marry... [phone rings again] what do you want, todd???? [crowd cheering] keep it going!!!! if you sit on your phone, you butt-dial people. it's what you do. todd! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. i know we just met like, two months ago... yes! [crowd cheering] [crowd cheering over phone] i use resolve pet foam. spray it on evenly. rub it in.
3:47 am
and then i vacuum. it's like i have a brand new carpet. and, rigby is enjoying it as well. moisture so i can get into it ao enhance mbit quicker. ral and when i know she's into it, i get into it and... feel the difference with k-y ultragel. the strength test.. like leather, skin is stronger when it's hydrated. that's why dove men+care bodywash has a unique hydrating formula to leave skin healthier and stronger. and to keep thosew they fdarks from fading... there's woolite darks.
3:48 am
it's free of harsh ingredients, keeping dark clothes looking like new for 30 washes so your love for dark clothes will never fade. woolite darks. a giant panda born last year at washington's national zoo continues to be the star attraction. and when you see rita braver's report you'll know why. >> target?
3:49 am
good boy. >> reporter: okay, moms, let's face it, this baby may be cuter than yours. and a lot more famous. he's bei bei. born at the smithsonian institution's national zoo in washington, d.c. last august. his arrival made headlines. even though he wasn't much to look at then. >> they're about 1/900 the size of the mother. they're really tiny. >> we say like a stick of butter. >> stick of butter, yeah. but they're really tough. holding them in your hand you'd be surprised how sturdy they feel. >> they're born hairless and blind? >> yes, they are blind and deaf. >> reporter: marty geary is a panda keeper. one of about two dozen employees aided by 60 volunteers who keep the giant pandas happy and healthy. bei-bei will stay with mother mei xiang until he's 2.
3:50 am
father tian tian and big sister bao bao have their own specially designed habitats as pandas are usually solitary creatures. almost every move they make is captured by the zoo's famous panda cams. remember when this video went viral last winter? did the zoo have any idea how popular the panda cams would be? >> i don't think anybody could predict the incredible popularity. but what i love is that this is science in real life in real time. >> reporter: brandy smith, who oversees the zoo's panda operation, says the cameras help volunteers keep detailed logs of each animal's daily activity. >> must be getting warm outside because she's indicating that she's warm. >> right now we're looking at mei xiang and bei bei to look at mother-cub interactions hoping we can learn from that and help more pandas in the future.
3:51 am
>> reporter: more pandas because they are a highly endangered species. found only in china, there are only about 1,800 in the wild as humans have encroached on their territory. >> no? good boy. get all the way in. >> reporter: so the pandas at the national zoo get frequent checkups. and in a rare behind-the-scenes visit we got to see how they're trained to cooperate. >> i don't think you're in the middle of the scale. >> reporter: biologist lori thompson coaches bei bei to weigh in. >> 43 pounds. 43 1/2 pounds. >> reporter: the reward -- a sweet potato. >> he's curious about anything new that is in his enclosure. >> am i allowed to pet him? >> no. >> reporter: yes, these cuddly creatures can bite. and almost three years and 180 pounds, bao bao, bei bei's sister, does her training through a cage. >> all the way. open. good.
3:52 am
>> reporter: in exchange for a delicious stream of honey water. >> good girl. >> reporter: it's how she grows accustomed to everything from dental exams -- >> open. good. >> reporter: -- to blood tests. according to panda keeper tally wiles. if you do a blood stick for her, does it hurt her? >> they might feel it initially like a little pinch like a person does as well, but she's getting that honey reward, which is much more fantastic than anything she's going through. >> reporter: it was panda diplomacy that brought the first two pandas to the national zoo. >> i think they're adorable endearing creatures. >> reporter: sing sing and ling ling were a gift from the chinese government in 1972 after president nixon's historic visit to the country. but that panda pair never produced a cub that survived. in contrast, bei bei's parents who are here on loan from the chinese government have produced three healthy clubs, including
3:53 am
tai xian, now almost 11 and living in china. but it hasn't been easy. >> the giant pandas are a species that is very difficult to reproduce and care for in captivity primarily because our knowledge of their biology has been very rudimentary until the last decade or so. >> reporter: steven monfort is director of the smithsonian conservation biology institute in frontroyal, virginia. a key mission here is studying panda reproduction. >> the female only matures and ovulates one time per year. so you have about a 36-hour window of fertility once a year with a giant panda. >> mei xiang. >> reporter: by collecting urine samples researchers have been able to pinpoint exactly when she is fertile and ready for a visit from tian tian. >> but so far they haven't been able to connect the parts?
3:54 am
>> that's a nice way of putting it. there's an anatomical mismatch, let's say. >> reporter: to tell you the truth, ladies, it's apparently a performance issue on the male panda's part. >> one, two, three. >> reporter: so bei bei was conceived by artificial insemination. sadly, his twin did not survive. but every panda that makes it is considered a minor miracle. >> they're still under threat. so we are in a race against time. we have much, much more work to do. >> reporter: bao bao and bei bei will be sent to china within a few years. so we should enjoy them while we can. and the zoo's brandy smith says there's a primal reason we are so delighted by the antics of these creatures. >> when you see something that touches your heart, there's a biochemical reaction. you produce the same chemicals associated with childbirth. they make you happier. >> eat your sweet potato. you got it? >> you become a better person by watching these pandas.
3:55 am
the "cbs o
3:56 am
3:57 am
the latest technology in golf has nothing to do with clubs or balls. it's the golf board. and it could soon take the place of the old-fashioned golf cart. carter evans went for a ride. >> you don't want to have too big of a smile on your face because you're going to piss off the other members. >> reporter: cruising down the fairway at up to ten miles an hour, this battery-powered machine can last 36 holes. don wildman and his golf board are adding a new twist to a sport with time-honored traditions. >> golf is partly masochistic. i think it's a masochistic sport. i hate to say that. and standing up like this, it gives you a whole different feeling. >> it's fun. i mean, i feel like a kid again. i'm aiming for the hills. >> can you imagine a guy my age and able to do this? you go like this is like -- i'm like 14.
3:58 am
>> reporter: at 83, wildman is redefining what it means to be a great grandfather. he's a world-class athlete in several sports. a few years ago as an enticement to get his friend big wave surfer laird hamilton on the links, wildman suggested traversing the course on electric skateboards. the idea for the golf board was born. >> when you first brought the golfboard to a course, did you get a lot of strange looks? >> people wondered what the heck is that? but the first reaction is that it looks cool. >> reporter: surprisingly, the industry is embracing the board. a review on pga.com suggests "this is the future of getting around a course." and it may be a way to attract a new generation to the game because golf's popularity is in decline from a high of more than 30 million players in 2005 to about 24 million in 2015. and only 5% of golfers are under the age of 30. >> if i was a kid and my father
3:59 am
said to me, hey, let's go play golf and he told me there was going to be a skateboard that i could go on the golf course, you know, i would be the first one to want to be out there. >> very nice. >> you are all set. >> reporter: this golf course in palm springs, california now has a fleet of golf boards renting for $25 apiece. golf pro steve bossert says the boards are boosting business. >> we have seen the numbers. 90% have said i'm coming here today to play because i want to take a golf board out on the course. >> reporter: wildman foresees a future where a course is designed with golf boards in mind. and he plans to be there swinging. >> just keep rolling. >> the key to staying young. >> that's it. exercise. >> reporter: carter evans, los angeles. that's the overnight news for this friday. for some of you the news continues. for others check back with us a little later for the "morning news" and "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm don dahler.
4:00 am
captioning funded by cbs it's friday, may 13th, 2016. this is "cbs morning news." breaking over, the white house is set to make a sweeping announcement directing all u.s. schools to give transgender students the right to use the restroom they're most comfortable in. a meeting of the minds for donald trump and republican party leaders. paul ryan said discussions went well but stopped short of supporting the presumptive nominee. manipulation allegations. is facebook faking its trending stories? ceo mark zuckerberg responds to claims his social network is rigged against the right. and the invictus games

81 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on