Good morning. This is CBS News. Up to the minute for Monday, December 10th. I'm Melissa
McDermott. Top U.S. officials say a newly discovered videotape of Osama bin Laden links
him beyond a doubt to the September 11th attacks on America. They're now considering whether
to release this video to the public. CBS's Stephanie Lambadakis has the story. Vice President
Cheney confirmed the existence of the new videotape seized in Afghanistan of Osama bin
Laden, which the administration says provides clear proof that he orchestrated the September
11th attacks. It shows him being interviewed or meeting with another individual, apparently
a cleric, talking about the events of September 11th. And it's pretty clear, as it's described
to me, that he does in fact display significant knowledge of what happened and there's no
doubt about his responsibility for the attack on September 11th. According to published
reports, bin Laden says he thought the suicide hijackers would lop off the tops of the Twin
Towers, not take them down, calling their collapse totally unexpected. And he apparently
did not think his words would fall into the hands of U.S. forces hunting him down. He
was relaxed and let me just, it was obviously, from my view anyway, the few segments that
I saw, it was private, he was conducting it like it was a private conversation. The White
House is still debating whether to release the videotape to the public. Administration
officials tell CBS News there is even more compelling evidence of bin Laden's involvement
that has not yet been shown. But as Vice President Cheney put it, the administration is not eager
to give bin Laden any extra television time to stir up his followers. Stephanie Lambadakis,
CBS News, The White House. The five-year Taliban rule of Afghanistan is officially over. Taliban
forces Sunday gave up their last control of their last province, Zabul, in the southeast
to tribal leaders. But the search for Osama bin Laden is not over. American B-52 bombers
are still pounding the hills and caves of Toribora to prepare the area for a ground
assault by Afghan tribesmen. The Afghan commander in the area says he's 100 percent certain
bin Laden is in the area. The Pentagon says it's getting good information from John Walker-Lynn,
the American captured while fighting alongside the Taliban two weeks ago. Walker-Lynn is
being held at the U.S. Marine base at Camp Rhino. CBS' Alan Pizzi has that. Camp Rhino
is being expanded, but the revetments in wires aren't to keep the enemy out, they're to keep
him in. This will become a holding and transshipment facility for any suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda
members the Marines capture. John Walker-Lynn, the young American caught fighting for the
Taliban, is already being held somewhere in the camp. He was dehydrated when he arrived,
but is now reported to be in relatively good health and his gunshot wound is healing. Walker
is a battlefield detainee. He's being held here awaiting disposition orders from our
headquarters. That means he has the rights of an enemy prisoner of war under the Geneva
Convention. The same rations as the Marines, access to medical care and visits from the
International Committee of the Red Cross. Marine spokesmen stress that Camp Rhino is
not about to become a prison camp. This facility is expected to hold only a limited number
of detainees. The fact that the first one here is an American raises more problems than
Afghan detainees will. Whether or not John Walker-Lynn's case falls under American or
international law, for example, is not something for which anyone here was prepared. With Taliban
and Al-Qaeda believed fleeing this way from Kandahar, the Marines of Bravo Company, who
live on the perimeter line, say being prepared and staying that way is no problem. Taliban
and Al-Qaeda don't like Americans on principle, let alone the fact that we're here specifically
to deal with them. And there were preparations of another kind going on as well. The services
may be sparsely attended, but an old military saying has it there are no atheists in fox
holes. Ironically, John Walker-Lynn was also fighting with a religious conviction. Alan
Pizzi with U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan continues its slow return to
normal. Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai says he struck a deal with rival Pashtun leaders
to restore order to Kandahar after battles broke out between the various factions. And
aid shipments to refugees are picking up steam. The first train in more than four years carried
a thousand tons of food across the newly reopened Friendship Bridge from neighboring Uzbekistan.
There's no friendship or love lost between the last two Jews in Kabul, long estranged
by a few they met long enough yesterday to agree that it was the first night of Hanukkah,
then went their separate ways to do what Jewish people all over the world did without thinking
twice, like the first candle in their menorahs. Both men had been jailed by the Taliban for
their religious beliefs. Police in Israel shot and killed a suicide bomber as he laid
dying and trying to detonate more explosives in the city of Haifa Sunday. He was described
as a member of the Islamic Jihad. Jerusalem had a visit from some U.S. political leaders
who came to show solidarity with fellow terrorist victims. Vera Franklin of the Associated Press
has that story. Security was tight at this holy site in the heart of the old city of
Jerusalem. Israel wasn't taking any risks in the wake of a spate of Palestinian suicide
bombings. Wearing a traditional yarmulke, Rudolph Giuliani was welcomed to the wailing
wall. Then in an armored car, it was on to downtown Jerusalem, to a busy street corner.
It was here four months ago that a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 15
people. Minutes before the visitors arrived, city officials pasted up a new street sign.
Just a short, heavily guarded walk away was the site of another tragedy. Two suicide bombers
set off explosives here on December 1st, killing 11 young Israelis. I think it's important
that the people of New York show our solidarity with the people of Jerusalem and the people
of Israel. The people of Israel were tremendous supporters of New York after the attack of
September 11th. Thank you for coming. People should be defiant of the psychological effects
that terrorists try to have on them. And they should go about their lives and lead them
in a normal way, the way free people should. But even as he spoke, the violence continued.
Another Palestinian suicide bomber struck near Haifa in the north. At least eight people
were wounded. And in the West Bank, four Palestinian policemen were killed in a gunfight with Israeli
troops. A further bloody blow to peace. Normal life seems like a distant memory. Vera Frankel
reporting. U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni is threatening to go home unless the
Israeli-Palestinian talks make real progress in the next 48 hours. And Secretary of State
Colin Powell told reporters accompanying him to Moscow that it's up to Yasser Arafat to
get the violence down to zero. The crew of the linked space shuttle Endeavour and International
Space Station paid tribute yesterday to those who died September 11th. Endeavour brought
6,000 U.S. flags into space. They'll be distributed back on Earth to survivors and relatives of
the victims. The larger flags will be returned to the three crash sites. One of the big flags
was found in the rubble of the World Trade Center and still smells so strong the shuttle
commander was reluctant to unpack it because of setting off fire alarms. We'll be back
in a moment.
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It's 40 minutes past the hour. Tragedy in suburban Philadelphia and Amtrak Acela train
rounding a curve at 100 miles an hour struck and killed three teenagers walking on the
tracks with their backs to the train. Two others escaped unhurt. Investigators say the
train's engineers saw them but couldn't stop in time. The unprecedented collapse of the
energy giant Enron last week has spawned dozens of lawsuits by banks, shareholders and employees.
Enron's bankruptcy also underscores a critical flaw in the retirement plans of millions of
American workers. CBS's Lee Cowen reports.
When Enron's stock started its fast and slippery slide into oblivion, so did the dreams of
thousands counting on it for their retirement. Some people have been there 20, 25, 30 years
have lost everything, lost all their, you know, four or five, $600,000 worth of retirement
and it's gone. At the beginning of the year, 54% of the assets in Enron's 401k plan were
invested in company stock. And as much as the employees would have liked to sell when
the price went south, company policy wouldn't let them.
Enron has done its employees like it's done its business basically. So, but we have it
to pay the ultimate price. The toll, the loss of an estimated $1 billion
in stock value as the price plummeted from $85 a share to as little as 25 cents.
These are the kind of employees every company wants. The kind of employee that believes
in bets on the company. Now I'm sitting here telling you, you better not bet on the company
because you don't know what's going out the back door.
Some 42 million people in the country have 401ks and like Enron employees, many are loading
up on stock in their own company based in part on attractive offers from companies to
match their employees' contributions. The employees think, well, wait a minute, if
it's good on that side, let me put my own money in there, my own contributions and that's
where you get in trouble. That's because many companies like Enron restrict
the sale of those stocks, often until an employee is over a certain age. Too many strings
tied to money some financial planners say is better spent on mutual, bond or money market
funds where there's less risk and more control. When times are bad, you could lose your job
and your retirement account at the same time. Then where do you go?
Which is just where some 4,000 Enron employees are now, victims of putting too much faith
in the company they trusted. Wake Howin, CBS News, New York.
Grain prices are still falling now at their lowest level in more than two and a half years.
The Lundberg survey finds the average price per gallon at $1.15 down more than 40 cents
since September 11th. Students and colleges are awaiting a federal
appeals ruling in a landmark affirmative action battle.
Cynthia Bowers tells us it stands the best chance of all ongoing cases to reach the Supreme
Court. At the federal courthouse in Cincinnati this
week a scene reminiscent of the civil rights movement as hundreds of students march in
support of affirmative action in college admissions.
We're demanding that education be opened up to everyone.
Inside in a case some call the Alamo of affirmative action, the University of Michigan defended
racial preferences in its admissions policies. And we care about integration for education's
sake because we know when we bring students together on our campus we get a dynamic educational
environment. But some say in order to achieve that diversity
Michigan discriminates. Two women, one who applied to law school, the other to the undergrad
program sued the university saying they were turned away in favor of less qualified minority
students. I am not willing to fight discrimination
with discrimination and I am not willing to accept that I am discriminated against to
enhance someone's educational experience. Nor do I think that a bunch of bureaucrats
have the right or the authority to deny me my rights.
At issue are the procedures Michigan uses to rank the applications they get. For example
for undergraduates 150 points will guarantee a spot. While a high school student with straight
A's gets 80 points, a perfect SAT score is worth only 12. But some students get 20 points
just because of their racial or ethnic background, which means according to the plaintiffs white
students are starting at a disadvantage. In 1978 the Supreme Court found admissions
quotas to be unconstitutional but did rule universities can take race into account. Since
then lower court rulings on affirmative action have varied widely. Even in this case trial
judges ruled differently on each woman's complaint. These policies are very important for higher
education in America. There's a lot at stake here.
Using the face of affirmative action and the face of student bodies around the country
for years to come. Cynthia Bowers, CBS News, Cincinnati.
Still ahead, why you may have to go to a galaxy far, far away to get your hands on the newest
video game units. You're watching After the Minute.
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gift ideas for your family and friends and we'll visit with Tom Cruise. Wake up to what's
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Follow your portfolio and when you're ready, trades are just a click away. CBS News, your
eye on the market. Homegrown terrorism that hasn't gone away tonight on the CBS Evening
News. It's now 48 past the hour. Top stories on up to the minute. Thirty U.S. tanks backed
by helicopter gunships moved out of Camp Rhino headed for Kandahar. Afghan fighters are expected
to launch a ground assault in the mountains of Torbora where they believe Osama bin Laden
is hiding in caves. Pakistan is sealing off escape routes near its border. And U.S. officials
are considering releasing a newly discovered bin Laden videotape. They say it clearly links
him to the September 11th attacks on America. That whirlwind you see around your local electronics
store has nothing to do with the weather. It's probably a crowd of people looking for
the newest video game consoles to hit the market. Bill Whitaker has a look at why the
Xbox and GameCube are so hard to find. They're the gotta haves on a lot of wish lists this
holiday season. Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube. They've only been available a few
weeks now but they're already a big hit with customers. The Xbox, ugh, it's just real
hardcore. And retailers can't keep them on the shelves. Unfortunately we're out of the
Xbox and the GameCube. I don't have Xbox today. I had Xbox this morning, I'm out now. They're
the newest entries in the seven billion dollar video game industry and together they're one
of the few bright spots in the retail picture this holiday season. People have spent well
over a hundred million dollars on the first day for GameCube alone, maybe three hundred
million dollars in the first week of the launch of those two devices. With such huge sums
at stake, the players are slugging it out for consumers' hearts and wallets. Nintendo's
been in the game longer. Five years ago it launched Nintendo 64. The Xbox is Microsoft's
first grab at this lucrative market. Both are trying to topple Sony's PlayStation 2,
which has been king of the video game hill since it was introduced last year. The game
environment for this holiday shopping season has been incredibly busy. It's too early to
say which system will have the edge since they may appeal to different audiences. PlayStation
2 and Xbox target teenagers and young adults. Both cost two hundred ninety-nine dollars
for the basic box. Games cost fifty dollars each. And both...