CBS / WFOR - Presidential Debate (post-debate) - 2004-09-30 - 5 of 5

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] The world is safer without Saddam

[0:01] Hussein.

[0:02] >> The president just talked about Iraq as

[0:05] a center of the war on terror. Iraq was

[0:09] not even close to the center of the war

[0:12] on terror before the president invaded.

[0:15] Tonight, sparks fly as the University of

[0:17] Miami makes history hosting the

[0:19] presidential debate.

[0:22] And you're looking live now at the M

[0:24] Convocation Center. President Bush and

[0:25] Senator John Kerry just wrapping up

[0:27] their first of three scheduled debates.

[0:29] Just a short time ago, we saw one of the

[0:31] motorcades just pass by. Good evening.

[0:33] I'm Rob Henraan

[0:34] >> and I'm Maggie Rodriguez. On this

[0:36] historic night, we are live at the

[0:37] University of Miami and we have a team

[0:40] of reporters covering every angle for

[0:42] you from the debate to the parties

[0:44] afterwards to the undecided voters who

[0:47] will decide this election. We kick

[0:48] things off tonight with CBS4's Gary

[0:50] Nelson. He is outside the convocation

[0:52] center. Gary, take it away.

[0:55] >> Well, this debate tonight was on the

[0:57] topic of foreign policy, but it had

[1:00] almost everything to do with Iraq. The

[1:03] focus almost entirely tonight on the war

[1:06] in Iraq. This debate ending just a short

[1:08] while ago. We can show you now live

[1:11] pictures, I'm being told, of President

[1:13] Bush um at a rally apparently for Mel

[1:17] Martinez here in South Florida, a

[1:20] Republican who the Republican party is

[1:22] looking to send to the United States

[1:24] Senate. In this debate tonight, the war

[1:26] on Iraq front and center. John Kerry

[1:29] accusing President Bush of having rushed

[1:31] headlong into an ill-advised war,

[1:34] leaving our allies behind and over our

[1:36] allies objections. The president saying

[1:39] John Kerry is sending a message of

[1:41] weakness and the wrong message to our

[1:44] men and women in Iraq.

[1:48] Good evening from the University of

[1:49] Miami Convocation Center in Coral

[1:52] Gables, Florida. The world watched our

[1:54] town tonight. George Bush and John Kerry

[1:57] shook hands at center stage and came out

[1:59] swinging. This foreign policy debate

[2:01] focusing almost entirely on one country,

[2:04] the war in Iraq. Kerry saying Bush has

[2:06] isolated America with an ill-advised go

[2:09] it alone war.

[2:10] >> I'll never give a veto to any country

[2:12] over our security. But I also know how

[2:15] to lead those alliances. This president

[2:17] has left them in shatters across the

[2:19] globe and we're now 90% of the

[2:22] casualties in Iraq. In Iraq, we saw a

[2:24] threat and we realize that after

[2:26] September the 11th, we must take threats

[2:28] seriously before they fully materialize.

[2:31] Saddam Hussein now sits in a prison

[2:33] cell. America and the world are safer

[2:36] for it.

[2:37] >> Kerry said Bush rushed to war relying on

[2:39] bad information. Bush countered Carrie

[2:41] was on board and has flip-flopped. He

[2:44] also promised America that he would go

[2:46] to war as a last resort. Those words

[2:49] mean something to me as somebody who's

[2:51] been in combat. Last resort. You got to

[2:54] be able to look in the eyes of families

[2:55] and say to those parents, I tried to do

[2:58] everything in my power to prevent the

[3:01] loss of your son and daughter. My

[3:02] opponent looked at the same intelligence

[3:04] I looked at

[3:06] and uh declared in 2002 that Saddam

[3:09] Hussein was a grave threat.

[3:12] He also said in December of 2003 that

[3:14] anyone who doubts that the world is

[3:16] safer without Saddam Hussein does not

[3:18] have the judgment to be president.

[3:22] I agree with him.

[3:24] >> The president said what he sees as K's

[3:26] shifting positions on Iraq does a

[3:28] disservice to US interests and US

[3:30] troops. I don't see how you can lead

[3:34] this country uh to succeed in Iraq if

[3:37] you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong

[3:39] place. What message does that send our

[3:40] troops?

[3:41] >> Carrie accused Bush of having blinders

[3:43] on to the deteriorating situation in

[3:45] Iraq.

[3:46] >> This president just I don't know if he

[3:48] sees what's really happening there, but

[3:51] it's getting worse by the day. More

[3:53] soldiers killed in June than before.

[3:55] >> And it's hard work.

[3:58] I understand how hard it is. I get the

[3:59] casualty reports every day. I see on the

[4:02] TV screens how hard it is, but it's

[4:05] necessary work.

[4:06] >> Kerry said he has a credible plan to win

[4:09] back our allies and resolve the war in

[4:11] Iraq. Bush said he would not succumb to

[4:14] weakness, predicting victory in Iraq.

[4:17] And in November,

[4:21] President Bush left this debate hall

[4:23] tonight, went directly to a rally of his

[4:26] supporters in Coconut Grove. Let's

[4:28] listen to a bit of what he's having to

[4:30] say there live now.

[4:34] >> Can't hear you.

[4:48] >> Well, there the president is at that

[4:50] rally of supporters. Mel Martinez, the

[4:52] Republican candidate for the United

[4:54] States Senate, playing quite the role

[4:57] there as the president attempts to

[4:59] extend some coattail help to Martinez in

[5:02] that US Senate race against the Democrat

[5:05] Betty Caster, former education

[5:07] commissioner of Florida. Now, in this

[5:10] debate tonight, both the president and

[5:12] Senator John Kerry were civil. It was a

[5:15] spirited debate, but there was no

[5:17] ugliness at any turn along the way. Both

[5:20] candidates abiding by the rules, not

[5:22] directly addressing or questioning each

[5:25] other. The president calling the senator

[5:28] my opponent. The senator often referring

[5:31] to the president as he made reference to

[5:33] President Bush. They said coming in,

[5:36] many of the pundits, the observers,

[5:38] those who handicap such things, that if

[5:41] George Bush could manage not to quote

[5:44] screw up was the words used by one

[5:47] analyst tonight, that he would come away

[5:50] the de facto winner being the incumbent

[5:52] and all. It would appear there was no

[5:54] obvious gaff. John Kerry obviously

[5:58] hammered home some meaningful points. We

[6:01] will see how it all plays out in these

[6:03] next few weeks coming up to election

[6:05] day. For now, we're live at the

[6:07] University of Miami in Coral Gables.

[6:09] Gary Nelson, CBS4 News Tonight. As you

[6:12] saw there, the candidates were whisked

[6:14] away very quickly after the debate, but

[6:15] behind us, you can see the audience

[6:17] members still filing out. They are among

[6:19] a select few who got to be inside the

[6:22] convocation center and really get a

[6:23] sense for what it was like. There are

[6:25] many small nuances that you'll see from

[6:27] these candidates when you're in the

[6:28] exact same room with them rather than

[6:30] watching it on television. Our own

[6:31] Elliot Rodriguez got the e ticket inside

[6:34] tonight. He joins us now with more.

[6:36] Elliot, your thoughts?

[6:38] >> Well, that's right, Rob and Maggie. Most

[6:40] of the media was outside the convocation

[6:42] center for this debate, but uh thanks to

[6:44] this ticket, I was able to be inside for

[6:47] uh the 90minute faceoff between

[6:49] President Bush and and John Kerry. And I

[6:51] can tell you uh first of all that this

[6:53] was an event that was meant to be seen

[6:56] on television inside the convocation

[6:59] center. The overwhelming feeling I can

[7:01] tell you right now it was extremely

[7:03] cold. I was told uh the temperature was

[7:05] to be set at 50°. It it felt much

[7:08] colder. People were in there shivering

[7:10] uh throughout this this uh debate and at

[7:14] the end people were standing by the door

[7:16] waiting to get out. That was one of the

[7:18] conditions that that the two sides uh

[7:20] imposed with that was that the

[7:22] temperature would remain cool of course

[7:23] with the uh the television lights. They

[7:25] did not want to uh uh run the risk of

[7:28] anybody sweating as in the uh the

[7:30] Richard Nixon debate against John F.

[7:32] Kennedy in 1960. There were 500 seats on

[7:35] the floor of the convocation center

[7:37] divided between uh the two campaigns.

[7:40] There were also a few I would say about

[7:43] 200 people who sat in some of the stands

[7:45] of the basketball arena. Uh that's where

[7:47] I was. There were uh many University of

[7:49] Miami students there who told me that uh

[7:51] they are now all registered to vote.

[7:53] They are involved in politics and are

[7:56] interested in the in this debate. And

[7:58] that's what uh Donna Shala the president

[8:00] of the University of Miami who works so

[8:02] hard to get this debate here said she

[8:04] was most interested in getting young

[8:06] people uh interested in politics. Now

[8:09] early on the uh audience was warned by

[8:12] the moderator Jim Lair that we were not

[8:15] going to be uh the center of attention

[8:17] here. The lights were turned off. We

[8:19] were admonished. Uh there would be no

[8:22] sort of applauding, no sort of of sounds

[8:24] that were to be made uh once this debate

[8:27] started. And once the two candidates got

[8:29] on there, that's what happened. The

[8:30] lights went down. There was some

[8:31] applause at the beginning and some

[8:33] applause at the end. But uh throughout

[8:35] the 90 minutes, the uh the audience uh

[8:38] listened to this debate uh very evenly

[8:41] divided I would say the uh people who

[8:44] were in the audience between Bush

[8:46] supporters and Kerry supporters, but

[8:48] again this was a an event that was meant

[8:50] to be seen on television. Back to you

[8:53] guys,

[8:53] >> Elliot. On television though, we we

[8:55] mostly saw shots from the waist up. We

[8:58] didn't get to see the full picture a lot

[9:00] of the time. Is there anything that we

[9:02] may have missed as far as body language

[9:04] that you think was important?

[9:06] >> Well, you know, there there was a lot of

[9:08] talk about what the networks could and

[9:10] could not show. Could they show cutaway

[9:12] shots? And the networks did not agree to

[9:14] that. And I'm sure you saw on the the

[9:16] the monitors that we were able to see uh

[9:18] cutaway shots. Uh what you saw on

[9:21] television is is what happened. Uh John

[9:24] Kerry uh was was there. uh the president

[9:28] uh uh next to him uh probably uh the uh

[9:31] most applause in the audience was uh

[9:33] Mrs. Kerry uh was up there and also when

[9:36] she came up to uh first lady uh Laura

[9:39] Bush, there was some warmth there and

[9:41] there was some interaction there between

[9:43] the two families that uh maybe that did

[9:46] not have come across on on camera, but

[9:48] basically this was a program meant to be

[9:51] seen uh by viewers on TV. And what you

[9:53] saw was what went down here at the

[9:57] convocation center. Uh the people who

[9:59] watch the debate.