JIM LEHRER: The nation's financial markets remained uneasy today after Monday's meltdown. Business and government leaders, along with investors, watched and waited to see if another giant firm would fall.
The huge insurance company AIG struggled to raise at least $70 billion in new capital. And another large investment bank, Goldman Sachs, reported profits fell 70 percent in the third quarter.
In a Washington speech, a top Treasury official again urged calm. He said it will take time to stabilize things.
DAVID MCCORMICK, undersecretary of the Treasury: Progress, as we've already seen, will not come in a straight line, and there will be bumps along the road as we make progress. The events of the last few weeks are evidence and are important and necessary steps to work through the uncertainty and turmoil in our markets and to minimize their impact on the rest of the economy.
JIM LEHRER: The Federal Reserve today pumped another $70 billion into the financial system, but it left a key interest rate unchanged at 2 percent. That rate applies to overnight loans between banks. The Fed said it's balancing strains in the system against the risk of inflation.
The day's news pushed the stock market one way and then another. In the end, it recovered some of yesterday's 500-point loss. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 141 points to close at 11,059. The Nasdaq rose 28 points to close at nearly 2,208. We'll have more on the financial fallout right after this news summary.
In the presidential campaign, the candidates sparred today over how to ease the financial crisis. Republican John McCain called for a blue-ribbon group to investigate. He said, "We need a commission to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, and I know we can do that, and I'll do it."
But Democrat Barack Obama dismissed that as passing the buck. He said, "We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I'll provide it; John McCain won't." We'll have more on the campaign later in the program tonight.
The death toll from Hurricane Ike and its remnants grew to 47 today across nine states. Nearly 2 million people in Texas remained without power, and 30,000 were in shelters. Scores more were evacuated in the Midwest on flooding fears.
NewsHour correspondent Kwame Holman narrates our report.
KWAME HOLMAN: The rip of chainsaws reverberated up and down the Texas Gulf Coast as clean-up crews got to work. Aid distribution centers were set to quadruple by the end of the day to 60, handing out water and other basic necessities.
Debris stretched as far as the eye could see along the coast, and about 250 people who rode out the storm on battered Bolivar Peninsula were ordered to leave. Others went home to see what was left. Bayou Vista, Texas, is on Galveston Bay.
JUDY DOHMAN: It's devastating. And we had friends that stayed, and they were up in their cabins. And we didn't know if he was alive or dead.
KWAME HOLMAN: President Bush got his own view of the disaster zone today, flying over the crippled coastline. And he walked around Galveston hand-in-hand with Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. Her city could be closed for more than a month.
But she told residents they can come back briefly to assess the damage, and thousands of people jammed the main highway trying to get in.
MAYOR LYDA ANN THOMAS, Galveston, Texas: I'm sorry to say that I cannot say, "Come on home and stay here." But I can say that I do want Galvestonians to come and look at their property, and assess what they need to assess, go back at 6:00 and come back the next day. It's the best we can do right now.
KWAME HOLMAN: Earlier, at a hangar in Houston, the president appealed to all Americans to help.
GEORGE W. BUSH, president of the United States: It is very important for our citizens to support the American Red Cross. You can get on their Web page and find a way to contribute. You know, I hope that the country does not have disaster fatigue. The Red Cross is a vital part of helping people recover.
KWAME HOLMAN: The scope of this disaster stretched far and wide, with flooding across the Midwest as the Missouri, Mississippi, and Illinois Rivers rose.
In Ohio, 700,000 homes and businesses still were in the dark. Contract utility workers were recalled from Texas to help restore power.
JIM LEHRER: Gasoline prices edged up again today, as a number of Texas refineries remained closed after the hurricane. The national average topped $3.85 a gallon.
But the cost of crude oil kept coming down. The price in New York fell more than $4.50 to finish just over $91 a barrel. Oil has now given up all of its gains for the year, and then some.
The House headed toward a vote this evening on new off-shore oil drilling. Democrats pushed a bill to allow drilling 50 miles beyond the Atlantic and Pacific shores, if the states approve.
House Speaker Pelosi called it a compromise and said it presents a clear choice.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-Calif.), Speaker of the House: Big Oil status quo or a change for the future to take our country in a new direction. Republicans must set aside their drill-only mentality and embrace the provisions of this legislation, which is balanced, which is comprehensive, which respects the needs of the consumer, the imperative that we are energy independent.
JIM LEHRER: Republicans insisted the measure is a hoax. Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana said it has so many restrictions, it won't make any difference at all.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), Ind.: The drill-nothing Congress has brought a bill that actually includes basically a drill-almost-nothing provisions. They say yes to drilling, but not in Alaska, not in the eastern gulf, and not within 50 miles.
On behalf of our constituents who are struggling under record gasoline prices, end this charade. Stop playing politics with America's energy independence.
JIM LEHRER: The Republicans favored a much broader bill to allow drilling as close as three miles from shore.
The U.S. commander who led the military surge in Iraq stepped aside today. Army Gen. David Petraeus handed control to his deputy, Gen. Ray Odierno, in a ceremony outside Baghdad. Petraeus called him the "perfect man for the job."
Odierno praised the progress in Iraq since the surge began, but he acknowledged the work is far from done.
GEN. RAY ODIERNO, Commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq: We must assist the government of Iraq to build a more secure, stable, and prosperous nation. And we must do all of this with our Iraqi partners out front, in the lead, taking charge of their country, for this struggle is ultimately theirs to win.
The road ahead will not be easy, and progress may sometimes be slow, but we will persist.
JIM LEHRER: Petraeus will now take over the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for operations across the entire Middle East. We'll have more on Petraeus later in the program tonight.
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan called today for another 10,000 American troops there next year. That's in addition to 3,700 to arrive in January. Right now, the U.S. force in Afghanistan totals 33,000.
But General David McKiernan said, "We don't have sufficient forces here, so there is a greater reliance on air power." McKiernan said that leads to more civilian casualties.
And the U.N. reported today deaths among Afghan civilians are up 40 percent this year.
Pakistan today ordered its troops to fire on U.S. forces that carry out cross-border raids from Afghanistan. Recent U.S. attacks targeted Taliban and al-Qaida safe havens inside Pakistan.
Today's order came as the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs made an unannounced visit to Pakistan. Admiral Mike Mullen met with civilian and military leaders to discuss the rising tensions.
