March 1, 2006 – CBS World News Roundup; Late Edition – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
March 1, 2006 Starting off with a bang. First, with revelations that FEMA (the government disaster relief agency) knew how bad Hurricane Katrina might be. FEMA officials, including President Bush were briefed about how bad the devastating hurricane was going to be. The newly discovered tapes revealed how officials feared the levees wouldn’t hold and that flooding could increase the disaster and potential loss of life. The tapes, obtained by Associated Press via the White House, clearly showed FEMA and Homeland Security thought they were ready for a worst case Katrina, but it took several days in order to get help where it was needed.
President Bush flew in for a visit to Afghanistan – the first President to visit that country since Eisenhower in the 1950s. Prior to touching down at Bagram Air Base, the President first stopped in New Delhi for a State visit with Manmohan Singh. Only days earlier, intense rioting took over New Delhi’s streets with Muslim protestors shouting Death To America. President Bush’s agenda for the visit was hope for an agreement on a civilian nuclear power program for India, but first India would have to open some of its reactors to inspection and so far there was no deal. President Bush was also planning on a stop in Pakistan before returning to Washington.
Not to be left out – sectarian violence in Iraq killed another 30-40 Sunnis and Shiites and put Mosques on the list of targets for attack. Iraqi military officials had not yet managed to get a handle on the violence.
And the matter of tunnels under borders got some scrutiny this day. Some on Capitol Hill were saying we had many laws regarding smuggling; people or drugs but we also needed laws about border tunneling. So far, some 40 tunnels; 39 under Mexico and one under Canada had been discovered over the previous five years. According to reports, most were not little tunnels. Some were elaborate, going 90 feet under ground and with walkways and ceilings some 6-8 feet high, complete with lights and ventilation. Obviously the tunnels were being used to primarily smuggle drugs, and smuggling drugs was a crime – however building tunnels was not. Capitol Hill wanted to make digging those tunnels a crime too and wanted Mexico to pass similar laws that would make it easier to go after and arrest those who were busy digging with impunity on their side as well.
And that’s a little of what happened, this March 1, 2006 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
