CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-26

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

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

[0:01] the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:04] Just ahead, waiting for the special

[0:06] counsel's decision in the CIA leak case.

[0:10] John Roberts reports from the White

[0:12] House. Also, five Israelis are dead in

[0:14] the suicide bombing of an open-air

[0:16] market. David Hawkins with details on

[0:19] that. And porous borders. If any poor

[0:21] immigrant knows how easy it is to get

[0:24] into the US, what about terrorists? Our

[0:27] Eye on America series continues. It's

[0:29] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:31] online edition.

[0:34] Well, it's coming down to a waiting

[0:36] game. Will the federal prosecutor

[0:38] investigating who blew the cover of that

[0:40] secret agent for the CIA indict some top

[0:44] White House officials or won't he? That

[0:46] is the question that is consuming

[0:48] Washington tonight and only the

[0:50] prosecutor himself really knows. Our

[0:52] White House correspondent John Roberts

[0:54] is tracking the developments for us and

[0:57] for the latest, we're going first to

[0:58] him.

[1:00] >> President Bush sent a message of

[1:02] business as usual today, taking a very

[1:04] visible walk with congressional

[1:06] Republicans. Later, he ignored questions

[1:08] about whether his staff is prepared for

[1:10] indictments.

[1:16] The two central figures in the case,

[1:18] Karl Rove and the Vice President's Chief

[1:20] of Staff Scooter Libby, were both at

[1:22] work today. Special Counsel Patrick

[1:24] Fitzgerald met for 3 hours with the

[1:26] grand jury and was giving away nothing.

[1:29] >> Thank you guys for being professional. I

[1:30] appreciate it.

[1:31] >> In the closing hours of the

[1:32] investigation, the prosecutor appeared

[1:34] to be zeroing in on two things. What

[1:37] Karl Rove told reporters about CIA

[1:39] operative Valerie Plame and whether it

[1:42] was common knowledge she worked for the

[1:43] CIA. Investigators talked to Plame's

[1:46] neighbors this week. Marc E. Racicot was

[1:49] interviewed on Monday night.

[1:50] >> they said did you know Valerie Plame's

[1:52] identity?

[1:54] And I said no.

[1:56] >> Sources say Fitzgerald also called on

[1:59] Rove's attorney Robert Luskin yesterday

[2:01] to go over more questions. But the

[2:03] prosecutor, according to sources, did

[2:05] not indicate a decision had been made to

[2:07] indict Rove.

[2:10] Any of the possible charges in this case

[2:12] may be difficult to prove, especially in

[2:14] a highly charged political environment.

[2:17] People who know Fitzgerald, like Robert

[2:19] Ray, who investigated the Clinton White

[2:21] House, say he won't bring indictments

[2:23] without a strong case.

[2:25] >> It will only be if he is firmly

[2:26] convinced that he can present a case

[2:28] with a substantial likelihood of

[2:30] obtaining a conviction will he bring a

[2:31] charge against any individual or

[2:33] individuals.

[2:34] >> In a rather intriguing development,

[2:36] Fitzgerald met at length today with the

[2:38] judge presiding over the grand jury.

[2:40] Apparently, he was not asking for an

[2:41] extension of his investigation, so

[2:43] people tonight are left to wonder, was

[2:45] he seeking sealed indictments? Or is it

[2:48] something else altogether? Bob.

[2:50] >> John, let's bring in Gloria Borger, our

[2:52] political correspondent, for a little

[2:53] round table here. Uh Gloria, obviously,

[2:56] people at the White House are on pins

[2:57] and needles, but my sense is that this

[2:59] is spreading beyond the White House to

[3:01] other Republicans.

[3:03] >> Oh, it's spreading to Capitol Hill, Bob,

[3:05] like wildfire. The Republicans that I

[3:07] talked to on the Hill use words like

[3:09] demoralized and frustrated to describe

[3:12] themselves. And they're not so much

[3:14] worried about George W. Bush here.

[3:16] They're worried about themselves and

[3:17] about keeping control of the House and

[3:19] Senate and wondering how they could do

[3:21] that with all of this bad news.

[3:23] >> John, is it is it difficult to deal with

[3:25] the White House these days? Has this

[3:27] changed things there?

[3:29] >> Well, definitely, it's difficult in

[3:31] terms of trying to get information out

[3:33] about this particular case because for

[3:34] the last few months, they have

[3:36] approached every question with the same

[3:37] answer, we're not going to talk about an

[3:39] ongoing investigation. I mean, there's a

[3:41] palpable sense of anxiety here that is

[3:43] permeating the entire place, but they

[3:45] still are talking about policy. The

[3:48] policy seems to have taken, at least

[3:50] publicly, a backseat to what's going on

[3:52] with the leak.

[3:53] >> Well, I think one thing that's going on

[3:55] here, Gloria, it seems to me that for

[3:56] the first time this Harriet Miers uh

[3:59] nomination may be in some trouble up at

[4:01] the capital. What What do you think

[4:02] about that?

[4:04] >> I do think it's in some deep trouble,

[4:05] Bob. I've been told that the White House

[4:08] has received a message loud and clear

[4:10] from key conservative senators that they

[4:13] do not want to vote on the Harriet Miers

[4:16] nomination. The question is whether the

[4:18] president is getting that message and at

[4:20] some point whether he will be willing to

[4:22] withdraw the nomination. Nobody knows at

[4:25] this point.

[4:25] >> All right. Well, thanks to both of you.

[4:27] In Israel today, a Palestinian suicide

[4:29] bomber struck a marketplace killing at

[4:32] least five Israelis and wounding dozens.

[4:35] The attack 30 mi north of Tel Aviv was

[4:37] the worst in more than 3 months and it

[4:40] came at a time when Israeli and

[4:42] Palestinian leaders are struggling to

[4:44] keep peace efforts on track. Here's

[4:46] David Hawkins.

[4:48] >> The blast ripped through the open air

[4:50] market sending shrapnel and body parts

[4:52] in all directions. As some ran from the

[4:54] scene, others ran to it desperately

[4:57] looking for family members who worked

[4:59] there but didn't answer their phones.

[5:03] >> I see people running with all covered in

[5:05] blood. We have to put a stop to this cuz

[5:08] it's never going to end like this.

[5:10] >> An Israeli security official told me the

[5:12] suicide bomber arrived by car. He got

[5:14] out of the car here and then walked

[5:16] about 30 ft over to a falafel stand

[5:18] behind these fruit and vegetable markets

[5:20] where he blew himself up. The attack

[5:22] happened just a few hours after Iran's

[5:24] president called for Israel to be wiped

[5:27] off the map at a world without Zionism

[5:29] conference in Tehran.

[5:31] Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman

[5:33] sharply criticized the statement.

[5:36] >> The president of Iran today

[5:38] formally endorsed suicide bombings in

[5:41] which Israeli citizens are murdered.

[5:44] >> Islamic Jihad says it sent the suicide

[5:46] bomber to avenge the killing of its West

[5:48] Bank leader gunned down in an Israeli

[5:50] raid earlier this week. It's the first

[5:53] deadly suicide bombing in Israel since

[5:55] its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this

[5:57] summer raised hopes that the cycle of

[5:59] violence had at last come to an end. It

[6:02] now appears that it hasn't.

[6:05] David Hawkins, CBS News, Adair, Israel.

[6:08] All this week we've been reporting on

[6:10] security at the borders and tonight what

[6:12] is and is not being done to keep

[6:14] terrorists out. Bill Whitaker now with

[6:17] Eye on America.

[6:20] >> Iraqi nationals arrested in Mexico

[6:23] sneaking into the US.

[6:25] The US projects a record 4,000

[6:28] immigrants from so-called high-risk

[6:29] countries in the Middle East and Asia

[6:31] will be arrested trying to enter the

[6:33] country illegally this year. Far more

[6:36] will get through. Add to that Mexico's

[6:39] recent seizure of high-powered weapons

[6:41] including these rocket launchers in

[6:43] Tijuana and US officials fear a

[6:45] troubling new threat on our porous

[6:48] southern border.

[6:50] >> If it's so simple for an uneducated

[6:53] impoverished labor to come across the

[6:55] border, think about how much easier it

[6:57] is for a highly trained well-financed

[7:00] terrorist.

[7:01] >> From Tijuana to Texas, the entry routes

[7:03] are well established and well known

[7:05] around the world. But nothing seems to

[7:08] work. This is the old wall. Behind me

[7:11] there is a new fence. The US government

[7:13] has put up lights and cameras, but still

[7:15] the immigrants come.

[7:17] Flooding across even where you'd least

[7:19] expect. Surveillance video from US Army

[7:22] Fort Huachuca on the Arizona-Mexico

[7:24] border. Thousands cross here right under

[7:26] the nose of the military. Some seen here

[7:29] fleeing target practice.

[7:32] >> Wouldn't a terrorist know that this is a

[7:34] porous border?

[7:36] >> Of course the terrorist knows it's a

[7:37] porous border. They were using alien

[7:40] smugglers and document forgers to help

[7:42] move people through Iran and through

[7:43] Pakistan. It would only make common

[7:46] sense that they would use that again to

[7:48] get into the United States.

[7:49] >> Follow us. Follow us.

[7:50] >> US border officials are quick to point

[7:53] out there is no credible evidence of

[7:55] terrorists actually slipping across, but

[7:57] there are red flags. This Lebanese

[8:00] native living in Tijuana, convicted of

[8:02] smuggling 200 Lebanese into the US, some

[8:05] with known ties to Hezbollah, which the

[8:07] US considers a terror group. On a visit

[8:10] to the Arizona border, Colorado

[8:12] Congressman Tom Tancredo got a

[8:15] first-hand look at smuggling routes.

[8:17] >> We found the Quran, we found copies of

[8:19] the Quran, we have found

[8:21] uh

[8:21] prayer rugs, we have found a lot of

[8:23] stuff written in Arabic. I mean, it's

[8:25] not just people from Mexico coming

[8:28] across the Mexican border.

[8:30] >> And now this. After shutting down more

[8:33] than 30 drug tunnels under the Mexican

[8:35] border, authorities recently discovered

[8:37] this one, the first ever under the

[8:40] Canadian border.

[8:41] >> That tunnel could be used to smuggle

[8:43] aliens into the US. It could be used to

[8:45] smuggle

[8:47] uh equipment into the US for uh for

[8:49] those who could do harm to the United

[8:50] States.

[8:51] >> I mean, I don't want people to

[8:53] stay up at night

[8:55] uh

[8:55] and not sleep, but I want them to wake

[8:58] up to the fact that our borders are wide

[9:01] open.

[9:02] >> And America's enemies know it.

[9:05] In Tijuana, this is Bill Whitaker for I

[9:08] on America.

[9:09] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[9:11] don't forget to join me on television

[9:12] for the on-air edition of the CBS

[9:14] Evening News. On Thursday's broadcast,

[9:17] why would an official of Mexican descent

[9:20] want to throw thousands of Mexican farm

[9:22] workers out of his state? He'll tell you

[9:25] when our I on America special continues.

[9:28] For cbsnews.com,

[9:30] I'm Bob Schieffer.