CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-19

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

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

[0:05] Just ahead, Florida prepares for Wilma.

[0:08] Jill Mccasta talks with residents who

[0:10] aren't taking any chances with this one.

[0:13] Also, high drama in an Iraqi courtroom

[0:16] as Saddam Hussein goes on trial. Lara

[0:19] Logan has details. And in our series,

[0:22] The Homeront, a woman will tell you why

[0:24] she's running in a Marine Corps marathon

[0:27] to honor a soldier she never knew. It's

[0:29] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:32] online edition.

[0:34] Hurricane Wilma may be the worst one

[0:37] yet, or it may not. At one point this

[0:39] morning, as it turned toward Florida and

[0:41] Cancun, Mexico, its winds were measured

[0:44] at 175 m an hour. That would be the

[0:47] fiercest hurricane ever seen in the

[0:50] Atlantic. But those winds have dropped

[0:52] now. They're around 160. And the systems

[0:55] pushing this one are so unstable that

[0:58] unlike the season's previous storms,

[1:01] forecasters are having a hard time

[1:03] figuring out where this one is going to

[1:05] finally hit land. Florida is still the

[1:08] most likely spot. Jim Acasta is in

[1:10] Pontagorta.

[1:12] Like a storm on steroids, Hurricane

[1:15] Wilma got an injection of warm Caribbean

[1:17] waters and morphed into a monster. In

[1:20] just 6 hours overnight, Wilma jumped

[1:23] from category 2 to dangerous cat 5

[1:26] status. Its pressure dropped to the

[1:28] lowest level ever recorded in the

[1:29] Atlantic. So, the experts are sounding

[1:32] the alarm.

[1:33] >> We really need to focus on Wilma. If

[1:35] this were the only hurricane of the

[1:37] season,

[1:38] uh, this would be the event of the year.

[1:40] >> Today, a usually mildmannered Max

[1:42] Mayfield of the National Hurricane

[1:44] Center ramped up the tension. I will

[1:46] assure you that if this one makes

[1:48] landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida,

[1:51] there'll be a tremendous storm surge.

[1:53] And if it's a category 4, uh we could

[1:56] easily have 15 to 20 ft.

[1:58] >> Got my hurricane survival guide right

[2:00] here

[2:01] >> in Pontagorta. It's an event Wall-Ally

[2:03] and Judith Grcowski are dreading.

[2:05] >> We're going to batten down the hatches,

[2:08] take our boat, and run to northern

[2:11] Florida.

[2:12] >> Oh my god. Oh my god. Just last year,

[2:15] Hurricane Charlie ripped through this

[2:17] town, one of the so-called big four of

[2:19] '04 that devastated Florida. But that

[2:22] was BK before Katrina. Now, residents

[2:26] who may have tried to ride out Wilma are

[2:28] taking no chances. How are people

[2:30] feeling now? Um, they're they're really

[2:32] uh, you know, emotional.

[2:34] >> Restaurant manager Bill Bthold says the

[2:36] storm could be another setback to an

[2:38] already frustrating rebuilding process.

[2:41] Katrina pulled many contractors out of

[2:43] Southwest Florida.

[2:44] >> I hate to say it, but the opportunities

[2:46] up there for them to make more money.

[2:47] So, they left. They left. They left. You

[2:50] can't find anybody to do much of

[2:51] anything anymore.

[2:52] >> So, Bob and Kathy Peterson are just

[2:54] laying the foundation of the new home

[2:56] that will replace the one Charlie

[2:58] destroyed. They're still getting by in a

[3:00] FEMA trailer.

[3:02] >> It seems like it gets about 6 in shorter

[3:04] every month. So, by the time the house

[3:06] is finished, it's only going to be about

[3:08] 10 ft long. With visitors ordered out of

[3:11] the Keys and more evacuation orders

[3:13] looming for the Gulf Coast, the scramble

[3:15] to scram is almost on.

[3:18] >> We're out of here. Tallahassee, here I

[3:20] come.

[3:22] >> Because of the hurricane damage in this

[3:24] state, people were relieved when Katrina

[3:26] missed the Florida Gulf Coast. Now it's

[3:28] the other way around. The only good news

[3:30] from Wilma is that it should spare

[3:32] Mississippi and Louisiana. Bob

[3:34] >> Jim, what caused the damage behind you

[3:36] there? Which hurricane?

[3:39] This was Hurricane Charlie behind me

[3:40] here and it was a nasty one. It was

[3:43] nothing compared to Katrina and it may

[3:45] be nothing compared to Wilma.

[3:47] >> Okay, thank you very much, Jim. And in

[3:49] Baghdad today, Saddam Hussein, the man

[3:51] who once held life and death power over

[3:54] all Iraqis went on trial for his own

[3:56] life, but true to form, the former

[3:58] dictator, the accused mass murderer, did

[4:01] not stand meekly before his judges. Lara

[4:04] Logan was in the courtroom today.

[4:08] It was as if the court held its breath,

[4:11] watching an older, thinner Saddam

[4:13] Hussein being led into a steel pen to

[4:15] stand trial in his former Bath party

[4:18] headquarters. But flashes of the old

[4:20] Saddam were evident as soon as the judge

[4:22] requested he state his name.

[4:26] >> First of all, who are you and what are

[4:28] you?

[4:29] >> You go ahead and give us your identity

[4:31] then.

[4:32] >> No, I must know.

[4:33] >> We are criminal tribunal. Give us your

[4:36] name.

[4:37] >> No, me. Me? You do know me if you are

[4:40] Iraqi.

[4:41] >> It was clear Saddam intended to hijack

[4:43] the proceedings, ranting that he didn't

[4:46] recognize the authority of the court and

[4:48] remain the president of Iraq. The judge

[4:51] ordered him to sit. He charged the

[4:54] former dictator and his seven

[4:55] codefendants, including Saddam's half

[4:58] brother and Iraq's former vice

[5:00] president, with murder and torture.

[5:04] The charges are crimes against humanity

[5:06] by massacring the people of the jail.

[5:09] >> When asked to plead, Saddam didn't even

[5:11] bother to stand.

[5:14] >> I have said what I have said. I am not

[5:17] guilty.

[5:18] >> With Saddam constantly interrupting.

[5:21] I need a pen and notebook and badgering

[5:24] the judge.

[5:26] >> I don't accept your authority because

[5:28] all that is built on lies is a lie.

[5:31] >> It was remarkable. The judge stayed so

[5:33] calm. After hearing brief arguments from

[5:35] the defense and prosecution, he gave

[5:38] Saddam's lawyer more time to prepare and

[5:40] adjourned the case until November 28th.

[5:43] In spite of Saddam's defiance, the image

[5:46] of him stripped of all power, forced to

[5:48] stand trial against his will, is a far

[5:51] cry from the robust leader adorned in

[5:54] full military regalia that Iraqis used

[5:57] to see.

[5:58] No matter how much he performs, Saddam

[6:00] Hussein knows full well that if

[6:03] convicted, this court can and probably

[6:05] will sentence him to death. Bob,

[6:08] >> well, despite all that, Laura, you can

[6:10] say one thing. He certainly put on quite

[6:11] a show today, didn't he?

[6:14] >> Yes, he did, Bob, all the way to the end

[6:16] when he had a fight with two security

[6:18] guards who were trying to escort him

[6:19] from the court. It was very clear that

[6:22] Saddam Hussein did not want to be

[6:23] touched by them and he actually wrestled

[6:26] his arm free several times before one of

[6:28] the guards backed down and he was able

[6:30] to walk unhindered from the court. So

[6:33] for a brief moment there the old tyrant

[6:35] surfacing. involved.

[6:37] >> Secretary of State Connisa Rice defended

[6:39] President Bush's Iraq policy today, but

[6:41] in an appearance before the Senate

[6:43] Foreign Relations Committee, she could

[6:45] not rule out the possibility that US

[6:47] troops will still be in Iraq 10 years

[6:50] from now. Sharon Alonszi is reporting on

[6:53] the impact of the war here on the home

[6:55] front as she travels America coast to

[6:58] coast. Tonight, she's in Phoenix,

[7:00] Arizona. Sharon,

[7:02] >> well, Bob, we met two very different

[7:04] women here. One has no ties to the

[7:06] military. The other has a son who was

[7:08] killed in the war. They were strangers

[7:10] who come together to remember a soldier.

[7:14] >> The car, Daisy. No, no, no, no. Daisy,

[7:16] come on. You're not going to school.

[7:18] >> It's 700 a.m. in Phoenix, and Jane Dolan

[7:20] is racing to get the kids off.

[7:22] >> Have a good day.

[7:24] >> And start her own journey. We tried to

[7:26] keep up with her in the foothills of

[7:28] Phoenix.

[7:29] >> You ready to kick some butt, huh? I'm

[7:30] going to kick some butt. [laughter]

[7:32] Jane is training to run the Marine Corps

[7:33] Marathon in memory of Corporal Michael

[7:35] Downey, a 21-year-old Marine killed in

[7:38] the war. But here's the twist.

[7:40] >> That you didn't even know Michael. You

[7:43] never met him.

[7:45] >> But the reality of it is I'll never know

[7:47] all the soldiers.

[7:48] >> But as a mom, she wants to keep the

[7:50] stories of the nearly 2,000 sons and

[7:52] daughters killed in Iraq alive. And it's

[7:55] easy for it to become a number um

[7:59] without a face, without a life, without

[8:02] a family.

[8:03] >> But this was your baby.

[8:04] >> Yeah.

[8:06] >> Not a number.

[8:07] >> Lauren Eer is Michael's mom. She says he

[8:10] had the same smile as a baby as when he

[8:12] graduated from boot camp, but her son,

[8:15] once a bit of a slob, had transformed

[8:18] into the perfect soldier. He was very um

[8:21] meticulous about his uniform, which just

[8:25] amazed me.

[8:28] >> Today, she takes that same meticulous

[8:31] care of her son's grave,

[8:34] cleaning it, making it just right, even

[8:37] if everything else isn't.

[8:40] >> It's a very strange experience because

[8:43] you get up and you do the same things

[8:44] that you did before he died, but

[8:47] everything is different. She admits she

[8:50] doesn't know where to start. His

[8:51] uniforms and boots were boxed up and

[8:53] sent home to her.

[8:54] >> I just can't do anything else with them

[8:57] right now.

[8:59] >> It's really hard.

[9:01] >> It's one step at a time. One step at a

[9:03] time.

[9:04] >> So Jane is running so people don't

[9:06] forget Michael. If that seems like a

[9:08] small thing, it isn't. Not to his mom.

[9:11] >> I am so appreciative of

[9:15] her doing that. I want him to be

[9:19] remembered.

[9:21] >> And Lauren plans to watch Jane run the

[9:23] Marine Corps Marathon in Washington on

[9:25] October 30th. It's the same day that

[9:28] Michael should have celebrated his 22nd

[9:30] birthday. Bob,

[9:32] >> where do you go next, Sharon?

[9:35] >> Next, we're headed to East Los Angeles

[9:37] tomorrow. We're going to be visiting a

[9:38] high school that has a strong tradition

[9:40] of sending students into service, but

[9:42] some people are worried about the

[9:43] pressure recruiters are putting on those

[9:45] kids. Thank you very much, Aaron. More

[9:47] stories are just a click away, but don't

[9:49] forget to join me on television for the

[9:51] onair edition of the CBS Evening News.

[9:54] On Thursday's broadcast, tracking a

[9:57] monster named Wilma. We'll have the

[9:59] latest on the hurricane's movements. For

[10:02] cbsnews.com, I'm Bob Schaefer.