pelley" is next. captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com >> ight, a brighter economy. the federal reserve raises its predictions for growth and jobs. anthony mason on the new outlook. the director of the f.b.i. surprised many today with a frank answer to this question: >> does the f.b.i. use drones for surveillance on u.s. soil? >> pelley: bob orr on the f.b.i.'s program. this is supposed to be the answer to america's biggest nuclear contamination problem, but it's billions over budget. carter evans investigates. and ken moreis' great-great- great grandfather is a giant of american history. jim axelrod on how a powerful legacy changed one man's man'sn. mission. >> frederic douglas said it's easier to build strong children

than repair broken men. captioning sponsored by cbs >> pelley: good evening. it doesn't happen very often but it happened today-- the stock market plunged in reaction to good news. the news from the head of the federal reserve was that the economy is doing better. here's the part wall street did not like. ben bernanke said the economy is doing well enough that the fed is likely to ease back on one of its stimulus programs, a bond buying program that has helped keep interest rates at record lows. the prospect of higher rates sent the dow down more than 200 points to close at 15,112. reason enough to call in our senior business correspondent anthony mason. anthony. >> reporter: scott, the downside risks have diminished since the fall, bernanke said today, in an assessment of the economy that has turned noticeably more upbeat. >> generally speaking, financial conditions are improving. >> reporter: the fed lowered its forecast for the unemployment

rate across the board by about a quarter of a point to about 7.25% by the end of this year, and to about 6% by the end of 2015. the main headwinds for the economy in the fed's view come from washington where budget cuts are restraining growth. >> our judgment is that, you know, given that very heavy headwind, the fact that the economy is still moving ahead at, at least a moderate pace is indicative that the underlying factors are improving. >> reporter: if that continues, bernanke said, the fed will start to taper its stimulus program later this year, but interest rates will remain low. most fed governors don't expect to start raising rates again until at least 2015. the fed chairman's term ends in january. president obama said this week bernanke has already stayed longer than he was supposed to, but, scott, bernanke would not say anything today about his personal plans. >> pelley: anthony, thanks very much. just when the americans were

debating the government surveillance of phone records, we found out today the f.b.i. is flying drones over the country. what's the bureau doing with eyes in the sky? here's bob orr. >> reporter: in february, as a hostage rescue team prepared to free a five-year-old alabama boy from a gunman inside this bunker, the f.b.i. was watching from above, flying quietly over the scene was a small drone, which provided a continuous live picture of the bunker door. the f.b.i.'s use of crohn's was a secret until today when director robert mueller answered this question from iowa senator charles grassley: >> does the f.b.i. own or currently use drones and if so, for what purpose. >> yes, and for surveillance. >> reporter: the f.b.i.'s drones are small, model airplane-sized aircraft, and they are unarmed. law enforcement sources say the f.b.i. has only used them about a dozen times.

officials claim the drones are inexpensive and effective, delivering eyes-on details at crime scenes without putting agents in harm's way. >> does the f.b.i. use drones for surveillance on u.s. soil? >> yes. >> uh, i want to go on to a question-- >> let me just put it in context, though. in a very, very minimal way, in very seldom. >> reporter: the f.b.i. is not the only law enforcement agency developing its own drone fleet. border protection operates larger surveillance drones along the canadian and mexican borders. the drug enforcement administration and bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms have also acquired drones. and a few local police departments like miami-dade are trying to use small drones but aviation rules greatly restrict where the unmanned aircraft can fly. the f.b.i. insists its use of drones will not compromise privacy. officials point out police departments already use cameras in cruisers, planes, and helicopters. now, the f.b.i. sa the drones

are only used to monitor situations that are playing out in public. many of those outdoor spaces, scott, are already saturated, as you know, with cameras belonging to law enforcement and private businesses. >> pelley: bob, thank you very much. today, president obama proposed cutting america's nuclear arsenal by a third if the russians do the same. he made the offer in the once- divided german city that symbolized cold war tensions where president kennedy declared himself a berliner, and president reagan demanded the soviets tear down the wall. mr. obama said today as long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe. >> we're on track to cut american and russian deployed nuclear warheads to their lowest levels since the 1950s. ( applause ) but we have more work to do. >> pelley: chief white house correspondent major garrett is traveling with the president. major, when the president says

more works needs to be done, what's he talking about? >> reporter: he's acknowledging russia is not sold on this idea and neither are congressional republicans. vladimir putin said he will not reduce the size of his country's nuclear arsenal until he extracts concessions from the west on the placement of missile defense systems in europe. congressional republicans said they may block these newly proposed cuts because they say russia is not living up to existing arms control treaties. despite all the difficulties, top advisers say president obama will move ahead. berlin. thank you. the president, of course, has a shooting war on his hands in syria. mr. obama is sending weapons to rebels who are trying to overthrow the dictatorship there, and the two-year-old war has been spilling into neighboring countries. so now, mr. obama has sent u.s. forces to jordan, sending a message to the syrian dictator to stay out. clarissa ward is there. >> reporter: it was a fierce display of military might.

8,000 soldiers, including 4,500 american troops, held an elaborate set of war games on a dusty patch of the jordanian desert. >> we had cobra attack helicopters. you have challenger tanks from the jordanian army pup had m1-a1 tanks from the marine core it is >> colonel matthew st. clair: >> we brought a lot of power to bring to bear. >> reporter: is there any other military who can put on a show like that? >> reporter: i don't think so. these exercises weren't just about showing off america's military prowess, set against the backdrop of syria's civil war, the land and sea maneuvers were designed to show america's support for jordan, one of its closest mid-east allies. syria is right next door to jordan and it's hard to believe this display of force has gone unnoticed by the syrian government, but syria is also the one thing that nobody here

will talk about. american and jordanian officers refused to even mention the country's name, reluctant to inflame an already-tense situation. the u.s. will leave more than 20 f-16 fighter jets behind here in jordan and also anti-aircraft patriot missiles that will be parked along the syrian border, a sign that both countries really are preparing for the worst. >> pelley: clarissa ward in jordan, thank you very much. in south africa, former president nelson mandela has now been in the hospital for 12 days, battling a lung infection. the official word is that his condition remains serious but stable. mark phillips in johannesburg tells us south africans are having a difficult time dealing with the prospect of losing a man who led the country out of apartheid. >> reporter: in soweto, outside of johannesburg where many of the battles of the liberation struggle were fought, they've been celebrating. once again they've been told the

94-year-old nelson mandela is rallying from a serious health crisis. mandela's daughter came out from visiting the man they call madibaw apparently good news. >> how is he doing? >> he's doing very well. >> reporter: but south africans have learned that such assurances aren't also what they seem. adam habib, the well-connected vice chancellor of the university of johannesburg knows what is happening behind the brave face. >> i think if you speak to individuals quietly, many will tell that-- will tell you that he's quite close to going. >> reporter: nelson mandela is revered for setting his people free, but now for family and political reasons there seems to be a reluctance to set him free as this recent controversial photo session showed, nelson mandela still has political value. south africa's president jacob zuma was accused of trying to exploit that popularity. mandela's long longtime body

guard shaun van heerden has begun to fear that the mandela family and the government may be prolonging his boss' suffering. >> are we going to goat a situation where you put him on a machine to keep him alive? for what purpose? i don't think so. set him free. >> if a hard decision has to be made about turning off the machines that may be keeping him alive, we are aware that decision may have confronted the family last week, and they struggled with that decision. >> reporter: and that struggle has intensified. it's been more than two days since there's been any official medical bulletin on nelson mandela's health, and there's a fear here that no news is bad news. not only that, scott, but we understand the mandela family is now finally coming to terms with the issue of how much medical intervention for a sick old man is enough. >> pelley: mark phillips outside the hospital tonight. mark, thank you. a vaccine designed to prevent

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nuclear reservation in washington state. hanford made the plutonium for american nuclear weapons all way from the manhattan project in world war ii until 1987. now highly radioactive waste is leaking and a project to clean it up has stalled. carter evans has been looking into this. >> reporter: the cleanup at hanford nuclear reservation cost u.s. taxpayers $2 billion every year. this winter, engineers discovered six new leaks of radioactive material from underground tanks. washington governor jay inslee: >> there is something in on the order of 1,000 gallons a year that are leaking now from these six tanks. >> reporter: the government's cleanup plan involves pumping 56 million gallons of waste out of 177 tanks, mixing it with liquid glass and sealing it in steel canisters. >> that does involve technological challenges some people have associated with the kind of leap that the moon shot

involved. this is-- this has never been done in human history before. >> reporter: the cleanup is supposed to take place at this $13 billion complex, but the plant's been plagued with technical challenges since the project began in 2000. most of the problems are at the pretreatment facility. this building is the first stop for the nuclear waste once it's removed from the storage tanks, but there is no activity here right. the department of energy suspend construction about a year ago. >> they did an analysis and identified over 100 single-point failures in the pretreat facility. >> reporter: donna busche is the manager of environmental and nuclear safety at hanford. >> i do not believe it will work as is. >> reporter: after billions of dollars have been spent. >> after billions of dollars. >> reporter: little was known about what was put in the tanks and how it's changed since the 40s. busche is worried it's unstable and an explosion during cleanup could release radioactive material. if you don't know exactly what's in the tanks, how can you build a facility to treat it?

>> i think that is the fundamental issue. we don't understand the chemical reactions, but yet we're building the plant. >> reporter: similar concerns were raised in this review by the g.a.o., congress' investigative agency. it blamed the department of energy for building the plant before the design process was complete. as a result, part of the facility may not work and may not meet nuclear safety standards. the report was also critical of the bechtel corporation, the contractor in charge of the project. this schedule completion date has slipped by nearly a decade to 2019, and the cost has more than tripled to $13.4 billion and could grow substantially. bechtel spokeswoman suzanne heaston gave us a tour, but not an explanation. who's fault is it that it's not up and running? >> you'll talk to the department of energy about that. >> reporter: today, energy secretary ernest moniz had this to say: >> i believe the problems, that i've seen, should be manageable. we may have to make some changes in how we are approaching the project.

>> reporter: what happens in that time period, though, while we're coming up with a new solution? >> waste will be leaking into the groundwater. it will continue to leak. it's an urgent problem that must be solved. >> reporter: but engineers have to get this right. it will take 40 years to treat the waste, and during that time, scott, radiation will make parts of the plant inaccessible to humans. >> pelley: carter, thank you very much. could an announcement today lead to better insurance coverage for obesity? that story is next. for our families...

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portrayal of a new jersey mob boss, he survived by his wife debra lynn, the couple just gave birth to their daughter in october of last year. he also has a teenage son from a previous marriage. we now return to scott pelley. >> pelley: one-third of american adults are obese, and today, the american medical association declared obesity a disease, we asked r. jon lapook to tell us what is behind that decision. decision. >> reporter: six months after weight loss surgery and 72 pounds lighter, linda novembre believes invasive treatment was her only hope against obesity. >> i've done working out. i've done dieting. i tried drugs like alli, and i would lose 20 pounds and gain back 40 and yo-yo back and fourth. >> reporter: linda's surgeon, agrees with the a.m.a. he says obesity by itself is not taken seriously enough. >> the bias against treatment

for obesity goes across the board. >> reporter: roslin said weight loss surgery is covered by medicare and insurance companies when there are complications such as diabetes and high blood pressure but obese patients who have not yet developed these problems may be denied coverage. >> usually people are denied coverage not for that reason. they're denied coverage because there are exclusions in their policies that don't allow the treatment of obesity. >> reporter: america's health insurance plan air, trade group representing insurers, says whether we call obesity a condition, risk factor, or disease, changes in coverage are driven by evidence that treatments are safe and effective. >> pelley: the subject of our final story tonight carries the blood of two of the most famous men in american history. we'll have that after this. with the spark miles card from capital one,

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governor brown and state lawmakers are getting a rai. next on kpix-5 weather talent appears at wx center with generic pinpoint filling monitor then we take special >> pelley: today is june nineteenth, the holiday commemorating the day the last of the slaves were declared free. today at the capitol's emancipation hall a statue was unveiled of frederick douglass who escaped slavery as a young man, devoted his life to ending it, and became an adviser to the man who did, abraham lincoln. american history, and for the man you're about to meet, family history. here's jim axelrod. >> reporter: no doubt the sight of frederick douglass' statue stirred deep feelings for many in the capitol today but perhaps they reached deepest for this man, ken morris. >> my grandfather was frederick douglass iii, and he was frederic douglas' son. and my grandmother nettie

hancock, was booker t. washington's granddaughter. >> morris, he descends not from one leader but two. >> can you imagine growing up and you see your ancestors, there are bridges that are named after them, they're on schools and libraries. it can be pretty intimidating and that's quite a vast, long shadow to grow up in. >> reporter: morris avoided the shadow while building a successful marketing career until one day a buddy passed along a magazine and morris felt a pull he could not ignore. >> and the cover story was 21st century slaves. and i reacted the way i think most people do. slavery didn't end with the work of frederick douglass, and i have two teenaged daughters who at the time were 12 and 9 years old, and i got up and i walked in to my girls' room, and i found that i couldn't look them in the eyes and walk away from this and not do anything. each and every one of us descends from somebody that made a difference. >> reporter: the frederick douglass family initiatives was born to teach children about the

27 million people enslaved worldwide. morris has already spoken to 60,000 student. >> and frederick douglass said it's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. >> reporter: five generations later, the work of perhaps america's greatest abolitionist continues, and ken morris' life makes a little more sense to himself. >> when he passed away in 1895, he thought slavery had ended, but the fact that it still exists, i would imagine he would expect his descendants to continue the fight. >> reporter: which is why morris is heading back to the family business and hopes all of us will prosper. jim axelrod, cbs news, washington. >> pelley: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald >> where's our raise? we're state workers. >> government employees saying, "show me the money"! after top green lawmakers get the green light for bigger paychecks. it pays to be at the top especially if you are a california legislator. today the commission in charge of setting salaries voted to get state lawmakers the governor a big raise. kpix 5's phil matier on how much they are getting and where it's coming from. >> reporter: you have heard about the trickle-down effect money from the top down? after we passed prop 30 and put more money into taxes we're having a trickle up effect. here's the story. it was a happy day in sacramento at least for lawmakers where off years of

budget deficits and repeated paycuts to their salaries, the panel appointed to set lawmakers' salaries said that the state's finances were finally in good enough shape to give the lawmakers back some,a 5% pay hike, although not everyone on the panel was in agreement. >> there was a $16 billion shortfall two years ago. that seems like magic to me. >> okay. well, it doesn't seem like magic. >> reporter: governor brown, for example, will see his pay rise to $173,987. putting him on par with other big state governors like new york, illinois and pennsylvania. >> it's still a little behind the basketball coach at ucla by a factor of 10. >> reporter: it's short of the money schwarzenegger would have received prior to the cuts but schwarzenegger was only paid $1. kamala harris will see