13 years later we're a happy family. >> thanks for watching. cbs evening news evening is next. see you at 6:00. >> hill: tonight, with millions of lives threatened by catastrophic flooding in pakistan, america races to help one of its most important allies. i'm erica hill. also tonight: crossing the line. >> listen to a black comic and all you here is ( bleep ) ( bleep ) ( bleep ). >> hill: a radio comic sparks a new national debate over the "n" word. police using more eyes in the sky to catch criminals. but what about our right to privacy? plus, forget the salt and pepper... >> reporter: would you ever try this? >> hill: america's melting pot getting spicier. captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric.

>> hill: good evening, katie is on assignment. there's almost no way to overstate the disaster unfolding in pakistan where monsoon rains have triggered the worst flooding in the country's history. every part of the nation is affected. the indus river has swelled now to 15 miles wide at some points. that's 25 times wider than normal. hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed along with a billion dollars worth of crops. the official death toll is 1,500, but that could grow exponentially with the spread of disease. pakistan is a key ally in the war on terror, and today the pentagon said it's sending a second amphibious task force to help pakistan recover. more now from richard roth. >> reporter: the epic scale of pakistan's calamity is surging now over the internet, in amateur videos that caught floodwaters washing away homes or schools. in shaky scenes of modern life floating off in a muddy torrent.

covering crops and farmland pakistan depends on for food, the floods affected about a quarter of the country, and some 14 million people. six million, says the u.n., need food aid. but delivering it's been a logistical nightmare for a pakistani government that critics say has responded late and with too little. in a week of relief flights, the u.s. military has moved more than 3,000 people and more than 300,000 pounds of humanitarian aid, which serves a strategic interest. where pakistan's government has fallen short, islamic charities tied to terror groups are also feeding the hungry. >> what you have is a race for hearts and minds. this is an opportunity to resurrect good will and feeling toward the american public and toward the american government. >> reporter: with floodwaters moving south and more rain on the way, a u.n. official says this crisis isn't just enormous, it's still unfolding.

richard roth, cbs news, london. >> hill: and there is also flooding in this country, although on a much smaller scale. a new line of rainstorms, though, marching across the midwest this afternoon, is only adding to the worries in iowa, as don teague reports. >> reporter: it's a battle wes and jen snyder fear they'll lose: the skunk river steadily rising even as they pump what remains of five feet of water out of their basement. >> you just sit there and watch and you're helpless. >> reporter: some 200 homes and businesses were submerged here in colfax as this river and several others across iowa rose to historic levels. >> hi, there. would you like some water? >> reporter: in ames, flooding ruptured eight water mains which drained the city's water towers, leaving 55,000 residents without drinking water probably until next week. in altoona, friends and family are remembering a 16-year-old girl swept away by floodwaters wednesday, while hundreds of

residents in des moines are cleaning up the huge mess left behind. well, the water is still rising here in colfax, iowa, though forecasters have said they don't expect it to get much higher than it is right now. the good news: most of the rain has now passed to the east and they're calling for a dry weekend for the most part in iowa. erica? >> hill: don, thanks. meantime, in the gulf, b.p.'s blown-out well has not leaked oil in a month, but crews are still not done fixing it. the first family, though, is packing up tonight for a weekend trip down to the gulf region. chip reid is our chief white house correspondent. chip, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, erica. for months, the experts have been saying that well will not be plugged until they finish drilling relief wells two miles deep and then plugging the well from the bottom with mud and cement. but recently, some of the experts have said, "wait a minute, that well has not leaked for almost a month so maybe the temporary cap that they put on top has actually turned out to be permanent." today admiral thad allen,

though, said better safe than sorry and he ordered work on the relief wells to continue. that's expected to take several more days. the president, i'm sure, is hoping it will be completed this weekend when he and the first family are in the gulf for a brief visit. they'll be on the ground for only 27 hours. the white house says it's not really a vacation; it's really an opportunity for the president to tell the nation that the gulf is open for business. they don't go on their real vacation until the entire family leaves for martha's vineyard next week for ten days. erica? >> hill: chip reid, thanks. there's late word from the white house in a speech this evening, president obama came out in support of muslim americans who want to build a mosque and islamic center just blocks away from the world trade center site in new york. it's a controversial issue, but the president said muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in the country. we are learning more tonight about the man suspected in a deadly stabbing spree across three states.

his first attack, police now say, may have been his native israel, while his first words since being arrested were to a judge. here's elaine quijano. >> reporter: at 6' 4", 33-year- old elias abuelazam towered over the officers who escorted him into his first court appearance. in an unusual exchange, he peppered the judge with questions about what was happening. >> what does extradition mean exactly? >> reporter: police believe abuelazam is behind 18 violent attacks that left five men dead, 14 victims in michigan, three in virginia, and one in ohio. most victims were black men. >> stabbing somebody with a knife is a crime of rage. it's not like shooting somebody at a distance. you've got to get in real close and, you know, it gets to the motivation of what's going on here. what really was in this guy's mind? >> reporter: abuelazam is an israeli national who reportedly came to the u.s. in the early '90s. he married and divorced twice. police say he was trying to fly to tel aviv when he was arrested.

he is also reportedly a suspect in a stabbing during a fight in israel earlier this year. the victim refused to press charges. in his hometown near tel aviv, residents expressed disbelief. "i cannot believe this about such a family. he is a good guy," he said. as for the next step, abuelazam agreed not to fight extradition from georgia to michigan. if convicted in michigan, abuelazam could face life in prison. elaine quijano, cbs news, new york. >> hill: now to the talk radio controversy that's really got people buzzing. dr. laura schlessinger has apologized for using a racial slur over and over again on her syndicated radio show earlier this week. jeff glor has more on this misstep by one of the country's top-rated radio hosts. >> reporter: the controversy began during dr. laura's radio show on tuesday.

>> reporter: an african american caller named jade said she was offended by comments made by friends of her white husband, leading schlessinger to bring up what she felt was a double standard when it comes to the "n" word. >> reporter: their discussion quickly became an argument. >> reporter: this week, a day after her "n" word rant, she apologized. >> reporter: still, some tonight-- including the reverend

al sharpton-- are calling on advertisers to rethink their support of her show. her production company tells cbs news: >> reporter: schlessinger, it would seem, hopes her nine million listeners will agree. jeff glor, cbs news, new york. >> hill: a tough week of economic news left an impact on wall street where concerns the recovery is stalling led to a 3% drop for the week. today the government reported retail sales rose, but by just 0.4%. that was for july. store owners were hoping to see a boost from back-to-school shoppers but national correspondent jim axelrod reports it didn't happen. >> reporter: while there's one guaranteed way to save money this back-to-school season... any special strategies to save money? >> don't buy stuff. >> ( laughs ) >> reporter: retailers are offering this alternative: good deals. >> retailers have to come out there and be heavily promotional, come out with deep discounts to entice consumers to

get back into the store. >> reporter: families are spending about $60 more getting ready for school this year than they did last year. but so far early back-to-school spending has not been enough to move retail as a whole forward. in fact, if you want to see one of the healthiest parts of the entire retail sector, you've got to get out of the store entirely and head to your computer. out of the 13 categories that make up the retail sector, just four show growth in the last year. internet sales are one of them. >> it's almost cool to be value- conscious these days. nobody wants to waste money. >> reporter: loren bendel's company savings.com provides online coupons for online shores to online shoppers like mindy cherry. >> i do a lot of shopping online because it's the easiest way and you can get the best discounts online. >> reporter: she makes 95% of her back-to-school purchases on the internet. >> i'm buying them a little more because i'm saving more. it frees up a lot of money. >> reporter: a trend for retailers to keep in mind since

back-to-school shopping is the best indication of what will happen at christmas. jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >> hill: still ahead on the "cbs evening news," america's changing taste in food. it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that zing. but up next, they can spot a bad guy from miles away. of us live here.but most so we need the brita pitcher. for healthier, clean tasting water. another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack that's caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines,

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>> hill: most law enforcement experts will tell you nothing is more effective than cops on the beat when it comes to fighting crime. but police officers can't be everywhere, and now they don't have to be. erin moriarty of "48 hours" goes inside the country's most sophisticated crime surveillance for our series "cbs reports: where america stands." >> reporter: every minute, a car is stolen. >> oh, no! >> reporter: every day across the country, 44 people are murdered, and nearly 3,800 are victims of violent crimes. while crime usually rises during a recession, the report card tells us this time it has not. across the country, violent crimes are down 5.5%. crimes like murder declined 7.2%; robbery 8.1%; motor vehicle theft 17.2%.

the reason why, say law enforcement officials, is the increased use of high-tech tools to fight crime. >> this is the operations center. >> reporter: from a control center that resembles the starship "enterprise," chicago's city officials keep watch over the 232-square-mile urban area with a massive network of cameras creating a virtual eye in the sky. officials refuse to give actual figures, but some estimate the number of publicly and privately owned cameras targeting chicago to be around 15,000. >> you can zoom 32 times optically and up to 184 times digitally. >> reporter: what does that mean? could you see that person's license plate? >> oh, we can get license plates... i'm not going to pull up the specific one there, but yes, you can see the license plate. >> reporter: on the day we were in chicago, officials were keeping a close eye on crowds gathering for a tea party protest. can you identify the people who were there? can you actually pick out faces

of who were at demonstration? >> we're very strict on how we use the cameras for protecting privacy. >> reporter: nicholas beaton is a paramedic assigned to the operations center. >> we'll never zoom in on windows or look into buildings. also, we're very, very carefully on whether we zoom in on people's faces specifically. >> people in most cities are probably captured on camera daily if not multiple times a day. >> reporter: jim harper of the kato institute says the problem with surveillance cameras and technology is they have a spotty record of preventing crime. instead, he says, they are an invasion of privacy. >> as these cameras are networked together and as they are better capable of recognizing individual faces, people might realize just how much they're being watched. >> reporter: harper says the danger is when videos are released of individuals not actually involved in a crime. like this video of a man changing his shirt. his picture was broadcast nationally because officials first believed he could be the times square bomber. >> there's no absolutes here.

the cameras are helpful in some instances; cameras are harmful in other instances if they've led us astray. >> this is 911 emergency. >> reporter: but there is likely to be a demand for even more surveillance cameras. the solution, then, say officials is ever more sophisticated equipment that catches criminals in the act. 911 operators in chicago can turn on any surveillance camera within 150 feet of an emergency call. so when a 911 operator received a call that a salvation army bell ringer was helping himself to the collection bucket-- as seen in this video-- the cops were called in. >> we're showing you the live video. >> reporter: the brain of the video surveillance system is computer software called analytics. it allows operators to set up a virtual perimeter around buildings. as this demonstration shows, once someone or something crosses that virtual line-- like this man walking out the front

door-- the computer send an alert to an official on duty. >> it's looking for a face-like object in this image. and it clips that out and says, "okay, that's the image." >> chicago has the most advanced surveillance camera network in the united states and probably the world. >> reporter: chicago police commander john lewin runs the information services division. he points to mobile cameras called pods-- police operation devices-- which allow cameras to watch high-crime neighborhoods in real time, which is how they were able to catch this man as he attempted to burglarize a home, and this arsonist after he turned a dumpster ablaze. are you concerned that officers will rely too much on technology? >> no, i think, as with any technology, none of these things are the magic bullet, if you'll pardon the pun. these are tools. they're just going to be another tool in the tool box that's going to help officers do their jobs. >> reporter: the fourth amendment protects against unreasonable searches.

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a budget disaster. california on the brink. jerry brown's plan? you run for office and the assumption is, oh, i know what to do. you don't. i didn't have a plan for california. [ female announcer ] with our state in crisis, we need a governor with a plan. you need a real plan, something i'll acknowledge i did not have. [ female announcer ] jerry brown. no plan then. no plan now. meg whitman. a plan for jobs. log on. learn more. >> hill: it turns out security cameras were rolling when the flight attendant slid down the emergency chute on monday. jetblue surveillance video shows the chute being deployed partly hidden on the left side of your screen. then flight attendant steven slater slides down and walks

away. he was later charged with reckless endangerment. jetblue points out in an internal memo obtained today, the chute inflates with so much force it could have killed someone on the ground. in venice, italy, a woman is paddling her way into history as the first female gondolier. for 900 years, only men have held that iconic position. 24-year-old giorgia boscolo is ready to change that. she's been training for the past year and will become a full- pledged pilot after a final written exam. history-making moves in switzerland as well, but nothing to celebrate. a man in a brand-new mercedes s.l.s. was reportedly caught doing 180 miles per hour on a highway there today, so fast the car didn't even register on most speed cameras. now, though, the driver is facing a possible world record fine: about $830,000. coming up next, meet the real spice girls.

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complex. the sex crime arrest and why police are confident they got their man. next >> hill: finally tonight, america is a work in progress: the landscape, the people, the culture-- all constantly changing. and so is our food-- getting spicier by the day. one of our more seasoned correspondents-- richard schlesinger-- tells us what's cooking. >> pretty good, huh? >> reporter: stuff a lot of us have never even heard of a few years ago is now going into recipes we cook-- spices with strange names from far away places. >> i would experiment. >> reporter: yeah? would you ever try nijella, black onion seed? >> i might consider it. >> reporter: judith marcus was looking for aleppo pepper. >> it's like cayenne but less hot, more of a tang, like a lemon to it. >> reporter: the air is thick with exotic aromas at the

mccormick spice company outside baltimore. the factory runs 24 hours a day, and for good reason. mccormick estimates in the '50s the average american spice drawer had ten spices. today the number's grown to 40. >> people consume almost a billion pounds of spices a year. >> reporter: a billion with a "b"? >> a billion pounds of spices a year. >> reporter: 25 years ago it was half that. spice experts say it's the melting pot that's producing spicier meals. as the country becomes more diverse, people crave different tastes. >> the cayennes, the habanero sauces and spices. the things that really burn your mouth. >> reporter: ginger has grown more than 50% while paprika use doubled in the same five-year period. meals that used to be seasoned with salt and pepper include everything from all spice to za'atar. it's a lot to keep track of. >> it's a little bit more

sunaiic. >> reporter: in scientifically controlled positions, professional tasters at the mccormick testing center makes sure everything tastes just right. keeping track of changing tastes is a full-time job so the spice people keep an eye on ordinary people at the testing center through a one-way mirror. on this day they were testing chili, but nobody's expecting in i surprises. >> people are craving spicier, bolder foods and i don't see the tables turning. >> reporter: americans are taking to old saying to heart. and if variety is the spice of life, a larger variety of spices apparently makes life livelier. richard schlesinger, cbs news, hunt valley, maryland. >> hill: that's the "cbs evening news," for katie couric, i'm erica hill. jeff glor will be here tomorrow. thanks for watching. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by

media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org the highest paid in the bay area. so why is one east bay the little guy is suffering. the big guy isn't. >> the mayor said there is money in reserve and the city manager is one of the hughest paid in the bay highest paid in the city. a series of attacks on young women at one apartment complex. tonight police make an arrest. state workers flock to the premier of governor schwarzenegger's new movie, but they are not there to see the show. why they are picketing the big screen. good evening, i'm juliette goodrich. allen has the night off. >> i'm dana king. the news... starts now. your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. comments@captioncolorado.com we hear about city cutbacks on a regular basis nowadays but you might be surprised to hear about cuts in san