CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-26

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Dan Rather and welcome to the

[0:02] CBS Evening News online edition. Just

[0:05] ahead, new clues in the disappearance of

[0:08] hundreds of tons of Iraqi explosives.

[0:11] Also, campaign dirty tricks. This year's

[0:15] activities include theft and vandalism

[0:18] by both sides. We'll give you the inside

[0:21] story. And the very computer you're

[0:24] using to see me right now could soon be

[0:26] your new phone, if it isn't already. All

[0:29] of this is starting now on the CBS News

[0:32] online edition.

[0:34] Of course, those missing explosives in

[0:36] Iraq are much more than a headline or a

[0:38] political wedge issue. They are very

[0:40] real, very powerful, and possibly in the

[0:43] hands of anti-American gerillas or

[0:45] terrorists. So, what, if anything, can

[0:47] or should the US do about that? Now,

[0:50] CBS's David Martin talked to the chief

[0:52] US weapons hunter in Iraq and got a

[0:54] surprising answer.

[0:56] 350 tons of high explosives are missing

[0:59] from these bunkers. And the White House

[1:01] says the unit responsible for searching

[1:03] for weapons of mass destruction, has

[1:05] been directed to find out what happened.

[1:07] But Charles Dolpher, the head of that

[1:09] unit, told CBS News this afternoon he

[1:11] has not received any orders to go

[1:13] looking for the missing explosives and

[1:15] doesn't think he should. It's hard for

[1:18] me to get that worked up about it,

[1:19] Dolpher said in a phone interview from

[1:21] Baghdad, adding that Iraq is a wash in

[1:24] hundreds of thousands of tons of

[1:25] explosives. Dolpher also said UN weapons

[1:29] inspectors had recommended in 1995 that

[1:32] the high explosives be destroyed because

[1:34] of their potential use in a nuclear

[1:35] weapons program. Instead, the

[1:38] International Atomic Energy Agency

[1:40] ordered the explosives stored in sealed

[1:42] bunkers 30 mi south of Baghdad. The last

[1:45] time the IAEA verified the bunkers were

[1:48] still sealed was in March of last year,

[1:51] about a month before the first US troops

[1:53] moved into the complex as they pushed

[1:55] toward Baghdad. Pentagon officials

[1:57] contend the explosives could have been

[1:59] spirited away by the Iraqis before US

[2:01] troops ever got there. Other officials,

[2:04] including Dolpher, say it could have

[2:06] been looters in the chaos following the

[2:08] fall of Baghdad. The commander of the

[2:10] first unit into the area told CBS he did

[2:13] not search it for explosives or secure

[2:15] it from looters. "We were still in a

[2:17] fight," he said. "Our focus was killing

[2:19] bad guys." He added he would have needed

[2:21] four times more troops to search and

[2:23] secure all the ammo dumps he came

[2:25] across. A special unit known as Task

[2:28] Force 75 finally searched the compound 7

[2:31] weeks later and found no sign of the

[2:33] explosives. So, where did 350 tons of

[2:37] high explosives go? David Kay, who once

[2:40] headed the hunt for weapons of mass

[2:41] destruction, says after this bombing

[2:43] outside a mosque in Njaf, investigators

[2:46] found traces of the same kind of

[2:48] explosives.

[2:50] David Martin, CBS News, the Pentagon.

[2:52] The election for president, as best we

[2:54] can tell, is closing hot and tight, and

[2:56] in some cases, deep political divisions

[2:58] in the ranks are spilling over into bare

[3:00] knuckled, reprehensible political

[3:02] actions. CBS's Lee Cowan gives you the

[3:05] lowdown on just how low they go in CBS's

[3:09] inside story.

[3:13] >> Along the final stretch of the road to

[3:15] the White House are the remnants of a

[3:17] bitter campaign.

[3:22] >> Proof of a nasty, even paranoid

[3:24] atmosphere that has some resorting to

[3:26] hidden cameras just to catch those

[3:27] stealing signs. But dirty tricks in this

[3:31] campaign are about more than just voter

[3:33] vandalism.

[3:35] >> Rallies have gotten ruthless. Florida

[3:38] Republicans say protesters broke the arm

[3:40] of a Bush campaign worker who tried to

[3:42] keep demonstrators out.

[3:44] >> We told them to leave. They didn't

[3:45] listen. They broke the law.

[3:47] >> This is where they kicked the door in.

[3:49] >> In Washington state, two Bush Cheney

[3:51] offices were burglarized by thieves who

[3:53] made off with election computers. In

[3:55] Ohio, it was the Democrats who lost

[3:58] computers and their trust of the other

[3:59] party.

[4:00] >> I don't know why they would just steal

[4:01] the computers and nothing else. I mean,

[4:03] there was money around, TVs around.

[4:06] >> Yeah, I think it was political.

[4:08] >> And nowhere are the accusations flying

[4:09] faster than in the swing states like

[4:11] here in Ohio, where these days it seems

[4:14] just as important to hate the other

[4:15] candidate as it is to love your own.

[4:18] Politics as usual, hardly.

[4:20] >> These are all signs of the intensity of

[4:22] politics in 2004. Political analysts

[4:24] like Larry Sabato aren't surprised that

[4:26] people tried to register Mickey Mouse

[4:28] and Mary Poppins to vote this year.

[4:30] Fraud and intimidation, he says, are

[4:32] just part of the new political playbook.

[4:34] >> People are so polarized and they feel so

[4:37] strongly about their choice that they're

[4:39] willing to suspend their judgment and

[4:41] even their integrity.

[4:43] >> Hey, hey, what do you

[4:46] got to go?

[4:47] >> And if it's this bad now, some fear

[4:49] election day itself could be even worse.

[4:51] >> We've asked the sheriff for at least

[4:53] increased patrols.

[4:54] >> It's gotten that bad.

[4:56] >> Well, it's it's got people nervous.

[4:58] >> Party lawyers will be there, too, to

[5:00] guard against any pranks at the polls.

[5:02] >> If there's a recount, God help us.

[5:06] >> Because tempers aren't likely to cool

[5:08] when cloak and dagger politics seem the

[5:10] rule, not the exception. Lee Cowen, CBS

[5:13] News, Toledo.

[5:14] >> Does it seem to you that every time you

[5:16] open your phone bill, it's higher than

[5:18] the month before? Whether it's a rate

[5:20] hike or an added fee or a new tax. Well,

[5:23] CBS News correspondent Gretchen Carlson

[5:26] reports there may be a way now for you

[5:28] to cut your phone bill sharply thanks to

[5:31] internet age technology.

[5:34] >> Hi, Mom.

[5:34] >> It may not look like it.

[5:36] >> How are you?

[5:36] >> But Heather Duchi is making a

[5:38] revolutionary phone call.

[5:40] >> Yeah.

[5:40] >> Talking over the internet using a

[5:42] technology called Voiceover IP.

[5:45] >> I plug this cord from my computer into

[5:47] the box. It's as simple as plugging your

[5:49] telephone cord into your high-speed

[5:50] internet service. That cuts your bill in

[5:53] half.

[5:54] >> It's like $40 a month versus $16 a

[5:57] month. It seems like an obvious choice.

[6:00] >> Sound too good to be true? Actually not,

[6:03] says Jeffrey Citron, CEO of Vonnage,

[6:06] which pioneered the technology.

[6:08] >> There's about 100 million phone lines.

[6:10] They're installed in homes and small

[6:12] offices around the United States, and

[6:13] our goal is to convert them all over to

[6:15] voice of IP. Vonnage's explosive growth

[6:17] from 7,000 customers to more than

[6:20] 300,000 in just two years has forced the

[6:22] heavyweights of the telecommunications

[6:24] world like AT&T and Verizon to dial into

[6:27] the technology as well.

[6:29] >> All of the telephone companies will be

[6:30] getting in. All of the long-distance

[6:32] companies will be getting in.

[6:34] >> Major corporations like the Ford Motor

[6:36] Company are racing to take advantage of

[6:38] the same 21st century technology. Here

[6:41] in Detroit, Ford is in the process of

[6:43] shifting 50,000 employees to voice over

[6:46] IP.

[6:47] >> We're doing it first and foremost to um

[6:49] take money off the table to save money.

[6:51] >> What sort of cost savings do you project

[6:53] here?

[6:54] >> Well, um significant.

[6:56] >> If you've been waiting for a catch, it's

[6:57] probably this. Less than a third of US

[7:00] households have high-speed internet

[7:02] service, but experts predict as more

[7:04] people get it, they'll switch to

[7:06] voiceover IP just as quickly as they

[7:08] embraced the cell phone. I suspect, you

[7:10] know, within 10 years, everyone will

[7:13] have it

[7:14] >> because people like Heather are already

[7:15] finding it an easy call to make.

[7:18] Gretchen Carlson, CBS News, New York.

[7:21] >> More stories are just a click away. But

[7:23] don't forget to join me on television

[7:25] for the on air edition of the CBS

[7:27] Evening News. On Wednesday's broadcast,

[7:30] global warming, it's a big issue in the

[7:32] presidential campaign. Where the

[7:34] presidential candidates stand in CBS's

[7:37] election series, What does it mean to

[7:39] you? for cbsnews.com.