CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-12-20

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Bob Schaefer and welcome to

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

[0:04] Just ahead, striking workers shut down

[0:07] mass transit from millions of New

[0:09] Yorkers. Sharon Alonsi will have

[0:11] details. Also, Iraq's Sunni Muslims are

[0:14] claiming fraud in the recent election.

[0:16] We'll look at what's behind the

[0:18] complaint. And if you need a better

[0:20] night's sleep, we'll show you a radical

[0:23] new kind of bed. But you'd better have

[0:25] your checkbook ready. It's all starting

[0:27] now on the CBS Evening News online

[0:30] edition.

[0:34] When something happens in the nation's

[0:36] biggest city, it does not happen in

[0:38] isolation. The reverberations are felt

[0:41] all across the nation. And tonight, New

[0:43] York City is in a mess. Caught in the

[0:46] throws of a massive strike that has shut

[0:48] down the city's subway and bus lines.

[0:51] The strike is over the same fight that

[0:53] workers across the country have been

[0:55] going through. cutbacks in pensions and

[0:57] other benefits. And it could not have

[0:59] come at a worse time during a bitter

[1:02] cold wave during the season when

[1:04] tourists pour into the city and stores

[1:07] expect to do their biggest business.

[1:09] We're going first to Sharon Alons.

[1:13] >> Today, the river went over the Brooklyn

[1:15] Bridge. Thousands of freezing commuters

[1:17] walked to work after transit workers

[1:20] walked off the job.

[1:21] >> WHAT DO YOU WANT? CAR TRACK. WHEN DO YOU

[1:24] WANT IT NOW?

[1:25] >> PICKET LINES WOUND around the city.

[1:28] Subway lines stood eerily still. Turn

[1:30] styles were locked and 7 million riders

[1:33] were stranded.

[1:34] >> Were you hitchhiking?

[1:35] >> Yes, we were all doing this in the

[1:37] streets.

[1:39] >> Outside the city, traffic backed up for

[1:41] miles. Inside

[1:44] >> taxis looked like clown cars crammed

[1:46] with passengers. You have to go that

[1:48] way. Begging for a ride. He's already

[1:51] almost no one could believe it came to

[1:53] this. No one except transit workers.

[1:56] >> It's similar to a war.

[1:58] >> At the center of the battle, shrinking

[2:00] pensions, a familiar complaint across

[2:02] the country. The Metropolitan

[2:04] Transportation Authority wants to scale

[2:06] back pension benefits for new employees.

[2:09] >> It's only right that we fight for the

[2:10] people that are coming into the be able

[2:12] to have the same benefits that we did.

[2:14] >> But critics argue those health and

[2:15] pension benefits are extravagant by

[2:18] private sector standards. And now

[2:20] government leaders are following

[2:22] corporate America's example and trying

[2:24] to cut back.

[2:25] >> MTA is beginning to look a lot like

[2:27] Enron, if you ask me. It's the American

[2:30] way to fight for your rights. And this

[2:31] is what we're doing out here today.

[2:33] >> City officials argue what they're doing

[2:35] isn't just wrong, it's illegal.

[2:37] >> It is a cowardly attempt to bring the

[2:39] city to its knees to create leverage for

[2:42] their own bargaining position. After a

[2:45] transit strike in 1966, a state law made

[2:48] it illegal for public service workers to

[2:50] strike. Of course, that didn't stop

[2:52] transit workers from walking off the job

[2:54] for 11 days 25 years ago, and no one is

[2:58] counting on it to get the trains moving

[2:59] now.

[3:00] >> But I'm a former Marine, so I'm

[3:01] accustomed to walking long distances.

[3:04] >> What Marco Ortiz says he isn't used to

[3:06] is a commute that costs three times as

[3:08] much and takes three times as long.

[3:10] Still, for now, he says he'll support

[3:13] the strike. Once I get to the office and

[3:15] I check all my feet and if I don't have

[3:17] blisters, uh, but if I do, I may have a

[3:19] different opinion.

[3:21] >> The stakes are high. Union and

[3:23] management leaders know that whatever

[3:25] happens here in New York could set the

[3:27] tone for labor negotiations across the

[3:29] country. But for the folks behind me

[3:31] just trying to get home, Bob, that is

[3:33] the least of their concerns.

[3:35] >> Well, well, Sharon, who are all those

[3:36] people? I mean, what is that back there?

[3:39] >> Well, these are all people trying to get

[3:41] into Penn Station right now. I got to

[3:43] tell you, the scene is a mess down here.

[3:45] If you can get a cab, you're not getting

[3:47] very far because so many people are just

[3:49] walking down the street. Shoes and

[3:51] patients are wearing thin.

[3:53] >> Are you cold?

[3:56] >> I'm freezing, but I can't complain

[3:58] because there are people who have been

[3:59] standing out here for much longer than I

[4:01] have.

[4:02] >> All right, thank you, sir. Now to Iraq,

[4:04] where votes from last week's election

[4:06] are still being counted, though it is

[4:08] clear now that the Shiite candidates

[4:10] will win the most seats in parliament.

[4:13] It's also clear that the new arrangement

[4:15] is going to take some getting used to by

[4:17] the rival Sunni sect. They dominated

[4:19] Iraq during Saddam Hussein's time, even

[4:22] though they're only 1ifth of the

[4:24] population. And now they're afraid they

[4:26] won't have a real role in the new

[4:28] government, and violence is starting up

[4:30] again. Here's Kelly Kobaya in Baghdad.

[4:34] >> Up in flames, a convoy of government

[4:37] trucks delivering electrical supplies in

[4:39] Baghdad along with the unofficial

[4:41] ceasefire that kept Iraqi streets safe

[4:43] for voting. The relative calm here is

[4:46] gone. And the horrific discoveries are

[4:48] adding up again. 14 bodies, some with

[4:51] signs of torture, were found in

[4:53] Fallujah. No one knows who killed them

[4:55] or why, but people here are convinced

[4:58] the Shiiteled government has declared

[5:00] war on them. It's in Sunni dominated

[5:02] areas like Fallujah where strong turnout

[5:04] for the election was seen as a victory

[5:06] and is an encouraging first step toward

[5:09] a government for all Iraqis. But that

[5:11] victory is not translating to more

[5:13] power. Preliminary election results

[5:15] suggest Sunnis will be left with few

[5:17] seats in parliament and possibly none in

[5:20] the cabinet. Sunnis are crying election

[5:23] fraud. The US ambassador, who has been

[5:25] closely monitoring the count, says there

[5:27] are only a few red complaints serious

[5:30] enough to warrant a closer look.

[5:32] >> There have been so far uh as of uh late

[5:35] yesterday 20 of those that will have to

[5:38] be investigated and final results will

[5:41] not be announced until those writ

[5:44] complaints have been uh looked at.

[5:47] >> Sunni leaders say that's not good

[5:48] enough. They're calling for a revote in

[5:51] Baghdad.

[5:53] >> If not, the head of the largest Sunni

[5:55] party warned of grave repercussions on

[5:58] security and political stability. The US

[6:01] used every inch of leverage it had here

[6:04] to get the Sunnis to join in the

[6:05] political process, hoping that would

[6:07] help dry up support for the Sunnile

[6:09] insurgency. If the new government can't

[6:11] get the support of at least some Sunni

[6:14] leaders, it likely will find itself at

[6:16] war with its most violent minority.

[6:19] Kelly Kobier, CBS News, Baghdad.

[6:22] >> And now to the question of the day. How

[6:24] much is a good night's sleep really

[6:26] worth? Well, it depends on how tired you

[6:29] are. And some people are apparently very

[6:31] tired. Here's Mark Phillips, who was up

[6:33] early to get us this story.

[6:36] This is a story we've been in the dark

[6:38] about until now because this is a story

[6:41] on how much people will pay for sleep.

[6:45] Sticker shock has hit the bed

[6:46] department. This little number will set

[6:48] you back more than 12,000 British

[6:51] pounds, over $21,000.

[6:53] It's just the high end, the analysts say

[6:56] of a new trend.

[6:57] >> Sleep is a new sex. Sleep will be

[6:59] anything that they can afford or dream

[7:01] of. Especially for people now in their

[7:04] 40s or 50s who aren't getting it like

[7:06] they used to.

[7:07] >> They never knew that sleep was the

[7:09] greatest luxury item. They always

[7:10] thought the greatest luxury item was the

[7:11] thing parked in the garage or the great

[7:13] trip they went on three or four times a

[7:15] year. They never knew that a good

[7:16] night's sleep at 8 hours of slumber was

[7:19] the ultimate.

[7:20] >> So money has followed desire. Spending

[7:23] on beds and bedrooms is up 40% here in

[7:26] the last 5 years, the most for any room

[7:28] in the house. No surprise then that new

[7:31] technology has now followed the new

[7:33] money.

[7:34] >> It was very obvious very soon that a

[7:36] mattress would never actually do it.

[7:38] >> A furniture design firm in England has

[7:41] reinvented the wheel or what may be the

[7:44] world's most expensive bed. Where there

[7:46] was once a mattress, there is now a thin

[7:48] padding over a surface of what looks

[7:51] like small plastic balls suspended on

[7:53] rods and springs. To me, this looks like

[7:56] the plastic equivalent of a bed of

[7:58] nails. How is this different? How is

[7:59] this comfortable?

[8:00] >> Well, primarily cuz it's sprung as you.

[8:02] >> In theory, each little plastic tip

[8:04] conforms to the body's shape, but does

[8:07] it work? They put one in at a nearby

[8:09] luxury hotel. And when the guests kept

[8:12] coming back for more, the manager tried

[8:14] it.

[8:14] >> So, you took it for a test drive.

[8:16] >> Exactly. So,

[8:17] >> and

[8:17] >> and it it does beat a regular mattress.

[8:22] >> Not only that, they say it won't wear

[8:23] out, although your credit card might. I

[8:26] mean, what is a good night's sleep

[8:27] worth?

[8:29] >> In this case, about $25,000.

[8:33] Sleep on that. Mark Phillips, CBS News,

[8:36] Bath, England. More stories are just a

[8:39] click away, but don't forget to join me

[8:40] on television for the on air edition of

[8:42] the CBS Evening News. On Wednesday's

[8:44] broadcast, American Girl dolls. They're

[8:48] popular and very profitable, so why are

[8:50] they being boycotted? For cbsnews.com,

[8:54] I'm Bob Chaffer.