bill whitaker, cbs news, laws an less. >> that is the cba evening news.n cbs, 60 minutes, i'm nora owe dom -- owe donald. good night and i hope you have a great week. captioning sponsored by cbs city reeling from yet another murder... the tactics they say can turn the tide on rising violence. it was the bay area's biggest- ever high-tech heist... who police now say -- helped a band of thieves steal 37-million dollars worth of computer chips. and no deal on the debt limit... what leaders from both parties say they'll do now. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. good evening, i'm ann notarangelo. ,,,,

and the first, first lady of the modern age, bill whitaker remembers betty ford who forever changed how america views the white house. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley reporting tonight from washington. >> pelley: good evening. it was a striking thing, today, to hear the president of the united states say that he cannot guarantee the 27 million social security checks that you are due to be mailed august 3rd. august 3rd is the day after the government will default on its debts if democrats and republicans do not agree to increase the nation's borrowing limit. both sides say they won't raise the limit without a deal to massively cut the federal deficit. a u.s. default would shake the world economy. the stakes could not be higher. time is growing short. in our interview, president obama said the situation is dangerous. >> we met the president this morning at the white house on another day of deadlock. the question is whether a deal to cut the federal deficit will include tax increases as democrats insist, or rely only on budget cuts as republican

. >> mitchell: on this side of the atlantic bill whitaker discovered how easy it is to hack into cell phones in the u.s. a government program exists to help americans avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes-- we find out why so few people know about it. and when the florida marlins hit the skids, they turned to a manager with experience. lots of experience. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. this is the "cbs evening news" with s >> mitchell: and good evening, scott is off tonight. i'm russ mitchell. britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal has reached the highest levels of the british government. today prime minister david cameron addressed an emergency session of parliament on the crisis, even as americans find out they are just as vulnerable to phone hackers. we have two reports tonight beginning with elizabeth palmer in london. liz, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. prime minister david cameron's links to the powerful murdoch clan had become so politically dangerous that he cut short an official visit to africa and rushed home to l

bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> jetblue has sold out of those $4 airline tickets for flights. they were from burbank to long beach. no gridlock in the skies. the flights will only take about 45 minutes. >> so you think it's going to be calm. i think it's going to be terrible. >> i really have no idea. i'm just guessing. seems like they put the message out so much that people would stay home. >> people in l.a. and their cars, i'm telling you. i've lived there. >> carmageddon. like it. >>> a little more surgeon, a little more warmth. kristy says the weekend picture is a whole lot clearer. >> maybe not the best weather for sitting inside a theater but millions will. the beginning of the end for harry potter. ,,,,,,,,,, honey...? [ mom ] yes. honey, i can't find my internet cord. oh, i'll borrow hailey's. you're downloading movies. fast! from here? where is her cord?! we switched to at&t high speed internet and got wireless access. no more cords. wireless, okay, honestly, can i just get a cord, please? dad, the cord's invisible. [ female announcer ] call at&t today to get high sp

bill whitaker has that part of the story. >> reporter: the targets of the tabloid hacking scandal includetish royals, commoners, and screen stars, like hugh grant. >> i think this is the watershed moment. >> reporter: but don't think hacking is just the scourge of the celebrated and sensational on the other side of the atlantic. your phone and my phone can be hacked. >> my ex-girlfriend found her way into my voice mail on my cell phone. >> reporter: -- just as easily as l.a. screenwriter where, rich keith. >> she would know things only on my voice mail and sometimes she would know them before i knew them. >> this is a crime that doesn't really leave a trail of evidence. >> reporter: cyberscientist christopher zboiian says hacking is hard to trace, but easy to do. especially with at&t and sprint, which together serve more than 48 million customers. unlike other customers, they donate require p.i.n. numbers to access voice mail. hacking their phones, zboiian says, is easy as one, two, three. go to any number of websites, punch in your phone number, punch in the number you would like to hack

bill whitaker, cbs5news, los angeles. >>> a break through in the fight against male infertility. discovering a genetic mutation that causes a defect in sperm. essentially sperm affected by this mutation lacked a protective coating. >> this coat in addition to being able to help sperm swim more efficiently it protects sperm long enough so that it can get to the side of fertilization. >> among other possible solutions, researchers say it is possible that the coating could be replicated and placed on sperm in a test tube. >> we will check in with roberta right now and see what your weather is up to. >> high temperatures for the first time this week above average. in the city by the bay, city of san francisco average high 69 degrees but instead today we topped off at 73 degrees. this evening, a little bit of a breeze out there as the temperature tumbles now into the 50s. today's high 62 degrees in pacifica to 86 degrees. that was right around the vacaville area. it was 96 in livermore. low 90s in san jose. good 10 to 12-degree jump in our inland area. marine layer returning. although

bill whitaker reports on how that affects needy patients. >> hi. >> reporter: we met sharon brown ander 10-year-old daughter, rosa at the arroyo vista family health center, a nonprofit community clinic in los angeles where rosa came for strept throat. with a family income below the poverty line, rosa's treatment and sharon's checkup cost just $1 each. >> are you still taking the antibiotic? >> yeah. >> reporter: the rest paid by the joint state/federal low income medical program medicaid. >> i depend on it a lot because i have three children. i use it for their yearly physical, for their eyes checked. >> reporter: with the temporary infusion of federal funds to medicaid running out, california is taking a $4.8 billion hit, so like most states, california is scrambling to reduce costs, cutting services, cutting doctor's payments, raising patients' copayments, $5 for office visits, $50 for emergency rooms, $100 to $200 a day for hospital stays. you might think that's not much. >> but you know what? you're wrong. >> reporter: sharon lost her job as a cafeteria worker when l.a. schools ma

>> mitchell: bill whitaker in los angeles. safe travels home. thank you very much. later, dialing back on electricity consumption in the wake of that nuclear plant meltdown in japan. nasa shows off its collection of space program art, and mark phillips with the rebels in libya. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. those stories when the cbs evening news continues. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor right away if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. breathing with copd is no small thing. ask your doctor about spiriva.

bill whitaker takes a look back. >> reporter: at just under eight feet in diameter, hubble isn't thetelescope in the world yet it's a giant, revealing splendors of the cosmos with a depth and clarity never seen with human eyes. peering deep into space above the glare of earth's atmosphere, it has traced the dimmest sources of celestial light, the early sparks of creation. >> i believe that the hubble space telescope is the most significant scientist instrument ever created by humans. >> reporter: john gumsfeld grumsfeld is deputy director of the space program and is a former astronaut who flew the shuttle five times, three of them to service hubble. >> hubble has been able to look back in time, it's a time machine, and observe those very first galaxies or toddler galaxies as they were 13.42 billion years ago. in a universe that's 13.7 billion years old. >> and liftoff of the space shuttle "discovery" with the hubble space telescope. >> reporter: the first images were blurry, astronauts had to install corrective lenses. astronauts would visit hubble four more times and each time impro

if you're still wondering why, bill whitaker has the answer. >> reporter: anyone who flies has heard this. >> your mobile phone and other electronic devices should be turned off. >> reporter: anybody who flies probably wonders is my cell phone, e-book and ipod a risk. the federal aviation commission says yes. there's enter ference of the plane's navigational system. doug moss flies forepleasure with united. >> there's a low possibility any single device will interfere with navigational equipment. but because of that potential the faa has decided it's better to prohibit all of the devices. >> reporter: how can something that big, that sophisticated be undone by something like this? well, the data is limited and the evidence all anecdotal. in 2003 a plane crash in new zealand killed eight people. investigators say the pilot's operating cell phone might have caused erroneous navigational indications. since 2000, there have been 10 reports in the u.s. of mid air problems linked to passengers' electronics. when i turned on my cell phone and bookberry in doug mouse's cockpit. >> we had tha

bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> pelley: that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight.ll of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.or going up again. why outraged students are dressed up like cartoon characters. "..rat [ chanting ] >>> uc tuition going up again. why outraged students are dressed up like cartoon characters. >> rat and roaches and mold and mildew. >> it's enough to make your skin crawl. east bay property owners accused of being slumlords. what the city is doing that it has never done before. >>> police say he grabbed a picasso and ran. and it may not be the first time. the surprising stash found in a suspected art thief's apartment. >>> good evening, i'm ken bastida. >> i'm dana king. >>> it's official. hundreds of thousands of uc students will have to dig even deeper into their pocketbooks

bill whitaker, now, with more on that. >> reporter: when the housing bubble burst, alpha constructionnaged stayed afloat, holding on to the one lifeline in home construction-- apartments. >> alpha has been very busy with the apartments. >> reporter: supervisor paul novell says apartments are where the action is. more are on the drawing boards and there's more competition for projects. >> we're building a lot and estimating a lot. there's more competition, because the home builder is now trying to come into the apartment industry. >> reporter: while new home permits in l.a. suburbs were down as much as 4% the first quarter of this year, in los angeles almost 1,000 permits to build new apartments were issued in may alone, the most in three years. the surge in the building of apartments is fueled by economics and demographics. many older retirees and younger workers are choosing apartment living over home ownership. apartments are more affordable, offer more flexibility. >> i don't miss property taxes. i don't miss big utility bills. >> reporter: jonathan fitzgerald sold his five bedroom

bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> pelley: another pro sport is having labor trouble. n.b.a.tract talks broke down today, and the owners are expected to lock out the players at midnight. that would put them on the sidelines along with n.f.l. players who were locked out in march. former mob boss whitey bulger was back in court today, crying poverty and asking taxpayers to pay for his lawyer. will they? that story is next. [ waves crashing ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] and just like that, it's here. a new chance for all of us: people, companies, communities to face the challenges yesterday left behind and the ones tomorrow will bring. prudential. bring your challenges. [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. here's one story. my name is tanya and i am from chicago. i'm a mom of 3 daughters. pan can really put a kink in my day and i turn into grouchy mommy. i used to take tylenol and now i take advil and i like it. it's fast and it's reliable. my family needs me and i need to be there for my family. [ male announcer ] make the switch. ta

bill whitaker, cbs news, torrance, california. >>> how about this, the alameda county fair started theinning of grilling season by grilling the biggest burger. they began getting it ready this morning. they were trying to break that guinness record of 590 pounds. they expected it to take about 10 hours to cook, but when you're working with a burger this big it's an inexact science at best. >> we can say that we've cooked meat before and cooked burgers before and we can say all that type of stuff but have you cooked a 600 pound burger? no. >> finally cook, the guinness book officials were on hand for the weigh-in and it set a new record weighing in at 770 pounds. bites were sold for 99 cents with the proceeds going to the alameda food bank. >>> people in arizona are feeling the heat. phoenix hit a record high 118 degrees today. a monsoon knocked out power to about 4,000 homes meaning those homes have no air conditioning. it's so hot in phoenix that county sheriff ordered thousands of bags of ice to the county's outdoor jails to keep cool. -- or keep the inmates cool. >>> erica martinez

bill whitaker tagged along for one episode featuring mike tyson and mike tyson. >> reporter: from theace that derailed it, mike tyson's name was sin nom us in synonymous with outrageous success, money, rage. those who know him best say the real man is more complex. >> some people think crazy because of the media. but he's definitely not that. he's a lot smarter than people think he is. >> reporter: at 45, mike tyson is attempting a comeback, reclaiming his reputation, legacy, even his name. >> i'm a different guy now. i'm not as care riz mattic as the guy before, i'm not as reckless as he was before. >> it's important that people know that? >> only inform them that way about the conduct. i can't tell, though. i told them many times and i wasn't sure. >> reporter: when producers for the new reality show "same name" came to tyson with their pitch he was open. the prempremise, pair a celebri with an unknown person with the same name and let them switch lives. this mike tyson endured ribbing over his famous name for years. >> you got into fights because your name is mike ticen? >>> >> a c

bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> what a great idea.,,,,, sure, pulling the mold, mildew, and grime from out of the porous caverns of grout takes the right tools, but it also takes a gentle, caring touch. before you can deep clean, you learn to get a feel for its trouble spots. and hey, if you can't listen to grout, you can't truly know its wants...its needs...its dreams. ♪call 1-800-steemer. >>> when you're running for president you need to have campaign money and a solid political platform. but you also need a theme song. and that tripped up one of the republican candidates as cbs news political correspondent jan crawford now tells us. welcome back. good to see you again this morning. >> hey, chris. you know, there is nothing like a good song to get people fired up at your rallies. but sometimes that can get the song writer fired up, too. ♪ happy days >> reporter: song writers had to be happy when franklin roosevelt adopted their 1929 hit "happy days are here again" for his '32 presidential campaign. 80 years later the song is still t

bill whitaker, cbs news, palm,,, no charges will be filed against the college student who refused toace lee with your news headlines. no charges will be filed against the college student who refused to pull up his parents on a u.s. airways flight. yesterday 70 people protested the arrest of deshon marman. today the san mateo county d.a. says he won't file charges in the case. >>> pg&e says that it wants to be clear that it is not blaming victims for the pipeline explosion. the move comes after a newspaper article said pg&e documents showed the company would assign some of the blame to san bruno residents themselves. >>> and a fundraiser will help cover legal costs for two uc- berkeley alumni who have been detained in iran for two years. tonight's event for shane bauer and josh fattal will be at a photo gallery in san francisco. >>> we have your traffic and weather coming up right after this. ,,,,,,,,,,,, >>> good morning. to the peninsula we go where there is an accident northbound 101 at millbrae on the off- ramp. busy in 101 both directions through millbrae. car fire south 880 at a

. >> bill whitaker is live with the latest. take it away, bill. >> reporter: good morning, guys. this is all part of a project to widen this, the busiest freeway in the country. they'll be tearing down half of this bridge behind me. they're calling this carmageddon, the asphalt apocalypse. the traffic has to go somewhere and the fear is they'll have traffic back up as much as 60 miles. at midnight a ten-mile corridor of the 405 freeway was officially shut down for a widening project that involves demolishing half of the mulholland bridge. >> one of the jackhammers moving into position. >> reporter: this is the sepulveda pass on a typical day where half a million cars travel on any given weekend, l.a.'s car culture has been dreading the disturbance. >> carmageddon update. another tip, stay calm behind the wheel. >> reporter: it's estimated traffic jams could stretch from 28 to 64 miles. that's a major concern for christine verzosa and russ van vong. today is their ed withing day. >> when i first heard about carmageddon occurring on our wedding day. i was taken aback. >> reporter:

cbs news correspondent bill whitaker has that story. >> reporter: congress may have trouble agreeing on almost anything. but when it comes to one of their own and the subject is sex, they can act with blazing speed. oregon democrat david wu who has served 13 years in the house, abruptly resigned on tuesday under heavy pressure from fellow democrats. this after allegations from the teenage daughter of a campaign donor allegedly accusing wu of an unwanted sexual encounter. >> the leadership probably figure that there wasn't much downside to getting him to resign. >> reporter: it was not the first scandal for congressman wu. a woman claimed she was assaulted nearly three decades ago. >> i do take full responsibility for my actions of 28 years ago. and i am responsible for that. >> reporter: at the time, his wife stood by his side. they have since separated. then after this picture of wu in a tiger suit hit the web last year, some of his staff resigned and suggested he get psychological help. >> about two lanes. we got a -- >> reporter: the depart tour comes after resignations of anthony

bill whitaker reports. >> david casam sa troubled by this placard allowing his mother mary to park in the mail, even though his mother died nine years ago. >> sometimes i guess the dmv figured out that she was deceased and sometimes it didn't. >> reporter: the problem is much more common than anyone could have imagined. the california department of motor vehicles found nearly 60,000 dead people on its list to get parking placards. some are returned. most are misused by those who can't resist the convenience of a prime parking spot. no need to feed the meter. >> my mom, when she passed away in january of 2008, we received new placard in june. and i went right down and turned it in. and they go, well, thank you because nobody usually does this. >> reporter: the news only fuels frustration for drivers who depend on disabled parking. >> and it's people that use them fraudulently, don't they have a conscience? >> reporter: 2.1 million california drivers have disabled placards. a whopping 700,000, one-third, are used illegally. fraud complaints are on the rise. and the dmv says the database

cbs correspondent bill whitaker reports the mishap is the latest episode of the real-live soap opera following the body boarding accident that sent chrys far schwarzenegger to intensive care with a collapsed lung, a just released 911 phone call from maria shriver indicates how serious the situation was. >> he's having trouble breathing. >> make sure you don't move him. >> his father rushed to his side in what his parents now say was a very scary week. in the only joint statements since they announced that are with estranged in may, maria shriver and arnold schwarzenegger also said, christopher is surrounded by his family and friends. he's a brave boy and is expected to make a full recovery. we thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. but for the high profile-divorcing couple, this week was more than scary. on wednesday, just three days after christopher's accident, arnold schwarzenegger filed court papers indicating he does not want to paymah rhea shriver spousal support or attorneys fees as they end the 25-year marriage. >> arnold is sending a signal to the other side. if we'r

bill whitaker has more. >> reporter: this is how the 405 dubbed the nation's busiest freeway usuallyhe highly populated san fernando valley. because this stretch is so heavily traveled it needs to be widened, and to be widened, it needs to be completely shut down. >> even if we get the message out to half the people it means 250,000 people are trying to use that road. >> reporter: from friday night to monday morning traffic could be backed up for as much as 64 miles as thousands of commuter twhos rely on the freeway find other ways to get around. los angeles residents have a word for what's to come, carmageddon. even actor eric estrada is getting the word out. >> avoid the area or just stay home. >> reporter: this doctor at a nearby ucla hospital knows where he'll be spending the weekend. >> staying in my office. i'm sleeping here. >> reporter: and the hospital support staff will also be roughing it, sleeping on cots in a nearby not yet occupied medical office tower. >> i'll be staying here for four days. it's going to be like a vacation. >> reporter: still many are capitalizing on t

. >> cbs' bill whitaker. the novel "snow flower and the secret fan" became a story about two chinese women with a bond that was stronger than any bond they shared including marriage. here is cbs' betty nguyen. >> i'm writing a book about the old days. >> reporter: "flow flower and the secret fan" tells the story about two friendships. one set in modern-day china, another in its very distant past. the film was based on the 2005 best selling novel about a 19th century chinese woman named lily. >> she had what was called an old fame. a friendship for life an emotional marriage between women when actual marriage had very little emotion attached to it. >> reporter: the director was struck by the powerful relationship between lily and snow flower. >> oftentimes women tend to form much closer friendships with their friends than you know with their husbands. marriages are oftentimes business arrangements. these women have this special language which is "women language." >> it literally means women's script. so it was