CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-10-27

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.

[0:05] Just ahead, the Harriet Meyers Supreme

[0:07] Court nomination has come unstuck. John

[0:10] Roberts has details and analysis from

[0:12] the White House. Also, we'll have the

[0:14] inside story on oil company profits and

[0:17] why they've reached record highs. And

[0:20] we'll look at why an official of Mexican

[0:22] descent wants illegal Hispanic farm

[0:25] workers out of his state. Our Eye on

[0:27] America series continues. It's all

[0:29] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:32] online edition.

[0:34] The Republicans on Capitol Hill have

[0:36] been telling President Bush it was going

[0:38] to be difficult, if not impossible, to

[0:41] get Harriet Meyers confirmed to sit on

[0:43] the Supreme Court. And today he drew

[0:45] down her nomination. The president said

[0:48] it was because senators wanted to

[0:50] examine confidential documents that

[0:52] Meyers had written as White House

[0:54] counsel, something he said he could not

[0:56] let them do. Others say there is a lot

[0:59] more to it than that. We're going to

[1:01] start tonight with John Roberts at the

[1:03] White House.

[1:05] >> The White House today said it was

[1:07] heading for an unresolvable impass over

[1:09] the Meyers nomination. In truth, it

[1:11] would have been more like a train wreck,

[1:13] one everyone wanted to avoid.

[1:15] >> Became apparent to Harriet that her role

[1:17] as nominee was fast coming into conflict

[1:18] with her role as White House counsel.

[1:20] And she rightly put the interest of the

[1:22] president and the presidency ahead of

[1:24] her own self-interest. The official

[1:26] reason given for her withdrawal, the

[1:27] White House refusal to turn over papers

[1:29] dealing with her time as counsel to the

[1:31] president, claiming they were covered by

[1:33] executive privilege, and questions she

[1:36] couldn't answer in her confirmation

[1:37] hearing that senators insisted she'd

[1:39] have to.

[1:41] But that appears to have been a

[1:43] convenient out. The Meyer's nomination

[1:45] had split a party already in a world of

[1:48] hurt over a tough war, scandals, and

[1:50] falling poll numbers. Bruising

[1:52] confirmation hearings could have

[1:53] inflicted broad political damage. In

[1:56] fact, it was after Senate Leader Bill F

[1:58] gave White House Chief of Staff Andy

[2:00] Card a realistic assessment of where

[2:02] they were yesterday that Meyers pulled

[2:04] her name.

[2:05] >> Now, we'll begin the opening statements

[2:07] yesterday.

[2:07] >> Republican head of the Senate Judiciary

[2:09] Committee would said it would be a sign

[2:10] of incredible weakness if the president

[2:12] withdrew Meyers and harsh words for the

[2:15] beating she took on Capitol Hill. that

[2:17] this is a sad episode in uh uh the

[2:22] history of Washington DC which has a lot

[2:24] of sad episodes but uh the way Harriet

[2:27] Meyers

[2:29] uh has been treated is really

[2:30] disgraceful.

[2:31] >> White House officials today said they

[2:33] didn't see it coming before Meyers was

[2:35] nominated, then reluctantly admitted

[2:37] they probably should have.

[2:39] >> Mr. Conservative groups who were brutal

[2:41] on the nomination made no apologies for

[2:43] bashing her. Wrong from the start. They

[2:45] said

[2:46] >> what conservatives are expecting, what

[2:47] conservatives are hoping for is a

[2:49] nominee with a clear and consistent

[2:51] record, but also excellence u is not

[2:53] just ideology uh is not just closeness

[2:56] to the president. It also has to be a

[2:58] first rate nomination.

[2:59] >> President Bush has pledged to move ahead

[3:01] quickly on a new nominee and the White

[3:03] House has not ruled out again going

[3:06] outside the list of usual suspects.

[3:08] >> There are a number of qualified uh uh

[3:11] people out there. I don't know that it

[3:12] necessarily has to be uh a judge. I

[3:14] don't think we should abandon the

[3:15] principle that you could put somebody on

[3:17] the bench uh from off of a lower court.

[3:20] In accepting the nomination, Harriet

[3:22] Meyers said her time at the White House

[3:24] had given her a greater appreciation for

[3:26] the role of the legislative branch in

[3:28] our constitutional system. No telling

[3:30] how she feels about that tonight. But

[3:33] she will help lead the search for her

[3:34] replacement. Bob,

[3:36] >> now wait a minute. Did you Did you just

[3:38] say, John, that she's now going to be

[3:39] part of the search team to find a

[3:41] replacement? She's got her old job back.

[3:44] She's White House counsel and she is

[3:45] going to be helping uh to lead the team

[3:47] that is going to search for the

[3:48] replacement. They're back to the short

[3:50] list and they could have an announcement

[3:52] as early as next Wednesday. That almost

[3:54] sounds like cruel and unusual

[3:55] punishment, doesn't it? Well, let's

[3:57] bring in our political correspondent,

[3:58] Gloria Boura, into this. Gloria, what do

[4:00] you think is going to be the immediate

[4:02] fallout from this?

[4:04] >> Well, I think immediately conservatives

[4:06] are cheering because they think that the

[4:07] president will not be able to nominate

[4:09] another good friend. That's the attorney

[4:11] general Alberto Gonzalez. If they were

[4:14] ready to make the fight over those

[4:15] documents with Harriet Meyers, they

[4:17] would have to do the same for Gonzalez,

[4:18] who also served as White House counsel.

[4:21] Still, Bob, a lot of pressure to appoint

[4:24] a woman. Justice Sandra de O' Conor came

[4:26] out and said today that she sure would

[4:29] hate it if the number of women on the

[4:30] Supreme Court dropped by 50%.

[4:33] >> Well, let's talk a little bit about the

[4:34] backdrop to all of this. And John, this

[4:36] all comes as everybody at the White

[4:38] House is waiting to see if there's going

[4:40] to be an indictment in that uh who blew

[4:42] the cover of the CIA agent

[4:44] investigation. Is there anything new on

[4:46] that, John? And a lot of people thought

[4:48] it would come today. There's nothing new

[4:50] beyond speculation, Bob. And the

[4:52] speculation is pointing to tomorrow as

[4:54] the possible day that indictments, if

[4:57] they are to come, will be handed up by

[4:58] the grand jury. But uh that's that's not

[5:01] even sure because Patrick Fitzgerald

[5:03] could always ask for an extension of

[5:04] this investigation and panel a new grand

[5:07] jury and keep going with it. But most

[5:08] people think grand jury's over tomorrow.

[5:11] The case will be over tomorrow. Uh

[5:12] Gloria, where is the speculation? It

[5:15] seems to be centering now on uh Lewis

[5:18] Libby, the president, the vice

[5:20] president's top aid. What about Carl

[5:22] Rove? What are they saying over there

[5:24] today about that?

[5:25] Well, tonight, Bob, the fate of uh Carl

[5:28] Rove remains very, very much up in the

[5:30] air. People I spoke with at the White

[5:32] House today say he was at a senior staff

[5:34] meeting talking about the budget, asking

[5:36] tough budget questions, remaining very

[5:38] much uh engaged, but they're ready for

[5:41] bad news tomorrow.

[5:42] >> Okay, thanks to both of you. The

[5:44] Interior Department said today it could

[5:46] take up to a year to get oil production

[5:48] in the Gulf of Mexico back to normal.

[5:51] So, you'd think that must be eating into

[5:53] oil company profits, but it turns out

[5:55] profits have never been better. Here's

[5:58] Anthony Mason with the inside story.

[6:03] >> When hurricanes Katrina and Rita

[6:05] pummeled the oil platforms in the Gulf,

[6:07] it looked like the oil industry was

[6:09] suffering.

[6:09] >> But the suffering is not what they're

[6:11] doing right now.

[6:12] >> Exon Mobile sales hit more than hundred

[6:15] billion dollars between July and

[6:17] September. Soaring prices lifted the oil

[6:19] giant's profits by 75% to nearly $10

[6:23] billion.

[6:24] >> This is a record for the oil industry.

[6:26] It's a record, I think, for any publicly

[6:28] traded company in one quarter to make

[6:30] this much money.

[6:31] >> Suddenly, big oil is feeling a backlash

[6:33] in Washington. Democrats have called for

[6:36] a tax on oil profits to develop

[6:38] alternative fuels. Even Republican House

[6:40] Speaker Dennis Hastard says the industry

[6:43] has some explaining to do. Our oil

[6:45] companies need to do more to inform the

[6:47] American people about what they're doing

[6:49] to bring down the cost of oil and

[6:51] natural gas. Exon Mobile defended itself

[6:53] in ads placed in major newspapers today.

[6:56] Oil industry earnings are not out of

[6:58] step with other major industries. The

[7:00] company said over the years, Exxon

[7:02] executives have been touchy when asked

[7:04] about their good fortune. Back when

[7:06] crude oil was $10,

[7:08] gasoline was less than a dollar a

[7:10] gallon, and our earnings were less than

[7:13] $2 billion a quarter.

[7:17] I don't recall seeing CBS in the room.

[7:20] But those rising prices at the pump are

[7:22] taking fuel out of the economy by taking

[7:25] spending money out of our pockets and

[7:27] making the country poorer.

[7:30] >> And in this particular situation, with

[7:31] the price going up a lot, we're going to

[7:33] be quite a lot poorer. So, how big is

[7:36] Exon Mobile's $10 billion profit? It's

[7:39] 10 times size the size of the GDP of

[7:41] Likenstein and more money than the

[7:43] entire movie industry took in at the box

[7:46] office last year. Bob, thank you very

[7:48] much. In the health news tonight,

[7:50] there's a new reason for women to get

[7:52] regular mammograms. New research shows

[7:54] those who do have a lower risk of dying

[7:57] from breast cancer. Breast cancer deaths

[7:59] have been going down in the last decade.

[8:02] And today's New England Journal of

[8:04] Medicine reports this is because a

[8:06] combination of early detection with

[8:08] mammogs works and is more effective. All

[8:13] this week we've been reporting on

[8:14] security or the lack of it on America's

[8:16] borders. Hundreds of thousands of

[8:18] illegal immigrants cross into this

[8:20] country from Mexico every year and that

[8:22] can be a big issue even far from our

[8:25] southern border in a place like Idaho.

[8:28] Thalia assures us tonight with our eye

[8:30] on America.

[8:32] They are up before dawn in the choking

[8:34] dust of the potato harvest in the vast

[8:36] farm fields and on construction sites.

[8:40] They are Idaho's laborers. But listen

[8:42] closely.

[8:44] >> They're mostly Hispanic, mainly from

[8:46] Mexico. And despite their backbreaking

[8:49] work, they're not entirely welcome.

[8:51] >> Jim, you're on 670 KBY. Good morning.

[8:53] >> The illegal immigration is a weapon of

[8:56] mass destruction. Leading the charge

[8:58] against the illegal influx is Canyon

[9:00] County Commissioner Robert Vasquez.

[9:02] >> And it is an economic attack on the

[9:05] United States.

[9:06] >> That from a man whose own grandfather

[9:08] came from Mexico legally. Vasquez points

[9:10] out it's the illegals who cost the

[9:13] county millions. So Vasquez is turning

[9:15] to the courts to get the money back.

[9:17] >> You think your taxpayers are being

[9:19] ripped off?

[9:19] >> Well, of course. Canyon County is suing

[9:22] agricultural companies under federal

[9:24] racketeering statutes normally

[9:26] associated with bringing down the mob,

[9:28] not migrants.

[9:29] >> I am angry. My country is being invaded.

[9:32] My government is not taking any action.

[9:35] >> The claim the companies have conspired

[9:37] to hire illegal workers who drive up the

[9:39] county's medical and law enforcement

[9:41] costs.

[9:42] >> Absolutely. They're bringing in crime

[9:43] and they're also u bringing in the gang

[9:47] culture. The local jail with a large

[9:50] number of immigration cases is

[9:52] overcrowded. You have people sleeping on

[9:54] the floor. If you didn't have the

[9:56] illegal immigration problem, would you

[9:57] have that problem?

[9:58] >> Not as many. There might be a few, but

[10:00] not as many.

[10:01] >> So, it's a problem.

[10:02] >> It's a problem.

[10:03] >> There are up to 35,000 illegal

[10:05] immigrants here in Idaho, providing

[10:07] cheap labor. They make up a critical

[10:09] portion of the agricultural workforce.

[10:11] And without them, some say the industry

[10:14] could collapse. The people that I hire

[10:16] in the agriculture industry are not

[10:18] taking jobs away from other people.

[10:21] >> Sid Freeman's family has farmed here for

[10:24] decades. If the lawsuit succeeds, he's

[10:26] worried the big companies won't buy his

[10:28] crops. So, you can't keep your farm

[10:31] going if these companies pull out

[10:33] because of this.

[10:33] >> That's right. I may be the last farmer

[10:37] in nine generations in America.

[10:40] >> Basquez hopes to take his crusade to the

[10:42] national stage by running for Congress.

[10:44] that has a lot of people around here

[10:46] worried.

[10:47] >> He's kind of the engine for driving

[10:49] divisiveness in our community and hate.

[10:53] But Vasquez says he's a patriot.

[10:55] >> I'm not opposed to immigration. I'm

[10:57] opposed to the invasion of illegal

[10:59] aliens

[10:59] >> who's trying to protect his country in

[11:02] Canyon County, Idaho. I'm Thalia Ashurus

[11:04] for Eye on America.

[11:06] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[11:08] don't forget to join me on television

[11:09] for the onair edition of the CBS Evening

[11:12] News. On Friday's broadcast, the trouble

[11:15] with sink holes. Millions of homes are

[11:17] at risk. We'll show you why in a

[11:20] consumer alert every homeowner should

[11:22] see. For cbsnews.com,

[11:25] I'm Bob Schaefer.