Good Morning America (ABC) / CBS This Morning snippets - 1992-07-16
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] Public sign of disarray in the Perau
[0:02] campaign. [music] Just hours later, the
[0:04] Democrats proclaiming unity nominate
[0:06] Governor Bill Clinton as their candidate
[0:08] for president.
[0:16] [music]
[0:33] Good morning, [music] America. I'm Jen
[0:34] London. It's Thursday, July 16th,
[0:36] >> and I'm Charles Gibson. The ups and
[0:38] downs of running for president really
[0:40] were evident yesterday in the Clinton
[0:42] and the Perau camps. A day of great
[0:44] political theater in both. Spencer.
[0:46] >> Well, Charlie, we're going to go way up
[0:47] northwest, our 49th state today. And a
[0:49] look at Alaska's weather shows it'll be
[0:51] a nice day in the north, but a stormy
[0:53] day in the south. And we'll have all the
[0:54] details coming up.
[0:56] >> All right, there had been a whole lot of
[0:57] rumors of discontent in the Perau camp
[0:59] nonetheless when political strategist Ed
[1:01] Rollins quit as Perau's co- campaign
[1:03] manager. It was a bombshell. In this
[1:05] half hour, a closer look at what
[1:06] happened. Also, an interview with
[1:08] Governor Mario Cuomo, who of course
[1:10] electrified the Democratic convention
[1:11] last night when he nominated Bill
[1:13] Clinton.
[1:13] >> But that's not all. There's more this
[1:15] morning. Also with us, Michael and Kitty
[1:16] Dukakus, who last took on George Bush
[1:19] back in 1988. They will be here. But
[1:21] first, we get right to the news.
[1:23] Standing by with that, Mike Schneider.
[1:24] And the news is of politics. Mike,
[1:26] >> indeed, Charlie, thank you. Good
[1:28] morning, everybody. In a way, it's kind
[1:29] of the beginning and the end. The
[1:31] Democrats will end it tonight, close
[1:33] their convention hearing from Bill
[1:34] Clinton and Al Gore. Gore will be
[1:36] nominated for vice president this
[1:37] evening. Clinton, of course, got the
[1:39] presidential nomination last night. It's
[1:41] obvious they want to get their campaign
[1:42] for the White House going quickly. And
[1:44] the Democratic ticket did get a lot of
[1:45] help last night. But as ABC's Mike Von
[1:48] points out, there was one hold out.
[1:52] >> My name's Jerry and I'm here to speak.
[1:55] >> Jerry Brown finally got his chance. And
[1:58] while he did not use it to endorse the
[2:00] ticket, at least from the Clinton camp's
[2:02] point of view, he didn't criticize it.
[2:04] With that out of the way, Clinton's
[2:06] other campaign opponents stepped up to
[2:08] the podium and fell in line. And if
[2:10] there was any doubt about whether New
[2:12] York Governor Mario Cuomo would
[2:14] wholeheartedly and enthusiastically back
[2:16] the man he had had some less than kind
[2:19] words for, they were put to rest last
[2:21] night.
[2:22] >> It's time for change. It's time for
[2:25] someone smart enough to know, strong
[2:27] enough to do, sure enough to lead the
[2:30] comeback kid, a new voice for a new
[2:32] America. Because I love New York.
[2:35] Because I love America, I nominate for
[2:37] the office of the President of the
[2:39] United States, the man from Hope
[2:41] Arkansas, Governor Bill Clinton.
[2:43] [cheering]
[2:44] >> With that, the roll call began and
[2:46] someone who knows Bill Clinton better
[2:48] than anyone cast the first votes.
[2:50] >> Arkansas proudly casts our 48 votes for
[2:55] our favorite son and my son, Bill
[2:58] Clinton.
[2:59] The new nominee came to [music] the
[3:01] podium to savor the moment that many
[3:03] political pros mistakenly thought would
[3:05] never be his.
[3:07] >> I want to thank you all for being here
[3:09] and loving your country and to tell you
[3:11] that tomorrow night I will be the
[3:14] comeback kid. Good night and God bless
[3:17] you all. Thank you.
[3:18] >> From the Democrats point of view, it's
[3:20] been a near flawless convention building
[3:22] to a crescendo just as the producers had
[3:24] planned. Now they can only hope that the
[3:26] nominee succeeds in hitting the high
[3:28] note in that allimportant speech
[3:30] tonight. Mike,
[3:30] >> what should we expect there, Michael?
[3:32] This a continued effort to redefine Bill
[3:34] Clinton.
[3:35] >> He's looking for a second chance to make
[3:37] a first impression, addressing questions
[3:39] of character, hoping that he can remind
[3:41] people he's from a poor background, not
[3:42] a privileged background. Also, he wants
[3:45] to let the people know he's taking the
[3:46] party in a more conservative direction
[3:48] without upsetting the liberal base. Uh
[3:50] it's it's a pretty tall task, but he's
[3:52] going to be speaking before a very
[3:54] friendly crowd.
[3:55] >> All right, Mike, thanks very much. ABC's
[3:56] Mike Von live for us this morning at the
[3:58] convention site, Madison Square Garden
[4:00] here in New York City. By the way, the
[4:01] convention does appear to be, as
[4:02] expected, helping Bill Clinton in the
[4:04] polls. New ABC News Washington news,
[4:07] Washington Post polls done over the past
[4:09] few days. First of all, the one done
[4:10] over the past week, giving Clinton a
[4:12] 17-point lead over President Bush. Mr.
[4:15] Bush has lost seven points. Ross Perau
[4:17] has lost 10 points. And over on the
[4:19] right hand side of your screen is the
[4:20] poll done yesterday and the day before.
[4:22] There Clinton's lead is 11 points. Those
[4:25] are the widest leads yet in the
[4:27] presidential campaign. But remember,
[4:29] Michael Dakus did lead in the polls by
[4:31] some 12 points at this time four years
[4:33] ago. The poll numbers do spell some
[4:35] trouble for Ross Perau, but he's got
[4:37] some other big problems today. One of
[4:38] the political pros that he hired to run
[4:40] his campaign has quit. ABC's Linda
[4:43] Patillo has details.
[4:45] The odd political marriage of Ross
[4:47] Perau, populist candidate, and Ed
[4:50] Rollins, master of campaign strategy,
[4:52] only lasted 45 days. It broke up over
[4:56] irreconcilable differences.
[4:58] >> It was a mutual mutual uh uh decision
[5:01] that we came to. Uh I I think the
[5:04] reality is that uh the kind of campaign
[5:08] that I wanted to run and the kind of
[5:10] campaign that Mr. Crow wanted to run
[5:12] just weren't really compatible. The big
[5:14] disagreement, television commercials,
[5:16] what they should look like and when to
[5:18] put them on the air. Rollins now says
[5:20] Perau might not have dropped in recent
[5:22] polls if he had listened to Rollins and
[5:24] put ads on the air.
[5:26] >> In a campaign, you've got so many days
[5:28] and every day you got to you got to
[5:29] move. And I just thought that uh what I
[5:31] wanted to do and and what Mr. Perau
[5:33] wanted to do uh just weren't on the same
[5:35] track.
[5:35] >> Will this affect Perau's campaign? Not
[5:38] according to his closest adviser. I find
[5:41] it hard to believe that anything in in
[5:43] July ultimately has much bearing in in
[5:46] November.
[5:48] >> It certainly has had bearing on the next
[5:50] few days. Perau has canceled rallies
[5:52] scheduled for Minnesota and Virginia for
[5:55] Friday and Saturday. The official word
[5:57] from the campaign is that they're
[5:58] reorganizing talking about the issues.
[6:00] It is of course only fueling speculation
[6:02] that he's reconsidering his run for the
[6:04] White House. Mike,
[6:05] >> Linda, we talked about the the big
[6:07] problem here being TV commercials, but I
[6:08] I assume they go far deeper than just TV
[6:11] commercials here.
[6:12] >> There was just a basic difference over
[6:14] strategy. Mike Rollins reportedly told
[6:17] Perau in the last few days that he
[6:18] needed to declare his candidacy within
[6:21] the next two weeks or risk a free fall
[6:23] that he might not come back from.
[6:25] >> There were rumors that Hamilton Jordan
[6:26] was going to quit before the Rollins
[6:28] story broke. What do we know about where
[6:30] Jordan stands? Jordan's position with
[6:32] the campaign is reportedly uh not as uh
[6:35] cozy as the Perau campaign would have us
[6:37] believe. Uh there have been widespread
[6:39] reports that he was as unhappy as
[6:41] Rollins and it's very likely that he too
[6:43] could leave the campaign within the
[6:45] coming days.
[6:45] >> All right, Linda, thank you very much.
[6:46] ABC's Linda Patillo live for us this
[6:48] morning in Dallas. Of course, ABC ABC
[6:50] ABC News coverage of the Democratic
[6:52] convention will continue tonight on
[6:53] World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
[6:55] And our prime time coverage once again
[6:57] anchored by Peter Jennings and David
[6:58] Brinkley resuming tonight and tonight's
[7:00] airtime 9:00 Eastern time. Other news
[7:03] for you on this Thursday morning, the
[7:05] African National Congress leader Nelson
[7:07] Mandela wants the UN to investigate
[7:09] whether the South African government is
[7:11] behind the violence in the black
[7:12] townships of South Africa. Mandela spoke
[7:14] at an emergency meeting of the UN
[7:16] Security Council yesterday. Today the
[7:18] council will hear from South Africa's
[7:20] foreign minister Pik Ba and there is a
[7:22] grim new report out from the National
[7:24] Commission on AIDS. It's about AIDS and
[7:25] homelessness. The report estimates that
[7:27] up to 1 half of all people with AIDS in
[7:29] this country either are homeless or on
[7:31] the verge of being homeless. The study
[7:33] says when people get too sick to work,
[7:35] they wind up on the streets because they
[7:37] have no money and they have [snorts] no
[7:38] health insurance. And the commission
[7:40] blasts the Bush administration saying
[7:41] that it has done nothing to help. That
[7:44] is the news till now. Time to check in
[7:46] with Joan and Spencer.
[7:47] >> All right, Mike, thank you very much.
[7:48] Eight minutes after and Spencer has
[7:50] [clears throat] stormy weather.
[7:51] >> First, he has to find his voice,
[7:52] [laughter] then he'll have some weather.
[7:54] Yes, we do have some very
[7:55] >> after. Since the beginning of the
[7:56] campaign, New York Governor Mario Cuomo
[7:58] has been the subject of a lot of
[7:59] speculation. Would he run himself? Who
[8:01] would he endorse? How much support would
[8:03] he offer Bill Clinton? Well, there were
[8:05] no questions last night when Mario Cuomo
[8:07] placed Clinton's name in the nomination.
[8:09] It was a rousing speech in the best
[8:11] tradition of Democrats. Nancy Sniderman
[8:13] was at Madison Square Garden last night
[8:15] to hear that speech and to talk to the
[8:17] man who delivered it.
[8:20] >> It's time for change.
[8:22] It's time for someone smart enough to
[8:24] know, strong enough to do, sure enough
[8:27] to lead, the comeback kid, a new voice
[8:29] for a new America. Because I love New
[8:32] York, because I love America. I nominate
[8:35] for the office of the president of the
[8:37] United States, the man from Hope,
[8:39] Arkansas, Governor Bill Clinton.
[8:43] This is one of the most cohesive
[8:45] um
[8:47] conventions I've ever witnessed. We're
[8:50] very very strong behind Clinton and
[8:53] Gore.
[8:53] >> This ticket surprised people because
[8:55] both men are from the South. Has
[8:57] television changed things so that
[8:59] regionality doesn't matter anymore?
[9:01] >> Your sex, your color, your region, your
[9:04] accent are all superficialities. They
[9:06] can be very important if you don't have
[9:09] issues that are important. In 1988,
[9:12] there were no real issues for the
[9:13] American people. They didn't know how
[9:15] weak the economy was because they
[9:16] weren't unemployed yet. They hadn't got
[9:19] hit with the full message about health
[9:21] care. And so, superficialities
[9:23] prevailed. Uh Mike Dukakus got beaten by
[9:26] Willie Horton and the Boston Harbor. You
[9:28] can't do that kind of thing this year.
[9:30] Superficialities are not as important.
[9:32] Region, color, because the issues are so
[9:35] well known. All of America knows we're
[9:37] in deep trouble. We need jobs. We need
[9:40] health care. We've got to get the
[9:42] deficit down. You didn't know that in 88
[9:44] or 84. The American people weren't as
[9:46] aware as they are now. So this year, you
[9:49] can get past the fact that they're both
[9:51] white males from the south who are 40 or
[9:54] so years of age. That's a superficiality
[9:57] which will be less important than where
[9:59] they are on jobs, on the environment, on
[10:01] inner cities, etc. And bottom line, the
[10:05] issues are what will count this year. I
[10:07] don't care where you come from, what
[10:09] kind of accent you speak with. If you
[10:10] can put me and my family to work, I'm
[10:13] for you. That's what will count.
[10:14] >> This is a very moderate platform for the
[10:16] Democrats. Does this leave some of the
[10:18] liberals yearning for the past?
[10:20] >> I don't think this platform is moderate.
[10:23] I don't think it moves backward. It is
[10:25] committed to investing in people. It is
[10:28] committed to investment in the inner
[10:30] cities. It is committed to choice. It is
[10:33] committed to privacy. It is committed to
[10:36] expanding opportunity. It is committed
[10:39] to the environment.
[10:41] What else is there? What would you have
[10:44] uh us do to declare it progressive?
[10:47] >> Ed Rollins just resigned from the Perau
[10:50] campaign. Do you think that's going to
[10:52] have an effect on Perau this summer and
[10:55] fall? And if he stays in the race, who
[10:57] is he going to draw the votes from?
[11:01] >> I don't know who he pulls from. And I
[11:03] don't know whether he stays in the race,
[11:04] but I it does seem um that he has not
[11:10] been able to figure out the political
[11:12] game. He doesn't know how to talk to
[11:14] political constituencies, the NAACP. He
[11:18] gets into trouble. He can't keep
[11:20] professionals aboard. Um I wonder if he
[11:23] can get all the signatures he needs. He
[11:26] only has what, 26, 27 states. Well, you
[11:29] can't run with only 26, 30 states. uh he
[11:33] said he would run if the American people
[11:35] wanted him to. What will his rationale
[11:38] be if he only gets 27 28 states? What
[11:41] does he say then? Well, I really meant
[11:44] if 28 states want me. So, I'm not at all
[11:47] sure he can stay in. And will that be
[11:49] good or bad? I don't You can get it
[11:51] analyzed both ways. I think for myself,
[11:54] if he does get out, I wouldn't mind a
[11:57] head-to-head Bush and Clinton. I was
[12:00] struck tonight looking out into the
[12:02] audience at what an unbelievable
[12:03] aphrodesiac that must be to stand on
[12:05] that podium. Did that make it harder to
[12:08] sit on the sideline this year?
[12:10] >> It wasn't difficult um to uh be a
[12:16] supporting player this year and not a
[12:19] candidate. It would have been nice, I
[12:21] think, to be a candidate. I wanted to be
[12:23] a candidate. On the other hand, I'm now
[12:26] in my third term as governor of the
[12:28] state of New York. No Democrat has ever
[12:30] done that in the history of the state of
[12:31] New York. Not Roosevelt, no one. That's
[12:34] more than I ever expected. Frankly, it's
[12:36] more than I think I ever deserved. And
[12:40] it's hard for me to allow myself to feel
[12:43] that I'm being denied anything in life.
[12:45] I've already gotten more than I'm
[12:47] entitled to. Would have been nice to run
[12:49] for president,
[12:51] but uh I can't. So, I'll do the next
[12:53] best thing. I'll make the person
[12:56] president if I can to the extent my
[12:58] effort counts. Um who I think is best
[13:02] for the country and that's Bill Clinton.
[13:03] >> Is it in your crystal ball?
[13:05] >> Bill Clinton?
[13:06] >> No. You
[13:07] >> as president?
[13:08] >> No. No. Bill Clinton wins. He's there
[13:10] for eight years and by then I won't even
[13:13] be able to play basketball.
[13:15] >> Mario Cuomo 15 minutes after problems in
[13:18] the [music] Perau camp and more on the
[13:20] Democratic convention where Good Morning
[13:21] America continues. 4 years after their
[13:24] moment in the sun, Michael and Kitty
[13:25] [music] Dukakus reflect on politics and
[13:27] private life in our next half hour.
[13:31] >> And it's 18 now after the hour. Things
[13:33] came together [music] yesterday for Bill
[13:34] Clinton that came apart for Ross Perau.
[13:36] Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who
[13:38] had signed up with Perau just last month
[13:40] as co- campaign manager, resigned
[13:42] yesterday, saying he was frustrated by
[13:44] Perau's desire to do it his way. for
[13:47] some perspective on what this means for
[13:48] Ross Perau and for President Bush and
[13:50] Bill Clinton, two of our campaign
[13:51] regulars. Join me, Susan Estrich, a
[13:53] Democratic strategist who managed
[13:54] Michael Dukakus' campaign in 1988, and
[13:57] Babe Buchanan, a Republican strategist
[13:58] who was manager for her brother Pat
[14:00] Buchanan's campaign for the Republican
[14:02] nomination. Good to have you here.
[14:04] >> Good to be here.
[14:04] >> How much trouble is Ross Perau? He said
[14:06] all along he was going to run a
[14:09] different non-traditional unconventional
[14:11] campaign. So why does this matter?
[14:13] >> But you still have to run a professional
[14:15] campaign, Charlie. I mean, running for
[14:16] president is no place for amateurs. It's
[14:19] a very difficult business. Three weeks
[14:21] ago, Ross Perau was in great shape.
[14:23] Maybe four weeks ago, Bay and I were
[14:24] talking earlier, he was riding high in
[14:26] the polls, particularly in the West.
[14:28] California looked like parole country,
[14:30] but he had to capitalize on that. He
[14:32] hired two very talented people and then
[14:34] from all reports, decided not to listen
[14:37] to any of their advice. And right now,
[14:39] he looks to be in a freef fall.
[14:40] >> You think it's unstoppable? Is this the
[14:42] end of the Rosaro campaign? Oh, I don't
[14:44] think anything is for sure in politics,
[14:46] but in losing Ed Rollins, he lost
[14:48] somebody very valuable. Not only because
[14:49] Ed is a skilled tactician, but Ed's
[14:52] genius, I think, was he knew how to talk
[14:54] to Reagan Democrats. I mean, he was a
[14:56] guy, he is a guy from a workingclass
[14:58] sort of lunch bucket Democratic
[15:00] background who had been absolutely
[15:02] essential in bringing those Reagan
[15:03] Democrats into the Republican party. And
[15:05] frankly, we on the Democratic side are
[15:07] delighted by his departure.
[15:09] >> Yeah. Well, I'll get back to that in a
[15:10] minute. In a very uncomfortable news
[15:11] conference yesterday, Ed Rollins says he
[15:13] was going there were operational
[15:15] differences how to run the campaign. Was
[15:17] there anything more to it than that?
[15:18] >> Uh I susect suspect there was a um a
[15:21] great deal more to it. I I think um
[15:24] Charlie what happened initially is is
[15:26] Edwin in there you had two strategists
[15:27] who wanted to take the campaign two
[15:29] different ways uh and and knowing what
[15:32] happened in there where there was going
[15:33] to have to be a decision. It was a
[15:34] collision course. It was everyone
[15:36] recognized that that was going to have
[15:37] to occur at some time. And I think maybe
[15:39] Ed wanted to preempt that. Uh enforce
[15:42] the issue. There was a leak obviously a
[15:44] week or so ago about Ham Jordan. Who
[15:46] knows who leaked that. Uh but in
[15:48] campaigns it's expected that there's
[15:50] leaks like this.
[15:50] >> But was there something philosophical to
[15:52] this and not just operational?
[15:53] >> I and I think that's what what preempt I
[15:55] think that's what first occurred. Ed
[15:57] wants to take uh the campaign in a way
[15:59] to go after the Reagan vote. That's what
[16:01] he knows to go after Reagan vote. What
[16:02] does Ham Jordan know? To go after Jimmy
[16:05] Carter's vote. You can't do both. And so
[16:07] Ed wants to take that campaign in a
[16:09] certain direction to bring those Reagan
[16:11] Democrats over and to bring the Reagan
[16:13] voter over, the Republican Reagan voter.
[16:15] And you can't in in the direction that
[16:17] that Perau has shown in the last three
[16:18] weeks. And one of the reasons I believe
[16:20] he's in a freef fall is because he was
[16:22] going in the opposite direction, more to
[16:24] a liberal bent.
[16:24] >> Well, now here you're saying that really
[16:26] what he is is a liberal and he's going
[16:27] to take votes from Clinton. Here's Susan
[16:29] saying, uh, we're okay because he's
[16:31] going to take votes uh from Bush. Don't
[16:33] you have an octagore here a little bit?
[16:35] Aren't you trying to aren't you trying
[16:37] to say that uh that this fell you're
[16:39] trying to push Perau into the you know
[16:41] you know one thing that I'll tell you
[16:43] one of the things that I think he made
[16:44] the the mistake he's made is is the
[16:47] reason he exists is because people
[16:49] wanted a a a citizen government. They
[16:51] wanted somebody who's not a politician.
[16:53] But look what he's done in the last
[16:54] three weeks. And the reason he's fallen
[16:55] is because he's been a politician. He
[16:57] makes a mistake and he goes out there
[16:58] and then he goes and panders to this
[17:00] group and then he flip-flops on that
[17:01] issue and he wants to make everybody
[17:03] happy. He's not defining himself as
[17:05] anything specific other than just
[17:07] politics as usual and I think that's
[17:09] hurt him badly.
[17:09] >> But see the essential appeal of the
[17:12] Perau candidacy and the reason I think
[17:14] Democrats are breathing a little easier
[17:16] this morning much much more important in
[17:18] a way than these polls that don't mean
[17:19] much at this point. The essential appeal
[17:21] of Ross Perau was change. He was a place
[17:24] and his candidacy was a place at least
[17:26] initially for a lot of folks who
[17:28] understand how tough things are out
[17:30] there particularly with the economy that
[17:32] government doesn't work that the
[17:34] administration hasn't delivered. So they
[17:36] went in the Perau column not knowing
[17:38] very much about Ross Perau in the first
[17:40] place. I think it's a much shorter trip
[17:43] back from Perau to Clinton than it is
[17:45] from Perau to Bush. And right now, you
[17:48] know, if if we get we the Democrats get
[17:50] a clear shot at Bush with Clinton as the
[17:53] candidate who stands for change, and
[17:55] it's very difficult for George Bush to
[17:56] stand for change when he's been in there
[17:58] for 12 years, I think we win this
[17:59] election,
[18:00] >> you know, but but the change they're
[18:01] looking for is real change, not
[18:03] rhetoric. They want citizen government.
[18:05] They want people with new ideas. And
[18:07] what we hear this whole last week,
[18:09] there's nothing new about that liberal
[18:10] agenda that we've heard about.
[18:12] >> They've got an economic plan on the
[18:13] table. And I think what they want change
[18:16] to bring jobs back America.
[18:19] >> Listen that it's wonderful what [music]
[18:21] happened this week. There's a lot of
[18:22] enthusiasm and excitement, but we're all
[18:24] ready for it because you all have taken
[18:26] the far left. Once again, we got the
[18:28] middle road and it's
[18:30] >> ever since the Taurus was introduced,
[18:32] [music] people have been saying nice
[18:33] things about it. For example, Car and
[18:35] Driver just named a Taurus as one of its
[18:37] 10 [music] best cars for the seventh
[18:39] year. Coming up,
[18:43] everything's going our way.
[18:48] [cheering] Governor Zel Miller and the
[18:50] Georgia delegation with our theme. I'm
[18:52] surprised any of them have voices left.
[18:54] Good morning everybody. Welcome back to
[18:55] CBS this morning. I'm Paula at Madison
[18:57] Square Garden in New York where the
[18:59] Democratic National Convention begins
[19:01] its final day today. Hi Harry.
[19:03] >> Good morning everybody. I'm Harry Smith
[19:05] in our studio in New York. Paula,
[19:06] >> coming up in this half hour, our friend
[19:08] Bill Gist will be along to talk politics
[19:11] Texas style with Molly Ivans. And we'll
[19:14] see what's on the minds of the delegates
[19:15] here, especially after the latest CBS
[19:17] News poll has some good news for their
[19:19] candidate, Harry.
[19:20] >> And also with us this morning, Dr. Bob
[19:22] Arna. Good morning, Bob.
[19:24] >> Good morning, Harry. The breast prenatal
[19:26] care begins a full 3 months before
[19:28] conception. With the threat of reubelloo
[19:30] this year, it's especially important,
[19:31] more important than ever. Find out what
[19:33] to do coming up in just a couple of
[19:35] minutes. Let's go back to Madison Square
[19:37] Garden right now where Paula has this
[19:38] morning's political news. Good morning
[19:40] again, Paula.
[19:40] >> Good morning. Thanks. Bill Clinton
[19:42] returns here tonight for the most
[19:44] important speech of his career, his
[19:45] acceptance of the Democrat's
[19:47] presidential nomination. Shortly after
[19:49] he formally won that nomination last
[19:51] night, Clinton made a triumphal visit to
[19:54] Madison Square Garden. [music]
[19:55] He said he came just to say a simple
[19:57] thank you. Back at his hotel, his thanks
[20:00] were more extensive, aimed at those who
[20:02] had stuck by him during some tough
[20:04] times.
[20:06] If it hadn't been for the people who
[20:07] participated in this, I wouldn't be
[20:09] here. And I'm going to do my best to be
[20:11] worthy of that trust.
[20:13] >> Clinton and his wife Hillary clearly
[20:16] exhilarated by the harmonious convention
[20:18] so far that the Democrats have put on.
[20:21] One word we're sure to hear in Clinton's
[20:23] acceptance speech that is tonight is the
[20:25] word change. There is a recurrent theme
[20:27] here, especially among younger
[20:29] delegates. As Regina Blakeley reports,
[20:32] they are borrowing ideas for the party's
[20:34] future from its past.
[20:37] [music]
[20:41] >> This is what young Democrats attending
[20:42] the national convention looked like 20
[20:44] years ago. A more than casual look.
[20:47] Today, the young Democratic delegates
[20:49] are dressed up. More than likely, it's
[20:51] the senators who you'll find dressed
[20:53] down.
[20:54] >> Thank you very much, folks. I come from
[20:55] Massachusetts. Got my Reebok on.
[20:58] Although the outward appearance of these
[20:59] kids may be different from generation to
[21:02] generation, the activism of the McGovern
[21:04] era is once again emerging.
[21:06] >> You can decide to be involved, be part
[21:09] of the process, and actually make a
[21:12] difference.
[21:12] >> And the students believe that difference
[21:14] can be made by working within the
[21:16] political system. Despite independent
[21:18] Ross Perau's strong challenge and the
[21:20] public's fury over the entire political
[21:22] system,
[21:24] >> there's something we don't like in
[21:25] government. The only way to change it is
[21:26] to get in there and do it, not to
[21:28] complain about it and whine about it.
[21:29] >> The Democratic Party is extremely
[21:31] viable, especially for students um
[21:33] because they work on things that we
[21:35] really care about. Um choice, the
[21:37] environment, the economy
[21:39] >> and it's the youthfulness of the Clinton
[21:41] Gore ticket that even elder statesmen
[21:43] say could be new life for the Democratic
[21:45] party. You need somebody with some new
[21:47] young blood. I think we're in the best
[21:50] shape that I have seen this party since
[21:52] 1968.
[21:54] >> And while Clinton and Gore may be the
[21:55] new generation of politicians, these
[21:58] students are the young blood of the next
[21:59] generation. A group willing to challenge
[22:02] the political pundits who say the party
[22:04] system is a dinosaur. Regina Blakeley,
[22:07] CBS News, New York.
[22:09] >> We will have lots more on the Democrats
[22:11] and their convention later on CBS this
[22:13] morning. Now, let's go back to Harry
[22:14] now.
[22:15] >> Thanks, Paul. Other political news this
[22:17] morning. Ross Perau's undeclared
[22:18] campaign, is going through a rough time.
[22:21] Ed Rollins, one of the men Perau hired
[22:23] to give professional leadership to his
[22:26] campaign, left it yesterday. Rollins
[22:28] said he and Perau disagree on how to win
[22:30] the presidency. Perau himself has canled
[22:33] trips to Minnesota and Virginia and is
[22:35] meeting with his staff about his
[22:37] campaign's future. In upstate New York,
[22:40] a clash overnight between Indians and
[22:42] police has led to 14 arrests. State
[22:44] troopers and Senica Indians squared off
[22:47] in an area just south of Buffalo. The
[22:49] troopers were called in to restore order
[22:51] after fires were set, closing down a
[22:53] stretch of highway. The Indians were
[22:56] protesting a new state sales tax imposed
[22:59] on Indian reservations. And finally, in
[23:02] Davis, South Dakota, water skiing for
[23:04] people who are afraid of the water.
[23:06] Thunderstorms flooded the ditch along
[23:09] this road, creating ideal conditions for
[23:11] some crosscountry skiing. It looks like
[23:15] fun, but you got to watch out for
[23:17] intersections,
[23:19] [laughter] a little different. About 25
[23:22] minutes before the hour, Mark is on the
[23:24] Circle Line this morning out in New York
[23:25] Harbor. And a gorgeous site it is. Come
[23:27] on in again, Mark.
[23:28] >> Good morning. And by the way, no, I will
[23:30] not do any of that skiing, Harry, before
[23:31] you ask me. They'll have me doing the
[23:33] weather from uh down there. Let me tell
[23:34] you, this weather segment is sponsored
[23:35] by postgraut cereal. Breakfast with
[23:37] grape nuts helps keeps you helps keep
[23:39] you going strong all morning long. Let's
[23:42] talk about the weather.
[23:43] >> Have a more positive image of Clinton
[23:45] and his ability to lead the nation than
[23:48] before. Based on the people I talked
[23:50] with here at the convention last night,
[23:51] the delegates couldn't be happier.
[23:55] >> I'm smelling a winner. We going to win
[23:56] >> and we're picking up points every week.
[23:59] I also think the addition of Gore as a
[24:01] vice president also helped uh helped
[24:03] Governor Clinton.
[24:04] >> I think we have a winner this year.
[24:06] Honestly,
[24:11] [music]
[24:15] the Democrats haven't won a presidential
[24:17] election in 16 years, but this year
[24:20] they're fired up. A new CBS poll should
[24:22] give them more encouragement with Bill
[24:24] Clinton's favorable rating jumping nine
[24:26] points in a week. And I I think we stand
[24:29] a real good chance. The polls are are
[24:30] finally starting to lean our way. It'll
[24:32] be interesting to see where it goes in
[24:33] the coming months.
[24:35] >> And the relative youth of the Clinton
[24:36] Gore team is also playing well with the
[24:38] delegates.
[24:39] >> I think that they're so attractive
[24:41] because um they're a young ticket. Um
[24:45] they speak to the [crying] variety of
[24:47] issues I think that are important to
[24:49] Californians.
[24:50] >> Well, I think if you go back to what
[24:51] John Kennedy said, you know, let's pass
[24:53] the torch to a new generation. I believe
[24:55] we're passing that torch at this
[24:56] convention.
[24:57] >> Well, that's what we need, the young
[24:58] people. We don't need all these old
[25:00] folks all the time. That's what's wrong
[25:01] with the country now.
[25:03] >> Almost half of the voters we surveyed
[25:05] say the US needs a new generation to
[25:07] lead the country. Older voters are the
[25:09] most likely to feel that way. And 41% of
[25:12] those surveyed perceive the Clinton Gore
[25:14] ticket as different from previous
[25:16] Democratic tickets. And that they say is
[25:19] a good thing.
[25:20] >> We have a different ticket. These are
[25:22] different times. I think we have a
[25:24] better ticket and I think we have a
[25:25] winning ticket this time.
[25:32] This political year, the operative word
[25:34] is change. And the voters we surveyed
[25:36] believe Bill Clinton, more than
[25:38] President Bush, more than Ross Perau
[25:40] would be the most effective agent of
[25:43] change.
[25:44] >> You can just feel the people want to
[25:46] change. It's very obvious by the
[25:49] response, by the enthusiasm that we see
[25:51] everywhere.
[25:52] >> Mr. Bush has failed America so
[25:54] miserably.
[25:55] >> It's time for a change. It's time people
[25:59] realized what has happened over these
[26:01] last 12 years. It's been a real rough
[26:04] time.
[26:05] >> Not to throw cold water on anyone's
[26:07] enthusiasm, but at the end of the
[26:09] Democrat's last convention in 1988,
[26:11] Michael Dakus had a 17point lead over
[26:14] George Bush in the polls. I somehow
[26:16] think Harry, the Democrats are painfully
[26:18] aware of that little fact.
[26:20] >> We'll ask Michael Dakus and Lloyd Benson
[26:22] about that in a little while. Paula,
[26:23] thanks very much. Good story. 20 minutes
[26:25] before the hour. Next on CBS This
[26:27] Morning.