CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-10

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

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

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

[0:04] Just ahead, digging out. We'll have the

[0:06] latest on that devastating earthquake in

[0:09] Cashmere. Richard Roth will have the

[0:11] details and taking the nation's pulse on

[0:13] the Iraq war. Sharon Alons kicks off our

[0:16] two-week cross-country road tour, The

[0:19] Homeront. And they may be penguins, but

[0:22] they are Katrina survivors nonetheless.

[0:25] We'll have their story. It's all

[0:26] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:29] online edition. The earthquake happened

[0:33] on Saturday, but only now, as relief

[0:35] workers get deeper into the area, are

[0:37] they beginning to understand the

[0:39] magnitude of this disaster. 20,000

[0:41] people known dead, that number could go

[0:44] well beyond that to 30,000, even 40,000

[0:47] before it's over. The quake hit

[0:49] Pakistan's rugged northwest frontier

[0:52] province and the disputed territory of

[0:54] Kashmeir which one relief worker said

[0:57] has been turned into a graveyard.

[0:59] Richard Roth is in Pakistan.

[1:05] >> It happened twice today. A little joy

[1:07] from the schoolhouse rubble in the town

[1:09] of Balakote. Two girls pulled out alive.

[1:13] There was a sudden big noise, Muhammad

[1:15] Farhad recalls, and the roof collapsed

[1:17] on us. His brother is among the dead.

[1:21] >> It lasted just five terrifying seconds,

[1:23] people say. And even now, the earth

[1:25] still shifting. Another landslide

[1:27] raising a dust cloud along the valley

[1:29] into Kashmir at the earthquake's

[1:31] epicenter. Muzafarabad, Kashmir's

[1:34] capital is half demolished. A city of

[1:37] the dead and the desperate where there's

[1:39] anger needs are not being met. Saturday

[1:42] was a working day in this Muslim country

[1:44] when the earthquake struck and this was

[1:46] the national bank. The staff was all

[1:49] inside. Just three people got out alive.

[1:52] Now the bank's another tomb. Do they

[1:55] know how many bodies are inside now?

[1:57] >> Uh

[1:59] around 15 minimum.

[2:01] >> Two roads into town opened up today. But

[2:03] in the rubble, most of the rescue

[2:04] efforts still primitive. You do see a

[2:07] handful of soldiers like this one we saw

[2:09] leaning on a shovel. What you don't see

[2:12] here in Kashmir's capital are

[2:13] earthmoving machines, mechanized

[2:15] diggers, cranes to lift debris, the

[2:18] heavy equipment that could still save

[2:20] lives. None of that came to the RZwan

[2:23] public school where as many as 600

[2:25] children may be buried. There is now a

[2:28] growing international effort to supply

[2:30] expertise and equipment, and it is

[2:32] saving some lives. The British today

[2:34] pulled another survivor from a collapsed

[2:36] apartment block in Islamabad. You've

[2:39] been doing this a long time compared to

[2:41] what you've seen. It's It's heavy. Very

[2:44] heavy. US helicopters diverted from

[2:46] Afghanistan have arrived too to help

[2:48] provide the aid Pakistan's clearly

[2:51] having trouble delivering. All five

[2:54] hospitals in this city were flattened by

[2:56] the quake. Without a massive airlift,

[2:58] the only medical care for as many as

[3:00] 40,000 wounded is on the field of a

[3:03] sports stadium, short of medicine and

[3:05] stretchers and shelter. A field of

[3:08] misery.

[3:10] Another sign of the misery and

[3:11] desperation in that northern part of the

[3:13] earthquake zone. There are people now

[3:15] scavenging for food and there have been

[3:18] some outbreaks of looting. Bob Richard,

[3:21] this must have been a very, very

[3:22] difficult story for you to cover. I

[3:24] mean, it just the human suffering there

[3:26] must have been something you've never

[3:28] seen before.

[3:30] >> There aren't enough adjectives to tell

[3:31] this story, Bob. There are bodies

[3:33] everywhere you go. It's a cliche to

[3:36] point it out, but the smell of death

[3:38] does fill the air. It is very upsetting.

[3:40] And some of the simplest things that you

[3:42] expect to see in the aftermath of a

[3:45] disaster, you don't see here in northern

[3:48] Pakistan, throughout Kashmir, and all

[3:50] the places we went to today. You would

[3:52] expect to see people tossing cases of

[3:55] bottled water off the back of army

[3:57] trucks. It's just not happening. And the

[4:00] government doesn't yet have an

[4:01] explanation for why it's not happening.

[4:04] >> All right. Well, thank you very much,

[4:05] Richard. Nearly 2/3 of the American

[4:08] people, 64% now believe the war in Iraq

[4:12] was not worth the cost. That from a CBS

[4:14] News poll out tonight, which shows

[4:16] support for the war has now dropped to

[4:18] its lowest level since the invasion. 55%

[4:22] of those poll now believe we should have

[4:24] stayed out of Iraq. Less than two years

[4:26] ago, 63% thought going in was the right

[4:30] thing to do. and 50% now want our troops

[4:34] to leave as soon as possible. Again, the

[4:36] largest number ever to feel that way. To

[4:40] understand the story behind those polls,

[4:42] how this war is affecting families and

[4:44] communities, Sharon Alons is beginning a

[4:47] journey across America, and she talks

[4:49] tonight with some of the young people we

[4:51] are asking to fight this war. Sharon

[4:53] starts what's what we are calling a CBS

[4:56] road tour, the homeront at Paris Island,

[4:59] South Carolina.

[5:02] For the next two weeks, we are going to

[5:03] be driving across country talking to

[5:05] Americans about how they feel about the

[5:07] war and how and if it's affecting them.

[5:10] We'll end up in San Diego, California,

[5:12] but we thought it was only fitting to

[5:14] start our journey here in Paris Island,

[5:16] where so many others have started

[5:18] theirs.

[5:21] At first glance, Paris Island looks a

[5:23] lot like a nature preserve. But drive

[5:25] with us AND LISTEN.

[5:27] >> SEE YOU, DOCTOR.

[5:29] >> ALL THE WAY DOWN. HEY, I AIN'T TELL YOU

[5:31] TO STOP

[5:31] >> HERE. Dawn breaks with growling drill

[5:34] instructors. This is where Marines are

[5:36] made.

[5:39] >> First stop, the dreaded obstacle course.

[5:42] It's supposed to build strength, but it

[5:44] also tests character, often in inches

[5:47] and agony. PULL UP.

[5:51] >> It's where we met Michael Lorello,

[5:53] >> a scrappy 19-year-old who enlisted right

[5:56] out of high school.

[5:57] >> Michael, what did your mother say? My

[5:59] mother actually cried. It was like a

[6:01] funeral at my going away party.

[6:05] >> You have to wonder why anyone would

[6:07] voluntarily enlist during wartime.

[6:10] >> I want to be fighting the evils that did

[6:13] what they did to us on September 11th.

[6:16] >> All three of the recruits we sat down

[6:17] with say they enlisted because of

[6:19] September 11th. Politicians will argue

[6:22] whether the war and 9/11 are related,

[6:24] but clearly here to these recruits, the

[6:27] two are inseparable.

[6:28] >> Do you think the rest of America is

[6:30] touched by the war, untouched by the

[6:32] war?

[6:32] >> The younger kids, some of them, they

[6:33] they don't understand and they're not

[6:35] touched by it.

[6:36] >> I think the rest of America is actually

[6:39] forgotten about what happened on 9/11.

[6:42] And I don't think America wants us to be

[6:45] over there fighting their war. They say

[6:48] it's not our war, but to me, we're

[6:51] helping other people.

[6:53] >> We're more helpful and but if we see a

[6:55] need to help somebody, we will do so.

[6:57] Cuz we're I guess you could say we're

[6:58] the big brother to other countries, I

[7:00] guess you say.

[7:01] >> Do you get that feeling ever that people

[7:03] just don't care about the war or their

[7:05] >> all the time? All the time.

[7:08] >> Despite that, Michael and a new class of

[7:10] recruits are going through hell and

[7:12] likely HEADED TO WAR

[7:15] >> by choice. In my heart, this is what I

[7:17] want to do. And there's nothing that's

[7:19] going to change that. There's nothing

[7:20] that can change that.

[7:22] >> And I think it's worth mentioning that

[7:24] all the recruits we spoke to say they

[7:26] had other options. They had college

[7:28] scholarships available or jobs. One of

[7:30] the recruits would have been able to

[7:32] take over his parents' multi-million

[7:34] dollar business. Their decision was not

[7:36] financial. It was personal. Bob,

[7:39] >> Sharon, did anything you heard? I mean,

[7:41] obviously kids that are going into the

[7:43] Marines are going to be gung-ho about

[7:44] this, but did anything you hear surprise

[7:47] you?

[7:49] >> Well, a lot they said surprise me, but I

[7:51] think probably the most striking thing

[7:53] was that most of them said that yeah,

[7:55] they were a little scared um and they

[7:57] were a little worried about the future,

[7:58] but what they were most worried about

[8:01] were their families at home and

[8:02] especially their mothers and how they

[8:04] were coping with their decision to

[8:06] enlist. And where do you go tomorrow?

[8:09] >> Tomorrow we're off to Fort Benning,

[8:11] Georgia, where we're going to be talking

[8:12] to some of the children of the soldiers

[8:14] who are serving in Iraq.

[8:16] >> All right. Thank you very much, Aaron.

[8:17] And finally tonight, a look at a group

[8:19] of animal evacuees from New Orleans who,

[8:22] like so many humans on the Gulf Coast,

[8:24] were left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.

[8:27] We're happy to report they have some new

[8:29] digs in California, and they're settling

[8:31] in just fine. Here's John Blackstone.

[8:34] Far from home,

[8:35] >> Satchmo gets a fish.

[8:37] >> Satcho, Zelda, and Patience.

[8:39] >> Patience, where are you?

[8:41] >> Along with the rest of the gang from the

[8:43] aquarium in New Orleans.

[8:44] >> Voodoo gets a vitamin.

[8:46] >> Are showing the same resilience as many

[8:48] of the city's human residents.

[8:50] >> We had to come today and we welcome them

[8:52] to California. Now in temporary quarters

[8:55] at California's Mterrey Bay Aquarium,

[8:58] the 19 penguins are doing what they do

[9:01] best, soaking up admiration.

[9:04] >> A, you're cute.

[9:06] >> You can't be in a bad mood when you look

[9:07] at them.

[9:08] >> But right after Hurricane Katrina,

[9:10] things looked bleak. With no

[9:12] electricity, the Aquarium of the

[9:14] Americas couldn't maintain the cool

[9:16] conditions needed to keep the penguins

[9:18] alive.

[9:19] >> It was 135° up there. Those birds

[9:21] weren't weren't going to last much

[9:23] longer.

[9:24] >> Saving them required a chartered jet to

[9:26] California. After hours in the air, the

[9:29] flightless birds seemed delighted to be

[9:31] on solid ground. They also saw a

[9:34] familiar face. Mteray's penguin keeper,

[9:37] Christina Slagger, helped raise many of

[9:39] them when she worked in New Orleans.

[9:41] >> It was a reunion, and I was thrilled to

[9:43] see them.

[9:44] >> The birds had clearly been through an

[9:46] ordeal. Their feathers were soiled

[9:48] because of the the water quality issues

[9:50] they went through and they were very

[9:51] happy to get into a bath.

[9:53] >> Soon they were healthy enough to join

[9:55] Mteray's resident penguins on exhibit.

[9:58] >> It is double the effort but double the

[9:59] fun too because you can't have too many

[10:01] penguins.

[10:02] >> The animals that were brought here to

[10:04] Monterey are among the very few from the

[10:06] New Orleans Aquarium that survived. Now

[10:09] they are a symbol of hope to the humans

[10:11] they left behind. As New Orleans

[10:13] rebuilds, these determined birds will be

[10:16] an early part of the migration home.

[10:19] John Blackstone, CBS News, Monterey,

[10:21] California. More stories are just a

[10:23] click away, but don't forget to join me

[10:25] on television for the on air edition of

[10:27] the CBS Evening News. On Tuesday's

[10:29] broadcast, what it's like for children

[10:31] when a parent, a favorite teacher, or

[10:34] both leave to fight in Iraq. Our CBS

[10:37] News road tour of the homeront

[10:39] continues. For cdsnews.com,

[10:42] I'm Bob Schaefer.