CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2005-11-11

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, responding to his critics,

[0:07] President Bush accuses Democrats of

[0:09] trying to rewrite the history of how the

[0:12] Iraq war began. John Roberts has the

[0:15] story. Also, home heating alternatives.

[0:18] We have some money-saving ideas in our

[0:20] Consumer Alert. And we have the story of

[0:22] a father's touching tribute to his

[0:25] fallen son. It's all starting now on the

[0:27] CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:32] The way that President Bush told it

[0:34] today, critics of his war policy are

[0:36] trying to rewrite history, and the

[0:38] result, he said, is undercutting

[0:40] American troops in Iraq. The president

[0:42] and his top people used Veterans Day

[0:44] ceremonies to lay out his most forceful

[0:47] defense yet of the reasons for going to

[0:50] war. The president was in Pennsylvania.

[0:52] Vice President Cheney at Arlington

[0:54] National Cemetery and Secretary of State

[0:57] Condisa Rice on a surprise visit to

[1:00] Baghdad. We're going to start with the

[1:02] president. Here's White House

[1:03] correspondent John Roberts.

[1:07] >> It might have been a holiday, but

[1:09] President Bush was firing on all

[1:11] cylinders with an impassioned defense of

[1:13] the war in Iraq.

[1:14] >> Evil men obsessed with ambition and

[1:17] unburdened by conscience must be taken

[1:20] very seriously. and we must stop them

[1:23] before their crimes can multiply.

[1:25] >> The president also had harsh words for

[1:27] Democrats and their renewed charges that

[1:29] he misled the nation to war by

[1:31] manipulating intelligence.

[1:33] >> While it's perfectly legitimate to

[1:35] criticize my decision or the conduct of

[1:38] the war,

[1:39] it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite

[1:42] the history of how that war began.

[1:44] >> I now move the Senate go into closed

[1:46] session. Democrats started the fight two

[1:48] weeks ago, forcing the Senate into

[1:50] closed session until Republicans made

[1:52] good and a promise to look into whether

[1:54] the White House hyped the case against

[1:56] Iraq. And they keep trying to turn up

[1:58] the heat on President Bush.

[2:00] >> He can say whatever he wants to say, but

[2:02] it doesn't get away from the facts that

[2:04] this administration uh used the words

[2:08] mushroom cloud, imminent threat,

[2:09] al-Qaeda connection.

[2:11] >> The White House proclaims innocence.

[2:13] Indeed, an investigation found no

[2:15] evidence of political pressure to

[2:16] influence the intelligence community's

[2:18] pre-war assessments of Iraq's weapons

[2:20] programs. But investigators were not

[2:23] allowed to look into how the White House

[2:25] used the intelligence. And while spy

[2:27] agencies agreed that Iraq had chemical

[2:29] and biological weapons, they disagreed

[2:32] over Saddam's nuclear capabilities.

[2:35] The political push back at a Veterans

[2:37] Day event was unusual, but it shows how

[2:40] much is at stake for President Bush. The

[2:42] CIA leak investigation has deeply

[2:45] wounded his credibility. An Associated

[2:47] Press poll out today found nearly six in

[2:49] 10 Americans don't think he's honest.

[2:52] Democrats are hoping to convert that

[2:53] into election year gains, asking, "Was

[2:56] he honest in taking the nation to war?"

[2:59] With an election year looming, President

[3:01] Bush is desperate to turn around those

[3:03] falling poll numbers to eliminate any

[3:05] potential drag on Republican fortunes.

[3:07] But with some Republicans also insisting

[3:09] they know the full story on

[3:12] intelligence, this issue won't go away

[3:14] with a single speech. Bob, you know,

[3:16] John, for a while there today, it was

[3:17] almost like we were back in last year's

[3:19] campaigns. What we heard from the

[3:21] president and some really tough things

[3:23] coming from the Democrats as well, Bob,

[3:26] I felt like I was caught in a time warp

[3:28] today. He talked about his opponent,

[3:29] pointed to John Ky, and he pulled a page

[3:31] out of the Carl Rove playbook, campaign

[3:34] playbook, that when somebody says

[3:35] something bad about you, you hit them

[3:36] with as much as you've got. For example,

[3:38] soon as Kennedy came out with his

[3:40] statement, the White House fired off

[3:41] this email to everybody in the White

[3:44] House press corps, saying that Kennedy

[3:45] was sending the wrong signal to US

[3:46] troops and the enemy at a time of war.

[3:49] Bob.

[3:49] >> All right. Well, thank you very much,

[3:50] John. All over America, homeowners are

[3:53] looking for ways to beat the high cost

[3:55] of energy. Mika Brazinski tonight with

[3:57] our consumer alert.

[4:01] >> Home heating oil is at record highs.

[4:03] Natural gas and electric through the

[4:05] roof. But some people will be saving

[4:08] money on heat this winter, heating their

[4:10] homes with bofuels. And the savings are

[4:14] huge.

[4:15] >> We're probably saving this year probably

[4:17] about $1,500

[4:19] >> and even more next year because of this.

[4:22] Not a wood stove, but a $2,100 wood

[4:25] pellet stove. Big difference. It looks

[4:28] like guinea pig food.

[4:30] >> We've had a lot of comments as to what

[4:31] this looks like.

[4:33] >> And unlike old wood stoves, you don't

[4:35] have to feed the fire every few hours. A

[4:38] bag of these will heat a small home all

[4:40] day. A renewable fuel source that could

[4:42] save a third to half on what you spend

[4:44] on oil or natural gas.

[4:46] >> All of our dealers are uh are are are

[4:49] knocking on our door to get more and

[4:50] more more. Steve Walker plants are

[4:52] churning out 200 tons of pellets a day,

[4:55] seven days a week, turning sawdust into

[4:58] gold dust. This is the raw material used

[5:01] to make the wood pellets. It's

[5:02] essentially junk from local wood

[5:04] companies and sawmills, and it would

[5:06] usually go straight to the landfill.

[5:08] This is the kind of stuff that people

[5:10] used to pay to get rid of until now.

[5:13] >> Yeah, this is all the waste as we uh

[5:15] bring it in.

[5:16] >> And you pay for this?

[5:16] >> We do pay for this. We used to get it

[5:18] for nothing, but that uh that's changed

[5:20] quite a bit lately.

[5:22] >> What's that saying? One man's trash is

[5:24] another man's

[5:25] >> treasure.

[5:26] >> Treasure.

[5:27] >> How many homes can you heat? Mike Divine

[5:29] has found his own bofuel treasure in

[5:32] amber fields of soybeans. It's

[5:34] >> yellow. His processed soybean oil,

[5:37] >> that's biodeiesel,

[5:38] >> blended with regular heating oil can go

[5:39] straight into a regular furnace.

[5:41] >> So, we have a product that's burning

[5:43] better for the environment. Secondly,

[5:45] this is a product that's being produced

[5:46] domestically. It's being grown in the

[5:48] American heartland.

[5:49] >> Divine expects sales to be up 500% over

[5:53] last year.

[5:54] >> She would love it.

[5:55] >> Robin and Randy Bonest are true

[5:56] believers.

[5:57] >> I just love the idea that uh in the end

[5:59] we'll be saving money and using less

[6:02] fuel.

[6:02] >> No more sweaters in this room.

[6:04] >> Oh, I hope not.

[6:05] >> Colleen Forest is just happy the coldest

[6:07] room of her house is now cozy, heated by

[6:10] pellets and burning less oil.

[6:12] >> Wow, it's really warm in here already.

[6:15] Mika Brzinski, CBS News, Temple, New

[6:18] Hampshire.

[6:19] >> And finally, tonight on this Veterans

[6:21] Day, America honored the men and women

[6:23] who have served this country in uniform,

[6:26] including the many who lost their lives.

[6:28] There were memorial services in every

[6:30] state in the Union. And in suburban New

[6:32] York, a father honored his fallen son in

[6:36] a special way. Here's Byron Pitts.

[6:41] Robert Oyola lost an eye and a leg to

[6:44] diabetes. So he took a piano to simply

[6:46] pass the time.

[6:48] But there are some losses in certain

[6:50] kinds of pain.

[6:51] >> His dreams um was to go into the army

[6:54] and then become a teacher.

[6:55] >> That a hobby can heal

[6:59] because there's nothing simple about

[7:01] losing a son.

[7:02] >> We'll be together soon enough. I look

[7:05] forward to that then. So every chance he

[7:07] gets, Robert Arcola sits and talks to

[7:10] and whenever someone will listen talks

[7:12] about his son, the soldier.

[7:15] >> They said he got the bronze star for

[7:17] standing there until every shot was

[7:18] fired out of his box of ammo and then he

[7:21] collapsed and he died on the way to the

[7:23] ship battleship.

[7:25] >> He stood his ground.

[7:26] >> Yeah. And I wouldn't expect anything

[7:29] less of him.

[7:30] >> You are very proud of yourself, sir.

[7:31] >> Oh, I am so proud of him. It's

[7:32] unbelievable. He I look up to him.

[7:36] Kids could look up to their father, but

[7:38] I look up to Michael.

[7:40] >> He's your hero.

[7:41] >> Yeah,

[7:43] without a doubt.

[7:46] >> Killed last February in Iraq, Army

[7:48] Private First Class Michael Arcola was

[7:50] awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze

[7:51] Star. He was buried at Arlington

[7:54] National Cemetery with full military

[7:56] honors. But with his disability, Robert

[7:58] can't easily go back to Arlington.

[8:02] >> So, he had an idea. Okay.

[8:04] >> Build it and they will come.

[8:07] >> I'm so glad you made it.

[8:08] >> And today they did. A monument in his

[8:10] backyard, a bronze plaque on a 4ft stone

[8:13] in honor of Robert's son and the other

[8:16] sons of Westchester County, New York

[8:18] killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yolanda

[8:21] Cummings son is one of them. Private

[8:23] first class Kevin

[8:25] >> I think reminders like that are good

[8:27] because you would always look and think

[8:30] he was a soldier, a son. Robert Arcola

[8:33] says it's wonderful to have his child

[8:36] home again.

[8:36] >> Now I'll have my place to come and talk

[8:38] to my boy

[8:42] >> and all are welcome here where every day

[8:44] is Veterans Day but without the fan just

[8:48] a father and his son.

[8:51] >> Byron Pittz CBS News Elmsburg New York.

[8:55] More stories are just a click away, but

[8:57] don't forget to join me on television

[8:59] for the on air edition of the CBS

[9:01] Evening News. Starting Monday, we're

[9:03] setting out on another of our

[9:05] cross-country road trips. This time,

[9:07] we'll look at the far-reaching

[9:09] implications of one of the greatest

[9:11] health problems in America, obesity. For

[9:14] cbsnews.com,

[9:16] I'm Bob Sheer.