CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-21

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.

[0:05] Just ahead, Hurricane Wilma punches into

[0:08] Mexico's Yakatan Peninsula. We'll have

[0:11] those details and a forecast. Also,

[0:14] indicted Congressman Tom Delay has his

[0:16] first day in court. We'll tell you how

[0:18] it went and separating fact from fiction

[0:21] on bird flu. That's the Friday Consumer

[0:24] Alert. It's all starting now in the CBS

[0:26] Evening News online edition.

[0:30] Well, they're hunkering down along

[0:32] Mexico's Yakatan Peninsula, and they are

[0:35] watching the skies along the west coast

[0:37] of Florida. Wilma has become one of

[0:39] those slowm moving hurricanes. They

[0:42] don't expect it to hit Florida now until

[0:44] sometime Monday, but it is a big one,

[0:47] 400 m across and powerful, a category 4.

[0:50] And when it landed in Mexico today,

[0:52] people on the ground said it sent roofs

[0:54] flying, uprooted trees, and snapped

[0:57] power lines. We go first tonight to Jim

[1:00] Acasta.

[1:02] >> Wilma ripped into Mexico's Yucatan

[1:04] Peninsula with 145 mph winds, forcing

[1:08] more than 20,000 tourists to forget

[1:10] their vacation plans and hunker down for

[1:12] the storm. Some even had to make a mad

[1:15] dash from their hotels to shelters in

[1:17] the middle of the night. CBS News

[1:19] producer Ben Ferguson was among them.

[1:21] the Mexican military came and uh

[1:23] evacuated us to a middle school where we

[1:27] have about uh 150 people from the hotel

[1:30] who uh were sleeping on the ground here.

[1:33] The wind is really starting to pick up.

[1:35] Um we do have boards in our windows, but

[1:38] you can definitely feel the wind coming

[1:40] through.

[1:40] >> Forecasters are desperately trying to

[1:42] determine whether Wilma will stall over

[1:44] the Yucatan and weaken or scrape the

[1:46] Mexican Riviera and barrel towards the

[1:48] Florida coast. We really want everybody

[1:51] in in the Florida Keys and the southern

[1:54] ports of the Florida Peninsula to pay

[1:55] very very close attention to this. Uh

[1:58] we're almost uh used to surprises with

[2:01] these hurricanes.

[2:02] >> Uncertainty hangs like the humidity over

[2:04] Florida's remote Marco Island where

[2:07] residents are shuttering their homes and

[2:09] securing their boats.

[2:10] >> With as much trouble the golf has had

[2:12] this summer,

[2:14] >> you know, we're all gunshy. Dog gone it.

[2:16] We're just going to play it safe and and

[2:18] go from THERE WITH IT.

[2:19] >> OH, COME ON, MAN. HE'S FRUSTRATED.

[2:21] >> HOMEOWNERS ON Florida's barrier islands

[2:23] remember last year when authorities

[2:25] barred people from their beach houses

[2:27] for days after Hurricane Charlie. Police

[2:30] actually used a taser to stop one

[2:32] resident.

[2:33] >> THAT IS SO WRONG. WHY YOU GOING TO DO

[2:34] LIKE THAT FOR THE CHILDREN, MAN?

[2:36] >> SO, this time some are staying put even

[2:38] though the forecast remains far from

[2:40] clear and a mandatory evacuation order

[2:43] is in effect. our plans are just just

[2:45] stay home and um see what goes on.

[2:50] >> It's serious enough for Sam and Jennifer

[2:52] Woo to rush to the altar, pushing their

[2:54] Saturday wedding ahead one day to beat

[2:56] Wilma.

[2:58] >> Great. We're married.

[3:01] >> After 3 days of hurry up and wait in

[3:03] Florida, forecasters are getting worried

[3:05] that people will look at this slowmoving

[3:08] storm and resist evacuation orders. Bob,

[3:11] >> I must say I'm a little surprised at

[3:12] that after all the problems we've had

[3:14] with these hurricanes that people uh

[3:16] seem reluctant to follow the orders this

[3:19] time around. Why do you think that is,

[3:20] Jim?

[3:22] Uh, it sounds like human nature to me,

[3:24] Bob. Last year, we were right here in

[3:26] this spot with Hurricane Charlie bearing

[3:28] down on the Florida GF coast. It was a

[3:30] category 2 headed to Tampa. It made a

[3:33] surprise right turn, became a category

[3:34] 4, and hit southwest Florida. You just

[3:37] can't predict where these things are

[3:39] going to go all of the time. Bob.

[3:40] >> Okay. Well, thank you very much, Jim.

[3:42] For the latest on where Wilma is likely

[3:44] to go next, we're going to turn again to

[3:46] our hurricane expert, Brian Norcross of

[3:49] CBS Miami station WFO.

[3:52] Brian, this one has really been hard to

[3:54] predict. Are you getting any better

[3:56] handle on it now? We're feeling better

[3:59] about it today, Bob, in terms of whether

[4:01] the hurricane is going to get to Florida

[4:02] or not. We think the answer is yes, that

[4:05] it will get here. However, the timing is

[4:08] a little uncertain. What's happened is

[4:10] that the upper level winds in the

[4:11] atmosphere are coming into better focus

[4:13] in terms of the jetream dipping down.

[4:15] We're confident that's going to happen.

[4:17] The question is, is it going to happen

[4:19] on Sunday or Monday? It does look like,

[4:22] however, this hurricane will head toward

[4:24] the state of Florida, especially and

[4:25] most likely the extreme southern part of

[4:28] the peninsula.

[4:29] >> Is it going to be a powerful one when it

[4:31] gets there?

[4:33] >> We think it will likely be weakening as

[4:35] it comes ashore. category two at the

[4:37] strongest may be category one but the

[4:40] western coast and the keys are very

[4:43] vulnerable even to a category one

[4:45] hurricane among the most vulnerable in

[4:47] the US so we still think that we'll have

[4:49] lots of problems here no matter what

[4:50] happens that we can foresee

[4:52] >> okay thank you very much Brian Tom Delay

[4:54] has stepped aside as the house

[4:56] Republican leader at least until charges

[4:58] that he violated campaign finance laws

[5:01] are decided but that could take a while

[5:03] today he went into a Texas court and

[5:05] managed to bring the whole proceeding to

[5:07] a dead stop. Lee Cowan now with our

[5:10] inside story.

[5:13] >> At times it was hard to tell whether the

[5:16] congressman's first court appearance was

[5:17] a criminal proceeding or a political

[5:19] debate.

[5:20] >> Please be seated.

[5:22] >> Within minutes, Delay's attorney had the

[5:24] judge defending his ties to the

[5:26] Democratic party and liberal

[5:28] organizations like move on.org

[5:30] >> to which you have contributed was

[5:33] selling t-shirts with Mr. delays uh mug

[5:35] shot on it to raise money.

[5:37] >> Well, let me just say I I haven't ever

[5:40] seen that that t-shirt. Number one.

[5:41] Number two, I haven't bought it. Number

[5:43] three, the last time that I

[5:45] >> It was Tom Delay's latest claim that

[5:47] behind his indictment on conspiracy and

[5:50] moneyaundering charges is nothing but

[5:52] politics and tweaked prosecutor Ronnie

[5:54] Earl when he asked for a new judge.

[5:57] >> And I think that's absurd.

[5:59] >> How's it going there? Delay left the

[6:01] courthouse to go to the Texas State

[6:03] House where he launched another

[6:05] blistering attack on Earl, who he named

[6:07] eight times in a 4-minute statement.

[6:10] >> The only reason I had to be in that

[6:13] courtroom today was because Ronnie Earl

[6:16] has abused his prosecutotorial

[6:19] power.

[6:20] >> That's been his defense all along and

[6:22] some Republicans aren't buying it.

[6:25] >> I've not heard of any Republicans that

[6:27] are supporting Tom at this point. Win,

[6:29] lose your draw. Whether he's guilty or

[6:31] not guilty, they've kind of had it with

[6:33] him.

[6:33] >> And that's coming from a Republican

[6:35] precinct chairwoman in his home

[6:37] district.

[6:38] >> Pigs get fatter, but hogs get

[6:40] slaughtered. And Tom has been a hog.

[6:43] >> Don't mistake that for lack of support.

[6:45] He's still plenty popular here.

[6:48] >> Margaret Ga runs a neighborhood program

[6:50] for foster children. The delay and his

[6:52] wife started years ago.

[6:53] >> He's very low-key about it in that he's

[6:57] doing it for the right reasons, and he

[6:59] knows that. What he also knows is he's

[7:01] the first majority leader in history to

[7:03] ever be indicted. So no matter how big

[7:06] the smile on the mugsh shot, no matter

[7:08] how confident he appears in court, the

[7:10] prosecution may have already dealt a

[7:12] serious blow before the congressman can

[7:13] even enter a plea. Lee Cowen, CBS News,

[7:17] Austin. There were more warnings today

[7:20] about bird flu. Health Secretary Michael

[7:22] Levit warned that wild birds could

[7:25] spread the disease as they migrate

[7:27] around the world. And sure enough, cases

[7:29] turned up in Croatia and in Britain

[7:31] today. A parrot died of bird flu while

[7:34] in quarantine. But for all the dire

[7:36] predictions, it is still not clear how

[7:38] much of a threat bird flu poses to

[7:40] humans. So far, the biggest danger is

[7:43] that they may get caught in some bird

[7:46] flu cure scam. Here's Elizabeth Kaledan

[7:49] with our Friday consumer alert.

[7:53] Louisa Conlin returned from a trip to

[7:55] Paris last week feeling sick.

[7:57] >> I had a fever and cough and I got

[8:01] nervous.

[8:02] >> Like many Americans, fear of bird flu

[8:05] had gotten the better of her. The nasty

[8:07] virus plaguing birds in Asia and now in

[8:10] Europe is probably spreading fastest in

[8:13] our imaginations.

[8:14] >> I think some of it's paranoia, but

[8:16] there's certainly some fact.

[8:17] >> You know, we need

[8:18] >> doctors like Len Horovitz are

[8:20] overwhelmed. Elizabeth, you can't

[8:22] imagine how many phone calls and

[8:24] requests I've had for prescriptions,

[8:26] advice.

[8:27] >> Bird flu, it seems, has infected our

[8:30] common sense. And for some business

[8:32] people, that means dollars and cents. In

[8:36] a throwback to the SARS epidemic, which

[8:37] caused more than 700 deaths, but never

[8:40] developed into the worldwide killer

[8:42] feared, face masks are resurfacing as

[8:45] the investment of choice. This website

[8:48] is even hawking a mask that claims to

[8:50] kill the bird flu virus.

[8:52] >> We have seen a dramatic increase in

[8:54] sales and interest in the mask

[8:56] worldwide.

[8:58] >> Sales of the antiviral drug Tamlu are

[9:00] also through the roof. But before you

[9:03] spend all your hard-earned money on

[9:05] masks, medicine, and a bunker somewhere

[9:08] in the hills, take a dose of reality.

[9:11] Who should be really worried? Chicken

[9:13] farmers in Asia. anyone who works or

[9:16] lives near large populations of fowl.

[9:19] You cannot get it from your parakeet.

[9:22] You cannot get it from eating chicken.

[9:24] So far, there aren't even any documented

[9:27] cases of human to human transmission.

[9:30] But here's what you can do if you're

[9:32] worried. A prescription of Tamlu won't

[9:35] hurt, but don't buy it online where

[9:37] prices are being jacked up. And if and

[9:40] when bird flu arrives here, if you feel

[9:43] comfortable wearing a face mask, that's

[9:45] fine, too. What, if anything, can a face

[9:48] mask do?

[9:49] >> It's a barrier precaution.

[9:51] >> And finally, keep washing those hands.

[9:54] That still works even against the

[9:56] deadliest of germs. Oh, and by the way,

[9:59] Louisa just had a cold.

[10:01] >> I was very relieved.

[10:02] >> Elizabeth Kaledan, CBS News, New York.

[10:06] More stories are just a click away, but

[10:07] don't forget to join me on television

[10:09] for the on air edition of the CBS

[10:11] Evening News. On Monday's broadcast,

[10:14] there's a war on, but this one is on

[10:16] America's borders. In this conflict,

[10:18] there is drug trafficking, smuggling,

[10:20] and more than a little violence. Why

[10:23] it's happening and what's being done

[10:24] about it in a week-long Eye on America

[10:27] series, Border Wars. For cbsnews.com,

[10:31] I'm Bob Sheeper.