NBC Nightly News - 1992-08-15 (partial)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Sorry, we we just rented it.

[0:02] >> You couldn't manage alone here.

[0:04] >> When you hear lines like these,

[0:06] >> only on Channel [music] 2 News.

[0:10] >> In Houston, Republican delegates arrive

[0:13] amid hints that President Bush will call

[0:14] for lower taxes and relief for Somalia.

[0:18] More than a million people need food now

[0:20] or face death. This is NBC Nightly News

[0:23] reported by Garrett Utley.

[0:28] Good evening. Before we get to politics,

[0:30] the Republican convention, let's turn

[0:31] for a moment from our domestic

[0:33] preoccupations and look at what's

[0:34] happening elsewhere in our world in

[0:36] Somalia on the east coast of Africa. It

[0:38] is a this country and the political

[0:41] campaign. George Bush of course knows

[0:43] the challenge facing him these days with

[0:44] a convention starting on Monday. To get

[0:46] reelected, he is going to have to stage

[0:48] one of the most impressive comebacks in

[0:50] American political history. And today he

[0:52] and his supporters started dropping

[0:54] hints how he intends to do that. In a

[0:56] magazine interview, the president

[0:57] indicated he may present a new proposal

[0:59] to get the economy moving and some of

[1:01] his aids are even talking about tax

[1:04] cuts. John Cochran, you're at the site

[1:06] of the Republican convention in Houston.

[1:08] What is going to happen there? Well, the

[1:10] first thing that's going to happen here

[1:11] is the band, which has been rehearsing

[1:12] for the convention is finally out of the

[1:14] auditorium now playing deep in the heart

[1:16] of Texas. But Garrick, you know, this

[1:18] was supposed to be just a coronation,

[1:19] but now this convention is starting to

[1:21] look very interesting. Whether you're

[1:22] interested in substantive issues or just

[1:25] old-fashioned politicking,

[1:28] >> the president is working on what may be

[1:30] the most important speech of his life,

[1:32] his acceptance speech. He delivered his

[1:35] best political address at the GOP

[1:36] convention four years ago, and he hopes

[1:39] to do well enough next week to cut in

[1:41] half Bill Clinton's 18-point lead in the

[1:44] latest NBC News Wall Street Journal

[1:46] poll. This time, Peggy Nunan, his top

[1:48] speech writer four years ago, is working

[1:51] for a newspaper, not George Bush. But he

[1:53] is getting experienced help from Ray

[1:55] Price, a talented speech writer in

[1:57] Richard Nixon's White House. And Bob

[1:59] Zelich, one of the brainy aids Jim Baker

[2:02] is bringing to the White House from the

[2:03] State Department. The big question, will

[2:06] Bush unveil a new economic package? Yes,

[2:09] says Jack Kimp, one of the party's

[2:11] conservative rebels who openly urged

[2:13] Bush to cut taxes. I believe the

[2:15] president is going to outline an agenda

[2:18] for America that will include lower tax

[2:20] rates on the American people, the

[2:22] American family.

[2:24] >> Kemp bases his optimism on hints from

[2:26] Bush and from incoming White House Chief

[2:28] of Staff Jim Baker.

[2:29] >> We should build on the fundamentals of

[2:31] lower tax rates.

[2:32] >> But top Republican sources say there is

[2:34] a strong debate among Bush's aids over

[2:37] whether he should propose tax cuts in

[2:39] the face of a $330 billion budget

[2:41] deficit. Another debate may come here at

[2:44] Houston on abortion. Advocates of

[2:47] abortion rights are trying to win enough

[2:48] support to force a floor fight on Monday

[2:51] to overturn the anti-abortion platform.

[2:54] Those in favor of abortion rights need a

[2:56] majority of delegates in at least six

[2:58] states to force a floor debate.

[3:01] >> Um we picked up another state that we

[3:03] thought we'd lost. Um so we're we are on

[3:06] the verge of our six states.

[3:09] >> Is the last thing George Bush wants. He

[3:11] wants a convention that is ready to

[3:12] fight, but against Democrats, not each

[3:15] other. Bush's opponent in the primaries,

[3:17] Pat Buchanan, arrived today, ready to

[3:20] get on the Bush team. And Ronald Reagan

[3:22] will also speak up for Bush. But a

[3:24] former Reagan aid has now recalled that

[3:26] in 1980, Reagan reluctantly picked Bush

[3:30] only because he liked the other

[3:32] possibility of running mate even less.

[3:34] >> One of them was George Bush and the

[3:36] other one was Howard Baker. Reagan

[3:38] didn't like either one of them. Uhhuh.

[3:39] He thought that Bush was a win.

[3:42] >> But Republicans who have long been

[3:43] worried about George Bush's forcefulness

[3:45] may have been encouraged by his actions

[3:47] this past week. Bush has long had a

[3:49] reputation for not liking face-to-face

[3:51] confrontations. But according to top

[3:53] level Republican sources this week, it

[3:56] was George Bush who told Chief of Staff

[3:57] Sam Skinner he was out and Jim Baker was

[4:00] in. Garrick.

[4:02] >> John Cochran in Houston. Thank you.

[4:04] Well, George Bush is in a tougher fight

[4:06] than he expected. Partly because of the

[4:08] state of the economy and partly because

[4:10] the Democrats have been running a

[4:11] tougher campaign than they usually do. A

[4:13] key state in the election in November

[4:15] will be California. That's where Bill

[4:17] Clinton was today. Here's Henry Champ.

[4:22] [cheering] It has been another good day

[4:23] for Clinton in California. He picked up

[4:26] the endorsement of the American Nurses

[4:28] Association with its more than 2 million

[4:30] members. I want to thank all the people

[4:32] who are here today for this historic

[4:34] endorsement.

[4:36] >> Almost every Democratic strategist says

[4:38] to win the White House, Clinton must

[4:40] beat Bush in California, which has 1ifth

[4:43] of all electoral college votes. Clinton

[4:46] is hammering away at California's

[4:48] struggling economy. Layoffs in the

[4:50] aerospace industry and in the high-tech

[4:52] Silicon Valley have helped push

[4:54] California's unemployment rate well

[4:56] above the national average. its

[4:58] education system, once the country's

[5:00] best, has been strangled by budget cuts.

[5:03] >> People who came to the state because of

[5:05] the California dream, but they see the

[5:06] schools deteriorating. Uh uh they see

[5:09] the congestion on the freeway. They're

[5:11] losing once secure jobs. Bill Clinton

[5:13] and Al Gore are talking to those people.

[5:16] George Bush doesn't have a clue about

[5:18] those folks.

[5:19] >> So Clinton pushes the need for economic

[5:21] education and healthc care reform. He

[5:24] aims his message at the state's middle

[5:26] and working class and most important in

[5:28] California. He is appealing to its

[5:30] ethnic diversity.

[5:31] >> This is a wonderful picture of America,

[5:34] this crowd today.

[5:36] I wish every American could see this

[5:38] crowd today.

[5:40] >> Hispanic leaders are working feverishly

[5:42] to get out their 2 and 12 million

[5:44] voters. They want more state

[5:46] representation. That effort should also

[5:48] help Clinton because Hispanics generally

[5:50] vote 4 to1 Democratic. If there is a

[5:53] competitive election here in the state

[5:55] of California where a presidential

[5:57] candidate has to win by two or three% of

[6:00] the vote, then the Latino vote will

[6:03] definitely be the swing vote.

[6:05] >> Clinton is also benefiting from Ross

[6:07] Perau supporters coming to him at a rate

[6:09] of 4 to one over George Bush. And there

[6:12] are the strong Democratic senatorial

[6:14] challenges of Barbara Boxer and Diane

[6:16] Feinstein that should help him with

[6:17] women voters. Democrats cling to the

[6:20] fact that not since 1884 has a

[6:22] Republican won the presidency without

[6:24] winning in California. And now they say

[6:27] all the polls are showing that Clinton

[6:29] can win here. Henry Champ, NBC News,

[6:32] with the Clinton campaign in California.

[6:35] And as we cover our world this Saturday,

[6:37] we'll be going next to Bosnia and the

[6:39] story over an important relief effort

[6:41] that succeeded today. And on Focus this

[6:43] evening, we talk with the president of

[6:45] Mexico and find out what that country

[6:46] expects to get out of the new free trade

[6:48] agreement for North America.

[6:54] >> Nice try, Jenny. What's wrong? You have

[6:58] arthritis? Me, too. It's hard to grip

[7:00] your racket, isn't it? Here, my doctor

[7:02] told me about this Motrin IB. It's the

[7:05] same medicine as in prescription Motrin

[7:07] and non-prescription strength. It's

[7:09] great for minor arthritis pain. And one

[7:12] Motrin IB works as well as two regular

[7:14] aspirin. Try it. You'll have the

[7:16] advantage. Next set.

[7:18] >> Motrin IB. The relief of Motrin in

[7:21] non-prescription strength.

[7:23] >> Fixedent Fresh. The spring water fresh

[7:25] feeling [music] is reason enough to try

[7:27] it. And it's the strongest holding

[7:29] adhesive. So you'll never settle for

[7:30] anything less. Crisp freshness.

[7:33] Strongest hold. [music] Two great

[7:35] reasons to fix it and forget it.

[7:38] >> After examining, testing. It's a fact.

[7:41] You can buy new Preparation [music]

[7:42] Hydrocortisone cream with the maximum

[7:44] strength available without a

[7:45] prescription to relieve [music] problem

[7:47] itch. New Preparation Hydrocortisone

[7:50] Cream. Prescription strength [music]

[7:51] without a prescription.

[7:55] It happened in a nightclub near Miami. A

[7:57] birthday party was on

[8:00] Bush and Carlos Selenus of Mexico from

[8:02] whom we heard earlier this evening. What

[8:04] are the differences between them? Well,

[8:06] here's one. This coming week, Mr. Bush

[8:09] will be renominated by his party and

[8:11] formally start his reelection campaign.

[8:14] President Selenus, however, does not

[8:16] face that. By law, he is limited to one

[8:18] term as president. 6 years and then he's

[8:21] out. There are, of course, other

[8:23] differences between our two systems.

[8:25] Mexico doesn't have divided government.

[8:27] The president there isn't feuding with

[8:29] Congress. In fact, one party in Mexico

[8:31] controls just about everything. But the

[8:34] fact that a president is limited to one

[8:36] term to make his mark can actually

[8:38] expand his freedom to act, to make the

[8:41] tough decisions that may not be popular.

[8:43] President Selenus has used that freedom

[8:45] to make some important reforms,

[8:46] including the free trade agreement with

[8:48] all of North America. Now, George Bush

[8:51] supports the agreement, too, but he has

[8:52] to be more careful in pushing it because

[8:55] of his re-election concerns. So, is a

[8:58] one-term, six-year presidency better

[9:01] than what we have? It depends on whose

[9:03] hands the power is placed, of course.

[9:05] But right now, south of our border,

[9:07] there's a good example of how a reformed

[9:10] president who knows how to lead can

[9:12] lead, can give his country a sense of

[9:14] direction. And one big reason is that he

[9:17] doesn't have to worry about getting

[9:19] reelected.

[9:20] And that's our look at our world this

[9:22] day. We'll be back tomorrow night. I'm

[9:24] Garrett Utley. Good night for all of us

[9:26] at NBC News.