CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-22
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
[0:04] ahead, women in combat and why the
[0:08] Pentagon is now re-examining its
[0:10] long-standing ban on women in combat.
[0:12] Also, how's the overall US economy? That
[0:16] depends on which presidential candidate
[0:18] is doing the talking. We'll give you the
[0:20] facts and the real deal. And the way you
[0:23] do your checking is about to change.
[0:25] Find out how in CBS's Friday Consumer
[0:28] Alert.
[0:32] From its earliest days, the US military
[0:34] has focused on fighting wars with more
[0:36] or less definable lines. Combat troops
[0:39] in front, men only, support behind. But
[0:43] with the festering insurgency in Iraq,
[0:45] the Pentagon is now taking another look
[0:47] at such assumptions, including the role
[0:50] of women in uniform. CBS's David Martin
[0:53] gives you the inside story.
[0:57] The unexpected realities of the war in
[0:59] Iraq are forcing the Pentagon to
[1:01] re-examine its long-standing ban on
[1:03] women in combat. In a guerilla war
[1:06] fought mainly in cities and without
[1:08] front lines, the current policy that
[1:10] forbids women from serving in units
[1:12] engaged in direct ground combat may have
[1:15] to be rewritten. The issue is being
[1:17] brought to a head by the scheduled
[1:19] deployment back to Iraq of the Third
[1:21] Infantry Division, the unit which led
[1:23] the original charge into Baghdad. As
[1:26] part of a larger effort to reorganize
[1:28] the army into a more combat ready force,
[1:30] the division will for the first time
[1:32] have supply companies comprised of men
[1:35] and women directly attached to combat
[1:37] units. The debate is over whether this
[1:40] new organization violates the letter of
[1:42] the law, which bars women from combat.
[1:45] Whatever the outcome of the debate, the
[1:47] fact is women are already in the middle
[1:49] of the fighting. Although women do not
[1:51] and will not for the foreseeable future
[1:53] serve as infantrymen, breaking down
[1:55] doors and conducting house-to-house
[1:57] searches or as tankers, blasting their
[1:59] way into rebel strongholds. That does
[2:02] not keep them out of combat.
[2:04] >> You're doing great, Jessica. You're
[2:06] doing wonderful. Okay. Private Jessica
[2:08] Lynch and the other members of her
[2:09] supply convoy found that out early in
[2:11] the war when they were ambushed by
[2:13] fighters from Saddam's FedÃ. The army
[2:16] has lost nearly 800 soldiers to hostile
[2:19] fire in Iraq. 24 of them women. Pamela
[2:22] Osborne, mother of three, was killed in
[2:24] a rocket attack two weeks ago. Jessica
[2:27] Cavey's convoy was hit by a roadside
[2:29] bomb. Kimberly Hampton was piloting a
[2:32] scout helicopter for the 82nd Airborne
[2:34] when she was shot down. It may not be
[2:37] official yet, but women are serving in
[2:40] combat. Look who's behind that 50
[2:42] caliber machine gun. David Martin, CBS
[2:45] News, the Pentagon.
[2:46] >> So, how is On the Facts, the economy
[2:49] doing? CBS's Anthony Mason gives you a
[2:52] reality check.
[2:55] >> To hear the [music] candidates tell it,
[2:57] it's a tale of two very different
[2:59] economies.
[3:00] >> We've created 1.9 million new jobs in
[3:02] the last 13 months. He can't come here
[3:05] and tell you, "I've created all his jobs
[3:07] cuz he's lost 1.6 million jobs." So,
[3:11] who's right? They both are. The
[3:14] recovering economy has started creating
[3:16] jobs again. But since the president took
[3:19] office, we've lost 1.6 million private
[3:22] sector jobs. However, if you include
[3:24] government hiring, the overall loss
[3:27] during the president's term is about
[3:29] 800,000 jobs. Real after tax income, the
[3:33] money you keep in your pocket, is up
[3:35] more than 10%.
[3:37] >> President Bush says his tax cuts have
[3:39] made Americans wealthier, but Senator
[3:42] Kerry says most of those tax cuts have
[3:44] gone to the wealthy.
[3:45] >> The highest 1% of income earners in
[3:48] America, got $89 billion of tax cut last
[3:51] year.
[3:52] >> He's not wrong. One quarter of the tax
[3:54] cuts in effect this year go to the
[3:56] richest 1%, those with incomes over
[3:59] $290,000.
[4:01] So, is the average American better off
[4:03] now than he or [music] she was 4 years
[4:05] ago? Well, this is where it gets a bit
[4:07] tricky. On average, Americans have more
[4:10] money, but most Americans are in fact
[4:12] worse off. Now, how can that be? Because
[4:15] average income includes the very rich.
[4:18] very wealthy, high-income households in
[4:20] this country have done extraordinarily
[4:22] well over the last several years. And
[4:24] that means that the average uh income,
[4:27] the average net worth has risen much
[4:29] more than the median.
[4:30] >> In fact, the median household income,
[4:33] the number smack in the middle of all
[4:35] Americans, is now $41,550,
[4:39] $30 lower than it was four years ago.
[4:42] >> By that measure, at best, we're holding
[4:44] our own. Arguably, we're not quite where
[4:46] we were when the president took office.
[4:48] >> The candidates are telling different
[4:50] stories because how you read this
[4:52] economy depends on how you read the
[4:55] numbers. Anthony Mason, CBS News, New
[4:58] York.
[4:58] >> It's called the float. The time needed
[5:01] to ship cancelled checks from one bank
[5:03] to another. And generations of Americans
[5:06] have used it to stretch their billpaying
[5:08] budgets. But starting next week, new
[5:10] check handling rules let your bank send
[5:13] the float right down the drain. CBS's
[5:16] Mark Stman has the Friday Consumer
[5:18] Alert. Like college kids everywhere,
[5:22] Tamara Hampton is strapped for cash. How
[5:25] tight is her budget? Just listen.
[5:27] >> Before I got paid, which was today, I
[5:29] think I had $5. No.
[5:32] >> So, she occasionally floats a check,
[5:34] buying time to put money in her account
[5:37] because she figures that check will need
[5:38] a couple of days to clear.
[5:41] But soon, a major banking change called
[5:44] check 21 could turn check floating into
[5:46] automatic check bouncing. The original
[5:49] check would no longer physically move
[5:51] from bank to bank.
[5:53] >> It has to go by plane, train, and
[5:55] automobile in order to get processed.
[5:57] What check 21 does it is allows that
[6:00] process to be done electronically.
[6:02] >> A process check will fly through
[6:04] cyerspace and clear within 24 hours.
[6:07] Bankers say check 21 would also cut
[6:10] fraud and increase security. But
[6:12] consumer advocates are worried that
[6:13] check 21 puts no obligation on banks to
[6:16] credit deposits any faster. They say
[6:19] even people who don't flow checks will
[6:21] get caught short. It becomes much more
[6:23] important to know whether or not the
[6:25] bank is putting a hold on your paycheck
[6:26] or other deposits. If they are, you're
[6:28] going to have to wait longer before you
[6:29] start writing checks on that deposit.
[6:31] >> Rebecca Lias is a fixed income senior.
[6:34] She's suspicious of check 21 because her
[6:36] new bank statement would include only
[6:38] photocopies of her original checks.
[6:40] >> So where's the original?
[6:43] You know, let me throw the original.
[6:45] Don't you do it. So that's the part I am
[6:48] really concerned about it
[6:50] >> for Tamara Hampton. Check 21 could
[6:52] really hit home.
[6:53] >> You'll be way more cautious. I know I
[6:55] will be from now on.
[6:56] >> And affect not only how she spends her
[6:58] money, but when. Mark Stman, CBS News
[7:02] Atlanta.
[7:03] >> More stories are just a click away. But
[7:05] don't forget to join me on television
[7:06] for the on air edition of the CBS
[7:09] Evening News. On Monday's broadcast, a
[7:12] real life murder mystery. The story of a
[7:14] man who spent years in jail for killing
[7:16] his parents. New evidence could free
[7:18] him. But will he get a new trial?