CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-09-28

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Dan Rather. Welcome to the

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

[0:05] ahead, how hard and how soon will

[0:08] skyhigh oil prices hit you in the

[0:10] pocketbook? Also, is the draft making a

[0:14] comeback? Where the presidential

[0:16] candidates stand in CBS's election

[0:18] series, What does it mean to you? And

[0:22] they promised to remove fat from their

[0:24] products, so why hasn't McDonald's done

[0:26] it? It's all starting now on the CBS

[0:29] Evening News online edition.

[0:32] How high will it go? Oil broke through

[0:35] the $50 a barrel level in trading today

[0:38] for the first time ever. It closed a bit

[0:40] lower, but still an all-time high, the

[0:44] third record high in a row. Even a

[0:46] pledge by Saudi Arabia today to pump

[0:49] more oil into the markets didn't help.

[0:51] CBS's Anthony Mason reports what's

[0:53] driving prices up and the possible

[0:56] impact on the US economy and your

[0:58] pocketbook.

[1:00] >> In the oil trading pits, the price of

[1:02] crude continued to sore, closing at

[1:05] another record high, just 10 cents shy

[1:07] of 50 bucks a barrel.

[1:09] >> If a few things go wrong, we could see

[1:11] oil prices not just at $50, but maybe

[1:14] $60 and higher.

[1:15] >> Why? Pipelines in Iraq have been under

[1:17] constant attack.

[1:19] >> Oh my god. The parade of hurricanes has

[1:21] caused havoc for the offshore rigs in

[1:23] the Gulf of Mexico. And now armed unrest

[1:26] in Nigeria threatens to disrupt

[1:28] production in the fifth largest supplier

[1:30] to the US.

[1:31] >> As soon as it looks like we're going to

[1:32] get through one problem, another problem

[1:34] develops

[1:35] >> and that's a problem for the US economy.

[1:38] >> Higher energy prices is probably the

[1:40] worst thing outside of another act of

[1:41] terrorism that could happen to our

[1:42] economy.

[1:43] >> Economist Mark Sandy. It's like a tax

[1:45] increase with the exception that the tax

[1:48] revenues don't go to our friendly

[1:49] government who turn around and

[1:50] presumably do something good with it.

[1:52] >> Instead, it goes to OPEC and other

[1:54] foreign energy producers.

[1:56] >> Unless the the shakes are shopping in

[1:58] Tiffany's in New York, it's really not

[1:59] doing us much good here.

[2:00] >> Overall, the economy is growing, but a

[2:02] new survey shows consumer confidence

[2:05] down for the second straight month.

[2:07] >> It's jobs. It's all about jobs. Yeah.

[2:09] >> In Dallas, Jeffrey Lamer's new job pays

[2:12] half what his old one did. And Jenny

[2:14] Nuyan is being more careful about what

[2:16] she buys because she's worried about her

[2:18] job.

[2:18] >> Business is down, which means that the

[2:20] economy is probably down. So which means

[2:22] that there might be future layoff in the

[2:24] company.

[2:25] >> When you're looking at the economy, it's

[2:26] good to say there are good pots, there

[2:28] are bad pots, and there's some pretty

[2:30] ugly pots as well. And energy prices

[2:32] could get even uglier. Usually this time

[2:34] of year, we're stocking up on oil

[2:36] inventories for the winter. Instead,

[2:38] those inventories are actually dropping,

[2:40] which could make it very expensive to

[2:42] stay warm this winter.

[2:44] >> It's no secret the all volunteer US

[2:46] military, especially the Army, Marines,

[2:48] and many reserve units, are stretched

[2:51] thin in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, what

[2:54] about bringing back the draft? A lot of

[2:56] Americans are worried about that. Where

[2:58] do the presidential candidates stand?

[3:01] CBS's Richard Slesinger tells you in the

[3:03] Eye on America election series. What

[3:06] does it mean to you?

[3:11] >> Beverly Koko has spent most of her life

[3:14] protecting children in Philadelphia.

[3:16] >> Hold on a second. They're not paying

[3:17] attention.

[3:18] >> She usually worries about other people's

[3:20] kids.

[3:20] >> Do all your homework. Going to go get

[3:22] your sister. Where's your mommy?

[3:23] >> But as election day approaches, it's her

[3:26] own two grown sons who Beverly is most

[3:29] worried about.

[3:30] >> I go to bed every night and I pray and I

[3:31] actually get sick to my stomach. I'm

[3:33] very worried. I'm scared. I'm absolutely

[3:36] scared. I'm petrified.

[3:39] >> Beverly is petrified about a military

[3:41] draft. And she's not alone. Mass emails

[3:45] are circulating among worried parents.

[3:47] But neither President Bush nor John

[3:49] Kerry has said he will reinstitute the

[3:51] draft. In fact, they both say they will

[3:54] not.

[3:55] >> I will give us a foreign policy that

[3:57] absolutely makes it unnecessary to have

[3:59] a draft for this country. Kerry says

[4:01] he'll try to get allies of the US to

[4:03] send troops that could relieve American

[4:05] soldiers in Iraq. The Bush

[4:07] administration says that is pure

[4:09] fantasy. The president wants to train

[4:11] more Iraqi troops to take over for the

[4:14] Americans.

[4:14] >> The war on terror will continue. It's

[4:16] going to take a while. And no, we don't

[4:18] need a draft.

[4:19] >> But Beverly's not buying it. She's a

[4:21] Republican, but she's also a single

[4:23] issue voter. Would you vote for a

[4:25] Democrat?

[4:26] >> Absolutely. I would vote for Howdy Duty

[4:28] if I thought it would keep my boys home

[4:30] and safe.

[4:31] >> In fact, there are at least three votes

[4:32] in this house writing on the draft.

[4:34] Beverly's and her sons Carmen and Nick.

[4:37] Are you guys worried about being

[4:38] drafted?

[4:41] >> Yeah, it's the talk there. The talk's

[4:42] there. And though people aren't actually

[4:44] coming out and saying it, it's it's it's

[4:47] there.

[4:48] >> The machinery for a draft is already in

[4:50] place. And the acting director of

[4:52] selective service believes he could

[4:54] start drafting people quickly. I think

[4:56] that we could do it in less than six

[4:58] months if we got the call.

[5:00] >> This time there would be no long

[5:02] deferments for college students and a

[5:04] lot more people could be eligible for

[5:06] the draft than ever before. Men and

[5:08] women aged 18 to 26 could be called up.

[5:12] Of course, there hasn't been a draft

[5:14] since 1973,

[5:16] but that's not much comfort to Beverly

[5:18] Coco.

[5:19] >> All right, come on.

[5:20] >> So, she's keeping a sharp eye on the

[5:22] political traffic. She's a Bush

[5:24] supporter today, but if she doesn't like

[5:26] what she hears between now and November,

[5:29] Beverly could easily cross over.

[5:31] >> So good to see you

[5:32] >> in Philadelphia. I'm Richard Slesinger

[5:35] for Eye on America, Mickey D. And

[5:38] reality, most health experts put trans

[5:41] fat at the top of the list of fast food

[5:43] ingredients linked to heart disease.

[5:46] McDonald's promised to cut trans fat,

[5:49] but did it? CBS's Cynthia Bowers serves

[5:53] up this reality check.

[5:56] >> Less fatty fries at McDonald's. It

[6:00] sounded too good to be true when the

[6:02] fast food giant made the promise two

[6:04] years ago.

[6:05] >> It's a win-win for our customers because

[6:07] they're getting the same great taste

[6:09] along with an even better nutrition

[6:11] profile. Its promise to eliminate artery

[6:14] clogging trans fat from its frying bats

[6:17] was part of a huge public relations

[6:19] blitz designed to counter criticism that

[6:21] fast food was putting Americans on a

[6:23] fast track to obesity. But two years

[6:26] later, critics say

[6:27] >> McDonald's hasn't done anything.

[6:30] >> The Center for Science in the Public

[6:32] Interest is so outraged that McDonald's

[6:34] hasn't fully switched to healthier

[6:36] cooking. It recently put the company's

[6:38] feet to the fryer with this full page

[6:40] heart attack ad.

[6:42] >> Tens of thousands of people are dying

[6:44] prematurely because of the trans fat in

[6:47] our food supply and we've got to put

[6:50] pressure on these companies to get it

[6:52] out of their products.

[6:54] >> For its part, McDonald's points out it

[6:56] has cut some of the fat on chicken

[6:58] products, but warned consumers last year

[7:01] the fries will take a bit longer. But

[7:03] they are continuing with ongoing tests.

[7:06] But let's be honest, how many people

[7:08] order McDonald's French fries because

[7:10] they think they're somewhat healthier?

[7:13] They eat them because they taste good.

[7:15] >> When you have a product that millions of

[7:17] people love, you don't mess with it.

[7:20] >> And while some customers say this is

[7:22] simply big business as usual,

[7:24] >> it's more money over morals.

[7:26] >> Most in our informal survey know exactly

[7:29] what they're getting when they go there.

[7:30] >> If you want to eat healthy, you go to

[7:32] one of those little tofu places. They're

[7:34] coming in for a happy meal, not a

[7:36] healthy one. Cynthia Bower, CBS News,

[7:39] Chicago.

[7:40] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:43] don't forget to join me on television

[7:44] for the on air edition of the CBS

[7:46] Evening News. On Wednesday, why

[7:49] advertisers want to see inside your

[7:51] head, literally. For cbsnews.com,

[7:55] I'm Dan Rather.