CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-12-27

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

[0:04] ahead, the wave of destruction. How

[0:07] could an undersea quake generate such a

[0:10] massive wall of water, a tidal wave

[0:12] throughout Southeast Asia? We'll give

[0:14] you the inside story. Also, the

[0:17] Christmas air travel mess. Why tens of

[0:20] thousands were stranded at airports over

[0:23] the holiday weekend. And we kick off a

[0:25] week-long series, The Year Ahead, with a

[0:27] look at President Bush's plans and what

[0:30] they may mean for you. It's all starting

[0:32] now on the CBS Evening News online

[0:35] edition.

[0:36] No one saw it coming until it was too

[0:38] late, and there were no warning systems

[0:40] in any of the places struck. So, how

[0:43] does a tsunami happen? What can be done

[0:45] to warn people in time? And could it

[0:47] happen here? CBS's Jared Bowen gives you

[0:49] the inside story.

[0:52] Sunday's devastation and rising death

[0:54] toll are the end result of what

[0:55] scientists are calling the perfect

[0:57] tsunami. The 9.0 earthquake that caused

[0:59] a nearly 700m stretch of seabed to shift

[1:02] 50 ft. A sudden jolt that displaced a

[1:05] massive wall of water, moving at the

[1:08] speed of a jetliner through the deep

[1:09] oceans, undetectable on the surface

[1:12] until it reached the shallow coastal

[1:13] waters and welled up into a 20-foot

[1:16] monster that just kept rushing inland.

[1:18] First in Sumatra, the island closest to

[1:21] the epicenter that was moved 100 ft to

[1:23] the southwest. An entire island moved by

[1:26] the force of the quake and then sweeping

[1:28] east and west across the vast Indian

[1:30] Ocean. 8 hours and 3,000 m later, still

[1:34] moving at the speed of 375 mph as it

[1:38] slammed into Africa, inundating the

[1:40] coast of Somalia. The finale of a

[1:42] seismic event so powerful it even

[1:44] disturbed the Earth's rotation. the

[1:47] actual motion of the rock. Uh it changes

[1:50] the um mass distribution of the earth

[1:53] slightly.

[1:53] >> Sunday's quake and tsunami are the most

[1:55] powerful since the 1964 Alaska

[1:58] earthquake that killed 132 people. Most

[2:00] of those deaths due to the tsunami that

[2:02] followed that led to the creation of the

[2:04] West Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning

[2:06] Center, joining the Pacific Warning

[2:08] Center that was established after a 1946

[2:11] tsunami claimed 159 lives in Hawaii. The

[2:14] stations monitor sensors around the

[2:16] Pacific Ocean and provide early warnings

[2:18] Sunday's victims never got.

[2:20] >> We can detect any large earthquake in

[2:22] the Pacific, usually within uh 2 to 3

[2:25] minutes of the occurrence of the

[2:26] earthquake.

[2:27] >> The centers can warn of approaching

[2:28] tsunamis, but they can't halt them, of

[2:30] course. And there are several areas of

[2:31] the Pacific region that are vulnerable.

[2:33] Hawaii, Alaska, and the Pacific North

[2:36] Coast. If any of those have a very large

[2:38] earthquake, then a tsunami would affect

[2:41] uh those parts of California that face

[2:43] west like um nor you know northern and

[2:46] central California.

[2:48] >> Advanced warning and evacuation plans

[2:50] would lower the human toll here and

[2:51] might have lowered the numbers of

[2:53] Sunday's deaths by thousands, especially

[2:55] for those victims who had hours to flee

[2:57] the disaster they had no idea was

[2:59] coming. Jerry Bowen, CBS News, Los

[3:02] Angeles. Along the US eastern seabboard,

[3:05] it's the nightmare after Christmas. A

[3:07] weekend nor easter whipped up the coast,

[3:09] spreading sleet and ice in the Carolinas

[3:12] and deep snow in New England, up to a

[3:14] foot and a half in some places.

[3:16] Thousands of homes and businesses were

[3:18] left in the dark as power lines snapped.

[3:21] And weather related delays had tempers

[3:23] close to snapping at East Coast

[3:24] airports. But weather is not the only

[3:27] reason air travelers were fuming. The

[3:29] government is promising to investigate

[3:31] why so many holiday air travelers and so

[3:34] much luggage were delayed. CBS's Kelly

[3:37] Coobea reports.

[3:40] >> The way home never looked so long, and

[3:42] getting there never felt so good.

[3:44] >> We're lucky to uh have landed with our

[3:46] lives.

[3:47] >> Tens of thousands of travelers spent

[3:49] their holiday weekend stuck in terminals

[3:51] when 2-hour flights turned into 5-day

[3:54] odysseies.

[3:55] >> Why do people have to do this? Why? And

[3:57] looking for lost luggage was an act of

[3:59] SHEER DESPERATION.

[4:01] >> I FOUND IT. I found it.

[4:02] >> But unlike this winner, few found

[4:04] success.

[4:05] >> Um, since I can't have my suitcase, I

[4:07] have some free deodorant, a toothbrush,

[4:09] shaving cream, too.

[4:10] >> How would you sum up the past few days?

[4:12] They have done nothing but lie to us.

[4:14] >> Mandy Fll is the face of the US Airways

[4:16] customer. After 5 days, she and her

[4:19] family have given up on the airline and

[4:21] are making the 6-hour drive home and at

[4:23] last check without their bags. It's just

[4:26] been a horrible experience. I just never

[4:29] ever ever want to do this again.

[4:31] >> Comair canceled more than 1100 flights

[4:33] because its computers crashed. US

[4:35] Airways blames its snafuss on an

[4:37] employee sick out. The unions deny it,

[4:40] but employees are far from happy. The

[4:42] workers have already given the bankrupt

[4:44] carrier a 40% pay cut and the airline

[4:47] wants another 10%.

[4:48] >> It appears they're looking at employees

[4:50] as being some sort of a cattle herd that

[4:52] they can just replace real easily. You

[4:54] can't do that on a chain gang, let alone

[4:56] a service company like an airline.

[4:58] >> Frustrated flyers are saying, "Forget

[5:00] the workers and the company." They feel

[5:02] like they're the cattle.

[5:03] >> And this is the only industry where you

[5:05] pay a lot of money for a service that

[5:08] you may or may not get whenever they

[5:10] decide to give it to you.

[5:11] >> The weekend's chaos offers a glimpse of

[5:13] what might be ahead for the airline

[5:14] industry. The major carriers are

[5:16] expected to demand more pay cuts as they

[5:19] face yet another year of losses in the

[5:21] billions. I tell them to go ahead and

[5:23] just close down. There are no bankruptcy

[5:25] anyways.

[5:26] >> Losing luggage is one thing, but losing

[5:29] Christmas that customers may never

[5:31] forgive.

[5:34] >> The government investigation will focus

[5:36] on why this happened and on whether the

[5:38] airlines were properly prepared for a

[5:40] busy holiday. Department officials were

[5:42] on the phone with airline management

[5:44] Christmas Eve, but at that point, all

[5:46] that could be done was to ask what was

[5:48] going wrong. Dan

[5:50] >> Kelly Co in Philadelphia. Thanks. With

[5:52] just 4 days left in 2004, the CBS

[5:54] Evening News is giving you a look at

[5:57] ahead this week to what you can expect

[5:59] in 2005. From the war in Iraq to the

[6:02] battle over changing Social Security,

[6:04] President Bush has a lot on his agenda.

[6:06] CBS's John Roberts gives you a look

[6:08] tonight at the president's plans,

[6:10] popular and unpopular, and obstacles to

[6:12] them in the year ahead.

[6:15] >> First family,

[6:16] >> it was the mandate critics claimed he

[6:19] never had in the first term. A clear win

[6:21] in the electoral college and a majority

[6:23] vote from the American people. And with

[6:25] solid control of Congress, a victory

[6:27] President Bush plans to capitalize on.

[6:30] >> I earned capital in the campaign,

[6:31] political capital, and now I intend to

[6:33] spend it.

[6:34] >> Private accounts for social security

[6:36] will be the first big agenda item, and

[6:38] it's going to cost the president plenty

[6:40] in political capital and real dollars.

[6:43] The price tag to start up the program

[6:44] could reach $2 trillion. and say experts

[6:48] it will only help but not heal social

[6:50] security.

[6:51] >> There's still too many baby boomers that

[6:53] are going to need too much support from

[6:55] too few of their kids. And uh I think

[6:57] the the solution is going to have to be

[7:00] uh uh some some painful cuts in in

[7:02] benefits.

[7:03] >> President Bush is also putting a down

[7:05] payment on tax code reform, establishing

[7:07] a commission to come up with ideas for

[7:09] next year. And he'll invest in

[7:11] legislation to limit lawsuits. But none

[7:14] of this will come easy. Democrats insist

[7:17] they're not about to get rolled in the

[7:19] next Congress. Two senior senators are

[7:21] vowing to put a microscope on White

[7:23] House policy. From what they call

[7:25] contract abuses in Iraq to the real cost

[7:28] of the president's Medicare prescription

[7:30] drug plan.

[7:31] >> The congressional watchdog remains fast

[7:34] asleep and we intend to wake it up.

[7:36] >> With a season of headnocking ahead in

[7:38] Congress, the president will seek to

[7:40] soothe relations in the foreign policy

[7:42] arena. In February, he'll launch a charm

[7:45] offensive in Europe aimed at winning

[7:46] back allies still hostile over the Iraq

[7:49] war. But will Europe buy the idea of the

[7:52] gunslinger gone friendly?

[7:54] >> He's not going to win them back

[7:55] overnight. U there's going to be no kind

[7:57] of magic turnaround.

[7:59] >> President Bush doesn't want to be

[8:00] remembered as the one who lost Iraq. So

[8:03] he'll need plenty of help from the world

[8:04] to make it work.

[8:06] >> While Mr. Bush may be loathed to admit

[8:08] it, a second term is all about legacy.

[8:11] And on that front, he has set the bar

[8:13] very high.

[8:14] >> Until he puts his packages out and gets

[8:16] some bipartisan support, uh it doesn't

[8:18] matter how badly uh uh he wants it, it

[8:20] may not happen.

[8:21] >> A full plate to be sure and very little

[8:23] time to digest it all. In a short two

[8:26] years, President Bush officially becomes

[8:28] a lame duck.

[8:30] >> John Roberts, CBS News, the White House.

[8:33] More stories are just a click away, but

[8:35] be sure to join me on television for the

[8:37] on air edition of the CBS Evening News.

[8:40] On Tuesday's broadcast, more about the

[8:42] flood disaster in Southeast Asia, plus a

[8:45] look at how elections half a world away

[8:47] in this coming year could affect you

[8:49] here at home. For cbsnews.com,

[8:52] I'm Dan Rather.