CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-12-10

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, major Iraqi parties sign on for

[0:06] Iraq's upcoming elections. But will the

[0:09] voters know who's who in time? Also,

[0:12] it's the season for giving. But before

[0:15] you purchase one of those popular gift

[0:17] cards, perhaps you better see the CBS

[0:19] Friday Consumer Alert. And why would a

[0:22] starstudded nativity scene upset the

[0:25] Vatican and the Church of England? Wait

[0:27] till you see. It's all starting now on

[0:30] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:33] The US military reports three more

[0:35] American troops, a Marine, and two army

[0:37] soldiers have been killed in Iraq and

[0:39] assassins gunned down a Shiite

[0:41] politician running in next month's Iraqi

[0:43] elections. With the violence, Iraq's

[0:46] interim government is pressing ahead

[0:48] with election plans. And CBS's Kimberly

[0:50] Doer reports more candidates are signing

[0:53] up.

[0:56] Iraq's major Shiite political parties

[0:58] united this week, forming a powerful

[1:00] coalition that will compete for Iraqi

[1:02] votes. And now that Iraqi officials seem

[1:04] determined to hold elections next month,

[1:07] some Sunni political groups have jumped

[1:09] on board, registering their candidates,

[1:11] too. But others are still resisting,

[1:13] saying it's impossible to have free and

[1:15] fair elections so soon with violence

[1:17] continuing throughout Iraq.

[1:20] In the Sunni town of Fallujah, for

[1:22] instance, US commanders say people are

[1:24] unlikely to be able to

[2:01] another general election by the end of

[2:02] next year to choose a president.

[2:07] [music] There have been some splashy ads

[2:08] on TV trying to get the word out, but

[2:11] that hasn't [music] really reached these

[2:12] people.

[2:15] >> All we got was a registration form that

[2:17] came with a food coupon. That's all we

[2:19] know.

[2:21] >> We don't know who is out there to vote

[2:23] for.

[2:24] candidates will have just a month and a

[2:26] half to fix that to explain who they are

[2:28] and what they're about. And if Iraqis

[2:32] don't know what they're voting for, many

[2:34] see little reason to risk angering

[2:35] insurgents who don't want anyone to vote

[2:38] at all. Kimberly Doer, CBS News,

[2:41] Baghdad.

[2:42] >> It's the do-it-yourself holiday gift.

[2:44] The gift card transfers the shopping

[2:47] responsibility from the giver to the

[2:49] recipient. And more and more givers like

[2:51] that just fine. But there are potential

[2:53] problems with some of these gift cards.

[2:55] As CBS's Byron Pittz reports in the

[2:58] Friday Consumer Alert,

[3:01] >> happy holidays to you. From Macy's to

[3:03] Walmart, the mall

[3:46] Rearen and her son Matthew learned the

[3:48] hard way. Not all gift cards are created

[3:50] equal. They're retail gift cards and

[3:52] bankisssued gift cards. The difference,

[3:56] it's all in the fine print. With retail

[3:59] cards, there's no purchase fee. Some

[4:01] have an expiration date. Most don't. The

[4:03] so-called bank issue cards which carry

[4:05] the logo of a major credit card have any

[4:08] number of fees from a purchase fee,

[4:10] monthly fees, renewal fees, replacement

[4:13] fees, even an expiration fee that all

[4:16] chip away at the card's value.

[4:18] >> It is the gift that keeps on taking and

[4:21] taking and taking until it's gone. Three

[4:23] states, including Massachusetts and its

[4:25] attorney general, Thomas Riley, have

[4:27] filed lawsuits against Simon Property

[4:29] Group, the nation's largest owner of

[4:31] shopping malls, and distributor of its

[4:33] own gift card.

[4:34] >> If it's $25, it should be 25. If it's

[4:37] 50, it should be 50. And I'm totally

[4:39] opposed to these types of fees that kick

[4:41] in and take that money. While states

[4:43] like Massachusetts have gift certificate

[4:45] laws, Simon Maul contends its gift card

[4:48] works like a bank issued credit card and

[4:50] is therefore protected by federal law.

[4:53] >> No matter, Mary Rearton says she's done

[4:55] with Simon Mall.

[4:57] >> People still prefer cash over gift

[4:59] cards. So that's what I'm doing this

[5:01] year.

[5:02] >> Going back to cash.

[5:03] >> Going back to cash.

[5:04] >> Her advice to holiday shoppers, you've

[5:06] been warned.

[5:07] >> Byron Pittz, CBS News, Boston. It's not

[5:10] unusual to see nativity scenes displayed

[5:13] this time of year. What is unusual is

[5:15] the one they put up at Madame Trusau's

[5:17] Wax Museum in London. CBS's Mark

[5:20] Phillips reports they've done some well

[5:23] recasting.

[5:25] >> It's a nativity scene for the celebrity

[5:28] age. Actors Samuel L. Jackson and Hugh

[5:31] Grant as shepherds.

[5:32] >> I think it's hilarious.

[5:34] >> For Joseph, try England's national

[5:36] soccer team captain and poster boy David

[5:38] Beckham. For Mary, his wife Victoria,

[5:41] the former posh spice of the briefly

[5:43] famous [music] Spice Girls.

[5:47] >> "What the church really, really wants is

[5:49] for this wax scene to melt away. Worse

[5:51] than bad taste, chief," said the

[5:53] Vatican. "Just pathetic," said the

[5:55] Anglican Church Times. "It's a pity that

[5:58] our generation seems to be able to maul

[6:00] and smudge everything." Um,

[6:02] >> and that's what you think has happened

[6:04] here?

[6:04] >> I do. I think it's a pity.

[6:06] >> No offense intended, says the museum. We

[6:09] thought it was a little bit of festive

[6:10] fun and I'm glad to say that most people

[6:12] are taking it in the spirit that it's

[6:13] intended.

[6:14] >> It's bad enough, the critics say, to use

[6:16] celebrities in a scene of such religious

[6:18] importance. But what's worse, they say,

[6:21] is who's been chosen to depict the three

[6:23] wise men? Tony Blair, the Queen's

[6:26] husband, Prince Phillip, and perhaps to

[6:28] add injury to insult, George W. Bush.

[6:31] >> To call them wise, yeah, some people

[6:34] might agree and some people might

[6:35] definitely not. I love that George Bush

[6:37] is dressed like that.

[6:40] >> Once all nativity scenes look like this.

[6:43] Not anymore.

[6:44] >> I don't find it sacrilegious. I think

[6:46] it's funny.

[6:47] >> Mark Phillips, CBS News London. More

[6:50] stories are just a click away, but be

[6:52] sure to join me on television for the on

[6:54] air edition of the CBS Evening News. On

[6:57] Monday's broadcast, Sex Ed and today's

[7:00] teens. The lesson many schools are now

[7:02] teaching is abstinence only. Are kids

[7:05] getting all the information they need or

[7:07] not? We'll give you a look for

[7:09] CBSNnews.com.

[7:11] I'm Dan Rather.