CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-27

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, a CBS News exclusive. Inside an

[0:08] Iranian nuclear facility. Are they

[0:10] hiding anything? You'll be able to judge

[0:13] for yourself as we take you inside.

[0:15] Also, the road to Fallujah. US and Iraqi

[0:18] troops have been preparing on again, off

[0:21] again for a major offensive. Where is it

[0:23] now? And global warming. It's real, but

[0:26] who's to blame? where the presidential

[0:28] candidates stand in the CBS election

[0:30] series. What does it mean to you? It's

[0:33] all starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:36] online edition.

[0:38] One big issue the next president will

[0:40] face is what to do about Iran and its

[0:42] suspect nuclear program. Today, Iran

[0:44] refused to suspend a uranium enrichment

[0:47] project that could yield the makings of

[0:50] atomic weapons. Iran insists its nuclear

[0:53] goals are all peaceful and sought to

[0:55] back that up by showing off its main

[0:57] nuclear facility southwest of Tehran.

[1:00] CBS's Elizabeth Palmer was the only

[1:03] American reporter to make that reporting

[1:05] trip. Here is her exclusive report.

[1:09] >> For the very first time, the Iranian

[1:12] government opened this nuclear complex

[1:14] to a group of journalists. Research

[1:16] director Minutush Madi is eager to

[1:18] reassure the world he's not trying to

[1:20] build a nuclear bomb.

[1:22] >> That's not true.

[1:23] >> This is our our Yeah, not weapons. Only

[1:26] research works.

[1:27] >> But old habits die hard. Even though

[1:29] we've been invited to tour the plant,

[1:32] security men repeatedly tried to stop us

[1:34] filming.

[1:36] another project.

[1:37] >> These cooling towers and miles of pipes

[1:39] are processing normal water to create

[1:42] heavy water, a coolant for nuclear

[1:44] reactors, which can also be used in

[1:46] medical research and potentially a step

[1:49] down the road to making an atomic bomb.

[1:51] The existence of this heavy water plant

[1:53] was a closely guarded secret until 2

[1:56] years ago when an Iranian opposition

[1:58] group revealed that it was part of a

[2:00] whole network of clandestine nuclear

[2:02] facilities. Only then, when they were

[2:04] forced into the open, did the Iranian

[2:06] government allow international

[2:07] inspectors inside. In all, the

[2:09] inspectors found more than a dozen

[2:11] nuclear sites, including reactors with

[2:14] the capacity to enrich uranium or

[2:16] produce plutonium, both basic

[2:19] ingredients in nuclear weapons. Faced

[2:21] with the evidence, the Europeans

[2:22] insisted Iran stop making fuel for its

[2:25] reactors in return for trade and

[2:27] technology concessions. this package

[2:30] which European has presented is not

[2:33] balanced.

[2:34] >> Bottom line is the world wants you to

[2:36] say we won't rich enrich uranium.

[2:38] >> If this is uh the bottom line of uh

[2:42] Europe and America, I'm pessimistic to

[2:44] reach to a conclusion.

[2:46] >> This is a highstakes game. If Iran does

[2:49] leave the Vienna talks, it could face UN

[2:52] sanctions. The risk then is its leaders

[2:54] may decide to go it alone so they can

[2:56] continue to expand their nuclear complex

[2:59] beyond the scrutiny of foreign eyes.

[3:01] >> The presentation and site visit is

[3:05] enough. Thank you and bye-bye.

[3:07] >> Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News, Iraq, Iran.

[3:10] >> Another American soldier in Iraq was

[3:12] killed today when a bomber riding a

[3:14] motorcycle attacked a US convoy. With

[3:17] Iraqi elections still set for January,

[3:20] there are new indications a US-led

[3:22] assault will come soon against a main

[3:24] center of resistance, Fallujah. CBS's

[3:27] Kimberly Doer has the inside story.

[3:32] >> An army on the move and the clearest

[3:34] sign yet that coalition forces are

[3:36] bracing for a showdown in Fallujah.

[3:39] British troops from southern Iraq are

[3:41] now taking up positions near Baghdad,

[3:43] freeing American combat troops to head

[3:45] west, reinforcing the Marines who are

[3:47] expected to spearhead any assault

[3:49] against militants. A senior US embassy

[3:52] official tells CBS News that if the

[3:54] Iraqi government gives the Americans the

[3:56] green light, US forces will follow what

[3:58] they call the Naj and Samara model, a

[4:01] combined American Iraqi assault on

[4:03] Fallujah followed by rapid economic aid.

[4:07] The official says up to 5,000 Iraqi

[4:09] commandos will take the lead, especially

[4:11] in sensitive areas like mosques.

[4:14] American jets already pound Fallujah

[4:16] almost daily. But a looming ground

[4:18] invasion does not seem to be deterring

[4:20] the militants. Followers of Abu Musab

[4:23] Zarqawi have seized a new hostage, a

[4:25] Japanese man they're threatening to

[4:27] execute. They want to withdraw the

[4:30] Japanese troops from Iraq

[4:34] or cut my head.

[4:37] >> The Americans call Fallujah and

[4:39] neighboring Ramani terrorist central,

[4:41] source of car bombs and constant

[4:43] conflict. US officials say they can

[4:46] allow Zarqawi and others to use violence

[4:48] to keep the predominantly Sunni Muslim

[4:50] towns from voting in Iraq's January

[4:52] elections. A senior American official

[4:55] here says if the insurgents can keep

[4:57] Sunnis away from the polls, their

[4:59] leaders will likely be left out of the

[5:01] new government. And that would give the

[5:02] militants a rallying cry to draw more of

[5:04] Iraq's Sunni minority to their cause.

[5:08] The battle for Fallujah is a defining

[5:10] moment. Either US and Iraqi forces make

[5:12] the Sunni triangle safe enough to vote

[5:15] or the militants succeed in derailing

[5:17] democracy before the first ballot is

[5:19] cast. Kimberly Doer, CBS News, Baghdad.

[5:23] A top government scientist is accusing

[5:25] President Bush of suppressing evidence

[5:28] that human activities contribute to

[5:30] dangerous global warming. NASA's James

[5:33] Hansen says scientific findings on the

[5:35] environment are quote screened and

[5:38] controlled by the Bush administration.

[5:41] So what do candidates Bush and Carrie

[5:43] say about global warming? CBS's Jerry

[5:46] Bowen has some answers in the Eye on

[5:48] America election series. What does it

[5:50] mean to you?

[5:53] Top of the world Barrow, Alaska is a

[5:55] tiny window on global warming. Average

[5:58] temperatures are up four degrees in the

[5:59] past 30 years, reaching the upper 60s in

[6:02] the summertime. Houses are sinking in

[6:04] the throwing perafrost. The nearby

[6:06] Arctic ice pack is shrinking.

[6:10] >> As village elders say, it's just too

[6:12] warm.

[6:13] >> So, I hope you understand what I say.

[6:16] >> Too hot.

[6:17] >> Too hot. Much of the warming is natural,

[6:19] but scientists contend the balance has

[6:21] been tipped dangerously by an increase

[6:23] in man-made heat trapping greenhouse

[6:25] gases, industrial emissions to auto

[6:27] exhaust.

[6:28] >> So, the warming trend itself may be a

[6:30] natural thing, but the size of it is

[6:35] being affected by people.

[6:37] >> Computer climate models predict the

[6:38] warming will trigger a range of

[6:40] calamities, more intense hurricane

[6:42] seasons to droughts. Britain's chief

[6:44] science adviser says it's a greater

[6:45] threat than terrorism. Both US

[6:47] presidential candidates agree the earth

[6:49] is getting hotter and they've had one

[6:51] heated exchange on whether an

[6:53] international treaty would have any

[6:54] effect. They pulled out of the global

[6:56] warming, declared it dead, didn't even

[6:59] accept the science.

[7:00] >> Well, had we joined the Kyoto treaty,

[7:02] which I guess he's referring to, it

[7:03] would have cost America a lot of jobs.

[7:05] >> Instead of a treaty that would put

[7:07] limits on industrial production, the

[7:08] president offers a complex proposal to

[7:10] cut what he calls the intensity of

[7:12] greenhouse gases. Though his own

[7:14] campaign's calculations indicate overall

[7:17] emissions would actually increase.

[7:19] President Bush also insists science

[7:21] can't definitively link man-made carbon

[7:23] dioxide emissions to a warming planet.

[7:26] >> It's just coincidental that the

[7:28] industrial revolution has come along at

[7:29] the same time and is putting all this

[7:31] extra CO2 into the air.

[7:32] >> Tempe, Arizona's Sherwood Idso is among

[7:35] the handful of scientists whose views

[7:36] mirror those of President Bush.

[7:38] >> Man is is not a factor.

[7:41] >> I believe that. or if he is a factor,

[7:43] it's a much much smaller factor than

[7:46] what the climate alarmists are

[7:47] suggesting.

[7:48] >> But the president's own panel on climate

[7:50] change issued this report this year

[7:52] acknowledging the human impact on

[7:54] warming. A view shared by the majority

[7:56] of the world's scientists.

[7:57] >> I'm going to be a president who believes

[7:59] in science.

[8:00] >> And Kerry pledges to quote, "Take the

[8:02] action required that will prevent

[8:04] harmful changes in the Earth's climate."

[8:06] But he offers few specifics. Global

[8:08] warming remains a difficult issue with

[8:10] no quick fix and considerable debate on

[8:12] just how it will affect America and the

[8:14] world, but it's a debate that's taking

[8:16] place largely outside the campaign of

[8:19] 2004. Jerry Bowen, CBS News, Tempe,

[8:23] Arizona. More stories are just a click

[8:25] away, but don't forget to join me on

[8:27] television for the on air edition of the

[8:29] CBS Evening News on Thursday's

[8:32] broadcast, America's Hunters and

[8:34] Fishermen. If you think they always vote

[8:36] Republican, you may be surprised at what

[8:39] our election series, What Does It Mean

[8:41] to You, has found. For CBSNnews.com,

[8:45] I'm Dan Rather.