CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-12-03

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 bloody day of intimidation and

[0:07] terror in Iraq. Insurgents target

[0:09] potential voters and those who must

[0:12] protect them. Also, the risk of

[0:14] refinancing to consolidate debt. Before

[0:17] you sign up, see the CBS Friday Consumer

[0:20] Alert. And Texas is the temple of high

[0:23] school football. But are new stadiums

[0:26] costing tens of millions sending the

[0:28] right message to students? It's all

[0:31] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:33] online edition.

[0:36] Paratroopers of the US Army's 82nd

[0:38] Airborne Division are on their way back

[0:40] to Iraq tonight. Part of a troop buildup

[0:43] to provide more security for elections

[0:46] scheduled next month. And today, another

[0:48] graphic example of what they're facing

[0:51] and why they're needed. It was one of

[0:53] the most violent days in weeks with

[0:55] bombs killing two American soldiers and

[0:58] a still officially undetermined number

[1:00] of Marines. And CBS's Kimberly Doer

[1:02] reports Iraqi police and civilians were

[1:05] hit even harder.

[1:07] It was a two-pronged attack at dawn when

[1:09] the police least expected it. Gunman

[1:12] easily overwhelmed the overnight crew

[1:14] with a station house near Baghdad's

[1:15] airport, killing at least a dozen

[1:17] policemen. In a second attack, gunman

[1:20] stormed another station. Then a car bomb

[1:22] went off nearby, ripping into a Shiite

[1:24] mosque. The mosque bore the brunt of the

[1:27] blast. And when worshippers poured out

[1:28] of the early morning prayers to put the

[1:30] fire out, the car exploded a second

[1:32] time, killing even more. And west of

[1:35] Baghdad in Rammani, the insurgents hit

[1:37] yet another police station, clashing

[1:39] with American troops who rushed in to

[1:41] stop them. The attacks hit two groups

[1:43] which are key to Iraqi elections. Iraqi

[1:46] security forces needed to keep the peace

[1:48] on polling day and Shiite Muslims who

[1:51] make up the largest potential voting

[1:53] block in the country. Much of the

[1:55] morning's violence was claimed on a

[1:56] website by Abu Musaba Zarqawi and his

[1:59] al-Qaeda of Iraq. Zarqawi and other

[2:02] militant groups have threatened to kill

[2:03] anyone helping to bring elections about.

[2:06] US Marines continue to uncover the

[2:08] gruesome remains of Zarqawi's terrorist

[2:10] structure in Fallujah. This they believe

[2:12] was another place hostages were

[2:14] imprisoned from which they tried to

[2:16] escape.

[2:17] >> We found enough blood and uh evidence

[2:19] that we believe that it was uh used to

[2:22] torture prisoners. What type of

[2:24] prisoners? We don't know. We did find uh

[2:26] fingernails uh in the wall there from

[2:29] what looked like they were digging their

[2:31] way out.

[2:32] >> Militants continue to terrorize in other

[2:34] parts of Iraq. They set up a daring

[2:36] checkpoint in the center of Mosul where

[2:38] US officials believe Zarqawi may have

[2:40] fled. American commanders hope their

[2:42] troop buildup over the next two months

[2:44] will help keep the insurgents off

[2:45] balance. But as today showed, the

[2:48] terrorists keep finding and exploiting

[2:50] the coalition's weakest points. Kimberly

[2:52] Doer, CBS News, Baghdad.

[2:55] >> It's very popular with some homeowners

[2:57] refinancing the mortgage to consolidate

[2:59] debt. But before you sign on the dotted

[3:01] line, better check the bottom line.

[3:04] CBS's Sandra Hughes shows you what can

[3:06] happen if you don't. In CBS's Friday

[3:09] Consumer Alert,

[3:11] >> after 21 years living on the same block,

[3:14] sharing a home with her mother, Ruby

[3:16] Gomez may have signed away their

[3:19] security.

[3:19] >> Do you think there's a chance you and

[3:20] your mom could lose this house?

[3:22] >> There is.

[3:23] >> Looking to pay off $20,000 in personal

[3:26] debt with the equity in their home,

[3:28] mother and daughter refinanced. They say

[3:30] the loan broker promised a low interest

[3:32] rate and a lower monthly payment. But

[3:35] Ruby's credit rating pushed the interest

[3:37] rate up. And it wasn't until she signed

[3:39] loan documents that she realized her

[3:41] house payment was going up.

[3:43] >> I feel desperate, you know, that I need

[3:46] to do something. And I don't know what.

[3:50] At night, I go to bed dreaming about I

[3:52] said, what am I going to do today? Or

[3:53] how am I going to where am I going to

[3:55] get the funds to pay next month's

[3:58] mortgage? Technically, nothing illegal

[4:01] was done to the pair. They did what

[4:03] millions of Americans do every year.

[4:05] Refinance their home to consolidate

[4:07] debt. The problem is, according to the

[4:09] Federal Reserve, one quarter of those

[4:11] homeowners end up with a larger loan. We

[4:14] process your loan differently online.

[4:16] >> But that hasn't stopped the trend

[4:17] spurred on by national advertising

[4:19] campaigns. 66.

[4:23] >> Kevin Barnes, who went to prison for

[4:25] mortgage fraud, knows the temptation to

[4:27] close the deal, no matter the cost to

[4:30] consumers.

[4:31] >> The broker has taken full advantage of

[4:32] the borrower not being able to afford

[4:34] the property at a later date.

[4:36] >> Now, he lectures mortgage brokers on

[4:38] their ethical obligation to homeowners,

[4:41] >> the person that committed the fraud.

[4:44] >> Still, mortgage experts warn consumers

[4:46] have an obligation, too. Read the

[4:48] closing documents. know what your

[4:50] interest rate and payment will be.

[4:52] >> And the more we educate a consumer about

[4:55] how a broker does business and what they

[4:58] need to know and understand and what the

[5:00] fine line is between an ethical loan and

[5:03] an unethical loan.

[5:04] >> Otherwise, you may end up like Ruby

[5:06] Gomez and her mother. Basically, you're

[5:08] trying to get yourself in a better

[5:10] financial situation and you're going to

[5:12] get yourself now in a worse financial

[5:14] situation.

[5:14] >> Yeah.

[5:15] >> Because I've incurred some credit card

[5:17] debt trying to make ends meet.

[5:20] >> Now, after two decades of home

[5:21] ownership, the two are at risk of

[5:23] becoming renters again. Sandra Hugh, CBS

[5:26] News, Montlair, California.

[5:28] >> We close this week and begin this

[5:30] weekend with football. Sunday is for the

[5:33] pros, Saturday for college, and Friday

[5:35] night that's for high school football.

[5:38] In Texas, bigger and more expensive than

[5:40] ever. As CBS's Bob McNamera reports,

[5:46] it is a Texas Friday Night Right.

[5:50] High school football where hometown

[5:53] pride is a passion play. But on land

[5:56] that once grazed cattle,

[6:00] grid iron cathedrals have grown. This

[6:03] $20 million 11,000 seat Denton Stadium

[6:06] has closed circuit television and

[6:09] instant replays on a scoreboard three

[6:11] stories tall.

[6:12] >> There's a lot of colleges that wish they

[6:14] had a facility as nice as this one. But

[6:16] where fans can watch in glassin comfort

[6:19] and games play out on state-of-the-art

[6:21] carpets of plastic turf, where's the

[6:24] educational bang for the buck?

[6:28] >> We feel that athletics provides so many

[6:31] lifelong lessons to our athletes.

[6:34] >> Today, a bond issue funded Dallas sports

[6:37] complex is one of 15 new or planned area

[6:40] high school projects totaling 180

[6:43] million tax dollars. This is an epidemic

[6:46] and this is a serious serious epidemic.

[6:48] >> Buzz Bissinger authored Friday Night

[6:51] Lights.

[6:52] >> SO LET'S TAKE CARE OF IT.

[6:54] >> BASED on the bestseller, the film is

[6:56] flash frames of what can happen when a

[6:59] town's high school football obsession

[7:01] glorifies a game at the expense of an

[7:04] education.

[7:05] >> You're going to have the same problems

[7:06] that you have in major college. You're

[7:08] going to have recruiting. You're going

[7:09] to have programs that have spent all

[7:10] this money and need to stock it with

[7:12] players. You're going to have free

[7:14] transfers. It's going to be a disaster.

[7:16] >> It is a Cadillac of stadiums for high

[7:19] school. Do we need such a Cadillac? I

[7:21] think we could have done pretty good

[7:22] with a Buick.

[7:24] >> Elizabeth Ellison's criticism of this

[7:26] $26 million stadium got her elected to

[7:29] the Round Rock, Texas School Board.

[7:32] >> Meanwhile, across the street in that

[7:33] subdivision, the residents over there

[7:35] are crying for an elementary school.

[7:39] >> Texas, they say, is the holy land of

[7:41] high school football. And in a state

[7:44] that cuts funding for textbooks and

[7:46] teacher health benefits, it is still

[7:48] easier selling bond issues for football

[7:51] than physics labs. Bob McNamera, CBS

[7:55] News Dallas. More stories are just a

[7:57] click away, but be sure to join me on

[7:59] television for the on air edition of the

[8:01] CBS Evening News. On Monday's broadcast,

[8:04] a town betrayed, a local big shots

[8:07] financial house of cards collapses, but

[8:10] it's his neighbors who pay the heaviest

[8:12] price. For CBSNnews.com,

[8:15] I'm Dan Rather.