CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-26

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm John Roberts and welcome to

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

[0:05] Just ahead, they're off. Holiday

[0:07] shoppers hit the stores, but are some

[0:10] gift buying habits changing? We'll take

[0:12] a look. Also, the US Visa log jam. Why

[0:15] applications are backed up for months?

[0:18] Is tonight's inside story. And those

[0:20] pesky fees and sir charges on your phone

[0:23] bill. We'll examine what's behind them

[0:26] in the Friday Consumer Alert. It's all

[0:28] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:31] online edition. Ready, set, go. Shopping

[0:35] by the millions. Holiday shoppers fanned

[0:38] out across the country today to deck the

[0:40] malls with wads of money. Retailers call

[0:43] it Black Friday, the day they hope to

[0:45] see their bottom lines go out of the red

[0:48] and into the black to show a profit for

[0:50] the year. This year, retailers project

[0:53] the typical holiday shopper will spend

[0:55] about $700. That's up from 672

[0:59] a year ago. Sharon Alons reports tonight

[1:02] from the front lines of long lines of

[1:05] shoppers.

[1:07] >> 3 2 1. LET'S ROLL.

[1:10] >> OH MY GOD.

[1:11] >> Perhaps they should call it black and

[1:13] blue Friday after the stampedes of full

[1:15] contact crowds.

[1:16] >> Next time register three

[1:18] >> craving a bargain.

[1:19] >> Okie pokey elmo that way.

[1:22] >> And all before dawn. Today, the early

[1:24] morning pilgrimage started on cold

[1:27] sidewalks, stretched around the block,

[1:29] and ended up at the cash register.

[1:32] To the delight of retailers who are

[1:35] expecting consumers to drop more than

[1:37] $220 billion this holiday season, up

[1:40] 4.5% over last year. What was last night

[1:44] like for you?

[1:46] >> Well, I usually uh sleep about 4 hours.

[1:48] Are you done shopping? Matt Erie manages

[1:50] New Jerseys Garden State Plaza Mall

[1:52] where the halls today could be surging

[1:54] with 40,000 shoppers. You're not looking

[1:57] like I am for sale signs. What are you

[1:59] looking at?

[2:00] >> I'm looking at to make sure that

[2:02] customers are happy, customers are

[2:03] carrying packages.

[2:04] >> But this year, packages only tell part

[2:07] of the story. Sales of gift cards have

[2:10] tripled over the last four years.

[2:13] So-called teen plastic now makes up 10%

[2:16] of all holiday sales. Teen women 15 to

[2:19] 17 received on average just over eight

[2:22] gift cards each last year.

[2:25] >> And analysts say while those teens may

[2:28] be doing some serious browsing today,

[2:31] they usually wait until well after

[2:33] Christmas to buy.

[2:34] >> So, it's going to be long and it's going

[2:37] to be late and it's going to be uh

[2:40] probably not the Christmas shopping

[2:41] season we all grew up with.

[2:43] >> Still, some habits are hard to break.

[2:46] 130 million shoppers were expected to

[2:48] hit the stores and malls today. Just to

[2:51] put that in perspective, it's 13 million

[2:53] more than voted earlier this month.

[2:56] Sharon Alonsi, CBS News, New York.

[2:59] >> Students from abroad are discovering

[3:01] that since 9/11, the warm welcome they

[3:03] once enjoyed in this country has turned

[3:05] quite chilly due in part to tighter visa

[3:08] restrictions. It's estimated foreign

[3:10] enrollment in American schools fell 2

[3:12] and a half% in the past year. This could

[3:15] have a significant impact on business

[3:18] and the whole US economy. Barry Peterson

[3:21] gives you the inside story.

[3:24] For 8 months, Juny Young passed his time

[3:26] in Beijing waiting. He'd been at the

[3:29] University of California, Berkeley for

[3:31] the last four years, working on his PhD.

[3:34] He came back to Beijing last summer for

[3:36] a family visit and a routine visa

[3:39] renewal.

[3:41] US officials said the new visa would

[3:43] take two weeks, then said a month, and

[3:46] then

[3:47] >> and after two months, then they told me

[3:49] they don't know.

[3:50] >> And worse, he left his new Chinese wife

[3:52] behind in the USA. The visa backlog say

[3:56] US officials is part of Titan security

[3:58] after 9/11. Many applicants have to be

[4:01] cleared by both the FBI and the

[4:03] Department of Homeland Security. What

[4:06] perplexed June was how his major urban

[4:09] landscaping triggered a red flag.

[4:11] >> So most time I just you know study the

[4:13] trees, the flowers. I don't know is that

[4:16] anything you know to do with the Latino

[4:18] security.

[4:20] >> The visa slowdown is also hurting

[4:22] American business. At its biggest annual

[4:25] US sales event, Rockwell Automation

[4:27] could not bring in several foreign

[4:29] customers because they couldn't get

[4:31] visas in time. Those customers may well

[4:34] go shopping in other countries. It's

[4:37] easy to dismiss these problems as simply

[4:40] the increased cost of security for

[4:42] America. But there is also a cost to

[4:45] America if these students and business

[4:47] people cannot study or work in the USA.

[4:53] For decades, top ranking communist

[4:55] officials along with thousands of

[4:57] ordinary parents have sent their

[4:59] children to US schools. The children got

[5:01] a good education, but America got

[5:03] something equally important. Ambassadors

[5:06] for democracy. That's what one former

[5:08] top diplomat in Beijing calls them.

[5:11] >> Uh these young Chinese are tremendously

[5:14] influential uh offscreen but influential

[5:17] uh characters as they uh can describe to

[5:20] their parents what what America is

[5:21] really like.

[5:23] >> For June, there is a happy ending. He's

[5:25] back in California, back with his wife,

[5:27] and back studying. But still waiting in

[5:30] China are thousands whose college career

[5:33] or business with America remain on hold.

[5:37] Barry Peterson, CBS News, Beijing. It's

[5:40] more common than not, for some reason,

[5:43] extra charges make your phone bills a

[5:45] lot bigger than your phone company had

[5:47] led you to expect. So, just what are all

[5:50] of those mysterious fees, sir charges,

[5:52] and taxes? Mark Stman dials up some

[5:55] answers for our Friday Consumer Alert.

[5:59] >> So, as it turns out, talk isn't cheap.

[6:02] >> You can call anyone.

[6:03] >> And it's certainly more expensive than

[6:05] advertised by telephone companies.

[6:07] >> Starting at $24.99,

[6:09] >> which never mention all the added fees

[6:11] and taxes that one after the other can

[6:14] jack up your monthly bill as much as

[6:16] 20%.

[6:17] >> It ends up being $15, $20 more with all

[6:20] these like tax s charges and this and

[6:22] that. Consumer groups complain these

[6:24] companies often pass on routine business

[6:26] expenses by calling them a charge or a

[6:28] fee.

[6:29] >> Someone might assume that carrier cost

[6:31] recovery fees are related to

[6:32] governmental search charges when in fact

[6:34] it's an invention of the carrier.

[6:36] >> Now a group representing 42 state

[6:38] consumer advocates has petitioned the

[6:40] FCC to ban the search charges, calling

[6:43] them deceptive and misleading. Are these

[6:46] fees fair?

[6:47] >> Uh are they fair? Oh, absolutely. John

[6:50] Walls speaks for the wireless industry

[6:52] which says the fees are a necessary

[6:54] evil.

[6:55] >> The carriers certainly don't like them.

[6:56] They don't like being the collection

[6:58] agency for the government.

[6:59] >> And in fact, your bill includes

[7:01] legitimate taxes that do go to the

[7:03] government. But there are also fees

[7:05] these companies charge simply because

[7:07] they can. Which is which? Look at your

[7:10] bill. You would have to be a genius to

[7:12] figure it out.

[7:13] >> Federal wireless number pooling and

[7:15] portability. Now,

[7:16] >> a genius like Mike Seagler of Mensah.

[7:19] Now, I do know what that is.

[7:21] >> The Club for Brainiacs,

[7:23] >> but even he says,

[7:24] >> "Haven't got a clue."

[7:26] >> The regulatory recovery fees, for

[7:28] example, can range from 99 cents to

[7:31] almost $3. The companies say that's to

[7:34] recover costs of interstate access

[7:36] charges, regulatory compliance, even to

[7:39] pay for property taxes. And as far as

[7:42] taxes go, the federal exise tax, 3% of

[7:46] your phone bill, went into effect in

[7:48] 1898 to help pay for the SpanishAmerican

[7:51] War. Teddy Roosevelt would tell you that

[7:54] war's bills were paid in full a long

[7:57] time ago. But the tax goes on, one fee

[8:00] among many that leaves phone customers

[8:03] at a loss for words every month. Mark

[8:06] Stman, CBS News, Atlanta. More stories

[8:09] are just a click away, but be sure to

[8:12] join Dan Rather on television for the on

[8:14] air edition of the CBS Evening News. On

[8:17] Monday's broadcast, suing over silicone

[8:20] injections. Thousands of women have been

[8:22] told they can't sue. And wait until you

[8:25] hear why. Eye on America investigates

[8:27] tomorrow. for cbsnews.com.