CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-11-22

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.

[0:04] Just ahead, a sharp reminder from Iraqi

[0:07] militants. The handover of one of

[0:09] Saddam's palaces was marred by mortar

[0:12] fire. Kimberly Doer was there and she'll

[0:15] have details. Also, tens of thousands

[0:17] made homeless by Katrina are still

[0:19] waiting for FEMA trailers. We'll look at

[0:22] why. And she shoots, she scores. You'll

[0:25] meet an expert video gamer who just

[0:28] happens to be a grandmother. It's all

[0:30] starting now in the CBS Evening News

[0:32] online edition.

[0:35] After all the setbacks, after all the

[0:38] violence, is there finally a ray of hope

[0:40] about the war in Iraq? Maybe, just

[0:43] maybe. A top official of the Iraqi

[0:45] government said today that he has word

[0:47] from a man who claims to represent the

[0:50] insurgents and he says they are ready to

[0:53] talk. That is a long way, of course,

[0:55] from ending the war. But if this pans

[0:57] out, it may be the first time ever that

[0:59] the insurgents have shown such a

[1:01] willingness. Even so, Iraq today

[1:04] remained a dangerous place, even where

[1:06] American forces thought it was safe.

[1:09] Kimberly Doer now with more on that.

[1:13] >> It was a day intended for ceremony and

[1:15] symbolism. The US military handing

[1:18] Saddam's toe palace complex back to the

[1:21] Iraqi people. But things seldom go as

[1:24] planned in Iraq.

[1:26] A volley of mortars whistling overhead

[1:28] sent a shock wave through the crowd.

[1:30] Then everyone rushed for cover.

[1:32] >> Go. LET'S GO. LET'S GO.

[1:33] >> THE MORTARS landed at least 100 yards

[1:36] away and failed to explode. So, no one

[1:38] was hurt, but the insurgents had made

[1:40] their point.

[1:40] >> There are people who do not wish us or

[1:43] this new Iraq well. And uh it wasn't uh

[1:47] surprising. It was a little disturbing,

[1:49] but not surprising. The militants

[1:51] weren't the only ones trying to steal

[1:53] the limelight. Toree Sunni governor took

[1:55] the chance to take the American

[1:57] ambassador to task over what he saw as

[1:59] the lack of Sunni representation in the

[2:01] upcoming election.

[2:02] >> And I promise that uh we'll sit down and

[2:05] talk about it.

[2:05] >> Moments later, inside one of the

[2:07] palaces, they did a positive sign that

[2:10] powerful Sunnis are embracing the

[2:12] democratic process. Iraq's top American

[2:15] commander says that's what today's

[2:17] handover is all about. giving control

[2:20] back.

[2:20] >> Coalition forces will are executing our

[2:22] strategy, which is to gradually pull

[2:24] ourselves out of the city where we're

[2:26] less visible and able to support Iraqi

[2:28] forces better.

[2:29] >> Iraqi officials have stated that their

[2:31] troops could take full control within 2

[2:33] years.

[2:34] >> I think that's possible. Certainly is

[2:36] not unrealistic.

[2:38] >> But with only a fraction of Iraq's

[2:40] 210,000 security forces capable of

[2:42] operating on their own, this remains a

[2:45] symbol of an Iraq yet to come.

[2:48] The palace compound in Toree is one of

[2:50] 29 bases the Americans have handed over

[2:53] since last year. The idea is to stay

[2:56] close enough to help the Iraqi forces in

[2:58] case of emergency, but far enough out of

[3:00] sight that at least some Iraqis forget

[3:02] the Americans are here. Bob,

[3:04] >> well, Kimberly, I know this is not the

[3:06] first time you've heard incoming

[3:08] mortars, but when you hear them, it does

[3:09] kind of focus your attention, doesn't

[3:11] it?

[3:13] >> It does. And I've got to say, this is as

[3:15] close as they've ever come. We actually

[3:16] heard one of the mortars pass right

[3:18] overhead. You you could hear the fin

[3:20] whistling. The other scary thing was

[3:22] knowing that the insurgents knew right

[3:23] where we were and what we were doing and

[3:26] could possibly fire again, but there

[3:28] were a couple of patchy helicopters in

[3:29] the sky. They headed for the spot where

[3:31] the mortars were fired from. We didn't

[3:33] hear anything else after that.

[3:34] >> Okay, thank you very much. Thanks,

[3:36] Kimberly. FEMA agreed today to keep

[3:39] paying for hotel rooms for thousands of

[3:41] Hurricane Katrina evacuees through the

[3:44] 1st of January. FEMA had originally set

[3:46] a December 1st deadline, but there was

[3:49] growing concern that many of these

[3:51] people would have no place to go. And

[3:53] with good reason, some hurricane victims

[3:56] who were promised FEMA trailers found

[3:58] there is a major hitch. Bill Whitaker

[4:00] now with tonight's inside story.

[4:05] >> They say good things come to those who

[4:07] wait. Vincent Roby, left homeless by

[4:09] Katrina, hardly believes that anymore.

[4:12] >> I'm just waiting on my FEMA trailer.

[4:14] It's been almost 3 months since Katrina

[4:16] blew his Beluxy house away since he says

[4:19] President Bush touring Beluxy assured

[4:21] him help and a FEMA trailer were on the

[4:23] way.

[4:24] >> They come by okay me for a FEMA trailer

[4:28] but when they going to bring it.

[4:30] >> You hear that question every day

[4:32] everywhere along the Mississippi GF

[4:34] coast and nobody seems to know the

[4:36] answer.

[4:36] >> So you call them and what do they say?

[4:39] >> Um just please be patient. Frank Porter

[4:42] runs the Economic Development Council in

[4:44] nearby Pasigula.

[4:46] >> Patient. That's patience runs thin after

[4:50] a while.

[4:50] >> He's homeless, as he says, are 6,000

[4:53] other Pascula residents. 100 times that

[4:56] many were displaced along the Gulf, and

[4:58] FEMA has put only a fraction in

[5:00] trailers, rolling out 450 a day.

[5:03] >> So, if you do do the the math on that,

[5:05] that's a long time. And our people can't

[5:08] wait cuz it's getting colder down here.

[5:10] FEMA calls this latest round of

[5:12] criticism unfair. The agency insists

[5:15] it's put more people in more trailers

[5:17] more quickly than ever before. FEMA

[5:20] blames Katrina, the country's worst

[5:22] disaster, and says trailers can't be

[5:24] built any faster. Even now, thousands

[5:27] wait in staging areas for residents to

[5:29] clear spaces and local bureaucrats to

[5:31] cut red tape for trailer parks. Are you

[5:34] satisfied with the job that's being

[5:35] done? I'm not sure that anyone could

[5:37] build it out any faster than what it's

[5:38] being done right now. A lot of people

[5:40] say they can, but I have not seen

[5:42] anybody that can lay it down on paper

[5:43] and show me how anyone thinks it can be

[5:45] done faster.

[5:46] >> But even FEMA knows it's not fast

[5:48] enough. People wait weeks for FEMA to

[5:51] hook trailers to sewage and electricity.

[5:53] So, it's set up tent cities for those at

[5:56] the bottom of the waiting list. Vincent

[5:58] Roby is just one Katrina victim.

[6:01] >> I'm just praying that FEMA will bring me

[6:03] my trailer. I've been approved. What's

[6:06] the hold up?

[6:07] >> But he speaks for tens of thousands.

[6:10] Bill Whitaker, CBS News, Buxy.

[6:13] >> Thousands of computer game fans, gamers

[6:16] as they're known, spent last night

[6:18] outside stores across the country

[6:20] waiting to buy the hottest new game

[6:22] console from Microsoft, the Xbox 360. I

[6:27] must confess, I have no idea what that

[6:29] is, but it went on sale this morning and

[6:32] quickly sold out in many places across

[6:34] the country. For sure, the subject of

[6:37] our next story will know what it is, but

[6:39] she's no ordinary gamer. Here is Richard

[6:42] Slesinger.

[6:44] >> I'm off there.

[6:45] >> It's the sound millions of parents hear

[6:47] coming from their kids' rooms.

[6:50] Except in this house, it's not the kids

[6:52] playing video games. It's Barbara St.

[6:55] Hair the monster slaying grandma.

[6:59] >> I'll start usually maybe about 5:00 at

[7:02] night and play 2 3:00 in the morning.

[7:05] >> M Saint Helair has found time to play

[7:07] hundreds of video games even though she

[7:09] has 12 grandchildren.

[7:11] >> You're supposed to be a grandmother.

[7:12] You're supposed to be sitting there and

[7:14] waiting to die. You're sitting there

[7:15] knitting and

[7:16] >> that that's not you.

[7:17] >> Nope.

[7:18] >> As it turns out, she's not that unusual.

[7:20] The video game industry surveyed players

[7:23] and found about 20% of them are 50 years

[7:27] old or older.

[7:29] It all started with arcade games at a

[7:32] bowling alley. Do you get aggression out

[7:35] shooting people and

[7:36] >> Oh, yes. Don't hit the tree.

[7:39] >> We saw her shooting a round of

[7:40] electronic golf at home with her oldest

[7:43] grandson, Timothy.

[7:45] >> Let's see you do this now.

[7:46] >> This time, Timothy won.

[7:48] >> Can't all be perfect. It happens, but

[7:50] very rarely.

[7:52] >> If you saw her in the store, she'd be

[7:53] polite. She'd be respectful. If you put

[7:56] her in front of a video game, she's

[7:57] going to kill whatever's in front of

[7:59] her.

[7:59] >> Blow her head off.

[8:01] >> And Barbara St. Helair is a star of

[8:03] sorts with much younger players. She's

[8:06] attracted attention out of all places,

[8:08] our sister company, MTV, which is

[8:11] featuring her on one of its web

[8:13] programs.

[8:14] >> I'm beating them with a baseball bat.

[8:16] Here she uses her professional name, Old

[8:19] Grandma Hardcore.

[8:21] >> She hit me.

[8:22] >> And she was just hired to review video

[8:24] games for MTV.

[8:26] >> She's the dream grandma. Who wouldn't

[8:28] want your grandma to be playing games

[8:29] with you?

[8:30] >> She probably knows more about video

[8:32] games than a lot of the MTV kids. It's

[8:35] sort of like an old dog

[8:37] teaching new tricks.

[8:40] Richard Slesinger, CBS News, Cleveland.

[8:43] More stories are just a click away, but

[8:45] don't forget to join me on television

[8:47] for the on air edition of the CBS

[8:49] Evening News. On Wednesday's broadcast,

[8:51] if you use sugar in your holiday

[8:54] cooking, you may be in for a not so

[8:56] sweet shock. We'll look at what

[8:58] Hurricane Katrina did to America's sugar

[9:01] industry and why it may cost you. For

[9:04] cbsnews.com,

[9:05] I'm Bob Schiffer.