CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-12

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, in Iraq, 22, US troops have now

[0:07] been killed in the bitter fight for

[0:09] Fallujah. Commanders say American and

[0:11] Iraqi forces control 80% of the city,

[0:13] but the fighting continues, and we're

[0:15] going to show you some of it, the likes

[0:16] of which you haven't seen before. Also,

[0:19] Scott Peterson found guilty of murdering

[0:21] his wife, Lacy, an unborn child. What

[0:23] are his chances on appeal? We'll give

[0:25] you the inside story. And 911 errors.

[0:28] Well, you see what can happen when

[0:30] emergency crews get your address wrong.

[0:33] It's all starting now on the CBS Evening

[0:35] News online edition

[0:38] to Iraq where US Marines and Army troops

[0:41] are still fighting as they have been for

[0:43] 5 days in the streets and alleys of

[0:45] Fallujah. It's not over yet. The

[0:48] military said today officially 22

[0:50] Americans have been killed in the

[0:51] Fallujah operation and close to 200

[0:54] wounded. CBS News combat correspondent

[0:56] Elizabeth Palmer shows you what it's

[0:59] really like at the point of the American

[1:01] spear.

[1:05] >> American forces now control more than

[1:07] 80% of Fallujah. But getting there

[1:10] hasn't been easy.

[1:14] >> These pictures show a fierce firefight

[1:16] between soldiers of the First Infantry

[1:18] Division and a band of insurgents in the

[1:20] northeast of the city.

[1:22] OUT.

[1:24] GOOD SHOT.

[1:25] >> The urban environment levels the playing

[1:27] field for the insurgents. The Iraqi

[1:29] gunmen are nearly impossible to pick

[1:31] out.

[1:33] >> Is that it or what?

[1:36] >> The Americans have been battling back

[1:38] with pure firepower.

[1:40] The general in charge of the operation

[1:42] says the US plan is working. The

[1:44] insurgents have been pushed out of the

[1:46] center of the city and into the path of

[1:49] US forces to the south. Those who didn't

[1:52] want to fight to the death have had

[1:53] enough. And those who want to fight to

[1:55] the death are running out of steam.

[1:57] We'll accommodate them.

[1:59] >> But taking the city may be easier than

[2:01] keeping the peace here.

[2:02] >> Just as US forces say they're confident

[2:04] they're wrapping up in Fallujah. Out

[2:06] here in the countryside 10 miles away,

[2:09] the insurgency hasn't slowed down one

[2:11] bit.

[2:12] >> We were with a Marine unit supposedly

[2:14] outside the combat zone. They were

[2:16] trying to win over the local population,

[2:19] but somebody had a different idea.

[2:24] >> Hey, it's Watson, so don't shoot at

[2:26] them.

[2:27] >> It was a roadside bomb that caught the

[2:29] marine patrol as it rolled by.

[2:31] >> Hey, their vehicle's on fire.

[2:33] >> Three Marines were injured and the rest

[2:35] were shaken up.

[2:37] >> Hey, get that driver out.

[2:39] >> How you feeling? Shaking.

[2:41] >> Little bit shaken. Uh, that was

[2:42] nerve-wracking. Caught us off guard,

[2:43] I'll tell you that. Totally caught us

[2:45] off guard.

[2:46] >> The Americans can't afford to let down

[2:48] their guard in this complex and

[2:50] politically charged war. Each time they

[2:53] fight their way into a mosque, they may

[2:55] be winning a battle but losing the

[2:57] goodwill of the people. Elizabeth

[3:00] Palmer, CBS News, with the Marines near

[3:02] Fallujah.

[3:03] >> The brutal crime brought on an origy of

[3:05] national coverage. The trial dragged on

[3:07] for six long months. It was messy and

[3:10] confusing. And today, a California jury

[3:12] finally found Scott Peterson guilty of

[3:15] murdering his pregnant wife and their

[3:17] unborn son. CBS's John Blackstone gives

[3:19] you the inside story.

[3:23] >> A crowd outside the Redwood City

[3:24] Courthouse waited intense silence for

[3:26] the verdict.

[3:27] >> Final defendant Scott Lee Peterson

[3:29] guilty of the crime of murder.

[3:34] >> There were cheers, too, in Modesto, Lacy

[3:36] Peterson's hometown.

[3:39] Inside the courtroom, even the judge

[3:41] seemed to choke with emotion. Lacy

[3:43] Peterson's family sobbed, but Scott

[3:46] Peterson showed no obvious reaction. His

[3:48] mother walked in silence out of the

[3:50] courthouse past the crowd, still

[3:52] cheering the verdict.

[3:55] When Lacy Peterson, 8 months pregnant,

[3:58] disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002,

[4:00] police immediately treated Scott

[4:02] Peterson as a suspect. Investigators

[4:04] searched his home and office. They

[4:06] tracked his movements and wiretapped his

[4:08] phones. Then they discovered there was

[4:10] another woman in his life, Amber Fry.

[4:14] >> We did have a romantic relationship.

[4:16] >> But for weeks before going public, Fry

[4:18] had been cooperating with investigators.

[4:20] In wiretapped phone calls, jurors heard

[4:23] Peterson telling a string of lies,

[4:26] carrying on an affair, even as the

[4:28] search continued for his missing wife.

[4:30] >> Amber, I just enjoy listening to you.

[4:32] Throughout the trial, prosecutors used

[4:34] Peterson's own words against him. In a

[4:37] television interview, he claimed he

[4:38] couldn't bear to enter the nursery

[4:40] waiting for the baby boy. Lacy was

[4:43] expecting.

[4:43] >> Did you go into the baby's room?

[4:45] >> No, that door's closed.

[4:47] >> How long will it remain closed?

[4:49] >> There's the little guy in there.

[4:50] >> But then prosecutors showed the jury

[4:52] photos of the nursery being used for

[4:55] storage. In April 2003, the decomposing

[4:58] bodies of a baby and a woman washed up

[5:01] on San Francisco Bay. Near the place,

[5:03] Scott said he was fishing the day Lacy

[5:06] disappeared. Scott was arrested in San

[5:09] Diego with his hair dyed blonde and

[5:12] thousands of dollars in cash.

[5:15] Now, Scott Peterson faces the

[5:17] possibility of execution. That will be

[5:19] decided in the penalty phase beginning

[5:21] in 10 days. Dan,

[5:22] >> you know the drill. In an emergency,

[5:24] dial 111 and help should be on the way.

[5:27] But what if emergency workers have the

[5:29] wrong address? It happens more often

[5:31] than you might think, sometimes with

[5:33] tragic results. So, how can you be sure

[5:36] they know where to go? CBS's Bob

[5:38] McNamera has information you need in

[5:41] CBS's Friday Consumer Alert.

[5:44] >> In suburban De Mo,

[5:46] >> 911.

[5:47] >> Hi, my husband is in cardiac arrest.

[5:49] >> Okay. and I'm at 3411 Southwest 35th

[5:53] Street in Anthony.

[5:55] >> But emergency crews were sent to the

[5:57] wrong house because the caller's phone

[5:59] number wasn't linked to the right

[6:01] address.

[6:02] >> Well, I'm here and the subject said

[6:04] there's nothing wrong here.

[6:06] >> Rescuers did finally reach the correct

[6:08] address, but too late to save

[6:10] 48-year-old Scott Mine.

[6:12] >> It happens a lot, I believe, and I just

[6:15] don't think people realize it or don't

[6:17] report it. It's just this time when

[6:20] someone died

[6:21] >> in a Denver suburb. A similar mistake.

[6:26] >> Calm. Ma'am, calm down. Is Is he

[6:28] conscious,

[6:30] >> ma'am?

[6:31] >> 5-month-old Christopher Vasquez mother's

[6:33] call was transferred several times in an

[6:36] address mixup and the infant died.

[6:39] >> No mother would ever

[6:42] ever want to do that.

[6:46] Never. Here in the Denver area alone,

[6:49] hundreds of wrong addresses have been

[6:50] reported in the 911 system in each of

[6:53] the last several years.

[6:56] Now, in a campaign to correct address

[6:59] errors, 911 database provider in TRAO

[7:02] introduced a way customers can verify

[7:05] whether their phone number and address

[7:07] match the 911 records.

[7:09] >> If this is correct, press one. If not,

[7:12] press two.

[7:13] >> What's the problem, sir? Despite a heavy

[7:16] volume of 911 calls nationwide,

[7:19] emergency industry officials say that

[7:21] any errors are usually human and rare.

[7:24] >> Probably onetenth of 1% would be would

[7:27] be a lot.

[7:28] >> 911. What's the emergency?

[7:30] >> I've been shot, please.

[7:31] >> Okay,

[7:32] >> I'm bleeding.

[7:32] >> Who shot you, ma'am?

[7:33] >> It took 45 minutes to find this

[7:36] Anchorage, Alaska caller after emergency

[7:38] crews went to the wrong address.

[7:40] >> Is there a flag in your driveway?

[7:43] >> No. The caller survived.

[7:46] >> Oh god.

[7:48] Oh my god.

[7:51] That is crazy.

[7:53] >> But the mother trapped in this tragedy

[7:55] says no one should assume 911 has their

[7:58] correct address.

[7:59] >> Don't call 911, but call their phone

[8:01] companies and make sure.

[8:03] >> Christa Stodd says her case is a crusade

[8:06] now to correct a system that so many

[8:08] trusted but failed a helpless infant who

[8:12] needed it most. Bob McNamera, CBS News

[8:15] Denver.

[8:16] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[8:19] don't forget to join me on television

[8:20] for the on air edition of the CBS

[8:22] Evening News. On Monday's broadcast,

[8:25] nursing homes, they're supposed to

[8:27] provide quality assisted care to

[8:29] thousands of elderly Americans. We'll

[8:31] give you an in-depth look at our

[8:33] nation's nursing home system and what's

[8:35] being done and not done to improve them.

[8:38] For cbsnews.com,

[8:40] I'm Dan Rather.