CBS Evening News - 2004-08-30 (partial) - 1 of 2 (Republican Convention)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Log on to our website at cbs4news.com or

[0:02] storm.harald.com.

[0:04] And there's also information on our

[0:06] sister station's website, upp333.com.

[0:10] That's our hurricane hotline right

[0:11] there. You can always call that number

[0:12] 877419CBS4

[0:15] for information.

[0:15] >> And that'll do it for CBS4 News at 6.

[0:18] Thanks for joining us.

[0:18] >> We'll see you right back here at 11:00

[0:20] for CBS4 News Tonight. Now it's time for

[0:22] the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.

[0:24] Good night.

[0:27] Tonight,

[0:31] inside a post 911 security fortress, the

[0:35] Republican convention opens in New York

[0:37] to renominate George W. Bush and

[0:39] showcase the party's quote moderate

[0:41] side. Will voters buy it? We'll talk

[0:44] one-on-one with tonight's featured

[0:46] speaker, Rudy Giuliani. Also, the

[0:49] Pentagon's new spy case. Israel admits

[0:53] contacts with the suspect. And the FBI

[0:56] searches a pro-Israel lobbying group.

[0:59] And a stormy record, eight named storms

[1:02] in August with monster Hurricane Francis

[1:05] now tracking for a possible US hit this

[1:08] weekend.

[1:15] This is the CBS Evening News

[1:18] with Dan Rather reporting tonight from

[1:21] the Republican National Convention in

[1:23] New York.

[1:25] Good evening from Madison Square Garden

[1:27] where the Republican convention opened

[1:29] today under unprecedented security. The

[1:31] police have turned this arena and the

[1:33] area around it into a fortress. Earlier

[1:36] today, President Bush's name was

[1:38] officially placed in nomination. Now,

[1:40] the convention speakers will try to

[1:42] persuade undecided voters around the

[1:44] country in this tight election to give

[1:46] President Bush four more years. And how

[1:50] do they plan on doing that? CBS News

[1:52] chief White House correspondent John

[1:53] Roberts begins our convention coverage

[1:56] >> and call it to order.

[1:58] >> Republicans bang down the gavl today.

[2:01] Police locked down the city and the

[2:03] convention was underway.

[2:04] >> We will leave here with momentum that

[2:07] will carry us to victory in November.

[2:12] The dominant theme of the convention's

[2:14] opening night is 9/11, a program that

[2:17] will pay tribute to victims and

[2:18] survivors of the attack and remind

[2:20] Americans of President Bush's leadership

[2:22] in the days following September 11th,

[2:25] the critical issue in his bid for

[2:26] reelection.

[2:27] >> And the people who knocked these

[2:29] buildings down will hear all of us soon.

[2:33] >> For all the Republicans careful

[2:34] planning, President Bush himself gave

[2:36] his opponents an opening to question his

[2:39] leadership. In an interview aired today,

[2:41] he said of the war on terror, "I don't

[2:43] think you can win it."

[2:44] >> Those are not things a strong leader

[2:46] says. A strong leader should talk about

[2:49] should lead with ideas about how we win

[2:51] the war on terrorism.

[2:52] >> The thousands of protesters who took to

[2:55] the streets here are a clear sign that

[2:56] the sense of unity that enveloped this

[2:58] city in the days after 9/11 has been

[3:01] shattered by deep divisions over the

[3:03] president's policies on the war on

[3:05] terror, Iraq, and other issues. in

[3:07] making the case for another four years

[3:09] the Bush campaign must be careful to

[3:11] highlight September 11th but not exploit

[3:14] it.

[3:14] >> To run a presidential election in 2004

[3:17] and not have a discussion of the meaning

[3:19] of September 11 in terms of our homeland

[3:21] security, our national security, the war

[3:23] on terror would be like running in 1864

[3:25] and not talking about the Civil War.

[3:29] Republicans are performing another

[3:30] balancing act this week. Offering their

[3:32] base a conservative platform while at

[3:34] the podium pivoting to the center,

[3:36] rolling out bigname moderates like

[3:38] McCain, Giuliani, and Schwarzenegger

[3:40] with a message aimed at a small but

[3:42] crucial slice of voters.

[3:44] >> For Bush to put this together, he has

[3:46] got to bring those moderate independent

[3:48] women back to the Republican fold.

[3:50] That's what this week is all about.

[3:51] These speakers will highlight that. But

[3:53] he's the one that has to close the deal

[3:55] Thursday night.

[3:56] That combined message of leadership and

[3:58] moderation is being even more narrowly

[4:01] focused heading into the fall.

[4:02] Republican sources say the Bush campaign

[4:04] has now whittleled down to nine. The

[4:07] number of battleground states they

[4:08] believe are truly up for grabs. Dan John

[4:11] Roberts reporting live from the

[4:12] convention floor. Thanks. As John

[4:14] mentioned, one of the Republican voices

[4:16] of quote moderation being heard from the

[4:18] podium here tonight belongs to Rudy

[4:20] Giuliani. The views of the former mayor

[4:23] of New York don't always coincide with

[4:25] President Bush's. But Giuliani is

[4:27] campaigning at the president's side here

[4:30] and elsewhere around the country.

[4:33] Riding a wave of popularity that started

[4:35] in the days after 9/11, Rudolph Giuliani

[4:38] is front and center now in the

[4:39] presidential campaign.

[4:41] >> We've been through a lot over the last

[4:43] four years. Some of the most difficult

[4:45] times in the history of our country.

[4:47] He's a powerful addition in a close

[4:49] contest, but not one who always sees eye

[4:52] to eye with the candidate. You have by

[4:54] any reasonable analysis at least a

[4:57] somewhat different position on gay

[4:58] rights, abortion, gun control than

[5:01] President Bush. Fair to say.

[5:03] >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I there are

[5:05] agreements and disagreements with um not

[5:07] only with President Bush, but with, you

[5:09] know, other members of my party. There

[5:10] will be plenty of people who say,

[5:12] "Listen, this is a week in which George

[5:14] Bush and the Bush Cheney campaign want

[5:16] to come across as compassionate

[5:19] moderates. They put forward Rudolph

[5:20] Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, but

[5:23] that's not where the party really is.

[5:24] The party's far to the right of that."

[5:26] To that, you say what?

[5:27] >> I say the party is is much broader than

[5:30] the way in which it's described or maybe

[5:32] in the way it used to be even. I mean,

[5:33] we've evolved over a period of time. I

[5:35] regard myself as conservative, very

[5:37] conservative on national defense, on

[5:39] fiscal policy, on taxation.

[5:41] The areas where I feel I'm moderate are

[5:44] the areas of social policy, you know,

[5:46] pro-choice.

[5:48] I I I signed the bill giving gays the

[5:52] right to a civil union. I feel people

[5:54] who are gay and lesbian shouldn't be

[5:55] discriminated against.

[5:56] >> Despite their disagreements, Giuliani

[5:58] says he's on board.

[5:59] >> Are you uncomfortable at all with the

[6:01] attacks on Senator K's war record? Well,

[6:04] you know, I I think his war record

[6:06] should be, first of all, should be

[6:08] respected. I'd almost say that

[6:11] everybody's falling into a trap, and our

[6:13] issues with him have to do with the way

[6:15] he's handled himself in elective office,

[6:17] not the way he handled himself in the in

[6:18] the military.

[6:19] >> More than 90% of Republican convention

[6:22] delegates say they have a favorable view

[6:24] of Giuliani. So, it's no surprise that

[6:26] there was talk of possibly putting him

[6:29] on the ticket instead of Vice President

[6:30] Cheney. Do you give any credence at all

[6:33] to the possibility of that happening?

[6:34] >> Dick Cheney is the vice president. He's

[6:36] going to be the candidate for vice

[6:37] president. I don't think there's ever

[6:39] been any doubt about that. I think he's

[6:41] helping the ticket.

[6:42] >> Giuliani says he's not interested in the

[6:44] vice presidency, but says he will

[6:47] consider other options, including

[6:49] possibly running against Hillary Clinton

[6:50] with the Senate or running for governor

[6:52] of New York and maybe even eventually

[6:54] for president in 2008. Now to the

[6:57] important developments in Iraq today.

[6:59] The radical Shiite cleric Mktata

[7:01] al-Sader said he will stop fighting US

[7:04] forces and join the political process in

[7:06] the run-up to January elections. Iraq's

[7:10] economy suffered a blow as sabotage

[7:12] again stopped the country's oil exports.

[7:15] And two kidnapped French journalists

[7:17] threatened with death by Islamic

[7:18] militants begged their government to

[7:21] lift its ban on Muslim headscarves in

[7:23] French schools.

[7:26] In Washington today, the FBI pressed its

[7:28] investigation of a Pentagon analyst

[7:31] suspected of passing US secrets to

[7:33] Israel, something the Israeli government

[7:35] has now repeatedly and flatly denied.

[7:38] CBS's Leslie Stall of 60 Minutes broke

[7:41] the story on this broadcast last week.

[7:43] CBS's Jim Stewart is working the story,

[7:45] too, and here's what he found.

[7:49] So far, the investigation appears to

[7:51] focus on the actions of a lone Middle

[7:53] East analyst in the Pentagon, who

[7:55] although he had no influence over

[7:57] policy, did have a top secret clearance

[7:59] that allowed him access to policy

[8:01] papers. US officials identify the man is

[8:04] Lawrence A. Franklin, who works for

[8:06] under secretary for policy Douglas Fe,

[8:08] who was updated on the investigation

[8:10] over the weekend. The focus of the

[8:12] investigation is whether Franklin passed

[8:14] along highly classified planning papers

[8:17] about US policy towards Iran to

[8:19] pro-Israeli lobbyists who then gave the

[8:21] information to Israeli diplomats.

[8:24] Meanwhile, FBI agents Friday executed a

[8:27] search warrant and interviewed staff

[8:28] members at the American Israel Public

[8:30] Affairs Committee or Apac, an

[8:32] influential American Israeli lobbying

[8:34] group in Washington which has denied

[8:36] wrongdoing. US officials confirmed the

[8:39] investigation has been going on for over

[8:41] a year and that Franklin had recently

[8:43] agreed to cooperate with the FBI. The

[8:46] story was first reported last Friday on

[8:48] the CBS Evening News shortly after

[8:50] agents began executing search warrants.

[8:53] US law enforcement officials did not

[8:55] object to the timing of the CBS report.

[8:58] The question most puzzling the FBI at

[9:00] this point is whether Israeli agents

[9:02] were pushing Franklin for information or

[9:04] whether the analyst was offering it on

[9:06] his own. The distinction could mean the

[9:08] difference between charges of unlawful

[9:10] disclosure of classified material or

[9:12] espionage. Dan

[9:14] >> Kim Stewart in Washington. We emphasize

[9:16] no one has even been charged, much less

[9:18] convicted in this case so far. On the

[9:20] CBS Weather Watch, another major

[9:22] hurricane could strike the US mainland

[9:24] over Labor Day weekend. Today, what's

[9:27] left of tropical storm Gaston dumped

[9:29] more torrential rain on the Carolinas.

[9:32] It's one of a record eight named storms

[9:35] for the month of August. CBS's Mark

[9:37] Stman is tracking this wet and windy

[9:39] Atlantic hurricane season. 10 ines of

[9:42] rain stung some areas when tropical

[9:44] storm Gaston exploded in South Carolina.

[9:49] Howling winds just under hurricane

[9:51] strength left thousands without power.

[9:54] tree snapped and one of them jolted

[9:56] Daniel Thomas.

[9:57] >> It bounced me up off the bed.