CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-07

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

[0:05] ahead, hotel horrors, explosions, rock

[0:08] resorts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula along

[0:11] the border with Israel, and Baghdad's

[0:14] what's supposed to be generally safe

[0:17] green zone comes under attack.

[0:19] Insurgents send an explosive message to

[0:22] foreigners in Iraq. Also, women voters.

[0:26] The presidential candidates are busy

[0:27] courting them. But whose message is

[0:29] getting through? And Martha Stewart will

[0:32] soon have a new address. We'll give you

[0:34] a rare look inside Alderson Federal

[0:37] Prison Camp, otherwise known as Camp

[0:39] Cupcake. It's all starting now on the

[0:42] CBS Evening News Online Edition.

[0:46] What appears to be a major new terrorist

[0:48] attack caused heavy casualties tonight

[0:50] in Egypt at a hotel and nearby resorts

[0:53] popular with Israelis. It started with a

[0:56] huge explosion at a Hilton hotel near

[0:59] the Israeli border in the Egyptian

[1:01] resort city of Taba. That was followed

[1:03] by more blasts a few miles away,

[1:06] apparently at other resorts filled with

[1:08] Israeli tourists. CBS's David Hawkins is

[1:10] live in Tel Aviv with the latest. David.

[1:14] Dan. Witnesses in Taba say the uh entire

[1:17] front of the hotel has collapsed and

[1:20] according to Egyptian officials, there

[1:21] are more than two dozen dead and

[1:23] hundreds of wounded. The death toll is

[1:26] expected to climb. Shortly after that

[1:28] explosion came reports of two more

[1:30] blasts at other resorts a few miles away

[1:33] down the Red Sea coast.

[1:36] Just last month, the Just last month,

[1:38] the Israeli government issued a warning

[1:40] against visits to Egypt, specifying the

[1:41] Sinai as a target of possible terrorist

[1:44] attacks. Casualties are being evacuated

[1:46] to Israeli hospitals in nearby Alat. The

[1:49] Hilton Hotel in Taba is located just

[1:51] across Israel's border with Egypt. The

[1:54] Hilton and other Egyptian resorts along

[1:55] the Sinai's Red Sea coastline are very

[1:58] popular with Israeli tourists. Today is

[2:00] the last day of the week-long Jewish

[2:02] holiday of Sukkot. So, the hotels there

[2:05] are full of vacationing Israelis.

[2:07] Today's attacks come as Israel is

[2:09] conducting one of the largest military

[2:11] operations in months in the Gaza Strip

[2:13] to try to wipe out Palestinian militants

[2:16] there who've been firing crude rockets

[2:18] into Israel. More than 80 Palestinians

[2:20] have been killed in Gaza during the last

[2:22] week. As yet, there is no claim of

[2:25] responsibility, but one of the usual

[2:27] suspects, Hamas, has recently threatened

[2:30] to hit Israeli targets outside of

[2:32] Israel. Dan, David Hawkins reporting

[2:35] live in Tel Aviv on this breaking story

[2:38] of apparently terrorist attacks along

[2:40] the Egyptian Israeli border. And another

[2:44] hotel was attacked today, this one in

[2:46] Baghdad. It was damaged by rockets fired

[2:49] from the heart of the Iraqi capital.

[2:51] Mortars hit nearby in the fortified US

[2:54] headquarters known as the Green Zone.

[2:56] Also today, the US military reported the

[2:59] deaths of three more American soldiers.

[3:01] But CBS's Alan Pizzy reports the attacks

[3:04] in Baghdad grabbed the most attention,

[3:07] just as they were meant to do.

[3:11] The audacious attack was intended to

[3:13] gain publicity and make a point. Rockets

[3:16] were fired from a pickup truck in the

[3:18] square where Saddam Hussein's statue was

[3:20] toppled. A palm tree was set on fire and

[3:23] a firefight broke out. Television

[3:25] cameras in that hotel guaranteed that

[3:27] the broken glass and confusion would get

[3:29] the insurgents message out. Foreigners

[3:31] are not welcome and are not safe

[3:34] anywhere. Even before tonight's attack,

[3:37] there was a heightened state of alert

[3:38] across the river in the green zone that

[3:40] houses the US embassy, the Iraqi

[3:42] government, and reconstruction

[3:44] personnel. The latest security alert in

[3:46] the most heavily guarded real estate in

[3:48] the country orders people to limit

[3:50] non-essential movement, travel in groups

[3:53] of two or more, notify staff or friends

[3:55] of travel plans, carry several means of

[3:58] communication. Even soldiers must check

[4:01] vehicles before they get in. Favorite

[4:03] hangouts like this one are to be

[4:05] avoided. An IED, improvised bomb, was

[4:08] diffused here 2 days ago, and there have

[4:11] been others. Iraqi security guards think

[4:13] they are inside jobs.

[4:15] >> Those IEDs came from some spies in here.

[4:19] >> Up to 10,000 Iraqis have their homes in

[4:21] the green zone area. Their outdoor

[4:23] market known as vendor alley is now

[4:26] supposed to be off limits. Last month,

[4:28] four Iraqis were arrested for plotting

[4:30] to kidnap two foreign contractors, one

[4:32] of them a woman, from inside the green

[4:34] zone. The plan was for their translator,

[4:36] who had a pass to be in the area, to

[4:38] lure his employers out of the zone and

[4:41] then drug them. Westerners who were

[4:43] trapped in the zone say it is only a

[4:45] matter of time before the insurgents

[4:47] have a major success. Alan Pezy, CBS

[4:50] News, Baghdad.

[4:51] >> In the wake of 9/11 and the Russian

[4:53] attack, American women are

[4:55] understandably more anxious about the

[4:57] safety of their children. And CBS News

[5:00] correspondent Sandra Hughes reports the

[5:02] presidential candidates are

[5:03] concentrating on trying to get the votes

[5:05] of these concerned mothers.

[5:08] >> In 1996, it was the soccer moms who some

[5:11] pollsters predicted could swing the

[5:13] election. This time around, it's

[5:15] so-called security moms. Soccer moms

[5:18] like Debbie Rickettts who worry about

[5:21] terrorism.

[5:22] >> I don't let my kids go any place. I'm,

[5:25] you know, we're talking about going on

[5:27] vacation. Where can we go? How do we get

[5:30] through the airport? How do where is the

[5:32] safe place?

[5:33] >> Each candidate addressed Debbiey's fears

[5:35] in the first debate.

[5:36] >> I wake up every day thinking about how

[5:38] best to protect America. That's my job.

[5:40] >> I defended this country as a young man

[5:43] in war, and I will defend it as

[5:46] president of the United States.

[5:47] >> That didn't change Debbie's mind.

[5:49] >> I I will vote for George Bush. But polls

[5:52] showed the debate helped Senator Kerry

[5:54] regain support among women on security

[5:56] issues. Those who had a lot of

[5:58] confidence in Carrie protecting the US

[6:00] from terrorism jumped from 27% to 39%.

[6:05] Still, Democrats downplayed the

[6:07] importance of the so-called security

[6:09] mom, saying many moms have other

[6:11] priorities. In fact, a recent poll found

[6:13] only a quarter of married women with

[6:15] children rated the war on terrorism as

[6:18] their main concern. The economy is my

[6:20] number one issue.

[6:22] >> Realizing tomorrow's debate on the

[6:23] economy and other domestic issues could

[6:25] sway some undecided female voters. Both

[6:28] campaigns have strategies to define what

[6:31] women don't want.

[6:32] >> The Bush campaign wants to portray John

[6:35] Kerry as a first husband, somebody who's

[6:38] a little shifty. Carrie campaign is

[6:41] trying to portray President Bush as

[6:43] reckless. portraying themselves as

[6:45] family friendly. Both could be seen with

[6:48] their wives on the couch across from TV

[6:50] straight talking therapist Dr. Phil as

[6:53] President Bush tries to win more women

[6:55] over and Senator Kerry continues to try

[6:58] to win them back. Sandra Hughes, CBS

[7:00] News, Northridge, California.

[7:02] >> Lawyers handling Martha Stewart's appeal

[7:04] accused the government today of

[7:05] withholding evidence that could have led

[7:07] to an acquitt. While the appeals process

[7:09] goes on, Stuart will report to prison

[7:12] tomorrow to begin serving 5 months for

[7:14] lying to federal investigators. CBS's

[7:17] Anthony Mason shows you where the expert

[7:20] homemaker will be making her home.

[7:23] >> Its nickname may be Camp Cupcake, but

[7:25] the federal prison camp in Alderson,

[7:27] West Virginia, is no picnic.

[7:28] >> I know I have a very tough five months

[7:31] ahead of me.

[7:33] >> Like a thousand other inmates, Martha

[7:35] Stewart will have to answer the bell.

[7:37] And as this History Channel documentary

[7:38] shows, stand at her bed and be counted.

[7:41] >> They are constantly counting us through

[7:43] the night and during the day.

[7:45] >> Judith Kelly served three months in

[7:47] Alderson last year for protesting at a

[7:49] military base. It

[7:50] >> was very hard. You everything is taken

[7:54] away right from day one. All your

[7:56] clothes are taken, the strip searches,

[7:58] the pad searches.

[7:59] >> Stuart won't be Alderson's first

[8:01] celebrity inmate. After World War II,

[8:03] Tokyo Rose served time at Alderson for

[8:05] treason. So did Squeaky From who tried

[8:07] to assassinate President Ford. Opened in

[8:10] 1927, Alderson was the first prison in

[8:12] the US built especially for women. It

[8:15] was the result of a women's prison

[8:17] reform movement. The idea was to get rid

[8:19] of the bars and cells and to put female

[8:22] inmates in a more open facility that

[8:24] would retrain them and not just punish

[8:27] them. Laid out like a college campus,

[8:30] there are no perimeter walls, no guard

[8:32] towers, no fences. But Stuart will have

[8:35] to work seven and a half hours a day

[8:37] either in the cafeteria doing

[8:39] groundskeeping or making clothing for

[8:41] other federal prisoners. And she'll

[8:42] likely live in a large dorm with at

[8:44] least a hundred other women.

[8:46] >> When I was there, people were talking

[8:48] about how great it would be if she were

[8:50] able to come and

[8:53] um shine a light on the conditions

[8:55] there.

[8:55] >> Stuart already has an inmate number and

[8:58] on the Bureau of Prisons website, she's

[9:00] officially listed as in transit. By

[9:02] tomorrow afternoon, the diva of

[9:04] domesticity's new address will be a bunk

[9:06] bed at Camp Cupcake in Alderson, West

[9:09] Virginia. Anthony Mason, CBS News, New

[9:12] York. More stories are just a click

[9:15] away, but don't forget to join me on

[9:16] television for the on air edition of the

[9:18] CBS Evening News. On Friday's broadcast,

[9:22] round two, the presidential candidates

[9:24] square off for the second debate. We'll

[9:27] give you a preview for CBSNnews.com.

[9:30] I'm Dan Rather.