CBS Evening News open - 2004-12-06

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Thank you for making News Channel 5 your

[0:03] number one choice for news and

[0:04] information.

[0:07] Tonight, a massive overhaul of US

[0:10] intelligence. There's finally a deal.

[0:13] We'll tell you what's in it, how it was

[0:15] reached, and raise the question, is it

[0:17] enough?

[0:18] It comes as Americans are again targeted

[0:21] for terror. We'll give you a look at

[0:22] what the US government is and is not

[0:24] doing to protect Americans overseas.

[0:28] Could one man ruin an entire town? He

[0:32] just about did.

[0:34] What he did and how he got caught in

[0:36] tonight's Eye on America. Also, not

[0:39] another drug scandal in sports. I'm

[0:42] afraid so.

[0:43] Are these athletes flying a little too

[0:46] high?

[0:53] This is the CBS Evening News with Dan

[0:56] Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:58] headquarters in New York.

[1:00] Good evening. The bill long stuck in

[1:02] Congress to overhaul US intelligence may

[1:05] finally be unstuck. Full reforms were

[1:08] strongly recommended by the 9/11

[1:10] Commission. President Bush said he

[1:12] backed what critics call a watered-down

[1:14] version of the original bill, but key

[1:16] Republicans in Congress were blocking it

[1:19] until now. CBS News chief White House

[1:21] correspondent John Roberts has the

[1:23] latest on the cliffhanger on the hill in

[1:25] what may be a final compromise in the

[1:28] making. John?

[1:29] Dan, a key Republican holdout late today

[1:32] withdrew his opposition to the bill and

[1:34] cleared the way for a vote after

[1:35] President Bush assured him intelligence

[1:38] reform would preserve a clear chain of

[1:40] command from the Oval Office all the way

[1:42] through to troops on the ground.

[1:44] The primary issue was the protection of

[1:47] our troops in the field. We think that

[1:49] we've achieved that. The bill would put

[1:50] all of America's intelligence-gathering

[1:52] capabilities under the jurisdiction of a

[1:54] single powerful national director with a

[1:57] goal to avoid the sort of intelligence

[1:59] failings that preceded 9/11. Congressman

[2:02] Duncan Hunter had blocked the measure 2

[2:03] weeks ago, fearing it could handcuff the

[2:06] Pentagon's ability to get real-time

[2:08] intelligence to troops in combat.

[2:10] >> It's a good piece of legislation. It is

[2:11] a necessary piece of legislation.

[2:14] President Bush invested some of the

[2:15] political capital he earned on election

[2:17] night to reach a compromise Hunter and

[2:20] others could live with. I'm very

[2:21] optimistic now that the bill will move

[2:24] forward and that we have the votes to

[2:26] win in both the House and the Senate.

[2:29] That would be a victory for many

[2:31] families of 9/11 victims who kept vigil

[2:33] outside the White House today. How many

[2:35] more people have to die before you're

[2:37] willing to make this country safe? It's

[2:39] also a victory for President Bush, whose

[2:41] arm-twisting narrowly avoided an

[2:42] embarrassing post-election legislative

[2:45] defeat, one that could have had lasting

[2:47] impact on his second-term agenda. If he

[2:49] gets rolled here on this bill,

[2:51] imagine what it will be like when he

[2:53] tries to come forward with other

[2:55] controversial proposals. There's still

[2:58] one potential hang-up. Republican

[3:00] Congressman James Sensenbrenner wants

[3:02] the bill to address illegal immigration

[3:04] and bar illegal immigrants from getting

[3:06] driver's licenses. Sources say

[3:08] Sensenbrenner will get only lip service

[3:10] on those issues now with a pledge to

[3:12] look into them next year.

[3:15] There's ample reason to believe the

[3:16] intelligence reform bill will pass both

[3:18] the House and the Senate tomorrow, but

[3:20] no one is ready to break out the

[3:21] champagnes just yet. They remember how

[3:23] close they were 2 weeks ago right before

[3:26] the legislation ran straight into a

[3:28] wall. Dan? John Roberts reporting live

[3:31] from the White House. Thank you, John.

[3:32] The need for better intelligence in the

[3:34] war on terror was vividly illustrated

[3:36] again today, as was the fact that Osama

[3:38] bin Laden apparently is alive, well, and

[3:41] still at large. A heavily armed gang of

[3:44] killers staged a surprise assault on the

[3:46] US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. No

[3:49] Americans were killed, but at least

[3:51] eight other people were. CBS's Tom

[3:54] Fenton has late details.

[3:58] Terrorists suspected of links to

[3:59] al-Qaeda have blasted into the

[4:01] consulate, killing five foreign

[4:03] employees in what a State Department

[4:04] official called a major security breach.

[4:08] While no Americans were killed, the

[4:10] official expressed concern that

[4:11] defensive measures the State Department

[4:13] has in place all over the world proved

[4:16] vulnerable. Diplomatic security agents

[4:18] are being rushed to Saudi Arabia as

[4:20] President Bush warned that terrorists

[4:22] are still active there. They want us to

[4:26] leave Saudi Arabia.

[4:28] They want us to leave Iraq.

[4:30] They want us to grow timid and weary.