CBS Evening News - 2004-09-23 - 1 of 2 (partial)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] I think you ought to see this.

[0:02] >> SOMEBODY HELP ME.

[0:04] >> THE SEASON PREMIERES OF WITHOUT a Trace

[0:06] and CSI CBS Tonight. I'm George W. Bush

[0:11] and I approve this message.

[0:13] >> President Bush and our leaders in

[0:15] Congress have a common sense plan to

[0:16] grow our economy and create jobs so

[0:20] small businesses can expand and hire.

[0:22] The Liberals in Congress and Car's plan

[0:25] raises taxes on small business. 900,000

[0:28] small business owners would pay higher

[0:30] tax rates than most multinational

[0:32] corporations. Tax increases would hurt

[0:35] jobs, hurt small business, and hurt our

[0:38] economy.

[0:39] >> The Optima here is loaded with standard

[0:41] features. Look at all this room.

[0:44] >> Just wonder if it's big enough for my

[0:46] car pool.

[0:47] >> He wonders if it's big enough for his

[0:49] car pool.

[0:57] This will work.

[0:58] >> Kia is doing whatever it takes to help

[1:00] you get into a new car. Like offering up

[1:01] to 3,000 cash back and our 10-year

[1:03] warranty on the spacious Optima. Visit

[1:05] your Dade, Broward, and Monroe County

[1:07] Kia retailers. Hurry, offer ends soon.

[1:10] >> That's our news for now. Thanks for

[1:12] joining us.

[1:12] >> We'll see you back here at 11 for CBS4

[1:14] News Tonight. Now, here's the CBS

[1:15] Evening News with Dan Ragner.

[1:18] >> Tonight, two leaders paint an optimistic

[1:20] picture of Iraq's future. Will elections

[1:23] happen in Iraq? Our man on the scene

[1:26] will give you a reality check. The ghost

[1:28] of Ivan in this strange hurricane

[1:31] season. Remnants of the killer storm

[1:33] reform and threaten the Gulf Coast with

[1:36] round two.

[1:38] Keeping social security alive. We'll

[1:41] tell you what the presidential

[1:42] candidates would do in our election

[1:44] series. What does it mean to you? Plus,

[1:47] a plane crash in the middle of nowhere

[1:49] and an amazing story of survival.

[1:57] This is the CBS Evening News with Dan

[2:01] Rather reporting from CBS News

[2:03] headquarters in New York.

[2:05] >> Good evening. The interim prime minister

[2:07] of Iraq went before the United States

[2:08] Congress and said thank you to America

[2:10] for ousting Saddam Hussein. Then Ayad

[2:13] Alawa joined President Bush in

[2:15] predicting a bright and democratic

[2:17] future for the Iraqi people. President

[2:19] Bush warned that violence in Iraq is

[2:21] likely to escalate between now and

[2:24] election set for January, but insisted

[2:26] the terrorists will quote suffer a

[2:28] dramatic defeat. CBS's John Roberts

[2:31] begins our coverage.

[2:33] >> The setting was the Rose Garden, but it

[2:35] could have been a campaign stop as

[2:37] President Bush stressed the urgent need

[2:39] to stand firm in Iraq. If we stop

[2:41] fighting the terrorists in Iraq,

[2:44] they would be free to plot and plan

[2:46] attacks elsewhere,

[2:48] in America, and other free nations.

[2:52] >> It was another attempt by President Bush

[2:54] to fuse the war in Iraq to the battle

[2:56] against terrorism, an issue on which he

[2:58] gets far higher marks. And he brought

[3:00] out Iraq's prime minister today to put

[3:02] the best face on Iraq, insisting despite

[3:05] the challenges, January elections will

[3:07] go ahead as planned. So, let me be

[3:09] absolutely clear that elections will

[3:11] occur in Iraq on time in January because

[3:14] Iraqis want election on time.

[3:16] >> But I's optimistic pronouncement was

[3:18] immediately undercut by Donald Rumsfeld

[3:21] who told Congress this afternoon,

[3:22] "Elections might not be possible in

[3:24] places where there's too much violence,

[3:26] cities like Fallujah, Romani, Samara,

[3:28] and Bakuba."

[3:29] >> Well, that's so be it. Nothing's perfect

[3:31] in life. So, you have an election that's

[3:33] not quite perfect. Is it better than not

[3:35] having an election? You bet. That was an

[3:37] assessment Democrats had already warned

[3:39] would add up to zero in terms of

[3:41] legitimacy.

[3:42] >> If after the election is held, you have

[3:44] the Iraqi people saying, "That wasn't

[3:46] real. That didn't count." Then the

[3:48] election doesn't matter. Even if you had

[3:51] 70% or 80% of the Iraqis vote.

[3:54] >> Thank you, America.

[3:55] >> In his address to Congress today, Iraq's

[3:58] prime minister admitted elections might

[4:00] not be perfect, but never said they

[4:02] might only be partial. Rumsfeld's

[4:04] revelation is sure to fuel Democratic

[4:06] attacks that the president has been

[4:08] glossing over the bad news in Iraq. For

[4:11] his part, John Kerry said today it's

[4:13] unrealistic to expect that elections

[4:14] could be held in January without some

[4:16] dramatic shift in policy. And in an

[4:19] address tomorrow, John Kerry will launch

[4:21] an effort to undermine President Bush's

[4:23] portrayal of Iraq, making his case to

[4:25] voters that Iraq and the war on terror

[4:28] are in fact not connected. Dan,

[4:31] >> John Roberts reporting live from the

[4:33] White House. Thanks, John. So, what are

[4:35] the chances US and Iraqi government

[4:37] forces can reduce the violence enough by

[4:39] January to permit full, free, and

[4:42] meaningful elections? CBS's Barry

[4:44] Peterson in Baghdad gives you a reality

[4:47] check.

[4:49] Insurgents blew up a pipeline even as

[4:51] there was talk of progress in

[4:53] Washington. And in Samara, the city

[4:55] cited as an example of Iraq's progress,

[4:58] there was more fighting. The beheading

[5:00] of two Americans this week, the still

[5:02] uncertain fate of a British hostage, and

[5:05] the almost daily car bombs are why many

[5:08] Iraqis see a reality far from rosy.

[5:11] >> We want peace in Iraq. But here, I mean,

[5:14] nowadays, the present situation is more

[5:16] miserable than before.

[5:18] >> Freedom and democracy are certainly

[5:20] important to Iraqis, especially after

[5:22] decades of a brutal dictatorship. But

[5:25] what they want first and foremost is

[5:27] security. They just want to be safe.

[5:32] >> Now, one of Iraq's most influential

[5:34] clerics may be a major roadblock to

[5:37] coming elections. Ayatollah Ali al-

[5:40] Sustani, the Shiites religious leader,

[5:42] is reportedly threatening to boycott

[5:44] elections because the country may not be

[5:46] safe enough for voting.

[5:48] >> What's the meaning of freedom without

[5:50] security? We can now we cannot do

[5:52] anything. I cannot go out of my home. If

[5:55] there's one place you'd expect cheer,

[5:57] it's Baghdad's flower district. But

[6:00] flower seller Basim Al Jumali is selling

[6:03] electrical appliances because there are

[6:05] fewer weddings now, fewer people buying

[6:07] flowers.

[6:09] You need peace and happiness for

[6:11] weddings and celebrations. He says today

[6:14] there is none. The flower sellers of

[6:17] Baghdad hope for better times, but many

[6:20] believe it will be years before that day

[6:22] arrives, if it ever does.

[6:25] >> Barry Peterson, CBS News, Baghdad. The

[6:29] man blamed for this week's beheadings of

[6:31] two Americans and many other atrocities

[6:33] in Iraq is Abu Musab al-Sakawi, a

[6:36] Jordanian-born terrorist some analysts

[6:38] compare to Osama bin Laden himself. In

[6:41] part two of her look at Sakawi, CBS's

[6:44] Sheila McBicker reports he may pose a

[6:47] growing threat to Europe and the United

[6:49] States.

[6:52] >> Abu Musab al- Zarqawi is today waging

[6:55] his war in Iraq. It's the number one

[6:58] destination for holy warriors, many of

[7:00] whom now come from the West. Those

[7:02] terrorists

[7:03] will sooner or later mount operations

[7:06] both in Europe and in the United States.

[7:11] >> Police and intelligence agency says

[7:12] Arqawi's now powerful network extends

[7:15] from Iraq through Syria, Turkey to

[7:17] Chachchna to Europe, smuggling people

[7:20] through poorest borders using fake

[7:21] documents. It is a network, experts say

[7:24] that will undoubtedly spread to the US.

[7:28] A bug planted by Italian police in a

[7:30] Milan mosque in 2001 caught a Zakarakawi

[7:32] operative explaining how the network is

[7:34] expanding. Quote, "We need foreigners."

[7:37] We have Albanian, Swiss, English. The

[7:39] important thing is that they are very

[7:41] cultured. In Iraq, Zarqawi is behind a

[7:44] wave of suicide bombings and

[7:46] kidnappings. But his group also has a

[7:48] deadly and practiced interest in

[7:50] poisons. Raids in London and Paris in

[7:53] 2002 turned up evidence that Zarqawi's

[7:56] cells were trying to make the poison

[7:58] Ryson and planning to use cyanide.

[8:01] Intelligence analysts say this is a

[8:03] strategy Zarqawi could return to.

[8:06] Arrests in Germany and Italy revealed

[8:07] the core of his network in Europe and

[8:10] elsewhere. Many he had been in prison

[8:12] with, many had trained with in camps in

[8:14] Afghanistan, and now men recruited and

[8:17] smuggled into Iraq. People who deal in

[8:20] fake passports, collect money and wait.

[8:22] >> Today we see a new generation coming up

[8:26] in the ranks of militant Islamist

[8:29] terror. And these are young people,

[8:33] fanatic fanatical people,

[8:36] >> a new generation with Zarqawi as one of

[8:38] its leaders.

[8:39] >> We have had good effect against his

[8:41] network. We're going to keep it up and

[8:43] we'll take it apart piece by piece.

[8:45] >> But Zarqawi has been a moving target. He

[8:47] escaped Afghanistan and so far is

[8:50] surviving in Iraq. As he slipped into

[8:52] Iraq, he could slip out again and

[8:55] analysts warn take his war to the cities

[8:58] of the West. Sheila McVicker, CBS News,

[9:01] London.

[9:02] >> In large part because of the war in

[9:04] Iraq, the Army National Guard is falling

[9:06] short of its annual recruiting goal for

[9:09] the first time in a decade. The

[9:10] shortfall is expected to total about

[9:12] 5,000 troops. Many soldiers are said to

[9:15] fear they'd be sent right back to Iraq

[9:18] if they joined the Guard after leaving

[9:20] active duty. The Atlantic hurricane

[9:22] season is taking one, maybe two turns

[9:25] for the worst tonight. Hurricane Gan is

[9:27] suddenly a threat to America's Atlantic

[9:29] coast again. And on the Gulf Coast, a

[9:32] former hurricane is catching a second

[9:35] wind a week after it hit there the first

[9:37] time. CBS's Mark Stman has the rare

[9:41] recycling of a storm on the weather

[9:43] watch.

[9:46] >> Starting today, the coastlines of

[9:47] Louisiana and Texas could see up to 10

[9:50] inches of rain and 45 mph winds.

[9:53] >> We have water. We have candles,

[9:55] flashlights.

[9:57] Because Ivan the storm with staying