CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-11-22

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] I'm Katie Kurrick and they're off. The

[0:04] holiday getaway is underway with heavy

[0:07] traffic on the roads, long lines, and

[0:09] new rules at the airports. And where

[0:11] will your luggage end up? The rising

[0:14] human cost of the war in Iraq. The

[0:16] monthly death toll for civilians reaches

[0:19] a record high. On this Thanksgiving Eve,

[0:22] a new trend in giving, investing in

[0:24] charities, and demanding the best

[0:27] return. And Muhammad Ali still has a lot

[0:30] of fight in him and he's using it to

[0:32] knock out illiteracy.

[0:38] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:41] Kurrick.

[0:44] >> Hi everyone. Americans are on the move

[0:47] tonight over the river and through the

[0:49] woods, in the sky, and on the roads.

[0:51] We're leaving home or heading home to

[0:54] spend Thanksgiving with family and

[0:55] friends. And if that's a tradition, so

[0:58] is this. Traffic backed up for miles on

[1:01] highways heading out of town. Long lines

[1:04] at airports as new security rules get

[1:06] their first big holiday test. AAA

[1:09] estimates more than 38 million of us

[1:11] will travel at least 50 miles this

[1:13] weekend. That includes nearly 5 million

[1:16] traveling by plane. And someone has to

[1:18] keep an eye on it all. Bob War is doing

[1:21] that for us tonight in H. Hearnden,

[1:22] Virginia. Hi Bob.

[1:25] >> Hi Katie. Well, we're in the nerve

[1:26] center of the nation's air traffic

[1:28] control system. This is the place where

[1:30] the FAA operations managers keep track

[1:31] of all of the airplanes, keep an eye on

[1:33] the weather, and move traffic around if

[1:35] things get dicey. Why don't you take a

[1:36] look at a big map on the wall behind me?

[1:38] It looks like a sea of red. Trust me,

[1:41] this is not one big blob. These are a

[1:43] series of small red icons. One icon for

[1:46] every airplane now in the air over and

[1:48] around the United States. Right now,

[1:49] about 6,497

[1:52] airplanes in the air. In all, about two

[1:54] million people will travel today and

[1:56] there have not been very many problems.

[1:57] A few delays earlier today on the west

[1:59] coast and building problems in the

[2:01] northeast. Katie

[2:02] >> Bob, I know there's some pretty nasty

[2:04] weather here on the east coast. How is

[2:07] that affecting or how much trouble is

[2:09] that causing?

[2:11] >> Well, it's a mess. Let me show it to

[2:12] you. Right over here on the wall also is

[2:14] a big weather map like the weather guys

[2:16] have in their studios. You see a long

[2:18] front all the way up to Boston. Heavy

[2:21] rains, high winds in places causing a

[2:23] lot of delays. A short time ago, we went

[2:25] out to Reagan National Airport outside

[2:27] of Washington to see how the planes were

[2:28] doing there. And they're getting in and

[2:30] out pretty quickly. Uh the delays only

[2:32] about 15 minutes, but as you see, there

[2:33] is heavy rain there. There are some

[2:35] winds as well. A tricky day for the

[2:37] pilots, for the passengers, and for the

[2:39] controllers. Katie,

[2:40] >> it looks pretty nasty. Can they tell,

[2:41] Bob, in real time which airports, which

[2:44] specific airports are experiencing

[2:46] problems or delays?

[2:48] >> Can you stand one more map? Let's take a

[2:50] look at this one.

[2:51] >> There's there's a map. All the green

[2:53] dots are airports that are in good shape

[2:55] tonight. Uh delays are minimal, but look

[2:57] at the orange dots in the northeast.

[2:58] Those are the New York airports, the

[3:00] Philadelphia airports. There are

[3:01] problems there. Now, we're going to

[3:02] click on one of those, the LaGuardia

[3:04] airport in New York, and you see that

[3:06] the delays there are 2 hours and 10

[3:08] minutes. 2 hours and 10 minutes. So,

[3:10] it's a very difficult day for travelers.

[3:12] Then, we'll do it all again on the

[3:14] weekend when we come home.

[3:15] >> All right. Bob or in Hearnden, Virginia.

[3:17] Thank you, Bob. Of course, we all have

[3:19] baggage, but getting it through security

[3:21] has become a real test of patience as

[3:24] the regulations just keep changing.

[3:26] Cynthia Bowers is at Chicago's O'Hare

[3:28] airport where many travelers are having

[3:31] their first encounter with the very

[3:33] latest rules. Cynthia,

[3:35] Katie, and that's exactly what makes

[3:37] this Thanksgiving different from last

[3:39] year. All these confusing carry-on

[3:41] rules, they force many of us to just bag

[3:43] it and then check that bag. And that

[3:46] means hundreds of thousands of extra

[3:48] bags being checked at this one airport.

[3:50] So far, things have been moving

[3:52] smoothly, but that doesn't mean the trip

[3:54] has been stressfree.

[3:56] Okay. Don and Anita Edelman checked

[3:59] their bags filled with everything but

[4:01] their baby and a few personal effects.

[4:03] But even so, they're worried they could

[4:05] be carrying contraband.

[4:07] >> I took the plastic bag with makeup, but

[4:09] there's also makeup loose in my bag.

[4:12] These sweetfaced grandparents just might

[4:14] be the travel industry's worst

[4:16] nightmare, the infrequent flyers.

[4:18] >> I think it's safe to say that airlines,

[4:21] airports, and the TSA are ready. The

[4:24] question is whether or not the travelers

[4:26] are ready.

[4:27] >> Ready? That is with the 411 on 311.

[4:31] >> Y'all know about 311. That's the TSA's

[4:34] catchy way of reminding passengers of

[4:36] rules restricting them to just three

[4:38] ounces of liquids, gels, or aerosols,

[4:41] all stored in a one quart ziplockc

[4:42] baggie, one baggie per person. It's all

[4:46] meant to speed the inspection process

[4:48] because there's a domino effect. Each

[4:50] minute delay at the front of the line

[4:52] means four extra minutes for the folks

[4:54] bringing up the rear.

[4:56] >> You're going to get it back. You're

[4:57] going to get it back. He got his toy

[4:59] back, but the real question is, will you

[5:01] get your bag back? Just how thankful you

[5:04] are this holiday could come down to

[5:05] whether you walk out of here pulling

[5:07] your suitcase or not.

[5:08] >> Well, one of the things that we're we're

[5:10] counting on is that once they arrive

[5:11] there, they don't have to worry about

[5:13] what they're going to wear on

[5:14] Thanksgiving Day.

[5:15] >> The latest statistics, though, aren't so

[5:17] reassuring. The number of lost and

[5:19] mishandled bags has doubled since last

[5:22] year. And at that rate, 16,000 bags

[5:25] could be in for it at this one airport

[5:28] just this week. Katie.

[5:30] >> All right, Cynthia Bowers, thank you so

[5:31] much. For the very latest information on

[5:34] any delays at major airports all weekend

[5:37] long, you can go to cbsnews.com and just

[5:39] click on airport tracker. Meanwhile,

[5:42] it's the worst kind of news this holiday

[5:44] eve. Another American soldier has been

[5:46] killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb.

[5:49] Civilian casualties are mounting as

[5:51] well. More than 100 were killed today

[5:53] alone. And the UN has just put out a

[5:56] report showing October was the deadliest

[5:58] month for civilians since the war began.

[6:01] From Baghdad, here's Elizabeth Palmer.

[6:04] >> None of this will come as news to

[6:06] Iraqis, but the UN report confirms that

[6:09] more civilians than ever were killed

[6:11] this fall and the numbers rising.

[6:15] 3,345

[6:18] in September, jumping to an all-time

[6:20] high of 3,79

[6:23] in October.

[6:24] >> The people who are paying the price are

[6:26] the civilian, the civilian population.

[6:28] They're being the victimized by

[6:30] terrorism.

[6:31] >> Although collecting accurate statistics

[6:33] in a war zone is impossible, these

[6:35] figures compiled with the help of the

[6:37] Iraqi health authorities do give some

[6:40] idea of the overall scale and shape of

[6:42] the violence.

[6:44] 110 children were killed in the past two

[6:46] months and 351 women.

[6:51] >> Women also according to this report are

[6:53] being singled out for abuse by religious

[6:55] extremists.

[6:57] Most of the men murdered have been

[6:59] victims of sectarian crimes. The

[7:01] majority shot and many tortured. Over 23

[7:05] were killed in Baghdad, the place the US

[7:07] military is now concentrating most of

[7:09] its troops.

[7:12] Some professions have become especially

[7:14] deadly. 18 journalists killed in the

[7:17] last two months and 300 teachers since

[7:20] the start of the year. 2 million Iraqis

[7:23] have either left or been forced from

[7:25] their homes since the invasion. A

[7:28] million and a half have left the country

[7:30] already. And a 100,000 more lucky or

[7:33] wealthy enough to have passports are

[7:34] fleeing the country for Syria or Jordan

[7:37] every month. And many of those leaving

[7:40] are the best and the brightest, the very

[7:42] ones Iraq will need most when in a

[7:44] future that right now looks very

[7:46] distant, the war ends and reconstruction

[7:49] can truly begin. Elizabeth Palmer, CBS

[7:52] News, Baghdad.

[7:54] >> The White House announced today that

[7:56] President Bush will meet next week with

[7:58] Iraq's prime minister in Jordan. Jim

[8:00] Axelrod is at the White House tonight.

[8:03] Jim, what can you tell us about this

[8:04] meeting? Well, essentially Katie, it's a

[8:07] chance for President Bush to look Prime

[8:08] Minister Maliki in the eyes and explain

[8:10] the new political reality that Democrats

[8:13] will be taking control of Congress.

[8:15] There will be calls for troop reductions

[8:16] and it adds up to a new urgency to fix

[8:19] the security situation in Baghdad right

[8:21] now. Katie,

[8:22] >> I understand, Jim, that Vice President

[8:24] Cheney is also being dispatched to the

[8:26] Middle East.

[8:27] >> Yeah, he'll be going to Saudi Arabia,

[8:29] leaving Friday for meeting Saturday.

[8:31] Clearly, the administration wants to

[8:33] create an impression, a buzz, if you

[8:34] will, that it's engaged on all fronts,

[8:37] seeking a variety of opinions,

[8:39] especially from the regional partners as

[8:41] opposed to this go it alone strategy.

[8:43] >> Jim Axelrod at the White House tonight.

[8:45] Thank you. Whether at home or on the

[8:47] road, the president and his family are

[8:49] protected by the Secret Service, whose

[8:51] agents have a well-deserved reputation

[8:54] for doing their jobs brilliantly. But a

[8:56] few members of the detail assigned to

[8:58] protect President Bush's daughters may

[9:01] be feeling just a bit less than

[9:02] brilliant tonight. Wyatt Andrews joins

[9:05] us from Washington with more on that

[9:07] story. Wyatt.

[9:08] >> Hi Katie. We've confirmed that first

[9:10] daughter Barbara Bush had her purse

[9:12] stolen on a visit to Buenos Iris last

[9:14] Sunday. That despite being protected by

[9:17] the US Secret Service. The headlines in

[9:20] Argentina blared that Barbara had been

[9:23] robbed, but not exactly. She was out on

[9:26] this outdoor plaza when a thief made off

[9:28] with her purse. Should the Secret

[9:30] Service have chased the guy? Absolutely

[9:32] not, says former agent Chuck Vance.

[9:34] >> Problems around because you never know

[9:35] if it's a diversion.

[9:37] >> Vance says the greater danger was a

[9:39] possible kidnapping. And so the agent's

[9:41] job was to ignore the thief.

[9:43] >> Their response is to the protectee and

[9:45] to get and to be with the protectee not

[9:47] to give chase.

[9:48] >> With that said, if you were director of

[9:50] the Secret Service, would this detail be

[9:52] in trouble? I don't know if they'd be in

[9:54] trouble, but I wouldn't I wouldn't be

[9:55] very happy to to hear it. It looks bad.

[9:58] It sounds bad.

[9:59] >> Vance also predicts that the Secret

[10:01] Service will now have to review how much

[10:04] space they give to both First Daughters.

[10:06] Katie.

[10:07] >> All right. Thanks, Wyatt. There's much

[10:09] more. CBS News straight ahead. And

[10:11] coming up next, this Thanksgiving Eve,

[10:13] how we Americans are showing a lot more

[10:16] interest in what's actually done with

[10:18] the money we give to charity.