CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-29

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, Osama bin Laden's latest tape.

[0:07] It's apparently real. So, what if

[0:09] anything does it mean, especially in the

[0:11] presidential race? Also, closing

[0:13] arguments as the clock ticks down. The

[0:15] presidential candidates present their

[0:17] best cases to the voters. We'll have

[0:19] reports from both campaigns for you.

[0:21] It's all starting now on the CBS Evening

[0:24] News Online Edition.

[0:27] With just four days left in the

[0:29] presidential campaign, Osama bin Laden

[0:31] suddenly dropped himself right in the

[0:33] middle of it. With a videotaped message

[0:35] to the people of the United States, the

[0:37] fugitive al-Qaeda leader admits for the

[0:39] first time that he indeed ordered the

[0:41] September 11th attack on America. He

[0:43] lays out his reasons for it and he

[0:46] threatens another attack. This tape

[0:48] tends to confirm that Bin Laden is alive

[0:51] and well safely somewhere. President

[0:54] Bush responded by saying the United

[0:56] States will not be intimidated. Senator

[0:58] Kerry said the country is united in its

[1:00] determination to hunt Bin Laden down.

[1:03] CBS's Bob or begins our coverage.

[1:08] >> Appearing on videotape for the first

[1:09] time in more than a year, Osama bin

[1:12] Laden issued what seemed to be an

[1:13] election eve warning to the American

[1:15] people.

[1:19] >> Your security is not in the hands of

[1:21] Bush, Ky, or Al-Qaeda. Your security is

[1:24] in your own hands.

[1:25] >> As always, the message was cryptic.

[1:29] >> My statement to you is to find the best

[1:32] way to avoid another attack.

[1:34] >> He spoke seated before a neutral

[1:35] backdrop, making it impossible to tell

[1:38] where or when the tape was recorded, but

[1:40] US intelligence analysts say there were

[1:42] enough references to recent events to

[1:44] suggest the tape was made within the

[1:46] past several months. noting the fourth

[1:48] September has passed since the attack on

[1:50] America. The Bush administration's

[1:51] policies, he said, will lead to more of

[1:53] the same.

[1:56] >> Bush still practices deception and is

[1:58] misleading you. Bin Laden's message

[2:01] comes as the government continues to

[2:02] warn that al-Qaeda is intent on

[2:04] disrupting the US electoral process. And

[2:07] reactions to today's statement came

[2:09] quickly from both Senator Kerry and

[2:11] President Bush.

[2:12] >> Let me make this very clear.

[2:15] Americans

[2:16] will not be intimidated

[2:19] or influenced

[2:21] by an enemy of our country.

[2:24] >> As Americans, we are absolutely united

[2:27] in our determination

[2:29] to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden

[2:33] and the terrorists.

[2:35] >> US officials say Bin Laden's message

[2:37] does nothing at all to clarify the vague

[2:39] election threat they've been worried

[2:40] about since March. For the moment, there

[2:42] is no plan to raise the nation's terror

[2:44] threat level. Dan

[2:46] >> Bob reporting live from Washington.

[2:47] Thanks. As we noted, the Bin Laden video

[2:50] surfaced as the presidential candidates

[2:51] were heading into the final weekend of

[2:53] campaigning, making their closing

[2:55] arguments with voters. CBS's Byron Pittz

[2:57] is with Senator Kerry in Florida.

[3:01] >> Osama bin Laden was already a key part

[3:03] of John K's campaign, the foundation of

[3:06] his argument that President Bush is

[3:08] unfit for office. He outsourced the job

[3:11] of getting Osama bin Laden rather than

[3:14] relying on the best trained troops in

[3:16] the world who were waiting to avenge New

[3:19] York and Washington and Pennsylvania.

[3:23] Campaigning in West Palm Beach today,

[3:25] ground zero of the 2000 recount,

[3:27] Carrie's focus is now rallying the

[3:29] faithful and getting them to the polls.

[3:32] >> This is your chance to hold George W.

[3:36] Bush accountable.

[3:38] >> This year, Florida has already set a

[3:40] record for early voting. By next

[3:42] Tuesday, it's estimated that 20% or 2

[3:45] million of its registered voters will

[3:47] have cast their ballots. Four years

[3:49] later, Florida voters are nervous and

[3:52] still angry.

[3:53] >> The election,

[3:54] >> but the Cary campaign is well aware

[3:56] anger will go, but so far it isn't

[3:58] enough to simply say what's wrong with

[4:00] President Bush. So, in today's final

[4:02] issue speech of the campaign, Kerry laid

[4:04] out his vision for America, his closing

[4:07] argument.

[4:09] >> Biggest deficits in history, jobs

[4:10] overseas, costs going up, wages falling

[4:13] for Americans. This is George Bush's

[4:17] record, but it doesn't have to be our

[4:20] future.

[4:21] >> Carry some make America safer at home

[4:24] and abroad. Set a new course in Iraq.

[4:26] Create and keep jobs in the US by ending

[4:29] tax breaks for companies who ship jobs

[4:31] overseas. Raise the minimum wage. Expand

[4:35] health care coverage and cut costs by

[4:37] rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest

[4:39] Americans. It's a wish list the Bush

[4:42] campaign argues the nation can't afford.

[4:44] But for John Kerry, it provides what he

[4:46] hopes will be a winning formula in a

[4:48] tight race [music] both sides fear may

[4:51] not be resolved next Tuesday night.

[4:53] Byron Pittz, CBS [music] News, West Palm

[4:56] Beach, Florida.

[4:57] >> Even before the Bin Laden tape,

[4:58] President Bush had been campaigning hard

[5:00] on the theme that he could keep the

[5:02] country safe, and today was no

[5:04] exception. Still, as CBS's Bill Plant

[5:06] reports, in the closing hours of the

[5:08] president's final campaign, his attempt

[5:10] to seal the deal with voters didn't

[5:12] always go off as planned.

[5:16] It's been a bad week for a president who

[5:18] doesn't like surprises. [music]

[5:21] That was only an air cannon full of

[5:22] confetti going off early, but it came on

[5:25] top of days of questions about the

[5:26] missing Iraqi explosives and word of a

[5:29] widening investigation into

[5:30] Hallebertton. And Boston Red Sox's

[5:32] pitcher Curt Schilling, who was supposed

[5:34] to add some star power to Mr. Bush's

[5:36] campaign swing through New Hampshire,

[5:38] suddenly cancelled, citing his injured

[5:40] ankle. Bush advisers privately think

[5:42] Schilling was pressured. At this event,

[5:44] the president never mentioned John Kerry

[5:46] by name. Instead, surrounded by

[5:48] relatives of 9/11 victims, he invoked

[5:50] the nation's feeling of unity in the

[5:52] wake of the attacks.

[5:53] >> For 3 years, the people of this country

[5:55] have shown patience and purpose in the

[5:58] hard tasks of history. So long as I am

[6:01] your president, we will not be held

[6:03] captive by fear.

[6:05] >> But at the next stop, the gloves were

[6:07] off once again, and the president

[6:09] attacked Kerry as unfit to lead the war

[6:12] on terror.

[6:12] >> We both have records.

[6:15] I'm proudly running on mine.

[6:18] [cheering]

[6:24] >> The senator's running from his. In these

[6:27] final few days, the president, his

[6:29] surrogates, and his advertising will

[6:31] hammer at the one issue on which he

[6:32] outpolds John Kerry by a wide margin.

[6:35] Security. These are the president's

[6:37] closing arguments. George Bush can be

[6:40] trusted to keep the nation's families

[6:42] safe, to win the war on terror, and to

[6:45] lead the nation to a better future in an

[6:47] uncertain time.

[6:49] Outwardly, the president's team is

[6:51] confident privately they're concerned

[6:53] that they could lose a few key states.

[6:55] That's why the president will campaign

[6:56] in 10 states between now and Tuesday.

[6:59] And they think that Osama bin Laden's

[7:01] latest videotape will only reinforce the

[7:04] president's bottom line argument that he

[7:06] can keep the nation safer than John

[7:09] Kerry. Dan

[7:10] >> Bill Plant reporting live from Columbus,

[7:12] Ohio. More stories are just a click

[7:14] away, but don't forget to join me on

[7:16] television for the on air edition of the

[7:18] CBS Evening News. On Monday's broadcast,

[7:21] Down to the Wire, the race is apparently

[7:24] neck andneck and voters are already

[7:25] heading to the polls in record numbers.

[7:28] We'll give you complete details and

[7:29] analysis of what to look for in the

[7:31] campaign's final day and night.