CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-28

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

[0:05] ahead, new evidence about when hundreds

[0:08] of tons of Iraqi explosives may actually

[0:10] have disappeared. Also, a frail Yaser

[0:13] Arafat appears before cameras. How sick

[0:16] is the Palestinian leader? We'll give

[0:18] you the inside story. And America's

[0:21] sportsmen. They usually vote Republican,

[0:23] but there's some signs that may be

[0:25] changing. We'll show you why in the CBS

[0:28] election series. What does it mean to

[0:30] you? It's all starting now on the CBS

[0:33] Evening News online edition.

[0:36] While the candidates have been tossing

[0:38] claims and accusations at each other

[0:40] about those missing Iraqi explosives,

[0:43] CBS News has been digging into when and

[0:45] how the explosives disappeared. CBS News

[0:49] national security correspondent David

[0:50] Martin reports. The latest evidence

[0:52] comes from US military spy satellites.

[0:56] A satellite photo released today by the

[0:59] Pentagon falls well short of solving the

[1:01] mystery of the missing explosives. Taken

[1:04] before the war, it shows trucks around

[1:06] the bunkers which held the explosives.

[1:08] There's no way of knowing what they're

[1:10] doing. Although one interpretation is

[1:12] that Saddam Hussein had given the order

[1:14] to empty the bunkers. That's what

[1:16] Defense Secretary Rumsfeld thinks

[1:18] happened. It's very likely that Saddam

[1:20] Hussein moved munitions when he knew the

[1:23] war was coming. But two weeks ago, an

[1:25] Iraqi official notified the

[1:26] International Atomic Energy Agency the

[1:28] explosives had disappeared sometime

[1:30] after April 9th, 2003, the day Baghdad

[1:33] fell, because of the theft and looting

[1:37] due to lack of security. That date is

[1:39] important because once Baghdad fell, the

[1:41] US was responsible for security in Iraq.

[1:44] CBS News and the New York Times obtained

[1:47] copies of that letter. The story broke

[1:49] on Monday and ever since the Pentagon

[1:51] has been scrambling to find out what

[1:53] really happened in the fog of war. March

[1:56] 1st, 2003, inspectors for the IAEA visit

[2:00] the weapons complex for the last time

[2:02] and verify the bunkers holding the

[2:04] explosives are still under seal. April

[2:07] 3rd, the First American troops reach the

[2:09] complex as they push toward Baghdad.

[2:12] They clear the compound of enemy

[2:13] fighters, but do not search the bunkers.

[2:16] Their commander doubts anyone could have

[2:17] made off with the explosives after he

[2:19] got there because it would have required

[2:21] a convoy of trucks and the roads were

[2:23] bumperto- bumper with the American

[2:25] invasion force. American troops

[2:27] continued to pass through the complex on

[2:29] their way to Baghdad. They rummaged

[2:31] through its bunkers but never sealed it

[2:33] off. So, it is possible the explosives

[2:36] could have been carried away by looters

[2:38] bit by bit in pickup trucks. It may

[2:41] never be known exactly when the

[2:43] explosives disappeared, but in claiming

[2:45] that it happened after Baghdad fell, the

[2:48] Iraqi interim government is in effect

[2:50] laying it at the feet of George Bush,

[2:52] the man who brought them to power. David

[2:54] Martin, CBS News, the Pentagon. It's

[2:57] been years since Palestinian leader

[2:58] Yasha Arafat left his headquarters in

[3:00] the West Bank, but tomorrow he'll take a

[3:03] long trip for his health. Ill for some

[3:06] time, Arafat took a serious turn for the

[3:08] worse last night, raising concerns about

[3:11] his future and that of the Palestinian

[3:13] people. CBS's David Hawkins has the

[3:16] inside story.

[3:19] Wearing pajamas and a knit cap instead

[3:21] of his trademark military uniform and

[3:23] headscarf, a frail Yaser Arafat smiled

[3:26] for the cameras. The pictures were

[3:29] released today to try to dispel rumors

[3:31] that the 75-year-old Palestinian leader

[3:33] is on his deathbed.

[3:35] >> I think it would be more appropriate to

[3:37] say that it's serious, but not as

[3:39] critical as it has been described so

[3:41] far.

[3:41] >> After Israeli assurances that he'd be

[3:43] allowed to return to the West Bank,

[3:45] Herafat's doctors announced that he'll

[3:47] be flown to Paris on Friday for

[3:49] treatment of what's described as a

[3:51] life-threatening blood disease. The

[3:54] decision was made after his wife Sua

[3:56] flew to his bedside from the French

[3:58] capital where she lives. Mr. and Mrs.

[4:00] Arafat had not seen one another for more

[4:02] than 3 years. During that time, while

[4:05] the Israeli Palestinian conflict raged

[4:07] around him, Arafat has been confined to

[4:10] his battered Ramala headquarters.

[4:13] Isolated and ostracized by Israel and

[4:15] the United States and considered an

[4:17] obstacle to Middle East peace, Arafat

[4:19] has nevertheless remained the symbol of

[4:21] the Palestinian struggle for statehood.

[4:24] Time and again, he's managed to survive

[4:26] predictions of his imminent demise. But

[4:29] this time, the seriousness of his

[4:31] illness has prompted Palestinians to

[4:33] prepare for a future without him. The

[4:36] question now is after Arafat, who?

[4:39] There's no obvious successor and no

[4:41] Palestinian political figure has

[4:43] anything approaching his stature.

[4:46] Meanwhile, it's confusion and

[4:48] uncertainty that reign here. David

[4:51] Hawkins, CBS News, Ramala. Many

[4:54] Americans like nothing better than being

[4:56] outdoors with a hunting rifle, a fishing

[4:58] rod, or a shotgun in hand. And they'll

[5:00] vote, at least in part, based on how the

[5:03] presidential candidates reflect those

[5:05] values. So, where do the candidates

[5:08] stand? CBS's Bob McNair takes a look in

[5:11] the Eye on America election series. What

[5:13] does it mean to you?

[5:18] >> Ross Berglo's passion is duck hunting.

[5:21] >> Once you experience and get out in the

[5:22] wild and and do some hunting, you just

[5:25] you can't give it up.

[5:28] >> And his passion affects how he votes.

[5:31] >> We've got to pass this hunting, the

[5:34] rights of hunting and fishing down to

[5:35] our kids. Otherwise, it's going to

[5:37] disappear. Berglo is part of an outdoor

[5:39] voting block. The so-called hook and

[5:43] bullet crowd the candidates are gunning

[5:45] for.

[5:46] >> I think it tells you that they know that

[5:48] this is a powerful voting block. I mean,

[5:50] this is 38 million Americans that hunt

[5:52] and fish.

[5:52] >> I like to be in hunting fishing country.

[5:56] >> President Bush is Field and Stream's

[5:58] election Eve edition cover boy.

[6:00] >> Look, I'm about to go hunting. I've been

[6:02] a hunter since I was 12 years old. And

[6:04] lately, Senator Kerry is seldom seen in

[6:07] swing states without a gun.

[6:09] >> You need uh sportsmen to get into the

[6:12] White House, and you need sportsmen to

[6:14] stay in the White House.

[6:16] >> Historically, hunters and fishermen have

[6:18] voted Republican largely because of the

[6:20] GOP's stand on gun rights. But this time

[6:23] around, there are signs that the hook

[6:25] and bullet block is not as

[6:26] one-dimensional as it used to be.

[6:31] In fact, a recent poll of licensed

[6:33] fishermen and hunters says they're

[6:34] worried the Bush administration is

[6:37] risking the nation's water and air to

[6:39] suit oil and gas interests.

[6:41] >> Sportsmen believe that the

[6:43] administration is talking to the wrong

[6:45] people and formulating conservation

[6:46] policy

[6:49] on conservation issues like wetlands.

[6:51] The president limited Clean Water Act

[6:53] guidelines from protecting 20 million

[6:56] acres of wetlands, while John Kerry

[6:58] signed letters asking Mr. Bush to

[7:00] overturn that decision. On forests, Mr.

[7:03] Bush lifted a ban on road construction

[7:06] in some national timberlands, but

[7:08] Senator Kerry wants the rule reinstated.

[7:11] and on the protection of endangered

[7:13] species. While the president wants fewer

[7:15] restrictions on farmers and ranchers,

[7:17] challenger Kerry wants more money to

[7:20] support the Endangered Species Act.

[7:23] Today, America's sportsmen are saying it

[7:26] isn't just about gun rights anymore.

[7:29] >> We got to vote for people that are for

[7:31] us as sportsmen.

[7:33] >> In this corner of the campaign, the

[7:35] issues really are wild. Bob McNamera,

[7:39] CBS News, Montisel, Minnesota.

[7:42] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:44] don't forget to join me on television

[7:45] for the on air edition of the CBS

[7:47] Evening News. On Friday's broadcast,

[7:50] they're called medical spas. You can get

[7:52] your hairstyled, lasers, skin

[7:54] treatments, even Botox injections. But

[7:57] where's the medical staff? A Friday

[7:59] consumer alert for cbsnews.com.

[8:03] I'm Dan Rather.