john blackstone reports. >> reporter: with a taser pointed at his chest, peter mcfarland did sit down. the 64-year-old had fallen at his home but refused to be taken to the hospital because he didn't have insurance. despite his wife's objections -- >> this is my problem. >> reporter: -- deputies kept the taser trained on him and ordered him to get in an ambulance. >> get your hands behind your back. >> [ bleep ]. >> get your hands behind your back. >> reporter: this is the latest incident to raise controversy over the use of tasers, which police departments claim can reduce injuries and fatalities. but a study of major u.s. cities found deaths in custody actually rise sharply, near six times, during the first year a department uses tasers. dr. byron lee led the study. >> 600% in that first year, yes. >> reporter: after the first year, in-custody deaths return to the same level before tasers were introduced. tasers are now used by some 12,000 law enforcement agencies. by 2008 a study by amnesty international showed in at least 35 states there were deaths after taser use. 55 in californ

>> mitchell: john blackstone in san bruno, california. thanks. the man behind the planned islamic center in lower manhattan spoke out today. other voices were heard, as well, in the ongoing debate over islam in america. jim axelrod has more. >> reporter: one day after the protests at the proposed colombiaic culture center near ground zero, it was much quieter, in part due to police barricades that now cordon off the block. the man in the middle of the controversy was speaking about it. >> i'm man of peace dedicated to peace. >> reporter: in an interview with abc news, the imam said a decision on changing the location is complicated. >> my major concern with moving it is the headline in the islamic world will be "islam is under attack in america." this will strengthen radicals in the muslim world. >> reporter: some seven out of ten new yorkers say the center should be moved, far different from when the public learned of plans last summer. the imam was quoted as saying, "we want to push back against the extremeists." a spokesman for the 9/11 memori

john blackstone reports. >> reporter: a gas station surveillance video obtained by cbs news captures the moment of the explosion in san bruno. the fire erupting from the earth turned the suburban neighborhood into an inferno, as residents ran for their lives. survivors remember the heat, the noise, and the shaking as flames shot hundreds of feet into the air. >> open up the door and see that flame, that's the scary part about it, you know. >> reporter: one resident, walter mccaffrey, shot this cellphone video from his balcony after warning his wife and children not to come home. today his balcony overlooks what's being called the zone of devastation. it's one of the last houses standing on the edge of a ruined neighborhood. the explosion ripped a 28-foot-long section of gas pipeline out of the earth. a 30-inch high pressure transmission line that ran right under the neighborhood. did you have any idea that pipe went so close to your house? >> no, i did not, no. >> reporter: pacific gas & electric, the utility that operates the pipeline has almost 6,500 miles of major transportation p

>> couric: john blackstone in san bruno tonight. john, thank you. there's also growing concern over one way they drill for natural gas, it's something called fracking. several companies want to expand it throughout much of the east so natural gas can be separated from shale deep understood ground. but some experts say chemicals used in the process can poison drinking water and as armen keteyian reports, hundreds showed up at a federal hearing today in western new york to debate the issue. >> safe drilling now! >> reporter: the e.p.a. hearings in binghampton have become a battleground over fracking, a method of extraction that has high rewards for companies and some say higher risks for communities. what's driving the drilling rush are advances in hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, a process whereby millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are blasted deep understood ground, forcing cracks in the shale, freeing natural gas for collection. it's at the surface from where problems have been reported. like blowouts and spills into groundwate

john blackstone, cbs news, yellowstone national park. >>> and that is the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching this morning. we hope to see you later on for "the early show." i'm terrell brown. take care, everybody. we'll see you then. ke care, everybody. ,,,,,, >>> your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. >>> if true, it could cripple muni transportation in san francisco. how long a si

john blackstone, cbs news, yellowstone national park. [ male announcer ] this is rachel, a busy mom. she starts at dawn and so does her back pain. that's two pills for a four hour drive. the drive is done. so it's a day of games and two more pills. the games are over, her pain is back, that's two more pills. and when she's finally home, but hang on, just two aleve can keep back pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rachel, who chose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. ♪ >> couric: computers can't read your mind-- not yet anyway, but they're getting closer. introducing google instant. it displays search results as soon as you begin typing a request, changing as each new character is typed and actually predicting which sites you may want to visit. and for all of you in a big hurry, google said today the new technology will save two to five seconds per search. well this doesn't happen very often-- an umpire ejecting a fan. it happened in milwaukee last night during the brewers' 4-2 win over st. lou

>> couric: john blackstone with the latest from san bruno, california. john, thank you. the explosion in san bruno sent shock waves all across the country felt by anyone who uses natural gas. and this is a lot of people. more than half the homes in this country, in fact-- nearly 60 million-- use natural gas. so how safe is it? here's national correspondent dean reynolds. >> reporter: natural gas is everywhere in this country. it's drawn from huge north american reserves that contain an estimated 100 times the current u.s. annual gas consumption. the gas is transmitd from wells through processing plants where an odor is added to enhance detection. and then distributed by 1,200 local gas utilities to customers nationwide through a delivery system that includes some 1.5 million miles of pipe. it's quite an achievement. but, since 1990, natural gas leaks have been linked to 291 fatalities and almost a billion dollars in property damage. critics say safety regulation and inspection are not up to you have? federal law requires only 7% of the country's natural gas pipelines be

especially supervisor carmen chu, blackstone, and the people behind me. i have been blessed to have a co-worker like carol at my side. her ability to help children with disabilities is unsurpassed. if i have not been the camp manager, i have a profound admiration for both of them and the board of ethics. thank you. [applause] >> i retired last year from parks and recreation. this has been very hard with us to lose his position after this many years. he has done a good job. he has an impeccable record. he will be missed. 21 years as a camp manager. he has done wonders. he has children from the 1970's that stop by the house to see how daisy is doing. children with disabilities act still come to see how dave is. i am truly happy to see how truly recognized he has been. it is a long time coming. i know there is life after rec and park. he said that i would never have met cammy or carmen. for all of the wonderful people. thursday night, we do have our final luaw for the summer. dave bayh is a -- buys a pig out of his own pocket. >> good afternoon, board of sup

i would also like to say to the supervisor -- chu and blackstone were helping us to mediate everything. >> i am guy stillson. i was wanting to thank parks and recreation, philip ginsberg and kern, ketchum, buell and harrison, to come to a fine account -- a fine compromise that i would like to invite everyone watching this on television and everyone in this room to come to this event. i would like free to come and join us. >> and is there any other public comment? public comment has been closed. >> commissioner harrison? >> i have a question. on the remediations these, on the other organizations charge for these fees? >> that will play a much more significant remediation. >> i was talking to my son the other day and he is wanting for me to invest in repairing, pontiac so that we can bring this out there next year. >> commissioner lee? commissioner lee: we can go to the vote. i am happy that the compromise was reached, and i heard a lot of good things about this over the years. i am happy that we have come to a compromise. >> let me add my congratulations to the staff and the applicants.

i had been reading blackstone since i was 10. so i went to the court and i pled my own case and won. then, after that, mr. fultz decided he needed to go on to greener pasttures and he left so i realized that i was going to be the court of myself and my children. so i decided now is my chance to be a lawyer. why couldn't i be a lawyer? well, it is right there in the code. you have to be of good moral character. i'm that. you have to be over 21. i'm that. and a white male. so i simply took the code, took out white male, put in person and called it the laid lawyer bill and off i went to -- the lady lawyer bill and off i went to sacramento. there i was. now i had very little money so i was able to talk a conductor of one of the trains into taking me in the caboose for free but i got to sacramento. when i arrived there at the state capitol it was a constitutional convention and i never saw so many men, so well -- throwing tantrums over a little woman like me just wanting to be a lawyer. well, their faces were as red as turkey gobblers

and now, john blackstone reports, a man in marin county, california is suing the police after they tasked him in his own home. >> reporter: with a taser pointed at his chest, peter mcfarland did sit down. the 64-year-old had fallen at his home but refused to be taken to the hospital because he didn't have insurance. >> reporter: despite his wife's objections... >> reporter: this is the latest incident to raise controversy over the use of tasers which police departments claim can reduce injuries and fatalities. but a study of major u.s. cities found deaths in custody actually rise sharply, nearly six times, during the first year a department uses tasers. dr. byron lee led the study in the first year a police department used the taser sudden deaths went up 600%? >> 600% in the first year after the first year, in-custody deaths returned to the same level before tasers were put introduced. by 2008, a study by amnesty international showed in at least 35 states there were deaths after taser use, 55 in california, 52 in florida. experts say the risk of death increases when a person is shocked wi

the blackstone group, which is an international money management firm, has given testimony to calpers, and they basically said the% assumption that calpers has used an editorial evaluation is way off the mark -- and basically said the 8% assumption is way off the mark. san francisco reduced their return assumption to 7.75% two years ago. the fact that the history does not really show returns of that amount is significant and was not discussed here. the other point i want to make is just the cost of pensions. we did not talk all about the appendix in the report which shows the actual pensions ever paid. there was no discussion about the $100,000 club. 900 retired city workers make pensions in excess of $100,000. one out of every four firefighters who retires from san francisco is getting a pension of $100,000 or more. the fire department and police officers retired life behind fire. there is always this assumption of parity between safety, fire and police, and that is true up to a point, when they retire. we investigated the fire department found a high incidence of pension spiking and

they must not know about the machines our john blackstone will be showing us. >> reporter: many of the classic automobiles gathered at pebble beach are makes that disappeared decades ago. pierce arrow, packard, duesenberg, delage-- on the road again in a highly competitive beauty contest. >> everyone on the field wants to win this show. why are you there? >> reporter: join us for a particularly elegant sunday drive later on sunday morning. >> osgood: ben affleck is one of the biggest names in hollywood and he's a pretty big name back in his hometown of boston as well. this morning russ mitchell will be paying him a visit. >> reporter: he's won an oscar for screen writing at age 25 and has acted in more than 30 hollywood films. >> you know, directing is great. action! >> reporter: and now ben affleck, the local boy made good, has come home to boston to prove himself all over again. >> i don't think anything good isn't scary i found. at times i've been scared. the times i've been forced to work have been the best experiences for me. >> reporter: later on sunday morning on the town with a

. >> well, just to let you know that you can find the restaurant at the chicago blackstone hotel. and they have a weekend brunch too on saturdays and sundays and quite a treat. there is plating that holondous -- the sauce over the dish. it looks great. for more information, check out wgn tv.com slash midday. is that beautiful. look at that. i'm sure it tastes just as delectable as it looks. >> thank you. >> thank you. welcome to progressive.com. you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. right on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. the right insurance for your ride. now, that's progressive. call or click today. new one a day men's pro edge. [ male announcer ] give yourself an edge. a complete multivitamin with more magnesium to help support healthy muscle function. more b vitamins to help convert food to fuel. more confidence in a heal