tv ABC World News With Diane Sawyer ABC October 9, 2013 5:30pm-6:01pm PDT
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us. world news is next. >> from all of us here, thanks for watching. welcome to "world news." tonight, shutdown shame. the scramble to restore military benefits to grieving families of troops killed in action, as anger at washington hits an all-time high. health alert. a warning tonight about a popular weight loss supplement and its possible link to a deadly outbreak. scare in the air. the frightening accident in a hot air balloon festival. passengers screaming for help. and real answers tonight. a workplace secret. >> unadulterated misery and hell. >> what millions of adults are facing on the job from their coworkers. good evening. we begin tonight with 26 american families caught in the cross-hairs of a political fight. mothers and fathers, husbands
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and wives, all denied government help to fund funerals for the loved ones they lost who were serving our country. a solemn government promise, broken. this was the scene today at dover air force base in delaware, as the bodies of the fallen heroes returned home. defense secretary chuck hagel paid his respects and announced late today that the pentagon had found a fix to the problem. but there are new signs of more trouble coming, this time for veterans. we have two reports tonight, starting with abc's senior national correspondent, jim avila. >> reporter: poignant images of shutdown day nine, a lone patriotic volunteer mowing the lawn and trimming trees in front of lincoln in advance of a weekend veterans convention. while at dover air force base, the shutdown hits america's bravest, fallen heroes. 26 killed in action in afghanistan or on military bases at home since the shutdown. their families denied the $100,000 so-called death gratuity.
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the four heroes brought home today all killed over the weekend in an ied attack. sergeant patrick c. hawkins of carlisle, pennsylvania, sergeant joseph peters of springfield, missouri, pfc cody patterson of philomath, oregon, and first lieutenant jennifer m. moreno of san diego. her friends and family forced to raise money to pay for her funeral. >> she sacrificed for the country, for her family. why wouldn't that be taken care of? there is no excuse. >> reporter: the outrage heard and late today, the pentagon announced, on orders of the president, a contract with a civilian charity to pay the death benefit immediately. >> when i heard about this story, i told the department of defense, within our administrative powers, we should be able to get that fixed. >> this hearing will come to order. >> reporter: but a more widespread problem remains unsolved. veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki, warning congress today more than 5 million military veterans and their families
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won't get november benefit checks if the shutdown continues. georgia eaves served in korea, her military pension is all she lives on today. >> if i took care of my soldiers the way they took care of their constituents, we would have lost the war. >> reporter: but as veterans and military families stress over the shutdown, there is still a place where congress at least can get away from it all. no worries, the senate and house gyms are open, although some complain on the radio they have to bring their own towels. >> there's no towel service. >> no towels. >> no. >> and we're doing our own laundry down there. and we pay a fee. >> reporter: only essential federal facilities are supposed to remain open during the shutdown. as one senator put it today, a fit congress is important, but essential? his advice, shut the gym until this madness ends. george? >> okay, jim, thank you. let's get more now from abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. and jon, no surprise, the disgust with washington just keeps piling up.
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>> reporter: that's right, george. and republicans are taking most of the blame in recent polls. but the president isn't doing that well, either. take a look at the latest poll from the associated press. the president's approval rating at 37%. that matches his lowest ever. as for congress, look at this. 5% approve of congress's job performance. george, with the margin of error, that could be as low as 1%. >> unbelievable. you'd think with numbers like that, they'd be scrambling for a solution. >> reporter: that's right. now, i am hearing more talk of proposals about a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, maybe just a couple of months, just really delaying all of this. but george, the president invited all of the house republicans to the white house tomorrow. they refused, said they would only send the leaders. that prompted a pretty sharp response from the press secretary, saying, "the president thought it was important to talk directly to the members who forced this economic crisis on the country." this does not sound like a group on the verge of a compromise. >> not right away. okay, jon karl, thank you very much. some business did get done in washington today. president obama nominated
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janet yellen to replace fed chairman ben bernanke. she's now bernanke's deputy and she will be the first woman chair in fed history. the president talked about her working class new york roots today. >> she is a proven leader. and she's tough. not just because she's from brooklyn. >> the mandate of the federal reserve is to serve all the american people. and too many americans still can't find a job and worry how they'll pay their bills and provide for their families. >> yellen was one of the few voices in the fed in 2007 and is expected to pick up where bernanke leaves off by keeping interest rates low. and we have a health alert tonight about a popular supplement that claims to help you lose weight. the fda is telling people to stop taking it immediately, citing a possible link to liver failure. at least one person has died. the investigation has intensified. and abc's dr. richard besser is tracking it tonight. >> reporter: it's called
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oxyelite pro. a supplement sold nationwide, that is supposed to help you lose weight by burning fat. 29 cases of hepatitis, a serious liver disease. two have needed a liver transplant and one is dead. 80% of those patients took the oxyelite pro in the two months before they got sick. dr. sarah park is head of hawaii's department of health disease outbreak control, where the cases were found. >> the only connection that comes over and over again among our case patients is that they all took a dietary supplement that assists in weight loss and muscle gain. >> reporter: hepatitis causes swelling of the liver and is potentially fatal. that's because it makes the liver, a primary filter for toxins in your body, shut down. nobody yet knows what's causing the problem. the company that makes it, usp labs, says they don't think their product is at fault. that, "the ingredients have been studied for safety, are consumed in the food supply and widely used in dietary supplements." but supplements don't need to be tested for safety or effectiveness before they're sold to you.
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>> so, this is a broad investigation that is going to have to get started. is it hampered at all by the government shutdown? >> reporter: you know, it really is. some of their state health employees are paid by federal dollars and they're not there. i was told, they're calling cdc and fda experts and they are not answering the phone. the critical question is, why are they seeing this in hawaii and not elsewhere? is it due to better looking or distribution? they've got to answer that question. >> big question. okay, rich besser, thank you very much. we're going to turn now to a developing story in west virginia. a man armed with an assault rifle opened fire outside the federal building today. the u.s. marshal service say he fired up to 20 rounds before being shot by security officers. one officer was hurt by shattered glass. and here in new york, a new twist in that road rage incident. a young family's car was swarmed by bikers, the father beaten, and tonight, a police officer who was on the scene is facing charges, caught on tape not helping that family, but taking part in the chaos. abc's dan harris reports. >> reporter: late today in
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manhattan, the spectacle of an elite undercover police detective hustled out of court with his head covered after being charged in the road rage incident that has riveted america for ten days now. prosecutors say wojciech braszczok, seen here on the now infamous videotape, wearing a multicolored helmet and idling right next to the suv carrying ala aa aalexian lien and his family, later joined in the attack by repeatedly kicking their suv with a 2-year-old girl in the backseat. >> the defendant was an active participant of a mob of motorcyclists chasing, capturizing and terrorizing this family. >> reporter: braszczok was not undercover at the time of the beating. he was off-duty, riding with the bikers as they marauded through new york city, provoking 200 911 calls. police say up to five off-duty cops were in the group. what's so scary about this video tape is, it has a "mad max" feel to it. you've got this sort of lawlessness and within the gang
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of bikers, what makes it worse is, you actually have cops in that gang. >> police officers who are present don't even take affirmative action. outrageous. >> reporter: braszczok's defense attorney conceded his client did hit the lien family suv, but the attorney also seemed to turn the blame back around on the victim. >> we keep forgetting that mr. lien ran over someone and paralyzed him. >> reporter: what is so surprising about this case is that braszczok truly is part of the nypd elite. he's a member of the intel unit, which is reserved for top cops. they infiltrate groups deemed to be suspicious. braszczok himself even reportedly lived under cover among the occupy wall street protest protesters, and here he is now, facing these serious charges. george? >> that is so hard to understand. okay, dan, thanks very much. we're going to turn to the story so many of you have been wondering about. how did a 9-year-old sneak on a flight to vegas with no boarding pass and where were his parents? well, today, his father did come forward and as abc's reena ninan reports, that appearance has provoked even more questions.
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>> reporter: with his face covered, this is a father who says his calls to help his troubled 9-year-old boy went unanswered. >> i been asking for help. no one stepped up to help. >> reporter: suspended from school in september after a fight, his dad says he stole a truck last week, crashing it into this police car because he wanted to play "grand theft auto" in real life. he said he had no idea his son had been to the airport at least twice, all by himself. >> he took the trash out and just left. >> reporter: the father assumed his son was staying at a friend's house. >> how would you let a 9-year-old child go through security check without stopping him and questioning him? how can that be? >> reporter: slipping through three layers of security, tsa workers, gate agents and the flight crew. tsa insists he did receive a security screening. the boy chatted up an agent, waited for the agent to turn
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away, then seconds later, quickly boarded the plane. flight attendants realized there was no child traveling alone on the manifest. he was immediately taken into child protective services. the young boy is expected to return to minnesota friday. the family is confident he'll return home. minnesota child protective services will be involved. the father says he has not spoken to his son since he boarded that flight. reena ninan, abc news, new york. we're going to turn now to some images that are streaming in from new mexico. a hot air balloon tangled in a power line, crashing to earth. with two passengers on board. abc's cecilia vega has more on what eye witnesses saw and the real risk of those balloons. >> reporter: photos taken by witnesses show the balloon flying dangerously low over this neighborhood. it becomes entangled in power lines, then the flames. >> at that point, there was a big old pop. flame shoots out the side, you know? you can hear all this.
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the gondola then goes down. >> reporter: two men inside the balloon suffered serious burns. witnesses say they would hear the screams. some used water bottles to douse the passengers and put out the fire. it is the second crash in three days at the world's largest balloon festival. a woman over the weekend, rushed away by paramedics after a crash landing. these scenes of peaceful beauty, marred by hard falls and sobering statistics. since 2001, 19 people have died in hot air balloon crashes. former faa safety inspector dominic chemello has investigated hundreds of hot air balloon accidents. what's the biggest risk in flying a balloon? >> power lines, by far. >> reporter: it was a power line strike that caused nfl veteran donte stallworth's balloon to come crashing down earlier this year, leaving him with serious burns. >> from an accident safety standpoint, balloons are about ten times safer than airline travel. >> reporter: a thing of beauty that comes with risk.
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cecilia vega, abc news, los angeles. >> a whole lot of risk. and coming up, bullies on the job. our real answers team is on the job. the secret that has so many adults afraid to go to work. and running on the treadmill, jumping in the pool to shed those pounds. not you, your pet. we're going to be back in two minutes. me rates for progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up.
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it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is. hands for holding. feet, kicking. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers have happened in patients taking xeljanz. don't start taking xeljanz if you have any kind of infection, unless ok with your doctor. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests,
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including certain liver tests, before you start and while you are taking xeljanz. tell your doctor if you have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you are pregnant, or plan to be. taken twice daily, xeljanz can reduce the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe ra, even without methotrexate. ask if xeljanz is right for you. back now with our real answers team. taking on a problem we're used to seeing in schools and on play grounds. but you'd be amazed to find out how much bullying happens on the job. abc's amy robach has real answers on how to stand up for yourself at work. >> i was a victim of adult bullying. >> screaming, long tirades, threatening both physically and emotionally. >> he did everything he could to humiliate me. >> i would get home at the end of the day, i just wanted to
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stay in my safe place, because none of those people would get me there. >> reporter: millions of americans go to work in fear. even in top professions. this neurosurgeon, whose identity we're not revealing, says she was bullied daily by a former boss. >> it was very difficult to walk into the operating room and be calm, if you had just had somebody kind of take the top of your head off. he also, you know, threatened us in terms of our jobs on a regular basis. >> reporter: how would you describe those two years? >> unadulterated misery and hell. >> reporter: according to a recent survey by the centers for disease control, adult bullying affects an estimated 12 million americans in the workplace. nearly a third more women than men. jane pratt, a successful magazine editor, remembers how debilitating it was when she was bullied by a former boss. >> i remember being in a conference room with a bunch of other people around, and he was yelling at me so fiercely and this close to my face.
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i started to feel like i was going to faint because it was all -- it was just -- it was too much. >> reporter: author jill brooke has studied adult bullying and says it's almost become accepted office behavior. >> it is becoming an epidemic in the workplace because people are responding to their fear of losing job and status, so as a result, they consider this behavior survival of the fittest. >> reporter: causing emotional issues like depression and mood swings to physical issues like headaches and weight gain. you gained -- >> i gained a tremendous amount of weight. >> reporter: how much? >> probably 40 or 50 pounds. >> reporter: so here's what brooke says you should do if you're being bullied. first, speak up. bullies respond to resistance. next, make sure you document the bullying to have proof. and finally, build consensus with others. there is strength in numbers. jane pratt, who's now a boss herself says, learn from your experience. you set the tone. >> you have to set the tone. >> reporter: nice works. >> nice works. it really does.
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>> reporter: and it turns out people pleasers are the biggest targets of bullies and pleasers tend to be women, apparently many of us, george, have the disease to please. >> and the solution is? >> reporter: well, there is a cure. it's fairly simple. learn to say no. sounds easy. very hard to put into practice. practice makes perfect. i suggest maybe starting with a "no, thank you." >> so nice works and no works. >> reporter: yes. >> amy, thank you. and when we come back, have you seen this picture? the million dollar mystery, a norman rockwell classic disappears. now police want your help. it's next in our "instant index." my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children
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also available in powder. this has been medifacts for boost®. our "instant index" tonight starts with a mystery. what happened to this iconic painting? the norman rockwell is called "sport." a fisherman braving rain to catch the big one. you can see rockwell's signature there at the bottom. it graced the cover of "the saturday evening post" in 1939. worth more than $1 million. and now, it's disappeared from a
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storage locker here in new york. tonight, police are asking for your help finding it. and we have new scientific evidence in that age-old search for the best hangover cure. researchers in china compared 57 drinks, including a bloody mary, herbal tea, black coffee and sprite. the winner? sprite. because it quickly breaks down the enzyme that makes hangovers feel so bad. i would have thought it was tea. but it makes symptoms like headaches and nausea worse. and if you are wondering, hair of the dog didn't work that well, either. here's one for all you "downton abbey" fans. >> i want to tell you that i fall more in love with you every day that passes. >> the new season is airing right now in the uk. fans here have to wait until january. and now, a financial website has figured out what it would cost in today's dollars to keep "downton" running. gas, oil, electricity, tending the gardens, cleaning chimneys and lumber to keep those fireplaces burning. grand total?
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$8,365,292 a year. a whole lot. and coming up, not every dog likes to run, so, what if yours is one of those couch potatoes? the new workout to get your overweight pets moving is next. s moving is next. not easy to find, but worth it. we had a gre, but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes.
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and that makes a difference in my breathing. today, we're ready for whatever swims our way. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound good, imagine how they taste. m'm! m'm! good!
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finally tonight, you may not know that today is pet obesity awareness day. or how much it's actually needed. with more than half of america's pets overweight, we're doing our part tonight, by showing the new spa that's getting family dogs and cats into fighting shape. as abc's gio benitez learned, diet and exercise make all the difference for pets, too. >> reporter: four little legs treading through water, shedding pounds. lola here, leading the charge as the more nice animal inn. a kind of weight loss spa for pets. here, right behind us, we have a fitness pool for dogs. >> yes, exactly! >> reporter: here, pups run on treadmills. jump hurdles. even perform aerobic swims. because just like us, our furry friends are battling the bulge. and online, fat cats trying anything to swim down.
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52% of dock dogs and 58% of cats are now obese. lola is supposed to be ten pounds, but she weighed nearly 30 times that. three times that. her owner said it's hard to say no to those puppy dog eyes. >> it's been a good day, let's have a treat. you are feeling blue, let's have a treat. >> reporter: now, lola is sweating it out. >> it's like going to a gym. we work them out, the same thing like humans. >> reporter: and no fatty snacks here. the treat is a healthy yogurt parafate with some string beans, a rice cake and even some bacon built bits, just for a little flavor. here you go. so, how can you tell if your fido is fit and not fat? well, the key is being able to feel their ribs, but not see them. lola's well on her way. she's already lost seven pounds. just ten more to go. >> good girl. >> see her, her tail is wagging, her little feet are moving. makes me very, very happy. >> reporter: gio benitez, abc news, morristown, new jersey. >> you go, lola. that's all for us tonight. thank you for watching.
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diane will be back tomorrow. and i'll see you first thing in the morning on "gma." tonight the missing woman found dead in a hospital stairwell. why the family is outraijd by the explanation. >> new suspects in an online drug trading skee. one backer tells axe bc 7 news why he thinks the mastermind was
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doing a public service. >> san francisco firefighters cry discrimination over promotion test. you're going to hear from people whose scores were altered. >> and the cancellation of a bay area sand castle contest. just goes to show the shut down is no day at the beach. >> good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> the bay area man accused of running a massive online drug ring is leaving town. >> he agreed to go to new york to face charges for an operation authorities say existed in something called the deep web. the furtherest recesses of the internet. san francisco police say he made a fortune selling drugs there. and tonight is he facing all so of charges. >> he appeared in court today in leg shackles, being exindicted to new york because that is where the u.s.
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attorney filed charges against him. he waive his right to ask for bail. in federal court today he agreed to remain in custody while transported to new york. once there, he'll face money laundering and drug charges related to a black market for drugs. authorities say the 29-year-old resident used the alias dread pirate roberts like the character in "the princess bride" and he operated silk road on a so called deep web where fictitious names and e mails are hard to track. courts show silk road sold a billion dollars of illegal drugs in three years, generating tens of millions in commission autos whoever started did the world a great service. >> josha brawn convicted of money laundering and marijuana sales when he ran a medical pot club in santa bar bra. he says he knows
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