CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-12-12

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

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

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

[0:05] Just ahead, in a rare admission,

[0:07] President Bush acknowledges the human

[0:09] cost of the war in Iraq. John Roberts

[0:12] will have the story. Also, we'll have

[0:14] the inside story on why home heating

[0:16] costs have skyrocketed and how

[0:19] homeowners are coping and sharing the

[0:21] blame for the Katrina mess. Emails

[0:24] reveal more about the performance of

[0:26] Louisiana's governor. It's all starting

[0:29] now on the CBS Evening News online

[0:32] edition.

[0:36] It won't be perfect, but it will be

[0:38] pivotal. That is how the president

[0:40] described this week's elections in Iraq.

[0:42] He called it a turning point, but he

[0:44] confirmed it is a turning point that has

[0:46] come at a price. More than 2100

[0:48] Americans killed, and for the first

[0:50] time, he said in a speech today, the

[0:53] number of Iraqi dead stands at

[0:55] approximately 30,000. The president

[0:58] spoke at the World Affairs Council in

[1:00] Philadelphia. John Roberts reports from

[1:03] the White House.

[1:04] >> It was a rare acknowledgement of the

[1:06] costs in Iraq. In an unusual question

[1:09] and answer following his speech today,

[1:11] President Bush gave a casualty count

[1:12] from the war.

[1:13] >> How many Iraqi citizens have died in

[1:16] this war? Um, I would say 30,000 more or

[1:20] less have died as a result of the

[1:22] initial incursion and the ongoing

[1:24] violence against Iraqis. We've lost

[1:27] about 2140 of our own troops in Iraq.

[1:30] >> The Iraqi figure wasn't official, the

[1:32] White House said, just what President

[1:34] Bush had heard on the news, but was

[1:36] under pressure to be more open about

[1:37] Iraq ahead of Thursday's elections. What

[1:40] the president predicted will be a

[1:42] watershed moment.

[1:43] >> Thanks to the courage of the Iraqi

[1:44] people, the year 2005

[1:47] will be recorded as a turning point in

[1:49] the history of Iraq, the history of the

[1:51] Middle East, and the history of freedom.

[1:54] Five, six, stop.

[1:56] >> The president also hopes it will be a

[1:58] chance to reduce the number of US troops

[2:00] in Iraq, not enough for his critics who

[2:03] argue the American presence is part of

[2:05] the problem and the troops should be

[2:06] redeployed out of harm's way.

[2:09] >> This is not a military solution any

[2:10] longer since the people turned against

[2:12] us since we're occupiers. It's now a

[2:15] political solution.

[2:16] >> This was the third in a series of four

[2:18] speeches leading up to the Iraqi

[2:19] elections. a new campaign of openness by

[2:22] the president, admitting mistakes,

[2:24] highlighting course corrections. But he

[2:26] refused to give any ground at a tough

[2:28] question that still lingers. Why he

[2:30] continues to link Iraq to the attacks on

[2:32] America when no link has ever been

[2:34] found. 9/11 changed my look of on

[2:37] foreign policy. And I made a tough

[2:39] decision.

[2:41] And knowing what I know today, I'd make

[2:42] the decision again. Removing Saddam

[2:44] Hussein makes this world a better place

[2:47] and America a safer country.

[2:49] White House officials believe the

[2:51] president has gotten some good mileage

[2:52] from this series of speeches, and they

[2:54] hope that Thursday's elections give him

[2:56] a badly needed boost. But some

[2:57] Republicans believe that soon after even

[3:00] members of the president's own party

[3:01] will start asking questions about an

[3:03] exit date and real troop numbers.

[3:06] >> Bob, is this the first time, John, that

[3:08] the president has made an estimate of

[3:10] how many Iraqis have died in the war? I

[3:12] I've never heard that before.

[3:14] >> I haven't heard it either, Bob. I think

[3:16] that this is I think it's safe to say

[3:17] that this is the first time he's made

[3:19] that estimate. In fact, up until

[3:20] recently, he wouldn't even talk numbers

[3:22] of American casualties, but he's freely

[3:24] talking about those numbers now.

[3:26] >> Okay. Well, thanks, John. On average,

[3:28] homeowners are expected to pay at least

[3:31] $250

[3:33] more this winter than last. Jim Axelrod

[3:36] now with the inside story.

[3:39] >> 25 - 13. Nikki Wilson wishes that doing

[3:43] the math meant nothing more troubling

[3:45] than helping her son with his homework.

[3:48] >> They're ready to shut off my my gas.

[3:50] They're telling me,

[3:51] >> but still behind on last year's heating

[3:53] bill, she's looking at a 30% hike in her

[3:55] natural gas prices this year and has no

[3:58] idea how to make the numbers work.

[4:01] >> Right now, I can't even get any gifts

[4:04] for Christmas. my son maybe have like

[4:06] one gift because I know that I I I I

[4:09] have to pay the bills and make sure I

[4:11] have a roof over my head.

[4:13] >> It's not like we didn't know this was

[4:14] coming. The damage to oil and natural

[4:17] gas pipelines done by hurricanes Katrina

[4:19] and Rita has reduced supplies from the

[4:21] Gulf by a third to a half. Natural gas

[4:24] prices alone could spike by as much as

[4:27] 50%.

[4:29] Even people like Nikki, who makes

[4:30] $42,000 a year, suddenly find themselves

[4:34] strapped.

[4:35] >> I have to borrow from from family

[4:37] members just to make ends meet.

[4:39] >> With the price of heating now, this is

[4:42] no longer a matter of just another

[4:43] blanket on the bed or lowering the

[4:45] thermostat a few more degrees. It's in

[4:47] our heads in a way it's never been

[4:49] before. And it's dictating or should be

[4:52] dictating a lot of decisions about the

[4:54] way we live. A well-designed house is

[4:57] going to cost you half as much to heat

[4:59] as a poorly designed house. And with

[5:01] today's heating costs, that's a lot of

[5:03] money.

[5:03] >> By well-designed, developer Patty Stein

[5:06] Schneider means doublepaneed windows

[5:08] with a thin layer of gas that keeps heat

[5:10] in and cold out or allowing for more

[5:12] insulation.

[5:14] >> The thickness, the depth of these

[5:15] rafters is such that we can put more

[5:17] insulation, more thickness of

[5:19] insulation, which which um

[5:22] >> there's more space in there to put

[5:23] insulation into.

[5:24] >> Exactly. But those are new homes yet to

[5:27] be built in the ones people already live

[5:29] in where the first winter fuel bills

[5:31] have now arrived.

[5:32] >> I'm I'm really hoping that it don't be

[5:34] that cold, but we know that that's just

[5:36] not the case.

[5:37] >> They're already down to hope and winter

[5:40] hasn't even started yet. Jim Axelrod,

[5:42] CBS News, Irvington, New York. FEMA's

[5:45] slow response to Hurricane Katrina has

[5:48] received nationwide attention and in

[5:50] embarrassing detail. Well, now some

[5:53] documents have just come to light about

[5:54] the response to Katrina by the Louisiana

[5:57] Governor's office. Here's Bob our with

[6:00] more on that.

[6:02] As New Orleans was drowning and evacuees

[6:04] huddled in the squalid Superdome, the

[6:06] staff of Louisiana Governor Kathleen

[6:08] Blanco feverishly tried to avoid a

[6:10] public relations disaster. New emails

[6:13] just released by Republican

[6:14] congressional investigators show the

[6:16] governor's staff worked to portray her

[6:17] as a hands-on, in control, and working

[6:20] executive. Please put Governor Blanco in

[6:22] casual clothes, a baseball cap, etc.

[6:25] reads one of the emails from a political

[6:27] consultant. She needs to visit a shelter

[6:29] in prime time and talk tough, but hug on

[6:31] some folks and be sensitive. Another

[6:34] memo from the governor's policy director

[6:35] added, "Governor Blanco might dress down

[6:38] a bit and look like she has rolled up

[6:39] her sleeves. She would look like a

[6:41] woman, but show she is moving

[6:43] mountains." It's not clear the governor

[6:45] herself ever saw or responded to the

[6:47] emails.

[6:48] >> So, thank you for being here. Louisiana

[6:51] state officials were also clearly

[6:52] worried about losing control to the

[6:54] federal government. When Homeland

[6:55] Security Secretary Michael Churoff

[6:57] indicated the feds were in charge of New

[6:59] Orleans, Blanco's chief of staff

[7:00] circulated this memo. The governor is in

[7:03] charge of the state and the guard and

[7:05] security. An influential black staffer

[7:08] also warned that FEMA was sending too

[7:09] many evacuees out of Louisiana. Word is

[7:12] already, he wrote, that we are only

[7:14] sending blacks out of this state.

[7:16] >> And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a

[7:17] job. And even as the crisis was still

[7:19] unfolding, Blanco's staff seemed to

[7:21] sense that embattled FEMA director Mike

[7:23] Brown would be the primary lightning rod

[7:25] for blame. Her chief of staff wrote,

[7:28] "The White House spin is that this is

[7:30] the state and locals fault. But the good

[7:32] news is it doesn't appear that many are

[7:34] buying it." Now Brown has already

[7:37] resigned in disgrace. Now some

[7:38] Republicans in Congress want to make

[7:40] sure that Democratic leaders like

[7:41] Governor Blanco also share in the blame.

[7:43] She and New Orleans Mayor Ray Negan will

[7:45] testify Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Bob.

[7:48] >> All right. Thank you, Bob. More stories

[7:50] are just a click away, but don't forget

[7:52] to join me on television for the on air

[7:54] edition of the CBS Evening News. On

[7:56] Tuesday's broadcast, how important is

[7:59] fiber to your health? We'll have the

[8:01] surprising results of an important new

[8:03] study. For cbsnews.com,

[8:06] I'm Bob Schaefer.