CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-01

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, the last big push. We'll have

[0:07] reports from both campaigns as the

[0:09] candidates race from one crucial

[0:11] battleground state to another. Also, US

[0:13] Marines preparing for a possible

[0:15] invasion of the Iraqi city of Fallujah

[0:18] have plenty of things on their minds. Is

[0:20] the election one of them? We'll give you

[0:22] the inside story. It's all starting now

[0:24] on the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:28] The race for president is finishing hot

[0:30] and tight. On this election eve, the

[0:33] candidates made their final campaign

[0:35] sprints, practically crossing paths as

[0:37] they race from one swing state to

[0:39] another, trying to get their supporters

[0:41] to the polls and leave no undecided

[0:44] voter behind. A CBS News poll out

[0:47] tonight indicates President Bush may

[0:49] have a one-point lead nationwide over

[0:51] Senator Kerry among likely voters. With

[0:54] the poll's margin of error, that's a

[0:56] virtual tie. We have CBS News

[0:58] correspondents deployed at key locations

[1:00] to bring you full coverage of this

[1:02] important election. First up, Jim Aosta

[1:05] traveling with the Kerry campaign.

[1:08] [cheering] With only hours to go before

[1:10] the polls open around the country, it

[1:12] was a day for a final pitch, a final

[1:14] push, and a final photo op. Carrie the

[1:16] Catholic observed All Saints Day at a

[1:18] church in the ultimate battleground

[1:20] state of Florida. Then Carrie, the

[1:22] Vietnam veteran, thanked a member of his

[1:24] band of brothers who was at his side

[1:26] most of this campaign.

[1:27] >> Tomorrow, I guess I'll have to call you,

[1:29] Mr. President. See you tomorrow.

[1:31] >> Florida's 27 electoral votes in the

[1:33] Carry column would make the senator hard

[1:35] to stop. [music] Once again, the contest

[1:37] here is too close to call. As one Kerry

[1:40] said, the Florida team feels good, but

[1:42] we'll see who's right and who's wrong.

[1:45] >> Been coming to Florida enough that my

[1:47] brother Cam is thinking of running for

[1:48] governor. How's that? Every last

[1:50] appearance in every last media market

[1:52] counts. In the last week, Car's traveled

[1:54] over 15,600 miles, making 24 appearances

[1:58] in nine battleground states. At one more

[2:01] stop in Wisconsin, another sign of how

[2:03] tightly contested this state has become.

[2:05] The senator and President Bush crossed

[2:07] paths within minutes of each other

[2:09] campaigning in Milwaukee today. In the

[2:11] pouring rain, Kerry poured it on. If you

[2:14] believe as I do that America's best days

[2:18] are ahead of us, then join me tomorrow

[2:21] and change the direction of America.

[2:25] Thank you. Let's go make it happen.

[2:28] >> Carrie's getting help from President

[2:30] Bush's problems in Iraq and voter

[2:32] frustrations with the economy. What's

[2:34] hurting Carrie? More than anything else,

[2:36] the dominant issue of terrorism, which

[2:38] has boosted President Bush's standing in

[2:40] the polls.

[2:42] This evening, Carrie campaigns in

[2:44] Michigan, a blue state that's gotten

[2:46] redder in the closing days. Then it's on

[2:48] to Cleveland for one more encore

[2:50] performance with Bruce Springsteen.

[2:52] Tomorrow, Carrie heads to Boston, his

[2:55] hometown, where he will vote and wait.

[2:58] Dan Jim Aosta reporting live from

[3:00] Detroit City covering the Carrie

[3:02] campaign. After his election eve swing

[3:04] through swing states, President Bush

[3:06] will end this night at his home in

[3:08] Crawford, Texas. CBS News correspondent

[3:11] Bill Plant reports on the final hours of

[3:13] President Bush's final campaign.

[3:17] [music]

[3:17] >> Marathon Monday and President Bush

[3:19] reached for the stars. Country's Brooks

[3:21] and Dun joined him as he worked to rally

[3:24] crucial conservative voters in the

[3:25] Midwest.

[3:26] >> Finish line is in sight. And I just want

[3:29] to assure you I got the energy and the

[3:31] optimism and the enthusiasm to cross the

[3:33] line.

[3:34] >> On this last day of the campaign, Mr.

[3:36] Bush started at dawn in Ohio to raise

[3:38] enthusiasm and get his voters to the

[3:40] polls in key swing states. After Ohio, a

[3:44] quick stop in Pennsylvania, then onto

[3:46] Wisconsin. Two stops in Iowa, then New

[3:49] Mexico. After that, a late night rally

[3:51] in Dallas before the president finally

[3:53] calls it a night at his Crawford, Texas

[3:55] ranch around 1:00 a.m.

[3:58] Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney

[4:00] was dispatched to Honolulu, a 15-hour

[4:02] trip to chase Hawaii's four electoral

[4:05] votes. But normally low-key Cheney even

[4:07] dawned a flower lay.

[4:09] >> I was in the neighborhood and thought

[4:10] I'd stop by and say [cheering]

[4:14] aloha.

[4:16] >> Despite the frantic lastminute vote

[4:18] chasing, Mr. Bush's political

[4:19] strategists [music] say they're

[4:20] confident of victory. They insist their

[4:23] get out the vote operation over a

[4:25] million volunteers will get people to

[4:27] the polls more effectively than the

[4:29] Democrats. I see a day that's better for

[4:31] every American. And tomorrow, the

[4:33] American people have a chance to bring

[4:36] that better day by voting for Bush

[4:38] Cheney.

[4:39] >> But it's the electoral vote math that

[4:41] worries the Bush campaign. The

[4:43] arithmetic gets difficult if the

[4:44] president loses any two of the big swing

[4:47] states, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

[4:50] And lost jobs in both Ohio and

[4:52] Pennsylvania have made those states a

[4:54] big question mark.

[4:56] And there's something else which bothers

[4:58] the Bush campaign a lot. Incumbent

[5:01] presidents don't usually get reelected

[5:03] if their poll ratings are below 50%.

[5:05] President Bush's stand at 47%. Dan,

[5:09] >> the war goes on. US Marines battled

[5:12] Iraqi militants and suspected foreign

[5:14] terrorists again today in the Sunni

[5:16] triangle west of Baghdad. US artillery

[5:19] and air strikes pounded Fallujah. And

[5:21] there were street clashes in Romani. As

[5:23] the Marines prepare for their

[5:25] long-awaited final push into both

[5:27] cities, CBS News combat correspondent

[5:30] Kimberly Doer with the Marines has the

[5:32] inside story.

[5:35] >> US Marines and militants traded fire on

[5:38] Romani's main streets. Clashes that grow

[5:40] deadlier by the day.

[5:44] It's a grim prelude to what everyone

[5:46] here believes will be an allout siege of

[5:49] Rammani and neighboring Fallujah. The

[5:51] Marines are preparing for anything the

[5:53] enemy might throw at them. A necessary

[5:55] precaution after militants claim to

[5:57] possess weapons of mass destruction. If

[6:00] the attack goes ahead, Iraqi civilians

[6:03] will be warned in no uncertain terms to

[6:05] get out and stay out. The message in

[6:08] Arabic says it all.

[6:09] >> Stay away or we'll kill you. Iraq's

[6:12] prime minister says the militants must

[6:14] surrender.

[6:15] >> I cannot stand back and allow such

[6:17] attacks to continue.

[6:19] >> The only response so far, the Americans

[6:21] say, is violence. At least nine Marines

[6:24] died over the weekend, killed by a

[6:26] suicide bomber and gorilla attacks.

[6:28] >> But I still want to see your gas mask

[6:30] and your extra filter.

[6:32] >> Amid preparations for the fight, the

[6:34] battle for the White House seemed very

[6:36] far away. Most didn't even know election

[6:38] day was almost here. Um, I really don't

[6:41] have any favorites right now. They both

[6:42] got their pluses and their minuses, but

[6:45] uh, you know, whoever comes and, uh,

[6:47] comes out on top, I'm going to follow

[6:48] their orders and, uh, do my job.

[6:51] >> They all agreed on one thing. They think

[6:53] whoever wins won't make any difference

[6:55] to what happens here. They think

[6:57] American troops will still be fighting

[6:58] to drive terrorists out of Fallujah,

[7:00] Ramani, and the rest of Iraq for years

[7:03] to come. The sooner we can end this, uh,

[7:06] the sooner we can come in here and, uh,

[7:08] and help them, uh, rebuild and, uh, and

[7:11] get on with life and hopefully a better

[7:12] life.

[7:13] >> Still risking American lives to make

[7:15] good an American promise to make Iraq

[7:18] secure and free. Kimberly Doer, CBS

[7:21] News, with the first Marine

[7:22] Expeditionary Force near Fallujah. So,

[7:25] we're down now to the last few hours of

[7:27] a presidential election campaign that

[7:29] seems to have gone on forever, almost

[7:32] since the last one ended.

[7:35] Ended so bitterly with bad calls by

[7:37] television networks, including CBS,

[7:40] disputed vote counting, a drawn out

[7:42] court battle, and finally a

[7:44] controversial Supreme Court ruling that

[7:47] decided the election. To this day, three

[7:49] out of four Democrats believe the

[7:51] election was not legitimate. The hard

[7:53] feelings were put aside, at least

[7:55] temporarily, as Americans united in the

[7:57] wake of 9/11. But then came the war in

[8:00] Iraq and America was divided again.

[8:03] Nearly three out of four voters

[8:04] described this election as very

[8:07] important and many are showing it by

[8:10] actively supporting a candidate or

[8:12] joining the hundreds of thousands

[8:14] registering for the first time. And then

[8:16] yes, voting. The turnout in states that

[8:20] allow early voting has been heavy and

[8:22] encouraging. We hope you will vote, too.

[8:25] It is not only your right, but your

[8:27] responsibility.

[8:29] It will be our responsibility to report

[8:32] the results as accurately as we can to

[8:34] estimate whom we believe has won only

[8:38] when we are fully confident we have the

[8:40] information to do that. Our attitude is

[8:42] we'd rather be last than wrong. And

[8:45] remember, please, CBS News will not

[8:47] decide who won or lost. You will with

[8:50] your vote. More stories are just a click

[8:53] away now, but don't forget to join me on

[8:55] television for the on air edition of the

[8:58] CBS Evening News. On Tuesday's

[9:00] broadcast, Election Day 2004. Now, it's

[9:03] up to you, the voters. Our CBS News team

[9:06] will take you around the country for

[9:08] detailed analysis of the turnout and the

[9:11] early trends. For cbsnews.com,

[9:14] I'm Dan Rather.