captioning sponsored by cbs >> pelley: high hopes up in smoke. the obama administration refuses to lift restrictions on marijuana, keeping the federal government at odds with half the states. also tonight, allegations that u.s. intelligence about the war on isis was manipulat didn't match what the intelligence was saying out of the united states central command. >> there it goes. >> pelley: road hazards drivers rarely see coming until it's too late. >> i got severely lucky on the highway that no one ran me over or hit me. >> pelley: and fast friends. lochte and phelps. >> win or lose, we're still going to be friends, and that rivalry that we've created is

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: we begin with major setback today for supporters of legalized pot. after a long review, the obama administration decided today that marijuana will remain what is called "a schedule 1 drug," same as heroin, the category for the most dangerous drugs with no known medical application. but that puts the federal states that have already made pot legal either for recreational or medicinal use. we have more now from don dahler. >> reporter: the drug enforcement administration said marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the united states. chuck rosenberg is acting administrator for the d.e.a. >> it's not about danger. stuff in schedule one can be really dangerous or not as

>> this decision keeps marijuana classified as a schedule 1 drug, like heroin and l.s.d., which means the federal government only approves of its use under strictly limited research concerns. in violation of federal law, new jersey is one of 42 states and the district of columbia that allow the use of various forms of marijuana for medical use. dr. thomas bellavia of hasbrouck heights, new jersey, has been prescribing it for over three years. >> m.s. patients have a better people with glaucoma do much better, especially for people who have been in auto accidents and have chronic pain, it does a great job for them. >> reporter: and yet there is still such a stigma this patient didn't want to be identified. >> medical marijuana has helped me in so many ways. i no longer take percocet for back pain like candy. i don't use them hardly ever. >> reporter: a recent cbs news poll shows 87% of americans approve of medical marijuana. michael collins is with the drug

in the sand. so i think this is an agency that time and again has proven that it is out of step with science, research, public opinion, political movement on this issue. and i think today's decision is another example of that. >> reporter: the administration will increase the amount of marijuana available for research as well as open testing up at more institutions. currently only the university of mississippi is allowed to supply marijuana for research. garden state dispensary is one and all of these plants are being grown for medicinal use, even though the d.e.a. says that's illegal. scott, the department of justice says they will make it clear they will not prosecute as long as patients and doctors follow state law. >> pelley: don dahler reporting for us. don, thank you. on the campaign trail today, donald trump blamed president obama and hillary clinton for creating isis. major garrett has the story and

hillary clinton the founders of isis. they're the founders. you got the m.v.p. award. isis will hand her the most valuable player award. her only competition is barack obama, between the two of them. >> reporter: donald trump's criticism that isis rose to prominence during the obama administration ignored president bush's role in removing u.s. troops from iraq. part of trump's argument is that the u.s. troop withdrawals created a security vacuum in iraq that the terror group ex president bush negotiated that agreement with iraq's government and set the withdrawal date at the end of 2011. >> in terms of the agreement, this is a major achievement. >> reporter: president obama, elected on a platform of ending the iraq war, enforced the bush-era time line. on the hugh hewitt radio show today, the conservative host gave trump room to back down. >> you meant he created the vacuum, he lost the peace? >> no, i mend he's the founder of isis. >> but he's not sympathetic to

he's trying to kill them. >> i don't care. he's the founder. >> reporter: remarks of this kind fuel g.o.p. unrest. today more than 70 republicans signed a letter to rnc chairman reince priebus, urging him to deny all republican party resources and divert them to vulnerable house and republican senate candidates. the goal: save the party from "drowning with a trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck." also today, patty davis, daughter of president ronald reagan, the last american president to survive an assassination attempt facebook that trump's comments earlier this week about clinton, the second amendment and the supreme court could inspire violence. scott, davis said trump knows words matter, which she said makes this all the more horrifying. >> pelley: major garrett following the campaign tonight. major, thank you. well, today president obama received an extraordinary letter from syria, a plea for help from 15 of the last remaining doctors in aleppo.

city. it is now under siege. syrian government forces backed by russia and iran are in a relentless battle with rebels, mostly islamic militants. but civilians are caught in the middle. debora patta is inside syria. >> reporter: under constant bombing, life is hard enough for the 300,000 people will living in rebel-held aleppo. news just got worse with reports of another attack overnight. its victims included men, women, and young children. [gunfire] and for the few remaining doctors there, the relentless fighting and lack of supplies means they're faced with terrible choices. the 15 doctors who wrote to president obama say there was an attack on a medical facility every 17 hours, 42 last month alone. we spoke via skype to pediatrician dr. abu al barra, who is in aleppo tonight.

injury is also. >> reporter: he did not want to show his face. "we have to choose who lives and who dies," he said. "and this is something we have to live with every day." the doctors have accused the world, including the u.s., of failing to protect them. and he told us 95% of the casualties are civilians. "we do not need tears, the doctors say, we need actio" but with the fighting intensifying, the situation is now becoming dire for all of the two million people living in both government and rebel-held aleppo. they are in danger of running out of food, fuel, and water. the russians unilaterally declared a three-hour ceasefire which proved futile today as neither the syrian government nor the opposition rebel coalition ever endorsed it. and now, scott, even if all the

temporary truce, the united nations warns it needs 48 hours to give disparately needed supplies to the war >> -weary people of aleppo. >> pelley: debora patta covering the five-year civil war for us. debora, thank you. for more than a year now, americans have been told that the war against isis in syria and iraq has been going well, as were the u.s. efforts to train iraqi soldiers. but today a congressional task force said that intelligence was things were going better than they were. and it blamed u.s. central command, which runs the wars in the middle east. jim axelrod has been looking into this. >> reporter: the task force was formed to investigate a whistle-blower complaint filed by a senior analyst at centcom that intelligence was being manipulated by command leadership. republican congressman mike pompeo is a member of the task force. >> this information from

inside the analytic arm of centcom did their job and accurately depicted what was going on on the ground, but when it got to very senior levels, that information was changed. >> reporter: according to the report, starting around mid-20 14, final intelligence reports and public statements issued by centcom painted a rosier picture of the iraqi army's strength than the initial assessment of its own analysts. >> ladies and gentlemen, we are making progress. >> reporter: centcom's austin testified in march 2015 that isis had been weakened in iraq. >> the fact is he can no longer do what he did at the outset, which is to seize and to hold new territory. he has assumed a defensive crouch in iraq. [gunfire] >> reporter: around the same time a centcom official stated the iraqi army could soon be ready to launch a major offensive to retake the city of mosul. a year and a half later, that

women out to fight for our country, they need to have straight-up intelligence providing them information about what they're up against. >> reporter: this task force was made up entirely of republicans, but late today democrats on the house intelligence committee released their findings, and they largely reached the same conclusion. as for centcom, scott, this statement: they are reviewing the report, but since the investigation is ongoing, there will be no comment. >> pelley: jim axelrod reporting for us tonight. jim, thank you. a north carolina man is charged with murder in a case that has been compared to the 2012 killing of trayvon martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer. mark strassmann reports from raleigh. >> reporter: the 911 call from this raleigh home came at 12:50 sunday morning. >> we got a bunch of hoodlums out here racing. i'm going outside to secure the neighborhood. >> reporter: the caller was

watchman. his complaint was about a large crowd quartered outside his home. >> they have firearms. i'm going to secure our neighborhood. >> reporter: minutes later copely called 911 a second time. >> i yelled at them. they were showing a firearm, so i fired a warning shot. and we got somebody that got hit. i fired my warning shot like i'm supposed to by law. >> reporter: the 20-year-old kouren thomas. he was leaving a crowded house party next door. copely later said... >> black males outside my house with firearms. please send p.d. >> reporter: police say thomas was unarmed and copely's warning shot was a shotgun blast fired from inside his garage. he's in jail now charged with first-degree murder. copely's attorney issued a statement saying, "we urge restraints and that folks not rush to judgment."

thomas, says she moved to raleigh from new york in 2001 to keep her son safe. >> he was a good kid. and i don't have him no more. there's nothing i can do. >> reporter: copely is being held without bond on the murder charge. scott, thomas' mother says she's trying to raise the money she needs to bury her son. >> pelley: mark strassmann reporting. today florida recorded three more zika infections. 25 people are now believed to have been infected by florida mosquitoes. so far the outbreak appears to be contained in one square mile of miami. zika is known to cause microcephaly, a birth defect in which a baby's head and brain are abnormally small. we asked dr. jon lapook to tell us more about this rare

? the itsy bitsy spider went up the waterspout ? >> reporter: like most six-year-old, edmund loves singing, toys and, of course, his mother, but unlike most of his peer, edmund has microcephaly, the result of a genetic disorder his mom elizabeth didn't know about while pregnant. >> when he first came home, my initial thought is i can't do this. i can't do this. i didn't cyber up for this, which is not true at all. of course you sign up for it. >> reporter: she and her husband vincent were tol not even survive. some doctors even suggested he be institutionalized. what was your response? >> my first response was, i didn't think people did that anymore. >> reporter: edmund didn't sit up or crawl until he was three and still doesn't talk. but he is slowly meeting some milestone, walking with help, riding a bike, and playing with his two brothers. >> here he comes. >> we're teaching him some language.

mama. >> reporter: so you speak edmund, sign language? >> yes. he's invented some of his own signs. this is "please sing to me." >> reporter: he just made that up? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: microcephaly can arise from a number of different conditions. genetic ones like edmunds, and infections during pregnancy like measles and zika. symptoms and prognosis can vary widely. can you touch my nose? you can. so you understand a lot. he understands a lot. >> oh, yeah, yeah. >> reporter: it's too early to tell how it will affect the lives of those affected with zika. picciuto remembers the emotional toll of an uncertain future. >> i kept saying, what's going to happen? what's going to happen? >> reporter: and she still doesn't really know. >> i haven't asked for a prognosis in forever because i don't expect anyone to be able to tell me. he's charting his own course.

mothers of babies with birth defects from zika. >> it gets better. it will get better for you. you'll love your child, and your child will love you. >> reporter: and she says know you will find a new normal. ? clap your hands ? yes! well, done. >> reporter: dr. jon lapook, cbs news, maryland. >> pelley: coming up next on the "cbs evening news," a hazard on highway, and how to make roads safer. let's do more. add one a day women's 50+ complete multivitamin. with vitamin d and calcium to help support bone health. one a day. at safelite, we know how busy life can be. these kids were headed to their first dance recital... ...when their windshield got cracked... ...but they couldn't miss the show. so dad went to the new safelite-dot-com. and in just a few clicks, he scheduled a replacement... ...before the girls even took the stage.

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>> pelley: there's a highway hard that most drivers don't know about, but a report out today finds that it is causing tens of thousands of crashes. here's kris van cleave. >> reporter: watch as this yellow pad falls off a trailer on the a minnesota interstate in june. 20-year-old brendan jakowski tried to avoid it but couldn't. >> i just saw the thing fall, so i knew i had the move. i got severely lucky on the

>> reporter: in january, 26-year-old charles hu was killed outside boston when a rear tire flew off this pick-up truck and struck his car. a a.a.a. foundation study found crashes between 2011 and 2013 were caused by road that where i, injuring 39,000 people. more than 500 died. >> a majority of these crashes are preventable. if drivers would take the necessary precautions to secure their load or maintain their vehicle properly. >> reporter: tamra johnson there's a good rule, if you wouldn't want to drive behind it, there is probably something wrong here. >> if you put a load and you wouldn't want a family member driving behind you, it's a good sign it's not safe. >> he had such a dynamic personality. how could that be gone from my wife? >> reporter: next week heidi coffee will mark ten years from the day her husband gavin was killed on a seattle freeway. metal shelving flew off this truck. gavin tried to avoid it. when he swerved, he was hit and killed by another car. a.a.a. found 37% of road debris

heidi was seven months pregnant with their fifth child. >> i miss being a wife because that was my favorite thing, was to be his wife and best friend. and that's what i miss. >> reporter: these accidents are most common on highways and during the middle of the day. scott, in all 50 states drivers can face fines if they're responsible for road debris, particularly if it results in an accident. in 16 states they can face jail >> pelley: transportation correspondent kris van cleave. kris, thank you. criminal charges have been filed against the man who climbed trump tower. our biggest event of the year just got better! ? ? announcing zero for seventy-two across the entire lineup of ford cars, trucks and suvs. plus, tagged vehicles now get a thousand smart bonus. that's freedom from interest... and freedom to choose with ford.

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>> pelley: magic and bird, ali and frazier, and tonight lochte and phelps. they'll duel in the pool one last time. ben tracy is in rio. >> lochte in lane four alongside phelps. >> reporter: in the semifinal of the 200 individual medley last night... >> michael on the right. lochte on the left. two of the best in history. >> reporter: the two greatest american male swimmers of all time were separated only bhe >> phelps is looking pretty smooth again. >> reporter: michael phelps and ryan lochte may be teammates here in rio, but they've been rivals for more than 12 years. >> lock will be right behind him. >> we both just go to that next level when we swim with one another. >> he's the hardest competitor i've ever had to go up against, and he's in the likely to back down. and i'm not either. >> reporter: since the 2004 olympics, they have faced off in every 200m individual medley final.

world champion and owns the world record in the event. he has now won 12 olympic medals, including six gold, and would be the most decorated male swimmer of all time if it weren't for phelps. tonight is their final showdown. phelps says he'll retire after rio. >> it's going to be a crazy race. >> reporter: dara torres swam in five olympics for team u.s.a. how big of a deal has this duel in the pool become? >> it's a very big deal. i don't think they would be as good as they are in this event >> reporter: along the way the two rivals became friends. they're sharing a room in the athletes village in rio. >> no matter what, win or lose, we're still going to be friends. and that rivalry that we've created is just great. >> reporter: but so is winning, and someone has to hit the wall first. ben tracy, cbs news, rio de janeiro. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news." for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night.

tonight, heather locklear figgts back. shamed for being broke, what her best friend is only telling "e.t." now. then the olympic's biggest breakout star. leslie jones arrives in leo. >> i don't see no damn zika nowhere. >> what will she do next. plus behind the scenes of star. just weeks from giving birth. how are they hiding that baby bump? >> how are we going to do this? she's got a giant baby in her belly. before rob lowe gets roast on tv. he's turning he tables on the roast master david spade. >> we're on the set as rob unleashes. now for august 11th, 2011 this is "entertainment tonight."