CBS Evening News open - 2009-03-31

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] is CBS Evening News with Katie Kurrick.

[0:02] Have a good night.

[0:09] Tonight, President Obama comes to London

[0:12] to join 19 other world leaders ready to

[0:14] take on the biggest economic challenges

[0:17] of our time. I'm Katie Kurrick at the

[0:19] G20 summit. Also tonight, the clock is

[0:22] ticking on General Motors. with 60 days

[0:25] to turn the company around. What GM and

[0:28] the government are doing to get you to

[0:30] buy a car. A new food scare the

[0:33] government says don't eat anything

[0:35] containing pistachios. It could be

[0:37] contaminated with salmonella.

[0:40] And the battle for headlines in London.

[0:43] A summit rated G versus a scandal rated

[0:47] X.

[0:53] This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:56] Kurrick reporting tonight from London.

[1:00] Good evening everyone. From the banks of

[1:02] the river Tames, that's the Tower Bridge

[1:04] behind me. And there is a towering

[1:06] challenge facing President Obama and the

[1:09] other world leaders here this week for

[1:10] the G20 summit. nothing less than

[1:13] pulling the global economy out of a

[1:15] recession so deep it's seen millions of

[1:17] people all over the world lose their

[1:19] jobs. Britain's prime minister is the

[1:22] host. But the leader getting the most

[1:23] attention is America's young new

[1:25] president. Chip Reed is our chief White

[1:28] House correspondent. And Chip, will the

[1:29] president get star treatment here

[1:31] >> from the public? Absolutely yes, Katie.

[1:34] He is enormously popular here in London

[1:37] and all throughout Europe. He's expected

[1:40] to be greeted by throngs of fans

[1:42] everywhere he goes, but his fellow

[1:43] leaders are a good deal more skeptical,

[1:46] and they've made clear he's going to

[1:47] have to prove himself on the world

[1:49] stage.

[1:51] The president arrived in London this

[1:53] evening on his first overseas trip,

[1:55] facing a series of highwire performances

[1:57] with the eyes of the world watching

[1:59] every step. With no time to waste,

[2:01] Wednesday morning in London, he meets

[2:02] with British Prime Minister Gordon

[2:04] Brown, followed by a press conference.

[2:06] The two leaders are expected to talk

[2:08] about ways to get other G20 countries to

[2:10] do more to help jumpstart the global

[2:12] economy. And he'll have his first

[2:14] face-to-face meetings with the

[2:15] presidents of Russia and China, two

[2:17] nations that are increasingly

[2:19] questioning America's dominant role on

[2:21] the world stage. Shifting from high

[2:23] stakes diplomacy to pomp and tradition,

[2:25] the president and first lady then head

[2:27] to Buckingham Palace and a meeting with

[2:29] Queen Elizabeth. Thursday, he meets with

[2:31] leaders of the world's major economies

[2:33] at the G20 conference. White House

[2:35] officials say that with the worst global

[2:36] economic crisis in generations and with

[2:38] the world looking for leadership, the

[2:40] stakes for Mr. Obama are very high.

[2:43] Later this week, the president goes to

[2:45] France and Germany for the NATO summit

[2:47] where the topic will change from the

[2:49] economy to global security and the

[2:51] president's efforts to get NATO allies

[2:53] to do more in Afghanistan. Katie,

[2:57] >> Chip Reed here in London tonight. Chip,

[2:59] thank you very much. The president is of

[3:01] course making his debut on the world

[3:03] stage. The pressure on him is enormous

[3:06] as America's influence is challenged and

[3:08] his powers of persuasion are put to the

[3:11] test.

[3:13] >> This is going to be, I think, a critical

[3:15] meeting and a obviously critical time in

[3:18] the world's economy

[3:19] >> and a critical opportunity for this

[3:22] president. I think President Obama is

[3:24] going to get a fantastic welcome in

[3:26] Europe, not just for who he is, but for

[3:29] what he represents.

[3:30] >> What he represents to many countries

[3:33] overseas is a departure from the Bush

[3:35] administration, which alienated some

[3:37] foreign governments early on with its

[3:40] rejection of global warming initiatives

[3:42] and its national security positions. It

[3:45] may be a fresh start, but the current

[3:47] president's approval ratings will only

[3:49] take him so far.

[3:52] Barack Obama is still extraordinarily

[3:55] popular at the street level throughout

[3:57] Europe, but I don't think it's going to

[3:58] translate into the governmental level.

[4:00] They're going to push back because for

[4:02] them, basic questions of of dollars and

[4:04] cents of economics are far more

[4:07] important than anything to do with the

[4:08] United States.

[4:09] >> Several thorny issues will dominate the

[4:12] discussions. The White House is pushing

[4:14] for other countries to adopt their own

[4:16] stimulus plans similar to the $787

[4:20] billion package passed in the US.

[4:22] >> There you go. Let's go.

[4:25] >> When President Obama meets with British

[4:27] Prime Minister Gordon Brown tomorrow

[4:29] here in London, he'll find a receptive

[4:31] audience. Brown supports a stimulus plan

[4:34] to jumpstart his country's economy,

[4:36] which is also in a real bind. But when

[4:39] Mr. Obama meets with French President

[4:41] Nicholas Sarcoi and German Chancellor

[4:44] Angela Merkel. He'll find two world

[4:47] leaders who are very wary of spending

[4:50] their way out of a recession.

[4:52] >> I am authorizing the reconstruction

[4:54] >> to get out of the Great Depression.

[4:56] President Roosevelt infused money into

[4:58] the system through a number of programs

[5:00] known as the New Deal. And President

[5:03] Obama is following that model. But

[5:05] history has taught the Europeans a

[5:07] different lesson. In the early 20th

[5:10] century, Germany pumped massive amounts

[5:12] of cash into the economy, sending

[5:14] inflation skyhigh. The German people

[5:17] lost faith in their government, and that

[5:20] led to the rise of Hitler, fascism, and

[5:23] World War II. Today, they fear inflation

[5:26] more than almost anything.

[5:28] >> We're not on the same page as the

[5:29] Europeans. The United States is focusing

[5:31] much more on stimulus packages. The

[5:34] Europeans are worried this will simply

[5:35] rekindle inflation. For their part, the

[5:38] Europeans are much more focused on

[5:39] things like regulatory reform.

[5:42] >> The Europeans are calling for an

[5:43] international banking super cop to

[5:46] monitor the financial system worldwide,

[5:48] but the US is unlikely to support such a

[5:51] plan.

[5:53] Meanwhile, the International Monetary

[5:55] Fund or IMF will also be high on the

[5:57] agenda. Nations will be asked to donate

[6:00] more to the fund so it can support

[6:02] struggling countries.

[6:03] >> There are no quick fixes and there are

[6:05] no silver bullets. Meeting the heads of

[6:07] emerging economic powers like China and

[6:09] Russia may be the most challenging and

[6:12] delicate task for a president with

[6:14] limited foreign policy experience. Both

[6:17] countries have recently antagonized the

[6:19] US by calling for a global currency to

[6:23] replace the US dollar.

[6:24] >> What they're basically saying is, hey,

[6:26] you Americans can't have it both ways.

[6:28] You've either got to give the rest of us

[6:30] a say in how many dollars you print or

[6:33] you may have to get used to the idea of

[6:34] something else besides the dollar.

[6:37] >> And China's new assertiveness on this

[6:39] and other issues makes it a powerful new

[6:41] voice in this the 10th year of the G20.

[6:45] >> All these things seem to point to the

[6:48] fact that the United States is watching

[6:51] its importance in the world decline

[6:54] rather significantly. It's the fact that

[6:56] you have 20 countries meeting tells you

[6:58] something. The United States is simply

[6:59] one of the 20. Yes, the most powerful,

[7:01] but others are beginning to assert their

[7:03] role on the world stage much more

[7:05] forcefully.

[7:07] >> Now to news happening away from this

[7:09] summit. There was fierce fighting today

[7:11] in southern Afghanistan where officials

[7:13] say coalition forces killed 30 Taliban

[7:15] fighters and wounded 17 others.

[7:18] Meanwhile, representatives from more

[7:20] than 70 countries gathered today in the

[7:22] Netherlands to discuss Afghanistan's

[7:24] future. At least that was the plan. Our

[7:27] chief foreign affairs correspondent,

[7:28] Larara Logan, is in the H tonight.

[7:31] >> The conference was supposed to be all

[7:33] about Afghanistan. It ended up being

[7:35] about much more. Secretary Clinton said

[7:38] US and Iranian diplomats met informally

[7:41] and they will stay in touch. One of two

[7:43] contacts with the Iranian delegation.

[7:46] The second a plea for help for three US

[7:48] citizens. Two of them detained, one

[7:51] missing. It was a letter to the

[7:52] government of uh Iran seeking both

[7:56] information and assistance about our

[7:57] three American citizens.

[7:59] >> The Iranians did promise to cooperate in

[8:01] Afghanistan but couldn't resist taking

[8:03] aim at the US.

[8:05] >> The presence of foreign forces has not

[8:07] improved things in the country and it

[8:09] seems that an increase in the number of

[8:11] foreign forces will prove ineffective

[8:14] too.

[8:14] >> The Afghan president Kazai said there

[8:17] was still a long way to go. One key

[8:19] issue

[8:22] Afghanistan's illegal opium trade. It

[8:24] provides 90% of the world's supply.

[8:28] >> Hundreds of Afghan policemen

[8:31] have sacrificed their lives in

[8:32] eradication of crops, introduction, and

[8:35] bringing criminals to justice.

[8:37] >> As the delegates spoke, so too did one

[8:39] of the most wanted Taliban leaders,

[8:41] Bethula Massud, threatened revenge from

[8:44] his safe haven in Pakistan.

[8:47] Soon we will launch an attack in

[8:49] Washington and the White House that will

[8:51] amaze everyone in the world. The US

[8:54] Secretary of State also had to deal with

[8:56] North Korea. It plans a missile test in

[8:59] the next few days.

[9:00] >> Both China and Russia have tried to

[9:02] intervene. We have certainly been very

[9:04] clear. Um and there will obviously be

[9:07] consequences if they do proceed with

[9:08] this.

[9:09] >> Can I say you had you rejected outright?

[9:12] >> We we've tried to make that very clear.

[9:16] It was a busy day for Secretary Clinton.

[9:18] Also high on her agenda, Russia. There

[9:20] were several very senior high level

[9:23] meetings here and uh according to senior

[9:25] US officials, most likely a major

[9:28] US-Russian summit on the horizon. Katie,

[9:32] >> Lara Logan reporting from the H tonight.

[9:34] Thank you very much. In Israel, Benjamin

[9:36] Netanyahu returned as prime minister

[9:38] tonight, 10 years after being voted out.

[9:41] Netanyahu was able to put together a

[9:43] coalition dominated by hardliners

[9:45] following last month's close election.

[9:47] But tonight, he softened his campaign

[9:50] rhetoric, saying Israel seeks peace with

[9:52] the Arab and Muslim world. In news back

[9:55] home, it's now been six months since the

[9:57] federal government began a $700 billion

[10:00] taxpayer bailout of the financial

[10:02] industry known as TARP. And today, a

[10:05] congressional watchdog told a Senate

[10:06] committee the Treasury Department still

[10:08] has no mechanism for tracking how banks

[10:11] have spent that bailout money. The TARP

[10:14] inspector general said billions may have

[10:16] been lost to fraud, though he gave no

[10:18] specific examples. The auto industry

[10:21] also got bailout money, but it's still

[10:23] in danger of collapse. Today at his

[10:25] first news conference, GM's new CEO said

[10:28] bankruptcy is more likely than ever and

[10:31] he'll need to shut more plants to meet

[10:33] the White House demand that the company

[10:35] get leaner and meaner. More now.