CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-08

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

[0:05] ahead, the new unemployment numbers, the

[0:07] figures about jobs creation and how they

[0:10] may affect the presidential race.

[0:12] Also, a look at why one of the major

[0:15] components of truck bombs remains so

[0:18] unregulated and so easy to get.

[0:21] And a consumer alert investigation into

[0:24] so-called payday lenders and how

[0:26] military personnel are especially

[0:29] vulnerable to them. It's all starting

[0:31] now on the CBS Evening News online

[0:33] edition.

[0:35] President Bush and Senator Kerry are

[0:37] about to go head-to-head for the second

[0:39] time in a joint appearance tonight that

[0:41] will focus in large part on the economy.

[0:43] An economy that is still struggling to

[0:46] create jobs. The Labor Department

[0:48] reported today that the unemployment

[0:50] rate remained at 5.4% in September.

[0:54] What's troubling is the number of jobs

[0:56] the economy did and did not create.

[0:58] CBS's Anthony Mason reports it's far

[1:01] fewer than expected, far fewer than

[1:03] needed.

[1:06] The US economy may be growing, producing

[1:08] more goods and reaping more profits.

[1:10] It's just not creating enough jobs.

[1:12] 96,000 new jobs were added to the

[1:15] economy in September. That may sound

[1:17] like a lot, but we need 150,000 every

[1:20] month just to keep up with population

[1:22] growth. So, if we keep going at this

[1:24] pace, things will be getting worse

[1:26] rather than better.

[1:28] The hurricanes that hit the Southeast

[1:30] may have slowed hiring a bit. The

[1:32] biggest growth came in government

[1:33] hiring, 37,000 jobs. But the retail

[1:36] sector lost 15,000 jobs and the hard-hit

[1:39] manufacturing sector cut another 18,000

[1:42] last month. In West Virginia, Cannelton

[1:45] Industries closed this coal mine and

[1:47] announced 250 layoffs in a letter to

[1:49] miners. And it specifically states that

[1:52] the layoffs are expected to be

[1:53] permanent.

[1:54] >> For four straight months now, job growth

[1:56] has been anemic. We keep on waiting for

[1:58] the big boom in employment and we keep

[2:00] on being disappointed. Economist John

[2:02] Silvia says there's a message in the

[2:04] numbers. And what that's telling you is

[2:07] that we're getting good economic growth

[2:09] in the United States, but we don't need

[2:11] to hire a lot of workers to achieve it.

[2:14] Some say it's a structural shift in the

[2:15] economy. Technology has enabled

[2:17] companies to produce more with fewer

[2:19] people, which means even in an economic

[2:22] recovery, it won't be easy to find work.

[2:25] Clearly, with numbers like this, it's

[2:27] going to get harder rather than easier

[2:28] to find jobs. There are more people

[2:31] entering the workforce than new jobs

[2:32] that are being created. That's economist

[2:35] Bill Cheney, who in this baseball

[2:36] playoff season likens the latest job

[2:38] numbers to a bloop single in the bottom

[2:40] of the ninth when your team is way

[2:42] behind. They might offer some hope, he

[2:44] says, but they're not going to win the

[2:46] game. With the latest terror attacks on

[2:48] hotels abroad and concern about the

[2:50] safety of schools and other buildings in

[2:53] this country, you might be surprised to

[2:55] learn there's a loophole in America's

[2:57] homeland security big enough to drive a

[3:00] truck through. It's a weapon that has

[3:02] already been used to inflict mass

[3:04] casualties in America. CBS's Bob Orr

[3:06] gives you the inside story.

[3:10] It may look like an innocent white truck

[3:12] parked off in the distance.

[3:15] But it's the terrorist threat security

[3:16] officials fear most.

[3:18] The truck bomb. This is ammonium

[3:20] nitrate. Powered by a common fertilizer

[3:22] used by farmers across America. A

[3:25] so-called ANFO bomb, a mixture of

[3:27] ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, destroyed

[3:30] the Oklahoma City federal building.

[3:32] Now al-Qaeda is increasingly using the

[3:34] very same weapon in terror bombings.

[3:37] Essentially, nothing's been done that I

[3:39] know of. Chemist Ned Arnott began

[3:41] calling on Congress for stricter

[3:42] controls on ANFO bombs six years ago. I

[3:46] think it's time to get going on this.

[3:48] The good news is most of the fertilizer

[3:50] you can buy at your local garden store

[3:52] does not contain ammonium nitrate and

[3:54] can't be used to make bombs.

[3:57] But ammonium nitrate is still widely

[3:59] available. Last year alone, nearly 5

[4:01] million tons of it was used in the

[4:03] United States. We have very small

[4:05] quantities here and keep it all locked.

[4:08] Scott Pugh, who runs a Virginia farm

[4:10] supply store, says he thoroughly checks

[4:12] out his customers. So, somebody who you

[4:15] don't know wants ammonium nitrate,

[4:16] you're going to ask for their name?

[4:18] Name,

[4:19] identification,

[4:20] uh address, phone number.

[4:22] With no laws, it pretty much is up to

[4:25] guys like you. Exactly. But New York

[4:27] Congressman Peter King, who sits on the

[4:29] Homeland Security Committee, says

[4:31] voluntary vigilance is not enough. It's

[4:33] really minimal to be asking for a

[4:34] background check on a deadly weapon. Uh

[4:36] that's what we're talking about here, a

[4:37] weapon that can kill thousands of

[4:39] people. While Congress has yet to even

[4:41] propose regulations, there may be a

[4:43] scientific safeguard. And the idea comes

[4:46] from uh grade school science that oil

[4:49] and water don't mix. Larry Sanders told

[4:51] CBS News he has patented a process to

[4:54] make ammonium nitrate non-explosive.

[4:56] Then, when that fuel oil is added to it,

[4:58] it won't dissolve it. It stays on the

[5:00] outside, the ammonium nitrate stays on

[5:02] the inside, and so you've got a

[5:03] protective barrier. Sanders hopes to

[5:06] bring it to market next year, but

[5:08] Professor Arnott worries neither science

[5:10] nor the government is moving quickly

[5:12] enough. I hope it doesn't take 10 truck

[5:14] bombs in 10 cities to

[5:17] to focus people's attention.

[5:19] That's too late.

[5:23] Bob Orr, CBS News, Winchester, Virginia.

[5:26] In CBS's Friday Consumer Alert tonight,

[5:29] the story of US military families who

[5:31] wish they had brighter days on payday.

[5:34] In large numbers, they're taking out

[5:36] loans to make ends meet only to find

[5:38] themselves deeper in debt. How does this

[5:41] happen?

[5:42] CBS's Sharyl Attkisson reports it's not

[5:45] technically a scam, it is perfectly

[5:47] legal.

[5:49] It's very accurate and it's fast. Petty

[5:51] Officer Chris McClintick is smart enough

[5:53] to teach lessons about the Navy's big

[5:55] guns. It fires 4,500 rounds a minute.

[5:58] But that didn't keep him from ruining

[6:00] his personal finances using so-called

[6:02] payday lenders. Payday lenders offer

[6:04] tempting short-term loans for a fee due

[6:07] on payday. What McClintick and a growing

[6:09] number of military borrowers don't

[6:11] foresee is how fast those loans and fees

[6:14] add up. It seems like it should be

[6:16] simple, but once you take out the $500

[6:18] loan, you need $575

[6:21] extra

[6:22] in a payday to pay it off.

[6:24] Nobody has that. So, what happens? You

[6:26] keep taking out the loan and repaying.

[6:28] McClintick and his wife ended up owing

[6:30] fees amounting to 390%

[6:32] at an annual rate on five separate

[6:35] payday loans due at once. Today, he's

[6:37] trying to navigate his way out of debt.

[6:40] Virginia's Hampton Roads area is a

[6:42] magnet for payday lenders. The world's

[6:44] largest naval base offers up an endless

[6:46] supply of young sailors with tight

[6:49] budgets and steady paychecks. But payday

[6:52] lenders reject critics' claims that

[6:54] they're legal loan sharks. They insist

[6:56] they help people on active duty stretch

[6:59] their paychecks in a pinch. We provide a

[7:02] service. It's to people who find

[7:03] themselves in it financial need. At the

[7:05] end of the day, it's their choice. They

[7:07] look at the way their options. It can be

[7:09] a bounced check, a reconnected utility

[7:11] fee, whatever it may be. They look at

[7:12] their options and they are making a

[7:14] choice.

[7:15] Payday lenders may find easy targets

[7:17] among young troops. Absolutely.

[7:20] Absolutely. And the top brass worry debt

[7:22] could be distracting or turn them into

[7:24] security risks who could be compromised

[7:26] by terrorists or spies. It's the ability

[7:29] of that young men or women to to resist

[7:32] all those temptations, the ability of

[7:34] that young men or women to fully focus

[7:36] and work on his job. The Navy is pushing

[7:39] for stricter laws governing payday

[7:40] lenders and offers financial counseling

[7:43] and other relief for sailors like

[7:44] McClintick. Are you confident you're

[7:46] going to get out of this just fine? Yes.

[7:49] Oh, and in time. May take a while, but

[7:51] yes. He blames himself, not the payday

[7:54] lenders, but admits he never would have

[7:56] gotten all those loans if it hadn't been

[7:58] so easy.

[8:00] Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News, Norfolk,

[8:02] Virginia. More stories are just a click

[8:05] away. But don't forget to join me on

[8:06] television for the on-air edition of the

[8:08] CBS Evening News. On Monday's broadcast,

[8:12] those cholesterol-lowering statins.

[8:15] They've been called miracle drugs, but

[8:17] are they as safe as doctors think?

[8:19] We investigate.

[8:21] For CBSnews.com,

[8:23] I'm Dan Rather.