CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-12

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, the flu vaccine. Will those who

[0:08] need it be able to get it? If so, where?

[0:10] Also, the estate tax. Some call it the

[0:13] death tax. Should it stay or should it

[0:15] go? Where the candidates stand in the

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

[0:20] This is something you'll see only on our

[0:22] broadcast. And rock crawling. We'll give

[0:24] you a look at this gravitydeying new

[0:27] motorsport. It's all starting now on the

[0:30] CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:33] The US government said today the recent

[0:35] loss of half the nation's flu vaccine

[0:38] due to possible contamination means the

[0:40] rest of the supply will essentially be

[0:42] rationed. High-risisk groups go to the

[0:44] top of the list. That's good news for

[0:46] some, bad news for others. CBS News

[0:49] medical correspondent Elizabeth Kaledan

[0:51] gives you the inside story.

[0:55] A small supply of flu vaccine drew an

[0:57] anxious crowd to this Los Angeles area

[0:59] drugstore today.

[1:00] >> I came early. I came prepared. I came

[1:03] with a little stool.

[1:05] >> Dozens of elderly people, some quite

[1:07] frail, lined up in the hot sun for hours

[1:10] just to get a shot at getting a shot.

[1:13] >> We called three doctors.

[1:15] All are out.

[1:17] >> The scene is being played out across the

[1:19] country. We're going to take a hundred

[1:20] of you into the store right now

[1:22] >> as the nation grapples with a major flu

[1:24] vaccine shortage and the handful of

[1:26] places that actually have it are getting

[1:28] mobbed by people who want it. Right now

[1:31] there are gaps in all regions of the

[1:33] country to impose order on potential

[1:35] chaos. The Centers for Disease Control

[1:38] today announced a plan to make sure

[1:39] vaccine only gets in the hands of those

[1:41] who really need it. The overall goal of

[1:44] this is to target the vaccine that we do

[1:46] have to the people who will get the most

[1:49] benefit. Vaccine manufacturer Aventus

[1:51] Pastor has agreed to ship its remaining

[1:54] 22.4 million doses only to

[1:56] pediatricians, nursing homes, and

[1:58] hospitals. There are also 2 million

[2:01] doses of the nasal spray vaccine

[2:03] available, but since it's made with a

[2:05] weakened live virus, it can only be

[2:07] given to healthy people aged 5 to 50.

[2:11] But finding the public clinics that

[2:12] distribute any vaccine is going to get

[2:14] harder and harder. Even websites like

[2:17] this one run by the American Lung

[2:18] Association will stop listing

[2:20] vaccination sites this weekend.

[2:23] >> We're all going to have to hustle a

[2:24] little bit to find it for ourselves and

[2:27] our family members.

[2:28] >> There's no question that finding the flu

[2:30] vaccine this season is going to involve

[2:32] a little ingenuity and a lot of

[2:34] uncertainty. Doctors say the only

[2:36] certainty we do face is that the flu

[2:39] will be here soon. Elizabeth Kaledan,

[2:42] CBS News, New York.

[2:43] >> This election season, CBS's Eye on

[2:45] America is giving you a look at some of

[2:47] the key issues. Tonight, inheritance

[2:49] taxes, what some call the death tax.

[2:51] When someone dies, the value of the

[2:53] estate over $1.5 million may be subject

[2:57] to a federal tax. CBS's Lee Cowan looks

[3:00] at the impact of this tax and what, if

[3:02] anything, the candidates would do About

[3:04] It in the special series, What Does It

[3:06] Mean to You?

[3:09] >> Come on.

[3:10] >> Even at age 75, there's one thing

[3:13] farmers like Joe Lion don't talk about.

[3:15] Death. Whether it's their crops, their

[3:17] cattle, or themselves around here,

[3:19] that's just bad luck.

[3:21] >> We're all optimists and think we'll

[3:22] never die. So, you keep putting that

[3:24] off. But that's hard to do when both

[3:26] sides in this political campaign keep

[3:28] talking about the death tax money. Uncle

[3:31] Sam can skim off the family farm or a

[3:33] small business after you're no longer

[3:34] part of the tax base, at least the

[3:36] living part. Opponents, though, call

[3:38] that unethical. Even though the estate

[3:40] tax brought in $23 billion last year, it

[3:43] was money gained, critics say, by taking

[3:45] it from those who simply lived the

[3:47] American dream.

[3:48] >> It's an immoral tax because on the one

[3:50] hand, we say work hard, save your money.

[3:52] On the other hand, we say we'll take it

[3:54] away.

[3:54] >> The president insists the impact of the

[3:56] tax will eventually hit people like Joe

[3:59] Lion the hardest, forcing them to sell

[4:01] their land or livestock in order to pay

[4:02] the bill.

[4:03] >> The death tax is bad for rural America,

[4:06] and Congress needs to make it extinct

[4:08] forever.

[4:09] >> It's being build as tax relief for

[4:11] family farmers. Problem is, family

[4:13] farmers aren't the ones paying this tax.

[4:16] In fact, in 2002, less than 4% of the

[4:19] people who died owed any estate tax at

[4:22] all, and only a tiny fraction of those

[4:23] were farmers. The overwhelming majority

[4:26] was paid by the wealthiest people in the

[4:28] country.

[4:29] >> I have never seen a farm business that

[4:32] had to be sold to pay federal state tax.

[4:34] >> So, why is that argument used so often?

[4:36] >> It spins well. Indeed, it does. But John

[4:40] Kerry has spun it too the other way,

[4:42] arguing the president's plan to get rid

[4:44] of the estate tax is simply a break for

[4:46] the rich.

[4:47] >> When tax cuts for the wealthiest are

[4:49] your only priority, you don't have

[4:52] anything left for the middle class of

[4:54] America.

[4:54] >> Kerry would keep the estate tax, but

[4:56] raise the exemptions high enough so that

[4:58] only the rich would pay. But critics

[5:00] charge that too is problematic. Those

[5:03] with the means will likely shelter most

[5:05] of their wealth and in the end get out

[5:07] of paying anyway, which makes the death

[5:09] tax a difficult campaign issue,

[5:11] especially for people like Joe Lion.

[5:13] >> I just happen to think that they're

[5:14] wrong. I just don't think it's it's that

[5:17] big a deal. I I uh I've got other things

[5:20] that concern me more,

[5:22] >> like the cost of prescription drugs and

[5:23] long-term healthcare. Bigger threats to

[5:26] the family farm, he says, than the grim

[5:28] reaper with a tax bill. In Cedar Rapids,

[5:31] Iowa, this is Lee Howen for Eye on

[5:32] America.

[5:33] >> Millions of Americans drive them brrawy

[5:36] four-wheel drive SUVs that look tough

[5:38] enough to take on the toughest trail,

[5:40] but rarely face anything tougher than a

[5:43] steep driveway. So, where do real

[5:45] off-roaders go for a hard rock

[5:47] challenge? As CBS's Mark Rossman

[5:50] reports, the answer is straight up.

[5:54] >> See that buggy? The one with tires like

[5:56] Barry Bond's biceps.

[5:59] Behind the wheel is Rob Steffy.

[6:01] >> That's right.

[6:02] >> On weekends, this Pittsburgh cop mocks

[6:05] the laws of gravity, driving in

[6:07] America's latest motorsport craze, rock

[6:10] crawling.

[6:12] It's part NASCAR, part demolition derby.

[6:15] And when the rock goes straight up or

[6:17] straight down, gravity frowns on driver

[6:20] error. I'm shocked myself at some of the

[6:23] climbs I've actually made, saying, "How

[6:26] did I do that?"

[6:27] >> A good spotter helps. Avoid hitting the

[6:30] cones and losing points. And lowest

[6:32] score wins. Competitors compare a rock

[6:35] crawl to a roller coaster.

[6:37] >> Except you're the one driving the roller

[6:39] coaster and you're the one decides

[6:40] whether it stays on the track or it

[6:42] doesn't.

[6:43] >> And often it doesn't.

[6:46] >> It's daring. It's dangerous. And it's

[6:49] exciting. It's an extreme sport in a

[6:52] number of ways, including its wild

[6:54] growth. Rock crawling is now America's

[6:56] fastest growing motorsport.

[6:58] >> One reason fans get so close they can

[7:01] smell the mayhem.

[7:04] >> One redneck told another redneck and

[7:06] then 10 more people came out. We try to

[7:08] send them up obstacles that most you

[7:10] most of us, even healthy and young and

[7:12] dumb, can't climb on foot and hand. As

[7:14] Rob Steffy learned, many climbs require

[7:17] a certain hard-headed perseverance.

[7:25] This was Stephy's view of the rollover.

[7:27] From inside his buggy, he was dazed, but

[7:30] fine.

[7:34] >> All right.

[7:34] >> A solid hit is what the sport has become

[7:37] in this battle of man versus mountain.

[7:41] Mark Stman, CBS News, Adica, Indiana.

[7:44] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:47] don't forget to join me on television

[7:48] for the on air edition of the CBS

[7:50] Evening News. On Wednesday's broadcast,

[7:53] an injection that dissolves fat. That's

[7:56] the claim. But does it actually work?

[7:59] Before you make an appointment, better

[8:01] see our investigation. For cbsnews.com,

[8:04] I'm Dan Rather.