From Kuwait, tonight's headlines, a new showdown with Saddam.
UN inspectors now want him to destroy prohibited Al-Shamoud missiles.
CBS News exclusives, one-on-one with the commander who would lead the ground war against Saddam.
And a firsthand look at one of the most lethal weapons in the US arsenal.
Also tonight, skyrocketing gasoline prices.
Is it anxiety about Iraq or profiteering?
And river rescue, an ice pack, open water, and one worried pooch.
This is the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather reporting tonight from Kuwait and John Roberts
in New York.
Good evening from Camp Commando, headquarters of the US Marines First Expeditionary Force
here in Kuwait.
With the timetable for a possible new war with Iraq slipping, the United States is pushing
for the United Nations Security Council to give Saddam Hussein a flat deadline for disarming.
The White House said it will offer a draft resolution this week or next.
Here are more of today's late developments.
Chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix has decided Iraq should destroy its Al-Shamoud II missiles,
which violate UN range limits.
The United States and Turkey failed to agree on an aid package the Turks want in exchange
for allowing US ground troops to deploy on Turkish bases.
NATO approved the deployment of defensive weapons in Turkey, including Patriot missiles.
And Saddam told a Russian delegation he does not want war but won't accept peace, quote,
at any price.
CBS's David Martin at the Pentagon begins tonight's coverage.
A lone cargo ship offloaded US military gear and construction equipment in a Turkish port
today.
But five more filled with war material for the US Army's 4th Infantry Division had to
steam in circles off the coast while the American ambassador pressed Turkish officials to accept
an American offer of $6 billion in aid in return for permission to bring in 40,000 troops
to open up a northern front against Iraq.
A total of 43 cargo ships carrying the 4th Infantry Division's equipment are now steaming
toward Turkish ports.
With each passing day, the backup of vessels waiting to unload grows and the Pentagon's
war schedule slips.
Officials say these deployment delays, coming on top of all the political and diplomatic
opposition the Bush administration has encountered, are pushing the possible start date of a war
further and further into March.
The impasse with Turkey could throw a major glitch into the battle plan and force all
those ships loaded with the 4th Infantry Division's equipment to head south through the Suez Canal
and unload in Kuwait.
While the Pentagon is facing the prospect of having to rework its war plan, Chief UN
Weapons Inspector Hans Blix is preparing to inform Iraq it must destroy one of its most
prized possessions, a surface-to-surface missile that exceeds the maximum permitted range of
150 kilometers.
If Iraq refuses, it would be a clear-cut instance of failing to cooperate with the weapons inspectors
and would strengthen the Bush administration's case for war.
David Martin, CBS News, the Pentagon.
In Baghdad today, Saddam insisted he does not want war with the United States but said
Iraq will fight if attacked.
Speaking to a visiting delegation from Russia, the Iraqi dictator said he and his people
quote, will not relinquish our independence, our dignity, and our right to live and act
freely, unquote.
Here in the Kuwaiti Desert, some of the largest U.S. military bases are named for the cities
and states hardest hit in the September 11 attacks, including camps New York, Washington,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia.
Today in Hamburg, Germany, a member of the 9-11 plot was convicted and sentenced.
CBS's Jim Stewart has that story.
He's the one prosecutors allege who was left behind, the messenger boy, the payroll clerk,
the all-around handyman to the 9-11 hijackers.
And today he became the first and maybe only person to ever be convicted in open court
of the sneak attacks.
Mounir el-Mata-Sadduk was given the maximum 15 years in prison on 3,066 counts of accessory
to murder.
He was the cog that kept the machinery going, said Judge Albrecht Mintz.
It was Mata-Sadduk who used an account in this bank to pay expenses for this Hamburg
apartment where the 9-11 hijackers met and plotted.
It was Mata-Sadduk who witnessed Chief Hijacker Mohammed Adda's will and the same Mata-Sadduk
who joined the others at al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.
All true, the 28-year-old Moroccan admitted, but I just hung out with the guys.
I didn't know their plans.
The court disagreed and after being hammered by the U.S. for not backing war with Iraq,
German officials seemed to relish their own victory for U.S. terrorist victims.
It is surely a warning to all those who may think about becoming involved in a terrorist
network, said Interior Minister Otto Schilling.
The question now is what about this man?
Zacharias Moussaoui was no messenger boy, U.S. prosecutors say he was to be the 20th
hijacker.
But if Mata-Sadduk is now off to a German prison, Moussaoui's case in a U.S. court
is hanging by a thread.
The problem is that under U.S. law, Moussaoui can talk to any witness he thinks can help
his case.
And he wants to talk to a top al-Qaeda official the U.S. is holding in a secret location.
If the higher courts agree, the Justice Department may just give up and throw this case into
a military tribunal which plays by entirely different rules.
Jim Stewart, CBS News, Washington.
Here in Kuwait, U.S. forces are preparing round the clock for war against Saddam Hussein.
A new war with new weapons.
Today I got an exclusive firsthand look at one of those new weapons in action.
If there's a war with Iraq, this will be one of the weapons Saddam's army will fear the
most.
The new Apache Longbow helicopter, an older version fired the first shots of the last
Gulf War.
The new model is even deadlier.
Much.
This footage obtained exclusively by CBS News shows an Apache launching hellfire missiles
with lethal effect during Operation Anaconda last year in Afghanistan.
We hitched a ride today in an Army Black Hawk helicopter to watch the Apache go through
its paces.
Right turn, 20 degrees, 30 degrees.
Pilot James Deppin spoke on the radio as he practiced over the Kuwaiti desert.
What else in 2000?
Bounce work between 50 and 100 feet.
Any lower and slower than that and the Apache starts kicking up too much dust.
60.
50.
40.
They produce a large dust cloud which is very easy to see from greater distances.
These choppers can land deep in Iraq to take on more fuel and ammunition if needed.
With its speed and sophisticated computer systems, the Apache is ideal for striking
columns of armor or just about anything that moves in a desert environment.
The pilot and his gunner who sits in the front get a rapid constant stream of information
through an eyepiece called a heads up display.
Back on the ground, Pilot Deppin explained the biggest breakthrough, a new radar system
that can find a target, lock onto it and continue tracking it after the missile is fired.
Essentially this aircraft was designed to operate in this environment.
With that radar, with minimal contrast around the aircraft in a desert environment, it will
pick up vehicles in a radius all around the helicopter.
You talk about the electronics and radar guided missile ray, it just boggles the mind and
raises the question, well it may be great in training but would it perform in combat?
I guess we won't know until we're given that call and find out.
Our visit with the troops here took a surprise turn for me today.
I'll tell you about that later in the broadcast.
But first, John Roberts back at home has some of the other news of the day.
John?
Thanks Dan and good evening from New York.
An Iranian military transport plane crashed today killing all 302 personnel on board.
The Russian-built plane went down about 500 miles southeast of Tehran as it approached
the Iranian city of Kerman.
The cause of the crash is not known.
Most of those on the plane were members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.
In this country, the Homeland Security Secretary went to the heartland to kick off a new public
awareness campaign.
In Cincinnati, Tom Ridge urged Americans to be ready for terror.
Among his tips, have a plan in place so you can contact family members in an emergency.
Also a disaster kit with three days worth of food, water, and medicine.
And what about that duct tape and plastic sheeting?
Ridge said stash it away.
Don't use it unless it's necessary.
You may have noticed the numbers on the gas pump, the numbers that add up to what you
pay, are moving faster and faster as prices go higher and higher.
Americans are now shelling out more on average for gasoline than any time since the summer
of 2001.
What's going on here?
CBS's Sandra Hughes is where prices are the highest in the West.
The latest spike in gasoline prices was met by angry protests in a Los Angeles neighborhood
that could least afford it.
We feel that privateers are actually using war as a method to gouge us.
In just the last week, the average price for gasoline increased more than five cents and
reached a nationwide average of $1.66 a gallon, 54 cents higher than last year.
Too high for the Florida Attorney General, who is calling for a Federal Trade Commission
investigation into possible price gouging.
The price of gas in Florida now has never been higher in the history of our state.
But the petroleum industry blames crude oil increases due to a possible war in Iraq and
the Venezuelan political crisis.
Prices have gone up because of world supply and demand conditions.
You know, it's a case of you either believe in supply and demand or conspiracy.
Here in California, paying more than two bucks a gallon is common.
You're kind of forced to pay what they want you to pay.
But for unique reasons, state law is mandating conversion to a new, more expensive, super
environmentally friendly fuel.
You need clean air?
You got clean air, but you're going to pay for it.
Independent analysts say even in California, gasoline prices aren't really out of line
considering the price of crude oil and adjusted for inflation, they're still lower than in
the 1970s.
Sandra Hughes, CBS News, Los Angeles.
Coming up next on tonight's CBS Evening News, Dan Rather in Kuwait, an exclusive interview
with the man whose plan for war in Iraq used to be decisive, rapid and lethal.
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Marie used big tender chunks of juicy white meat chicken, farmed fresh vegetables and
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Marie Callender put her heart into everything she made.
And to this day, we're still making it Marie's way.
Marie Callender's chicken pot pie has a delicious golden flaky crust that's still made from
scratch in your grocer's freezer, made with the care of Marie.
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Back now at Camp Commando in Kuwait, this is a base for the U.S. Marines who take pride
in being the few.
But if and when U.S. forces strike north from here into Iraq, the Marines will have their
role, but the Army will provide most of the ground troops and firepower.
Today I talked with the Army's top field commander in an exclusive interview.
American soldiers in Kuwait have been training near the Iraqi border for as much as six months.
If they get the word to stab across the sand berms into Iraq, General Scott Wallace of
Fifth Corps will lead the U.S. Army troops.
Well, it's your job to think almost every hour, if not every hour of every day, that
if the command is to go to invade Iraq, how to do it.
Without giving away any secrets, what's the plan?
The plan is to be decisive, rapid, lethal, give our potential adversary no edge that
he can take advantage of, and hopefully bring all these soldiers home just like we brought
them here.
Do you absolutely, positively have to have the ground bases in Turkey and have a northern
front, or can you do it without it?
We can do it without it.
It is much more convenient, much more uncertain on the part of the enemy if we're coming from
the two directions.
But I don't think any of us are wedded to having a Turkish option.
One part of the operation General Wallace says is key.
The anticipated fast sweep through the southern part of Iraq to stop Saddam from sabotaging
the oil fields, get the port of Bashar al-Qaeda and to show him that the U.S. means to decapitate
him from his population.
It would be to our advantage to demonstrate that we have the control of a major population
center in southern Iraq, certainly from a strategic perspective.
Lieutenant General William Scott Wallace, distantly related to the Scottish warrior for independence
portrayed in the movie Braveheart, sees himself as a freedom fighter as well.
This is a regime that needs to go.
General, are you or are you not suggesting, quite out saying, that yours, if war comes,
is intended to be an army of liberation?
This army is not here to occupy any country.
This army is here to provide the opportunity for the Iraqi people to decide their own way
of government.
And we would be very happy to turn it over to them as soon as humanly possible.
General Scott Wallace, I'll be back from the Marines' camp commando later in the broadcast.
John Robertson, New York, will have more news in a moment.
I'll get this, getting a really low rate on this card.
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Get the Capital One no hassle card for the nation's lowest fixed rates and no balance
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But, Senor Wallace.
A definite end.
You have the
What's this?
Breakfast.
It's kinda early, buddy.
You guys need to take some cholesterol off of you.
Honey, have you been reading the Cheerios box again?
Can I get another box?
Cheerios is still the only leading cold cereal clinically proven to reduce cholesterol to
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That was very thoughtful of you.
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Cheerios.
Good for the heart.
Got a little girl in the back.
If you've always gotta go, ask your doctor about Detrol LA.
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In the Middle East tonight, Palestinian militants fired rockets at an Israeli town a few hours
after a major clash in the Gaza Strip.
In an early morning raid, Israeli troops and tanks struck workshops in Gaza City where
they said Palestinians were building weapons.
At least 14 Palestinians were killed there and in fighting in the West Bank.
And now there are eight.
Former House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt today joined the growing list of candidates
for his party's nomination for president.
Gephardt is 62 years old.
Joey Chan has more about what makes the man from Missouri run again and the strategy he's
running on.
Signing his experience, 26 years in Congress, winner of the 1988 Iowa caucuses, Dick Gephardt
returned to his hometown to announce his candidacy.
The former Boy Scout and son of a union card carrying milkman acknowledges a tough struggle
ahead as he slogs into a packed democratic field.
Not the political flavor of the month.
I'm not the flashiest candidate around.
But the fight for working families is in my bones.
Gephardt joins Democrats hoping to exploit new signs of presidential vulnerability.
Polls show growing opposition to a war with Iraq and falling confidence in Mr. Bush's
ability to fix the economy.
Others who see an opening, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman,
North Carolina's John Edwards, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and activist Reverend
Al Sharpton.
Also joining the race this week, two candidates who will campaign heavily against a war with
Iraq.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Illinois Senator Carol Mosley Braun, who says
voters are ready to make a big change.
They are prepared to elect a woman and take the men only sign off the White House door.
And there are at least five more Democrats who may join the race against President Bush.
Even if the president succeeds in wrapping up this Iraq crisis relatively quickly, there's
still the economy out there.
Either foreign policy or the economy could sink this president.
There's still a year to go before the first primaries.
Plenty of time for the Democrats to fine tune their message while waiting to see how the
president performs both at home and abroad.
Joey Chen, CBS News, Washington.
On the CBS Weather Watch tonight, the death toll from the big blizzard in the east has
now risen to at least 59.
In and around the nation's capital, traffic jammed, some stretching for miles kept the
morning rush going until lunchtime.
Washington is one of many cities short on cash now spending truckloads of money to truck
away snow and ice.
There's at least one ray of sunshine in an otherwise cold world of disasters, natural
and manmade.
In New Jersey, Lee Cowan has the tail of a dog that will warm a lot of human hearts.
From a shrinking block of ice, the world can look pretty hopeless.
From the shore, it didn't look much better.
No one knew his name.
No one knew how he got there.
But there he was.
A young pup, captaining an iceberg slowly out to sea.
As we got closer to the dog, the ice flows were moving.
It was pulling us away.
Fireman Tom McDermott wasn't even supposed to be working today.
I have two dogs at home and my jacket smells like a dog.
So I figured we'll calm the dog down a little bit.
It worked.
Finally, the mutt made his move.
There you go.
Nice.
From the cold of an ice flow to the heat of the spotlight, safe and sound and looking
for a home, the leading candidate.
Nobody claims a dog.
I got two at home.
Hopefully he gets along with mine too.
His off-duty hero.
Lee Cowan, CBS News, Newark, New Jersey.
And coming up next on tonight's CBS Evening News, Dan Rather in Kuwait has something of
a surprise ending to our broadcast tonight.
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Fifty-eight percent of women in their fifties have thinning bones and risk increases with
age.
But a quick and painless bone density test can tell if your bones are thinning.
If they are, this is the age of Fosamax.
Fosamax once weekly is for postmenopausal women at risk for or with osteoporosis.
It's proven to help reverse bone loss.
You should not use Fosamax if you have certain disorders of the esophagus, are unable to
stand or sit upright for 30 minutes, have severe kidney disease or low blood calcium.
Before use, talk to your doctor if you have stomach or digestive problems.
Stop taking Fosamax and tell your doctor if you develop new or worsening heartburn, difficult
or painful swallowing or chest pain because these may be signs of serious upper digestive
problems.
Bone density test?
Bone density test.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
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This is the age of Fosamax, helping reverse bone loss.
Hey Steve, how do you keep your toilet so clean?
I touch it up with Scrubbing Bubbles toilet wipes.
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Scrubbing Bubbles toilet wipes.
Coming up, the latest on yesterday's house fire in Southeast Jacoma.
Also, our special series continues tonight, keeping your kids safe from guns.
KI Minutes at 6 is next.
Before we leave you tonight, we want to tell you about one of the US servicemen here.
He's come quite a long way.
Tomarsh Thompson is the second pilot on this Apache helicopter.
Today his job includes launching hellfire missiles in battle.
Not that long ago, he was raising hell back home in Texas.
When he was 15, he got caught trying to steal a car in Fort Worth.
Security guards brought him face to face with the rental car's driver.
Today fate brought the two together again.
The boy, now a man, and the car's driver, a reporter named Rather.
Thompson UC was part of the Apache squad we showed you earlier in this broadcast.
12 years ago in Texas, we chatted about right and wrong, about making your life count.
Thompson is now 27, married, a chief warrant officer in the US Army.
He got his life together and is putting it on the line now for his country.
And that's part of our small world.
There's more CBS News straight ahead tonight, beginning with 60 Minutes 2.
They're Americans getting ready for the worst kind of war, but behind enemy lines, what
will they face?
And Oscar contender Renee Zellweger tonight on 60 Minutes 2.
Again on 48 Hours Investigates, he's a California millionaire who charmed a lot of women.
But did he also rape them?
We have his only interview and his secret tapes.
48 Hours Investigates, right after 60 Minutes 2, and it all begins at 9, 8 Central.
For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting tonight from Camp Commando with the Marines
in Kuwait.
See you again tomorrow.
Good night.
For news 24 hours a day, go to CBSNews.com.
AOL keyword, CBS News.
A profile of courage.
Dan Rather has another report tomorrow.
Experience CBS News.