CBS Evening News open - 2000-08-13 (Democratic Convention)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] On to Los Angeles. Vice President Gore

[0:04] campaigns through the Midwest

[0:06] battleground on the Democratic

[0:08] Conventions Eve. In the Northeast,

[0:11] thousands of residents are soaked by

[0:13] more than a foot of summer rain. A CBS

[0:17] News exclusive. What a Ford Motor

[0:19] Company report has to say about the

[0:22] Firestone tire recall. and remembering

[0:25] JFK's triumph over the backroom power

[0:28] brokers in the last Los Angeles

[0:31] convention.

[0:37] This is the CBS Evening News

[0:40] with Dan Rather reporting from the

[0:42] Democratic National Convention in Los

[0:45] Angeles.

[0:47] Good evening. Starting here tomorrow,

[0:49] it's the Democrats turn to present their

[0:51] version of a tightly scripted convention

[0:54] television show. Al Gore says it will be

[0:56] long on specifics, including in-depth

[0:59] proposals on health care and other help

[1:02] targeted to mainstream middle-income

[1:04] Americans. Today's pre-convention script

[1:06] also had a big speaking role for running

[1:08] mate Senator Joseph Lieberman. CBS's

[1:11] John Roberts begins tonight's coverage

[1:12] of the road to Los Angeles and

[1:15] healthare. Al Gore continued his issue a

[1:17] day runup to the convention today,

[1:19] playing to the only one that polls show

[1:21] he leads George Bush on healthcare.

[1:24] >> There are millions of children today who

[1:26] are eligible for healthc care coverage

[1:28] under the current program, but they're

[1:30] not getting it because the barriers are

[1:32] so hard to get over. Outlining his plans

[1:36] to expand coverage to uninsured

[1:38] children, Gore never let into his

[1:39] opponent. That task was left to running

[1:42] mate Joe Lieberman, who today went on a

[1:44] whirlwind tour of all five Sunday talk

[1:46] shows, working overtime to distance Gore

[1:49] from President Clinton's scandalous

[1:50] past.

[1:51] >> The Republicans seem to be campaigning

[1:54] mostly uh against a guy who's not on the

[1:56] ballot this year for an not on his

[2:00] record because the record is so great,

[2:02] but uh because of the personal mistakes

[2:05] that he made and that's not fair to Al

[2:07] Gore. Lieberman did indicate that as

[2:09] vice president he would have taken a

[2:11] stand that was tougher than Gors.

[2:13] >> I would have spoken to the president

[2:17] told him how disappointed I was, urged

[2:19] him to uh uh make a total disclosure as

[2:24] as soon as possible.

[2:25] >> Our administration will be opposed to

[2:28] private school vouchers. I'm against

[2:29] them.

[2:30] >> Lieberman stood firm on his support for

[2:32] school vouchers in stark contrast to

[2:34] Gore. But he said any vice president

[2:37] ultimately seeds to the president's

[2:39] views. Gore has played those

[2:41] disagreements as an asset, a strategy to

[2:43] portray him as his own person and escape

[2:45] the shadow of President Clinton.

[2:47] >> I'm a different person. That's obvious.

[2:49] Uh and I am campaigning in my own voice

[2:53] uh as the person I am. And there's going

[2:56] to be a change no matter who wins the

[2:58] election.

[3:00] In a detail laden acceptance speech on

[3:03] Thursday, the vice president will stress

[3:04] that he is running on his own ideas,

[3:06] agenda, and experiences. But he will

[3:09] have to live in the president's shadow

[3:11] for two more days until the symbolic

[3:13] passing of the torch Tuesday in the

[3:15] battleground state of Michigan. Dan John

[3:18] Roberts in Cleveland and the torch being

[3:20] passed Gore also highlights a shift in

[3:23] the views of the delegates to this

[3:24] Democratic convention. This is reflected

[3:26] in new findings from a CBS News New York

[3:28] Times survey of the delegates. Bob

[3:31] Schiffer is down on the convention

[3:32] floor. Bob, what's the difference in the

[3:34] delegates this time? Dan, uh, the main

[3:36] difference is this is the least liberal

[3:39] collection of Democrats that's been

[3:41] assembled in almost a quarter of a

[3:42] century. CBS News and New York Times

[3:45] started polling these delegates back in

[3:47] 1976.

[3:49] Well, for the first time, a clear

[3:50] majority, 56% call themselves moderates.

[3:54] Only 36% call themselves liberals.

[3:57] That's the smallest number ever. But

[3:59] they do hold traditional views on many

[4:01] Democratic issues. Twothirds said they

[4:04] oppose privatizing social security, as

[4:06] does their candidate, Vice President

[4:08] Gore. On gun control issues, they

[4:10] overwhelmingly support gun safety locks.

[4:13] And most of them oppose the NRA. They

[4:16] feel strongly about affirmative action.

[4:18] 83% want to see programs that make

[4:21] special efforts to help minorities get

[4:23] ahead. Another point, Dan, while the

[4:26] Republicans brought a lot of minorities

[4:28] to their convention stage in

[4:29] Philadelphia, this convention is much

[4:32] more diverse. Fully a third of the

[4:34] Democratic delegates are

[4:35] African-American, Asian, or Hispanic

[4:38] compared to only 14% of the Republican

[4:41] delegates in Philadelphia. There is one

[4:44] area where these two conventions are

[4:46] very much alike.