CBS Evening News - 2003-03-19 - (second half) (partial)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] [music]

[0:01] >> CBS 4 News Mike Kerr in Kuwait on the

[0:04] brink of war.

[0:08] >> [music]

[0:11] >> Good evening again as we continue with

[0:13] this special expanded edition of the CBS

[0:15] Evening News. With war coming, many

[0:17] Western journalists have now left

[0:19] Baghdad. CBS News correspondent Lara

[0:22] Logan left today. She and her crew are

[0:24] now just across Iraq's [music] western

[0:26] border in Jordan. A short time ago I

[0:28] asked her what Iraqi military

[0:30] preparations [music]

[0:30] or movements she saw on her way out.

[0:34] >> Well, then the first thing I noticed as

[0:36] we drove [music] out of the city was

[0:38] Iraqi soldiers manning anti-aircraft

[0:41] guns on the top of buildings including

[0:43] [music] an apartment building. And then

[0:45] as we reached the outskirts of the city,

[0:47] there was a line of military activity on

[0:49] [music] either side of the road with at

[0:51] least 40 large flatbed trucks [music]

[0:54] dug into the earth, the kind the

[0:56] military would use as launching pads for

[0:58] [music] multiple rocket systems. And

[1:01] further down the road about 6 mi there

[1:03] was another site where we saw trenches,

[1:06] [music]

[1:07] sandbagged fighting positions. And here

[1:09] there were dozens of huge cylindrical

[1:12] fuel containers. [music]

[1:13] But strange as it may seem, the one

[1:16] thing that we really didn't see much of

[1:17] was [music] Iraqi troops. And none of

[1:20] the fighting positions we saw were

[1:22] manned. There really wasn't a strong

[1:25] visual military presence anywhere, Dan.

[1:29] >> And what was the mood in Baghdad as you

[1:30] left?

[1:31] >> Well, people were really getting very

[1:33] nervous. Indeed, they were coming up to

[1:35] us asking tonight, tonight looking

[1:37] [music] for some kind of confirmation

[1:39] that the US bombing would start tonight.

[1:42] [music] Still shops and businesses

[1:44] remain closed and the streets that are

[1:46] normally crowded with traffic were

[1:48] virtually empty. There was really an

[1:51] eerie [music] sense of calm on the

[1:52] surface. But then when you spoke to

[1:54] people, you got a sense of the fear and

[1:56] the panic underneath that. Most people

[2:00] do have weapons at home. Some said

[2:01] [music] they were going to fight the

[2:02] Americans, but others said these are

[2:04] just for protection and they plan to

[2:06] hide in their houses and wait until it's

[2:09] all over.

[2:09] >> Lara Logan, near the Iraqi border in

[2:12] Jordan.

[2:13] Thanks.

[2:14] During the first Gulf War, Saddam

[2:16] Hussein fired dozens [music] of Scud

[2:17] missiles at Israel. So, this time

[2:19] around, the Israeli government is taking

[2:21] no chances. [music]

[2:22] It ordered all Israelis today to keep

[2:23] their gas mask with them at all times.

[2:26] Thousands are leaving Tel Aviv, which

[2:28] was hit by Iraqi Scuds in 1991.

[2:32] But, a far greater and more frantic

[2:33] exodus is taking place in Kuwait.

[2:36] Foreigners and Kuwaitis alike jammed the

[2:38] airport today seeking a way out before

[2:40] the war starts. As in Israel, there is

[2:43] widespread fear in Kuwait that Saddam

[2:45] might respond to attack by firing

[2:47] missiles with chemical or biological

[2:50] warheads.

[2:51] This is the moment US war planners

[2:52] [music] have been waiting for, when the

[2:54] order to strike could come at any time.

[2:57] Short while ago, I discussed the plan

[2:58] and how it might unfold with retired US

[3:01] Army [music] Lieutenant General Buck

[3:02] Kernan, now a CBS News analyst. I asked

[3:06] him first about US special operations,

[3:08] including special forces who will serve

[3:09] [music] as the eyes and ears of the main

[3:12] invasion force and conduct raids [music]

[3:14] deep inside Iraq.

[3:17] >> The other thing the special operations

[3:18] forces are going to do is look for Scuds

[3:21] and weapons of mass destruction [music]

[3:23] storage facilities or the delivery means

[3:25] and do the Scud hunting that we we

[3:27] remember in Desert Storm. [music]

[3:29] And, additionally, what they'll be also

[3:30] doing is working very closely with any

[3:33] opposition forces, friendly

[3:35] opposition forces [music] inside Iraq

[3:38] that may be able to assist our

[3:39] operations.

[3:41] >> Right now, there are two US aircraft

[3:42] carriers in the Mediterranean with more

[3:44] than a hundred attack jets ready to hit

[3:46] Iraq. Tomorrow, Turkey could decide to

[3:49] let those jets fly over its airspace.

[3:51] That, says the general, would be a big

[3:54] help.

[3:55] >> We would like to have the the [music]

[3:56] flexibility of coming into Iraq from the

[3:58] north.

[3:59] >> There are two aircraft carriers here.

[4:00] >> Correct.

[4:01] >> With roughly how many combat aircraft on

[4:03] it?

[4:03] >> About 70 on the on the average, about 70

[4:05] per per per carrier.

[4:06] >> Right. Right now, without Turkey

[4:09] granting permission [music] for

[4:09] overflights, these planes have to do a

[4:11] sort of loop down here to come up.

[4:13] >> That's right. They have to come back

[4:14] around.

[4:15] >> And then come back in. Getting the

[4:17] airspace allows us to shorten the

[4:19] [music] time distance factor from the

[4:20] carriers into the to the areas where

[4:23] they're going to target. [music]

[4:24] >> Are there two carriers here?

[4:25] >> distance coming this way

[4:27] than there is going around this way.

[4:29] >> Right [music] now, we we do not have

[4:30] permission to

[4:32] conduct operations out of Turkey, so

[4:34] they've already adjusted the plans and

[4:35] they had a they had an option play to be

[4:37] prepared to do that. I do not think

[4:39] there'll be a delay.

[4:40] >> What is there that Saddam [music]

[4:41] Hussein and his Iraqi forces could do

[4:44] beginning at any moment

[4:46] that would [music] have

[4:47] the US command say

[4:49] never mind the kickoff date we have

[4:51] [music] in mind, we have to move now.

[4:54] If he was to do anything

[4:55] to jeopardize our forces

[4:57] >> or Kuwait, if [music] he was to do

[4:59] something provocative, if he was to do a

[5:01] preemptive strike, we would immediately

[5:03] respond. We're watching those. We're

[5:05] watching those.

[5:06] Uh but should we get an indicator that

[5:09] that he was going to do something

[5:11] [music] like launch a missile

[5:13] or if we were to get an indicator that

[5:15] he was

[5:16] putting chemical or [music] biological

[5:18] weapons on artillery or missile systems,

[5:22] uh then we would probably [music] do

[5:23] something to prevent that.

[5:24] >> You drop the hammer on it immediately.

[5:26] >> I believe so.

[5:28] >> With war coming, we want to give you a

[5:29] closer look now at the rank and file

[5:31] [music] of the US military. Who are the

[5:33] men and women who wear the uniform of

[5:35] the United States of America? [music]

[5:37] CBS and Richard Schlesinger have been

[5:38] checking the stats and he's come up with

[5:40] a picture of the US armed forces.

[5:42] Richard.

[5:43] >> Dan, a snapshot of today's military

[5:45] [music]

[5:45] shows a force that is younger than the

[5:47] overall population, better educated, and

[5:51] more southern.

[5:52] According to the Defense Department,

[5:54] almost 90% [music]

[5:55] of all active duty recruits are under

[5:57] 25. Somewhere around 96% [music]

[6:00] of those recruits have high school

[6:02] diplomas or the equivalent. That

[6:04] compares to roughly 75% [music]

[6:06] of the non-military population.

[6:09] Percentage-wise, more African-Americans

[6:11] are in the military than in the civilian

[6:14] sector, but the makeup of frontline

[6:16] combat units like infantry [music] and

[6:18] special operations is overwhelmingly

[6:21] white. Where do most of the recruits

[6:23] come from? Not from around here, Dan.

[6:26] Over the last 15 years, the [music]

[6:27] percentage of recruits from the

[6:29] Northeast and Midwest has decreased. The

[6:32] South and the West are sending most of

[6:34] the young people [music] to the

[6:35] military, 40% from the South alone. And

[6:39] more of those soldiers, sailors, and

[6:41] what [music] used to be called airmen

[6:43] are likely to be women. 15% [music] of

[6:46] the active duty enlisted troops are

[6:48] female.

[6:50] And here's a trend that could

[6:51] dramatically [music] change the look of

[6:52] tomorrow's military. A study shows that

[6:54] since the '80s, 1/3 fewer young men are

[6:58] showing an interest in enlisting [music]

[6:59] in the armed forces. For the same period

[7:01] of time, the number of young women

[7:03] showing an interest in enlisting

[7:05] has remained steady. Dan.

[7:06] >> Which is lesson two. Thanks.

[7:09] Trading was light on Wall Street today

[7:10] as investors [music] awaited the

[7:11] deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave

[7:13] Iraq, but the Dow managed another gain,

[7:15] posting its [music] highest close in two

[7:18] months. And with oil markets betting on

[7:20] a quick war, the price of oil fell below

[7:23] $30 a barrel for the first time this

[7:25] year. The US insists war with Iraq is

[7:27] not about oil, but [music] there is a

[7:30] lot of oil at stake, as CBS's Anthony

[7:32] Mason reports.

[7:34] >> The oil fields of Iraq may look rusted

[7:37] and run down, but underground here are

[7:39] enough crude reserves to reshape the

[7:41] balance of power in the politics of oil.

[7:44] >> Is Iraq a grand prize?

[7:46] >> The reserves are a grand prize.

[7:48] >> More than 300 billion barrels in

[7:50] reserves, ranking Iraq second only to

[7:52] Saudi Arabia. UN sanctions have

[7:55] prevented Iraq from drilling for that

[7:56] oil, but even if Saddam is deposed, oil

[7:59] analyst John Kingston says Iraq will

[8:02] need help.

[8:03] >> You're talking about developing [music]

[8:04] in the billions of barrels of reserves

[8:06] in a country that has no money and

[8:08] that's certainly not going to have any

[8:09] money after a war. Where is the money

[8:11] for that [music] going to come from?

[8:13] >> From the western oil giants, of course,

[8:15] but while its equipment may be

[8:16] antiquated, Iraq's national oil company

[8:19] is considered highly professional.

[8:22] >> So, the idea that we're just going to

[8:23] roll into Iraq and create our own deal,

[8:25] put the international oil companies in

[8:27] there and run things, that's simply not

[8:29] going to happen.

[8:30] >> And once it taps into those reserves,

[8:32] Iraq, a founding member of OPEC, would

[8:35] be a rising power in [music] the world's

[8:36] oil markets, strong enough to challenge

[8:39] even the Saudis.

[8:40] >> Because with upgraded technology, the

[8:42] Iraqis, who pump about 2 and 1/2 million

[8:45] barrels a day now, could pump as much as

[8:47] 6 million within a decade.

[8:49] >> So, the balance of power within OPEC

[8:51] will be very interesting because sort of

[8:53] they'll have a policeman again. Right

[8:55] now, Saudi Arabia calls the shots in

[8:56] OPEC. There'd be a counter balance in

[8:58] the market.

[8:58] >> But Saddam could slow that process down

[9:01] if, in retreat, he torches the oil

[9:03] fields as he did in Kuwait.

[9:05] >> The Kuwaitis had a lot of money to pay

[9:07] for the extinguishing of their fires and

[9:09] the Iraqis don't have that money and

[9:11] certainly their only cash crop, so to

[9:12] speak, is oil [music] and they won't be

[9:14] able to export it because it'll all be

[9:15] burning.

[9:17] >> The cleanup could take 2 years, but an

[9:19] Iraq without Saddam, without UN

[9:22] sanctions, is still destined to be an

[9:24] oil superpower.

[9:26] Anthony Mason, CBS News, New York.

[9:29] >> CBS News has long investigated air

[9:31] [music] travel security, especially

[9:33] after the attack on America 9/11, and we

[9:35] have new information for you tonight in

[9:37] this follow-up by CBS News [music]

[9:39] correspondent Vince Gonzales.

[9:42] >> Just a few months after 9/11, CBS News

[9:45] tested checkpoint security at airports

[9:47] across the country, and 70% of the time

[9:50] screeners failed. Back then, Bogdan

[9:53] Djakovic, a former member of the FAA's

[9:55] red team charged with testing [music]

[9:57] airport security, came forward on CBS to

[9:59] say the security problems exploited by

[10:02] the terrorists could have been

[10:03] corrected.

[10:04] >> It was a disaster waiting to happen, and

[10:06] myself and other individuals

[10:08] desperately tried to have this stuff

[10:10] fixed before [music] September 11th. And

[10:13] absolutely nobody paid any attention.

[10:14] >> A new report vindicates [music] the

[10:16] whistleblower. US Special Counsel Elaine

[10:18] Kaplan reported to the president [music]

[10:20] and Congress that an investigation of

[10:22] the FAA confirmed a substantial

[10:25] likelihood of an abuse of authority and

[10:27] a substantial and specific danger to

[10:29] public safety.

[10:30] >> It is

[10:32] a very positive [music] statement that

[10:33] there was so much overwhelming evidence

[10:35] of wrongdoing on the part of the Federal

[10:37] [music] Aviation Administration,

[10:39] uh and they finally acknowledge that.

[10:42] >> Steve Elson worked with Djakovic on the

[10:44] red team and with CBS News during our

[10:46] undercover testing [music] of airport

[10:48] checkpoints.

[10:49] >> I think he's an American hero. I think

[10:50] he's suffered in in his job, but it's

[10:53] nice to see that he's finally

[10:56] acknowledged as being correct, and his

[10:58] only goal has been to do something right

[11:00] for his country.

[11:01] >> Investigators found the FAA did ignore

[11:03] reports of problems and failed to use

[11:05] the red team's results to improve

[11:07] aviation security. Officials could not

[11:10] prove Djakovic's allegations of a

[11:12] deliberate cover-up, but the special

[11:14] counsel said that doesn't matter because

[11:16] the result was the same. Aviation

[11:18] security [music]

[11:19] was seriously compromised. The new

[11:21] Transportation Security Administration

[11:23] says all reported problems are now acted

[11:25] upon immediately and points out

[11:28] checkpoint screeners have recovered 4.8

[11:30] million contraband items. But CBS News

[11:33] found high security failure rates again

[11:35] in August. And in just the last month,

[11:37] journalists doing the same types of

[11:39] tests reported the same types of

[11:41] security problems. Vince Gonzales, CBS

[11:44] News, Los Angeles.

[11:46] >> The US government has imposed new travel

[11:48] restrictions [music] on Cuban diplomats

[11:50] in this country. This came after Cuba

[11:52] slapped travel limits on US diplomats

[11:54] there and rounded up what were called

[11:56] political dissidents.

[11:58] Why this? Why now? Fidel Castro was

[12:01] reported to be offended [music]

[12:02] when a US diplomat in Cuba met with the

[12:05] dissidents and said Castro is afraid of

[12:07] freedom.

[12:08] Just ahead on the CBS Evening News, Eye

[12:10] on America. They [music] used to call

[12:12] military reservists weekend warriors.

[12:15] Not anymore.

[12:19] >> [music]

[12:25] >> CBS tonight, Survivor is on a special

[12:28] night. The men and women are now living

[12:30] together with new tribes.

[12:32] >> This is a strong team.

[12:33] >> Shattered alliances and a love triangle

[12:35] that will leave you speechless.

[12:37] >> I'm ready.