Nightline (ABC) - 1993-01-18
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Read a transcript preview of “Nightline (ABC) - 1993-01-18” from malgent, uploaded on 2026-01-16.
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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] On your side.
[0:06] A vision of two cities.
[0:10] In Washington, Bill Clinton prepares to
[0:13] take the mantle of the presidency and he
[0:15] inherits something else.
[0:20] God is with us
[0:22] and the hundreds of tons of bombs which
[0:24] hit Iraq will not achieve their
[0:27] purposes.
[0:29] Tonight, the uninvited guest who
[0:31] threatens to overshadow the inauguration
[0:34] and preoccupy another White House.
[0:45] This is ABC News Nightline. Reporting
[0:48] from Washington,
[0:49] Ted Koppel.
[0:52] If all of this seems a little familiar,
[0:54] it should. In January of 1981, as the
[0:57] inauguration of Ronald Reagan drew near,
[1:00] the outgoing president, Jimmy Carter,
[1:02] worked frantically around the clock to
[1:04] bring about the release of 52 American
[1:06] hostages who had been held for more than
[1:08] 440 days by the government of Iran.
[1:12] Carter wanted desperately to have those
[1:14] hostages released on his watch.
[1:17] His adversary, the Ayatollah Khomeini,
[1:19] was just as determined not to let it
[1:21] happen. Indeed, the release of those
[1:23] hostages occurred just after noon on
[1:26] January 20th, 1981, during the very
[1:30] first minutes of Ronald Reagan's new
[1:32] presidency.
[1:33] You should not be surprised, therefore,
[1:35] if something similar happens when the
[1:37] power of the presidency passes from
[1:39] George Bush to Bill Clinton.
[1:41] There is reason to believe that Saddam
[1:43] is ready to make a conciliatory gesture
[1:46] to the United States, but not until
[1:49] George Bush is out of office. It may, as
[1:52] Cokie Roberts now reports, look a little
[1:54] dicey at the moment, but just wait and
[1:56] see if things don't cool down right
[1:59] after the inauguration.
[2:04] The images keep competing