The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour (PBS) - 1992-08-21 - 1 of 2

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:05] Good evening. I'm Jim Lara in

[0:06] Washington. And I'm Robert McNeel in New

[0:09] York. After the news summary this

[0:10] Friday, we assess the presidential

[0:12] battleground following the Republican

[0:14] convention. We have excerpts from

[0:16] Clinton and Bush speeches. Today, the

[0:18] views of Democratic Chairman Ron Brown

[0:20] and Bush Quail campaign manager Fred

[0:22] Malik. The NewsHour's panel of editors

[0:25] around the country. joined by our

[0:27] analysts David Gurgen and Mark Shields.

[0:29] And we close with a report updating the

[0:32] situation in Somalia.

[0:34] >> Funding for the McNeel Lair NewsHour has

[0:36] been provided by PepsiCo,

[0:49] Mexico.

[0:53] Part of helping the world live and

[0:54] communicate better is keeping it well

[0:56] informed. That's why funding for the

[0:58] NewsHour is also provided by AT&T

[1:02] and by the Corporation for Public

[1:03] Broadcasting and viewers like you.

[1:07] >> President Bush and Governor Clinton

[1:09] joined the battle in earnest today. Each

[1:11] accompanied by his running mate went

[1:13] hard after the other in campaign

[1:15] speeches. Mr. Bush and Vice President

[1:17] Quail went from their Houston convention

[1:19] renominations on a swing through the

[1:21] South. Last night in his acceptance

[1:23] speech, Mr. Bush promised an

[1:25] acrosstheboard tax cut while charging

[1:27] Governor Clinton with wanting to raise

[1:29] taxes. The president said it again at a

[1:32] rally this morning in Gulport,

[1:33] Mississippi.

[1:39] Creating jobs is the number one issue,

[1:41] and my opponent has laid out his plan.

[1:43] It is clear, present, and dangerous. It

[1:47] starts, here's the way it starts out.

[1:49] 220 billion in new what he calls

[1:53] investment. And when he says investment,

[1:55] watch out for your wallet. Investing 220

[1:59] million bucks of your money. 220 billion

[2:03] dollars of your money. That is not

[2:05] investment.

[2:09] And it goes on with the largest tax

[2:11] increase in history right up front.

[2:14] Right up front before he's had to govern

[2:16] it all. He says, "Tax them $150 billion

[2:19] dollar more." No, we are not going to

[2:21] have that.

[2:23] >> Governor Clinton fired right back at the

[2:25] president. He and his running mate,

[2:27] Senator Gore, started another bus trip

[2:29] in Cleveland. The Democratic nominees

[2:31] accused Mr. Bush of trying to buy the

[2:33] election with a tax cut proposal.

[2:35] Earlier in a speech to the Detroit

[2:37] Economic Club, Clinton said the proposal

[2:40] was as empty as the president's no new

[2:42] taxes pledge of the last campaign.

[2:46] Four years ago, we heard a candidate for

[2:49] president promise us in these four years

[2:53] 15 million jobs, a balanced budget,

[2:57] never to raise taxes no matter what.

[3:01] Last night, we heard that same

[3:03] candidate, desperate for reelection,

[3:06] promise another short-term capital gains

[3:09] cut for the wealthy, the fool's goal of

[3:11] an acrosstheboard tax cut in the face of

[3:14] a $400 billion deficit, and a balanced

[3:18] budget amendment with no serious

[3:21] specific proposal to balance the budget.

[3:24] These promises too are false and they

[3:27] too will betray us if we follow them.

[3:31] >> We'll have much more on all of this

[3:32] right after the news summary. Robin,

[3:35] >> the US today began its airlift of food

[3:37] to drought and war ravaged Somalia.

[3:40] Flights are landing in Kenya and

[3:42] supplies are being trucked across the

[3:43] border. The US operation will ferry

[3:46] 145,000 tons of aid to some of the

[3:48] estimated 1 and a half million Somali

[3:51] threatened with starvation. Most of the

[3:53] US aid will be distributed to refugee

[3:55] camps near the Kenyan border. We'll have

[3:57] more on that story later in the program.

[4:00] At least six people were killed today by

[4:02] heavy shelling in Bosnia's capital. It

[4:05] followed a night of the heaviest

[4:06] sustained bombardment of Sievo in weeks.

[4:09] We have a report by Paul Davies of

[4:11] Independent Television News.

[4:16] It was a lethal night, even by Sievo

[4:19] standards. As light faded, Serbian

[4:22] artillery in the mountains began their

[4:24] bombardment of the city. The heavy guns

[4:26] seen firing from hilltops to the right

[4:28] of the picture. Sievo's Muslim defenders

[4:31] replied, hitting one of the artillery

[4:32] positions.

[4:38] The battle continued for more than 3

[4:40] hours

[4:41] with the Serbian guns inflicting more

[4:43] damage on the city center near the

[4:45] presidential offices.

[4:52] Shells were also falling around the

[4:54] Marshall Tito barracks where Ukrainian

[4:56] soldiers serving in the United Nations

[4:59] force abilities.

[5:01] Several of the UN vehicles were

[5:03] destroyed.

[5:07] With the barracks ablaze, the soldiers

[5:08] were forced to take shelter in their

[5:10] bunkers, powerless to intervene.

[5:14] This morning, they emerged to inspect

[5:16] the damage.

[5:18] Eight of the transport vehicles used to

[5:20] deliver food and medicine to Sievo's

[5:22] needy had been destroyed.

[5:25] The Ukrainian's barracks had also been

[5:27] damaged by the shelling. Incredibly, no

[5:30] one was killed.

[5:32] >> The United Nations has accepted an Iraqi

[5:34] offer to inspect the conditions of its

[5:36] Shiite Muslim population. The United

[5:39] States, Britain, and France have accused

[5:41] Iraq of repeatedly attacking dissident

[5:43] Shiites in southern Iraq. An Iraqi

[5:46] official said today UN visits will

[5:48] disprove such allegations.

[5:51] Firefighters in Northern California made

[5:53] some progress today, but fires continued

[5:56] to burn and spread. One blaze reduced

[5:58] the town of Round Mountain to rubble.

[6:00] About 60 homes were damaged or

[6:02] destroyed, but no injuries reported.

[6:05] That fire now covers 12,000 acres. In

[6:08] Calaveris County in the foothills of the

[6:10] Sierra Nevada mountains, damp weather

[6:13] helped fire crews contain a 6-day old

[6:15] blaze which has burned nearly 18,000

[6:18] acres. Governor Pete Wilson arrived

[6:20] there today and declared the county an

[6:22] emergency relief area, clearing the way

[6:24] for state and federal aid. Stocks on

[6:27] Wall Street fell sharply today. The Dow

[6:30] Jones Industrial Average closed down

[6:32] more than 50 points on news that the

[6:34] dollar had hit a record low against the

[6:36] German mark. That's our summary of the

[6:39] news. Now, Bill Clinton and George Bush

[6:41] speeches, party leaders, regional

[6:44] editors, and Gurgen and Shields, plus an

[6:47] update on Somalia.

[7:00] Presidential politics is our lead focus

[7:02] tonight as we survey the battleground

[7:04] following the Republican convention.

[7:07] We'll hear from the Bush Quail campaign

[7:09] manager and the chairman of the

[7:10] Democratic National Committee. But

[7:12] first, this look at the two presidential

[7:14] nominees as they hit the campaign trail

[7:16] today. Democrat Bill Clinton was

[7:18] campaigning in Michigan and Ohio. In a

[7:21] speech before the Detroit Economic Club,

[7:23] Clinton had this reaction to President

[7:25] Bush's acceptance speech. The test of

[7:28] family values is not whether Al Gore and

[7:31] I love our wives and our children as

[7:33] much as George Bush and Dan Quail do,

[7:36] but whether we get up every day worrying

[7:38] about your children and your future.

[7:45] Last night proved something else. George

[7:48] Bush is a lot more interested in beating

[7:49] me than helping you.

[8:02] He couldn't say anything about his

[8:04] economic record, so he just says

[8:06] anything to stay in power. 3 years and 7

[8:09] months into the presidency, he still has

[8:11] no agenda, no vision, no strategy,

[8:14] nothing to say about creating jobs in

[8:16] America. And in the last four years,

[8:19] since he gave an acceptance speech

[8:20] without a plan, but full of promises and

[8:23] gimmicks, we've lost a million

[8:24] manufacturing jobs. Wages have fallen

[8:27] further behind our major competitors.

[8:29] And just this week, as I said, a record

[8:31] number of Americans filed for

[8:33] unemployment. Three times as many

[8:35] Americans have filed for bankruptcy as

[8:37] have gotten new jobs since the Bush

[8:40] administration began. Let again last

[8:42] night there was no plan to create jobs

[8:44] or raise incomes. Just more cynical read

[8:47] my lips promises. For the first time in

[8:50] American history, more people are

[8:52] working in government than in

[8:53] manufacturing since this administration

[8:56] took office. Now we have more government

[8:58] bureaucrats the president dislo deplores

[9:01] than the factory workers he ignores.

[9:05] Across the country people are eager for

[9:07] real answers about how we can create new

[9:09] jobs and save existing jobs. But the

[9:12] promises Mr. Bush made last night are

[9:14] intended to only save one job. His

[9:19] in.

[9:23] Last night, he said some things about my

[9:25] record that he knew when he said them

[9:27] were not true. Read the Wall Street

[9:30] Journal. Mr. Bush says, "I proposed the

[9:33] largest tax increase in history." The

[9:36] Journal told the truth. It's oneird the

[9:39] size of the one he already signed.

[9:42] Mr. Bush says, "I want to tax everybody

[9:44] with a job." The Journal told the truth.

[9:47] The richest 2% of Americans would be

[9:49] asked to pay their fair share because

[9:51] their tax burdens went down in the

[9:52] 1980s. And there would be some modest

[9:55] tax relief to middle class Americans who

[9:57] are overburdened, especially those

[9:59] raising their children. Mr. Bush says,

[10:02] "I raised taxes in Arkansas 128 times in

[10:06] 12 years, and he just raised them once."

[10:08] The Journal told the truth when it said

[10:11] that attack is inaccurate. By Mr. Bush's

[10:15] own standard. He's raised taxes 78 times

[10:18] in three years, and Arkansas still has

[10:20] the second lowest state and local tax

[10:23] burden in the United States of America.

[10:26] How can you trust someone who's a

[10:28] Republican and won't even honor what the

[10:30] Wall Street Journal says is the truth.

[10:34] >> President Bush left Houston this morning

[10:36] and flew to Mississippi for his first

[10:38] official campaign appearance. At a rally

[10:40] in Gulport, the president repeated many

[10:42] of the same themes that he addressed in

[10:44] his acceptance speech.

[10:46] >> This is, as I say, our first step out of

[10:50] Houston onto the election, and I am

[10:53] delighted to be back here in this place,

[10:56] which has sound family values, great

[11:00] traditions, and believes in a strong

[11:03] America.

[11:06] And my opponent, we all agree, seems to

[11:08] like to compare himself to Elvis

[11:10] Presley. Well, my apologies to the king,

[11:15] but

[11:16] but to me, Governor of Arkansas's plan

[11:20] really does sound like Elvis economic

[11:22] because the time he is finished,

[11:25] American workers will all be checking in

[11:28] to the Heartbreak Hotel.

[11:34] And I think I think we ought to treat

[11:37] those Clinton Gore ideas the way Elvis

[11:40] would. Return to Sender. Return him to

[11:43] Arkansas.

[11:44] Send him back to Arkansas and Tennessee.

[11:49] The gridlock Democratic Congress has

[11:52] blocked my jobs program, blocked my

[11:55] education program, and blocked the

[11:57] progress of the people of Gulfport,

[11:59] Mississippi.

[12:04] They are caught.

[12:07] They are caught in the knot of packs and

[12:09] perks and privileges and paralysis. And

[12:12] let me give you one example.

[12:14] It took us the help of many sons and

[12:17] daughters of Mississippi. 433 days.

[12:23] 43 days to win the Gulf War. While

[12:26] Congress has taken 533

[12:30] days and still counting to give us a

[12:32] national energy policy to cut our

[12:35] dependence on foreign oil. That is

[12:37] gridlock. That is congressional

[12:40] gridlock.

[12:45] As I said, I've ridden stationary bikes

[12:48] that can move faster than the US

[12:50] Congress.

[12:54] And let me make no mistake about it. We

[12:57] are not going to let the Clinton Gore

[12:59] ticket fool the American people. The

[13:02] Clinton Gore ticket and the gridlock

[13:04] Congress are totally interlocked. One is

[13:07] one is CG and the other is GC.

[13:11] Clinton Gore gridlock Congress that

[13:13] don't let them try to separate

[13:15] themselves.

[13:16] For nine months,

[13:19] for nine months, the governor of

[13:21] Arkansas has been distorting my record.

[13:24] And I don't care what the polls say. I'm

[13:27] going to take this case to the American

[13:29] people like Truman did. Go against the

[13:31] Congress. Go against the opponent. Say

[13:34] what I'm for. And God bless the United

[13:37] States of America. We are going to win

[13:39] this race.

[13:45] We continue the dialogue now with the

[13:47] chairman of the Democratic Party, Ron

[13:48] Brown, and Fred Malik, the Bush Quail

[13:50] campaign manager. Mr. Brown, was today

[13:53] pretty much what every day is going to

[13:55] be like between now and November the

[13:57] 3rd?

[13:57] >> I sure hope not, but it but it certainly

[13:59] looks like it. Uh, George Bush told us a

[14:02] couple of months ago that he was going

[14:03] to do anything it took to be reelected

[14:06] president. Last night, we saw clearly

[14:08] that he will say anything that he thinks

[14:10] he needs to say to be reelected

[14:12] president, whether it's true or not.

[14:14] >> Well, true. Clinton, Governor Clinton

[14:16] also today accused the president, we

[14:18] just heard him, of saying things that

[14:20] were not true. In effect, calling the

[14:22] president a liar. What do you What do

[14:24] you all mean? What did he say last night

[14:26] that was a lie?

[14:26] >> Well, he totally distorted records. He

[14:28] said things that he knew were false. He

[14:30] cited uh things that were just totally

[14:33] inaccurate. Bill Clinton pointed out

[14:35] that there have been all kinds of

[14:36] journalists to do an analysis of both

[14:38] the economic plan and policy of Bill

[14:40] Clinton and and the whole situation on

[14:42] taxes. Bill Clinton says, "Let's give uh

[14:44] middle class Americans a tax break.

[14:46] They're the ones who deserve it." Yes,

[14:48] let's put a bigger tax burden on the top

[14:50] 2% who got all the breaks during the

[14:52] Reagan and Bush years. Here we are in

[14:54] the 11th hour of the 12th year of first

[14:57] a Reagan Bush administration and now a a

[14:59] Bush Quail administration with still no

[15:02] plan for the future, still no plan or

[15:04] strategy about how to get us out of this

[15:06] economic mess. We've been under

[15:07] recession for over 20 months. George

[15:10] Bush at first denied that it ever

[15:11] existed and we still, even as of today,

[15:14] have no plan of attack to put Americans

[15:17] back to work.

[15:18] >> Mr. Malik, what's going on here? The

[15:20] president of the United States says that

[15:22] Governor Clinton is proposing a certain

[15:25] thing. Governor Clinton now Mr. Brown

[15:27] say that is not so.