WTVJ (Miami) close / NBC Nightly News open - 2004-12-09

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] We have a lot of other really good

[0:01] players in our program as does Oklahoma.

[0:03] But, uh, I think it's it's just so

[0:05] unique that hopefully it'll just make

[0:06] for a great buildup to the game and the

[0:08] excitement, enthusiasm about it will

[0:09] just be just skyhigh. And how about this

[0:12] one? The Las Vegas Marlins. It doesn't

[0:15] have a very good ring to it, does it?

[0:16] But Florida officials have looked into

[0:18] the possibility meeting with Sin City

[0:20] representatives yesterday about a

[0:22] possible move. A Martin spokesman says

[0:25] negotiations for a new stadium in Miami

[0:27] have taken longer than expected,

[0:29] prompting the discussions. Now, the

[0:31] Heat, meanwhile, coming home happy.

[0:33] Miami finishing their road trip was

[0:35] sporting a 3-1 record last night,

[0:37] outlasting the Bucks 10196. Udonis

[0:40] Hasslam picking up the slack for Shack

[0:42] who dealt with foul trouble most of the

[0:44] game. The Udominator with an impressive

[0:46] line. Listen to this. 20 points, 13

[0:48] boards, six assists, and one block shot.

[0:52] You know, we take a couple steps back

[0:53] every now and then, but uh you know, in

[0:55] the long run, I think it's going to help

[0:56] us that guys starting to understand the

[0:57] role and we're stepping up. They're

[0:58] going to key on our guys, uh Dwayne,

[1:00] Shaq, uh Eddie. You know, often times

[1:02] they forget about me and I just keep

[1:04] working. No matter what, I keep working.

[1:05] If I get open shots, I knock them down,

[1:07] uh rebound, and do the little things.

[1:09] >> And finally, Broward's hopes for a state

[1:11] football title heading for Gainesville

[1:13] today. St. Thomas boarding the bus this

[1:15] morning, making final preparations for

[1:17] tomorrow night's 5A championship with

[1:20] Lakeland. And good luck to those guys.

[1:22] Should be a good game, a 5A

[1:24] championship. That'll do it for sports.

[1:26] Back to you guys.

[1:26] >> Bring it back to Thanks, Joe.

[1:28] >> Well, that's our report for now. Thank

[1:30] you so much for watching.

[1:31] >> Stay tuned. NBC Nightly News is next

[1:32] with Brian Williams. Then join us at 10

[1:34] on WB39. Then Jackie and I are right

[1:36] back here.

[1:37] >> Good night.

[1:40] >> Thank you for making NBC 6 your choice

[1:43] for news. Join Toby Cigretto and Jackie

[1:45] Nespole for NBC 6 News at 11. And for

[1:49] news 24 hours a day, log on to NBC6.net

[1:53] or listen to us on 87.7 FM.

[2:00] John Chans.

[2:01] >> Battle ready. Why don't American

[2:03] soldiers have the best armor possible to

[2:06] keep them safe? Why can't the nation

[2:08] that mobilized for World War II do it

[2:10] again?

[2:12] Amazing Grace. Last respects for an

[2:14] American hero who survived 9/11 only to

[2:18] lose his life while serving his country.

[2:21] Secure future. The president pledges to

[2:24] protect social security and says a

[2:26] payroll tax increase is off the table.

[2:29] So where will the money come from?

[2:32] Game over. Soccer legend Mia Ham plays

[2:35] her final game, but not before changing

[2:38] the world for a generation of young

[2:40] athletes.

[2:44] From NBC News World Headquarters in New

[2:47] York, this is NBC Nightly News with

[2:51] Brian Williams.

[2:53] >> Good evening. Among soldiers serving in

[2:56] Iraq, it was always the topic that was

[2:58] whispered about, talked about, even the

[3:01] subject of an occasional complaint, the

[3:03] shortage of armored vehicles in a very

[3:06] dangerous land of driveby attacks and

[3:08] roadside bombs. But it was not the topic

[3:11] of national cor conversation in this

[3:14] country until an army reserve specialist

[3:17] from Tennessee stood up and fired the

[3:20] question at the secretary of defense

[3:21] during a visit to Kuwait. Now the US

[3:24] president has weighed in and everyone is

[3:27] wondering why aren't the best trained

[3:29] soldiers in the world also the best

[3:32] protected. We begin here tonight with

[3:34] NBC News Pentagon correspondent Jim

[3:36] Mcclashevski. It was the question heard

[3:38] round the world from Army National Guard

[3:40] specialist Thomas Wilson on his way into

[3:42] Iraq.

[3:43] >> Now, why do we soldiers have to dig

[3:45] through local landfills for pieces of

[3:47] scrap metal and compromised ballistic

[3:49] glass to up armor our vehicles?

[3:51] >> At one point in his response, Secretary

[3:53] Rumsfeld sounded almost dismissive.

[3:55] >> As you know, uh you go to war with the

[3:58] army you have.

[3:59] >> But today at the White House, President

[4:00] Bush said if he were headed into combat,

[4:03] he'd ask the same question. The concerns

[4:05] expressed are being addressed and that

[4:07] is we expect our troops to have the best

[4:09] possible equipment.

[4:10] >> But as of today, only about onethird of

[4:13] the military's 20,000 MVs in Iraq are

[4:16] fully armored.

[4:18] When American troops first took Baghdad,

[4:20] only US military police had the fully

[4:22] armored Humvees. But when insurgents

[4:25] turned up their attacks with roadside

[4:26] bombs, Americans started taking heavy

[4:29] casualties. and Congress came up with

[4:31] additional funds to turn up production

[4:33] of the heavily armored vehicles. But the

[4:35] Pentagon gave the contract to only one

[4:37] factory in Ohio, which is now working

[4:39] near full capacity. Officials there say

[4:42] today they can turn up production

[4:44] another 20%. But the Pentagon has yet to

[4:46] approve it.

[4:47] >> Frankly, this whole issue of lack of

[4:50] armor protection is another great

[4:51] illustration of the poor planning that

[4:53] went into this operation.

[4:55] >> And what about the claim that troops are

[4:57] digging through landfills to find their

[4:58] own armor? Military officials don't

[5:00] believe it, but do say they will recycle

[5:03] any usable parts off broken down Humvees

[5:05] to put on newer vehicles.

[5:07] >> We don't normally throw things that we

[5:08] can use uh back in into a trash bin or

[5:12] or a landfill type thing.

[5:14] >> That means armor is hastily being tacked

[5:16] on to Humvees in Iraq and Kuwait,

[5:19] creating several different levels of

[5:20] protection. Fully armored Humvees

[5:23] include armored plating on the sides,

[5:24] top and bottom, and bulletproof windows.

[5:27] Level two has armored sides and hardened

[5:30] glass, but no armor on the roof or

[5:32] floor. Level three only has armored

[5:34] sides, no bulletproof windows.

[5:37] That leaves twothirds of the Humvees in

[5:39] Iraq still vulnerable to a roadside bomb

[5:42] blast from beneath the vehicle. As for

[5:44] the question from Specialist Wilson, a

[5:46] newspaper reporter now claims he helped

[5:48] Wilson put it together. Whoever came up

[5:50] with the question, it's put the debate

[5:52] over the safety of American troops front

[5:54] and center. Jim Mlashevsky, NBC News.

[5:57] The Pentagon.

[5:58] >> To a lot of Americans, just the thought

[6:00] of US soldiers making do with less than

[6:03] adequate battlefield protection runs

[6:05] counter to that can do American spirit

[6:08] that supplied the Allied effort back in

[6:10] World War II. Tonight, NBC's Tom

[6:13] Costello looks at how times have changed

[6:15] at home and on the field of battle.

[6:19] 60 years ago, America was engaged in a

[6:22] war of survival, facing enemies in

[6:24] Europe and Asia. With 16 million

[6:27] Americans under arms, the country came

[6:29] together, sacrificing for sons,

[6:31] brothers, and fathers fighting half a

[6:33] world away. Store shelves were empty as

[6:36] families rationed butter, meat, even

[6:38] gasoline. While the nation's industrial

[6:40] complex churned out war machinery at a

[6:43] rate never seen before. Franklin

[6:45] Roosevelt declared America the arsenal

[6:46] of democracy. Meaning that if you're

[6:48] going to go to war in the Pacific in

[6:50] Europe that you've got to keep your

[6:52] troops armed properly. But the war in

[6:54] Iraq is not World War II. Instead of an

[6:57] army of drafties today, it's an army of

[7:00] volunteers and reserves doing the

[7:02] fighting on the ground and still showing

[7:04] the ingenuity so characteristic of the

[7:06] American GI. Searching through desert

[7:08] junkyards for scraps of metal to bolt

[7:11] onto their Humvees for added protection.

[7:13] And while it's business as usual for

[7:15] many back home, the families of soldiers

[7:17] and Marines have also been pressed into

[7:19] action, sending flag jackets, radios,

[7:22] and GPS units to the front lines.

[7:24] >> We simply did not anticipate having

[7:26] enough vehicles on the scene, and we

[7:28] certainly didn't anticipate having

[7:30] enough to leave them there for the time

[7:31] they've been.

[7:32] >> The Pentagon is rushing more armored

[7:34] plated Humvees to Iraq amid reports it

[7:36] is still short some 2,000. But in

[7:38] Florida, a company that makes armored

[7:40] plated kits says so far the Pentagon has

[7:43] not asked for any help.

[7:44] >> We just basically want to let them know

[7:46] that we're here to help and we have a

[7:48] facility 100% dedicated to this effort.

[7:50] >> While the military says it's responding

[7:52] as quickly as it can to safeguard the

[7:54] lives of Americans fighting an

[7:55] unconventional war. Some families and

[7:58] soldiers now wonder whether the nation's

[7:59] commitment to Iraq is as great as it was

[8:02] to a cause 60 years ago. Tom Costello,

[8:05] NBC News, Cocoa Beach, Florida.

[8:08] You may remember the strange case of

[8:10] Marine Corporal Wasaf Ali Hassoon, who

[8:12] disappeared mysteriously from Camp

[8:14] Fallujah in Iraq last June. He turned up

[8:17] on a supposed hostage tape and then just

[8:20] as mysteriously surfaced in Lebanon, a

[8:23] free man. Well, now the US military is

[8:26] bringing charges against him. NBC's Pete

[8:28] Williams is in our Washington bureau

[8:30] tonight. Pete, what do we know about

[8:32] this?

[8:32] >> Well, Brian, the charges are serious.

[8:34] They include desertion to avoid

[8:36] hazardous duty and could bring as much

[8:38] as 25 years in military prison if

[8:40] Corporal Hassoon is convicted.

[8:43] After Hassoon failed to report for daily

[8:46] duty in Iraq on June 20th, the Marines

[8:48] suspected him of desertion. But this

[8:50] tape showed up a week later, appearing

[8:52] to show him held hostage supposedly by

[8:54] insurgents in Iraq who threatened his

[8:56] life. The military reclassified him as

[8:58] captured. Then around the time

[9:00] investigators showed up at his parents'

[9:02] home in Utah, Hassoon surfaced in early

[9:04] July in Lebanon. He came back to the US

[9:07] and claimed he was kidnapped.

[9:09] >> In the name of God, I'm glad to come

[9:11] home and thanks thanks for everybody who

[9:15] prayed and support me.

[9:17] >> But military investigators tell NBC News

[9:19] they were suspicious of the video from

[9:21] the beginning, believing Hassoon looked

[9:23] too clean shaven. And then his Marine

[9:25] uniform was found in Fallujah in perfect

[9:28] condition.

[9:29] These are not the most serious charges

[9:31] the military could have brought. If he'd

[9:33] been accused of desertion in wartime, he

[9:35] could have faced the death penalty.

[9:37] Brian Williams in our Washington bureau

[9:39] tonight. Pete, thanks. Also in

[9:41] Washington tonight, the Bush

[9:42] administration starting work on one of

[9:44] its biggest priorities, bringing

[9:46] fundamental sweeping change to social

[9:49] security through something called

[9:51] partial privatization. As NBC's David

[9:54] Gregory tells us tonight, while they

[9:56] haven't yet settled on a plan for how to

[9:58] do it, the president has ruled out one